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Articles / Biological Mother Of SC 3-Year-Old Who Was Killed: I Trusted SCDSS And They....

« on: February 02, 2021, 07:22:13 PM »

https://www.fitsnews.com/2021/01/27/biological-mother-of-sc-3-year-old-who-was-killed-i-trusted-scdss-and-they-failed/

Biological Mother Of SC 3-Year-Old Who Was Killed: I Trusted SCDSS And They Failed

Now, the biological family is fighting another battle to get the 3-year-old’s body back so they can bury her.

Published 6 days ago

on January 27, 2021

By Mandy Matney

Less than a year after 3-year-old Victoria ‘Tori’ Rose Smith was placed in her new home in Simpsonville, South Carolina, her adopted parents were charged in her murder.  Now, her biological family and the community need answers.  In the aftermath of the tragedy, more than 3,800 people have signed a petition asking state lawmakers to reform the South Carolina Department of Social Services (SCDSS) a scandal scarred agency whose failures are now in the national spotlight.  Supporters of the petition also want the state to give Victoria’s remains back to her biological family so they can bury her properly.  “We feel like we deserve her body because we’re her family,” Victoria’s mother Casie Phares pleaded on a Facebook video.

Phares said that they have a family plot ready and paid for. They just need their baby girl’s body.  “At the end of the day, they failed and they hurt her,” Phares said of SCDSS. “She deserves to be laid to rest with her family.”

Victoria’s adopted parents Ariel Shnise Robinson, who is known for winning Season 20 of Worst Cooks in America, and Jerry Austin Robinson were charged with homicide by child abuse on Jan. 19 five days after their adopted daughter’s death.  Michelle Urps, Victoria’s biological great aunt, and family spokesperson said that SCDSS did not notify her family of the 3-year-old’s death. They found out about it on the news.  When Phares called SCDSS to ask if the little girl who died was her daughter, she was shut down by a SCDSS worker, Urps said.  Urps said that the SCDSS worker told the grieving mother that they didn’t owe her an explanation in the wake of her daughter’s homicide. Then they hung up.  Now, Victoria’s body is with the Greenville County coroner’s office, she said.  “All we want right now is Victoria’s body,” she said. “We need to give her a proper funeral. We need that little bit of closure.”

Why Victoria Rose Smith was in SCDSS custody

Phares, a young mother, was first flagged by SCDSS when she tested positive for marijuana in her system when she was pregnant with Victoria, she said.  Victoria, too, tested positive for marijuana when she was born, according to Urps. One of her older brothers tested negative and the other brother’s test was inconclusive.  “Things just kind of spiraled from there,” Urps said.

Phares and Urps were both clear the kids were never abused while they were with their biological family.  In an interview (below) with a family advocate, Phares said she did everything she could do to get her kids back. She said she took multiple parenting classes and battered women classes through SCDSS.  “I didn’t have a vehicle at the time and I tried asking for help multiple times,” she said. “I just kept hitting road block after road block.”

Phares’ SCDSS caseworker would not answer her calls and wouldn’t offer any assistance when she needed help, Urps said.  One day, still while under SCDSS radar, Phares fell asleep while watching the two boys and Victoria, who was a newborn at the time. She had been up all night with the baby the night before.  The two boys ran to the neighbors while their mom was asleep, Urps said. The neighbors contacted police and that was the “final straw” for SCDSS.  Phares also was struggling to find housing at the time, which made her case with SCDSS even worse.  “Instead of (SCDSS) helping her get housing, they looked at (Victoria’s mother) and said ‘figure it out,'” Urps said.

When Victoria’s mother went to court for custody of her children, her SCDSS caseworker didn’t warn her of what would happen, Urps said. They told her she didn’t need an attorney. She didn’t know she could have an advocate with her, or that she needed one.  Unprepared, she lost custody of her three children, which made them available for adoption.  “(SCDSS) made me feel that it was better for the kids,” she said. “I thought they were going to a loving family. I thought if they could have better, happier lives and become better versions of themselves, that’s OK. I trusted them and they failed.”

Urps said she last saw the three children in February, when they were in foster care.  “We last saw those kids happy, healthy and thriving because the foster families who took care of them before they went to the Robinson’s home were amazing,” Urps said.

Urps said that the biological family was not allowed to know the details of the adoption.  When they saw photos of Victoria on the news, the family barely recognized her. Urps said she lost a significant amount of weight since she was adopted by the Robinsons in March 2020.  Phares said Victoria was “a very good kid” who “only cried when she was hungry."  SCDSS has refused to comment on the child’s case due to privacy concerns. They confirmed with FITSNews they are investigating along with law enforcement.

What happened to Victoria Rose Smith?

Ariel Shnise Robinson told her husband Jerry Austin Robinson to call 911 when their daughter was unresponsive at their Simpsonville, South Carolina home around 2 p.m. January 14, 2021, according to the incident report.  Ariel stated that a 911 dispatcher told her to move (Victoria) to the floor and begin CPR, which she said that she did. According to Ariel’s podcast, she was certified in child CPR.  Because the 911 call was originally for an unresponsive child, the Simpsonville Fire Department was first dispatched at 2:16 p.m. and they arrived at the home three minutes later. EMS arrived around 2:25 p.m.  First responders immediately took over CPR on Victoria and rushed her Prisma Health Greenville Memorial Hospital, the report said.  According to the heavily redacted report (below), it appears that first responders on scene immediately suspected child abuse. The fire department placed a call to the police department for child abuse/ aggravated assault and emergency protective custody at 2:25 p.m.  By the time police arrived on scene at 2:30 p.m., Victoria had already been taken to the hospital.  Police interviewed Ariel Robinson first. Nearly the entire interview with Ariel Robinson was redacted, except when she told police that something happened the day before.  Police also interviewed Jerry Robinson, who invoked his right to counsel and was transported to the Simpsonville Police Department. The report does not say when this happened.  Victoria Rose Smith was pronounced dead at the hospital that day.  Jerry Austin Robinson, 34, and Ariel Robinson, 29, were both charged with homicide by child abuse around 2:20 p.m. Jan. 19 five days after their adopted daughter died.  The case was investigated by SLED, per South Carolina law in the unexpected death of a child.  Ariel and Jerry Robinson are accused of “inflicting a series of blunt force injuries” which caused Victoria Rose Smith’s death on Jan. 14, according to arrest warrants in the case.  Law enforcement said in the warrants they had enough probable cause to charge based on the investigation.  Simpsonville Police officials told FITSNews Monday they would not be releasing any more information in the case.  As FITSNews has reported many times before, SCDSS has failed South Carolina children and taxpayers on virtually every front in the last decade.  Victoria’s case is unfortunately not the first time SCDSS has been blamed in a child’s death.  In 2013, a 4-year-old Robert Guinyard, Jr., who was placed into an abusive home by SCDSS despite repeated warnings about his safety, was brutally murdered.  In 2018, 8-month-old Camden Shaw Kidder of Anderson County was murdered by his biological parents just one month after SCDSS reportedly concluded its 11th investigation against the baby’s father.  “Where was Baby Camden’s help when it mattered?” FITSNews founding editor Will Folks wrote in 2018. “Why does this keep happening in South Carolina? Does our state ever expect these horror stories to end so long as our government keeps perpetuating the underlying problem?”

And here we are in 2021 asking the same questions about another South Carolina child’s tragic death.  According to SCDSS Office of Child Fatalities, more than 20 S.C. children die every year due to maltreatment by a caregiver.  In 2020, 24 children in South Carolina died due to maltreatment. Richland County had the most child fatalities caused by maltreatment in 2020.  Victoria’s aunt told FITSNews she is working with lawmakers on “Victoria’s Bill” that would reform SCDSS.  “The system failed to keep Victoria and her brothers safe. And there are many others,” Urps told FITSNews. “We have to screen and keep contact with the families fostering and adopting children.”

The online petition specifically asks for frequent, unscheduled visits for both foster and adoptive parents, even after adoptions were finalized.  Urps said the family has been told that Victoria’s brothers are in foster care, but they don’t know where.  Ariel Robinson is best known for winning season 20 of “Worst Cooks in America” on the Food Network in August. This week, the Food Network pulled Ariel’s season from its streaming services.  According to her website, Ariel was a middle school teacher trying to make it as a stand-up comic, radio host and TV personality.  As the case has gained national attention this week, web sleuths around the country have poured through Robinson’s social media sites looking for answers in this tragedy.

Specifically, many are wondering: Could SCDSS have seen this coming?

In one of her standups, Ariel Robinson joked on video about threatening to punch her child in the throat while social workers visited her home during the adoption process.  Less than a year after 3-year-old Victoria ‘Tori’ Rose Smith was placed in her new home in Simpsonville, South Carolina, her adopted parents were charged in her murder.  Now, her biological family and the community need answers.  In the aftermath of the tragedy, more than 3,800 people have signed a petition asking state lawmakers to reform the South Carolina Department of Social Services (SCDSS) a scandal scarred agency whose failures are now in the national spotlight.  Supporters of the petition also want the state to give Victoria’s remains back to her biological family so they can bury her properly.  “We feel like we deserve her body because we’re her family,” Victoria’s mother Casie Phares pleaded on a Facebook video.

77

Articles / Babies from Cork County Home were buried in coffins with adults or ....

