Palestine Action (again) and a comparison to The Far Right

What level of criminal damage is acceptable when it comes to protests? Does the level change depending on what cause is being protested? 

Palestine Action has been in the news again. There are many who have justified their actions which include criminal damage. I am going to just mention the issue of how their actions have aided Russia in the invasion of Ukraine as that is not my main concern.

In Epping, there have been protests against asylum seekers due to the allegations made against one. The protests have been tarnished by violence and we know what has happened to those encouraging such acts last year.

My question to the supporters of Palestine Action relates to The Far Right. I would argue that people engaged in lawful protests do not throw smoke bombs and fire pyrotechnics around innocent members of the public. If it is acceptable for Palestine Action to do so, is it acceptable for the same to happen with the anti-refugee protests in Epping? If it is acceptable for protesters to damage our military hardware, would it be acceptable to damage places where asylum seekers are housed? Should those in Epping who have damaged police vehicles have their right to civil disobedience allow them to escape prosecution? My view is that the same standards should apply to all. 

Trump posts about the Late Show cancellation: “I absolutely love that Colbert’ got fired,”

While I was in France, Stephen Colbert returned to the Late Show. It was more interesting than his return from other breaks because of his take on how Paramount reached a settlement with Trump over an interview with Kamala Harris before the election which we all know he won. The company made a business decision as it wanted to go ahead with a sale which it knew would probably get blocked it if fought the allegations of Trump, mainly because they would have beaten him. But the business decision is viewed by a few people as a bribe and Colbert is one of them. I remember thinking at the time that while it was a brave decision by him to comment on the matter, the ratings and advertising his show brings in would probably protect him. (Fast forward to two minutes if you want to hear the dirt.)

Anyway, soon after this, and probably unrelated to his speech (cough), Colbert announced the end of his show next year. 

I am sad as he is my favourite of the US late night show hosts. He and Seth Myers posted during the pandemic and their humour was much appreciated by me. I rated them with Colbert and The Daily Show being top, then Samantha Bee, Taylor Tomlinson, Seth Meyers, Jimmy Kimmel and finally Jimmy Fallon, Bill Maher and John Oliver being last but still very funny. 

Unless there is a change of heart, or unless Colbert is snapped up by another company, I hope that he will continue on YouTube, his shows must being revenue to the site.  But I do hope that none of the other late night shows are dropped due to political pressure. 

Day nine in France and my return to the UK

Am back on home soil. My last day in France was a wet one and I had to dial into a work meeting. It was timetabled for thirty minutes but went on much longer than that.

My wife and I went for a drive later, the weather being warm, but not warm enough to swim. I did feel sad to leave my wife and daughter there, but they are going to enjoy another week there. I will see my son on Saturday when I pick him up, the dog being collected first. My hours are too antisocial for him to be with me in Colchester, so he will stay with his grandparents for a few more days.

Day eight in France and the Clamouse cave

My wife drove my daughter and I to the Clamouse cave. Today has been the hottest day so far and being in the caves was very refreshing. My daughter had been in caves when she travelled to Vietnam but I think she liked these as well. Caves hold no appeal to my wife who went shopping instead. So she missed out on seeing these sights. 

Votes at sixteen

Labour, before the last election promised that they would lower the voting age. It looks like this will be another promise that is kept. Many years ago, I had a discussion with my (then) MP on Twitter, well several, when he convinced me that those under 18 should not be able to vote.

I was not aware that my then Conservative MP belongs to a party that allows those aged 16 to vote, and they did later vote to decide who our Prime Minister should be, as well. While I understand the reluctance of the Conservatives to allow sixteen year olds the right to vote as they are less likely to vote Conservative, the fact is they have allowed them to vote for Prime Ministers including Liz Truss. 

Which means I am now in favour of this change. 

