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This was a mixed film for me. Like the Guardian review I thought it showed promise, starting well, but ended in a more disappointing manner. Labelled a horror film the gore was more comedic than scary. I am torn between agreeing or saying the Guardian was too harsh in giving it two stars. 

The best bits are the scenery and the first half, until the hunt really. For a film which showed more promise, the end could have flowed better without a change in plot.

Champions!

We are champions!  

It has been a long time since we won and I love the way the crowds came out last night. I am of course going to be unbearable at work and I actually feel sorry for the Spurs fans I work with. Especially as they may be relegated (fingers crossed).

2000 years of Antisemitism do not justify the murder of Palestinians

I attended the Palestine protest in Colchester today. With it being to commemorate The Nakba, I was in two minds about attending. The protest talked about how Jews moved to Palestine during the British mandate in large numbers after the horrors of The Second World War. But, it failed to address the issue that Jews have faced over 2000 years of persecution and were forced out of Palestine/Israel. This included mass murder in York and the expulsion of Jews later. It is because of acts like this that I think the state of Israel should exist.

But the reason I attend the protests is because the oppression of Muslims and Christians in Gaza and The West Bank should not continue. Israel is engaging in a process of Ethnic Cleansing and this should not be funded by the west. The protest was interrupted briefly by one man who left, probably because of his daughter. As he left he shouted about Christianity, but he is probably not aware that it is Israel who is oppressing Christian’s. 

David Baddiel once wrote a book Jews Don't Count but sadly, it appears that for many in the West, Muslims don’t. All lives matter equally, be they Jewish, Muslim, Christian basically any or no religion. But some value the lives of one religion as being more important than others. The big mistake that has been made is in not appealing to the American Christian lobby. If they knew how Israel is evicting Christians from The West Bank, Israel would not be funded. 

EDIT - This video includes an interesting view on Israel. 

The Devil Wears Prada 2

We had intended to watch this as a family (without the dog) but my wife is not well, so I watched it with both children. Sadly, they were not keen on walking in, so we drove.  We love The Curzon due to it having decent food and wine, but as I was driving, it was a full fat coke for me and no shared bottle of wine for the children.  My daughter had watched this before, but was happy to watch it again.  I can imagine watching it once it is on the streaming services, but not until then.

It was an enjoyable film with the cutting lines that made the first one so enjoyable. If you liked the first one, then you will enjoy this. While, like so many sequels, it is not as good as the first, it still is worth seeing. 

For those who do listen to an interview with Anna Wintour, I hope this works. Just remember that this was broadcast before the second film was released. 

Speaking to voters

My family have been depressed. This is because of the results of the elections yesterday.

My daughter was a vote counter and enjoyed her work helping democracy.

Personally, I expected things to be worse for Labour. When it comes to the next General Election, if it is held in 2029, tactical voting will help to stop ReformUK from being elected.  It was tactical voting which meant that Starmer, despite a low share of the vote, won such a big majority in the last General Election.  These elections mean there is a huge database of information which many will use to keep ReformUK out of office. 

But the most important thing to do is to explain to voters, in soundbites, why ReformUK will make life harder for voters.

Two things that can be said is that there were few small boat crossings before Brexit, and can someone explain how our lives have been improved by Brexit.

As for Labour, they should not change leader now. Doing so will be stupid considering how things are going to get worse due to Trumpflation. 

Fertilisers and what the lack of chemical ones did to Sri Lanka

In 2021, the government of Sri Lanka banned the use of chemical fertilisers. As a result, crop yields fell and food prices went up.  As usual, it was the poorest who were hit hardest by the rises. 

The attack by Israel and the USA has prevented chemical fertilisers passing through the Strait of Hormuz. This means that the whole world will experience what Sri Lanka did in 2021. But this will not be just one nation, this will mean price rises on a global scale. But it will not take effect now, it will take effect after the next harvests. 

While Trump will deny this, it will be an example of Trumpflation. And voters across the globe will not be happy. 

I voted

Today I voted.  I voted Labour.  It will not make much difference as Labour are facing annihilation across the nation (other than Northern Ireland where there are no elections).  There are many who feel that a change of leadership will bring about a change in the fortunes of Labour, but while communication of the Labour message was terrible before, it appears that since Morgan McSweeney has left the team, that the message that Labour is sharing is being told better.

My message to those who want a change of leadership is that they are insane to think that a change of leader will change the media bias against Labour.  Most the media dislike Labour and are also turning on The Green Party.  It is interesting to compare the interview on BBC Today of Nigel Farage (at 2:16 on the link) to that of Zack Polanski (again at 2:26 but on this link).  It was right to challenge Polanski on antisemitism, it was wrong not to do so with Nigel Farage. 

Returning to Labour, there is the fact, or my opinion, that the markets do not want a change of leader.  The economy is going to be under strain due to Trumpflation.  We do not want to make the cost of borrowing worse by changing leader.   Doing so means less money for public services with more going to lenders.

In summary, things are going to get worse even if Labour changes leader, and things would have been worse if Labour had not been in charge.