Transnistria and how Russia is going to have to 'defend' it

Transnistria is back in the news. I had discussed this earlier in Putin's War as Alexander Lukashenko had stood next to a map that included its involvement in the war. Many thought that this was to indicate an invasion was to be launched from the Russian troops who occupy it, but I thought that it was to be 'liberated' in Putin's drive to create a Greater Russia. From what it appears, Transnistria is to be attacked, and Russia will have "no choice" but to defend it.

For those unaware, Transnistria was occupied by Russian forces as part of a ceasefire agreement in 1992 involving Moldova which it has declared independence from. This is of concern as Russian occupation also has taken place in Abkhazia and South Ossetia, both parts of Georgia, and what happens in one Frozen Conflict Zone may happen in another.  

White Privilege in the USA

I am amazed at white privilege in the USA. Donald Trump is in a court case about incitement to violence and has come up with a defence only a white person in the USA may get away with that fruit may be dangerous. Likewise, Marjorie Taylor Greene has relied on a defence that she cannot recall what she has said or tweeted. I do not imagine that this defence would work in the UK but I suspect both will be found innocent.

Legs

My daughter thought that the headline was a spoof. And to be fair to her, it is understandable. The allegation that Angela Rayner is deliberately distracting the Prime Minister using her legs is just as insane as the allegation that Boris Johnson, the man who repeatedly does not answer questions in PMQ's and lies, has good debating skills. 

 

I do think that professional dress code is important, and I disagree with my daughter when I say that the one shouldered dress that Tracy Brabin wore in 2020 was inappropriate for parliament (just as it would be in many work places), but I have never thought that what Angela Rayner has worn in parliament has been unprofessional.

In addition to this, there is the mention that Angela Rayner fell pregnant as a teenager.  That is a fact along with her achievement in becoming deputy leader of the Labour Party.  We can compare Boris Johnson who was born with an easier path in life, going to the school that has produced more Prime Ministers than others, and has had at least seven children and is on his third Catholic marriage despite his numerous affairs.

  Needless to say, it was no surprise which paper published this...

Wanderlust

We watched this yesterday.  By we, I mean my wife and daughter.  My son has been isolating in his room from us due to our COVID infections.  His room is a tip and while normally I would be going through it with a bag tomorrow, I am going to miss out on this as I do not want to bring my infection into him.  

So first of all the film, it was not as bad as I expected.  It had a star filled cast and ultimately was a simple feel good comedy.  When it comes to the tests which I apply, I would not have wanted to have paid to watch this, and I doubt I will take the time to watch it again, though if I was bored and this was on the television, I might continue to watch it if I found it on.  

My son has tested negative so went into school, my daughter having continued to test positive has not though her period of isolation is less than mine and if she has no symptoms, she can return to school after three days which is tomorrow.  I can return to work on Saturday if I test negative on Friday and also on Saturday.  When it comes to our symptoms, we are all tired, my wife no longer being infectious has a cough and while doing a lot around the house has to stop more often than normal.  I worked in the morning, but crashed in the afternoon.  Not sure how much energy I am going to have for the rest of the week.

An Inspector Calls

We watched this last night, my daughter studying this for her GCSE. I remember reading this when it came to my GCSE, and before I watched it, I did say it was quite left wing. it was a shock for my wife who was not expecting something so depressing but it did lead to some intersting discussions about the characters. I considered the issues raised by Arthur Birling to be that of the importance of unions and union laws to protect workers rights, a contempory example of how important this is being the way P&O sacked their workforce and replaced them with cheaper labour. My daughter also pointed out how women were treated as the factory paid women less than men would have been paid. To me, Sheila Birling showed how without workers rights that people could be fired on a whim, but also could be denied the refernces needed to get a new job afterwards. In the film, hunger is how the affair starts with Gerald Croft, and this is poignant when we consider how foodbank use has increased, this being before the increases in the cost of living thanks to fuel price increases and the rise in national insurance payments. My wife was not happy with how Sybil Birling acted, but in 1912, the charitable organisation that she ran would have had to make choices about who they could fund and who they could not. Being an unmarried mother had even more stigma then than it had in 1945 when play premiered in the Soviet Union, but even then, thanks to the numbers of unmarried mothers after the war, things started to slowly change. This raises the importance of the Welfare State in helping support those who have fallen on hard times considering the lack of help otherwise. Last of all, Eric Birling the rapist. He did not mean to be one, but the victim did not want to be raped, or fall pregant due to this. Both tried to be honourable afterwards, but only one faced and died due to the consequences. I consider Inspector Goole, after watching the film, to be the dead father, though I cannot recall what I felt in the past. 

