Artificial intelligence

 There has been debate about how artificial intelligence may replace us recently in the media. People who are concerned about this forget that at present, computers need us for energy generation. Even with renewable power, we are still needed to maintain and replace power supplies as well as work on the energy infrastructure.

 What we have to be concerned about is not killer robots, but the control of social media by such creations. We have seen the power of social media with Brexit and the election of Trump. Any form of AI can influence us using that, and that may mean setting one group of us against another. 

Is Diane Abbott a Tory Mole?

 When I made my post yesterday about St Georges Day, I had not realised what Diane Abbott had written about.  She had made another, huge gaffe.  Now the abuse that she gets based on her skin colour and her being a woman is out of order.  But the abuse she gets for her own words, that is a different thing.  Here words are below, but she has apologised for them and stated that they were a draft which she had not intended to send.

"Tomiwa Owolade claims that Irish, Jewish and Traveller people all suffer from “racism” (“Racism in Britain is not a black and white issue. It’s far more complicated”, Comment). They undoubtedly experience prejudice. This is similar to racism and the two words are often used as if they are interchangeable. 

 It is true that many types of white people with points of difference, such as redheads, can experience this prejudice. But they are not all their lives subject to racism. In pre-civil rights America, Irish people, Jewish people and Travellers were not required to sit at the back of the bus. In apartheid South Africa, these groups were allowed to vote. And at the height of slavery, there were no white-seeming people manacled on the slave ships."

I understand that this was a draft, but to forget that six million Jews died due to racism in Nazi controlled Europe, let alone the antisemitism that they have faced in Britain and abroad for centuries is absurd. The Irish and Travellers face racism, though this was worse in the past in the UK.  But this racism for Travellers still exists now.  Looking at pre-civil rights America, yes, these groups were not subject to slavery on the levels that those from Africa experienced, nor were they required to sit at the back of the bus, but racism did exist for the Irish and Jews. I am not aware of Travellers facing racism in pre-civil rights America, but considering the understandable controversy over the joke by Jimmy Carr, to forget that Travellers were executed by the Nazi's based on their race is inexcusable. 

Antisemitism exists today, in the USA and in the UK, including, sadly, in the Labour Party until recently.  Action should be taken about this, and while this was a mistake, it is the level of the mistake which means stronger action needs to be taken than over the words of Angela Smith.  I guess the issue is when or if should she be allowed to have the Labour Whip returned to her.      

My statement pic.twitter.com/Wu2h4nNOvN

— Diane Abbott MP (@HackneyAbbott) April 23, 2023

Being a patriot

Being British is more than being white or ethnically British.  Our nation literally is built on immigration.  Due to this, it is hard to state who is ethnically British.  If you look up Phil The Greek, you will find that he is not ethnically British.  He was married to someone part German.  Which makes King Charles, his son less than 50% ethnically British.

Diversity has brought our great nation success in the Olympics and other areas of sport with people born and bred in our nation, as well as those who have come to our nation after birth. I am glad that we are a diverse nation and I do not want our sports teams to be ethnically British only.  

There are those who wish to divide us based on ethnicity, skin colour and our parents but by doing so, they will be saying that one of the most British of institutions, is not British. Lastly, for the record, the presenters on the featured videos, are in my opinion, British, and while I do not agree with them all the time (and one of them only some of the time), I am glad that they enrich our nation which would be so much poorer without them.

If you cannot stand the heat without being a bully, get out of the kitchen

 

Dominic Raab has resigned. Like Priti Patel, he was found to be a bully on two occasions. The other charges against him were not proven.

Conservatives have rallied round and have stated several things

1 - He was the subject of a conspiracy of Civil Service activists 

2 - He was cleared on the other charges

3 - Gordon Brown did the same (they have cited others as well)

4 - Civil servants are weak.

Basically, bullying in the workplace is wrong. The bar on what was acceptable years ago has rightly, in my view, changed. This applies to public and private sector employees. If activists are ensuring that rules are followed, what is wrong with that?

While Dominic Raab was cleared on the other charges, he was found guilty on two.  That is two too many cases of bullying. That bullying happened under Labour over 13 years ago does not make such behaviour right. The Thick Of It was a drama that showed that the levels of bullying under Labour were unacceptable.