« on: February 02, 2021, 06:25:58 PM »

https://www.thejournal.ie/burials-cork-county-home-5338417-Jan2021/?utm_source=shortlink

Babies from Cork County Home were buried in coffins with adults or amputated limbs
A Bessborough survivor has said the revelations are “heartbreaking and shocking”.
Sat 2:52 PM

A NUMBER OF babies who died at Cork County Home were buried in the same coffins as adults, or in coffins containing amputated limbs.  The revelation is included in the final report of the Mother and Baby Homes Commission of Investigation.  The report, which was released earlier this month, confirmed that about 9,000 children died in the 18 ‘homes’ under investigation.  The Commission had difficulty in locating certain burials records, if they existed, of several institutions such as Bessborough Mother and Baby Home.  The Commission also struggled to locate burial records for Cork County Home and District Hospital, a former workhouse that was subsequently renamed St Finbarr’s Hospital.  The Commission found that 2,318 unmarried mothers and over 2,400 children lived in the institution while it operated from 1921 to 1960. A number of the children were unaccompanied.  Some 545 children “died in infancy or early childhood” at Cork County Home during the same period.  The Commission also discovered that some infants were buried in the same coffins as strangers, or in coffins containing amputated limbs.    It located mortuary records relating to St Finbarr’s Hospital for the years 1968-85 at Cork University Maternity Hospital.  The report notes: “This set of index cards was compiled by a mortuary porter at the institution and recorded patient details including name, last address, date of death, name of undertaker and place of burial.  Index cards relating to ‘illegitimate’ infants who died in St Finbarr’s Hospital in this period stated that all were interred in St Michael’s Cemetery.”

The Commission examined the burial registers at St Michael’s Cemetery but “found no burial record for the infants identified on the mortuary index cards”.  “Further analysis of the mortuary index cards revealed that in some instances deceased infants were recorded as having been buried in the coffin of a deceased adult patient.  In other instances, infants were recorded as being buried in coffins containing amputated limbs.”

The Commission established that the Cork Health Authority/Southern Health Board bought burial plots in St Michael’s Cemetery since it opened in 1948.  “These burial plots were used to bury the unclaimed remains of adults who died in Cork county home/St Finbarr’s Hospital,” the report states.

The Commission was not able to establish if the practice of burying the remains of ‘illegitimate’ infants in the coffins of deceased adults was undertaken as far back as 1948.  As well as unmarried mothers, older, disabled and sick people, including people with mental illness, lived in county homes. The unmarried mothers often had to care for other residents in the institutions.  Many children were transferred to Cork County Home from Bessborough prior to being ‘boarded out’ (fostered) by the local authority.

‘Heartbreaking and shocking’

Mary Harney, who was born in the Bessborough mother and baby home in Cork in 1949 and campaigns on behalf of survivors, said the revelations about burials at the county home are “heartbreaking and shocking”.

"After I read that, I had a terrible night of nightmares. Every time I closed my eyes it was all I could see, babies in shrouds buried with strangers.  They say that children were buried with adults, not their own parents. They were put into coffins that already held a dead adult.  Also, some children were put into coffins with limbs. The same hospital that is attached to the county home in Cork had an amputation and limb processing unit making false limbs.  So when the limbs were amputated they were then buried, and some of the babies were put in with those limbs.”

Harney told TheJournal.ie the manner in which these children were buried reinforces that view held by some people in the past that “children born to single parents were disposable”.  “We are supposed to be a Christian country, a Catholic country, and the ritual of burial in Ireland has a very special history, it is very important to families.  When you see that children born to single women were disposed of in such a fashion, it’s horrendous. It reinforces the image that we were not equal citizens, that the State did not cherish all of its children equally.”

The report also notes that the Commission and HSE staff “made extensive efforts to locate the mortuary records” related to Cork County Home “with limited success”.  Although some mortuary records relating to the years 1968-85 were located, mortuary records from the 1940s to the late-1960s were not found.”

The Commission says it “examined all available burial registers relating to cemeteries in Cork city and hinterland”.  “Of the 449 confirmed deaths of ‘illegitimate’ infants and children in Cork County Home in the period 1922-60, burial records for just two were found. Both were found in the burial registers of St Finbarr’s Cemetery and related to burials in the ‘poor ground’ section in 1948 and 1950.”

Archivists at Cork City and County Archives made the Commission aware of a ledger called ‘Record of Deaths in Cork County Home and Hospital’ which covered periods between 1931 and 1984.  The report states: “The volume relating to the period April 1931 to August 1940 recorded whether the board of assistance issued a shroud, coffin or burial plot.  Although many adults who died in the institution during this period were allotted burial plots, none was allotted to ‘illegitimate’ infants and children who died in the institution in this period.  This volume recorded that 50 deceased ‘illegitimate’ infants and children were allotted shrouds: nine of these were also allotted coffins. It appears that those who were allotted coffins were children over one year old.”

78

Articles / Deranged, deluded and deadly: How Jeremy Corbyn's brother Piers leads an....

« on: January 16, 2021, 02:56:32 PM »

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9152751/Covid-UK-Piers-Corbyn-leads-anti-vaxxer-movement-thinks-jabs-conspiracy.html

Deranged, deluded and deadly: How Jeremy Corbyn's brother Piers leads an anti-vaxxer movement that thinks jabs are a 'New World Order' conspiracy and chanted 'Covid is a hoax' outside a beleaguered hospital

    Piers Corbyn is a key figure in campaign spreading fear among NHS staff
    Brother of ex-Labour leader is anti-lockdown campaigner and 'anti-vaxxer'
    Corbyn rails against 'Covid Con', against vaccines, lockdowns and face masks

By Sian Boyle Undercover For The Daily Mail

Published: 22:00, 15 January 2021 | Updated: 06:17, 16 January 2021

New Year's Eve at St Thomas' Hospital in London is always gruelling. Booze-fuelled accidents, injuries and domestic incidents test staff physically, mentally and emotionally.  For those on duty as 2020 waned, it was a particular challenge and not just because of Covid-19, which was already filling intensive care unit (ICU) beds.  Matthew Lee, a recently qualified junior doctor, had been drafted in to help in Accident and Emergency over the festive period.  He'd just finished a brutal nine-hour shift when, 30 minutes before midnight, he left the hospital and was confronted by the sight of a rag-tag group of jeering individuals gathered at the entrance.  None was wearing a face mask. Some played drums as others chanted 'Covid is a hoax!' just a few hundred yards from the ICU where patients fought for breath as the virus attacked their lungs on the very wards where Boris Johnson was treated last April.  'Why do people still not realise the seriousness of this pandemic?' an anguished Dr Lee asked on Twitter after posting a video of the protest which has now been viewed almost five million times.  Their ignorance is hurting others,' he added.

Among the crowd of Covid-deniers was a scruffy, elderly man with a microphone.  'You have to pick up the cause,' he shouted. 'And if you don't do that, we will lose.'

The Mail today can reveal that the man with the mic was one Piers Corbyn, a key figure in a growing campaign that is targeting hospitals and spreading fear and intimidation among NHS staff.  The elder brother of former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has established himself as a fervent anti-lockdown campaigner and 'anti-vaxxer' who has described the Covid vaccine as a 'satanic death shot'.  But his role at the heart of a conspiracy-driven movement to protest outside hospitals and accuse them of fabricating the existence of Covid-19 has, until now, gone unreported.  Corbyn, 73, leads the Stop New Normal and #OurMovement groups, whose shared 'cause' is to rail against the 'Covid Con', against vaccines, lockdowns and face masks all of which they believe are symbols of increasing totalitarian control by a 'New World Order'.  That night he had mobilised some of his 60,000 social media followers to join him after the St Thomas' protest at the London Eye, with similar events taking place in Manchester, Brighton and Kidderminster.  Ever the showman, he concluded the evening with a bout of fire-breathing spitting out a flammable liquid which ignited to create a burst of flame and smoke.  There has been no let-up since. Last Saturday, a rally promoted by Stop New Normal, attracted hundreds of supporters in South-West London to protest against mayor Sadiq Khan's declaration of a 'major incident', as the spread of the new, more infectious strain of coronavirus threatened to overwhelm the capital's hospitals.  Blowing whistles and chanting 'Stand up' and 'Take your freedom back', they marched down Clapham High Street. Sixteen people were arrested.

Three days earlier, on January 6, I had attended another Stop New Normal demonstration in Parliament Square, surrounded by those convinced the virus is non-existent and who were there to protest against the 'scamdemic'.  They, too, chanted 'Freedom' and 'No to Fascism'.

I watched as a father with young children became engaged in an ugly stand-off with police. When he was arrested, his son burst into tears, burying his face against his mother's legs as his father was led away.  So how worried should we be about Piers Corbyn and his motley crew of supporters?

British politics has always had its fair share of screwballs and conspiracy theorists. Are these groups any different?

