The long view: Napoleon's pitching up in Egypt in 1708 was the moment that demonstrated western superiority to the Islamic world that sowed the seed for many of the problems we face today.
I disagree. I think there was a window of opportunity in which the Islamic world might have embraced western modernity to an extent that included political secularisation, but events such as the British using chemical weapons in Iraq in the 20s, or overthrowing Mossadegh in Iran in the 50s, exposed our liberal democratic rhetoric as a load of crap when set against the imperatives of power
It makes it hard for countries to become peaceful liberal democracies if you back violent authoritarians to get your way when the liberal democrats in those countries disagree with you.
The long view: Napoleon's pitching up in Egypt in 1708 was the moment that demonstrated western superiority to the Islamic world that sowed the seed for many of the problems we face today.
I disagree. I think there was a window of opportunity in which the Islamic world might have embraced western modernity to an extent that included political secularisation, but events such as the British using chemical weapons in Iraq in the 20s, or overthrowing Mossadegh in Iran in the 50s, exposed our liberal democratic rhetoric as a load of crap when set against the imperatives of power
It makes it hard for countries to become peaceful liberal democracies if you back violent authoritarians to get your way when the liberal democrats in those countries disagree with you.
Our Suez adventure didn't help a great deal either.
It is a hell of a mess. Before Falconer or whoever can even start looking at cases, it seems to me that Labour’s entire investigative and disciplinary process needs tearing up and starting again. It does not seem to me to be fit for purpose. I doubt whether any of the people involved in it have any investigative experience at all or the independence of mind and character to do ot surprising that it was crap, but it doesn't look like the current process is fully functional either (though I think it's problems are different).
Do you give Corbyn, Formby, etc, another chance to create an independent process?
Why would you?
I would appoint an expert in investigations to set up an independent process.
You don't expect a CEO to design one let alone run it; ditto the CFO etc. Whatever talents Jenny Formby has, they are not those of an investigator.
L Were I being asked to do this there are two questions I would need to ask: (1) Is Corbyn genuine about getting to the bottom of this problem? Or is he only concerned about getting it off the news pages? (2) Will he have my back if difficult - for him / his associates / Labour - issues arise? If you can't be certain that the answer to both those question is yes, step away.
Just for balance, how should the Tories deal with the islamophobia revealed by Baroness Varsi this week?
As they have done. Suspend those against whom the allegations have bene made, and investigate them promptly..
But also treat her claims with scepticism. She herself holds some pretty unsavoury opinions.
Tory Chairman Brandon Lewis has written to the party’s most senior activists to “re-affirm my commitment that discrimination, intimidating behaviour or abuse of any kind has absolutely no place in our organisation”. The letter has gone to everyone at the most senior level of the voluntary party – Regional Chairmen, Area Chairmen, Association Chairman and Conservative Group Leaders.
Mr B2: Suspend all that have either voiced such sentiments or those that have overtly excused them. Simples as Mrs May might say.
The fundamental difference (at the moment) between the two leading parties is that one (Labour) has a leadership that has been caught red-handed tacitly and actively (the mural) supporting repugnant and prejudiced views. Unless TMay starts approving of cartoons of the Prophet we do not have equivalence.
OT. I've just had an email from my inurance company telling me that I will probably need a green card if i'm driving in Europe in the next 6 weeks.
We've gone way beyond banana republic and are rapidly approaching failed state.
That tells me that you've never been to (or even read about) a banana republic or a failed state. A trivial bureaucratic inconvenience is not comparable to endemic corruption or a civil war.
Either that or your post was tongue-in-cheek, in which case sorry.
I have always needed this - nothing new about it at all. Same here in Spain ever since I first took out insurance 10 years ago.
You used to need a 'bail bond' in Spain since the native police had a nasty habit of impounding the vehicle if you didn't pay the fines.
When green cards were previously issued many companies gave them free. Note that IIRC the green card was to increase cover on your insurance policy to the same level abroad as the UK since the standard insurance policy provided the minimum required by law in each European Country.
I thought the Green Card was just an easily-understood indicator that you'd *met* the minimum agreed standards (though maybe the two often came hand in hand?)
Mainstream British politics is stuck in the uncanny valley, leaving the country with an unsettling feeling.
TBH, I think you're tad hard on Mrs Duffy. All she said, IIRC, was that Rochdale had changed. And, as one who lived there many years ago, and went back recently to see the great improvements in the river area, it has.
