Family meet up

We met up with my family today. One of my brothers traveled down from Manchester for it (he also went to see an old friend of his afterwards). My other brother came alone, his partner staying at home after having a stressful Christmas. He has booked the pub meal near my mother’s place. My Mum loved seeing us all together, Leia liked seeing my two brothers, especially my youngest one who had house sat before and trained her to fetch a ball which was thrown to her.

Anyway, now we are relaxing. My wife and I are to continue watching Slow Horses, but might get an early night as my daughter was out late. Both kids are awake and active still, which is surprising, considering how late they were up last night. 

Yesterday involved a return to The Westleton Crown

Yesterday I forgot that I had taken the day off work. I went in to be asked why I was in! So I returned home, took my daughter out for a driving lesson, dropped her at my work for her job, returned home and my wife, Leia and I went out to Snape while my son got ready for a date. My daughter had been out to one earlier in the week, but both reported back that it was not a date and did not speak about it at all otherwise.

Leia loved being at Snape Maltings. My wife drove, as helping my daughter learn to drive can be a bit draining. She loves it there as well, which is why we visit it at least once a year. Leia found the drive there a bit stressful as my daughter fed our lactose intolerant Cockapoo some cheese before the trip, which meant that we had to keep pulling over for her. The only part of Snape Maltings that she did not like was a wooden walkway.

I had refused to book lunch in advance, and for a while, it appeared that we were not going to find anywhere, but The Westleton Crown was not too far away so we returned there. Great food once again, and for the person not driving, a fantastic bottle of wine (the remainder of which was shared once we got home). 

Overall, it was a good day and we bought a birthday present for my mother as well! The only blip was Arsenal getting beaten at home by West Ham. 

A Haunting in Venice

Watched this last night with my wife. I am not a big fan of Agatha Christie, but I enjoyed this more than Death On The Nile. While that film started better, this was more of a slow burn. I worked out who it was, almost for the right reason. I doubt that I would watch it again, but apparently others have enjoyed it much more than I.

There has been outrage though about the BBC adaptation of another Agatha Christie novel because the work of fiction was altered slightly to be more inclusive of the population demographics of today. Due to this, I may take the time needed to watch Murder Is Easy, which I doubt I would have watched otherwise. 

Havoc

I did not mind this film. I doubt I would watch it again however. With children around the ages featured in the film, it had more relevance to me, especially as they have told me about the availability of drugs in school.  It has been argued that this is slum tourism, something I engaged in when on a trip to New Orleans over twenty years ago. I do remember taking my daughter to Jaywick so that she could see the poverty some in her school were talking about in an ignorant manner. I have not had to do that with my son who chose to go to school in a very deprived area. My daughter at her sixth form also now meets people who are not fed properly thanks to poverty in the UK, but the impression I get of the Boys Grammar school from her, is that this film may be like that. 

What was the most interesting was the way attitudes to rape appear to have changed. No means no but the scene in the film appeared to have areas which were more grey than they are now. This video is great when it comes to consent. I have used it to show one victim of sexual assault that she should feel no guilt, and I have another patient who realised what happened to her was wrong after watching it at school.

Boxing Day 2023

Even though I went to work for a few hours, today has been quite relaxing over the last few days, we have played a few games. One was about music from 2000-2010+, the kids were great sports, playing even though it was set a bit too early for them. Another one was a quiz but that resulted in my wife and son deciding that they did not want to be on the same team as my daughter.

Apparently, her competitive zeal has been noted at her sixth form. In a politics quiz she was very assertive with her teammate, but in her psychology class, she was quite vocal. 

My wife made a great Christmas meal and even included the dog in her cooking, making Leia a meal that the dog absolutely loved.  My present for my son had not arrived in time so he had to make do with a vinyl album. My daughter got one of my hoodies, this being the hoodie I wore when she was born. She had tried to steal it from me before, but I had managed to get it back, and for the last few months, hid it. She was very happy to have it as a gift. 

The Kings Speech

It was the first Kings Speech that we watched today. One which would be viewed by many as being political. I felt his speech referred to the cost of living crisis and also could be viewed as taking care of refugees. The last point is especially important considering how today is celebrated by many as the birth of the most famous refugee of all. 

