Face masks, the truth.

During this time of COVID-19, face masks save lives.  But despite this, there are people who want to have an excuse not to wear them. I understand that people find covering their face to be inconvenient, and a tightly applied face mask can make some feel as if it is harder to breathe.  I wear a mask when seeing patients, my wife wears one which is even more claustrophobic when she is carrying out aerosol generating procedures.  And when we wear it, it is to reduce the risk of us catching COVID-19.

But when I wear a mask if I am cycling along a cycle path, or if I have gone into a shop, it is not to protect me, but more to protect others.  And that is the strength of masks.  Nations where wearing masks are commonplace have lower rates of COVID transmission and those who are against masks forget this fact.

Masks are not perfect.  They are no substitute for good hand hygiene (don’t wear gloves just clean your hands often) and keeping your distance from others.  Outdoors, if a cloud of COVID has been generated the wind will disperse it.  Indoors, this is not as likely, especially in shops.  A face mask offers some protection from COVID, but more importantly, if you have COVID and are unaware, it greatly reduces the chance of you spreading it.

It does not have to be a surgical face mask.  It can be a scarf, it can be a snood, it can even be a KKK hood.  But it needs to filter what you breathe out.  So no holes cut out in the middle, and no string/net masks.

There are dangers to wearing one, the danger being that if offers a false sense of security for those who forget that it is worn more to protect others rather than protecting yourself, meaning that people may forget to social distance.  And the other danger is that it can increase the chance that you touch your face, a big no no when it comes to COVID.

For some, wearing a mask can cause psychological stress due to the feeling of it restricting your breathing.  And for those, I understand that it is hard, and on occasion impossible to wear one.  But I have cycled up steep hills wearing a mask.  When I do so, it causes me some mild issues, but I can still do it.  And I am no fitness freak (I am lucky if I can cycle eight miles in one stretch).

If you literally do not care if others die of this disease, then fine, do not wear a mask,  but if you do, wear one.

Trump and racism (again)

Allegations about Trump and racism have surfaced. Again.

A while ago, there were allegations that someone in the White House was referring to COVID-19 by the racist term of 'Kung-flu' and these allegations were put to Kellyanne Conway.  Quite rightly, she asked for more information to investigate these allegations and the press did not act on them.  She also was correct (in my view) in saying that term would be racist.  And guess who has been saying it...

This Is The End

First of all, the film.  An interesting one, but one meant for men mostly.  It was meant to be terrible in points, melodramatic with terrible effects, but I loved the all star cast (well, almost).  I watched it with my wife who also liked it, but I like some ‘chick flicks’ as well.  Of course, watching a film about the end of the world is ‘interesting’ during the COVID lockdown.

Today was our street party which was a socially distanced one.  For most as some would get too close for comfort.  Though none appeared to be offended when we moved away to ensure correct social distancing.  Or when I referred to COViD-19 as The Plague.

As we are watching David Bowie at Glastonbury right now, I guess I will not be watching the victory of Arsenal over Sheffield United.  I was not sure that we would be able to win, but despite a scary end to the game, we are through.  Not sure how long form but you have no chance of winning it if you are not in the competition. 

Return of the Jedi

Today was a busy one.  It started with a trip to Primark.  While we have one in Colchester, despite being big, it has not got the choice of that at Lakeside.  So we went for an early morning drive there.  While I had wanted to get there before 0900, I think that it was because of me that we arrived late.  We queued in a socially distanced manner, made use of the hand sanitiser that was at he entrance and split up for a speed shop.  I was able to get some boxers, but no socks.  My daughter got some much needed items of clothing, but the main recipient was my son, who has had a growth spurt and since lockdown began, has grown out of most his clothes.

After an afternoon nap, I watched Return of the Jedi with my daughter.  I still love the film and remember my father taking me to watch it in the cinema when I was young.  My daughter has watched it before, but was not able to remember all that had happened.  Of course, when I was a teenager, once recorded, my brothers and I watched it over and over again.

I finished watching the Clone Wars film with my son, but have realised that we need to watch Solo before Star Wars Rebels.  The film was good, but there is no way Anakin would have bonded with and trusted Ahsoka Tano so much and so quickly.

