Russia and Brexit

The Prime Minister spoke on The Rest is Politics, a podcast that I listen to, saying that Russia interfered in the EU referendum on Brexit.  Despite the outcry over this, he is right. 

This does not invalidate the outcome.  Russia has interfered in many elections, not just in the UK.  

In 2017, The Times reported that Russian Twitter accounts promoted Brexit ahead of the referendum.

In 2018, the Guardian revealed that the Leave.EU campaign met Russian officials as many as eleven times. The US Senate also prepared a report detailing how Russia worked to promote Brexit.  

In 2020, The Russia Report was published, which despite the allegations and evidence, deliberately did not look at Russian meddling in the Brexit vote. 

Livestreaming American morality

The USA have decided to execute a mass shooter by firing squad.  He was serving as a US major at the time in 2009 and I do not have an issue with him facing the death penalty (he would have known he might face this if he survived) or even a firing squad.  

I think that it is insane for the USA to livestream it.  I suspect that US citizens abroad will face an increased danger of being abducted to have the same "punishment” meted out by people who pervert Islam to justify hatred. We have seen how Unislamic State have live-streamed executions before. I hope I am wrong about this and that innocents are not abducted and murdered because of this.

We Have Always Lived in the Castle

I doubt that I will watch this again. Based on a book, I suspect that the film is aimed at those who have read it. When it comes to direction, the film flows well, I have no concerns with the standard of acting and you do feel for the characters. But as a film, the film is ponderous and slow. I would not have paid to watch it in the cinema and would have been disappointed if I had.  However, based on the film, I suspect that the book is as good as the reviews (see earlier links) say it is.

As for yesterday, it was a slow day. I have had a few days away from work and today I felt the benefits of taking things easy. We took our son to Gaia, had a brilliant brunch, but then I spent the day ferrying the family about. While not exciting, it was what I needed. My son and wife went to a Jo Malone evening in town, my wife also went to book club and while she was away I bonded with my son by taking him to ASDA. I am feeling my stress reduce and am glad of the day. 

Barbie and Maria Elia

First of all, the film. I am not going to watch Barbie ever again. If I remember right, my daughter was not impressed by it when she watched it.  In fact, it has mixed reviews, some liking it more than others.

Like many films with a lot of hype, it had a lot to live up to. But I am not its target audience. It is aimed at teaching/reminding women and girls across the globe that it is okay for women to be different and that they can do what men do.  Watching it how also is more interesting with the outcry over how the poor woman from Cornell has been treated. Barbieland, a place where women make the rules is discriminatory to men, but even then is not as bad as our world is to women. A more serious film would not have had the appeal this has had, and this means that the message which it did give has a wider reach than otherwise. If a sequel is released, I suspect I will not be bothered to watch it.

Anyway, time with my wife. We went to a meal hosted by Maria Elia. She has events hosted on her property and this is the second that we have been to. Like before, this was amazing. We met a lovely couple while waiting for it to start. The only downside of the event being how the weather changed to being seasonal and therefore cold. They did have a fire-pit, but being fussy, maybe two would have been better. That is the only negative about the evening. The food was awesome, and at the table, as before, we were fortunate with the company we had. The lady I sat next to knew Maria Elia and had cooked for her in her home. My wife had fun with the couple next to her. As the lady I was sitting next to said, a meal is not just about the food, she was right and she, along with my wife and Maria Elia (who signed her books) made it such a fabulous night. 

The October 7th attacks

It is strange to post on this the day after the anniversary of the attacks but this way I can reflect on the coverage.  Let me say that while Israel has every right to defend itself and retaliate against attacks against it, it has been too heavy handed by essentially levelling Gaza, increasing its ethnic cleansing of The West Bank as well as its actions in Lebanon.

I understand the desire of Palestinians to strike back against the oppressive rule of Netanyahu, one of the chants I do not engage with on the Sunday weekly protest (when I attend) refers to the right to resist. The October 7th attacks, while genius in the way they were carried out, were a war crime against civilians and had to be punished (within the remit of international law). It was not just the targeting of civilians, it was the atrocities carried out during the attacks. They had tried to do things peacefully, and after coming to an internationally acclaimed agreement, Israel ignored it. 