The Westleton Crown

We traveled to see my mother yesterday morning and have taken a break for the day in Suffolk now. My brother and I had discussed who was to spend time with her this Christmas, we had her last year when she took offence with us, but my brother spent two lockdown Christmas’s with her in 2020 and 2021. However, she decided that she is going to spend Christmas alone this year. But, she loved seeing the children face to face.

After that, we drove to stay overnight, in a dog friendly place, where I explored with her for her dog walks. The food and service was fabulous and it was a much needed break after another hard year.

Transgender rules in schools

Again I agree and disagree with the government about its rules on transgender matters for schools. 

I think that single sex toilets based on biological sex should be present, but despite the risks, schools should have the right to also provide gender neutral toilets for pupils. I do agree with segregation of changing and showering areas based on biological sex, this also being the rule for sports in situations where segregation takes place. 

I do think that children should have the right to socially transition in schools, within these limits, without parents being involved. As happens with conditions like abortions for underage children, efforts should be made to involve parents, but if the child says no, I do think that wish should be respected. 

There are over 100 gender identities and we should allow people to learn about them if they think that they may be non-binary when it comes to this. I have seen too many people live unhappy lives living a lie.

Baroness Mone being fed to the sharks

It has been an interesting few days for Baroness Mone.  There has been a lot of pressure for her to face the consequences of supplying substandard PPE as part of the chumocracy.  To be fair to her, it was not just her, others linked to the Conservatives had supplied substandard PPE while our nation exported PPE supplies to Italy even though there was a shortage. 

What is different here is that she threatened legal action against those who wanted to publish facts, facts that she now admits were true.  And in addition to that, she has been thrown to the wolves by the Tories.  But one of them made public a WhatsApp message that they had told the COVID inquiry they had no access to.  I do hope the inquiry calls Lord Bethell back.

That’s not the way the Israel Defense Forces operates

The IDF have claimed that they do not kill civilians when it comes to the deaths of women in a church compound in Gaza. This is the same IDF that killed three Israeli hostages when they were trying to flee to safety with a white flag. After the attacks by Hamas on Israel, I was in favour of retaliatory action, but this went too far ages ago and I know agree with calls for a permanent ceasefire. 

I still pray for a just peace in the Holy Land.  I did not think it was possible in Northern Ireland.  It happened and I think that the Oslo Accords can be opened again.

Driving in my car

Yesterday was relaxing, until I let me daughter drive my car.  She is learning to drive, and while she has opted to learn how to drive a manual car, she is practicing in my electric one, which is in essence an automatic one.  We drove around Colchester.  She found it strange that I kept telling her to drive faster, but we were on a main road and it is important when on one, not to slow other traffic down, so long as they are sticking to the speed limit and driving in an appropriate manner for the conditions.  She is much better than I was when I was at that stage of learning, though it has cost a lot to add her to my insurance!  

I did get to relax with my son as well during the day and my wife and I took part in our local pub quiz, ending the year by coming second from last!  And our dog loved our morning walk!

How Do You Know

My wife and I watched this last night.  The best way I can describe this is a rom-com without the com.  It was not terrible, it appeared to be directed and produced well, it just was not well written.  I would argue, that thanks to the acting it was an average film, one worth not watching.  Normally I do not recommend watching a trailer, but watching it means that you do not need to waste time watching the film.

Not voting is still making a choice, but it is a bad one

I have made my views on voting known on many an occasion on this blog.  The lady featured on this video from Novara Media shocked me. Someone who is politically aware should realised that you vote for the party you disagree with the least.  Yes, ideally, a person should be inspired by a leader and vote for them based on a positive perception of them, but few are going to agree with everything any party leader is going to advocate, well few with a critical mind anyway.  To put matters simply, each time you do not vote, you have no voice, but those who vote against the position you have do.  To say that the Conservatives and Labour are the same ignores how they are different on matters such as the NHS or asylum.     

The government have taken away the right to vote from too many people. Something that Jacob Rees-Mogg admitted to.  

Yes, people have the right not to vote, but for someone who is aware of politics, to refuse to vote when the Conservatives are making it harder to vote is silly.  And very sad.