I had a bike ride by myself. I should have taken my son, but the advantage of forgetting to ask him until I got back was that the ride was far longer and more gruelling than it would have been with him.  I do want my daughter to ride her bike, but we went for a walk instead.  We also saw a friend, Michelle which was nice.  So overall, a fulfilling day.

Congratulations to Liverpool

Congratulations to Liverpool. They won the league in an amazing manner.  Of course, I am grateful that they were beaten this season as that means that Arsenal still hold the title of The Invincibles.

And on the topic of Arsenal, our manager thinks that we may qualify for European competition thanks to our win yesterday. I do not think it will happen, but I hope he is right and that we win tomorrow. 

Rebecca Long-Bailey

Do I think that she is anti-Semitic? No.
Do I think that the article she re-tweeted was anti-Semitic? No.
Do I think that Maxine Peake, based on the article is anti-Semitic? No.
Do I think that the views expressed by Maxine Peake in the article were wrong? Yes, but only about how the technique that killed George Floyd was taught by Israeli police.
Was the Independent wrong to publish it? No.
Should Rebecca Long-Bailey have been sacked because of the article? Sadly, and reluctantly yes, even though she has clarified why she did this and how this was not endorsing the entire article.

The issue of Israel and Labour has surfaced again.  Rebecca Long-Bailey retweeted an article by Maxine Peake in the Independent.  Sadly, part of it linked the killing of George Floyd to Israel.  Allegations of Labour members being anti-Semitic have been weaponised, but the reason that this has happened has been because of the question of Israel and the inaction taken over the way that Jewish MP's have been abused, and driven out of the party if they have supported the right of Israel to exist.  Some would argue it is because they did not show Jeremy Corbyn loyalty when he was leader of the party, but my view of this is that Corbyn could only expect the same loyalty as leader that he had shown to other Labour leaders, and that members of the party should have accepted that.  Inaction before the publication of a report on antisemitism would be inexcusable.

Sadly, Islamophobia is more acceptable in the country, and while the Conservatives have taken some action on members who have been Islamophobic, they as a party have gotten away with a lot more intolerance than Labour have.  But Labour are not meant to be intolerant, while I expect prejudice to exist within the Conservatives.  Labour are meant to take the high ground on this.  

The problem with Israel is that the situation there is not black and white.  I do not consider the state of Israel to be apartheid, but the way it governs the occupied territories is akin to that.  I did not consider Israel to be racist, but changes to language laws have made me doubt that.  However, Christians in Israel have more rights than they have in Gaza (though Christians face more issues in the Occupied Territories from Israel than other Palestinians), and LGBTQ+ rights are better in Israel than in the Palestinian territories along with the rights of women.    

But going back to that article, it was wrong about how Israel taught the police officers involved in the killing of George Floyd the technique.  And retweeting the article would be used to harm Labour if no action was taken.

So it was right to sack Rebecca Long-Bailey, but I think that it will be right to allow her back into the Shadow Cabinet at a later date as well.

The Empire Strikes Back

Turns out that the Clone Wars film on Disney is not the only series, but rather is the first episodes featuring Ahsoka Tano, in order.  My son and I have started to watch it, though it is not the film we are looking for.

As for my daughter, we watched The Empire Strikes Back today, but he best bit was going for a long walk earlier.

Anyway, good night.  I am tired and would love to type more, but need my beauty sleep.

Clone Wars Series 7

Have finished watching the seventh series of Clone Wars with my son.  He insists on watching all of Star Wars in order.  So we watched Revenge Of The Sith.  I do like the film, it is just that the chemistry between Padmé Amidala and Anakain is very lacking.  It was only after that when we remembered to watch the original Clone Wars film.  But that will need to be for another day.  Saying that, this series ties in quite well with Revenge of the Sith, the last few episodes more so.  But Anakin is quite likeable in the series, including this one, while in both Revenge of the Sith and Attack of the Clones, he is not.    

It was nice going for a walk with my son in the evening, almost as good as spending the rest of the day with my wife earlier when I drove her to get some vinyl that she had been looking for.

Who wants to play in Europe anyway?

