Loulé and the Saturday market

This morning, we travelled to Loulé, a nearby city to visit the Saturday market.  It was a very enjoyable day. My daughter and I got to visit the castle, the family tried some seafood (not me) and we took in some of the sights. We may return again, but there are other areas to explore. 

O Retiro

My wife found this place for somewhere to eat outside. Parking is available, but is interesting to use. In fact I ended up going for a drive to park. Basically you essentially park part-blocking the pavement, and while you can do so driving in to park, I prefer to reverse park as it is easier to leave. The food is nice in this restaurant and it has an interesting view. Would I return? Yes. I suspect my family would agree, 

Come on England!

What a game. And what a day. Family first. We are now in Portugal. I finished work late on Tuesday and was not around when Leia was dropped off at the dog sitter we use in Ipswich. My daughter said that she whined as she was being left. Yesterday, we woke up early to be driven down to Gatwick. I slept most of the way in the back of the taxi, to the annoyance of our children.  My wife and I split up from the children, they getting drinks in a different part of the airport to us. We were also separated for the flight, which again, I slept through. My wife has booked our stay and it is amazing, but I have been bitten, lots.

Anyway, the football. I worked out how to use the TV and watched a lot of the match on RTÉ and I have to say, they analyse football better than British pundits. An example of this was with the goal by Jude Bellingham. Noni Madueke provided the pass for the goal, but also, importantly, made a run afterwars which stressed the Croatian defence and their goalkeeper as Bellingham could have crossed it too him. RTÉ noted this, the off the ball run by Croatia being missed by the British pundits for their goal. While pundits blame our defence, the runs by Croatia were good and I am not sure there was a right decision to be made at the time by our defenders. This means that while I can watch ITV and BBC coverage here, I will stick with RTÉ.  

Labour, UNISON and workers rights

Listening to the radio, I was surprised to hear that the leader on Unison has said been "handing money over to the Labour Party and getting absolutely nothing in return" as Labour have brought about changes to employment rights. It is fashionable to bash Starmer, but doing this plays to the stance of Reform UK Ltd that they represent workers. 

The facts are simple. Labour have improved workers rights, Reform have promised to abolish the changes. If Unsion want a Reform UK government after the next General Election, they need to keep forgetting how Labour have not done absolutely nothing for workers.  While I understand that unions want more done, union leaders need to tell workers what Labour have done for employment rights now, or they will lose them after Farage gets elected in 2029. 

Suspended from Twitter, again

I have not posted on Twitter in a while. Today I found out that I have been suspended. Again. My last post was in May, this being a message to someone I follow, to migrate to BlueSky. I guess that post could be viewed as a violation of the terms and conditions.  I still lurk on Twitter, but make my posts on BlueSky. Twitter is too toxic, and while BlueSky is a lot quieter, it is a nicer place. I still manage to be blocked by people and have been added to lists allowing me to be blocked by many without seeing any posts by me. Some do not like this feature, but while it is annoying, it is better to allow those who prefer not to be engage in civil debate, the option to do so. Anyway, someone has offered to help me to get back onto Twitter, but I have declined that help, at least for now. 

Crime and migration

JD Vance, the man married to an American woman of Indian descent, the US vice-president, blamed the appalling murder of the British teenager Henry Nowak on mass migration.  Technically, immigration causing murder is something that Native Americans would have every right to agree with. So, when it comes to the USA, he is right.

I have discussed race and migration before. In summary, our Royal Family are descended from immigrants. Immigration benefits our nation and countries with low immigration rates then not to do as well as those which make the most of managed migration. 

Soon, England will be playing in the World Cup. Many of our players are not ethnically white British. But few would want Saka out of the team.  Our nation is stronger thanks to immigrants and their descendants. Not just with The Royal Family, not just with sport, but with so many areas.  

I want our nation to take advantage of the Trump presidency to attract talent to the UK. And of JD Vance becomes President, I want to take advantage of that as well. 

Ava Santina, grooming gangs, rape, religion and race

First of all, let me say that the murder of Henry Nowak is wrong, the actions of the police officer in handcuffing him appears to be inexcusable, and all rape, no matter who engages in it is wrong.

The issue of ethnicity/religion and crime was to be the topic of my post before the sentencing of Vickrum Digwa made the news.  I think it is important to point out, that there is a huge bias in some when it comes to reporting certain crimes, while overlooking others.

I recently had a discussion about the Grooming Gangs and the initial lack of an investigation into them, despite there being an investigation into them, in fact, more than one.  In that discussion, I was accused of ignoring rape by stating that there has already been an investigation.  Doing this is an argument by many to try and occupy the moral high ground on flimsy terms.

Religion and child abuse are linked.  People have quite rightly looked at those who claim to be Muslims who have engaged in appalling acts of grooming and rape. What I have not seen are investigations into the cover up of child abuse over a far longer period of time by both the Catholic church in the UK and the Church Of England.  Some do not care about this, and instead just want to focus on Islam.  

I have disagreed with Ava Evans in the past, notably when it came to having a Minister for Men, as I think that having one will help to combat the evil influence of the manosphere. I disagreed with her in this interview about how someone who is racist can repent as well. 

But, I do not think that she should get abuse, again, for what she did in the interview.  The irony of those on the Far Right (or patriots as they call themselves) wanting to protect our girls when so many are domestic abusers is sad.  Let alone how many of them defend a stalker who has convictions for assault, fraud and travelling on a false passport.  

In summary, rape is not confined to just one religion, but only one religion has been investigated.