All posts tagged: Duty

Proposed duty to report sex abuse branded ‘useless’ by campaigners

Proposed duty to report sex abuse branded ‘useless’ by campaigners

Published by skeptic

The Government’s proposals to introduce a duty to report suspected cases of child sexual abuse are “useless” and “ineffective”, according to campaigners and abuse law experts. In 2022, the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) recommended legal obligations mandating the reporting of suspected or known cases of child sexual abuse. The recommendation specified that a criminal penalty for failing to report abuse should be introduced. Yet despite the Government’s promise to accept the recommendations of IICSA in full, the new Crime and Policing Bill as introduced to Parliament last week contains no criminal sanction for non-reporting. The National Secular Society has repeatedly called for the introduction of mandatory reporting laws to combat the problem of religious institutions covering up abuse. It repeated its calls for mandatory reporting laws last year following revelations that the Church of England had covered up the sexual abuse perpetrated by CofE lay reader John Smyth. NSS vice president: “Too many” religious organisations will “get away with concealment” The lack of criminal penalty for non-reporting has been strongly criticised by …

Watch Duty, a Wildfire-Tracking App, Provides a Lifeline in Los Angeles

Watch Duty, a Wildfire-Tracking App, Provides a Lifeline in Los Angeles

Published by skeptic

Paulette Lifton woke up on her 67th birthday on Tuesday morning in a panic to smoke pluming in the distance of her home in the Granada Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles. The first person she called was her sister Annette. “What’s going on?” Ms. Lifton asked. “You have to download the Watch Duty app,” her sister responded. Ms. Lifton did just that, tracking the spread of the fire through the app’s map and updates as she packed her car with her most prized possessions — her favorite sequin jacket; her dogs, King Charles spaniels, Elle and Sansa; and the two Emmys she won as a television and movie sound editor. For Ms. Lifton and thousands of other Los Angeles residents, Watch Duty has become a lifeline in tracking the multiple wildfires blazing around the city. In a county of nearly 10 million people, the news of the app has spread by word of mouth and in online community groups. The app has sometimes provided faster and more reliable updates than the city’s buggy mobile notification …

‘All Hands on Deck’: How Watch Duty Keeps Up With the California Wildfires

‘All Hands on Deck’: How Watch Duty Keeps Up With the California Wildfires

Published by skeptic

Like, download Watch Duty and get results there. Otherwise, have at it, man. Have at it on the internet and hope it makes you feel better. I feel bad for them, honestly, you know? I’ve been through this before. But the way that I coped is by building Watch Duty, not by yelling into the ether. We all have our coping mechanisms. Some are productive and some are not. Screenshot: Courtesy of Watch Duty Do you think people being able to get more information about what’s happening on the ground will help them be smarter about what they’re saying online? Or is all that shitposting still going to happen? I don’t know, man. I wish I had a good answer that I could play into your question, but I just don’t really, like, care about those people. It’s just so uninteresting. People are still running from fire right now. And that’s really what matters. I don’t need armchair reporters now. There are great reporters who are not in Watch Duty, like a bunch of people …

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 drove October’s sales growth | Circana

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 drove October’s sales growth | Circana

Published by skeptic

Despite an overall downward-ish trend in sales throughout 2024, October managed to show positive growth, according to industry-tracking firm Circana. This appears to be thanks, in part at least, to Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, which was the best-selling game of the month — however, it was just one of many October titles to make it onto the month’s list. October 2024 Dollar Sales, Millions Oct2023 Oct2024 Change Total Video Game Sales $4,254 $4,662 10% Video Game Content (Physical & Digital Full Game, DLC/MTX and Subscription consumer spending across Console, Cloud, Mobile*, Portable, PC and VR platforms) $3,770 $4,227 12% Video Game Hardware $323 $249 -23% Video Game Accessories $162 $187 15% *Mobile spending provided by Sensor Tower Hardware sales are still down, but not to the extent that they have been in previous months. In September, hardware sales fell by 44% year-over-year, while they fell 23% in October. Unlike last month, overall game sales and content sales didn’t trend downward — in fact, overall sales rose by 10%, the highest amount of growth …

Do refugees have a duty to be grateful?

Do refugees have a duty to be grateful?

Published by Sam

Every year millions of people leave their home countries to seek safety elsewhere. Refugees escape persecution, subvert international borders and sometimes cross oceans to seek safety. They then face a gruelling asylum adjudication system which determines whether they will receive support. Once refugees have made these perilous journeys and are offered international protection, against all odds, some claim that they are then required to go even further: they must be grateful for it. On his popular Fox News show in 2019, American commentator Tucker Carlson criticised US congresswoman Ilhan Omar, a refugee from Somalia, on precisely these grounds. “If anyone should love America, it’s Ilhan Omar”, Carlson opined, the “country rescued her from a squalid Kenyan refugee camp and made her a national figure … But Ilhan Omar is not grateful. She hates us for it.” Albeit often in less strident terms, others have appealed to duties of gratitude to demand “good behaviour” from refugees. In 2006 a UNHCR representative warned a group of refugees in South Africa, “we understand the challenges you face, but …

Faith-based environmental groups take on fossil fuels as ‘a sacred duty’

Faith-based environmental groups take on fossil fuels as ‘a sacred duty’