One-nation conservatism

This week I was taught what a one-nation Conservative is by my daughter. She was quite patient with me considering it started me on a rant. Apparently, David Cameron is part of this view, the Prime Minister who brought about austerity to our nation as is Jeremy Hunt, the man who has overseen the decline of our NHS. 

I have to thank my daughter on teaching me about this despite my interrupting her with my views on the two. I am going to learn more as time goes on from both my children. 

A vote to Stop the Boats and ignore those we should be helping

I am proud that our nation took in refugees from Ukraine, many of whom were in safe nations such as Moldova and Poland when they needed sanctuary.  There was a need and the applications for asylum were processed quickly.

I do not understand why the same is not being done for people from Afghanistan, notably, those who are linked to the UK when we had a presence there.  We have Afghan soldiers who face execution if returned to Afghanistan waiting in Pakistan among many others we have a duty to help.  I suspect that the reason that they are being left to rot is because they are Muslim.  

We have shown that asylum applications can be processed quickly.  Instead, the government have allowed loads of asylum seekers to be held up in hotels while more cross The English Channel. A cynic would argue that the reason that they have done this is to make this into an election issue...

The NHS on YouTube

There is an interesting article on the NHS on YouTube. 

I disagree with bits of it. The use of the private sector resulted in improvements in NHS performance during the Labour years, not seen in Wales, where private sector involvement did not occur.

It also mentions PFI in brief, without looking at the reasons that loans had to be taken out to rebuild the NHS.

Also it does not mention how the Conservatives cut the numbers of doctors in training, removed the NHS bursaries and have watched as UK trained staff leave for better pay and conditions abroad.

But it was very good overall.

A Dog's Purpose

It was the Christmas Party for my work last night. I decided to drive which was good for two people at my work who live nearby. We returned to the place we had our party last year, the food was a lot better. But after we ate our main course, there was a power cut. We did get served dessert and ate by the light of our mobile phones. However, mobile reception there was very poor but some did find out that the power was not expected to come on till the early hours of the morning. This meant that we left early, and being the nominated driver, it also meant that if was easy to get home. Others had to wait for pre-booked taxis.

I had rested in the day before and even got a nap. Before I did so, my daughter and I watched A Dog’s Purpose.  My daughter was right in that I would never have watched it before we had a dog, and while predictable, it did tug at my heart strings. If you love dogs, it is worth considering this as a film to watch, but there is no point in doing so if you are not a fan of dogs.

COVID and lockdowns

On BBC Any Question last night, the matter of lockdowns during COVID came up. Some idiots on the panel doubt that they were needed.

They ignore what happened in Italy, or Iran. While Sweden avoided a lockdown, they put Social Distancing guidance into place before we did. A few days before the UK went into lockdown, the Cheltenham Festival took place, 60,000 people in close proximity spreading COVID. 

Also they forgot to mention how unprepared the NHS was to face a pandemic, this despite Exercise Alice and Exercise Cygnus showing the problems being faced. 

The Tories are finally ending Mail Order Brides and Forced Marriage, unless you are rich

At long last, action is being taken on forced marriage which will essentially end this.  Until April 2024, couples will need the UK based spouse to earn £18,600. From then it will be £38,700.  This will also end the practice of mail-order-brides which I consider a morally grey area.  

Of course, this is going to affect many people in our country who do fall in love when abroad and could result in a brain drain due to love.

I think that the policy has promise, but it will harm loads and will also affect the attractiveness of the UK when it comes to encouraging people from abroad to work in the UK. 

If I called Stockton a shit-hole, I would admit it

I have no idea what Stockton is like.  I do know that I have negative views of a local town, that being Clacton.  I view it as being nice, until a certain demographic of the population wake up.

If James Cleverly described it using a term which is not a flattering one, he should admit it.  Instead, he has stated that he described the MP as being one.  

Should the British Museum only have items from the UK?

Yesterday, Rishi Sunak declined to see the Greek Prime Minister because he answered a question about The Elgin Marbles.

I understand the desire of Greece to have them back, but as has been pointed out, many nations want items in The British Museum to be returned to them.  I guess it can be argued that no nation should have items in a museum that do not belong to that country.  I am of the opinion that this is not of any use in teaching people about history of other nations.  I do think that there could be more sharing of the more mobile items across borders but when it comes to the treasures looted by The British Empire, they should stay.  