Last of all, civil servants are not weak for being bullied. Like any employee of any organisation they should not be bullied, 

Getting shot for being lost

 Yes, another post about gun control in the USA. In my job, I have to visit people in their homes. Sometimes it can be hard to find the address, not just in new build areas where road signs are absent initially, but also in more rural areas. Most of the time I can ring for directions, but there are times that this has not been possible, or I have not been aware that I have gone to the wrong address. 

I have never been shot for this, something which happens too many times in the USA. I am aware that this is because lax gun laws are valued more than the deaths of innocent lives, and I am grateful that I do not face this risk here. 

Gender, hospitals, JK Rowling and yesterday in Parliament

Guess what, it is another discussion about gender. Yesterday this issue was raised in Parliament by Rosie Duffield, MP for Canterbury. The subject matter related to attacks on women in hospitals. This had been also brought up by the Telegraph and the article was tweeted by JK Rowling. Suzanne Moore wrote that "predators always sniff out vulnerability" and that this "is why women are arguing to maintain single-sex spaces in prisons, refuges and hospitals."

I have attempted to discuss this on Twitter, but I have been assured that this did has never happened. This is even after I raised an example. By did not happen, I do not know if they mean that the alleged perpetrator was not a TransWoman or that the story was made up. Sadly, due to the court backlog, if this gets to trial, it may not be for a while, that is of course if this case has gone to trial! 

I still stand by my views that in the majority of cases where the provision of additional gender neutral spaces is not an option, segregation by genitalia should take place. Or we will have more cases were women are exposed to male genitalia in female spaces. 

It's the way I tell 'em

Frank Carson was a Northern Irish comedian renowned for bawdily irreverent humour and his catchphrase, "it's the way I tell 'em" and that catchphrase is something Keir Starmer needs to take on board. The questions and issues that he raised in PMQ's were very relevant, but his delivery was below par and as pointed out by Rishi Sunak after one question, quite longwinded. He, like many Labour politicians, needs to think up catchphrases that can be used in PMQ’s which the electorate will respond do. Like the Conservatives do. 

I do understand why many think that there is no point to PMQ’s, but it is thanks to the scrutiny that the PM is put under, that consequences can arise. It was a question that was asked on the 8th of December 2021 by Catherine West that may result in Parliament acting against Boris Johnson for his answer and the way he misled Parliament. 

When they go low, we go lower

 

It looks like Labour are to fight fire with fire.  It may not be the moral thing to do, but the moral thing did not work out in 2016 when Trump defeated Clinton by telling lies and generating hatred and division.  Sadly, too many voters remember catchphrases, Boris Johnson used this to great effect in the 2019 General Election when his promises, despite being torn apart by the media, won over the electorate.

Rishi Sunak has stated that Starmer is on the side of people smugglers. Suella Braverman has claimed that 100 million refugees want to come to the UK.  The Conservatives are basically telling lies, but these lies win over voters.

I do not like Labour fighting dirty, but I do think that if the Conservatives continue to punch below the belt, Labour should do the same and punch harder. 

Arsenal players look like they will not be able to keep dogs, as they cannot hold onto a lead

 First of all, family. We took the children to see their grandparents.  My mother was first and this song is for her as the issue of how the UK sells arms to be used in Yemen was discussed.  She was under the impression that few knew about it, whereas I have known about it for a while, and my children listen to a song about this.  

After that, we went to see my wife's parents and after our trip home, my wife and I went out for an amazing time together.  All in all, a lot was packed into our Saturday.

Sunday was more relaxed, I watched Grey's Anatomy with my son and went for a dog walk with my daughter.  I did not get to watch Arsenal draw to West Ham and essentially throw away our hopes of winning the title which is why I was in a good mood for most of the day.  

  

If anyone had asked me at the beginning of the season if I would have been happy to finish in the top four and also finish above the Scum, I would have taken it.  But the thing is, I started to think that we could win it...

Dead Poets Society

 First of all we had a trip to Aldeburgh as a family. We woke up late because we had Nick and Lyndsay over the night before for drinks, food and company, my son taking Leia for a walk in the morning. 

My wife had booked a place for lunch, and we had intended to arrive in good time to go for a walk on the beach, but we arrived late. Besides, it was quite foggy when we got there. 

The meal was a good one, sadly my son was not able to enjoy it fully, but he got better later and was able to go for a walk with me along the beach. Later I did the same walk with my daughter, the dog liking both walks. It was nice to have a change in scenery, and with the sun coming out when we had lunch, we appreciated it all the more so.

