Monday 14 March 2011

My 'smear' campaign against the Johannson family

I recently posted on the Badman Review Action Group list, sounding a note of caution about support for the case of Domenic Johannson, the boy taken into care in Sweden. As it is presented, this case is one of a home educated child taken from his parents by the state just because he was being educated at home. As is usually the case with real life; things are a little more complicated than that. My post from BRAG was then sent to somebody running a website in support of Swedish home educators and the result was this:

http://freesweden.net/smear_campaign.html


My original post on BRAG was mild enough. I said;

'Questions have been raised as to just how happy and normal this child's life was
before he was taken into care. His father is heavily involved with the Vaken
website, which specialises in anti-semitic conspiracy theories. Domenic was not
taken into care just because he was being home educated. I think that the
Swedish authorities were genuinely concerned for his welfare and when they heard
that his parents had given away all their belongings and were taking him to
India so that he could live with them while they started an orphanage; I think
that they were worried.'

let us go through this point by point and see how it could be said to be part of a smear campaign. I said;

'Questions have been raised as to just how happy and normal this child's life was
before he was taken into care.'

They have indeed been raised.


'His father is heavily involved with the Vaken
website, which specialises in anti-semitic conspiracy theories.'

Christer Johannson certainly is heavily involved with this site. When Domenic was taken into care, his father believed and told others, that the refusal to allow him to home educate had been based upon his involvement with Vaken. See, for instance;

http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:s8wxovV4tzsJ:www.renewamerica.com/columns/hank/090910+


This is by a very strong supporter of Christer Johannson, who told him that it was his connection with Vaken had made the authorities refuse him permission to home educate. this is referred to in the article when the author says;

'But in the meantime, some locals decided that these parents should not be allowed to do this. The reasons for this are no more clear than they are legal, but Christer was once involved in an alternative on-line news mag that expressed politically incorrect ideas and as near as anyone can tell, this was the reason his home schooling plans were opposed.'


Is Vaken anti-Semitic? It is obsessed with the idea of the Jews taking over the world. They are held to be responsible for all sorts of things, particularly the 9/11 attacks. They are usually referred to as 'Zionists' rather than 'Jews'; readers are expected to understand this code. It is like a modern day version of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion. Believe me, this is anti-Semitic all right. I went on to say;

'Domenic was not taken into care just because he was being home educated.'

This is also accepted by the families supporters. Jonas Himmelstrand, the
president of the Swedish National Association for Home Education, (ROHUS),
says of this case;

'Homeschooling was not the only issue regarding taking Dominic Johansson in
custody by the social services. But having read the court verdict with all the
issues, there stills seems to be no reason for this severe action. The young boy
has most likely been much more hurt by the custody action than the conditions in
his family. One cannot avoid the thought that the prejudices and lack of
knowledge about homeschooling, could have been the pivotal reason for the
custody action.'

I have not really got room to go into this further here, but I shall be posting more about this case tomorrow. The support for this case is being orchestrated from the USA by right-wing, Christian groups who are stridently pro-spanking and militantly anti-gay. Obviously, it is no affair of mine if people in this country wish to align themselves with such groups, but they ought to know with whom they are getting into bed before they do so. The fact that such a restrained post of mine on a private home education list could provoke such a strong response, accusing me of running a smear campaign and being an agent of the Swedish government, is interesting and causes me to think that there might be even more to this than I have guessed. As I say, I shall be posting more extensively tomorrow.

33 comments:

  1. Old Webb says-ould provoke such a strong response, accusing me of running a smear campaign

    you beeen runing a smear campaign against home educators here in England since that review by crazy old Badman was started by Ed Balls M.P.You and your daughter met crazy Badman who view on home education is the same as yours! i.e you want forced entry into a private home to interview a child on its own to look for abuse along with some sort of register. now was it by chance crazy old Badman found you? answer I dont think so Badman would have know you felt the same as he did over home education was it your idea or your daughter's idea to link home education with abuse and then shown Badman this? or did Badman come up with this idea? it intersting that your daughter then went on to work for Ed Balls M.P who started all of this.It is not by chance you just get to be able to help out Balls with his failed attempt at becoming leader?Was that the plan all along to suck up to Ed Balls so she could further her job propest with the Labour party? the evidence points to you and your daughter being involved in a major way.

