It is not the fault of Putin that he has had to invade Ukraine

I have listened to many people on the radio explain that the reason Putin has invaded Ukraine is because of the USA and the UK. They state all sorts of things, that NATO are to have a base there, that NATO wants to start a war but basically, NATO has no interest in defending Ukraine using military force.  Just like NATO did not defend Georgia when it had a conflict with Georgia which resulted in Georgia losing Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

Member nations are happy to back Ukraine with sanctions and providing weapons but that is it. 

What has happened in Eastern Europe is akin to the UK invading Calais because France might join an alliance of its choice.  Or re-invading Eire for the same reason.  And then annexing it. 

I hear lots of excuses like this, notably with domestic violence. It is not the fault of the abuser that they are carrying out abuse. It is the fault of the victim. Or someone else. The abuser claims that they were forced to do what they did, that they had no choice. But they did.

So remember, it is not the fault of Putin that Russia had a conflict with Georgia in 2008, or that it invaded Crimea in 2014, and also I am sure that it is not his fault that so many of those against him die prematurely.

Chernobyl

Just finished watching Chernobyl. I guess now is the right time to watch it as it may be part of Greater Russia soon as opposed to being part of an independent and democratic Ukraine. I had not watched it in 2019 but this was a series highly recommended at work. After watching it, I see why. I was strange seeing so many great British actors in it. The story they told was amazing. I remember as a child hearing about it and the radioactive cloud that drifted across Europe. Here is hoping that no more radiation is an issue, be it from an accident or war. On that topic, my mother has been concerned about war and the willingness of the west for it. I had to reassure her that the west is not interested in sending troops to defend Ukraine. It is interesting but sad to hear how many on the left are defending the actions of Putin, a man who pretends to be democratic, who has opponents who mysterously die and who has caused the oppression of LQBT+ rights in Russia. For the record, I think that the people of Ukraine have the right to elect their own leaders in free and fair elections. If areas like Crimea which to break away, it should be in referendums that are also free and fair, as opposed to under Russian occupation. 

Trans-sports

Just listening to Rachel Johnson on LBC about Trans sports. I agree and disagree with her on this.

First of all, she is wrong to discuss the case of Lia Thomas and to ignore the success of Iszac Henig.  She is not alone in this but this does not make it excusable.  For the record, Iszac Henig, born female and now a trans-man beat XY men in a swimming competition and had refused to take testosterone before he competed.  Lia Thomas, born a man and now a trans-woman beat her competition as well.

Second, she discussed testosterone as the issue.  While it is partly, the concerns I have with trans-athletes is more muscle mass.  Those who have an XY chromosomal make up, on average have more of a muscle mass that those who are XX.  We see this with the Cockcroft Gault equation which looks at creatinine clearance, this being affected by muscle mass.

Third, she has called for a Tran-Olympics.  Personally, I feel that this should not happen, but there should be an open category where those who are male women or transgender can compete.

I know some will consider me transphobic for my view that Trans-athletes should not complete with women.  But I am willing to listen to view on this.  I do consider any discussion invalid if it does not consider Iszac Henig however.

The Barnby Swan

We used to live in northern Suffolk and on occasion used to eat here.  My wife and booked lunch here and the plan was to take the children and Leia.  However my son decided to stay as he needed to tidy up his room.  He has spent his half term holiday allegedly tidying his room and I offered to help him by getting some black bin bags, filling them and taking the contents to the dump. I did intend to go through his room when we returned but unless I was too late to do so and take the contents to the dump. I intend to go through his room when we returned but unless I was too late to do so and take the contents to the dump.  My daughter stayed behind as she did not feel up to this.

The journey to the restaurant took 90 minutes and it was really nice to just drive with my wife as she relaxed.  The food was good as was the service.  I hope that it does well as it was not full when we went.

Afterwards we went to Beccles to visit the Swan House which was where we ate before I proposed outside the church next to it.  

All in all, a good day together l 

Ending Safe Spaces for women

 

I have recently had some discussions (again) about safe spaces for women on the internet. To be fair, I added myself to a discussion about this, but while discussing the issues raised by this, I was tagged on Twitter by someone who had created a video. (Turned out that my tweets did not feature in the video.) Basically, Scotland was asked to pause gender recognition reforms by the Equality and Human Rights Commission. This has created a predictable outcry. Issues with safe spaces have been raised by JK Rowling, who has been labelled a transphobe by some. To put it simply, she raised concerns that any man can pretend to be Trans so that they can gain access to safe spaces for women with and without a Y chromosome. If men can do this, it then means that there are no safe spaces for women, be that with or without a Y chromosome. Apparently raising this as an issue is being transphobic.

Kintsu and our late Valentines meal

My wife and I went out for a meal last night. It was our late Valentines meal as I was not able to guarantee that I would be high one time on Monday night itself.

My wife and I went out for a meal last night. It was our late Valentines meal as I was not able to guarantee that I would be high one time on Monday night itself.

She had been hard at work during the day and as noted in yesterday’s entry I had a more relaxing day. I had booked this meal in advance, and she did not know where she was going to. I made the mistake of telling my daughter where she was going to go for a hint. While this ended the surprise to my wife she did like to know where she was going especially as we both love eating here. The food as before was exemplary. Full of flavour create presentation and we will not have it at all.

 The food as before was exemplary. Full of flavour create presentation and we will not have it at all.

I drive which I have my wife the chance to relax and chill did a great bottle of red which we took home and this gave me the chance to finish it off.  Time like this is precious together and having a great meal with the best woman in the world was a great night.

This Is Going To Hurt

Today was a day off work which was taken due to half term.  I had intended to do a bit of work, but instead watched This Is Going To Hurt with Leia and my daughter.  Leia is starting to improve and today has started to play fight.  On Monday my wife took her to the vet and was told she is almost better.  We were told that we could gradually work her back to longer walks, but that she had to wear her body suit. So yesterday on the walk that was longer that she is meant to be on, I forgot to unbutton her body suit.  I realised after she started to open her bowels.  So she has no body suit now!

When it comes to This Is Going To Hurt, it is a great series.  My daughter and I watched all the episodes together, though she felt that it was more horrifying than any horror film she has yet to see.  Her view is that getting teenage girls to watch this will guarantee the use of contraception.  A particularly interesting moment was when she learned what uterine prolapse is, though the scenes involving childbirth were quite distressing for her.  If she ever becomes a doctor in the future, I do not see her working in obstetrics.  As a series, I thought that it was great and in general, medically accurate.  At times, it was too accurate and brought back memories that I should never forget.  

My son has spent the day trying to tidy up his room, and a few other jobs.  None were completed but considering the state of his room, that is not surprising!