Day seven in France

Today was spent relaxing at the pool, the evening was spent at a Michelin star restaurant which is quite close to us. My wife had this recommended to us by our host and this meal made up for our disastrous lunch yesterday. The setting was amazing, though the attack of the insects once sunset happened did take some of the enjoyment away. If there is one thing about the holiday that my son will miss not taking part in, it will be this meal.  

Diane Abbott and racism, again

Diane Abbott has made an interesting comment on racism, again. She was interviewed on BBC radio, and her words are eighteen minutes into it, but I think she could have been clearer about her views and the letter she sent.

Yes, she is right to state that different groups experience racism in different ways. It is easier to single out a person who is not white and treat them differently, and this has been an issue at university. But her consistency covers an area where many Jews do stand out. When she made her statement in the interview, it did relate to the letter she wrote to The Observer. Bringing that up without clarification now is even worse than it was in early 2023 considering how Hamas would later cross the border in Gaza and murder over a thousand Jews, many in a manner to evoke the collective memories of The Holocaust. 

Her comments about the abhorrent slave trade also forget how Barbary Pirates did manacle white-seeming people on slave ships. 

As for her comments on the Irish, she was politically active when anyone from Eire or Northern Ireland was judged for the actions of the IRA. And that is ignoring the racism they faced before then. 

Day six in France

Today, my wife and I had our worst meal in France, this being over the numerous trips we have had to France. When I say numerous, it is not that many, but our lunch today in Clermont-l'Hérault left a lot to be desired. The setting was great, live music from a busker, and a view where we could people watch. But while the waitress who served us was skilled and friendly, the food took ages to come and as not worth the wait. We had travelled there to enjoy the market, while I am not sure my wife liked the trip as much as I did, it was good to visit it.

Dinner was much better. We ate in a local place which brews its own beer. While it took time to get served, we were aware about this because they warned us. And the service was warm and lovely. I would recommend anyone trying the food here! 

Day five in France and the Afghan data leak

The holiday continues. My son has been volunteered to take part in gardening thanks to his grandfather but says he is enjoying his time outside London. I am sure that he is, but I find it hard to believe that he is enjoying himself as much as we are. 

The insect bites are healing and we have spent a lot of the day in the pool. We did go out for a meal in the evening where we were greeted by a puppy (who was taken away for eating the floorboards) and two other dogs.  My daughter too a photo of me cheating on our dog (she did as well) and is to show it to ours when she returns to the UK. 

Before I got to listen to The NewsAgents and heard an interesting story. It referred to a superinjunction about a data leak. I was sure I had heard about it before, but while I had, this turned out to be another one. Listening so far, it appears that the government initially did not want to resettle as many refugees as it has done since. I am concerned that this scheme is to stop. Those in Afghanistan risked a lot to help our troops there, I met one who is in a wheelchair for doing so. It may be that now the risk they face is low but I say we owe those remaining the chance of sanctuary in the UK. Forcing them to live in what is essentially The Republic of Gilead is not the thanks we should give.  

Saying that, I have yet to listen to the full story as a second episode dropped later, that will be interesting. 

Day four in France

Again another relaxing day, enforced due to the numerous insect bites that I have. My daughter has been sensible and has been using lots of insect spray but yesterday I did not and have payed the price. My wife has a lot of bites as well. I realised today that flies can inflict them when I saw one land and I had the pain on the bite.

While I rested, my wife was reading and my daughter enjoyed the pool. The covers are now off but we have been advised not to put them back on again.

Later in the day, we went to a nearby village where I bought some wine which I prepared dinner with. It was essentially bangers and mash which was improved by the tomato salad my wife made. The wine was nice, local, but had a little too much oak for me.

Our son says he is enjoying his stay with his grandparents. It would be nicer with him here, but it is his choice not to come and forcing him here would not have achieved much. 

My wife and I are hoping to be a lot better tomorrow and to be able to go out. We may just eat in the evening, but we are considering a day trip as well.