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  2. The following is at the bottom of the webpage

    "I have received information from a representative of the homeschooling community in Britain that the author of the smear, Simon Webb, is known for this kind of anti-homeschooling activity. She writes:

    "...everybody [in the UK] is very aware of Simon Webb ... when the HE (Home Education) community was under attack from the Labour government, [he] did his utmost to wreck our chances. He has been ejected from many HE lists but still keeps popping up, spreading his very own brand of poison. Along with most home educators, we have decided to ignore him, which must be so painful to a man who craves attention. He is no longer home educating, his daughter is older now and I am very sad to report is as mad as he is. I have Swedish step family and my youngest sister went to school in Sweden, we have no illusions about that 'paradise' or 'wonderful democracy' called Sweden. My stepfather thinks the English are all anarchists, 'why don't they do as they are told!' Please don't think anybody believes a word Simon Webb says, in fact people will automatically think the opposite"

    Whoever this person is, she does not represent the British HE community, she does not represent me.

    I am very cautious aligning myself with such campaigns as there is usually more to it than reported. We can never know the full story.

    However, I do believe that in this county (I cannot comment on the Swedish system as I do not know enough about it) that there should be a more robust appeal system regarding the family courts and social services.

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  3. 'the evidence points to you and your daughter being involved in a major way.'

    OK, I confess! We were also both hiding behind the grassy knoll when Kennedy was shot. And I really live in Area 51. Oh, and a friend of mine who works for NASA tells me that those moon landings were faked. What's more, did you know that Big Pharma have been hiding the cure for cancer for years?

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  4. 'However, I do believe that in this county (I cannot comment on the Swedish system as I do not know enough about it) that there should be a more robust appeal system regarding the family courts and social services.'

    I doubt that anybody would disagree with that.

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  5. answer the questions Webb!

    you beeen runing a smear campaign against home educators here in England since that review by crazy old Badman was started by Ed Balls M.P.You and your daughter met crazy Badman who view on home education is the same as yours! i.e you want forced entry into a private home to interview a child on its own to look for abuse along with some sort of register. now was it by chance crazy old Badman found you? answer I dont think so Badman would have know you felt the same as he did over home education was it your idea or your daughter's idea to link home education with abuse and then shown Badman this? or did Badman come up with this idea? it intersting that your daughter then went on to work for Ed Balls M.P who started all of this.It is not by chance you just get to be able to help out Balls with his failed attempt at becoming leader?Was that the plan all along to suck up to Ed Balls so she could further her job propest with the Labour party? the evidence points to you and your daughter being involved in a major way.

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  6. 'now was it by chance crazy old Badman found you? '

    No of course it wasn't. Like many home educators, we contacted him when the review began. I had never heard of him before this.

    'was it your idea or your daughter's idea to link home education with abuse and then shown Badman this? or did Badman come up with this idea?'

    You mean were I or my daughter responsible for framing the terms of references of the review? No. Why would the DfCSF ask a fifteen year old girl to do that? I don't understand.

    'It is not by chance you just get to be able to help out Balls with his failed attempt at becoming leader?'

    Nothing to do with me; I am a Conservative! My daughter was involved in this campaign though.

    'Was that the plan all along to suck up to Ed Balls so she could further her job propest with the Labour party?'

    Very far-sighted fifteen year old indeed, if this were so!

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  7. Webb says-No of course it wasn't. Like many home educators, we contacted him when the review began.

    but crazy old Badman went to the trouble of meeting you and your daughter Why? Badman would not just meet you and your daughter for the fun of it.Badman knew you felt that same as he did over abuse and forced home visits into a private home.

