Free speech and Nigel Farage

Nigel Farage has been over to the USA to complain about free speech in the UK.  I thought he was charming and composed himself well, but he lied and distorted the truth when there. 

Nigel Farage, the leader of Reform UK, which has banned Nottinghamshire Live from speaking to them, has complained about free speech in Britain. 

Nigel Farage, the leader of Reform UK which has threatened The Independent with a ban, has complained about free speech in the UK. 

Nigel Farage, the leader of Reform UK, which banned Byline Times from its 2024 conference, has complained about free speech in Great Britain. 

Nigel Farage who has called for the police to investigate a comedian over a joke, has complained about free speech in UK. 

This last part is important as Graham Linehan has been arrested over a tweet made in April and this may have been because of incitement to violence. The difference between him and Lucy Connolly is the length of time that passed before the tweet and the arrest, and also, one called for arson during a time of civil disobedience when arson was taking place. Needless to say, he had mentioned both as infringement of free speech, but remember, Lucy Connolly admitted her guilt even though she had planned an excuse to get away with her incitement to arson. 

We should not be ashamed of our flag

Today, my wife told me about an act of true patriotism. A centre for Muslims has decided to display the flag to remind people that you do not have to be white to be British. 

Our flag is one that has values which inspire people to risk death to reach.  I would never deny that our history, like all nations, has a toxic element, but overall, I would argue that our nation has atoned for some of its sins.  

I am glad to live in a nation that is diverse.  I wish more would appreciate that diversity and inclusiveness is a good things.

The Naked Gun

A different film compared to the others I have watched recently. Sadly, I do not think it is as good as the classics of its genre, notably the original Naked Gun, or even Airplane. Saying that, I love the homage to the original. 

As a family, we were discussing watching a film, but could not agree on one. I noted that this was an option that dogs could be taken to, so my daughter and I walked into town to watch it. When there, I met a friend and his dog who had decided to do the same, the two dogs loving the treats given to them at the cinema. During the film, someone else’s dog decided to bark at the celluloid dog on screen, but that added to the experience.

Going back to the film itself, it was enjoyable, but the main reason it was not as good as the original was the lack of things going on in the background, something noticeable in Airplane and the original Naked Gun. I do think it is worth watching, but unlike the films it aspires to be like, there is no reason to watch it again. 

The Thursday Murder Club

My wife and I watched this on Netflix, she had been looking forwards to watching it having enjoyed the book. She certainly enjoyed it more than I did, but this is more of her kind of film. I am glad I did not pay to watch this in the cinema but saying that, it was an average film, one that I doubt I would watch again. The all star cast brought the characters to life and will hopefully stay together do so in the sequels to come. In summary, worth watching, but there are better films out there. Especially as I do not know why the first cold case was being investigated. 

Crime and being transgender

Sadly, there was another mass shooting in the USA, two children were murdered in Minneapolis in the USA. Some have felt the gender identity of the murderer is important, others have focused on the mental health issues. The obvious cause is simple, that is the availability of guns in the USA, an issue which I have posted about before. Basically, many people in the USA value lax gun controls over the lives of children. Also, it appears that being transgender makes it less likely that an individual will be the perpetrator of a mass shooting. It is my view that transwomen are more likely to be the victim of crime than the perpetrator. 

However, it is also important to note the figures about transwomen in UK prisons. That is that they do pose a greater risk to women than men do.  I mention this as it has been claimed that this is not the case. 

It is a shame that these awful murders are being used to demonise those with mental health issues. It is also wrong to blame the transgender community for the murders, facts and statistics show what risk they do not pose when it comes to mass shootings. 

Oppenheimer

This film was both better and worse than I expected. I watched it with my daughter, both of us having not watched it in the cinema and both of us wanting to see it. We would agree that at times, it is a male film, but considering the characters, it would be. Watching it at home, we missed out on the audio experience a cinema would give, and in that, this was not as good as I thought it would be.

But otherwise, it was amazing. Yes, its special effects were good (okay, amazing), but the film was produced and directed so well. Having an all star cast means nothing, we saw that with the disaster which was the Twilight film franchise, but here the quality showed. It dealt with so many issues at the same time and I can see why it was nominated for so many awards. I do not want to say too much as I think that if you are to watch it, it is best not to know too much, but it is a film worth watching, and I may watch it again. That is if my wife decides to watch it, but I am not sure she knows it is three hours long! 

Protect our women and girls

Listening to The Rest Is Politics they raised a very good point about the recent protests to protect our women and girls. Basically a large number of those engaging in protests have been felt to be a danger to women themselves. 

The Newsagents had addressed the matter of how the protests seem to be happy to ignore threats to women and children from white people, and it is right that this issue is raised properly.