We stopped over at Snape Maltings on the way back where Leia got another walk while my son and wife looked at things in the shops there.

We got back in time for me to watch Arsenal lose a two goal lead against Liverpool. When I started watching it, we were one goal ahead with the second half just starting. A draw is better than a loss, and it was a loss that I feared before the game. But a draw means that the odds are that we will lose the title on goal difference. Considering where we came from last season, finishing second will be amazing, but to be top of the table most of the season and then not winning the title will be hard to take.

Later, I watched Grey’s Anatomy with my son, and then in the evening, Dead Poets Society with my daughter. My son has to listen to my rants about how Grey’s Anatomy shows how bad news should not be given and is getting used to my biology lessons during it. 

Dead Poets Society is a film I have meant to watch for quite a while. My wife did not watch it with us, having watched it in the cinema when it first came out. It was a good film, and for the time, I imagine an excellent one. The message had been told many times since then, but its core message is one that was been told well and few films have told it as well since. 

Murder Mystery 2

 A watchable film. It does not tax your intellect, has likeable characters and great scenery. It was not meant to compete with films like Three Thousand Years of Longing, and does not. What it does do is offer a similar film to Knives Out. Basically, if you liked the first film, you will like this. It can be a stand alone film, in that you do not need to have watched the first one to appreciate this. The plot will have you guessing at times, but is not a taxing one. As a whodunnit, it is great for watching with your wife, which is what I did. 

As for the children, they are enjoying the holidays. My son made dinner a few days ago, but now seems on sucking any ice cream that he can find up. My daughter has some friends over having been to a party last night. They were still talking when I went to bed at 0120 so I do not know what she will be like today. Hopefully we will be able to enjoy some of the weather today and have something more substantial to update tomorrow. Saying that, I also had an enjoyable dog walk with my daughter yesterday.

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves

 

This was not terrible. The previous Dungeons and Dragons film from 2000 was truly awful. This was not. It was good to see some places from the Baldurs Gate games and it was lovely to have the adventurers from the Dungeons and Dragons cartoon present as well.  It was fairly true to the Dungeons and Dragons that I knew, though the game has since evolved and I was able to recognise quite a few of the spells that were cast.

If you are a fan of D&D, this is a must see film. I have to be honest and say that it will offer less to normal people, but should still be fun to watch.

Three Thousand Years of Longing

 

We loved this film. My wife and I watched it on Amazon last night. I thought I would like it. I did not realise how much. I am not sure that it deserved a six minute standing ovation, but this is a film I would certainly watch again and would have been happy to pay to watch. In fact, it is a film that I would recommend to others who like a story well told.  While a fantasy, it is not your typical fantasy film with action, magic and monsters, but rather has a magical setting (as well as an enchanting story). 

It was great to see people wearing face masks, something that I think more people should wear in public spaces, but it was filmed last year and times change.  

Girl in red

 

The children went to watch a concert on Monday.  I was mean to go with my son, but issues with getting time off work prevented this and therefore my wife took them and stayed overnight with them in London.  They liked it and my daughter has made contact with two boys from South London who she is keeping in touch with.  I have reminded her that in general South London is a wasteland which should be avoided.

That would have been better if I had not just returned from there with my wife where we had lunch in a Sri Lankan restaurant. It was great to spend the day with her, and the meal was amazing.  We look forwards to returning, though I do not think that they are dog friendly.  If that is the case, our return trip may be a bit more of a challenge if we take the children with us!    

A celebratory meal

 

We went out for a meal today as my son had got a distinction in his English oral exam. The Whalebone, where we ate was quiet, but the staff said that this was not because of the start of the Easter Holidays for many schools.

One of the staff has a brother who managed to get to Belgium for a school trip over this time, though like many, he had his trip delayed due to the queues at the border. When people have called for the government to stop the boats, I am sure that this was not what was envisioned! 

Yesterday we had been for drinks and food with Nick and Lyndsay which was a change from our normal routine. We might return tomorrow for the quiz they have. Though if we do go more regularly, I might need to conclude the discussion with one patron about politics. He had his views on refugees which I disagreed with. 

Finally, Arsenal. We needed to win after Liverpool had been soundly beaten in the earlier kick off. The victory against Leeds will help our goal difference as it is not too bad compared our closest rival. It was great to see Jesus playing well and his return maybe what is needed to help us if we are to win the title. Though it will be a tough game when we play Liverpool who will not want to lose two in a row.