The answer is yes. At a time of unprecedented national crisis, mass vaccination offers Britain the only route out of the cycle of contagion and lockdown that has laid waste to the economy.  In a race against time, the ambitious aim of the Government's Covid-19 Vaccines Delivery Plan, unveiled this week, is to have vaccinated 13 million of the country's most vulnerable people by mid-February, and the rest of the adult population by the autumn.  Scientists say an 80 per cent uptake of the vaccine is needed to protect the population.  But an Oxford University study published last month found that up to 28 per cent of people are hesitant about receiving the vaccine.  One in five believes coronavirus data to be fabricated.  Those who, like Piers Corbyn and his supporters, propagate the message that Covid vaccines are dangerous and often go further, claiming the virus itself is a 'hoax' are imperilling the programme.  They are exploiting people's understandable anxiety, feeding them false information, just like the anti-vaxxers who campaign against MMR and other childhood immunisations, with devastating consequences for children world-wide left unprotected from potentially killer diseases.  The Stop New Normal website already boasts an official-looking document for members to give to care home bosses, on behalf of the 'UK Medical Freedom Alliance (UKMFA)', a group 'of medical professionals, scientists and lawyers', to try to dissuade them from giving vaccines to residents.  This comes in the wake of the scandalous Covid-19 death toll in such homes last spring.  The Covid-deniers' actions could have even more catastrophic consequences on a national scale.  Indeed, across Britain, the NHS is engaged in a dual war against both the resurgent new strain of coronavirus and those who believe its existence has been invented as a means to control world population by a powerful elite of politicians, media and the wealthy.  Princess Royal University Hospital in South-East London, Croydon University Hospital and Nightingale North-West Hospital in Manchester are among some 30 sites that have been targeted by the conspiracy theorists.  They have accessed hospitals at night to film outpatient departments which, of course, are deserted at that time, and posted the footage online as 'proof' that the Government and hospitals are lying about the number of cases.  Last week security guards had to remove a group of Covid-deniers from Colchester Hospital in Essex, while at least three hospital trusts have been forced to make statements to counter misinformation spread about them. Sir Simon Stevens, chief executive of NHS England, has condemned the protesters.  'You are not only responsible for potentially changing behaviour that will kill people, but it is an insult to the nurse coming home from 12 hours in critical care, having worked their guts out under the most demanding circumstances', he warned.

'There is nothing more demoralising than having that kind of nonsense spouted when it is obviously untrue.'

The Prime Minister echoed the sentiment.  'The kind of people who stand outside hospitals and say 'Covid is a hoax' they need to grow up,' he said.

But Piers Corbyn's rhetoric goes beyond mere infantilism. Some of his views are so radical brother Jeremy looks Churchillian in comparison.  The two grew up with a third brother in a charming 17th-century country house in a Shropshire village, raised by Left-wing intellectual parents in a thoroughly upper-middle class upbringing.  Piers studied physics at Imperial College London and later gained an MSc in astrophysics. In the 1970s, he dabbled in politics and campaigned for squatters' rights.  But he eschewed Jeremy's path and later styled himself as a climate-change sceptic weather forecaster.  His primary source of income is the provision of long-range forecasts, based on a 'solar weather technique' which uses analysis of historical weather patterns and solar activity.  He appears something of an embarrassment to Jeremy.  On Christmas Day, Piers door-stepped his MP brother with a man dressed as Father Christmas to ask him his views on the pharmaceutical industry in connection with treating Covid-19 all filmed for social media.  Jeremy replied that he was against privatisation of the NHS, before shaking hands with both men and saying goodbye.  The lockdown has seen Piers return to frontline activism, and he has been arrested nine times in as many months, charged twice, and fined £10,000 for organising anti-lockdown rallies.  The financial penalty did nothing to deter him in his quest to overthrow coronavirus measures. 'Our movement is people who can see there is something going wrong,' Corbyn said in a recent interview.  'Some might call themselves Right-wing, some might call themselves Left-wing, or far-Right or far-Left. But they have one thing in common: to stop the rise of the New World Order.'

This belief that a powerful and shadowy cabal is attempting to create an authoritarian world government is at the core of the anti-vaxxers' mindset.  Last month, Corbyn led a Stop New Normal 'anti-vax' demonstration outside University College Hospital in London. In front of passing paramedics and elderly patients in wheelchairs, he ranted into a megaphone: 'Diet, vitamins, minerals should be paramount in the NHS. Instead it's about how to sell poisons and inject them into people's bodies.'

Of the Covid vaccine, he said: 'It injects mercury and formaldehyde into your bloodstream. It is a Dr Strangelove concoction to control you. Anyone who takes it is dangerous and stupid.'

Around him, supporters shouted 'War on vax', and waved placards bearing messages such as 'The vaccine will stop us feeling the harmful effects of electromagnetic radiation' and 'Flu World Order'.

The group targeted the hospital because they believed erroneously that a 'vaccine administration drive' was taking place and it was their duty to prevent it.  'This Covid vaccine is the clinical lie on top of a pyramid of lies known as the Covid Con,' Corbyn railed.  'It is there to control people and implement a eugenicist agenda.'

He urged people to go to their GPs and protest.  'Go and sign our petition to say that MPs should take the vaccine first if they want us to take it. And then we will watch how many die or get ill in a year.'

Corbyn has since revealed his own political ambitions and formally announced his intention to stand as a candidate for the London Mayoral elections in May.  His manifesto includes a promise to 'reverse all Covid-19 discrimination against people who don't wear masks, won't get tested and won't take the vaccines', and to 'end the fraudulent rules which are destroying jobs, the economy, culture and London life'.  The months ahead will be testing for millions who face hardship and unemployment in the Covid recession and may be susceptible to such rhetoric.  Certainly, Piers Corbyn is seeking to broaden his support base.  Stop New Normal Groups '[will] be set up in every constituency in London', he said last year.

'They can unite under the general banner to roll back the Covid Con in 2021.'

In the past few months, Corbyn has amassed thousands of followers, holding rallies in Manchester, Birmingham, Nottingham, Truro and Newport.  'Now we have hundreds of thousands of people taking action against the New World Order and we have to press on and never give up,' he has told supporters.

'We will have even more next year. 2021 will be the year we change Britain for good.'

Piers Corbyn has so far failed to respond to the Mail's repeated requests for comment.  Only a few weeks into January and 2021 is turning out to be the year that conspiracy theorists emerge from the shadows and into the mainstream.  It is perhaps no coincidence the Parliament Square rally I attended took place on the same day Trump supporters stormed America's Capitol Hill in Washington DC.  Of the Westminster gathering, Piers Corbyn wrote on Facebook: 'The rally is going to be heavy. Be prepared to take risks.'

Among the protesters was the Left-wing extremist Debbie Hicks, Stop New Normal's poster girl who was arrested at home in her dressing gown on New Year's Eve after filming inside Gloucester Royal Hospital.  She was arrested yet again in Parliament Square delivering a full monologue, in handcuffs, to her fellow protesters.  Every arrest invariably filmed is a vindication for Piers Corbyn and his acolytes, supposed 'proof' of the dystopian police state quelling free speech and civil rights.  Trump's disciples and Corbyn's followers all worship at the same altar, and their house of congregation is the internet.  They stream their antics live to whip up their brethren and entice new recruits.  For every person present at the protests, there are thousands more watching online.  I asked one woman, Mandy, why she had come to Parliament Square to protest.  'QAnon,' she replied.

That, of course, is the far-Right conspiracy group that claims Trump is fighting Satan-worshipping paedophiles in a global conspiracy, which will lead to a day of reckoning known as The Storm.  QAnon members were a heavy presence at the Capitol Hill siege.  'This is just the start,' Mandy told me. 'A lot more is coming this year.'

If so, then now is surely the time to take these groups on by confronting more aggressively the lies and misinformation they peddle. Because left unchallenged, the vaccine roll-out our only hope of beating the scourge of coronavirus is threatened. 

79

Articles / Apology not enough: Final report on Ireland's Mother and Baby Homes published

« on: January 14, 2021, 12:43:34 PM »

https://www.irishcentral.com/news/ireland-mother-and-baby-homes-final-report

Apology not enough: Final report on Ireland's Mother and Baby Homes published
While the Irish government has outlined its next steps, the Coalition of Mother and Baby Home Survivors slammed the final report as "fundamentally incomplete."

The Final Report of the Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes was published on January 12 after being submitted to the Irish government on October 30.  Speaking on Tuesday in response to the publication, Taoiseach Micheál Martin, who earlier in the day met virtually with survivors, said:

    The final Mother and Baby Homes report describes a dark, shameful chapter of recent Irish history.

    The survivors showed great bravery in sharing their stories.

    The Government is now focused on a comprehensive implementation of the recommendations in this report.
    — Micheál Martin (@MichealMartinTD) January 12, 2021

The final report, which can be read in its entirety online, includes fourteen pages of recommendations, a timeline of the existence of Mother and Baby Homes in Ireland, 12 chapters of the social history of Mother and Baby Homes in Ireland, 18 chapters each dedicated to an individual institution, several chapters on “specific issues,” the 190-page report of the Confidential Committee, and the 97-page Archives of the Final Report of the Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes.  In a statement, the Irish government said on Tuesday: "In publishing the report, the government paid tribute to the former residents of these institutions; acknowledged their courage and thanked them for their testimony. Difficult though this report may be, it is hoped that its pages provide acknowledgement; recognition; truth, and, through this, healing."

The Irish government says it will now give “very careful and detailed consideration to the report” in the coming weeks in order to develop a “Government Action Plan” spanning eights areas:

    A Survivor-Centred Approach
        Development of a Strategic Action Plan and Engagement with Former Residents
        Immediate Counselling Support
    Apology
    Access to Personal Information
        Information and Tracing Legislation
        GDPR Right of Access to Commission Records
        Central repository of institutional records
    Archives and Databases
        National Memorial and Records Centre
        Public Access to Original State Files
        Expansion of the database
        Appointment of an archivist
    Education and Research
        Second-level Curriculum
        Research Scholarships
        Research on Terminology
        Further Research on Death Registration Records
    Memorialisation
        National Memorial
        Local Memorials
        Survivor-led annual Commemoration
        Children’s Fund
    Restorative Recognition
        Health Supports
        Financial Recognition
        Inheritance Tax
    Dignified Burial
        Burials Legislation

The Coalition of Mother and Baby Home Survivors responds

The Coalition of Mother and Baby Home Survivors (CMABS) responded to the publication of the final report on Tuesday in a statement: "Survivors of Ireland’s Mother and Baby homes have mixed feelings about the long-overdue final report from the Commission into Mother and Baby Homes.