She also gave an interview during the referendum campaign with her views on Brexit.
Corbyn argues police cuts are to blame for increased knife crime. May responds that, no, no, you've got it all wrong, it's actually our drug policy that's to blame.
Overall, homicides dipped to an unusually low level between 2009 and 2015, before rising slightly since then.
Off the cuff I should say that main factor there would be the changing age profile of the population. Old sods like me are getting too old to be very dangerous.
Also, I think the homicide rate in this country is really quite low, so small variations can be made to appear more significant than they perhaps are.
Oh, and finally, since I'm on a roll here, I'm sure most homicides are committed by people known to the victim and would be unlikely to be affected by something like more coppers on the beat. (Not that I'm against more coppers, now that I am past my tear-away stage.)
The UK is a very peaceful country. Some countries are horrendously violent. Latin America and the Caribbean typically have murder rates that are 20 - 90 times higher than our own (El Salvador is the worst).
The factors seem to include:-
1. Prosperity (however some poor countries are very peaceful, and some relatively prosperous countries are very violent);
2. The honesty and efficiency of police forces and judicial systems;
3. Strength of family structures (East Asia is very peaceful, apart from the Philippines) regardless of levels of prosperity;
4. The drugs trade (see Latin America and the Caribbean. East Asians are utterly ruthless towards their own drug taffickers);
5. Age profiles (younger societies tend to be more violent).
As regards point 5 there was a very interesting chap on Start the Week last week who had done a study to show the correlation between the median age in a country and its propensity to fight wars whether external or civil. Of course it was on the radio so no actual stats but it seemed very persuasive.
What was slightly more alarming was then applying that thesis to Africa which is at the beginning of an incredible population boom that will result in many countries more than doubling their populations in the next 30-40 years. The issue of people trying to cross the Mediterranean is not going to go away anytime soon.
Mr. Me, in 1958 Nasser made a speech, which I've posted before and do so again, mocking those who thought women should have to wear the hijab.
The West has made some mistakes, but the idea that we're solely responsible, or even mainly responsible, for what happens in other nations and in quite different cultures is the same kind of unthinking self-centredness that children display when they think their parents fighting is their fault.
Rather more self-respect and self-confidence from the West in defending its important, superior values, such as free speech, would be a damned good thing.
Mainstream British politics is stuck in the uncanny valley, leaving the country with an unsettling feeling.
TBH, I think you're tad hard on Mrs Duffy. All she said, IIRC, was that Rochdale had changed. And, as one who lived there many years ago, and went back recently to see the great improvements in the river area, it has.
that was @isam's contention - around his area. Thing is the way it (East London) had changed had naff all to do with white eastern europeans.
Mr. Me, in 1958 Nasser made a speech, which I've posted before and do so again, mocking those who thought women should have to wear the hijab.
The West has made some mistakes, but the idea that we're solely responsible, or even mainly responsible, for what happens in other nations and in quite different cultures is the same kind of unthinking self-centredness that children display when they think their parents fighting is their fault.
Rather more self-respect and self-confidence from the West in defending its important, superior values, such as free speech, would be a damned good thing.
I thought the whole point of the Good Friday Agreement was that everything that happened during the Troubles was wiped from the slate. That's why convicted IRA killers were released, like the person responsible for the Brighton bombing.
'There was no amnesty for crimes which had not been prosecuted.'
I would appoint an expert in investigations to set up an independent process.
You don't expect a CEO to design one let alone run it; ditto the CFO etc. Whatever talents Jenny Formby has, they are not those of an investigator.
Lots of people think this stuff is easy & can be done by someone in HR. It is not. It is hard; it needs skilled experienced people to do it so that it is trustworthy, trusted by both complainant & accused & cannot be challenged or, if it is, such challenges fail. It needs to be independent and robust and thorough.
Most people think that if they can ask a question ("What is the way to the Post Office?") they can interview someone in an investigative process. They can't. Some lawyers make good investigators; most don't. It is a question of aptitude & experience & scepticism & emotional intelligence & the ability to listen & to test the evidence & having good judgment.
I know I am talking my own book here but having done literally thousands of investigations during my career I may perhaps be forgiven this.
Labour need to start again & do this properly. They have, IMO, reached stage 9 of Cyclefree's 10 Stages of a Crisis. But they are still stuck somewhere near 5 or 6 hoping that something limited will be sufficient. It won't. The sooner they realise this the better. It is not Corbyn's and Formby's ability to run an investigative process which is the issue here. It is their willingness to do so. Until that changes the problem remains & anyone going in to help them sort it out risks being undermined. You need your ultimate boss to have your back in these situations.
