Beer and Netflix

It has been an interesting time once again since my last post on about the family.  A few weekends ago, we got home to find that the lights were out.  A fuse had gone and through a process of deduction we worked out that the circuit to the boiler had gone.  In the morning on Sunday we had a look and quickly realised that this was nothing that we could deal with as it looked like our boiler had been leaking.  However, the boiler was not able to be repaired until the following day.  Or so we hoped.  We had to ask a friend to wait for the boiler engineer from our insurance cover, and when he did come (late) he did not have the parts that were needed and more importantly, did not inspire confidence.  However my wife was amazing and called the operator of the boiler and arranged for someone who knew about what was going on to come.  Friends helped out with the loan of some heaters in the meantime.  And this was just as well, because when the boiler was sorted out, it turned out that there was a problem with the gas supply to the house which meant another night in the cold.  As stressed as my wife was, she was amazing in sorting things out while I was at work.

My son was lucky over this time as he was away on a school trip for most of this time.  And on the topic of trips away, the kids have been away with my wife in Menorca over half term.  I missed them but did take the time to catch up on Breaking Bad.

Anyway, before I go to bed, a quick update on Chess and Arsenal.  I have taken part in the following tournaments.
3|0 3 check tournament
1st Klingon Open
336 hours to make up your mind (2)
Essex County Open 2016
1st Essex Open
33rd Chess.Com thematic tournament Gruenfeld 1401-1600

As for Arsenal, I did not expect the team to be as doing as well as it has been.  We have ridden out luck, and while I hope this continues, I am aware that it will not.

Drain the swamp

I am disgusted that a man who has either lied to lawmakers, or been very stupid about the meaning of terms, has been elected to the supreme court in the USA.  In his testimony about allegations of sexual assault, Brett Kavanaugh appears to have lied about some issues, "forgotten" others due to being drunk and also been unaware of the real meaning for phrases that he used.  

Why people doubt the testimony of someone who has not been shown to lie and believe someone who has is beyond me.  But I guess that is the how the swamp in the USA is to be drained of those with ethics and filled instead with predators.

The IHRA definition and Israel

It has been an interesting time for Labour.  The IHRA definition of antisemitism has finally been accepted.  There are fears however that this will prevent legitimate criticism of what is happening in Israel.  Sadly, not all the criticism is legitimate.  And while this may have helped a bit to try and close the sore that has been allowed to fester and remain open for so long, the actions of Labour in the party conference where Palestinian flags were allowed but EU flags were forbidden will not convince many that the party will call out injustice on both sides in the Holy Land, if it continues to occur, but rather will just castigate one side.

Let me first state that I feel that the oppression of Palestinian rights in the occupied territories by Hamas, Israel and Fatah is morally indefensible and I think that it is right to speak about this.  I also think that it is wrong to think that all the woes the the Palestinian people face are just due to Israel.

So let us look at what Israel has done that is good in the area.  LGBTQ rights exists in Israel that are not present in Gaza or the West Bank.  Women have more rights in Israel, and religious freedoms are protected there as well and people forget that Muslims living in Israel have more rights than those in the many nations surrounding Israel, including more rights than Hamas and Fatah allow Palestinians.  Both Hamas and Mahmoud Abbas while democratically elected, have exceeded the terms of office that they were elected to while Israel remains a democracy (though the current leader is one I despise).

But, there little excuse for Israel acting the way it does in the occupied states.  Some of the restrictions on the movement of Palestinians can be justified based on security but the theft of land in the West Bank for settlements is inexcusable. While Israel argues that this land is not used by Palestinians, that is untrue.  

The issue of the Right Of Return is a contentious one.  Allowing Jews with an ancestral right to return to Israel is right, but only if the same right is given to the Christians and Muslims who used to live in Palestine. Two examples of this are two villages, Iqrit and Kafr Bir'im. 

I have had discussions about this with people on both sides of this debate. Some have repeated a lie that Jews have no historical link what is now the Holy Land. Others have not been so rabidly insane/antisemitic but they have not been willing to say what should happen to Jews who now reside there.  And on the other side of the argument is the fact that there has never been a Palestinian state.  Some use this to justify the refusal to allow Palestinians a state.  But this does not mean that people should be evicted from land just because they are Christians or Muslims.

But to the picture that is present in this blog.  There is a claim that Israel is a racist state (as opposed to a nation that is trying to combat racism).  Up until this year, it was easy to point out that it is not, examples being how Israel has had a black Miss Israel,Yityish Aynaw, as well as the rights that Muslims and Christians have which Muslims do not have in other nations.  Up until this year that is.  

In summary, the situation in the Holy Land is not a binary one like I thought it was in the past. It is complex and is made worse by extremists on both sides.  I do want to know if those who support Israel fully support the oppression of Christians who are Palestinians and I do want to know what those who are against Israel think of the lack of LGBTQ rights in the Palestinian Territories.