Day three in France

Another day in France. Today we had to do another supermarket run and my wife drove through stunning countryside to get there. My daughter and I tried to access the pool, but the mechanism to pull the covers back is not working. I was unsure if I may have broken it by accident or if it was broken before we got here. But, as tomorrow is bin day, I put our rubbish in the bin to see that the previous occupants have put items that should be recycled in the bin. I am hoping it still gets taken, if not, it will be a fragrant trip to the local dump! 

The down side of today is that I have been bitten, a lot. I need to get some decent insect repellent. And not scratch. 

Day two in France and discussing ethnic cleansing in Gaza

We are at the holiday cottage we have rented. It belongs to the parents of a friend of our daughter. It is amazing. The drive was not as bad as yesterday, and while it has rained since we got here, I am hoping for better tomorrow.

During the last two days, I have ensured that my wife sleeps by listening to podcasts. She hates the voice of Jon Sopel. My daughter has listened to some of them yesterday, less so today and this led to an interesting conversation, this being about Gaza. We were listening to The Rest is Politics and there was a discussion about if the horrors in Gaza met the international definition of a genocide. My daughter felt it did, I did not. We had to disagree agreeably about this, much in the same way that Rory Stewart and Alistair Campbell had to do.  Like on the podcast, we both agreed that what is happening in Gaza is horrific and should be stopped. I compared the horrors of Gaza to the genocide in Rwanda, what happened to the Rohingya and the evils of the Srebrenica massacre. I stated my view that the actions of Israel meets the criteria of Ethnic Cleansing but does not meet the threshold of genocide. My daughter disagreed with me and I found myself trying to defend Israel of one charge but not another.  While we did discuss it briefly today, notably with the actions in China where we both consider the Uyghurs to be subject to genocide. I will return to the topic of how Israel appears to ending the conflict through ethnic cleaning later this week if I can though. 

We went out for a meal today at a local place, this being called El Rancho Larzac and it was great. My burger was almost as good as that which I ate yesterday, the chips, while amazing, again not as good, but this place is still better than most burger places in the UK. We will hopefully be returning before I leave on Saturday.  You never know, it might not rain, for today, after we arrived here, it rained and rained and rained.  It is meant to rain tomorrow, but it should not be as much. On the way in, we had stopped at a supermarket and loaded up on supplies, my wife being shocked that I bought myself some Frosties! 

Anyway, it is late, so it is time for me to sleep and tomorrow, our plan is to test and recharge! 

Day one in France

We are in the city of Orléans. By we, I mean my wife, daughter and me.  My son decided not to come, preferring to spend time with the parents of my wife. We met them near the M25 to hand him over to them. My Mum is not too happy that he did not want to spend the two weeks with her. She is not aware that a few weeks ago, when he has an argument with us, that he wanted to travel to London to spend a night there to calm down.

Anyway, it was an interesting drive as we drove through Paris during rush hour and I ended up getting slightly lost in the city after encountering a huge traffic jam. But we are now resting. We went into the city itself to have dinner and gaze upon the statue of Joan of Arc. Sitting down, is when I started to relax. The picture is one my daughter took. In the square, we sat at a French restaurant, enjoyed good food, and if we wanted to, we could watch the basket ball games taking place.

My son would have loved it. On the way, we stopped at a service station where my daughter had a raspberry macaroon which she loved. He missed out on it, my daughter saying that it was better than any she has eaten in the UK. He also would have loved the menu at the restaurant where we ate, the dish of tagliatelle and shrimp being the one I would imagine he would have gone for. 

Do Junior Doctors want Nigel Farage to destroy the NHS?

Junior Doctors are to go on strike.  Since 2010 they have had numerous real terms pay cuts.  But this year, when they are to get an above inflation pay rise, they are going to strike.  They have previously gone on strike in 2016, 2023, 2024 and I supported them with this.  There was no strike in 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2017, 2018 or 2022 when they had pay cuts.  In 2015, 2016, 2019, 2020 Junior Doctors got an above average pay rise. 