However, it is silly for Sunak to act in the manner that he did.  I would expect our politicians to speak to nations like China and Saudi Arabia about human rights.  I think it is right for the Greek Prime Minister to bring up an issue of importance to Greece.   

Leading and The Holy Land

I have listened to two amazing podcast episodes (47 & 48 if you wish to listen to them) on the current issues with Israel and Palestine.  

My views on them have been tempered by a good friend of mine, who while he agrees what is happening in Gaza is terrible, appears to have fallen for Israeli propaganda.  This is probably because of friends of his who live in Israel, who have to live in the shadow of rocket attacks from Gaza.  What was interesting was his claim, told to him by his friends, that such attacks have been launched from the West Bank.  Those who have read my other posts on this are aware that Labib Dumaidi was murdered when settlers attacked the Palestinian town of Huwara before Hamas went and murdered over 1000 Israeli civilians.  When I mentioned this to him, he said that it was wrong, but so were the rocket attacks on settlements.  He said it was not reported on due to the media in the UK being biased.  While no rocket attacks from the West Bank have taken place, attacks on settlements have occurred.

The podcast episodes do not look at how America and the Palestinian Authority tried to overthrow the (then) democratically elected government in Gaza, but they do look at how the chance of peace that was won in 1991.  I like how they did comment that while there are extremists on the Palestinian side, there are also too many in Israel.  What was interesting was a solution of a return to the Oslo Peace Accords but with the settlements remaining, but being under control of the Palestinians with Jews being allowed to live there. 

If you do get a chance, have a listen to them and let me know what you think in the comments below.       

Mafia Mamma

 

The best thing about this film was watching it with my wife, the scenery and the fact that she liked it. I honestly did not think that Toni Collette could be in a bad film. I was wrong. One review states the film is “Riddled with stereotypes, fatally unfunny, and a total tonal mishmash, Mafia Mamma is a criminal waste of Toni Collette." Rotten Tomatoes is right about this. It has made me want to visit it again, maybe next year… 

The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes

First of all, Arsenal are top of the league again. I am going to enjoy saying this at work tomorrow. I had said that I thought that David Raya (on loan from Brentford) is the better goalkeeper but that Aaron Ramsdale was the more reliable. Yesterday he tried to prove me wrong on this matter. But we still won. It took a late goal, but it is the three points that count.

As for the film, we all watched it as a family. My son had wanted to watch it last weekend, but we said no due to his mock exams which he is going through. We all liked the film. I had a few issues with so much land not being used for farming in a world riven by hunger, but it was enjoyable. When it is out on streaming, I may watch the entire series again.

Ode to Joy

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has said that Ode to Joy sums up Labour. If this is a political move, it is genius. It will not bother most voters, but it will enrage those Brexiteers who despise him and may endear him to those who voted remain.

International men's day

It was International Men's Day on the 19th of November.  When I first learned about this, I thought it was a stupid idea to have one, but over the years, my view on this has changed. 

I think that such a day is important to promote health changing behaviour, and also to challenge toxic masculinity, including what is and is not consent. 

We saw the need for change in the media in September when the failure of Dan Wootton to say Maaate to Laurence Fox resulted in both making the news for the wrong reasons. Since the original comments, Dan Wootton has been sacked by the MailOnline, and Laurence Fox has (finally) apologised for his comments.

I have posted before about the pressure on men to be toxic. We see those like Andrew Tate venerated by other men, but we also see people like Russell Brand being defended by some women. When it comes to toxic behaviour in men being tolerated, it is the 'right type' of man who is able to get away with this. While it is not with most woman, there are enough women who are attracted to bad boys which makes men see such behaviour as the right thing to do.

There are so many things that we can do to help society become better, but that includes addressing the issues that men face, not just to their own health, but how they affect others. Examples of this include teaching men how to act in relationships to reduce rates of domestic violence, ensuring that women do not have to fear being killed by men (or boys) due to an actual or perceived slight. And of course, reducing the numbers carrying knives.

The Creator

Visually and emotionally, this is a great film. However as a science fiction nerd, it is crap. Do not read this post if you wish to watch the film.