Were I being asked to do this there are two questions I would need to ask: (1) Is Corbyn genuine about getting to the bottom of this problem? Or is he only concerned about getting it off the news pages? (2) Will he have my back if difficult - for him / his associates / Labour - issues arise? If you can't be certain that the answer to both those question is yes, step away.
Just for balance, how should the Tories deal with the islamophobia revealed by Baroness Varsi this week?
They too should have a robust investigative process and deal with all claims of hate / abuse etc towards Muslims (and others - the Tories are not immune from anti-semitism either) robustly and quickly and thoroughly. I am currently doing a thread header on this topic so you will have to wait for that for the rest.
Baroness Warsi is not a reliable interlocutor on this point since she has made a point of associating herself with Muslim groups who are themselves racist, anti-semitic and appeasers of terrorism. Nonetheless all allegations should be properly investigated, no matter who brings them.
Mainstream British politics is stuck in the uncanny valley, leaving the country with an unsettling feeling.
TBH, I think you're tad hard on Mrs Duffy. All she said, IIRC, was that Rochdale had changed. And, as one who lived there many years ago, and went back recently to see the great improvements in the river area, it has.
She also gave an interview during the referendum campaign with her views on Brexit.
As a Remainer, I can understand her views. I don't agree with them but I can understand them. Perfectly reasonable criticism of Cameron, too. To be serious, the crowds in the Rochdale streets DO look, and sound, different to those I knew when I lived there in the early 60's, and it's not necessarily wrong to look back and say that 'things were different was I was young'.
They too should have a robust investigative process and deal with all claims of hate / abuse etc towards Muslims (and others - the Tories are not immune from anti-semitism either) robustly and quickly and thoroughly. I am currently doing a thread header on this topic so you will have to wait for that for the rest.
Baroness Warsi is not a reliable interlocutor on this point since she has made a point of associating herself with Muslim groups who are themselves racist, anti-semitic and appeasers of terrorism. Nonetheless all allegations should be properly investigated, no matter who brings them.
Agree. You would have thought it shouldn't be that difficult for a grown-up political party.
The long view: Napoleon's pitching up in Egypt in 1708 was the moment that demonstrated western superiority to the Islamic world that sowed the seed for many of the problems we face today.
I disagree. I think there was a window of opportunity in which the Islamic world might have embraced western modernity to an extent that included political secularisation, but events such as the British using chemical weapons in Iraq in the 20s, or overthrowing Mossadegh in Iran in the 50s, exposed our liberal democratic rhetoric as a load of crap when set against the imperatives of power
It makes it hard for countries to become peaceful liberal democracies if you back violent authoritarians to get your way when the liberal democrats in those countries disagree with you.
You're assuming that there are many liberal democrats in what is a fundamentally credal culture. That is a bold assumption and not one necessarily backed by a huge amount of evidence.
Mainstream British politics is stuck in the uncanny valley, leaving the country with an unsettling feeling.
TBH, I think you're tad hard on Mrs Duffy. All she said, IIRC, was that Rochdale had changed. And, as one who lived there many years ago, and went back recently to see the great improvements in the river area, it has.
that was @isam's contention - around his area. Thing is the way it (East London) had changed had naff all to do with white eastern europeans.
Mainstream British politics is stuck in the uncanny valley, leaving the country with an unsettling feeling.
TBH, I think you're tad hard on Mrs Duffy. All she said, IIRC, was that Rochdale had changed. And, as one who lived there many years ago, and went back recently to see the great improvements in the river area, it has.
that was @isam's contention - around his area. Thing is the way it (East London) had changed had naff all to do with white eastern europeans.
Walthamstow High Street is a veritable Bucharest. It’s astonishing. Immigration changes society, and some - even many - are uncomfortable with that. However, we haven’t yet found a socially acceptable way of describing this sense of disquiet.
They too should have a robust investigative process and deal with all claims of hate / abuse etc towards Muslims (and others - the Tories are not immune from anti-semitism either) robustly and quickly and thoroughly. I am currently doing a thread header on this topic so you will have to wait for that for the rest.
Baroness Warsi is not a reliable interlocutor on this point since she has made a point of associating herself with Muslim groups who are themselves racist, anti-semitic and appeasers of terrorism. Nonetheless all allegations should be properly investigated, no matter who brings them.