The pay rise that they are to get is not only above inflation, but is more than other NHS staff are getting. The only reason that I can see why the BMA would recommend not striking during the many years what Junior Doctors got below inflation pay rises and to strike when they are to get an above inflation pay rise, is that they want to see Nigel Farage take power.  And we know what he wants for the NHS...

France trip in the balance

We are due to go to France this week, travelling on Friday.  Today, my son told me he does not want to go.  He has had an issue with my wife since they had an argument over a week ago.  This was before we were to take him to Manchester, my wife having booked a hotel for us to stay overnight before travelling back down to London.  On that Saturday, he was to see the university, but decided that he did not want to go.  Then he said that he had told my wife that he did not want to go, but as I pointed out, if that was the case and she was not listening, he should have mentioned this to me.

Today, my son and I went for a joint dog walk together.  I was really happy, as was the dog who loves it when she is taken out by more than one person.  It was during the walk, my son asked if he did not have to come with us on holiday.  Among his reasons, was the argument that he had with my wife. He was hoping to stay with friends and then later his grandparents.  Again, money has been lost, not loads, but some money.  We are to drive over two days to the holiday cottage and have booked two rooms with four beds there and rooms for the trip back.  If we had known that he did not want to come, we could have booked cheaper rooms.  The holiday itself is in a cottage, so there is no loss of money for that.

His excuse also included that he did not know if he was meant to be going, which he had been told that he would be coming.  When he was not speaking to his mother, we did say that his communication with her had to improve or he would be left with her parents for the two weeks.  His communication did improve so we reassured him he would be able to come. But now he wants to not enjoy a holiday in the sun with a pool, but instead stay just outside London with his grandparents.

I know from my work that other teenagers can be far worse, but this is annoying.  My wife and I are going to sleep on this and make a decision on the matter tomorrow morning.  

I do not think that someone resisting an ICC arrest warrant should be allowed to nominate someone for the Nobel Peace Prize

Benjamin Netanyahu has stated that he will nominate Donald Trump for the Nobel peace prize. The man who is wanted by the International Criminal Court has no place in nominating anyone for the award.  He has continued to speak about his plan to "encourage" Palestinians to leave Gaza, which is Ethnic Cleansing. I have listened to The World at One on the radio and someone described the plan as creating concentration camps.  It will be interesting if the BBC is castigated for that as it has been over other matters despite its attempts to try and stay unbiased as the murder of Palestinians continues.  Comparisons will be made to what the Nazi's did, and when it comes to that, Palestinians will not be sent onwards to gas chambers, but the term Concentration Camp can be used to compare the plan to how the British used them during the Boer Wars.

Russian windows and The Handmaid's Tale

I have posted before about suspicious Russian deaths before, but not for a while.  My last post was in December 2022, and the one before that was in September 2022.  Well there appear to be a spate of new accidents and suicides.  I am not sure if the exact interpretation of the cause is going to be accurate in the video, but I am glad to live in a nation where those who object to our nation do not end up dead.

On a different note, I got home late from work but spent the time watching the last episode of The Handmaid's Tale.  The end of the series was overdue.  I loved it when I started to watch it, but then the plot started to fork.  It became unnervingly accurate with how refugees are hated, but the final episode was just too fanciful.  Gilead would have driven the insurgents out and would have used brutal force, the Commanders would not have flown out if enemy planes were in the area, and also would have left the area of combat as soon as danger started.  

But it is also disturbing to watch how the USA has drifted towards authoritarianism.  It is one thing to deny entry to the USA for those who do not like Trump, it is another thing to detain and/or deport those legally in the USA for exercising the right to free speech, but the administration is now targeting Americans. 

When I started to watch The Handmaid's Tale, I saw how people compared the USA to it.  I felt that was an exaggeration.  I still think that it reflects Afghanistan more than the US, but the US is becoming more like it now.

