Wishing you all a Happy New Year

Just a quick post to wish you all a Happy New Year!  Hopefully, there will be no repeat of the numbers of dead legends, but more importantly, I am hoping for a just peace across the world, notably in Syria, Burma, Nigeria and Palestine/Israel.

Was the US election fixed?

The answer to the question, about the US election being fixed is that it was not.

However, Putin, the great believer in democracy, influenced the elections.  It has been argued by some that Russia hacked both parties, and released the contents of those from the Democrats.  While there have been allegations that the hacking allegations should have been brought up before the election, it issue was.

But, while there is lots of evidence that Russia influenced the outcome of the elections, the American public had been made aware of the allegations.  Which means, that the outcome of the elections is valid.

There is no doubt that Putin won it, and this shown with several things.  One, is how the next Secretary of State is a recipient of the Order of Friendship from Russia.  And of concern to many nations in NATO, the proposed cancellation of the F-35 fighter will reduce the ability of nations in Europe to defend against Russia.

I am sure that there will be lost of people who will say that Russia is no threat.  But tell that to Georgia and Ukraine.  And we in the UK have known, since 2007 that the Red Star has been flying close to our nation.  That means, that I think that we do need a nuclear deterrent, but with Trump being in charge of the USA, part of me wonders if we should team up with the French on this one.

Fake News about both candidates had been spread, so the way that the Russians had hacked into the servers of the Democrats is not a reason to invalidate the election.  I am old enough to remember the Fake News abut Swift Boat when the war hero John Kerry lost, in part due to the lies spread to make him look worse that the draft dodging George Bush the second.

If anyone had hacked into the servers counting votes, then yes, the election should be re-run.  But no one did.  Which means, sadly, even though Clinton got almost 3 million more votes than Trump, this election counts.

Hate leads to suffering

I have been involved in an interesting discussion on Twitter with a tweeter about Jews.  I am of the view  that a religion should not be defined by standards not applied to others and that hatred and extremism corrupts the core message of most religions (santanism being an obvious exception).

This discussion had started when I had responded to a tweet about an LBC presentor and links to Zionism. Since then it has resulted in one poster accusing me of racism despite my repeated statements that all racism is wrong.  Sadly it appears that hatred may have blinded them. I say appear, as I may be wrong on this matter.

Anyway, for the record, I don't like the current actions of the state of Israel towards those in the West Bank, and the way that Gaza is being treated. But people have to remember that Israeli Arabs have more rights than Palestinians in Gaza. As for if one side is right or wrong people have to remember that the history of both Arabs and Jews in the area is riven with horrors.  Sadly some decide to deny history and in this discussion, several people have redefined history to say Jews never lived in the Holy Land. But such bias has been present on the other side with some stating that Israel has just taken land where it was not being used before.

I remember that wrath, which also applies to hate is one of the seven deadly sins and the reason for this is that hatred begets hatred.  Only through love and tolerance can we learn to live together.

So let me go on record, that I want a just peace for all in the Holy Land. If that makes me racist, then so be it.

Merry Christmas everyone

A quick post before bed.  We have been at home after spending Christmas with my mother and brothers.  The morning was spent opening presents, and afterwards, breakfast.  Sadly it appears that the children no longer accept Father Christmas as being real, but despite that, it was an amazing morning.

Come the afternoon we got to my mother, who to describe her as happy on seeing her grandchildren, would be understating the issue.  My brothers had yet to arrive, but they were not too far away and then we ate.  It has been a while since my mother cooked a Christmas meal for me, and this was the first time that the children got to eat there.  And they loved it.  Of course, presents came afterwards which the children loved as well.

Anyway it is late and I must sleep.  Good night.

Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree

I forgot to post some of the pictures taken by my daughter yesterday on the blog update.

Anyway, today was my last day off.  In the morning, after walking the children into school, my wife dropped me at work for me to go through some paperwork before she collected me for lunch at a local diner.  Sadly both of us seem to have contracted one of the many viruses going about and on getting back home, we were both knackered.

But later, we got to watch the kids in the annual school carol service.  My secondary school stopped singing hymns during my stay there, so it is nice to see the Christmas spirit being taught to children.  The kids both love Christmas, and even though they do not believe in Father Christmas, they seem to be taken in by the magic. I just need to get my daughter to sing louder...

Today did not go quite to plan

Today did not go quite to plan.  But, it was still awesome.  We had intended to travel into London in the morning to get some breakfast for the children, spend some time on the South Bank and then take them to see the Christmas lights and then see my mother before heading home.

