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November cometh. Its a little early to put up my new banner but i couldn't wait.
I took the November banner photo yesterday at a farm a few miles away, where we buy our straw for the chickens. Its the same farm where i get my sides of beef cut up. In fact, they cut it up behind that red barn door. On the way over, I saw a huge hare on the road and that was almost this month's banner. Have a great November, everyone!
Resource starts this weekend. There is still time to register. Its a one year program in the UK, built around certain training weekends so its totally doable for anyone. I teach occasionally at Resource weekends and they are really fun. The guy in this photo, btw, is none other than Maty Big Fro who often comments on this blog. Maty went through the Resource Church Planting training a few years ago. Actually, Maty, I just looked at your blog [MatyBigFro: Webbumblings of a wanna be rastafarian prosperity prophet] and I really think you should come back in for some fine tuning . . . he he he.
Technorati Tags: emerging church, resource
This week marks the second of three HPV immunisation jabs for 11-13 year olds in the UK. HPV is a sexually transmitted disease that can lead to genital warts and cervical cancer. We will be keeping our 13 year old out of school because they jabbed her last time without our consent and despite her not wanting it either. Some of you have been asking about this so here is the skinny.
Question: Can they jab your 11-13 year old daughter without parental consent in the UK?
Answer:Yes. According to the guidance in this Consent To Treatment form that was handed to us at our meeting with the NHS.
Children under the age of 16
Children in this age group are not deemed to be automatically legally competent to give consent. The courts have determined that such children can be legally competent if they have "sufficient understanding and intelligence to enable him or her to understand fully what is proposed".
. . . The emphasis in the Department of Health's guidance is that the families of children in this age group should be involved in decisions about their care, unless there is a very good reason for not doing so. If however, a competent child under the age of 16 is insistent that their family should not be involved, their right to confidentiality must be respected, unless such an approach would put them at serious risk of harm.
We don't have a big problem with that particular law in the UK. In fact, we wish it were followed in our case, especially the parts about families being involved and children being given 'sufficient understanding'. You may have read our story in my blog or in the national papers. Abigail, who has Type 1 diabetes, did not have 'sufficient understanding' regarding this process. She was told to sign a form and she obeyed. She did not know it was a consent form or that she was giving permission to something that neither she nor us wanted. The jab came unexpectedly, taking her by surprise. You can imagine the trauma our family has gone through, especially reading of deaths and injuries young girls have sustained in the USA.
We met with NHS officials after we lodged our complaint. The report from our meeting with NHS arrived yesterday. Pretty disappointing! We were expecting an apology for the coerced vaccination of our daughter and probably some disciplinary action for the doctor involved, but we didnt get either. Instead, their report ruled in their favour. Their conclusion:
Technorati Tags: hpv
Continue reading "HPV Immunisation: We don't want the Jab!" »
Big news in the UK today was Russell Brand apologising to actor Andrew Sachs ("Manuel" in Fawlty Towers) and resigning his job as BBC presenter. Sky news had Russell giving a heartfelt honest apology and resignation from BBC and it was really refreshing to see.
In my opinion, I have never really liked Russell Brand much at all and yet today, I find I suddenly respect him. Why? Because in a world where everyone is afraid of admitting they were wrong, Russell Brand totally owns up to his pathetic behavior, admits he "crossed the line" in a juvenille way, gives the best apology I have ever heard on TV, and does so while respecting and honouring all parties involved.
Video here [thanks Richard]
Technorati Tags: russell brand
This image, taken from a partial scan of a photo from Aaron Huey, reminded me of John the Baptist, a voice in the desert, calling . . . Most of Aaron's excellent photos (not sure about the one above) were taken with an old Leica M6 and 35mm lens.
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