Is freedom of speech less important than the right to protest?

Yesterday, in the rain, Rishi Sunak announced that there would be an election in July. I honestly thought it was going to be in January 2025, but it is to be on July the 4th. 

While he was making his announcement, someone played Things Will Only Get Better, the anthem for the Labour victory of 1997. While I thought it was hilarious, I also thought it should have been stopped.

I want our politicians to be able to say what they think. I do not think that the right to protest, as important as it is, should interfere with freedom of expression. 

My daughter disagrees with me on this, but with both kids revising for their exams, I cannot debate this point with them properly. But she had fun watching me dance to the tune when it was drowning Rishi Sunak out.  She has a point when she calls me a hypocrite for finding it funny, and dancing, yet saying that using the music to drown out the Prime Minister was wrong.  

 

The police, prisons and the party of Law and Order

Today, the police, who the Conservative Party defunded, apparently have been told not to lock as many people up. The solution to our overcrowded prisons is not to ensure that we reduce reoffending rates, or put in decent community sentences, but rather to let crime go unpunished. 

Could've Been

We did really well this season, but it was not to be, again. However, we kept going until the last minute. The league is won over a season and it is our own fault that we did not win it. It would have been a victory for football if the team that cost less that that of The Team That Rhymes With City won the league, but ultimately, the better (and more expensive team) won the league. Not that I am bitter. If I had been told at the beginning of the season that it would come to the last day, I would have taken it, and also not believed it was possible! 

Yes, part of me is disappointed, but most of me is proud of what the team has managed to do this season. 

The Fall Guy

We watched this yesterday l when I said we, I mean my wife, daughter and me. My son did not want to join us but at the end of the film, my daughter started to get stressed about the time she had taken away from it. She had spent Saturday studying at the university, my son had been in the library in town.

I do not understand how it got bad reviews. I did not expect to enjoy the film, but it was a good film to watch. When it is available on streaming, I am probably going to watch it again. It had decent acting, the plot can be described as average, but it was produced well.  While this film is not going to be a world beater, it was a comedy and it was put together well.

I recommend this film for anyone who likes American comedy. Not everyone likes it, but I do not care. 

The Imitation Game

I watched this late last night. I got back from work and found that this had just started. It is a film that I have wanted to watch but never got round to it. Enigma has fascinated me and I have loved other films based on this.

I thought it was a great film which dealt with how unfair it was, that a man who did so much to save lives through his work, was criminalised by whom he was attracted to.

Respecting Transgender Women

JK Rowling is being rude. I agree with her about gender identity, I agree with almost everything she wrote about in a famous blog post. I disagree with misgendering transgender women. I thought that she was wrong to do so with India Willoughby, but considering the vitriol between the two, I could see why she did so. But she has been tweeting about a transgender football manager who used to be a referee.

I am sorry, but I consider this to be bullying. I understand the issues about keeping women’s sports competitive for women, I understand the issues about women not having a penis in areas which are considered to be safe spaces, but I have no idea why JK Rowling picked on this transgender lady. 

The Day of the Triffids

I can still see! Last night, I watched The Northern Lights with my daughter. Sadly my son and wife were asleep but may get the chance to watch it later tonight. And even better, unlike The Day Of The Triffids, I am still able to see! It was like watching a heavenly curtain and while it looked amazing, the photos are better than what we saw. Anyway, back to Eurovision! 

Eurovision and Israel

I am against the inclusion of Israel in Eurovision for the same reason that I do not think that Australia or Armenia should be in it.

This year, I think Israel should be banned for the same reasons that Russia should be banned.

Let me say that I want a Jewish state to exist. Unlike Benjamin Netanyahu and Hamas, I want a two state solution, one based on the Oslo Accords. I think that the attacks of October the 7th 2023 were evil, and after that, I backed Israeli military action in Gaza. But Israel has been ‘overzealous’ in what they have done and the human cost went what could be termed acceptable ages ago.  We rightly have imposed sanctions on Russia for what it is doing, and while I do not call for the same with Israel, while the nation acts in an appalling way to Christians and Muslims in the manner it is doing, I think we should have similar sanctions imposed as we do for Hamas.

But while I am not going to boycott Eurovision, I will not knowingly buy anything from Israel for now. 

When you forgive, you in no way change the past, but you sure do change the future

Am still at work so I do not know how the exam of my son has gone.

