Best of the Best

Our son recommended that we watch this yesterday. He does not make too many requests so we listened to him. He has been unwell over the last few days. So when my wife and I travelled to London, we did not take him with us when we popped into see my mother.  She was sad that he was not with us, but understood that he needed to rest.  

We had intended to travel earlier in the day, but got caught up in traffic for the Spurs game. I know a few people who went to it, so I had to look at the result before Arsenal played. I laughed, but little did I know that would jinx us in our kick off. Arsenal, in the last few seasons, had a habit of dropping points if ahead in the table and playing an early kick off. This time we were level on points with the team that rhymes with City, but dropped points. I think that all would agree that Brighton deserved to win. Our son will be there next year as he will be going to The University of Sussex and he did watch the game with me. Hopefully he will end up an Arsenal fan though.

Anyway, back to the film. I will admit, I expected it to be terrible. I did wonder how they got so much set up with props, but the film was enjoyable. We all were glad to watch it, but I do not see me watching it again. 

Will Donald Trump copy Putin?

Elections for the Russian parliament are to take place. In two months time, elections will be taking place in America, the mid-terms where voters will get to decide if they want to stick with the party of high inflation, or the radical [insert Trump insult] Democrats. It is widely predicted that the Republicans are going to face a kicking in the elections. Trump has said different things about the state of the economy, including blaming (sleepy) Joe Biden as well as saying outright lies about petrol prices in the USA. He has even promised a handout to voters if they vote for him, legal, but something he has promised before.

Trump has been trying different ways to “prevent election fraud” and it will be interesting to see what his reactions to what will happen in Russia during these elections will be.  I may be being unfair to Putin and Russia, but they have form when it comes to fixing other elections. A famous image involves Russian votes adding up to 146%, but apparently this was a genuine mistake when reporting the 2011 elections as opposed to fraud. The same cannot be said for an election in 2012 when one electoral district had a 107% voter turnout, strangely the same district having a huge number of votes for Putin.  I hope that the elections in the USA and Russia will be free and fair. I suspect only one will be, but I will have to admit that I cannot be as optimistic about that as I was two years ago.

Practical Magic 2

My wife and I went to watch this film this week. We have been looking forwards to it after watching the first one, well to be fair, she had been looking forwards to it for longer. I did not think it would be as good as the sequel, and it was not. 

Some parts were great, the two main characters are amazing with each other, but other parts annoyed me, not the timeline, but certain issues with how the daughters were written.  Despite that, I am glad I watched it, not just because I did so with my wife, but I do think it was an okay film and I would watch it again.

If you don’t want spoilers, stop reading now. I do have a gripe with the UK being quaint, and the bus which was used to transport Kylie is not one I have seen in use for a long time. Likewise the train used by the main characters features rolling stock from a museum, one which I now want to visit. My main issue was with how the daughters went from not using their latent magic powers (which come out at times with their mother) to being able to use them in the blink of an eye. That is probably me being grumpy because those powers were not a major issue in the film and also were reminders of what happened in the original. Maybe I need to cheer up. 

Sydney Sweeney does it again

I have grown to like and admire Sydney Sweeney. I first saw her in White Lotus and hated her character (which you are meant to) but was won over by other performances, including The Handmaids Tale.  

But she appears to have embraced controversy.  She, like many, has implied who she votes for, and this is offended many.  But her adverts have been more interesting with the outrage.  The video about genes 1s not about eugenics and the video "about sports" is actually about betting.  I think it is awesome.  It is targeted at men and if not for the controversy, just like with American Eagle, I would never have heard about Novig. But as much as I like her two adverts, I love the spoof by Nerine Skinner more. 

Ed Sheeran being shot as the messenger

I like Ed Sheeran.  I think that he has ended up being the fall guy over the latest controversy. In summary, after a support act made a statement on stage in support of Palestine, he was given an ultimatum, to drop the act or else.  He did, and others have dropped him.  He was forced to be in a position where he could disappoint fans or allow them to listen to his music.

I think that people, who like me, are in favour of a Free Palestine, should direct our ire at the owners of the concert venues.  They are the ones who made this happen, and artists should boycott their venues until they allow civil free speech. 

Reform UK and donations

Reform UK are in the news again over donations.  But this time, I think it will work in their favour.  They have had two donations of 36 million pounds giving them the power to outspend all the other parties in the UK and have change, lots of it, left over.