But, sadly, we did not wake in time to do exactly what we wanted.  The children had been up the night before watching the Strictly Come Dancing Final, but had not gone to sleep straight afterwards.  Due to this, and a late night on the part of my wife and I, a rest in bed meant that we had missed out on the early morning window that was needed to park in Brick Lane.  In the past, we had taken the children there for bagels, and this was a plan that they were keen on.  But, due to the time taken to get there, we were not able to get any parking as close as we wanted.  But instead, we went to a past memory.  When studying in the East End, there was a bakery that we had gone to after we finished our degrees.  During our courses, my wife had got me into eating Challah (cholla) and when in the area, we would often get bread from there.  But when driving past it last, we noted that it was closed.  Today we saw it was open.  And as our usual place to park was taken, we turned around and found a place to stay near the bakery and ate there.  Unlike the place we had eaten before, this had seats and that meant that we had a more relaxing time.  But with the time that we arrived, this was more of a Brunch than breakfast.

After this, it was a trip to the South Bank.  The kids, as on the day before, were playing Pokémon Go, and as we drove through London, they had loads of fun doing so.  We have learned though that we have to stop them from doing this when we are not driving slowly, and this has been learned the hard way as they can get headaches or start to feel nauseated.  Once we parked, it was a walk along the South Bank to the Tate gallery were we sat for another coffee and after some art work from my son, a walk for them to some of the entertainment that was on offer.  We did not get to see as much as we would like, but later, had a late lunch and then made for the lights at dusk.  And they my wife and I felt that the lights that we were able to see on Regents Street.  We did not get to show then Buckingham Palace, but were able to show them other sights and explain bits about them.  However, we were not able to get time to see my mother as my son started to feel unwell.  Hopefully, he will be better tomorrow, but they are both now asleep, tired after a great day out for the family.

Time with the children

Again, I have had the opportunity to spend time with my children.

In the last week, I have technically been off work for most of the week.  I still had to go in to complete the work that I have allowed to pile up, but this was a lot more relaxed than this would otherwise be.  As I had been slightly under the weather I had not cycled in after walking the kids to school but took the easy option to drive instead. This was not an option on Wednesday when I work in my other job, but I was up to cycling then.  Which was just as well as I am not allowed a parking space at that job, and that in turn has made me have to become fitter. I am not up to the standards of others in my area of Colchester who cycle to work (or as part of their journey to do so) but I am much better than I once was.

On Thursday I was back at my usual job, and it was a hard day. But yesterday I got to spend time with my amazing wife. It was not long, but it was time together without children, who while we both love them very much, at times distract our attentions from each other.  I did return to work, but later had to take the kids to an appointment which meant that they were taken out of school early. But later, after school, we went to watch a film, or rather the film I have been waiting most of the year for.

And it was awesome. All four of us loved it.  I was wary as some films we not as appreciated as the original three were by me.  But I was a child and these films are really meant for children. But the magic of Star Wars was present in Rogue One. We now await the extended version which should be available for Christmas next year.

And today, we traveled to London as my wife had a reunion to attend. The children were entertained by Pokémon Go on the way down, and we had a late lunch in East Ham. The food there was, as before, amazing and this is a place the children look forwards to going to.  They do not like spicy foods, but this appears to be an exception.  They are peacefully asleep now, after watching Strictly Come Dancing, but this week spent with them, has been treasured once more.

Is the BBC biased?

The answer to this is simple. Yes. Against Arsenal.  The evidence I cite on this was in the recent game against Stoke.  In the post match analysis on Match of the Day, they quite rightly focused on the penalty given away by Xhaka but then ignored the stamp by Charlie Adams on Alexis Sanchez.  We scored in that attack, and if he had not been trying to cause our star striker an injury, he might have been able to stop that.

When it comes to politics, then for the most part, then no.

There has been controversy over the way that they cover politics, but all parties claim that it is biased.  People moan when UKIP are featured on panels, or complain when UKIP is not.  Both Conservatives and Labour are of the view that the BBC is biased against them, and the same occurs with other political parties.  In addition to this, there was the refusal of the BBC to air an appeal during a conflict with a large number of civilian casualties in Gaza.  I did not agree with that decision, but I do see how most of the time, it is trying to be impartial.

There are occasions when it is not, and one appears to be with Russia.  But then with the way that Russia has managed to manipulate things elsewhere, that does not seem to matter.

Romeo and Juliet is lovey-dovey apparently

It has been a really nice week.  Most of it was spent with the family which is why it has been amazing.  I got to take the kids to school most days and even helped in my sons class by talking to them about the skeleton.  It did mean that I got a lot more exercise as to the annoyance of my kids, we walked to and from school most of the time.

They had decided to give me the sponsorship forms that they needed for this week two days before they were to hand them in, and then carried out the exercises that were required. Sadly not that many people at work got to sponsor them, but they did raise money and hopefully one day, they will learn to hand me the forms sooner!

Today my son read a short version of Romeo and Juliet stating that it was too lovey-dovey for him. I was hoping to take him out cycling but only had time for my daughter, and she loved the route she went on.  The main picture is from this and was taken by her.

Anyway, that is the end of the update. Take care all!