“This report is fundamentally incomplete as it ignores the larger issue of the forced separation of single mothers and their babies since the foundation of the state as a matter of official state policy.  While much of this policy was implemented in Mother and Baby homes, tens of thousands who were born outside the institutions investigated by this inquiry, have been excluded; particularly those who were illegally adopted. The numbers here are staggering as up to 15,000 people may have been illegally adopted by rogue adoption agencies who were allowed free reign back in the day and now have been given a free pass to escape their criminal behaviour.   Every single day, illegally adopted people are giving medical professionals false, misleading, and potentially lethal family medical histories. This Government and Commission has essentially thrown them under a bus and walked away. Equally the County Homes operated directly by the Government have been largely ignored.  It should be noted that the former Minister for Children stated that some 190,000 passed through the Homes.  Some of the issues arising out of the Mother and Baby homes have not been dealt with in the Report. The Coalition has been campaigning on behalf of the Survivors of the Mother and Baby Homes for many years. The report, which is truly shocking, vindicates the position we have taken, states inter alia that there is 'strong evidence of physical and emotional abuse.' That women were made to scrub floors and stairs and treated as slave labour and were also treated appallingly while in childbirth by denial of Doctors, medical equipment, and painkilling drugs.  It is clear from the Report that the Mothers and Children in the Homes suffered gross breaches of their Human Rights; in fact, what occurred was downright criminal.  What happened in the Homes was not a 'massive societal failure' as Minister O’Gorman wants us to believe, nor is it explained by 'misogyny' as the Minister and an Taoiseach also wants to believe. That, with respect, is a 'cop-out.'

"What occurred was but an aspect of the newly established State which was profoundly anti-women both in its laws and in its culture and out of which emerged the Mother and Baby Homes. While it was wrong for families and others to send vulnerable unmarried pregnant girls to be incarcerated in Mother and Baby Homes, the Homes were handsomely paid by the taxpayers of Ireland and the nuns and Protestant women who administered them on behalf of the state were not entitled to deprive the young girls of their legal and Constitutional rights and the right to be treated with dignity and respect.  We must not overlook the fact that the Government and the Roman Catholic Church and Protestant churches ran the Homes together hand in glove. What they did represents a damming indictment of Church and State. They jointly bear legal responsibility for the ill-treatment and abuse and the gross breach of Human Rights that occurred in the Homes, Catholic and Protestant alike.  It is important to note that not all the homes were Catholic - particularly the Bethany Home and the Church of Ireland Magdalene Home (later renamed Denny House which was a Mother and Baby home). The former was run by Protestant evangelicals on behalf of all the Protestant churches, while the Church of Ireland ran the latter.  We now call on the Government to honour the commitments they have recently given to the Survivors including enhanced medical cards and the long-overdue funds for memorials for our crib mates who did not survive (promised by Minister O'Reilly in 2015)."

In the wake of the publication of the final report, it emerged late in the day on Tuesday that Wednesday's front page of The Irish Examiner newspaper would feature all the victims of the Bessborough Mother and Baby Home:

    The Irish Examiner front page tomorrow is dedicated to all the children who died in Bessborough Mother and Baby Home. May they rest in peace. pic.twitter.com/W2wYRfl6dz
    — aoife moore. (@aoifegracemoore) January 12, 2021

Taoiseach Micheál Martin said on Tuesday that he will deliver an apology in the Dail Eireann on Wednesday.

80

Articles / Couple notice colossal mistake 17 years after adopting 'perfect' baby boy

« on: January 07, 2021, 04:45:03 PM »

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/weird-news/couple-notice-colossal-mistake-17-23257606?utm_source=mirror_newsletter&utm_campaign=12at12_newsletter2&utm_medium=email

Couple notice colossal mistake 17 years after adopting 'perfect' baby boy

A woman shared the shocking Reddit story on TikTok of a couple who wanted their 'Chinese' son to be "aware of his culture" - only to realise their blunder when they came across his adoption papers

ByPaige HollandShowbiz Audience Writer & Sofie JacksonVideo News Reporter

10:15, 4 JAN 2021Updated12:28, 4 JAN 2021

A couple who painstaking raised their baby boy with sensitivity towards his culture when they adopted him, discovered they'd made an awkward mistake.  TikTok user @mrsmedeiros regularly shares shocking stories she finds on Reddit, with one of her most recent being one of a white couple who adopted a baby from an Asian racial background.  When they were first matched with the baby, they were smitten and promised the birth parents they'd raise him well, reports Daily Star.  "We assured them the child would be loved which was the truth because we instantly fell in love with our baby boy," they said.

After eight months, they began to feel "twinges of guilt" that they hadn't made more of an effort to connect their "perfect Chinese son" with his cultural roots.  So, they befriended people in the Chinese ex-pat community near where they lived, including a couple who became their son's "aunt and uncle" figures.  They enrolled him in Mandarin classes, the country's official language, and even took him on numerous family trips to China.  However, whilst helping him fill out his college application 17 years later they discovered they'd made a major mistake.   The man said: "Digging through my office for the needed paperwork, I came across his adoption papers and it was only then that I saw it.  Something so obvious, so painfully, brick-to-the-face obvious, something that neither my wife nor I, in the stupidity of our youth, had registered" his birth parents' surnames were "Park" and "Kim" meaning he was Korean, not Chinese.

Since being shared, the video has been liked more than 2.9 million times on TikTok.  Despite their colossal error, the video was flooded with thousands of comments of people who praised their efforts.  One said: "Well hey, Mandarin is one of the world's most spoken languages so they did good."

Another said: "You guys had the intention though", while a third added: "Right idea wrong execution."

Whereas a fourth exclaimed: "IM CRYINGGGGGGGGG."

And: "I imagine party conversations like, 'Yeah I'm Korean, speak Mandarin, and I have white parents", commented another.

81

Articles / Harry and Meghan 'want a 12-month extension to Megxit deal that would see....

« on: December 27, 2020, 01:42:03 PM »

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9089955/Harry-Meghan-want-12-month-extension-Megixt-deal-royal-patronages.html

Harry and Meghan 'want a 12-month extension to Megxit deal that would see them keep their royal patronages beyond March 31 deadline' and could head back to the UK to seal the deal in person

    Couple seeking 12-month extension to the deal agreed with royals in January
    Stepped back as senior royals, earn own money but keep their royal patronages
    Relations between the pair and the royals are said to have thawed in past months
    Reportedly want to return to UK to attend Queen and Prince Philip's birthdays

By Lydia Catling For Mailonline

Published: 02:13, 27 December 2020 | Updated: 08:07, 27 December 2020

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle want a 12-month extension to the Megxit deal that would see them keep their royal patronages and head back to the UK to seal the deal in person.   The couple, who stepped back as senior royals in January, are hoping to agree a more permanent deal to ensure they can continue to be non-working royals while keeping their patronages.  The move comes as the couple secured commercial gigs with Netflix and Spotify in recent months a factor which will be looked over meticulously by royal aides as their 12-month review date looms.  As part of the negotiations, they will speak to senior royals on video call ahead of Prince Harry, who may be joined by wife Meghan, returning to the UK to speak face-to-face with aides and family.  It has been claimed the couple would like to return in time for the Queen's 95th and Duke of Edinburgh's 100th birthdays.  The latest discussions are said to be 'less confrontational' than those held at Sandringham in January when the Megxit deal was forged, giving them a grace period in case they wanted to return which expires on March 31.  The Sun on Sunday reports that the couples lucrative £100m Netflix and £30m Spotify deals will be assessed to make sure they are in-keeping with 'the values of Her Majesty'.  Royal biographer Andrew Morton claimed that, if coronavirus restrictions allow, they would like to return to Britain for the Queen’s 95th birthday on April 21, the Duke of Edinburgh’s 100th birthday in June and the unveiling of a statue of Princess Diana on July 1, on what would have been her 60th birthday.  ‘Although they will do some of it by Zoom, Harry wants to meet face-to-face to tie it all up,’ said Mr Morton. ‘Things seem to have calmed down.  Harry has been in contact with the Queen more often than you would think. But certain things you need to be there in person to sort.   They will need a few weeks. That could be done after April, depending on Covid.’

Morton also claims that Harry regretted the way in which they announced they were stepping down from their role sharing the news on social media but that he does not regret his overall decision.   However, sources last night described the latest Megxit extension reports as ‘rubbish’.  One said: ‘This review period was inserted in case Harry and Meghan wished to return as working royal, but they have made it clear they want to live an independent life.’

Another said: ‘Harry and Meg are happier than they have ever been. Why would they want to return?’

Harry, 36, hammered out a deal with his family at a Sandringham summit in January after he and Meghan, 39, said they wished to earn their own money.