One of the donors was pardoned by Donald Trump after being convicted in the USA, a fact that many of the news sources do not report on. 

But while people are now talking about this, they are not talking about how Reform UK appear to have tried to break the law on other donations.    

September 11th

Twenty five years ago, I came home from work for lunch.  I switched on the television and saw images after the first World Trade Centre had been hit.  From what I remember at the time, it was thought to be an accident.  And then the world saw another plane fly into the second tower. We realised then that the United States was under attack. 

I had an educational session that day and I went to it and told the others that planes had flown into The World Trade Centres, but the others there did not seem to pay much attention to it. By the time I returned home, we knew more.

I remember having tears in my eyes at the bravery of the emergency workers who ran into the first tower as people fled it so that they could save lives and fight the inferno that later destroyed the tower.  The world was shocked.

I was disgusted with the way that healthcare for those emergency workers who attended this was cut.  I am saddened with the way Donald Trump is lying about where he was on the day.  We are used to him lying, but this one is so easily shown to be one. 

The UK takes further action against Israel

One of the many times that I am proud to be British has been when it comes to the actions of this government in imposing sanctions on the illegal occupation of The West Bank.  As discussed before, I disagree with the term Genocide when it comes to how the Palestinian people are being treated, but I do consider Israel to be engaging in Ethnic Cleansing.  

I was full of hope when The Oslo Accords were signed.  I still want them to be honoured, with settlements and their inhabitants being allowed to remain, but under the control of The Palestinian Authority with an end to segregation, allowing Muslims and Christians to live in them side by side with Jews.  

Parliament has spoken, mostly with one voice. More action can be taken, I have discussed this with my daughter, and I have been clear that I think that F35 fighter parts produced in the UK should still go to Israel.  But I do think that the military aid we give with flights out of Cyprus should end. 

Do all lives matter?

The term All Lives Matter is one that is controversial.  I think that it applies right now in the UK.  Plastic patriots have been taking to the streets to protest against Farage Boats crossing The Channel.  The RNLI has been something that they have not liked for a while, a service that many on the left have funded.  

Patriots need to remember that the numbers of Farage boats has increased since Brexit and if they wanted them to stop, the best way to do so would be to re-join the EU.

Political violence in the UK

I have been clear on many occasions that political violence in the UK is wrong.  Nigel Farage and Reform UK Ltd have shown appalling double standards when it comes to this.  Violence to any politician is wrong, that includes throwing a milk shake over Farage. But that also includes violence to a heckler.  I do not think that the Right to Protest should interfere with the Right to Free Speech, even when it is funny, but violence to solve it is wrong. Unless it is when John Prescott is punching someone who started it, that being because it was his right to retaliate when faced with a physical attack. 

The follow-up question all those who have interviewed Reform UK Ltd politicians have missed is what their views would be if someone hit Nigel Farage over the head with a crutch, or attacked him in the same way the heckler was attacked. 

Donations to Reform UK (Ltd) again

Reform UK Ltd are in the news again.  Over donations, again.  It was not too long ago that there was the issues about a five million pound gift.  That drowned out the other donations, including one from a donor who "earned" a pardon from Donald Trump.  

There is nothing patriotic with a political party being funded by millionaires from abroad. 

Return of the daughter

Our daughter is back from Albania. She had travelled there with a friend and was meant to return during the week, but when abroad her phone died.  We give our children hand-me-down phones and she pointed out that the phone she had was older than the dog. On occasion the phone will turn on, but will be green. I think it is communing with The Matrix. Needless to say I have been told not to tell her that! 

My wife and I drove to Heathrow with our dog in the back of the car to collect her and her friend. Having only one phone between them, the two wished to return from a nation, which while beautiful, was culturally quite different in their behaviour towards women.

Anyway, it is the twenty first birthday of our daughter next month, so I have bought her a brand new iPhone which will arrive tomorrow, which will be her early birthday present. She has promised to pay her friend back for the early flight home so will be returning to working for two days later this week. 

Welcome to Luton

We returned to Luton today. To be fair, when I have been there, it was to fly from the airport. Today it was a pickup for my daughter and her friend who had travelled to Croatia for a few days. Our dog was not keen on the trip but loved seeing Eve and my daughter.

We arrived early and went into the town to get food for them. We only skirted the outside, but it was depressing. On the plus side, we have both our children at home. She is due to travel to Albania soon, taking advantage of the money she has earned over the summer holidays. 