When it comes to politics, Labour have welcomed a member of the right wing ERG into the ranks with the defection of Natalie Elphicke, the MP for Dover.  She is famed for defending her then husband who has been in jail for sexual assault (she has now apologised for this), as well as her comments about Marcus Rashford (she has also apologised for this) who worked successfully to have children fed during the pandemic (as well as a reaction to her comments). 

I have to be honest, if someone told me about her and that she was to defect, I would have thought that she would have joined Reform like Lee Anderson.   

Quite rightly, people are now talking about how Diane Abbott should be readmitted to the party, and others have said the same about Jeremy Corbyn.  The bottom line is that if we are to forgive Natalie Elphicke for her previous views and comments, we should do the same with other MP's who share much more in common with Labour than a reformed Conservative.   

Waiting for tomorrow

My son has his first written exam for his GCSE’s tomorrow. Needless to say we are all nervous, him more than us. And we are all hoping everything goes well. 

The Zone of Interest

Before I comment on the film, I managed to watch the Arsenal game on Match of the Day yesterday. I think that we were lucky to get our penalty and also not to give another one away. It makes a difference to have decisions go our way, but I do feel sorry for Bournemouth.

Anyway, the film. Needless to say, my wife did not want to watch it. Films like this are not what she likes, but then, it is strange to say that this is a film people can like. In some ways it has relevance to what is happening today in Gaza. In the film, people try to live normal lives, while unimaginable horror occurs on the other side of the wall.  While what is happening to the people of Gaza is not as vile as what happened in The Holocaust, it is still wrong, and people on the other side of the barrier would be able to live a life in blissful ignorance, if not for the unjustified continued attacks on civilians by Hamas. Ignoring what is happening now, it is a good film to watch. We should never forget what happened in the past and should ensure that we do our best to ensure that nothing like that happens again, even though it has. 

Keir Starmer and his lack of inspiration

Labour have done well in the local elections.  While things could have been better, the results indicate a probable Labour majority when the Conservatives finally call a General Election.  

Conservative MP's have joined Labour and many on the left feel that Labour have moved too far to the centre, some considering it to have moved across to the right.  Many neutrals are not enthused by Keir Starmer in the way that Boris Johnson excited the electorate,  but Labour should sell the dependable aspect of him rather than hiding from it. 

When it comes to policies, Labour are keeping their cards close to their chest.  It is not just because the Conservatives steal Labour ideas, but I suspect that Labour know that if they take power in the general election, that they are going to inherit a mess.

Say No to May the 4th

Once again it is May the 4th. Today is not a day to celebrate the rebellion, but rather to praise the order that The Empire brought to the galaxy.  

My children have fallen for the lies and propaganda of the rebels.  When they are older, they may open their eyes to the truth.  Anyway, thanks to the exams that the kids have coming up, I doubt that I will be able to watch any of the films with them today.

It is all Spanish to me

My son has had the second of his exams this week.  Earlier this week, he had his oral Spanish exam.  He has had help from one of our friends who has tutored him (he had declined this help before), and hopefully, this will be of use when we have a holiday in Spain later this year.  Fingers crossed that all has gone well with both!  

Voting in the 2024 Local Elections

Our dog came with me to vote this morning.  She was quite keen to do so, but was not allowed.  I got to cast my vote, though my first form of ID was not accepted as it was not photographic, my next form, which is my NHS smart-card was declined.  That is odd as the card I use to access confidential information is not accepted for voting!  Fortunately I had my photographic driving licence and used that to vote.

I know that there are those who say that voting does not change anything, but it does in the UK.  In Russia, where Putin is to win, it does not.  In North Korea and Iran, again, it does not.  And there are many nations where people do not even have the pretence of a sham election.

My view is that we should vote, even if that is to spoil our ballot paper.  Too many people fought for our rights to do so, rights which are denied to too many people across the globe.

My trip to London

Am knackered.  My mother was unwell today and had to go to hospital, so I drove down and back again.  The downside of my electric car is its range.  While I have been to Holland and back in it, I was lucky with charging.  Getting back, the chargers I normally use were not available.  One was blocked off as all the points were being used, another was out of order.  I did find another place, but it was not yet operational.  So an hour or two after dropping my mother off at home, I managed to get some charge for my trip home.  

I am hoping that she is going to be okay, but considering that she does not listen to me about what she should do, despite my job in the NHS, I am not sure how she is going to be.