Trumps birthday

I know it has been a since since the big day for Trump, sorry, the birthday of the US army, but this was an interesting video to post.  I am not listening to what people are saying about the crowd size as to quote Taylor Swift, haters gonna hate.  

What was interesting is this video about the marching, or the lack of it.  Considering Trump wanted this parade after watching the Bastille Day celebrations in France, it is surprising that he did not insist on any pageantry. 

Israel attacking Iran

After the appalling October 7th attacks of 2023, despite concerns that Israel had been annexing land in The West Bank along with killing Palestinians, let alone the way Israel treated Gaza, the nations of Europe offered Israel support as the attacks continued. However, Israel went beyond what was deemed acceptable and the ICC issued arrest warrants for some on both sides.

Any moral high ground that Israel could claim was lost when it unilaterally decided to get the USA to renegotiate the ceasefire which had been agreed, a ceasefire which members of its governing coalition wanted to break anyway. 

So now Israel has attacked Iran, many are picking a side to back. I consider both governments to be vile and while I would have rated Iran as being the most reprehensible before, now it is Israel, but only just. The UK has not offered the level of support that it gave when Iran responded to an Israeli attack on its citizens last year, and for that I am glad. I would like the UK to cease all cooperation with Israel now, other than the manufacture of F35 parts (some of which are used in Israeli fighters). 

It will be interesting to see how the electorate of Israel will judge Benjamin Netanyahu and if they see how he has thrown away most of the goodwill that Israel was given after October the 7th. 

Is sorry the hardest word for Elon Musk?

Apparently, Elon Musk's company is being sued by some Telsa owners in France because his actions have caused their cars to be viewed as a symbol of the far right and have depreciated in value.  

What is interesting is the way he has offered an apology to Donald Trump, but has not apologised to owners of his cars, many of whom, being concerned about the environment, tend to be left wing.  I have an electric car and would have been tempted to by a Tesla, before he went right wing, not just because of the features, but because of the charging network.  In the UK it is better than that for my kind of EV, though I have to say, the availability of charging stations is increasing. I have even recommended them to a friend who travels a lot in their job, due to the charging network.  They declined to do so, and left Twitter before I did.  But now, I would not recommend Tesla.  Not just because of their owner, but also there are lots of competitors now and the charging network for normal EV's is better.

But, when it comes to Musk, considering the views of his father on certain matters, I am not sure if his views will change so that Tesla is considered the go-to-car for those on the left.

Fear and loathing in LA

Rioting in a democratic nation is wrong. It harms the community where it takes place and people can take advantage of the situation to loot. What is happening in LA is wrong. What is also wrong are the lies being spread by the Trump administration about this. Lies have involved the President of Mexico and of course Trump himself. He has said that the demonstrators have been paid to protest and bricks have been left out for them to riot with. This was after he congratulated the National Guard for calming things in LA before they actually arrived at the riots! 

It has been hard on the people of LA. But the LAPD are going to be under scrutiny for what they have done. Not just shooting journalists, but brutality against civilians. There are times that a journalist will be hit by accident, but the video above shows just how far over the line some police have stepped. 

It also shows us the restraint shown by UK police during the Farage Riots of last year! 

Londonistan, the reality

I have been having a “debate” with someone on Twitter who has referred to London being run by Jihadists and Islamists. I say debate, they just spam stuff, but they have learned not to broach certain topics.  

Listening to BBC PM today, I have listened to a representative of Israel say that “The streets of London are succumbing to Jihad” when asked about the sanctions being placed on two members of the Israeli government. This no doubt relates to London having a Muslim mayor and he is not the only one to spread lies like this. 

Just a few things, I can drink alcohol in London. There is Old Compton Street where people are openly gay (attacked by The Far Right in the past) and of course there is London Fashion Week. I suspect that none of this can take place in Kabul and I don’t know how Gay Pride can take place in London if  “the streets of London are succumbing to Jihad.” 

If you want to listen to the words, it is eight minutes into the show. Last of all, while some call London a poo hole, this video from the USA demonstrates an issue I have never encountered in London! 

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.