Free speech, the White House correspondents' dinner, Amber Ruffin and deportations

Free speech was going to be the topic of one of my posts, but today I found out that Amber Ruffin, a comedian, I like listening to (who I prefer to Seth Meyers)

The Best People

Sorry, I do try to ignore the Orangutan in The White House, but this story has to be commented on. Top Trump cabinet members added The Atlantic editor to a chat discussing strikes on Houthis and did not seem to realise until he shared the story.  The person who added the Jeffrey Goldberg, the editor of the Atlantic magazine, may have been Michael Waltz, Trump’s national security adviser.  Though Pete Hegseth is being touted by some as the moron who did so.

In the last Trump administration, many of The Best People went to jail.  The incompetence of this administration was to be expected considering the backgrounds of the people he has appointed, but this level of stupidity may be hard to beat.  But I suspect that they will do their best.  And we have almost four more years of this for them to do so. 

Mississippi Burning

Before my daughter left for her travels we watched films together. My son tends not to watch films with me, instead we watched TV shows and are watching Fresh of the Boat. Anyway, she is back and we watched a film together.

We had been for a walk earlier in the morning, taking the dog to Gosbecks (Leia gets very impatient if we do not park quickly) on a different route to normal. During the walk, she talked about her time travelling and one of the topics discussed was The Vietnam War. So when we got back I suggested we watched Platoon before it leaves Amazon Prime. While searching for it, I noted that Mississippi Burning is also due to leave and mentioned that it was a film worth watching. So she decided to watch that instead. I have watched this many years before. Watching it now has a special relevance considering what is happening in the USA. So many of the issues it brings up could be issues faced today with the resurgence of racism and white nationalism as well as the way Trump has views on how the law should be.

She is back!

My daughter is back after almost two months away.  The dog is very happy, as are the rest of us. There was a worry yesterday when we work up to this message. I relaxed more when I found out that the airport itself was not on fire and I was confident that the airport would be open the next day and that she would get back, but there was always a worry. 

I was under the mistaken impression that as the volcano was to the east of Bali, that flights to Singapore, which is to the west of Bali, would be unaffected, but again this was not the case as some flights were cancelled.

We all missed her, but the dog has expressed it the most.  Anyway, she is asleep on the sofa so I need to wake her up so she can sleep in her own room, 

The oldest profession should be legal

I have discussed this before, notably after Lily Philips had filmed her exploits.  Since then, her 'body count' has been surpassed by Bonnie Blue.  But this is not about that.  It is about how I think that prostitution should be legal.  And not just prostitution, but other forms of sex work as well.

As I have stated before, I do not want any woman (or man) to have no choice but to resort to working as a prostitute, but like it or not, for some men and women, this is how they earn money. What I want is a system to support sex workers, so that they can get the help and support to work in a safe manner, but more importantly, the help and support to get out of the trade if needed. Making sex work legal may also help to reduce sex trafficking as sex workers would be given rights. 

 

There are websites for men to be sugar daddies and many men seek ‘love’ from abroad in a way that many consider to be transactional for too many women. 

In a nation where we are looking at having to cut payments to the most vulnerable, legalisation and regulation of sex work may actually help the economy.  After all, lets face it.  Keeping the current situation has not stopped things.

Abortion and Savita Halappanavar

I watched an interesting video today.  It reminded me of the case of Savita Halappanavar, a dentist who died in Ireland due to the laws it had on abortion.  Her unnecessary death was the catalyst which brought about the change in Ireland which ended the laws banning abortion there.

When the US decided to allow states to make their own choices, many banned or placed huge restrictions on abortion.  And since then, women have died.  

We in Europe do find it strange that the pro-life lobby are willing to allow mothers to die.  But then this is the nation which prefers to have school shootings rather than decent gun controls...  

The Railway Tavern Kelvedon

My wife and I had a pleasant afternoon here.  I had been for a walk with Nick and on the way back, my wife, who was driving back home asked about lunch together.  We discussed different options.  It being a sunny day, one option was to eat in the garden after getting some food locally, but we settled on going somewhere new.  

The location was pleasant, or would have been but for the ducks, or rather Leia, our dog, wanting to kill the ducks.  I enjoyed my food, but my wife chose poorly and did not enjoy hers as much.  But parking was easy and I would return again.  

The best bit was spending time with my wife though.