Published by skeptic

(RNS) — In mid-September, Val Smith, chief sustainability officer at Citigroup, one of the United States’ Big Four of banking, met with four religious environmental activists to discuss the company’s record on fossil fuel investment. In 2021, Citi had pledged to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, but according to reports by independent financial researchers and environmental watchdog groups, the bank has become the second-largest funder of oil, coal and gas projects in the world. “(We) asked Citi what its justification was for continued fossil fuel expansion, and they didn’t have an answer,” said Rabbi Jacob Siegel, climate adviser for Dayenu, a 4-year-old Jewish organization focused on addressing the climate crisis, and one of the four clergy at the Sept. 18 meeting. The religious activists had booked the meeting with Smith thanks to the Summer of Heat, a campaign that organized more than 40 protests at the bank’s headquarters in Lower Manhattan. In one demonstration, an interfaith group of clergy had come dressed in white linen and clerical collars to the front entrance of Citigroup’s …

Ofsted inspectors worry about mid-week deluge on duty desk

Ofsted inspectors worry about mid-week deluge on duty desk

Published by skeptic

Move comes after Ofsted said it would inform schools of inspections on Mondays Move comes after Ofsted said it would inform schools of inspections on Mondays Ofsted will mobilise extra staff to deal with an expected deluge of calls from lead inspectors on Wednesdays after changes to inspection dates, the union representing HMIs has said. Ofsted now gives school leaders notice of all routine, graded and ungraded, inspections on a Monday, and inspects on a Tuesday and Wednesday,. But there are fears that this could lead to a “logjam” at the Ofsted duty desk if lead inspectors are calling in at the same or similar times, particularly on a Wednesday. Lead inspectors may contact the desk during the second day of an inspection to discuss emerging findings, Ofsted’s handbook states. If one or more of their provisional key judgments is ‘inadequate’, or they think safeguarding is ineffective, the lead inspector must call the desk before their final oral feedback with the school. But the FDA trade union, which represents inspectors, said Ofsted has assured it …

Isuzu NRR EV electric medium duty truck is in production

Isuzu NRR EV electric medium duty truck is in production

Published by skeptic

It’s official – Isuzu has announced the official start of production for its highly anticipated new electric cab and chassis, the Isuzu NRR-EV (and I’m super excited about it). I’ve been a fan of Isuzu’s medium duty cabover trucks for more than two decades, and often try to dream up reasons to weasel one into the Borrás fleet. Based on the company’s sales figures, I’m not alone – they’re best-selling low cab forward trucks in America. As Isuzu’s first electric truck, its production start is being called “a significant milestone in Isuzu’s storied history,” and underscores the brand’s commitment to sustainable transportation solutions that will provide viable zero-emission offerings for North America’s commercial fleets. And, just like Isuzu’s diesel NRR, the truck can be up-fitted as a box van for middle and final mile deliveries, a dump body for landscaping, or even as a sweeper (below) or garbage truck. In other words, the new Isuzu NRR-EV electric is designed to be just as versatile as its previous gas and diesel models. Maybe more versatile, in fact, …

D-day deserter Rishi Sunak didn’t do his duty, so why should gen Z be expected to do theirs? | Martha Gill

D-day deserter Rishi Sunak didn’t do his duty, so why should gen Z be expected to do theirs? | Martha Gill

Published by skeptic

Rishi Sunak is in an unfortunate position. Anything he does that even slightly cuts convention will now be read as a terrible blunder. Once a narrative like this picks up steam it is hard to stop. The press wants to add to the story arc. A delighted Labour will help it along. And perhaps even some of his own camp, looking for a scapegoat in the coming election defeat, will be rooting for him to fail. There’s really no spinning his latest gaffe. It’s quite the decision to aim your entire campaign at those who care about the Second World War, and then to D-day ceremony, leaving veterans standing. Is this match-fixing, you wonder? Some wild scheme – a Westminster version of Mel Brooks’s film The Producers – to turn the campaign into a notorious flop and then somehow profit? The Conservatives have sacrificed their chances with wide swathes of voters in pursuit of a traditionalist core. Insulting war heroes is rarely a wise move. But here it may be fatal. What we saw last week …

Martin Compston Names His Top Pick For Line Of Duty Season 7 Cast

Martin Compston Names His Top Pick For Line Of Duty Season 7 Cast

Published by skeptic

Fans may still be eagerly waiting for any news of Line Of Duty’s potential return, but Martin Compston already knows who he’d want to see cast if season seven does end up happening. The Scottish actor played DI Steve Arnott in the hugely popular BBC drama about the AC-12 anti-corruption unit, starring alongside Vicky McClure and Adrian Dunbar. Line Of Duty ran for six seasons from 2012-2021 and ultimately unmasked the mysterious “H” in the finale. But while it might look like most of the show’s loose ends have now been tied up, that hasn’t stopped fans from speculating about a possible revival in the future – and even Martin has given it some thought. In a recent interview with The Mirror, Martin said that former EastEnders star Danny Dyer “would be a great shout” to join the cast as a new bent copper. Danny Dyer Visionhaus via Getty Images “Danny is something else, honestly, he is one of our treasures. He is a wonderful actor – it would be good to see [him] in …