82

Articles / Six million more plunged into highest Tier 4 coronavirus lockdown now Christmas

« on: December 27, 2020, 01:17:19 PM »

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/six-million-more-forced-highest-23221393?utm_source=mirror_newsletter&utm_campaign=12at12_newsletter2&utm_medium=email

Six million more plunged into highest Tier 4 coronavirus lockdown now Christmas is over

Many more people in the East and South East of England are entering the highest Tier 4 on Boxing Day. They include Sussex, Oxfordshire, Suffolk, Norfolk and Cambridgeshire

ByBen GlazeDeputy Political Editor

22:14, 25 DEC 2020Updated07:24, 26 DEC 2020

Six million more people have woken up on Boxing Day to tightened Tier 4 Covid curbs.  Some 24 million people are under the strictest measures after more areas of the UK were lifted into Tier 4 at a minute past midnight.  The briefest relaxation was allowed in Tiers 1, 2 and 3 so families could celebrate Christmas Day.  But as the clock heralded Boxing Day, tougher restrictions are back.  Areas moving to Tier 4 are: Sussex, Oxfordshire, Suffolk, Norfolk and Cambridgeshire, those parts of Essex not yet in Tier 4, Waverley in Surrey and Hampshire including Portsmouth and Southampton, except the New Forest.  Tier 4 restrictions include a warning to stay at home and a limit on household mixing to two people outdoors.  They also mean the closure of many shops, hairdressers and gyms.  The measures come in addition to Tier 3 ones such as pubs and restaurants closing, though takeaways and deliveries are still allowed.  Bristol, Gloucestershire, Somerset including the North Somerset Council area, Swindon, the Isle of Wight, the New Forest and Northamptonshire as well as Cheshire and Warrington will all go to Tier 3.  Cornwall and Herefordshire move from Tier 1 to Tier 2.  Boris Johnson, who spent yes­­terday in No10, said in a video: “This Christmas was “not about presents, or turkey, or brandy butter” but about hope in the form of the several Covid-19 vaccines being developed."

He added: “It’s thanks to the efforts of wise men and wise women in the East and ­elsewhere, we have a vaccine and we know that we are going to succeed in beating coronavirus, and that these privations that we’re going through are temporary and we know that next year really will be better."

He added: “We know there will be people alive next Christmas, people we love, alive next Christmas precisely because we made the ­sacrifice and didn’t celebrate as normal this Christmas.”

Mr Johnson told the Politico website that he and fiancee Carrie Symonds, 32, had devoted more time to their dog and their eight-month-old son recently.  He said: “Carrie and I have been getting through lockdown by going on walks with Dilyn and spending weekends reading to Wilf.”

The Government last night said another 570 people had died within 28 days of testing positive for Covid-19, bringing the UK death total to 70,195. Separate figures from the UK’s statistics agencies indicated it was 86,000.  Those figures count deaths where Covid has been mentioned on a death certificate, together with additional data on deaths in recent days.

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Another 32,725 cases were diagnosed, taking the UK total to 2,221,312.  The new coronavirus variant, first detected in Kent and which is thought to have fuelled the rapid spread of the disease, was yesterday found in Japan.  The US became the latest country to impose beefed-up travel restrictions on flights from the UK in the wake of the variant.  Passengers departing from the UK to the US must provide a negative test within 72 hours before take-off. The measure begins on Monday.  More than 50 nations have already imposed travel restrictions on Britons.

83

Articles / Rose West changes name to break with horrific past as she becomes Jennifer Jones

« on: December 24, 2020, 11:21:05 AM »

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/rose-west-changes-name-break-23214472?utm_source=mirror_newsletter&utm_campaign=morning_newsletter2&utm_medium=email

Rose West changes name to break with horrific past as she becomes Jennifer Jones

Rose West, 67, has changed her name to free herself of the ties to her now deceased and murderer husband Fred. She now goes by the name of Jennifer Jones, it is understood

By Dave Burke & Claire Gilbody-Dickerson

22:02, 23 DEC 2020Updated22:33, 23 DEC 2020

Evil murderer Rose West has changed her name in the hope of distancing herself from her House of Horrors crimes.  The 67-year-old has paid £36 to change her name to Jennifer Jones.  West, from Devon and who is serving a life sentence in prison, is understood to have changed her name by deed poll earlier this month as she told friends it's her way of moving on.  But the decision reportedly infuriated fellow inmates at New Hall women’s jail, near Wakefield, West Yorkshire.  A pal said: “Rose thinks the name will give her some anonymity but there’s a lot of anger about it.  She’s chosen the new surname because it’s so common and the Christian name just because she’s always liked it.  For her, it’s more about getting rid of any association to Fred for good.”

The Queen’s Bench division of London’s High Court will be registering West's change of name, the paper reports.  Rose and now deceased husband Fred are two of the UK's most notorious killers, their catalogue of murder spanning two decades and 12 victims between them.  Fred committed suicide in 1995, awaiting trial for 12 murders.  Rose, meanwhile, is serving a life sentence after being convicted of 10 counts of murder in the same year.  The news of Rose wanting to change her name comes after her youngest son was reportedly found dead in a hostel from a suspected overdose.  Barry West, 40, had long battled drug addiction, nightmares and psychiatric problems, according to reports.  He was just seven years old when he witnessed his parents beat his sister Heather to death at their home in Gloucester.

84

Politics / European Commission to investigate mother and baby homes

« on: December 19, 2020, 05:04:39 PM »

https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/arid-40062500.html

European Commission to investigate mother and baby homes

Fri, 09 Oct, 2020 - 21:39
Neil Michael

The European Commission is to investigate allegations about the Irish State’s treatment of women in mother and baby homes.  It is also to investigate allegations about the way the State has treated survivors of those homes.  Earlier this year, the Coalition of Mother and Baby Homes Survivors in Ireland petitioned the commission for an investigation.  It called for an investigation into “breaches of human rights” that occurred in the homes and for an examination of “the wider official system” that “facilitated” forced adoptions of children from those homes.  "The past is not finished with us"

On Thursday, the commission told the coalition their petition for an investigation has been “declared admissible”.  The European Commission has now been asked to conduct a preliminary investigation of the issues raised.  It has also been referred to the European Parliament Coordinator on Children's Rights.  Paul Jude Redmond, of the Coalition of Mother and Baby Homes Survivors in Ireland, said: "We are delighted the European Parliament has decided to recognise our appalling treatment at the hands of successive Irish Governments."

Clodagh Malone, a survivor of St Patrick's Mother and Baby Home, said: "We may think we're finished with Ireland's past but the past is not finished with us.”

Up to 7,000 babies and children are believed to have died in mother and baby homes.  Their bodies have lain for decades in what were mostly unmarked graves on abandoned wasteland adjoining graveyards.   Among the various homes in Ireland at one point were those run by the Sisters of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary who arrived in Ireland in 1922.  As well as Castlepollard in Co Westmeath, the congregation ran two other mother and baby homes, one of which the Bessborough Centre in Cork was open from 1922 until 1996.  Sean Ross Abbey, another home in Roscrea, Co Tipperary, was where Philomena Lee's son was forcibly given up for adoption something that became the subject of 2013’s Oscar-nominated film starring Judi Dench.  A common cause of baby deaths was marasmus a severe form of malnutrition, commonly found in babies born in famine-hit countries.  An estimated 4,800 children were born in Sean Ross Abbey and at least 700 of them are believed to have died between 1930 and 1950.  No figures are available for those who died subsequently but researchers estimate around a total 1,200 died by the time the facility closed in 1969.  Some 3,763 babies were born in Castlepollard over its 35 years from 1935 to 1971.  Of these, 2,500 were allegedly adopted out and an estimated 200-300 died.

85

Articles / What Explains the Decline of Serial Killers?

« on: December 11, 2020, 11:27:21 AM »

https://www.discovermagazine.com/the-sciences/what-explains-the-decline-of-serial-killers?utm_source=pocket&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=pockethits

What Explains the Decline of Serial Killers?

Since a dramatic peak in the 1980s, serial killers in the U.S. have been in decline for three decades. Experts have a few theories that can help explain why. 

By Cody Cottier

December 7, 2020 8:50 PM

From the 1970s through the ’90s, stories of serial killers like Ted Bundy and the Green River Killer both of whom pleaded guilty to killing dozens of women dominated headlines. Today, however, we see far fewer twisted tales in the vein of the Zodiac Killer or John Wayne Gacy.  After that three-decade surge, a rapid decline followed. Nearly 770 serial killers operated in the U.S. throughout the 1980s, and just under 670 in the ’90s, based on data compiled by Mike Aamodt of Radford University. The sudden plummet came with the new century, when the rate fell below 400 in the aughts and, as of late 2016, just over 100 during the past decade. The rough estimate on the global rate appeared to show a similar drop over the same period. In a stunning collapse, these criminals that terrorized and captivated a generation quickly dwindled. Put another way, 189 people in the U.S. died by the hands of a serial killer in 1987, compared to 30 in 2015. Various theories attempt to explain this change.  In reality it’s not clear whether there truly was a surge of serial killing, or at least not one as pronounced as the data suggest. Advances in police investigation (for example, the ability to link murders more effectively) and improved data collection could help explain the uptick. That said, no one doubts that serial killing rose for several decades, and that rise fits with a general increase in crime. Similarly, everyone agrees on a subsequent fall in serial killing, and that, too, fits with a general decrease in crime. But where did they go?

One popular theory points out the growth of forensic science, and especially the advent of genetic approaches to tracking offenders. In a recent high-profile example of these techniques, police used DNA samples from distant relatives to identify Joseph DeAngelo as the Golden State Killer, decades after he killed 12 women between 1976 and 1986. The higher prospect of capture may deter potential killers from acting out.  “Serial murder has become a more dangerous pursuit,” says Thomas Hargrove, founder of the Murder Accountability Project. “Because of DNA and improved forensics, and because police are now aware of the phenomenon, serial killers are more likely to be detected than they ever were.”

The awareness he refers to begins with late FBI agent Robert Ressler, who likely coined the term “serial killer” around 1980. “There’s a power to naming something,” Hargrove says.

Many researchers also cite longer prison sentences and a reduction in parole over the decades. If a one-time murderer or robber, for that matter remains behind bars longer, they’ll have less of a chance to reach the FBI’s serial threshold of two kills (or three or four, or more, depending on who you ask).