Banning Palestine Action

Banning Palestine Action sounds terrible. However I suspect few of their supporters are aware of how they destroyed equipment destined for Ukraine in Tournai, aiding Russia in the process. The direct action which had been carried out did not help Iran or Gaza. If the UK was happy with the USA breaking international law by attacking Iran, Diego Garcia would have been used to launch the attack. Instead, the US had to fly its bombers from the US to launch the attacks. 

Do I agree with banning a group that has helped Russia in its invasion of Ukraine? No. But they had a chance to present their side of the argument that they are not a terrorist organisation, and lost. 

While some will decry the limits on free speech, we can still protest our opposition to the continued murder of civilians in Gaza. And many, quite rightly, will continue to do so. 

Zarah Sultana and The People's Front of Judea

Zarah Sultana has stated that she and Jeremy Corbyn are to create a new left wing party.  What I want to know is why.  We already have left wing alternatives to Labour, Plaid Cymru in Wales, the Scottish National Party in Scotland, in Northern Ireland we have Sinn Féin and the Social Democratic and Labour Party while nationally we have the Green Party and the Liberal Democrats.  We also have the Workers Party of Britain (with George Galloway at its head) and the Socialist Workers Party (which did not stand at the last General Election).  Most in England who are to the left of centre, but do not wish to vote Labour, decide to vote Green or Lib Dem.  The Greens are felt to be more left wing than Labour, and the Liberal Democrats are more left wing in some areas, and not as much in others.    

So when someone wants to create a new party, I want to know if it is a good idea for them to take left-wing anti-Labour votes away from The Green Party. 

Rachel Reeves and austerity

This week may have been better for the nation than it is feared. Welfare needs reform to help those who can work back into work. But, it is easier said than done. In places like Jaywick, it is harder for those who live there to find work than it is in Colchester due to travel times to work and the availability of public transport.

My ideal solution would be a basic income, but the issues with that relate to how much money should be given to help those on it.  The facts are simple, we have too many people being forced to use foodbanks. Also, reducing the money available in the system is just risking the return to Tory austerity and the effects many said it had on economic growth in the UK.

Which means that the failure to cut welfare may turn out to be better for economic growth as it means that there is more money being spent in the system. Time will tell…

The Witch Trials of J.K. Rowling

Produced a few years ago, I thought I would listen to this again now that JK Rowling has been radicalised by Twitter. Back then, I would defend the author from arguments that she was transphobic on Twitter, until the person I was debating would block me rather than continue the discussion. It is not just me that feels that JK Rowling has become radicalised, Stephen Fry (who has left Twitter) has as well. 

At the time, some considered this to gloss over transphobia, referring to a rapist who identifies as a woman in a more flattering light than I would. The article, from 2023, also states that JK Rowling implicitly conflated being trans with being a predator, despite her essay specifically stating otherwise. It also deals with the concerns that JK Rowling raised about how transitioning pre-puberty has a risk/benefit ratio that needs to be researched in more detail (but apparently it is transphobic to suggest this) and also the interview of Milo Yiannopoulos on it.

 I have discussed this with my daughter who refuses to listen to it in case any money goes to JK Rowling.  She loved the books, but now considers them tainted.  Needless to say, my daughter and I disagree on this matter, but she has promised me a discussion when she has researched this in more detail.  Sadly, this promise has been one that has been around for over a year and has yet to happen.  

In summary though, this is more interesting considering how JK Rowling has gone back on her promise to respect pronouns.  

28 Days Later

After making my post yesterday, I realised that I had forgotten to review the first film! I watched it on iPlayer and the quality of it was dated, but I would say that this film was better than its sequel. At the time it was released, there were few zombie films about and since then I have watched the amazing The Last Of Us.

So in a way, it is a shame I had not watched it at the time, because I have been spoilt by a series which has built on it. But I liked it. I doubt I will watch it again, but I do think that it was worth watching, something I cannot say for certain with its sequel. 

I may take the time to watch the films that resulted from this, or even the series The Walking Dead. But I am glad that I have seen it, even if it is no longer a great film.