I doubt that Arsenal will be playing in Europe next season.

A defeat against Manchester City was bad enough but we had a game in hand before then.  We needed to win all our remaining league games to have any chance to qualify for European football by finishing high enough in the table.

So the defeat to Brighton was a bad one.  A misfire by the Gunners.   Which means our only hope of qualifying to play in Europe is the FA cup.  We are up against Sheffield United in that and even if we get past them, with teams like ManUre, Chelski and the Team That Rhymes With City in it, we are unlikely to win it.

Saying Black Lives Matter does not mean that other lives do not. Every life matters.

Well, the last few weeks have been interesting, when riots have occurred during some Black Lives Matter marches, those engaging in horrific behaviour have been termed rioters.  When the far right attack police in London, they are protestors.   

I have had a few interesting discussions on Facebook with an old school friend about BLM.  I would never have considered them to be racist, and to be honest, I do not consider them to be one now.  But they have shared the views of racists like Mark Collett on their timeline. Needless to say, I suspect that this has caused considerable upset despite posts also showing how the police work with all communities.

I do not agree with all of what every BLM supporter says. Most find violence against the police abhorrent, most do not agree with racism against anyone, and most do not agree with the violence and rioting that has taken place with some of the protests.  

When it comes to those in the USA calling to defund the police, they forget what has happened in Britain when the police has been underfunded by the Conservatives since 2010.  Crime has gone up.  The people who want the police to be defunded the most, are those that the police protect us from.  I treat police officers and none that I have met went into into the force (or service as it is called now) wanting to do a terrible job.

But reform is needed to address how people who are not white are treated.  Here it is harder to bring that about as the police has been defunded.  In the USA, there have been several examples of how police brutality is not just whet on black.  Non-white police officers stood by as George Floyd was killed, and non-white police officers were involved with the death in custody of Freddie Gray.

I have worked in high stress situations where you have to make a snap decision based in the information you have, not hindsight.  So I do understand how decisions that would not be made in hindsight were felt to be the appropriate decision at the time.  So unlike many, I do not think that the police officers making those choices when it came to the deaths of Mark Duggan or Jean Charles de Menezes, were wrong BASED ON THE INFORMATION THE OFFICERS KILLING THESE PEOPLE HAD IN THAT INSTANT.  

But as the deaths of Ahmaud Arbery and George Floyd have shown, a lot more needs to happen in the USA.  And we need time and money for the police to improve here in the UK as well.  

Sideshow Bob

Another depressing defeat for Arsenal.  On the weekend, I had predicted the score would be 3-0, but said that it would be to Arsenal.  

When I saw the team line up, with Xhaka playing, I said that we would be down to ten men but that we would win 3-2.  I was right in that he was the first man to be taken off, and David Luiz came on.  He gifted Sterling the first goal (you could argue that the rain played a part) with his attempt to clear the ball allowing The Team That Rhymes With City to score just before half time.  And he brought Mahrez down in the penalty area.  The foul started outside the box, but did not need to continue into it.  And while Mustafi might have been able to get back in time, it did not look likely.  Which meant that after coming on as a sub, he gave away a goal and a penalty and was sent off.  That is four penalties that he has given away, double that of the next closest contender, and no other player has made more errors in the Premier League leading to a goal in 2020.  What a record.     

Which meant I was right about then men as well.  And the picture for this post is for Sideshow Bob.  Assuming he ever puts on an Arsenal shirt again.

Star Wars, or as some call it, A New Hope

Still cannot find my daughters iPhone.  She appears to be coping well.  This evening, the kids spent time together, not watching anything but being nice to each other.  That does not happen a lot.

We also went on a drive to collect the birthday present for my wife.  We put it together (creating the space for it required input from all the family) and my wife loves it.  The drive involved the kids waking up earlier than they normally do and both, despite being warned about his before hand, found this a bit exhausting.  We may need to look at bed times again which have become later for them during lockdown.  I suspect that they will resist any such improvements though.