Safer Society

Would-be murderers may also have succumbed to the absence of easy targets. James Alan Fox, a criminology professor at Northeastern University, says that these days people are generally less vulnerable, limiting the pool of potential victims. “People don’t hitchhike anymore,” he says. “They have means of reaching out in an emergency situation using cell phones. There are cameras everywhere.”

Similarly, helicopter parents are more common than in generations past. Aamodt recalled his own childhood, spent walking or riding his bike unsupervised all over town. “You wouldn’t let your kids do that today,” he says.

As a result, “a lot of the victims back in the ’70s or ’80s are almost impossible to find now.”

The predator starves when prey are scarce.  It’s also likely that society has gotten better at detecting and reforming potential serial killers, especially in their youth. Often, Hargrove says, the early catalysts for serial murder (family dysfunction, sexual abuse) can be remedied by “quality time with a child psychologist.”

He adds that pornography may quench the sexual impulses that often precede sexualized killings. “It’s possible that the sewer that is much of the internet is providing a non-violent outlet for these guys,” he says.

Yet another theory speculates that serial killers didn’t disappear, but rather transformed into mass shooters, who have skyrocketed in both numbers and prominence over the past three decades. Most experts agree, however, that the two profiles don’t overlap enough. “The motivation for a mass killer versus a serial killer tends to be different,” Aamodt says.

Hidden Killers

Serial murder is rare, comprising less than 1 percent of all homicides in the FBI’s estimate. With the annual homicide rate hovering around 15,000 in the U.S., that equates to fewer than 150 serial murders a year, perpetrated by perhaps 25 – 50 people. Aamodt’s data place the rate well below that. But considering the limitations of forensic science, many believe this is an undercount.  Police only make an arrest or “clear” a case, in justice jargon in about 60 percent of all homicides. The other 5,000 end without closure. In other words, murderers have a 40 percent chance of getting away with murder. The question is, how many of those unsolved cases are the work of a serial killer?

Hargrove, who argues that America does a shoddy job of accounting for such cases, set out in 2010 to write an algorithm that would analyze them in an effort to detect serial killers. Essentially, the computer code searches for similarities among murders that detectives may overlook. “We know that serial murder is more common than is officially acknowledged,” he says.

And serial offenders may be responsible for an outsized portion of the unsolved cases because, by definition, “serial murders tend not to be solved. They’re good at killing.”

Hargrove has estimated that as many as 2,000 serial killers, dating back to 1976, could remain at large. But an algorithm, like an organic brain, struggles when confronted by a dataset without a pattern. Intentionally or not, many killers vary their tactics, targeting people of different races and genders in different locations. With no way to draw comparisons between these seemingly unconnected cases, computers and humans alike are helpless to link them. “Even today,” Fox says, “it’s a challenge.”

Sensationalized in Culture

For years the popular media and even some academic researchers declared that serial murder claimed, on average, 5,000 victims each year in the U.S. Fox says that figure is grossly misleading, based on the false assumption that any homicide with an unknown motive of which there are about 5,000 annually is the work of a serial killer. Fox estimates that even in the 1980s the real number was actually fewer than 200, and Aamodt’s data supports this.  Regardless, those sensational claims enthralled the nation, and the world. And today, though their ranks have shrunk, serial killer fascination does seem to be returning. In the 2019 film Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile, Zac Efron plays the infamous Ted Bundy. In the Mindhunter series, which aired in 2017 and explores the origin of criminal profiling in the FBI, one of the two lead characters is based on aforementioned agent Ressler. But Fox points to a curious caveat: “They’re focusing on all the cases of yesteryear.”

Culturally, we’re still talking about killers who were active decades ago, and few in the modern age have become household names.  Serial killers are still with us, though, even if they’re less common. And barring major advances in our ability to catch them, we cannot fully grasp their magnitude. As Hargrove put it, “Only the devil knows.” That uncertainty, in its own way, can chill the spine as much as any known killer’s dark deeds.

86

Articles / Woman left red-faced after confronting mum with birth certificate for 'secret..

« on: December 05, 2020, 04:54:28 PM »

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/weird-news/woman-red-faced-after-confronting-23110884?utm_source=mirror_newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=MirrorNews11&utm_campaign=daily_newsletter&ccid=2369561

Woman left red-faced after confronting mum with birth certificate for 'secret brother'

A woman flew into a rage after she found 'proof' that her mum was keeping a sibling from her but after she realised it was a big understanding, her sister shared the blunder on Twitter

ByPaige HollandShowbiz Audience Writer

16:12, 3 DEC 2020Updated09:35, 4 DEC 2020

A woman got the shock of her life when she came across a birth certificate that led her to believe her mum had been hiding a 'secret brother' from her.  The woman, called Kristin, stumbled across the mysterious document at her mum's house, which named the unknown child Clyde Fabian and even included an ink marking of the baby's footprints.  But after confronting her mum, she discovered the truth.  Her "secret brother" was actually a Cabbage Patch Doll a popular toy in the 90s which came with their own birth certificates and adoption papers.  Her mum had held onto the papers, and the doll, thinking that it could be worth something one day.  Kristin's sister Chloe shared the hilarious blunder on Twitter, where it racked up more than 260,000 likes.  She said: "I may have done a lot of embarrassing things in my life, but my older sister actually once found a cabbage patch kids birth certificate in my moms filing cabinet, started screaming at and accusing our mom of hiding our ‘brother’ Clyde Fabian from us, and she was like 15.  Why my mom kept the birth certificate? She thought the cabbage patch might be worth something one day bc it was an original.  Why she kept it with our birth certificates? I don’t know. That’s the part of the story where my mom did an embarrassing thing."

Clyde Fabian was dressed in scrubs and a face mask with "Babyland General Hospital" printed on it.  "My mom picked this doll out because my dad is a doctor and she thought it was cute,” Chloe said.

She explained that she'd been reminded of the hilarious story after Kristin gave birth to a little girl, and their younger sister bought her a babygrow that read 'Clyde Fabian is my uncle'.  Chloe continued: "When my older sister Kristin had her first baby, my hilarious younger sister @catjaddy had this onesie made for our niece.  At least Kristin has a good sense of humour about the whole snafu."

Her post has received thousands of comments from amused Twitter followers, with one saying: "Clyde Fabian is such a Cabbage Patch Kid name."

Another added: "Not embarrassing. I still have my daughter’s Cabbage Patch Doll’s birth certificate in the strongbox.  We also still have her Christmas stocking. I hung it up one year recently and everyone asked, 'Who’s Ava?'"

A third said: "I can’t breathe", while one commented: "This just reduced me to tears. I can't even."

87

Articles / Birth mothers’ stories: ‘You were pummelled psychologically’

« on: December 03, 2020, 10:28:53 AM »

https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/health-family/birth-mothers-stories-you-were-pummelled-psychologically-1.4394536

Birth mothers’ stories: ‘You were pummelled psychologically’
Many women who gave babies up for adoption in 20th-century Ireland still feel the loss
Sat, Oct 31, 2020, 06:00
Jennifer O'Connell

Throughout much of its history, Ireland was a cold and inhospitable place for women who became pregnant outside of marriage. The recent campaign by survivors of mother and baby homes for the right to access their personal information is another reminder of the long, painful shadow cast by these institutions.  But it wasn’t just the institutions. Society, too, colluded in the message that single mothers could not offer a good home to a child; that sex outside marriage was sinful; that the only way to escape the shame and sanction was to place the child for adoption.  Even as attitudes towards single mothers began to slowly change in the 1980s, and the mother and baby homes closed, those pressures lingered in some women’s own family homes, doctors’ surgeries, the counselling rooms of agencies, where they were told they wouldn’t cope, that their child would be better off with a married couple anyone else, as long as they were married.  In October 1990, Barnardos set up a support group for mothers whose children were adopted. Thirty years on, the group is still going and has published a collection of stories, poems and artworks submitted by mothers. Three of those participants share their stories here. Some surnames have been withheld on request of the interviewees.

Geraldine: ‘I don’t know do you recover’

When Geraldine discovered she was pregnant in 1973, one of her first instincts was to get out of Ireland. “It might as well have been 1873, because attitudes were still so awful.” Single motherhood “was completely taboo, the worst thing that could happen”.

Even today, she finds it difficult to talk about that time. She recounts the bones of it: she went to North America, where she had family, to figure out what she was going to do. She hadn’t thought much beyond that. “I just had to flee out of Ireland. I had an idea what it would be like here; I knew about the mother and baby homes.”

She was put in touch with a Catholic agency there, where “the counselling was really biased towards the idea that the babies should be adopted. I used to sit there saying: ‘But today can we not talk about me maybe keeping the baby?’ But it always ended up with: ‘Well, do you have family support? Do you have a job? Do you have means?’”

The eventual decision to have her son adopted was, in one sense, “a genuine free choice. But you were pummelled psychologically into believing that you would not make a good job of this.”

Geraldine returned to Ireland and waited for his 18th birthday when she had convinced herself her son would contact her. “I literally had a knot in my tummy waiting for the doorbell to ring.” But it wasn’t until he was 31 that the letter she had been waiting for arrived from a social worker in North America. “I think I spent half that first phone call [to the social worker] absolutely bawling and apologising that I was crying so much, when this is what I want more than anything. But all the past had come back at me.”

She met her son a few months later in the city where he now lives. She brought a photo album she had made for him, and they sat in a hotel room, held hands and talked for four hours. Months later, he came to stay with her family in Ireland. They are still in regular touch, though it was never again as intense as it was in that first year. “It had to be intense, because we were finding each other.”