But the actions of the Israeli government have been inexcusable. There are too many crimes resulting in death in Gaza as a result of this. While Israel claims that the IDF takes every precaution to avoid civilian deaths, two examples show just how much of a lie this is. One is the killing of some escaped hostages by the IDF who had a white flag. The IDF only investigated this once their identities were discovered and if not, they would have been labelled terrorists and the way they were killed would never have been looked at. The other is the ambush, murder and attempted disposal of evidence when Palestinian paramedics were killed by the IDF which had to keep changing its story as more evidence came out.

In The West Bank, IDF soldiers stand by while the violence of “settlers” continues, essentially enabling civilians to carry out ethnic cleansing. 

Sadly, too many people appear to turn a blind eye to the horrors inflicted by Hamas, or the current Israeli government. 

So, in summary:

I believe in the right of Israel and Palestine to exist honouring the Oslo Accords (but with West Bank settlements coming under Palestinian rule).

Israel has the right to defend itself against attacks from Gaza and Lebanon 

The blockade of Gaza by Israel before the attacks was illegal 

The ethnic cleansing of the West Bank before and since October 7th is a violation of international law

The response of Israel to the attacks by Hamas and Hezbollah has been disproportionate and both should be investigated as the war crimes they are.

Battlestar Galactica: The Plan

I had not realised that I had missed this when watching the series. I found it by accident, this being released after the remake series finished. 

I loved the original series. As bad as it was it was great for the child that I was back then. The remake series was great.  It is not a brilliant film, it is made for fans of the remake series and I doubt it has any appeal to anyone who has not watched it. Watching a film about genocide today was in hindsight, surreal. 

For me it was good to watch it again. But I would not recommend it to anyone who has not watched the remake series. I do think that there were some plot holes, but not having watched the series for many years, I cannot be certain. 

Suella Braverman had better tell the England team that they have players who should not be part of the team

Suella Braverman is an interesting person.  I have discussed nationality before and sadly it is time to do so again.  She is right to state that she is not ethnically English.  But she should also be clear that she is English.  I am biased over this.  As an Arsenal fan, we have had many a player who represents our country who is not white. Bukayo Saka is one of several Arsenal players who play for England but are not white.  If Suella Braverman had her way, a lot of the England team would not have played against Croatia on Saturday.  Something many Croatian fans would have been pleased about. 

The bottom line is that there are some people who do not consider King Charles to be British because his father is considered Greek.  I am glad that they are not applying double standards, but it does show how silly they are to hold such views.

Toy Story 5

My wife and I have just watched this.  Our son made a choice not to do so, he stated that he is too old for this.  Which has been a theme for several of the films in the series.  

I did enjoy the film.  It was lovable, but parts of me were annoyed, notably by battery life and toys being waterproof.  (Sorry about the spoilers.)  It was great to watch it with my wife however, as it brought back shared memories of our children, including how my son played with a box with wheels on over his actual toy cars once.  While it is the worst film in the series, it is still a good film to watch.  I would possibly watch it again, but overall, I am glad we watched it at home instead of in the cinema.

It turns out that I am a racist

There has been an interesting proposal from the Green Party.  Let me say that although I am not a Jew, I can be considered to be a Zionist as I support a two state solution, which means that I want a Palestinian State to exist alongside Israel.

My view is that the Oslo Peace Accords should be honoured and that any settlements in The West Bank should be transferred to be administered by the Palestinian Authority. 

I guess it all comes down to what people consider to be Zionism.  Despite the claims in the video below (if it works), there are Israeli's who want a two state solution. 

The team which rhymes with City

Manchester City have been found wanting.  Concerns have been present for some time and a decision has been made.  

I am sure that there are to be legal appeals, but fans of other teams are celebrating that justice appears to have been done.  

Personally, I feel that they should face a points deduction, one point for each infringement, but with the option of spreading this across ten years.  Which would mean a ten point deduction this season if they took this up.  Or they can take it now, but that would mean demotion at the end of the season but due to the number of infringements, that should mean a demotion of more than one league placement. I would favour to the old third division, which means League One.

I did try to share a video at work about this, but I did not realise that Paddy Power have two of them.  One in English, one in Arabic.

Toy Story 4

Toy Story 5 is out and I could not remember watching this before.  But I had.  I have watched recap's for Toy Story 3, as it was a long time ago.  I have to day that it was a good film.  Not as good as the original, it still has the magic of the original.  It was well worth watching and is a film that I would certainly watch again.  

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!