Congratulations to Liverpool

Congratulations to Liverpool. They won the league in an amazing manner.  Of course, I am grateful that they were beaten this season as that means that Arsenal still hold the title of The Invincibles.

And on the topic of Arsenal, our manager thinks that we may qualify for European competition thanks to our win yesterday. I do not think it will happen, but I hope he is right and that we win tomorrow. 

Rebecca Long-Bailey

Do I think that she is anti-Semitic? No.
Do I think that the article she re-tweeted was anti-Semitic? No.
Do I think that Maxine Peake, based on the article is anti-Semitic? No.
Do I think that the views expressed by Maxine Peake in the article were wrong? Yes, but only about how the technique that killed George Floyd was taught by Israeli police.
Was the Independent wrong to publish it? No.
Should Rebecca Long-Bailey have been sacked because of the article? Sadly, and reluctantly yes, even though she has clarified why she did this and how this was not endorsing the entire article.

The issue of Israel and Labour has surfaced again.  Rebecca Long-Bailey retweeted an article by Maxine Peake in the Independent.  Sadly, part of it linked the killing of George Floyd to Israel.  Allegations of Labour members being anti-Semitic have been weaponised, but the reason that this has happened has been because of the question of Israel and the inaction taken over the way that Jewish MP's have been abused, and driven out of the party if they have supported the right of Israel to exist.  Some would argue it is because they did not show Jeremy Corbyn loyalty when he was leader of the party, but my view of this is that Corbyn could only expect the same loyalty as leader that he had shown to other Labour leaders, and that members of the party should have accepted that.  Inaction before the publication of a report on antisemitism would be inexcusable.

Sadly, Islamophobia is more acceptable in the country, and while the Conservatives have taken some action on members who have been Islamophobic, they as a party have gotten away with a lot more intolerance than Labour have.  But Labour are not meant to be intolerant, while I expect prejudice to exist within the Conservatives.  Labour are meant to take the high ground on this.  

The problem with Israel is that the situation there is not black and white.  I do not consider the state of Israel to be apartheid, but the way it governs the occupied territories is akin to that.  I did not consider Israel to be racist, but changes to language laws have made me doubt that.  However, Christians in Israel have more rights than they have in Gaza (though Christians face more issues in the Occupied Territories from Israel than other Palestinians), and LGBTQ+ rights are better in Israel than in the Palestinian territories along with the rights of women.    

But going back to that article, it was wrong about how Israel taught the police officers involved in the killing of George Floyd the technique.  And retweeting the article would be used to harm Labour if no action was taken.

So it was right to sack Rebecca Long-Bailey, but I think that it will be right to allow her back into the Shadow Cabinet at a later date as well.

The Empire Strikes Back

Turns out that the Clone Wars film on Disney is not the only series, but rather is the first episodes featuring Ahsoka Tano, in order.  My son and I have started to watch it, though it is not the film we are looking for.

As for my daughter, we watched The Empire Strikes Back today, but he best bit was going for a long walk earlier.

Anyway, good night.  I am tired and would love to type more, but need my beauty sleep.

Clone Wars Series 7

Have finished watching the seventh series of Clone Wars with my son.  He insists on watching all of Star Wars in order.  So we watched Revenge Of The Sith.  I do like the film, it is just that the chemistry between Padmé Amidala and Anakain is very lacking.  It was only after that when we remembered to watch the original Clone Wars film.  But that will need to be for another day.  Saying that, this series ties in quite well with Revenge of the Sith, the last few episodes more so.  But Anakin is quite likeable in the series, including this one, while in both Revenge of the Sith and Attack of the Clones, he is not.    

It was nice going for a walk with my son in the evening, almost as good as spending the rest of the day with my wife earlier when I drove her to get some vinyl that she had been looking for.

Who wants to play in Europe anyway?

I doubt that Arsenal will be playing in Europe next season.

A defeat against Manchester City was bad enough but we had a game in hand before then.  We needed to win all our remaining league games to have any chance to qualify for European football by finishing high enough in the table.

So the defeat to Brighton was a bad one.  A misfire by the Gunners.   Which means our only hope of qualifying to play in Europe is the FA cup.  We are up against Sheffield United in that and even if we get past them, with teams like ManUre, Chelski and the Team That Rhymes With City in it, we are unlikely to win it.

Saying Black Lives Matter does not mean that other lives do not. Every life matters.

Well, the last few weeks have been interesting, when riots have occurred during some Black Lives Matter marches, those engaging in horrific behaviour have been termed rioters.  When the far right attack police in London, they are protestors.   

I have had a few interesting discussions on Facebook with an old school friend about BLM.  I would never have considered them to be racist, and to be honest, I do not consider them to be one now.  But they have shared the views of racists like Mark Collett on their timeline. Needless to say, I suspect that this has caused considerable upset despite posts also showing how the police work with all communities.

I do not agree with all of what every BLM supporter says. Most find violence against the police abhorrent, most do not agree with racism against anyone, and most do not agree with the violence and rioting that has taken place with some of the protests.  

When it comes to those in the USA calling to defund the police, they forget what has happened in Britain when the police has been underfunded by the Conservatives since 2010.  Crime has gone up.  The people who want the police to be defunded the most, are those that the police protect us from.  I treat police officers and none that I have met went into into the force (or service as it is called now) wanting to do a terrible job.

But reform is needed to address how people who are not white are treated.  Here it is harder to bring that about as the police has been defunded.  In the USA, there have been several examples of how police brutality is not just whet on black.  Non-white police officers stood by as George Floyd was killed, and non-white police officers were involved with the death in custody of Freddie Gray.

I have worked in high stress situations where you have to make a snap decision based in the information you have, not hindsight.  So I do understand how decisions that would not be made in hindsight were felt to be the appropriate decision at the time.  So unlike many, I do not think that the police officers making those choices when it came to the deaths of Mark Duggan or Jean Charles de Menezes, were wrong BASED ON THE INFORMATION THE OFFICERS KILLING THESE PEOPLE HAD IN THAT INSTANT.  

But as the deaths of Ahmaud Arbery and George Floyd have shown, a lot more needs to happen in the USA.  And we need time and money for the police to improve here in the UK as well.  

Sideshow Bob

Another depressing defeat for Arsenal.  On the weekend, I had predicted the score would be 3-0, but said that it would be to Arsenal.  

When I saw the team line up, with Xhaka playing, I said that we would be down to ten men but that we would win 3-2.  I was right in that he was the first man to be taken off, and David Luiz came on.  He gifted Sterling the first goal (you could argue that the rain played a part) with his attempt to clear the ball allowing The Team That Rhymes With City to score just before half time.  And he brought Mahrez down in the penalty area.  The foul started outside the box, but did not need to continue into it.  And while Mustafi might have been able to get back in time, it did not look likely.  Which meant that after coming on as a sub, he gave away a goal and a penalty and was sent off.  That is four penalties that he has given away, double that of the next closest contender, and no other player has made more errors in the Premier League leading to a goal in 2020.  What a record.     

Which meant I was right about then men as well.  And the picture for this post is for Sideshow Bob.  Assuming he ever puts on an Arsenal shirt again.