During that time she discovered Barnardos, and began to process the decades of unresolved grief with other women who were going through the same experiences. “There are hundreds and hundreds thousands of stories like mine. There is so much people are still going through. People still are afraid they will be judged. There’s still shame, secrecy, sadness.  My son, Kieran, is 47 now. He is a lovely, lovely man and says he is totally unscarred by the experience. But the mothers are scarred. How could you not be? I don’t know do you recover. To have a baby, and to give up the baby, that is so wrong for a mother.”

To other mothers, she says: “Forgive yourself. Try and reconcile yourself to the past. I’m so full of gratitude for all I have now, but the present being good doesn’t mean that the past is healed.”

Edel: ‘It’s like a death’

“My first thought was to give the baby up for adoption. You just think these things, and you say the words to yourself, but you don’t really understand the feelings behind them,” says Edel, who was 20 when she discovered she was pregnant in 1985.

As the pregnancy went on, “my emotions changed completely. Things were starting to change [in society]. There were supports there. But there was still the stigma, there was still the shame.”

Edel discovered that her own mother had given a baby up for adoption when she was 19. “A lot of that played on my mind too. I know my mother’s family looked down on her as a fallen woman.”

She didn’t want to give them more ammunition to use against her mother.  In the end, she felt she had no choice: she couldn’t give her daughter a stable home. “When I first became pregnant, it was all about me; by the end of it, it was about the baby, and what was the right thing for her.”

The moment she had to leave her baby behind in the hospital still replays in her mind like a video. Later, she would find herself looking into prams on the street, wondering. She stayed in touch with the agency, “but the rhetoric was always you need to move on with your own life”.

Edel’s daughter got in touch through the agency when she was 15, and they met before her 16th birthday. The reunion was everything she had imagined, and for six years they were in frequent contact. But then, she says, “something went wrong, somewhere along the way” and after her daughter moved abroad and had children of her own, the contact faded away.

This was before she joined the support group, and in hindsight, she wonders if “maybe I gave her too much information. Maybe she just wanted to meet, but she didn’t want all the rest of it, she didn’t want to meet her sisters.”

Losing her daughter for the second time “was like opening the wound all over again. I had photographs of her all over the house, and I had to take them all down.  People just think that it’s something that you get over, and that you move on in your life. But it’s like any other grief. It’s like a death. You do get on with your life, you go through the motions, you go through the days, but it doesn’t mean that it has been an easy thing. It doesn’t mean you forget.”

Patricia Losty: ‘Years later, it’s still there’

When Patricia Losty became pregnant in 1982, a Catholic organisation arranged for her to stay with a family in the country. “The cover was that I was going to France as an au pair. They set up a French address, so I could write letters home with a French postmark. I went through the motions, I did everything that was asked of me.”

But during the long months of pregnancy, spending a lot of time on her own, she bonded with the baby. After a traumatic birth that ended in a Caesarean, “I just could not let her go.”

This created, she says, “a problem for everybody around me. I got a lot of: ‘How can you do this, you’re a single girl?’ She was put in to foster care while I tried to find a way to bring her home.” She becomes emotional as she recounts this. “All these years later, it’s still there.”

She went home to tell her father what had happened and that she planned to keep the baby, but when she got there, she couldn’t go through with it. Her parents’ marriage had broken down, and he had just been served divorce papers. Ultimately, she ended up going home without her daughter, but it took her months to sign the adoption papers.  Twenty-two years later, she had a highly emotional reunion with her daughter. “I had lost part of myself. All the feelings that were buried the anger, the shame, the guilt, the sadness, the regret all of that came up. And instead of the professionals saying: ‘This is all quite normal, you’re facing in to your loss here,’ they just didn’t understand that.”

It was only through Barnardos’ post-adoption service that she began to grieve the loss and understand those emotions.  Her daughter later described being terrified by Patricia’s visible trauma. “She said she needed some support in understanding what was going to happen in a reunion as well. It wasn’t as simple as: ‘Oh, I’m going to meet my mother.’ It was: ‘I’m going to meet myself as well. I’m going to confront what I have lost.’ And that’s what reunion is.”

Her daughter moved abroad for a few years, and during that time, Patricia engaged in a lot of therapy and qualified as a psychotherapist, “which enabled me to really turn myself inside out. When we met again, she said it was like meeting a different person.”

Better education is needed for everyone involved in working with adoption reunions, she believes. “We need to acknowledge the loss in adoption. Whatever the gains are, everyone comes in to adoption carrying a loss” the child and both sets of parents.

For the birth mother, “that primal wound is there, and will always be there”.

At the same time, “there is hope. You have to accept the loss and bring it with you. But you can live alongside it.”

88

Articles / DIY SOS team changes the lives of three orphaned boys in moving home....

« on: November 27, 2020, 01:18:16 PM »

https://www.mirror.co.uk/tv/tv-news/diy-sos-team-changes-lives-23069607?utm_source=mirror_newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=MirrorNews11&utm_campaign=daily_newsletter&ccid=2369561

DIY SOS team changes the lives of three orphaned boys in moving home transformation

The DIY SOS team and hundreds of volunteers stepped up to transform the home of a very special family in Cornwall. The team even built a tribute to Ruben, Jaden, and Uche's late mum Carrie

By Rhian Lubin

20:50, 25 NOV 2020 Updated23:16, 25 NOV 2020

After fostering more than 100 children, Lynn and Steve Smedley were looking forward to a well-earned retirement in their seaside bungalow.  But their dreams were shattered and the family torn apart when their beloved daughter Carrie died suddenly in her sleep, leaving her three young boys orphaned.  Lynn recalls: “I was at work, I called my husband on my break and he said ‘I’m coming to see you’. I thought it was strange as I’ve only got 15 minutes.  Eventually he said, ‘I’ve got to come and see you Lynn, because Carrie’s passed away’.  I can’t remember making a sound but everyone at work said the noise they heard was horrendous. So I left work and went straight to Carrie’s, I knew there was nothing that could be done. I got the boys and brought them home.”

The grandparents, who live in Cardis Bay, Cornwall, didn’t hesitate to move the boys in with them after their mother’s death in April 2017 but they were all living on top of each other in the tiny two-bedroom bungalow, where the boys squeezed into a single room with a stacked triple bunk bed.  The family struggled with such little space and there was nowhere for them to deal with their grief.  But thanks to hit tv show DIY SOS and an army of hard-working volunteers, their bungalow has been transformed into something very special.  Lynn says: “The house was bursting at the seams, the boys were in a triple bunk bed. It’s not the ideal place for three growing boys. They need their own little bit of tranquility.”

The team gutted the house and built an extension which gave the boys their own bedrooms and a private bathroom for Lynn and Steve.  And they created a memorial garden so the boys have somewhere special to remember their mum.  Carrie, who Lynn says was full of fun and laughter, was a single mum to Ruben, 17, Jaden, 11, and Uche, 10.  And tragically little Uche, who was only six at the time, was the one to discover her.  Care worker Lynn says: “It was actually Uche that had found her, he was six. He and Jaden just thought they couldn’t wake mummy up.  They got their big brother Ruben, he came upstairs and realised what had happened. For those two little boys to have had to found their mum like that.  Ruben, who was 13 at the time, went straight to my mum’s who lives not even five minutes away. They’re never going to forget not being able to wake her up and Reuben will never forget not being able to save her. I knew I had to do something for these boys. They’re my priority now.”

Steve, 62, who is now retired, opens up to host Nick Knowles about struggling with the loss of his daughter.  He says: “It was hard. We didn’t expect to lose her at all. When it happened all I was thinking about was the boys, I haven’t properly mourned. I always think about her, I don’t sleep very well. I wake up at 4.30 in the morning, all sort of things go through your mind. I think about her so much in those early mornings. My little flower. She was my little girl, I miss her so much.”

Ruben even offered to find somewhere else to live when his grandparents first took them all in, but the thought horrified Steve.  “There’s no way in a million years we’d let them go anywhere else,” Steve says.

Hardly surprising for a couple who have fostered premature babies with cerebral palsy through to teenage mums and babies over the years.  Lynn says it’s something she has always wanted to do. She recalls: “When me and Steve first met, I was 18, there was an advert on the telly about fostering that I always thought about. I’d always loved children and always wanted a baby. This ad for fostering had a little girl on a swing and it said, ‘could you look after this child?’ I said to Steve, ‘I could do that’. But I didn’t want to until I’d had my own.”

They fostered children for 15 years, taking in vulnerable kids when their own were still living at home.  Steve’s sister Sharon knew things couldn’t go on for much longer and nominated the family to appear on DIY SOS.  The show receives thousands of requests every series and the family thought it would be a long shot, but Nick Knowles and the team arrived to rebuild the Smedley’s lives in 2019.  Lynn, 56, tells Nick in an emotional chat: “When I got the call, it was amazing, I was so pleased. I thought, how much easier is life going to be? And then I thought, do I want it? Do I want this, because I want Carrie. It’s confirmation she’s not coming back. It was like a rock hit me.”

Now the new refurb has helped Lynn begin to come to terms with what’s happened and, crucially, provided space to grieve and remember Carrie.  There are little reminders of her everywhere, from photographs and artworks the boys created in her memory, to a willow tree and a butterfly ornament in the garden.  And as a tribute to all of the children they’ve taken in, the DIY SOS team had 103 ornamental butterflies made for the garden alongside Carrie’s - to represent each foster child.  It has made a huge difference to the children. Ruben tells Nick: ”We’ll be able to do more stuff together as a family. When I turned 13 I never got out of my bedroom. I regret that, I never got to spend time with my mum.”

