Trusting Priti Patel

According to Priti Patel, the answer to the surge in migrants and refugees coming across the channel to the UK is to send them back while on the open seas, but only of it safe to do so.

I doubt that France will be pleased with that, or the threat to take away funding that had been agreed for extra patrols.  

Ignoring the issue of if it is right to send boats back to France if intercepted, the fact is that Priti Patel has thrown others under the bus when the heat is on, notably Cressida Dick, who obeyed her request when it came to the Sarah Everard vigil.  If any fatalities happen, I suspect that given her previous form, she will be quick to blame those obeying her instructions due to her caveat of “if safe to do so” and those who work in the coastguard had better recall her bullying nature as there is no doubt that they will be abandoned by her.

13 Reasons Why; In High School, Even on a Good Day, It's Hard to Tell Who's on Your Side

People in a just system are considered innocent until proven guilty. However accusations can cause problems, but can also help others come forwards.

This episode addresses some of the pressures that Clay Jensen comes under once he is a person linked to the murder of Bryce, but does not address how it can be useful for other victims to come forward when someone is charged, a big example being Jimmy Savile.  

It is also about how people often see the good in others, and how we can not realise that.

13 Reasons Why; There Are a Number of Problems with Clay Jensen

First of all, family.

My wife and daughter took Leia out for a walk this morning allowing me to cycle into work.  I did not get out of bed as early as I would like, but it was nice to cuddle up to my wife.  Once they had left, I got on my bike and cycled in for paperwork.  I have not done this as often as before as my daughter had wanted to come into work with me to do her homework in once of the offices.  But I need to get fitter and if she wants to come, she is going to have to get her mother to drop her off, or cycle in with me.  Anyway, they went for a walk down in Wivenhoe and my wife, who has never been as keen on walking as I have been, did a personal best for this year!

My daughter herself has been a bit stressed out her return to school tomorrow.  My son has to attend for testing, and then he is in properly tomorrow.  He had been in last week for testing and since then, the friend who he was with has developed COVID.  This did result in a scare this morning, until we realised that she was negative on the day.  Her mother became unwell and tested positive yesterday, his friend testing positive today.  The house is a lot calmer now compared to how it was this morning.  Needless to say, we wish the best for her friend and family.

As for 13 Reasons Why, my son and I watched it this evening before he went off to bed.  This episode looks at the rehabilitation of Bryce Walker, and his ability to still attract women to him.  Hence the video...

 

13 Reasons Why; You Can Tell the Heart of a Man by How He Grieves

Another day and another traumatic episode.  This one dealt with illegal immigration.  Personally, I am in favour of the deportation of illegal immigrants, a controversial view, but one I will stick by.  I do think that the immigration system in the UK is a mess, made worse by Brexit and that controls on immigration in the UK are too strict.   

At the moment, we have a shortage of HGV drivers.  Companies have called upon to allow a HGV drivers in from abroad on a short-term temporary basis, but this has been rejected by Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng, as a short-term temporary solution.  Saying that, we are also short in many other areas such as in dentistry.  The nation will adapt, but Brexit immigration rules are already causing issues to many areas and companies in Europe and elsewhere are making more profits while British companies are now even more disadvantaged.

  

13 Reasons Why; Nobody's Clean

Watching this with my son was interesting.  The two issues brought up were drugs and prostitution.  Drugs have been an issue in other episodes, but here, steroids were discussed.  Buying sex for money was also never mentioned before, and while this episode did not deal with the ethics of this, it did look at drugs.

I have mentioned before, that I do think that drugs should be legal and regulated, but I am not sure about steroids.  The first post-mortem that I saw was of a body builder who had a massive heart due to steroids.  The muscle growth outstripped the blood supply to it and he died.  Since then I have seen ruptured ligaments which do not heal and also others with heart attacks thanks to the use of illegal steroids.  I have suspected that it has contributed to behavioural issues with some, and I see one person on occasion who uses them but has muscles that are so developed, they have joint issues because his body should not have that build.  And he has acne and very small testicles.  Saying that, drugs screw up lives, and just because I think that they should be legal and regulated does not take away from the many lives I have seen ruined by drugs, and too many ended.

As for prostitution, again, this is something I think should be legal, but again regulated. But this view applies to all those who work in the sex industry. Help should be offered to aid those who are forced into sex to get out, or ideally, not to get into it.  The ethics of using a prostitute were not addressed in this episode though.

Needless today, I told my son not to use drugs.  Hopefully he will listen. 

Spider-Man: Far From Home

First of all, family.  My wife went to see someone about her present and future yesterday so I was with the children.  Normally, they keep away from me while I am working from home, but maybe they felt guilty about the huge mess they left on the kitchen table which meant that it was harder for me to start working.  When she got back, she took my daughter away to shop for shoes and afterwards we went out of eat at Banquet.  We have been there several times, and my wife needed a distraction from her return to work today.  As usual, the food was amazing.

When we got back, Leia, who had been in the pen was even more overjoyed to see us compared to normal.  I had wanted us all to sit together but the kids wanted to do their own thing.  For my son, this meant ignoring the drying that he was meant to put away as well as the plates that he had left on the table (and a wrapper of ice-cream that Leia found).  But my daughter and I watched Spider-Man.  My son, her and I had been watching it earlier, but was not able to finish it.  She had forgotten that she had watched it before, but it was great to watch it again. Spiderman is one of my favourite super heroes and I love these films and I cannot wait to watch the next one.  

Like almost all Marvel films, this is amazing and I would even pay to watch it on the big screen again!

13 Reasons Why; Angry, Young and Man

Closure is not always possible.  Some people regret or learn to understand the consequences of the crimes that they do, others do not.  But is revenge the right way to bring about closure?  My son says no.