Practical Magic

When my wife suggested watching this last night, I did not expect to enjoy the film as much as I did. It turns out neither of us have watched it. 

Films now are different to what they were back in 1998. While new ground was being broken in the mainstream with Buffy The Vampire Slayer, I expected this to be more vanilla in nature, it is described as a RomCom after all. I was wrong and this reminds me that assumptions can make an arse out of me. (Yes, I know it is meant to be ass, but I am British.) I now want to watch the sequel when it comes out, but I fear that it will be hard for it to be as good as the original. 

We were top of the table

After Saturday, I was looking forwards to work today. Arsenal won on Friday. Come Saturday, I accidentally clicked on social media and saw the football scores. For those who are unaware, I prefer not to know the scores as then I watch Match of the Day with a lot more excitement. But I did, and then spent the time laughing. 

At the end of last season, with a terrible home form but the fifth best away form, I thought that Spurs would be able to do something, especially after spending so much building up this squad. They did heir best to prove me wrong. They lost and Saturday ended with the unofficial table having Arsenal top and Spurs bottom. ManUre losing was icing on the cake. 

But then Villa lost by four goals which meant that Brighton were top of the table.  I still got to laugh at work at the Spurs fans. Saying that, this is just the first weekend. Teams have yet to gel and it is unlikely that Spurs will stay so shit. But I can dream…

The Trump Deception

Donald Trump has famously switched planes leaving most to face risks while he was taken away securely.

I am going to be controversial and say it was the right thing to do. Apparently when risks were present in the past, the media were taken to safety. When I first heard about this, I thought that the reason this did not happen was due to there being a possible leak amongst them. But, moving them AND Donald Trump would have posed a risk that the deception would be discovered. 

One issue that has been raised relates to his relationship with his aide, Natalie Harp. The Democratic senator for Georgia, Jon Ossoff, in a speech told a crowd that Trump “doesn’t want to do the job” and instead “wants to build his ballroom and travel with Natalie on their apparently defenceless flying palace gifted by the emir of Qatar.” To be honest, if the insinuation is true, I do not really care who he has sex with. We know that he is a serial adulterer and what he does in private, be that with an aide or not is up to him. My issue comes from those who claim he is backed by God for being so virtuous. Or like Bill Clinton, lies. 

Racism and the media

Double standards to people who are not white in the media appears to have had fatal consequences. 

Specifically, the tragic situation with Jason Arday. Plagiarism is wrong, and should be addressed. The Newsagents have discussed this case twice and I think that they have covered it well, including discussing how white academics have been treated when they have faced the same allegations. The media have not been overtly racist with the coverage, but the question comes up of why plagiarism allegations have not been covered in the same why when white academics have been accused of plagiarism. 

However, as good as the coverage by The Newsagents has been, they ended the second of these episodes discussing the return of Harry and Meghan to the UK without addressing the double standards that they face in the media. When I say they, most of it is directed at Meghan. 

GreyFriars, Colchester

We had a lovely family meal yesterday. My son got his A level results and has decided to take a year off before heading to university.  This meal was a celebration of this, The weather was lovely we ate on the terrace. It has been a while since we have been here as a family. I walked in and also back home with our dog while the rest of the family took an Uber in. The dog liked it, until a cat came in and then I had to walk her around the area a few times until she settled.

I loved the food. The standard is back to what it was when it first opened. And we all had a good time. 

The Dublin Agreement, Brexit and possible media bias

Earlier this week, Nigel Farage was given media time without being challenged properly. In an interview about how Reform UK Ltd would deal with prison overcrowding, the topic of asylum seekers crossing the channel came up. Not one journalist asked him if he regretted the rise in crossings after Brexit due to the ending of The Dublin Agreement.

Events like this are an opportunity to hold politicians accountable for their plans and challenge them on statements which they make. It is a shame our media appear to not do so with Nigel Farage.

G Neko

I am not sure if I have posted about this restaurant before.  My wife has been here more times than I have. As a family we love it. We came here for a meal out, also to distract my son from his examination results and we were not disappointed.

It does not look as good as it is from the outside, but this place is a hidden gem in Colchester. If anyone wants to try good food from The Orient, this is a place to visit. 

Transgender sports

Some Americans have ignited “debate” about segregation in sports.  The reason I quoted debate, is because there does not seem to be much. Many people have opted for one position or another.

As I have posted before, I am considered to be transphobic because of my views, and I thought that I would clarify my position on the matter.

It should be up to each sport to decide if they want to be inclusive of transgender individuals in sports, or if they wish to ensure that segregation takes place. I honestly believe that an open category should be made available if a sporting body wishes it to allow transgender competitors to test themselves against others. But as I have posted before, there are risks to women with inclusion of trans-women in some sports, which is why sporting bodies should be allowed to make decisions and politicians should stay out of the matter. 

Work drinks

Yesterday was a work social do. Sadly not too many people turned up. My daughter, who has been working over summer came, with our dog, who was very well behaved.

When we arrived, only two others were there and while more came, the numbers were not that big. Still we had an enjoyable time. We started at The Kings Arms and before we moved on, I took the dog home, joining the others after trying to get into the wrong pub! But as they had eaten and I had not, I went to Wendy’s and joined them again. Sadly, my daughter wanted to go home while I wanted to stay and dance, which meant that I did not enjoy the night as much as I could have.

Saying that, it was a very enjoyable day/night out. It may be better attended if we do not have it over the summer holidays, or if we try something else. When I started here, there was a bowling night out which was better attended. We may need to try that again. 

The Alma

We returned to The Alma. It has changed hands and this was our second visit since then. On the plus side, it is great to see that it is busier. The food is as good as it was before, this being the best Turkish food I have had in the UK. The downside is that the service appears to be worse, one elderly waitress disparaging the food! But it is somewhere that we will return to as it is dog friendly and while the setting could be nicer, the food is good. 

Spider-Man: Brand New Day

We watched this as a family yesterday. I have to say that I liked it, this despite the obvious plot holes.  It is a film I am glad I watched, and would watch again. Like Avengers Endgame, the gaping holes in the plot did not ruin the film. In fact, while the purist in me understands why The Guardian gave it three stars, I would rate it four out of five. 

But now for some of the big plot holes.  And these are spoilers.  Sorry.

The main one are the webs. Strong, powerful, how does he make them and/or research into them? 

How does he have access to his own AI without a data centre.

What does he do for money? You never see him working in the way the original Peter Parker did for the Daily Bugle. Unless he is living on the proceeds of crime that the criminals he apprehends have.

And the big one. Why collect one sister and not the other?

Masters of the Universe (1987 film)

This was a bad film. Not the worst that I have seen, but a bad one. I guess it was really aimed at an audience who loved the toys.  Or men with muscles. However, it is liked by some. When younger, I liked the cartoon (I am not sure if I would like them now) but never had the toys.  Mind you, I cannot remember wanting them.  For fans of Sword and Sorcery films like me, this was one of the worse ones to watch. I would not recommend watching it and I am not surprised that it did not fare well when it was released.  

Despite the bad reviews, I watched it to see if it could provide any inspiration to me for my role playing adventures.  It did not.  But, other films in the franchise might.  They cannot be as bad as this was!

Anthony Fauci's Covid hearing

In the UK, we have the UK Covid-19 Inquiry. It has been hearing evidence about the epidemic, and is handled in a much better way than has happened in the USA.

Due to the (understandable) refusal of Anthony Fauci to answer questions, conspiracy theories are going to spread.  I talked to a patient earlier this year who told me that he did not think COVID existed.  He has probably suffered from the vaccination, but while one of his issues has most likely been caused by it, that is not the case with the other matters that he thinks have been caused. 

So, a few quick points.

COVID exists.  It has particular CT appearances in the lungs which other conditions do not have.  

COVID vaccinations saved lives.  States in the USA with lower vaccination rates had higher rates of COVID during the pandemic.  Also in the USA, Republicans (who were more likely to minimise the importance of preventative measures) were more likely to die than Democrats (who were more likely to follow the evidence). 

The UK should have been better prepared.  Exercise Cygnus and Exercise Alice produced recommendations which the Conservatives ignored.  

The chumocracy in the UK resulted in contracts being given to people who failed to deliver PPE.

Death rates were so high from COVID that funeral homes in the UK were overwhelmed, something that also happened in the USA.  

Health care systems were overwhelmed by COVID, not just in Iran, but also in Italy before measures like social distancing and facemasks could be put in place.

Sadly, I doubt the COVID inquiry in the UK will hear the views of Jess Phillips on this. Her take down of Matt Hancock, the health secretary who was in charge of the NHS during the pandemic is as concise as it is passionate. Too many died in the UK who did not need to have.  But, I know that our inquiry will not be partisan like that in the USA as it is there to seek the truth.  

Voicemails for Isabelle

Voicemails for Isabelle is a surprisingly good film. We finished watching it today.  We had started watching it after our return from Portugal. All four of us have been watching it together but have not watched it in one go. While it is not the ideal way to watch it, it worked for us.

Today was a bit stressful as we had a clear the air discussion with the children. The relationship between the two has not been as ideal as we would like. It is not as bad as it has been at times, but they were very mature about it and afterwards we all chilled by watching the film.

Like many Rom-Com’s it has a predictable plot, though the start is different to most. The acting is good, the film flows well and it has a charming character as the lead. In addition it has an enjoyable soundtrack. Not as good as other films, but it features Taylor Swift, an artist the family all love.  I am glad I watched it, and while I would not go out of my way to watch it again, I would not channel hop past it.

Lucy Connolly, Zack Polanski and hurty words

Double standards and Reform UK Ltd are something that happens quite often.  Lucy Connolly was (rightly) arrested and admitted her guilt about a tweet inciting racial hatred during the Farage riots of 2024. Nigel Farage has stated that Lucy Connolly is "living proof of what can go wrong" with free speech restrictions.  Despite this, Nigel Farage said about a repost by Zack Polanski "If I was to post anything as inciteful then I would expect to be arrested, and so should Polanski." Polanski, rightly, has taken down the post. Those in Reform UK Ltd should call for the same action to be taken against the leader of The Green Party that they took when one of their elected representatives reposted a message about shooting a Labour MP. From what I recall, an apology was enough then and should be enough now.  If anything, less action is needed, the T-shirt (which was on the 18th of 20 images) being a song lyric as opposed to the message about actually shooting a politician.

I abhor violence against ALL politicians.  While I did find the egging of Nick Griffin (then leader of the racist BNP) to be funny, it was wrong. That includes the milkshake episode with Farage.  I found it funny, but still was wrong to happen.  

I have commented on Reform UK Ltd and their attitudes to free speech before. I suspect it will happen again when they, again, show double standards. 

Back from Bristol

We are back from Bristol.  We went yesterday afternoon but left our son behind in Colchester.  We had aimed to get to Bristol for the afternoon, but delays and traffic meant that we did not get there until much later. We had returned to the Avon Gorge hotel, but took my daughter there. Neither of the children have stayed there before so it was a first for her.  The dog loves it there as she is pampered.  While we are not able to enter all areas with her, they serve food in areas where we can eat with her.  And it was a great meal.

Come Saturday, we went to the house our daughter is to stay in.  We were to move her things in from the back of the car but the exhausting thing was the inventory.  We had planned to go to a food and drink festival, but were too tired so ate at The Blaze, where we have eaten before, and then returned back to the house to unpack and then the drive back here.  Am shattered and am to enjoy a much needed rest.  A strange thing is that my mind is convinced that today is Sunday, which means that my subconscious will get a three day weekend!

Workers rights in the UK, Trump, forced labour and unions

It appears that Unison and Donald Trump agree about workers rights in the UK.  Trump has imposed tariffs on the UK due to claims that it does not do enough against forced labour. This from a nation that has worse workers rights than the UK and makes use of illegal immigrants in work (therefore avoiding employment laws) more than the UK does.  

The video is about workers rights which unions have won, rights that many in the USA do not have.  It is out of date as Labour, under Starmer, gave workers even more rights.  

The Odyssey

I watched this with my son yesterday. Before (and after) the film, we disagreed about Helen of Sparta being black. Watching the film, my views on this are unchanged.  Actually that is wrong, they are different but I will discuss that later.

Unlike Elon Musk I loved the film.  But then I have watched it, something he may not have done. My son liked it, but felt that certain bits who not have been removed, but the film is already three hours long. The only way to include all of his voyage is to make it into more than one film, and we saw how true adaptations like that were to the original story with Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogy’s. I had a translation of The Iliad many years ago, when I was a teenager, but I only ever read adaptations of The Odyssey, and watched the cartoon (which I loved). If you like other Christopher Nolan films, you will probably like this.

As for diversity, I do think it is important in films, but there are ways of adding it. The Percy Jackson TV series has Zeus as black. Athena is portrayed by Zendaya, someone who is not white.  If I was to cast the film to be diverse, Helen of Troy but not her half sister Clytemnestra would have been mixed-race. You can argue that both could be black, both, with other siblings, being hatched from an egg. I would have had Circe, Calypso and Athena reflecting diversity. But that would have still annoyed many. If someone is to be annoyed with the film, it should be for the same reasons as my son, that being what they left out, or other matters that were changed. Odysseus left Troy with more than three ships, his being the only one to survive with the Laestrygonians. There are so many other parts of the tale that have been changed, Circe seducing Odysseus for a year being another example. And Elliot Page was great in the film. I am surprised that those on the right were not in uproar about his inclusion, but I am suspended from Twitter and cannot be arsed to appeal it. 

Basically if you are racist, don’t watch it. If you want a tale true to the original story, don’t watch it (which is why my wife stopped watching The Hobbit films).Otherwise it is an enjoyable “male” film and I would consider watching it again. 

Andy Burnham and communication

It is not long into the Andy Burnham premiership and there appears to be a big difference. Communication. It is early days, and Burnham has been helped by the enforced media silence with Nigel Farage (all candidates in the Clacton by-election deserve the same media exposure), but it appears that he has ensured that he dominates the news cycle by early morning pronouncements. Which means that the media are discussing what he has said, working to his agenda, not setting the news cycle themselves.  The last time I saw such effective communication from a Labour government was when Alastair Campbell was in the thick of it.  It is early to get an idea of just how things have changed as there are another three years until the next planned election, but the outlook is so much better.

Donald Trump is the best at this, he dominates the news cycle, but part of that is because of decisions that many would say are insane. Nigel Farage has dominated the news under Starmer and may find it hard to regain the political momentum that he lost before his resignation thanks to all the sleaze allegations. 

Keir Starmer did loads, but his failures included an inability to let people know what Labour had achieved with him in charge. Which looking at what he did, is so sad. 

Andy Burnham has been left a nation, which despite public perception, is in a better place than when Keir Starmer took power.  This is despite the turmoil caused both by Brexit and Donald Trump. The economy is in surprisingly good shape compared to many of our G7 peers and NHS waiting lists are falling. If the Conservatives had did half of what Labour had did, they would be publicising it so well. It looks like the failure of Labour to communicate effectively is hopefully a message from the past.

The best team won

First of all, England.  If someone told me that one side would have scored four goals by half time in the 3rd/4th playoff, I would have been depressed thinking that England surrendered again.  But we had not. France may have expected the team that allowed Argentina to play football to face them, but a changed line up with the pace that is a strength of the team brought belief and four goals.  The good thing about the game is that our two talismans were not playing for the first half, but we did need Jude for the final half with his goal to settle nerves.  I watched the game with my wife.  We actually have not watched any games together, this being the first one.  She did watch the game when we got back from Portugal, but I was off collecting our dog at the time.  What a game to watch together!  I may try to convince her that she is the lucky talisman and should watch more games with me in the future!  She has a soft spot for Saka after the abuse he has received in the past.  She is one of many who sent him messages of support after the abuse he got from that penalty miss (and he thanked her as well) in the 2020 final. 

As for the final, Argentina have regained the record for the most number of players sent off in a World Cup Final. They were a dirty team against us in the semi-final and while not as dirty in the final, they still were. They also got away with a lot of tackles that should have got a yellow card as well as managing to get a valid goal disallowed. Their behaviour after the end of the game is inexcusable, though based on what has happened before, I suspect that FIFA will let them off.  

Unlike 2006, when bad sportsmanship was rewarded, this year, the best team won.  Football would have been worse if Argentina had lifted the trophy.  I am glad, that on this occasion, the right result occurred.

Dirty cheating gits

Yes we lost. It appeared more of a surrender. What gets me is that the Argentine team were so dirty. At least until we scored. After that, they played football and we let the comeback team of the tournament do the same again. While I do not know as much about football as others, I would have kept pace on the field rather than taking it off. When we were defending, there was no threat that the Argentine team had to worry about. We have many players with pace who would have allowed us an outlet to punt the ball upfield to, not just Saka, but others as well.

But while many in the Argentine team were dirty gits, Messi was not. He was amazing. Anyway, two more years until the next tournament. And Arsenal will need to ensure that our players get time to rest. 

