December 9, 2013
The “epidemic of slavery” in Britain is an urban legend
In sp!ked, Frank Furedi talks about the much-talked-about but almost certainly mythical “epidemic of slavery” in Britain:
A London detective inspector, Kevin Hyland, informed the world that ‘we have never seen anything of this magnitude before’. The UK home secretary, Theresa May, echoed his sentiments and said she would make tackling modern-day slavery her top priority. She said there was ‘one positive’ to the case of the south London slave house: the public had finally become aware of the issue of slavery, which, according to May, continues to have a ‘shocking presence in modern Britain’. By this time, claims that thousands of people in Britain were being held in conditions of ‘slavery’ were circulating in the media.
Detective inspector Hyland may not have seen ‘anything of this magnitude’ before — but the fact is that what he saw, or imagined he saw, was a fantasy of slavery rather than the grim reality of forced servitude. Indeed, the story of the south London slaves rapidly unravelled. Early reports hinted at a heroic rescue mission involving detailed planning and up to 40 police operatives. But within a few days it became evident that the three ‘slaves’ were not slaves as we have traditionally understood that term. Certainly they were not physically held against their will. Contrary to early media reports, which suggested the three women had been imprisoned in a house for 30 years, later accounts revealed that they went outdoors to run errands and had access to telephones and a television.
As the initial story of forced imprisonment became difficult to sustain, the narrative of scaremongering shifted — now focusing on the psychological and emotional horrors the women allegedly suffered. Suddenly, the image of the iron collar and chains used by slave-owners gave way to talk of ‘invisible handcuffs’. From this point on, the promoters of this urban legend about modern-day slavery argued that what is really significant about this hitherto unrecognised crime is not what can be seen by the naked eye but rather the often ‘invisible’ problem of mental enslavement. These are slaves who are not physically chained into a life of servitude, but rather are wrapped up in ‘emotional chains’ by their psychologically manipulative captors. ‘Brainwashed’ became the term most commonly used by campaigners spreading myths about an epidemic of ‘slavery’.
Proving (again) that any moron can do well at “fantasy” sports
An excellent week for my picks in the Ace of Spades HQ fantasy football pool at Yahoo! That’s still a relatively big lead for the player who has been top-of-the-rankings from week 1, though:
Despite cutbacks, the Royal Navy still internationally active (and valid)
Sir Humphrey on how the UK still manages to project force around the world in the wake of the most recent set of budget cuts:
While the numbers may be smaller than in the past, reading the twitter feed [@NavyLookout]and looking at the images of modern vessels, one is left with a genuine sense that the RN remains an immensely capable force by any reasonable standard. The ability to deploy this force globally, and to meet a wide range of missions is extremely impressive. One of the centre pieces of the SDSR was the restructuring of the RN to provide the so-called ‘Response Force Task Group’ (RFTG) which has since establishment proven to be a superb means of deploying a worked up task group around the world and reacting to events.
In this year alone the Royal Navy has been engaged in operations across the globe, and been able to not only rely on warship deployments, but also highlight the value of its wider basing and command and control capabilities. As the year draws to a close, there are by the authors reckoning three 1* command groups deployed out there co-coordinating both UK and Multi-national operations. The facility in Sembewang has once again highlighted its importance to the RN (and the wider UK) as a useful foothold in a region that the RN hasn’t frequented for some years, and HMS DARING and HMS ILLUSTRIOUS have helped restore hope to thousands of people affected by the dreadful events in the Philippines.
While many wish to be downbeat about the RN, given the pace at which it is operating globally, and the way in which it is able to respond so rapidly to so many events, it is hard to see it as a navy in decline. Yes it is smaller, but so are most Navies these days. But to judge a Navy purely by hulls and not by output is misguided — the RN today remains one of the most capable on the planet, and the events of this year have gone to show that it continues to meet the task placed on it with aplomb.
Vikings lose in last-minute scorefest
I only got to watch the last few minutes of this game, as the local (Buffalo) channel was the Bucs-Bills game and even the Winnipeg station that usually carries Viking games had the Colts-Bengals game on. Even at that, the game lasted just long enough that Fox cut away from the game with four seconds left on the clock to begin broadcast of the Seahawks-49ers game. In that slightly-more-than two minutes, I saw most of the scoring in the game.
Initial reports on Twitter indicated this might be a 0-0 tie, with neither team able to generate much for the first few series. By halftime, the score was 7-3 in Baltimore’s favour. The big story of the half was Adrian Peterson’s injury, with all kinds of rumours flying about the relative seriousness (at one point, he was reported to have been sent by ambulance to a local hospital). Peterson was seen on the sideline later in the game, wearing shoes and no obvious cast, brace, or walking boot, so we can hope the injury will not impair his ability to finish the season. Another injury had nearly as much impact on the Vikings, as offensive guard Brandon Fusco left the game with a knee injury and didn’t return. Fusco has been the most consistent player on the line this season. Tight end John Carlson and cornerback Xavier Rhodes were also injured during the second half.
The weather was a factor in the game, but not as much as the game in Philadelphia, where up to eight inches of snow was reported at midfield. The TV announcers made several comments about the grounds crew not clearing the snow, so @Justin_Rogers posted a summary of the NFL’s rules on snow removal. @ArifHasanDN screencapped the most relevant portion:
It’s common for fans to decry the officials over the course of a game, but it’s rare for players to do so. Adrian Peterson was upset enough about the officiating that he probably will be getting a fine from the league over this tweet he sent out near the end of the game:
Wow talking about bad officiating & the worst fan base I've ever experience! They threw snow balls the entire 4q like lil kids. Smh
— Adrian Peterson (@AdrianPeterson) December 8, 2013
Another tweet from Eric Thompson explains why the Vikings can claim to be a bit better than their actual record:
Since the TD didn't come in the last minute this time I have to adjust my stat: If games were 57:55 long, the #Vikings would be 8-5.
— Eric Thompson (@eric_j_thompson) December 8, 2013
From just before the two-minute warning to the end of the game, with the Vikings leading 12-7 the score sheet goes like this:
- Baltimore TD after 4 minute drive. Add two-point conversion. Score 12-15.
- Minnesota TD on a 41-yard Toby Gerhart run. (Only the third time this season Baltimore has given up a rushing TD.) Score 19-15.
- Baltimore TD on a 77-yard kick return by Jacoby Jones. Score 19-22.
- Minnesota TD on a 79-yard catch-and-run by Cordarrelle Patterson. Score 26-22.
- Baltimore TD after a terrible pass interference call against Chad Greenway which wiped out what would have been the game-clinching interception. Final score 26-29.
The 5 TD's scored in 2:01 in Vikes-Ravens game is the FASTEST 5 TD's scored in a game since 1983…before all 5 of those players were born.
— FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) December 8, 2013
After a wild finish like that, it’s almost anti-climactic to say that the loss pushes the Vikings out of post-season contention (with only three wins on the season, it would have taken a few miracles for them to get into the playoffs anyway).
Adding further insult, the Vikings couldn’t even get out of Baltimore without further problems:
Pete Bercich tells me Vikings plane was run into by catering truck, so another plane is coming in from Detroit to Balt. Can't make this up!
— Mark Rosen (@WCCORosen) December 8, 2013
1500ESPN rounded up a couple of homeless guys to do their post-game wrap up:
