fl0wer

Well Kid a bit of further research on your part (plenty available on Graun websites including video interviews) would soon reveal that it is usually a well known and long practised local woman who does the "surgery" and that the men of these groups won't consider marrying, or letting their sons marry, a girl who has not had it done. So all sides of the population have a part to play.

Thankyou Lee, and srisky. I decided the Family Discussion section http://www.eastdulwichforum.co.uk/forum/read.php?29,1212745 [lots of links here] was the part of EDF most likely to reach everyone doing child care and perhaps to let nurses and teachers know, anyone really who has the means to reach and protect potential victims. Beyond them is a discussion about how to deflect the perpetrators and everyone around them, aware what they are permitting - justifying it on all sorts of grounds. Religious or racial hate speech will be a distraction here and I would urge readers to report it to the Moderator and beyond if our local forum acquiesces in it. The problems of getting the victim to name the cutter and to incriminate their own family are just as intractable as with other forms of child abuse, these are the relevant debates to have IMHO. Prevention of FGM is the only goal to aim for because there isn't a cure afterwards. A lifelong injury has been done. Remedial surgery is sometimes achievable when childbirth is followed by incontinence, one of the common sequelae. In some parts of the world that outcome would consign a person to lifelong misery & isolation as people shun her and there are medical charities to which we can contribute specifically.

According to today's column in the paper "There are an estimated 66,000 victims of FGM in England and Wales, with more than 24,000 girls under 15 believed to be at risk every year." This number brings home the scale of it. I was staggered when I read how many. In France the practice has been eliminated by giving all at-risk girls regular health checks, and with high-profile prosecutions.

A page for all who work with children, detailing what's holding back effective prosecutions and making recommendations about the way we can use the law more protectively: http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/feb/07/fgm-female-genital-mutilation-prosecutions-law-failed

If he has put Warfarin, it doesn't work all in one fell swoop. The way it works is by thinning blood so that next time, which could be a few days away, the creature bruises itself it bleeds internally to death. It faints first then it never comes round. Rather than write emotive stuff about this, finding and properly disposing of the carcass is the only way to prevent anticoagulant poison entering the food chain, as the Pest Control Officer knows.

Here she is writing back to Michael Gove after he reminded teachers to use their powers punishing children more: http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/feb/07/michael-gove-minister-punishment-discipline-social-care

http://www.theguardian.com/business/gallery/2014/feb/07/a-dirty-dozen-of-fake-foods-in-pictures (this is a photo gallery) http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/feb/07/fake-food-scandal-revealed-tests-products-mislabelled (this is a column of text, but it doesn't add much to the above information)

Morning all, have heard back from James Barber who says that some ?1,000 of council money was allocated for more trees and he is interested in helping us further with this site. He suggests a facebook page for the moment, & in time people could formalise a Friends Group. I think this would be excellent, because it would offer a window onto the Dawson Hill reserve which anyone could access eg from a classroom. Am not doing facebook myself but can offer digital pics and if you PM me I can put enthusiasts in touch with each other. Correspondence I've had with each person so far has been about contacting council personnel. What kind of publicity would you be comfortable with? Is anyone keen to update a facebook 'diary' on a regular basis? Over a few seasons these can provide a colourful record & encouragement to others to join in. If you like, we could invite the manager Paul Highman to temporarily be the central point of reference, with whom we arrange a day for a meeting and walk together round the site. SOON. Even though it is wintry this seems the right moment to assess what work does and doesn't need doing, and where volunteers could offer particular skills.

"Deposit" = gold dust for compost heaps, waste not want not. After all, you have already paid for it, those are pampered horses there....

Yes, I wish you had too. I know it would have been difficult to find the right way to frame your thoughts out loud but I completely agree with your responses. However: treating Nannies impolitely is nothing new. The old one who brought me up over 50 years ago said the worst employers were always the 'jumped-up' ones (i.e. newly rich).

You can write to them Daniel, there is a designated Tree Officer. The usual reason cited is 'crown reduction', intended to reduce the overall bulk and therefore the instability of a tree close to buildings. Fruit trees should be well pruned - reduced by about a third each year, branches shaped like a bowl to catch the sunshine. Far better crops will result. Everything will grow back fairly well, but I agree is horrible when first done. At least the Council has heeded our request that people aren't at work on the trees just as birds start to nest. The next thng is to get better choices of species for urban planting. With climate change come challenges. Some fungi & insects boom, weakening particular trees, and rainfall goes haywire making the Victorain drain systems then tree root/subsidence problems proliferate. Very hot summers are hell in cities without trees. Well chosen for shade, plus drought and disease resistance are all set to be the name of the game.

On BBC TV yesterday evening a railway historian was reminding us.[sorry, cannot find a link to post] When the Beeching cuts were applied to Devon's railways they axed an inland route westwards through Okehampton and Tavistock. The seaside Brunel line now in the frame from the rough weather, the trainline nicknamed "Cornish Riviera" was the one which remained open. So the SW travel debate will re-focus that Oke-Tavi line. Many townspeople would be delighted. Commuters from Okehampton -> Exeter presently burn down the A30. As petrol prices rise and Exeter's streets choke up with cars, the train services become more crucial. People in Teignmouth and other coastal towns SW towards Totnes, whose train journeys cease for at least the next 2 months while engineers deal with storm damage, will face further negative impacts if that inland railway route re-opens.

another update - please share this with everyone you can. Includes helpful info for teachers http://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/feb/05/what-you-can-do-to-end-fgm-female-genital-mutilation-campaign

and here is news of a 17yr old adding to the publicity this topic needs: http://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/feb/05/british-girl-guardian-campaign-end-female-genital-mutilation-fgm

To see what is happening at Dawlish today turn on the national TV news. This won't be a reliable train line any more. Exmouth seafront is closed and many other coastal towns along there are getting a real hammering as well. http://www.exeterexpressandecho.co.uk/East-Devon-coastline-issued-severe-flood-warning/story-20563521-detail/story.html

Beware the hideous North Devon College for your teenagers. Also I would never sign up for an hour on that A361 link road morning and evening, nor an hour-long drive into Exeter and back along the Crediton road. Beware the possibility of kiddies, too, having hours of daily bus rides into school. This is a real problem, it tires children out too much especially in wintertime. Many from mid-Devon opt for schools that offer weekly boarding, or find town families to offer them weektime lodgings.

If you'd like to explore the less costly and equally beautiful inland towns/villages, many of which offer good junior schools, humming communities & plenty of outdoor freedoms for growing children, take a small train which goes northwards out of Exeter St David's. Both Exeter and Crediton took a massive 30% house price leap when the Met.Office relocated to Devon. But this, in turn, brought prosperity and helped keep that train running. Much favoured over daily commutes to work by car, which from outside the city often entail slow, hazardous labyrinths of lanes. http://www.greatscenicrailways.com/tarka.html Also think about the Tavistock area which has Dartmoor on its doorstep, the seaside a short journey away. Streets of generously proportioned Victoriana give good value for money and it has strong cultural life.

Expected at this time of year. Listen/read short explanation here:

Last summer the cherries grown alongside Dunstan Rd were being assiduously harvested by a local cook. Crossing Donkey Alley is a fence-side path, a short cut through to Overhill Road, which is overgrown with brambles, & they are valuable as habitat too. After a couple of decades there will be young trees growing up through and "winning" over the blackberries. I would be in favour of orchards and fruit trees being planted in back/front gardens rather than in nature reserves, unless they become part of hedgerows and varieties are chosen to be specially friendly to wildlife. The fruit trees in a central region look a bit - well, shall we say, lived-in. Or dumped-under, as in muck from people's yards piled up beneath. It is difficult to persuade random pickers to leave fruit like apples on the trees long enough to ripen. From a Protected Site viewpoint however, the designation of 'traditional orchard' counts quite highly in planning departments. Old orchards can really thrive with bird and insect life, so long as the sprays and obsessive mowers are banished. This brings me to the topic of using the site for teaching purposes. Time for the Council to find ways to publicise what biodiversity is, to aim to include local children and their parents. Since WWII hardly any room was allocated in junior school for natural history education. The result is ... a generation in need of rekindling. I don't find hope is the salient thing here. I think the important part is getting humankind, at the right age when our youngsters wake up to the world around them, genuinely protective of green landscape anywhere close by. Teachers will welcome some imaginative help with "Key Stages" in the National Curriculum, which is boosted with practical, outdoor learning. Perhaps this marks a change of attitude. Places like cemeteries & parks are often passively viewed by townspeople, to be maintained through the rates. Whereas wildlife-rich areas can be something a bit different, places where multiple layers of life forms get safety and can be carefully studied.

Just back from a walk around. The top area was tidied up quite well, but I am sorry to say that plastic bottles and dead Christmas trees have appeared again here already, and soiled nappies + great, disgusting pile of fly tipping lurk inside the fence on to Mount Adon Park. They encroach upon the beautiful flowering patch I began this thread with. What mindset can someone have, to treat it thus? Paper and plastic litter is still accumulating along the Dunstan's Rd verge. Would it take much effort really, to care a bit more for the green space here?

an update, from Jon Best (Southwark Council's Biodiversity Officer) as follows: I can confirm that the litter has been cleared from the top of the site. For information we will be creating some areas of wildflower planting on the hill. small meadows will be going up the sides of the new zig zag path and a large area that once had Japanese knotweed growing on it has been selected. If any local people would like to be involved in the sowing of the meadows please let me know and I will try to arrange. For information the best people to contact regarding Dawson's Hill are Paul Highman the manager or, Robert Roach the Contracts and services Officer. > Paul Highman Dulwich Area Contract and Services Manager Francis Peek Centre Dulwich Park College Road London SE21 7BQ Tel :020 8693 0614 Mob :07944 558 312 Fax :020 8693 5737 Robert Roach Contracts & Services Officer - Dulwich Area Francis Peek Centre, Dulwich Park, College Road, London SE21 7BQ. Tel: 020 8693 8635 Mob: 07950 763 151 Fax: 020 8693 5737 http://i992.photobucket.com/albums/af46/fl0wer7/Screenshot2014-02-03at152603_zps8479531a.png

Here's the retiring Director of Public Prosecutions with his take on why this crime is presently going unpunished: http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/feb/03/britain-criminal-justice-system-victims-law-public-prosecutions

You can ask the council to take it for you, I would suggest the wheelie bin stops foxes pulling it out whereas sacks soon get messy. To deal with it sooner we can use big public bins, eg on Peckham Rye between the Park gates and the green space.

Yes, good question to ask. I always use the recycling [blue] bins for thrown out fabrics and for the sake of the people who have jobs sifting this stuff it gets washed and dried first, even if it is ragbag. Label it saying "cotton - clean but unusable clothing" or "Duvet - polyester - clean" or somesuch. The reasons are i) real cotton, real linen, and real wool can all be recycled. Paper manufacturers want this fabric. Also cabinet makers and painters demand lint-free rags. Wool waste is made into carpet underlay. ii) Africa receives shiploads of Europe's unwanted clothing and bedding, to be mended, restyled, and sold on. Many of the things rejected in UK charity shops get collected & sold [by weight] for this purpose. iii) things like suitcases will be collected if you put them out on bin day labelled 'please take'. I believe much of it gets repaired and resold too.

Any chance you and Bibby could take the camera along for your Power Pramming keep-fit session?