    Webb says-You mean were I or my daughter responsible for framing the terms of references of the review? No. Why would the DfCSF ask a fifteen year old girl to do that? I don't understand.

    because their knew her views where their same as the DFCSF/Badman their could use her views about abuse and forced home visits to form policy The dfcsf does not do thing by chance! i can smell a rat the both of you where involved in a big way.

    Webb says-My daughter was involved in this campaign though.

    she got the job with Ed Balls becuase she had come to his attention over the home education review and the fact that she fully supported Badman and its ideas. Balls would have been briefed about this.

    Webb says-Very far-sighted fifteen year old indeed, if this were so!

    are you saying your daughter is not far sighted? i would suggest she knew full well what she was doing by sucking up to Badman DFCSF and then showing Balls what she had done!It helped her get a job with Ed Balls. you do not get a job in his campaign team by chance.her views on home education and abuse would have been music to Balls ears! Balls has refused to meet many many home educated children who would have told him face to face he was wrong! the pair of you are involved right up to your neck in all of this.

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  8. Much of the above is so mad, that there is little point in responding. In fact, nobody on the Ed Balls campaign even knew that my daughter was home educated. it came out by chance when the leadership battle was over. many people met Badman; we were not single out for this.

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  9. Oh gosh, here we go again (re mad conspiracy theories)....

    As for the Swedish case; the trouble is that outsiders never get the whole story, because they are only able to hear one side of it (the legal arguments and such are never heard in public). Home educators are probably not alone in their tendency to rush to the defense of anyone who is "in trouble" and who is also a home educator, but it does appear that perhaps we are all too inclined to do so without taking a bit more care over what is actually going on.
    There was a recent case in Spain where the parents were jailed, but it turned out that this was sadly an abuse situation, not one brought because of tightening of the HE laws in that country.

    The other issue is that I do wonder about the quality of advice some parents get when faced with social services; I am not sure about the whole Swediah thing but in this country the tendency is to refuse any cooperation and sometimes even flee, which always seems counter productive and may lead to action where the chance of that beforehand, with a bit of cooperation, was much lower.

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  10. Webb says-In fact, nobody on the Ed Balls campaign even knew that my daughter was home educated. it came out by chance when the leadership battle was over. many people met Badman; we were not single out for this.

    sure Ed Balls did not know! Balls is very well briefed and would have known your daughter was home educated and supported his review on home education this is why she got the job with his campaign team! something like this would never come out by chance. first question any one would ask a yong person is what school you go to? indeed many question are asked before you can just get assess to a campign team inner circle. Your daughter was fully trusted because she had allready shown Ed Balls what she could do over the home education review!

    you where singled out by the DFCSF Balls?Badman their is no way Badman met you and your daughter by pulling a number out of a hat! Badman knew in advance your and your daughter views on home education and abuse Badman knew both of you would help to advance his crazy ideas on home education. Badman also refused to meet many home educated children who wanted to tell him face to face he was wrong!

    you and your daughter where up to your neck in all of this the pair of you are traiters to home educated children and their parents why dont you just say sorry for what you have done? and make amends over all of this?

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  11. Teacher Julie said...

    Oh gosh, here we go again (re mad conspiracy theories

    What i have said im afraid Julie is true! you dont get to work for Ed Balls by chance or met Badman just like that! i can smell a rat a mile away!

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  12. If I wanted to set up a meeting with an MP, I could. And if the reason for doing so was good enough, they would agree.
    No rat involved, just a political angle which in their eyes was of use/interest to them at that time.

    Now, please, take that tin foil hat off and calm down.

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  13. Loz says-f I wanted to set up a meeting with an MP, I could. And if the reason for doing so was good enough, they would agree.
    No rat involved, just a political angle which in their eyes was of use/interest to them at that time.

