Twitter is OK but these Morons Deride it !

The Sunday People writes – Social Networking sites – what are they good for?

Absolutely nothing, some might say. Or, at least, nothing that is particularly helpful or in any way useful.

Day after day vicious and anonymous Twitter trolls, their moronic counterparts on Facebook and YouTube and other saddos lurking in the net’s darkest corners spew torrents of the vilest abuse aimed at the weak, disabled, mentally frail and vulnerable.

The hapless victims of these remorseless keypad warriors are often tipped over the edge and driven to suicide.

A boy of 14 has just become the youngest person in Britain to be convicted of  “revenge porn” after using Facebook to sell sexually explicit photos of his ex-girlfriend for £10.

A court heard the teenager – who cannot be named for legal reasons – used the site to send images of the 15-year-old girl to a friend, after they’d agreed the fee.

He had 170 intimate photos of his victim which he was p0reparing to distribute before police raided his home. You might think we’ve become a nation of cold-hearted, cowardly bullies. But, of course, it’s going on worldwide. Islamic State barbarians are believed to have decided to burn captured Flight Lieutenant Moaz al-Kasabeth alive after the idea was first floated and discussed on Twitter.

fanatics writing in Arabic invited followers to suggest the best ways to “kill the Jordanian pilot pig.” Messages were then shared thousands of times by web-savvy jihadi maniacs.

Their Twitter campaign appeared to have been a reaction to others writing with hashtag #WeAreAllMoaz# in which well-wishers including Jordan’s Queen Rania and Crown Prince Hussein showered the pilot with praise. But we shouldn’t despair of human nature.

Because for every act of human depravity committed through the internet, there’s tale of heart-warming kindness to be told. Consider the story of disabled pensioner Alan Barnes who was knocked to the ground by a mugger outside his Tyneside council house and broke his collarbone.

Mr Barnes, who is barely 4ft 6in, was taken to hospital where he then said he felt too frightened to return home.

After reading about this poor man’s ordeal in her local paper, Gateshead beautician Katie Cutler set up a page on a website called Go Fund Me. She hoped to raise £500 to help with his relocation costs.

The fund was closed on Wednesday having raised £329,000 – donated not only by generous Brits but from almost every corner of the globe.

Mr Barnes can now afford to buy his own home for the first time. Katie, 21, said she was overwhelmed to discover “there are so many lovely people out their”.

“Katie’s so right and to forget it would be the downfall of humanity.”

It’s not just the NHS that bully “Whistleblowers”

Whistleblowers who flagged up a lack of action by council bosses were bullied, harassed and driven out of their jobs, a report reveals.

Instead of acting on the confidential information given to them to help protect children at risk of abuse, the bosses turned on the informants.

Inspectors found that Rotherham council went to ‘some lengths’ to cover up information handed to it. In three cases, people who blew the whistle felt they had been marginalised by bosses, bullied, harassed and victimised as a result.

Similarly, a youth service, whose job it was to highlight the horrendous level of child sex abuse in the community, was closed down.

In two cases, whistleblowers claimed they were deliberately ‘restructured’ out. In a third case, they felt they had been marginalised and were forced to leave their job.

One said:”I stepped forward on behalf of young people. I am am proud to have done so despite the cost to my health and financial situation. The machine at Rotherham Council doesn’t care, won’t listen and simply exists to cover up and destroy.”

Another staff member said: “We’ve all been made aware of the (whistleblowing) procedure, but no one ever dares use it, because if they did, eventually it would come back to bite them in the backside and they would be bullied out of the organisation.”

In the report Louise Casey said: “It has created an unhealthy climate where people fear to speak out because they have seen the consequences of doing so for others.

‘Staff have spoken to inspectors of being afraid to speak out, told to keep quiet, instructed to cover up, and of a culture where “if you want to keep your job, you keep your mouth shut.”

‘Inspectors received evidence to show that the council did not always do the right thing. Sometimes this was because officers were worried about the impact on the council’s reputation.’

‘The youth centre, Ricky Business, which worked directly with victims of child sex abuse, flagged up ‘uncomfortable truths’ and was shut down.

Mrs Casey said: “Child abuse and exploitation happens all over the country, but Rotherham is different in that it was repeatedly told by its own youth service what was happening and it chose, not only not to act, but to close that service down.”

She added: “This is important because it points to how it has dealt with uncomfortable truths put before it.”

Daily Mail. Thursday Feb 5th. 2015 p. 14

“And just how do we address these ‘uncomfortable truths’ in our authorities and institutions when they act and seem untouchable?”