The Phoenician Scheme

My wife and I watched this last night. Our daughter has been incapacitated with a viral infection and our son changed his mind about watching it at the last moment. So we watched it together.  I think that my wife liked it more than I did. This is a film I will not be watching again. I liked the way it was shot, but ultimately, if I am going to watch an art house film, I will stick to European ones which do it so much better (an example of this was seen with the series, Drops of God). 

In fact, if you are not sure about watching it, save time and money and watch the trailer which has a lot of the funny bits from the film in it. But as you can see from below, others do like the film.

The child benefit cap

There has been talk of an end to the child benefit cap. Personally I would keep it, until economic conditions are better, but change the limit to three or preferably four children, or reduce the amount for the fourth child.  There are many families who start working and due to a change in circumstances end up on benefits. In fact this happened with my own mother who had to leave my father when pregnant with my second brother. We had gone from a family, not on benefits with two children to a family with a single mother and later, three children.

In my job, I have encountered the odd family where they appeared to be only too happy for the state to pay for their children, but these are few.  Most those who I encounter where I work who are on benefits, work with benefits supplementing low wages.

Killing in the name, Jews and Israel.

A few years ago, a politician was slated for saying "Our Jewish friends are no more responsible for the actions of Israel or the Netanyahu government than our Muslim friends are for those various self-styled Islamic States or organisations." While I disagree with Jeremy Corbyn about his stance on antisemitism in Labour under his stewardship, his words are right. A young Jewish couple has been shot dead in Washington, with an Israeli minister blaming Keir Starmer, among others, for the attack. The only person to blame for this is the murderer who has attacked them for being Jewish. If any politicians are to be blamed, it is those responsible for the relentless attacks on Gaza, the main one being Benjamin Netanyahu.  

In 2003, Jewish MP Oona King compared Gaza to the Warsaw Ghetto, though not all agreed with this stance, that was before Israel has been bombing it to rubble. I have posted about the vile actions of Hamas and how they deliberately triggered Jews about The Holocaust before. But the retaliation of Israel has gone beyond what happened to them, this happening some time ago. 

Israel cannot be trusted to tell the truth. There are two issues which out this beyond doubt. One is the murder of Israeli hostages by the IDF who had a white flag, because it was thought they were Palestinians. If they were, the deaths would not have been investigated, because they were deemed to be terrorists. The only reason this was investigated as because they were Israeli. The other is the assassination of Palestinian paramedics, a story which was only challenged after footage if what happened was found on the corpse of one of the murdered. 

It is right to compare the October the 7th attacks to The Holocaust especially with the way Hamas recorded and broadcast the murders. Is it wrong to do the same when it comes to taking land for Living Space in the West Bank, or the killing of civilians in Gaza now? 

Ronald Grump and thwarting his revenge

I do not want to post that much about Trump, but I had to do this.  Trump has tried to cancel Sesame Street, a show my brothers and I watched when younger and we have fond memories of it.  Fortunately for many children across the globe, it has survived. The possible reason for this has been noted back in his first term, and I think it should be shared.

Thunderbolts*

My wife has booked us a break of a few days, which started yesterday with a trip to the cinema to watch this film. I enjoyed it. However, I am not sure the kids liked it as much as my wife and I did. It made reference to Captain America: Brave New World, a film that we missed out on seeing, but is enjoyable despite that. Like The Guardian, I would rate it three out of five. Like many films, it is predictable but it is put together well. I suspect one reason that my wife and I liked it more than the children is thanks to the character The Red Guardian. That may be because it reminded me how lucky I am to have them, and considering the absence of the mother in the film, my wife as well. 

Anyway, we are in a holiday cottage and are probably going to explore one of the nearby towns later today. 

A Simple Favour

After watching the sequel, I had to return to this film. I was sure that this was much better than the sequel, and I was right. While The Guardian only rated this three out of five, this is a far more enjoyable film than the travesty that followed, strangely rated the same three out of five. This film had chemistry, an evil twist, a decent story with unexpected turns, the plot itself descending into areas that few films explore, which is understandable considering the areas. 

While I am never going to re-watch the sequel, I might return to watching this again. I would highly recommend this, which I would give a high four out of five.

Schrodinger's immigrant

Starmer has made a speech on immigration. I have not listened to it but I have read reports about it. He is right to encourage immigrants to speak English (though it can be argued they should also speak Welsh if in Wales). But the rest of the speech, not too sure about it. The UK benefits from managed migration. The NHS is reliant on it, as is care work.  Our economy benefited from immigration when we were part of the EU. Immigrants came in, worked, contributed to the economy and paid the the taxes needed for public services.  Immigration has enriched the culture of the UK. It is normal for many to eat Chinese food for example. Robin Cook made a speech about Chicken Tikka Masala, a dish made in the UK, thanks to immigration. Immigration has also contributed to sports, and with Rishi Sunak, politics as well.  While there are many other examples of how immigration has benefited our great nation, I will remind people that the Royal Family are descended from immigrants. 

Yes, there have been a downside to immigration, when it comes to people not speaking the native language, but this is not just an issue limited to the UK, not just in the past, but also the present, though I will apologise if it turns out that Isabel Oakeshott has learned Arabic. 

What Labour should have learned from the local elections is to broadcast what they are doing with deportations. Labour, or the Conservatives, cannot beat Farage when it comes to limiting immigration, legal or otherwise.