 

Even today, there is a view that the poor deserve to be poor and could have not been so if only they worked hard. This shows otherwise.

On a different note, my COVID symptoms are that of a cold. I did my work telephone calls this morning but now need to chill as I have run out of energy.  My son has continued his isolation in his room.  Hopefully he will not get this. 

I have COVID

I tested positive for COVID this evening. I tested negative this morning, but started to feel lethargic and had a sore throat so have tested myself. My main symptom though is annoyance. I wanted to be the last one standing at work but that is not possible any more. My son has decided to isolate in his room which gives the rest of the house to my daughter and me. My wife is feeling a lot better in herself.  My daughter is so pleased that she is out of the cooler though and has been telling me that she has given me COVID.

I did enjoy a long walk with Leia this morning, which I guess this will be my last one in a while.

 

I feel sicker over the Arsenal result yesterday. I was asked if I needed anything from one of the Spurs fans at work, he laughed when i replied with the answer of “Three points!”  It is frustrating that we had our destiny in our hands and now it looks like we have thrown our chances for 4th place away.

Another one bites the dust

My daughter tested positive today. So she has been sentenced to isolation. Both she and my wife did enjoy the weather in the garden though. I knew it was going to be good weather with my wife in isolation, though she is testing negative herself. I suspect that I will come down with it as well. I think she is going to need to watch The Great Escape once she is out though as she will appreciate it a lot!

Gender and toilets

Sorry to blog about gender issues again, but I do want some clarity on safe spaces.

In different discussions on Twitter about places like bathrooms for women, different people have said different things.  One has called for unisex toilets for all, some have said that there should be no restrictions on men entering toilets for women if they decide to do so.  Issues have been noted with unisex changing rooms regarding, sexual assault, harassment and voyeurism and many women are concerned that this would be the case in other areas.    

Some have argued that there is no legal basis to ban men from entering a toilet for women but I am not allowed to do so at my work.  In addition to this, those with a Y chromosome are not allowed to enter toilets for women at the secondary school my son goes to. 

I know this is going to be controversial, but I do not think that a teenage boy should have access to changing rooms, showers and toilets for girls at schools, unless they have managed to have sex change surgery.  

When it comes to adults, it is a more grey issue.  I define a woman as someone without a Y chromosome unless that individual identifies as something else. Likewise a man is someone with a Y chromosome, again unless they identify as something else.  I do think that sex is real and while I do not consider a TransWoman to be a woman, or a TransMan to be a man, I do think that in many cases, they should be treated as such.  I used to think that toilets should be based on genitalia (a view that I still feel should apply to prisons), but there are those with a penis who live as women, and so long as they are not known to be a threat, I do think that they should be allowed in many areas for women.

Sports is a different matter. For many sports, being born male gives advantages.  As seen with Isazc Henig, this is not always the case.  But it does give an advantage in many other areas and women can end up being injured as a result. Not just in rugby, but with other sports as well.   

COVID returns

Sadly, my wife has come down with COVID.  I have not, which is surprising, but there are a few days when I may still develop it.  She had felt unwell yesterday, but her lateral flow test was normal and she went into her last day of work.  This morning, she felt worse so repeated her test.  It did not even need a few minutes for the two lines to show.  So that was a stressful time for me in the morning.  When the kids woke up, they were naturally concerned as well.  Both have stepped up which is great as I am still at work having tested negative.  Fingers crossed it will just be a bad cold for her...