I watched it with three normal people, and by this I mean that they do not love sci-fi as much as I do. My wife, who was one of them, liked it.

The sci-fan in me dislikes how the base did not defend itself properly. How when the village above it was discovered, that alarms were not set off. When it came to taking out the base, a missile would have done. Alternative/Artificial intelligence will be able to manage computers better than we can and we will not be able to hack them, it would be the other way round. Why do people shoot weapons in the future which are less effective than the ones we have now

Why robots would take up human religion is beyond me as well. But the three normal people loved that touch.  In summary, if you love science fiction, do not watch it.

The Marvels

This was not the best of the Marvel films, but I still liked it. I watched it with my son.

It has a predictable plot but in general, it was done with comedic style.  I do think that there are better films, but this was worth watching, unlike films like Blade 2 & 3. 

Stephen K Amos: Oxymoron

What a night! First of all, I got to watch Arsenal with Tony, or rather the second half of the game. We were 1-0 up and after he jinxed thing’s by saying we were to win, Burnley equalised. However we then scored two goals but had a man sent off for a dangerous tackle.

My wife was not too keen on going last night, especially as we had a great night the weekend before watching Jo Caulfield: Here Comes Trouble. I think it is hard to say which night was better as both were great nights. We laughed and laughed and laughed. I would like to say that Colchester is not as much of a small town as it appears to both, but the crowd at both nights was not very cosmopolitan (a bit more last night) and we did have fun poked at the city on both nights. If you have a chance to see either, take it.

The Shard

My wife used up our Expedia points so that she could take us to an amazing night at The Shard. It was a late anniversary present, and also my Christmas and birthday present.

We drove there and we were met with a great view when we entered. The picture does no do it justice. The view was actually better today (the picture is from yesterday) as the sun was shining this morning. I am sad to admit, that in addition to looking at the Thames and the various buildings, I also spent time watching the trains. My wife dragged me away from watching the real life train set and we went upstairs to the cocktail bar. We watched the reflection of the sunset in the buildings as we savoured our cocktails. 

After getting ready in our room, it was dinner and watching night fall across London. Dinner involved interesting flavours at the start and later a fabulous fish dish and astounding stake. Sadly my wife was not to finish hers, so I got to eat that!

Breakfast the following morning was great, the sun shining made the view even better. Our drive back home to reality did involve some traffic as well as watching the police rush into deal with the right wing protest against people marching for an armistice on Armistice Day. We did not get back for the minute’s silence, something which I hoped would have more relevance to my son who has just got back from Ypres, in Belgium, being taken through the remnants of the trenches and seeing the war graves as part of a school trip.

Marching on Armistice Day for an Armistice

A lot of debate has been taking place about if a march on November the 11th is appropriate or not.  The title of this post is the best answer so far.  I do not agree with everything that has been said by the Barnaby Raine in his interview with Rees-Mogg, but his line about this is undisputable.

Starmer and leadership

Not sure that this is the best advert for Labour when Starmer may need to back down over his stance on Gaza.  I have to admit, I am not sure what the least worst action is with Gaza and I do have sympathy for Starmer over the resignations that he has faced.

I do want to know what the proposed solution that those who want a ceasefire is when it comes to Hamas and the way they have attacked and have continued to attack Israel.   

Electoral reform and Proportional Representation in the UK

My daughter and I had a disagreement over this today.  My daughter is in favour of proportional representation.  I am not. 

Rather, in an ideal world, I would be, but considering how our nation has voted in the European Elections, the elections closest to it, I would rather keep the current system.  

In summary, other than the last European Elections, the right have won over 50% of the vote in the last few elections.  

In 2014, a combination of UKIP, the Conservatives got over 50.% of the vote, Nigel Farage getting the most votes as part of UKIP (he got most of the notes in the 2019 elections with the Brexit Party).  

In 2009, the Conservatives got the highest vote margin with 27.4% of the vote, UKIP coming second with 16.5%.  With the 6.2% of the vote that the BNP got, that meant that those on the right would have got over 50% of the total vote.  In that election, we sent two far right BNP politicians to represent us in the European Parliament.

And of course, there was the Brexit vote, with over 50% voting to impose economic sanctions on the UK.