And of course, there is Star Wars, which we watched earlier in the week.  And I still love it.  It was the remastered version, so there was differences with some of the CGI, we got to see Jabba, in a scene that was not in the original film, and of course, the controversial scene where Han Solo no longer murders the bounty hunter before he is killed, but instead, the bounty hunter shoots first, and misses, despite being across the table.  Needless to say, while most of the improvements do add to the film, the original scene makes more sense.

Last of all, series seven of The Clone Wars appears to involve a clone based on Charlie Sheen.  Have not watched it as much as my son or I would like, but hopefully that is to change on Sunday.

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

Today was a good day.  I went for a long morning walk with my daughter which knackered her out during it, and me afterwards.  The sad thing is that I have gone on this walk and more in the past with no issues but this was not the case today.  It was great to chat and bond again and I think she liked it as well.

When it came to my son, we bonded while watching Clone Wars.  We are now on the final series, which excites him.  I am going to have to take him to Tub and Cone again, but that means placing an order which means eating earlier.  Dinner today was another amazing meal made by my wife before she had a Zoom school reunion.

And of course, the kids and I watched Rogue One.  Well, my son watched bits of it while playing Animal Crossing.  I do love this film, almost as much as the holy trilogy of the original films.  Well made, it such a shame that episodes seven, eight and nine fall so short of matching up to it.  Probably the darkest of the films, it shows the grey that is absent in most of the other films.  Of course, there is the issue at the end of the film about how The Empire were unable to obtain the location of the rebel base from the prisoners that they would have captured or the data banks of the ship they boarded.  But other than that, no major plot issues.

Star Wars next or as some call it, A New Hope.

Solo: A Star Wars Story

Today was a quiet one.  My wife and I had a romantic morning drive to the shops.  Being in the butchers was interesting as I was sent in as it was quite cold (the weather today has decided it is a bank holiday weekend).  I had to order food while on the mobile phone and did not get too much wrong.  I had spent a lot of the morning before that bonding with my son while watching Clone Wars.  We are on series six, which is a lot darker compared to the first series.  When it comes to the Star Wars sage, it shows how the Jedi become a lot more grey compared to the shining white they claim to be.

After lunch, while my wife got some rest after a stressful week, the kids and I watched Solo.  It is a shame that there is to be no sequel as I rate this film as being either my fourth or fifth favourite Star Wars film.  It was a great way of tying up the issues with the Kessel Run from Star Wars itself as well as how Han got the Millennium Falcon.  As a film, like with how I remember Rogue One, when it comes to the plot and a lack of glaring holes, it is much better compared to episodes seven to nine.

Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith

We have finished watching Revenge of the Sith.  Which is an interesting take on democracy and what happens when it is bent to deal with a crisis.

Before I get onto that, the kids are well.  My amazing son has started back at school.  His work ethic at home has been lacking and he has been keen to return to school.  Since testing for COVID19 has been available I have been keen for his return as well as if he catches something, it may not mean 14 days in isolation.  But such a decision is a risky one as COVID numbers are going to rise again.

Lock-down is being eased because there is capacity in ITU, not because it is safe.

My daughter has had exam week and has been doing this while at home.  Her iPhone is still AWOL and because of this, she has not been out for the walks she normally goes on.  And she now may not be the tallest child.  It is hard to tell because she will not compare height any more.  But it is close.

Anyway, people across the world are shocked at the actions of a minority of the police in the USA.  Like in all nations, racism exists in the USA.  And this probably was a contributing factor in the death of George Floyd.  People can argue either way if it was or not, but the actions of the police in suffocating him are inexcusable.  Just like the death of Ahmaud Arbery is inexcusable, as was the refusal of the authorities to take action over the way an unarmed jogger was killed until a video of this death was shared on the internet.  Amber Ruffin is one of many black people who have talked about how they have been treated.  But what is surprising is how a minority of the police have been acting towards peaceful protesters.  It is almost like they are obeying instructions to dominate the streets.  Trump has stated that he thinks that armed forces should be involved, something that those forces may disagree on.

Today's speech from President Palpatine.

(Attn: @pattonoswalt ) pic.twitter.com/HWpDFnqgaZ

— Andy Harris (@THEAndyHarris) June 2, 2020

The question is if Trump will respect democracy or decide that it must respect him.