Why I hate the Argentinian football team

Sorry, but there are a few football teams that I hate. Italy are one (though I love the country). Argentina are the other.

Growing up there was The Falklands War when a failing right wing dictatorship, which murdered left wingers like me, invaded the islands deciding that the population of The Falklands had no right to decide who rules them and invaded them. A conflict ensued, people were killed as a result and the islands were liberated. After that, England played Argentina in a World Cup game in which Argentina cheated, as well as also scoring one of the best goals ever in a World Cup.  Argentina went on to win that World Cup but four years later caused the worst final I ever watched. Their players were disgraceful and behaved like animals. 

I don’t blame Argentina for beating us in the game that Beckham lost for us by getting sent off, but I remember them taunting the England players afterwards.

The video below is interesting. I did think that they were to follow the normal left wing view of giving The Falkland’s to Argentina, and I am glad to see that they mentioned the rights of the Falkland Islanders. I disagree with their views on the sinking of the Belgrano. It was a warship which was looking for the British fleet. But I am surprised that they did not mention the lack of multiculturalism. Unlike other South American nations, the team of Argentina has been all white very often. It is right that we look at the past of Britain, taking pride in the great things our nation has done and accepting when we have been in the wrong. That same scrutiny should also be applied to Argentina and what happened to its black population.

Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous

Not sure I would recommend this as a film. I watched it with my wife and daughter, both of them having watched the original. I have heard enough about the original that I was able to catch up on how the plot developed. By plot, I mean a weak one. It is funny enough that I enjoyed watching it, but I am glad I did so on streaming. I would be very disappointed had I paid to watch this in the cinema.

Would I watch it again? No. While this is not a film to go out of your way to watch, if you don’t mind the usual Sandra Bullock films that are produced, watch it if it is on. And if you do, this is a film you can watch while being on your device, as I did. Which may be why I do not dislike this as much as others who have watched it. 

On a better note, I watched the Norway game with my daughter. I have been saying that we have to be cautious of a team that beat Brazil, and while it appeared to be one way traffic in the first quarter, I said to my daughter that I expected Norway to attack in the second. They did, they scored, but England held on to defeat them with two amazing goals. We may face Argentina in the semifinals, if so, I do not fear them. 

Ready or Not 2

 I liked this film.  I watched it because I loved the original, but this is not anywhere as good as the film it follows.  Like Ready or Not, it has a lot of gore, too much in my view, but the plot is not as good. Which is understandable. The original film had the shock of the plot reveal, while the sequel was never going to do the same. Like the original, I would term this a black comedy rather than a horror film. You do not have to have watched the original to enjoy this. While the original is better, I am glad I watched this. I doubt I will watch it again, but I am tempted to revisit the original again.  If you are to watch either, do NOT watch the trailers as like with many films, it spoils the experience.

Count Binface on democracy in Great Britain

Count Binface has spoken in the past about democracy in Great Britain, and he is so right. Elon Musk has commented about our tyrannical government. He is so wrong. There are arguments for and against our first past the post system and I have commented about Proportional Representation in the past. But the best argument for our current system is the way that someone like Count Binface has a chance to follow the likes of Martin Bell in being elected against a political party with far greater funding.

Comparing Louise Haigh to George Cottrell

There are levels of fraud and crime.  Comparisons have been made by Reform UK Ltd about how Louise Haigh, a Labour MP who had to resign as a Minister in November 2024 over an issue with fraud involving a mobile phone in 2013, her pleading guilty in 2014.

George Cottrell had been caught agreeing to launder money for undercover agents posing as drug traffickers in an FBI sting operation in 2017. Cottrell was a backer for Nigel Farage before and after his conviction. 

The Thai based billionaire Christopher Harborne is the man who donated the five million pound gift to Nigel Farage, to use in security, or it may have been given to thank Farage for Brexit (the story changes). While he is an innocent man, concerns have been raised about money laundering. 

And of course, there is Ben Delo. He has a conviction and earned a pardon from Trump.  Living in Hong Kong, he gave Reform UK Ltd the total of four million pounds before the rules on donations were changed. His conviction relates to US Banking laws. 

So, while Louise Haigh has a conviction for fraud involving a mobile phone, there are degrees of wrongdoing, and her crime, while wrong, are not on the same level as the backers of Reform UK Ltd. I do not think comparing her probably returning to government can be compared to the concerns with the Reform donors.