    Webb daughter went to work for Ed Balls M.P not a meeting!

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  14. Conspiracies can be seen in everything if we want to see them.

    If she wangled a job with Ed Balls through treachery against the entire HE community, then so be it. Although I doubt it.

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  15. 'you dont get to work for Ed Balls by chance or met Badman just like that!'

    I don't know how easy it is to volunteer for a politician as I've never tried.

    But of course it was easy to meet with Badders, at least early on in the process. Lots of HE friends did just that. They were in HE groups who wanted to let him have a piece of their minds.

    If you regret not taking the opportunity to do the same, then that's your own fault.

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  16. 'If she wangled a job with Ed Balls through treachery against the entire HE community, then so be it. Although I doubt it.'

    She was, like many other young people, a volunteer on the campaign. This entailed going to an office and telephoning people to drum up support. At no time was the subject of her schooling raised; why would it be? Ed Balls certainly did not know that she had been home educated. I have never heard such mad nonsense in my life!

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  17. 'But of course it was easy to meet with Badders, at least early on in the process. Lots of HE friends did just that. They were in HE groups who wanted to let him have a piece of their minds.'

    You are right, many parents and children took the opportunity of letting Badman know their views on this subject. They could not all have been traitors and Quislings!

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  18. This is getting very off topic, but I have met David Cameron several times (at my request) and could have been involved in a number of his campaigns. It is not difficult to get involved with politics, but it is too time consuming for me :)

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  19. Suzi said This is getting very off topic, but I have met David Cameron several times (at my request) and could have been involved in a number of his campaigns. It is not difficult to get involved with politics, but it is too time consuming for me :)

    Yep...me too. And I didn't have to betray anyone in the process. lol

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  20. Julie wrote,
    "As for the Swedish case; the trouble is that outsiders never get the whole story, because they are only able to hear one side of it (the legal arguments and such are never heard in public)."

    Is that definitely true of Sweden? Because the site Simon links to first claims to have read the entire court document and even posts a link to a copy of it (not in English though). Follow Simon's first link and scroll down about three quarters of the page to see this link, http://oldsite.alliancedefensefund.org/userdocs/JohanssonOpinion.pdf

    There is also a link to a an English language document, an application to the European Court of Human Rights, http://oldsite.alliancedefensefund.org/userdocs/JohanssonApplication.pdf, that details the case. Would it be worth them lying about the case in an application such as this, because any lie would easily be proven by the Swedish authorities and the application dismissed. Reading this, the Swedish authorities only claim that the child was home educated (with claims that it resulted in isolation) and later, after the child was taken, than he was not fully vaccinated and had dental cavities. The parents agreed to send him to school and have any medical treatments the authorities considered necessary done, but were still not allowed to have their child back.

    I agree we don't always know the full story but it shouldn't stop us looking at the available evidence closely rather than assuming the worst of the parents. If there were never miscarriages of justice, assuming the worst would be justified, but this is clearly not the case.

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  21. Webb says-If she wangled a job with Ed Balls through treachery against the entire HE community, then so be it. Although I doubt it.'

    she did wangle a job through treachey to the HE community and you say so be it! both of you are traiters to the HE community.

    you also say-She was, like many other young people, a volunteer on the campaign. This entailed going to an office and telephoning people to drum up support. At no time was the subject of her schooling raised; why would it be?

    Her schooling would have been raised some one would have asked what school do you go to. She would also have told them how old she was and this would have raised a number of questions about her. Balls would not just take on any one to be in his campaign team Balls knew that she fully supported his review and this would have got her the job a campaign team would have asked many question to your daughter to make sure she was on thier side school and education would have come up!

    you also say- of course it was easy to meet with Badders, at least early on in the process.

    yes it was until old Badman relized he was not geting the answers he wanted from HE Children and then refused to meet any more HE children! and fell back on a very small number of trusted views such as yours and your daughters as you had given him the answers he wanted to hear about abuse and forced entry into a private home to interview a child alone. your daughter did a lot of harm to HE family's during this time and should say sorry for what she did as should you?