With no space of his own, Lynn offered up her own bedroom for Ruben in the evenings so he could have a respite from his little brothers.  But after the refurbishment, the boys are thriving.  “Nick led me into the house and it was all surreal,” Lynn says. “The house was so different, it was magical like a fairy tale. What an amazing gift.”

People from the local area helped the DIY SOS team made the build possible, donating their expertise and time for free to help the family.  It’s a gift that was overwhelming for Lynn when she first saw the sea of volunteers.  Tearfully, she says: “When we realised we had lost Carrie, we were devastated. Nothing can prepare you for losing a child.  But our first instinct was to protect the boys. There was no hesitation the boys would come and live with us, then reality struck.  It has been extremely hard at times, no privacy or space, no time to grieve. But the boys come first.  We can now move forward and build our lives."

89

Articles / Emma Thompson adopted a child soldier and his life became better than any.....

« on: November 22, 2020, 04:20:57 PM »

https://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/celebrity-news/emma-thompson-adopted-child-soldier-23046158?utm_source=mirror_newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=EM_Mirror_Nletter_DailyNews_News_mediumteaser_Image_Story&utm_campaign=daily_newsletter&ccid=2369561

Emma Thompson adopted a child soldier and his life became better than any script

Dame Emma Thompson, 61, and Greg Wise, 54 adopted Tindyebwa Agaba Wise from Rwanda and gave him new life - now he's giving something back to victims of human trafficking

By Richard Simpson

16:15, 21 NOV 2020Updated02:59, 22 NOV 2020

As a script, it might seem far fetched: Boy soldier escapes war zone, is adopted by famous couple then aids refugees who still face hell.  But this is not a Hollywood invention. It is the real-life tale of Tindyebwa Agaba Wise and the couple who gave him a new life in Britain – actors Dame Emma Thompson, 61, and Greg Wise, 54.  Tindy, 33, witnessed unimaginable horror in his native Rwanda.  But today, he is a proud humanitarian who has just landed a prized job with a specialist arm of the Metropolitan Police, helping refugees just like him.  And Greg, star of films such as Sense and Sensibility, tells how he and Emma couldn’t be prouder of their “remarkable son” and his work in war zones across the globe.  Greg said of the Met Police role: “Tindy is just about to start a job there and he’s doing some very interesting things for them an adjunct of the work he was doing in war zones.  Helping struggling people, working with victims of trafficking and radicalisation that kind of thing.  It’s a very rewarding thing to have happened.”

Tindy’s achievements he graduated with two degrees and speaks eight languages are all the more remarkable when you understand his background.  His biological father died of AIDS when he was just nine.  And when Tindy turned 12, soldiers stormed his village to kidnap its children. Unimaginable violence ensued.  When the sound of machine-gun fire and screaming subsided, militia rounded up Tindy and nine other children and marched them across unfamiliar bush for days.  The boys were separated from the girls and that was the last time Tindy saw his three sisters.  They went missing, presumed raped. Almost certainly murdered.  His next memory is of arriving at a prison camp where he would remain for three years to be radicalised, brainwashed and trained as a child soldier.  Aged 16, having finally escaped Rwanda, thanks to the kindness of a charity worker at Care International, he boarded a flight for London to claim asylum.  But he ended up living a twilight life among drug addicts, prostitutes and drunks, sleeping rough on the streets around London’s Trafalgar Square.  It is perhaps not surprising, then, the mistrust and suspicion Tindy initially felt towards Emma, who offered him help at a Refugee Council event months later.  “I wondered, ‘What does she want?’” Tindy later admitted.

If the past had taught him one thing, it was that encounters with ­unfamiliar adults usually ended very badly.  But Emma tracked him down again and invited him round for a Christmas Eve dinner.  That dinner turned into regular stays at her £15million house in West Hampstead, North London, where he was given his own room.  Then there were whole weekends. Then whole weeks.  In the end, Emma and Greg adopted him “informally” Tindy by then old enough to make his own legal decisions.  Still unable to utter more than a few words of English, he moved in with Emma, Greg and their daughter Gaia, then two and now 20.  But it was a while before Tindy realised just who his new parents were.  A year after he first came to London, in 2004, something extraordinary happened. Tindy, newly enrolled at college and learning to speak English, was in class, studying Shakespeare.  His teacher pulled out a DVD of Henry V, dimmed the lights and pressed play.  Three scenes into the film, a woman wearing a crown appeared on the screen. Tindy blinked.  It was the woman whose house, by this point, he’d come to think of as home. He’d even started calling her “Mum”. It was, of course, Emma. That was the first inkling of the new life he was getting into.  Tindy embraced it. He soared through education, achieving a degree in politics at Exeter University and a second degree, in human rights law, at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London.  He now speaks ­English, Arabic, a bit of French and five African languages.  It was after unspeakable horror during the Rwandan genocide when some 500,000 were murdered that Tindy put himself on a path to try and right the dreadful wrongs he had witnessed as a child.  Emma and Greg supported him all the way. Greg went on: “He is an ­absolutely extraordinary young man and he, of course, knows more than his fair share of death and grief having been a child soldier captured by the [Rwandan militia group] Interahamwe and then managing to escape.  Because he has suffered, he can understand what others go through. That is a fantastically powerful force to have around at the moment.”

After university, Tindy worked for the United Nations High Commission for Human Rights before setting up a charity providing pastoral care to refugees and asylum seekers in Cairo.  As well as Egypt he has worked in Burma, Liberia and Palestine and even studied again at university in Iran.  Speaking about the reasons  they decided to informally adopt Tindy, Emma has previously said: “Sometimes being friends is not enough.  You need family. I think we don’t talk enough about the happiness that it gives you to find new connections with strangers and people who aren’t familiar to you.”

Emma, famed for movies such as Harry Potter, Nanny McPhee and Love, Actually, has introduced Tindy to many of her celebrity friends including Hugh Laurie and Rowan Atkinson, who live nearby.  Tindy, of course, posed happily for a family picture at Buckingham Palace when Emma was made a Dame by Prince William two years ago.  And family is most important for him memories of the one he left in Rwanda, and the one who rescued him in London.  He is very settled here and is married to a Chinese marketing expert studying to be an astrophysicist at King’s College University in London.  The couple still live near Greg and Emma, which keeps everyone happy.  Greg added: “We are all literally living in each other’s pockets still after all this time. And we are still a very, very close-knit family.”

*  Greg Wise is an ambassador for end of life care charity Marie Curie and is among a roll call of names supporting a National Day of Reflection next year to remember coronavirus victims.

90

Articles / Jesy Nelson taking extended break from Little Mix for 'medical reasons'

« on: November 18, 2020, 11:23:37 AM »

https://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/celebrity-news/breaking-jesy-nelson-taking-extended-23026341?utm_source=mirror_newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=EM_Mirror_Nletter_DailyNews_News_smallteaser_Image_Story&utm_campaign=daily_newsletter&ccid=2369561

Jesy Nelson taking extended break from Little Mix for 'medical reasons'

Little Mix's Jesy Nelson has confirmed she is taking a hiatus from the X Factor winning girlband after pulling out of a number of high profile appearances in recent weeks

By Lucy Needham Senior Celebrity Reporter

18:29, 17 NOV 2020Updated20:40, 17 NOV 2020

Jesy Nelson is taking an 'extended break' from Little Mix.  The official announcement comes after the singer has missed several appearances with the band in recent weeks, including the final of their BBC One talent show The Search and their hosting gig at the MTV Europe Music Awards.  After growing concern from fans, a spokesperson for the group confirmed her temporary departure in a statement.  They shared: "Jesy is having extended time off from Little Mix for private medical reasons.  We will not be issuing any further comment currently and ask media to please respect her privacy at this time."

After growing concern from fans, a spokesperson for the group confirmed her temporary departure in a statement.  They shared: "Jesy is having extended time off from Little Mix for private medical reasons.  We will not be issuing any further comment currently and ask media to please respect her privacy at this time."

At the time a representative of the band said that Jesy was too 'unwell' to appear in the studio.  They told viewers: "Jesy is unwell and will not be appearing on tonight’s final of Little Mix: The Search.  She will also not be hosting or performing at tomorrow’s MTV EMAs,” they also revealed.

Perrie, Leigh-Anne and Jade were forced to present the virtual ceremony without her.  Fans then became suspicious when Jesy's signature was left off signed copies of Little Mix's new album Confetti.  It came after the singer was accused of looking "over it" in a now-deleted Little Mix video promoting their sixth studio album.  While Leigh-Anne, Jade and Perrie were full of beans speaking about Confetti, Jesy was seen rolling her eyes and looking downbeat.  The members of Little Mix became household names in 2011 when they were put together on The X Factor, before going on to make history as the first group to win the show.  Since then the ever popular foursome have gone on to become one of the biggest selling girlband's in UK history.  While their 2020 tour had to be cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic, Little Mix have continued to work tirelessly over the last 11 months with the release of their sixth studio album Confetti along with four singles and accompanying music vidoes.  As well as recording new material, the band also began filming their own reality TV music series The Search, which began airing on BBC One in September.  Jesy joined Jade, Perrie and Leigh-Anne for the live shows but did not appear for the final, where band September were crowned the overall winners.  The star, who usually  boasts an active social media presence, has not posted to Instagram since she got dressed up in costume for Halloween in October.  A few weeks before Jesy took to the site to confirm her relationship with Our Girl actor Sean Sagar.  The pair had been rumoured to be dating after fans noticed them exchanging a series of flirty exchanges back and forth before they finally made things official.  Jesy shared a picture of Sean giving her a kiss on the cheek as she called him her 'Everything' in the caption.  Sean then shared a similar photo to his social media page, where he described the pop star as: "The reason for my happiness ❤"