In addition to this, if you look at polling, it can be argued that the people want the death penalty to be brought back. Also there is the support that Suella Braverman has over Asylum Seekers crossing The English Channel.

My daughter feels that we should look to Scotland which has PR and has not voted for right wing extremists, but Scotland is more left wing than England.  

Tomorrow is the anniversary of Kristallnacht. My daughter would vote for a system that I fear could bring that to the UK.  While many may think that I am being over dramatic, Italy have a far-right leader, and the same system has put similar politicians into high office in Israel.  And now we have GBeebies and TalkTV to sell us the lies that those on the right love to feed us.   

A peace dividend

When I went to Sri Lanka and travelled to Jaffna, I was amazed at the quality of the roads there.  What happened to the Tamil people at the end of the war was barbaric, just like Black July was.  Hopefully, with the economic development that has taken place in the North and the East of the Island, civil war will not return.  Just like I hope this is the case in Northern Ireland.  Basically, people have gained through peace and have too much to lose.

Sadly, this has not been the case for Palestinians.  Since the Oslo Accords were signed in 1993, Palestinians have lost land in the West Bank and Settlers attack them with no consequences.  Negotiations have failed them.  Put simply, the attacks of October the 7th were evil and cannot be defended. But Christians and Muslims living in the West Bank see that settlers can carry out attacks on a smaller scale, and the Settlers who carry out the attacks face no consequences for this. 

If Israel wants peace, it either has to engage in ethnic cleansing (again) or it has to make it that Palestinians do not lose out by choosing peace. 

VAR, Arsenal and Newcastle

We were robbed.  When Newcastle scored their goal, they had kept the ball in play (even though some images imply otherwise) and they were onside, but Joelinton had committed a foul while challenging Gabriel in the penalty box.  A draw would not have been enough but it would have been one point rather than none.  Tomorrow we are going to fall even further behind The Scum when they beat Chelski.  

Eddie Nketiah

I have just finished watching the Arsenal game. The commentators were singing the praises of Eddie Nketiah on Match of the Day. I have discussed him with friends and my view is that he is perfect for games such as these. We have seen that he has a lot of potential but in previous seasons he has failed to play at such a level in a more consistent manner when the pressure is on. 

With Kai Havertz around, competition for places and goals will be tough. Nketiah has the goals a striker needs under his belt, the question is if he will continue to score in bigger games against tougher opponents. 

Gaza and democracy

There have been a few good video's explaining what has happened in Gaza, but one thing many forget when it comes to Hamas, is how the USA is responsible for them still being in power.  Basically after the democratic elections that had been held in Gaza were won by Hamas, not liking the democracy the Palestinian people deserve, the USA tried to overthrow it.

For some reason, many nations are suspicious of the USA when it comes to democracy.  This link explains why. 

The Holy Land

I have seen some tweets on the internet indicating that people have to support one side or the other this month when it comes to the appalling situation in The Holy Land.

This video looks at how this has been the case with too many.

This video tries to sum up the complex situation in less than two minutes.

And this looks at the dangers faced to the IDF and Palestinian civilians with a ground attack into The Gaza Strip.

My mother and I had a disagreement on Sunday about this matter.  She ended up hanging up on me.  At least she did not say what she said to me to my children.  I suspect that they would have been more forthright in challenging what she said.

Second in the table

We are still second in the league. It is annoying that this was the game that Chelski decided to remember how to play, but we did well to come back down after being 2-0 down. I was hoping that we would win like we did in the past. 

The first casualty when war comes is truth

Too many Christians, Jews and Muslims have been killed and are dying in The Holy Land. However it appears that the truth is also the casualty when it comes to the attack on the Al-Ahli Arab hospital. 

Looking at the images, it appears that the car park was hit. Claims that 500 people died in the attack have been made, and they do not add up. There is no doubt that too many people in Gaza have been killed, and the number of dead and wounded so far exceeds the 500 who were claimed to be the casualties in this attack, or misfire by Gaza’s’defenders’ (as claimed by Israel). 

My wife said that she does not trust Israel when it comes to this. I do not trust either side. Do I think Israel attacked the car park? No, I think that this was the result of those firing rockets into Israel. Do I think that almost 500 people died in this incident? No. However, well over 500 civilians of the population of Gaza have been killed already and I suspect that more than 500 deaths are to come. 