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  22. suz says-but I have met David Cameron several times (at my request) and could have been involved in a number of his campaigns.

    not if your 15 could you just start work for a campaign team!

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  23. anon says-If you regret not taking the opportunity to do the same, then that's your own fault.

    dont worry we let Crazy Badman know our views and told him we would NEVER comply with his recommendations we got to him so much he mentioned chess in his interview with the select committee!

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  24. From a human rights perspective, allowing only state-supervised visits of one hour once every five weeks between the parents and the child (during which signs of emotion in the parents or child are seen as a reason to end the visit) alone seems excessively cruel.

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  25. She was 16. Oh do shut up, Peter. You have no idea what you are talking about and to be honest you've done our cause WAY more harm than SW has.

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  26. 'dont worry we let Crazy Badman know our views and told him we would NEVER comply with his recommendations we got to him so much he mentioned chess in his interview with the select committee!'

    I rest my case...

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  27. She was 16. Oh do shut up, Peter. You have no idea what you are talking about and to be honest you've done our cause WAY more harm than SW has.

    according to Webb she was 15? a 16 year old girl would have been asked by Balls campaign team what school did you go to!

    you have no idea what you are talking about Webb and his duaghter where in full support of Badman and his crazy recommendation including forced entry into a private house to interviewing a child alone with out the parents to seek out abuse. Im afraid those 2 did everything their could to try and get Badman review recommendation passed into law and his daughter went to work for Balls knowing full well what Balls views where on home education and did nothing to challege him over this?

    we helped beat Balls/Badman/DFSCF and stoped his recommendations becoming law unlike Webb and his daughter!

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  28. 'Oh do shut up, Peter. You have no idea what you are talking about and to be honest you've done our cause WAY more harm than SW has.'

    You got that right! Peter Williams contacted the publisher of my book and gave his views and opinions in his usual, far from lucid, style. I think it fair to say that he made a few converts to the cause of stricter regulation of home education that day. People were astonished and dismayed that an illiterate maniac like this could just take his child from school and refuse any cooperation with the local authority. Bit of an own goal really.

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  29. Webb says-People were astonished and dismayed that an illiterate maniac like this could just take his child from school and refuse any cooperation with the local authority. Bit of an own goal really.

    OMG Webb called me a maniac.

    we sure did refuse ANY cooperation with our Local Authority what you going to do about that then Webb? if you belive a maniac is home educating a child at home you Webb have a duty to report them? why have you not done this? you want the address of who to phone or write to? or are you all talk and no action?

    you and your daughter where in co- hoots with Badman?Balls?old DSCF and helped to run a sort of smear campaign against home educators.

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  30. you also say-Bit of an own goal really.

    no home educators 1 children's bill 0 sort of goal i do like to score you you and daughter still upset it went down the drain? never mind at least you made friends with Graham Badman LOL

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  31. I've been reading the responses by Peter and Carol...
    I must say that I didn't think magic mushrooms were in season.

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  32. anon says-I've been reading the responses by Peter and Carol...
    I must say that I didn't think magic mushrooms were in season.

    to early for magic mushrooms but i check out the local woods 2morro for some LOL i do like a spaghetti bolognese with muchrooms very nice that is!

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  33. im afraid Webb and daughter have done everything their can to support crazy Badman review recommendations becoming law. His daughter as far as we know has refused to say sorry to HE children over her role in encouraging the labour party to bring in new laws on home education.indeed she seems to have used her support for crazy Badman in geting a job with the very person who started it all Ed Balls and can see nothing wrong in wanting to serve the very man who caused so much upset for home educators .Balls is a master of spin half truths and smear every one know this and yet his daughter is more than happy to have served him! she is a traiter to home educated children.

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