Our loss to Brighton

So today, we went for a lunchtime meal.  We had intended to eat at the Red Dog, but they are only open for brunch and we arrived as they were closing.  We went to the Whalebone instead, but thanks to issues with staffing, the food took longer than normal to come.  It was good, and while I realised that I do not like kidney as much as I did when younger when I ordered my steak and kidney pie, we all enjoyed the meal.

When back, I had intended to mow the lawn or go into work to catch up on paper work, but instead I watched Match of the Day.  I already knew the score from yesterday, what I did not realise was just how bad we played.  Yes we have had injuries, but Kieran Tierney is going to be out for a while and we have to adapt to life without him. 

Anyway, in the evening, we were quite full from lunch, big servings present at The Whalebone, so we all relaxed in different ways.  I am still tired, but am hoping that it will not mean I fall further behind at work as last week was a nightmare.

Death on the Nile

Today was a busy day.  I had to do a lot of driving with my wife and we did not get back until the evening.  I had suggested that we relaxed in a bar before going home, but she was being far to nice to the children and insisted that we went home to be with them.  

We ordered takeaway and watched Death on the Nile.  Not my choice of film, but it was one that we all agreed to watch and that was the important part.  Overall it was an okay film.  Would I watch it again? No.  But, there are those who like this kind of film.  It had interesting characters, and an excellent start.  The best bit of this was that we were all together, at least for the start of the film.    

Reginald D Hunter

 

Had a great night of comedy. I have to be honest, not as good as when we saw Shaparak Khorsandi and Esther Manito but it was still a great night. I would like to think it would have been even better had it not been for the heckler, who ended up having to be removed, but looked unwell when taken away. That seemed to put the main act off his stride a bit. Some of the jokes were pushing the limit and if you are easily offended, do not watch him. If you are willing to accept that a joke about a subject is just a joke, then it is worth going to see him.  I do feel guilty that I did not get back home in time to take my wife there for a meal, but we ate crisps and nuts and afterwards, got a kebab.  Such is the high life!

Fake News about JK Rowling

In one of my debates on the internet about JK Rowling and the issue of when the right of a woman to have access to safe spaces or not, I came across a person who had shared a fake tweet by JK Rowling.  When she tweets, she uses a particular type of Twitter app, and in addition to this, her tweets have the Blue Tick.

I can understand that people do not like what she says.  Even though I disagree with them, I can understand that.  What I do not understand is those who do not like what she has not said, but say that she has said, or implied things.  I also do not understand the need to create fake news about her.   

The Batman

We watched this as a family, minus my son of course as he is too young. My expectation when it comes to superhero films is that the Marvel ones will be good (ignore Blade 2 & 3) and the DC ones will be bad (which is why I have not bothered to watch the second Wonder Woman film).  This was a good film to watch and I would even watch it again if it was on television,

Robert Pattinson has had practice brooding from the Twilight films, but here he did it so much better,  Cat Woman was amazing though I do feel that her physique was unhealthy, and I discussed the portrayal of what I consider to be anorexia in the media with my daughter afterwards.  Another bit that bugged me was being able to rid a motorbike in the rain, but apparently helmets are not affected by the rain if they are good well maintained ones.  

If Pattison is to star in sequels, I will look forward to them, so long as the director and producer's are as good.

Conversion Therapy

I am trying to work out if the stances of Boris Johnson on conversion therapy are an April Fools joke or not.  Let me be clear, conversion therapy should be banned.  

Counselling someone about issues relating to sexuality or gender identity so that they have more of an idea about who they are is different from telling someone that they have to be straight, or have the gender identity they were born with.

I do not understand why conversion therapy is being banned for one group and not the other.  People can be confused and unsure of who they are on many issues.  Having a ban which does not apply to the Trans population is nonsense and simply inexcusable.