British forces in Palestine

In 1947, our great nation had anti-Jewish riots. This was because of the murder of two British army sergeants by Irgun paramilitaries in Palestine. The Irgun killed the two sergeants and hung their booby-trapped bodies in a eucalyptus grove near Netanya. 

This is no justification for the appalling riots that happened afterwards. 

The reason I make this post is because many on the right have posted images of British soldiers from the second world war implying that they did not fight for the right to protest, or if they did, not the right for protestors to defend Christians in Palestine.  

Working towards peace in The Holy Land involves learning from history, not forgetting it so we repeat mistakes from the past. We can learn lessons from what has happened in history where peace has resulted, examples being Northern Ireland. Here is hoping that a just peace can happen.

Party time!

My daughter had her 18th birthday last night.  The garden is now tidier than it was at the end of last night.  Friends of ours came over and kept us company allowing us to relax as much as we could, distracting us from what was going on in the garden.  

While normal parents allow parties to take place inside a house, after hearing what had happened at other parties, my wife and I decided that there was to be no party indoors.  We had offered to hold the party in a bar elsewhere, but many of the friends of my daughter are under the age of 18, and I have reasons to believe that alcohol was consumed last night.  

I did insist that the firepit that we have was put into use, and considering the cold, and the fact that boys were present, it was quite popular.  I was concerned that they were to run out of firewood, but this did not happen. 

Anyway, time to iron my scrubs for the coming week...

The Eras Tour

Have been to watch most of The Eras Tour, by Taylor Swift, with my son.  I say most, we missed the beginning as I was ordering pizza for dinner, and we missed the end, as he needed to get to a sleep over. 

If I had my time again, I might have watched it in a cinema with better sound and one which switched the lights off. But if I did that, the quality of the food would not have been as good, and they would not have brought my pizza to the outside of the screen where we were watching it.

I think he loved it, and while I wanted to watch it, it was more for him. I had invited my daughter, but she is to watch it on another day with a friend of hers. I will let her know my views on where to watch it as the quality of the food is not as much an issue for her as it is for me.  Mind you, my wife, who is away on a course, may want to watch it. We all were disappointed that we did not get tickets for her tour, but then so we’re most the people who wanted them. This is a film that is a consolation, but I do think she would be even better live. 

A late post about Arsenal

It appears that I have missed a post on Arsenal. Needless to say, the weekend was busy on a personal and international level. Put simply, I was convinced that Arsenal were to lose the match. I was very surprised to find out otherwise. Admittedly there were few actual highlights, other than when Arsenal almost lost the game. The great thing is that we are almost top of the league. The downside it that it is the scum that is actually top. 

Kfar Aza and the cycle of violence

I want to be able to attend a rally which wants a just peace for both sides in the Holy Land. I mean one which does not involve Israel stealing land for settlers & one where Palestinians have the same Human Rights from their governments that Israelis have from theirs.

I do not know if that is possible.  Protestors in Australia apparently have been anti-semitic.  I know that many who want a just peace, do not want anything to do with people who make such chants. 

What I do know is that the way that Hamas has killed Israeli civilians is at a level worse than that which has happened to Palestinian civilians.  Not just murdering someone and posting the murder on their own Facebook account, but the cold blooded murder of children and babies.  Many are describing this as terrorism, but it is wrong to do so.  The government of the Gaza Strip have declared war on Israel by these actions, and they have taken part in war crimes worse than what Israel has done before.  Civilians are to be killed in the Gaza Strip as Israel will retaliate, that is sadly the nature of war.  The refusal of Israel to allow the population of Gaza to flee means that a massacre may result, one that would have less casualties if people are allowed to escape.  

Yesterday morning, I heard an Israeli civilian talking in a manner that means that they have fallen for the half truths told about how Palestinians are treated.  Truth is said by many to be the first casualty of war, and that casualty was wounded decades ago.      

It will be interesting to see how outlets such as Novara media respond to the atrocities inflicted upon Israeli civilians.  I hope that even if they do not modify their message (I am sure that they will), they will not end up banned by Cruella.