Agree. You would have thought it shouldn't be that difficult for a grown-up political party.
Mr. Me, in 1958 Nasser made a speech, which I've posted before and do so again, mocking those who thought women should have to wear the hijab.
The West has made some mistakes, but the idea that we're solely responsible, or even mainly responsible, for what happens in other nations and in quite different cultures is the same kind of unthinking self-centredness that children display when they think their parents fighting is their fault.
Rather more self-respect and self-confidence from the West in defending its important, superior values, such as free speech, would be a damned good thing.
Well I would like us to live up to our rhetoric on our liberal democratic values, rather than just claiming to be superior because of them.
I don't understand the point you are making with your video of Nasser, though. Doesn't it bolster my point? Here you had a secular leader of Egypt, but he became an enemy of Britain because he nationalised the Suez canal. We sought to overthrow him, as we had done Mossadegh. Does that really encourage secularism?
The long view: Napoleon's pitching up in Egypt in 1708 was the moment that demonstrated western superiority to the Islamic world that sowed the seed for many of the problems we face today.
I disagree. I think there was a window of opportunity in which the Islamic world might have embraced western modernity to an extent that included political secularisation, but events such as the British using chemical weapons in Iraq in the 20s, or overthrowing Mossadegh in Iran in the 50s, exposed our liberal democratic rhetoric as a load of crap when set against the imperatives of power
It makes it hard for countries to become peaceful liberal democracies if you back violent authoritarians to get your way when the liberal democrats in those countries disagree with you.
You're assuming that there are many liberal democrats in what is a fundamentally credal culture. That is a bold assumption and not one necessarily backed by a huge amount of evidence.
The same can be said for us if we go back a few centuries; and they have the advantage of seeing a clear way forward if they want to take it.
Unfortunately much of the ME is, from our POV, regressing: witness the increased wearing of burkhas, hajibs etc. The question is why this is happening, and the answers are probably complex and not simple to resolve.
I thought the whole point of the Good Friday Agreement was that everything that happened during the Troubles was wiped from the slate. That's why convicted IRA killers were released, like the person responsible for the Brighton bombing.
'There was no amnesty for crimes which had not been prosecuted.'
Mainstream British politics is stuck in the uncanny valley, leaving the country with an unsettling feeling.
TBH, I think you're tad hard on Mrs Duffy. All she said, IIRC, was that Rochdale had changed. And, as one who lived there many years ago, and went back recently to see the great improvements in the river area, it has.
that was @isam's contention - around his area. Thing is the way it (East London) had changed had naff all to do with white eastern europeans.
Walthamstow High Street is a veritable Bucharest. It’s astonishing. Immigration changes society, and some - even many - are uncomfortable with that. However, we haven’t yet found a socially acceptable way of describing this sense of disquiet.
The last time I went back to my home town it looked, and sounded, very different to when I lived and worked there. We're going through a time of very rapid change and it's understandable if people want to cling to something, anything which looks 'like it was'.
There was a yellow card issued which detailed what was and what was not permissable (eg gunman running towards you/gunman running away from you). If it violated the yellow card it was possibly illegal, if not, not.
As for Bloody Sunday, on the balance of evidence it was judged that the IRA sniper fired after not before the troops opened fire and that in any case yellow card procedures were not followed. Did he? We'll never know for sure. The complicating factors being a) fog of war; and b) 1 PARA.
Karen Bradley remains an idiot, that said.
Hmm...when relations are quite so strained with the DUP this may not have been as idiotic as it seems, however ridiculous.
In 73 my dad's regiment was in Derry and some young soldiers were searching bags. Someone pulled out a gun and shot 2 of them dead in front of their friends. The women behind the shooter linked arms to stop any pursuit. The 18 year old soldiers standing there with automatic rifles didn't shoot. I still find it remarkable.
There was a yellow card issued which detailed what was and what was not permissable (eg gunman running towards you/gunman running away from you). If it violated the yellow card it was possibly illegal, if not, not.
As for Bloody Sunday, on the balance of evidence it was judged that the IRA sniper fired after not before the troops opened fire and that in any case yellow card procedures were not followed. Did he? We'll never know for sure. The complicating factors being a) fog of war; and b) 1 PARA.
Karen Bradley remains an idiot, that said.
Hmm...when relations are quite so strained with the DUP this may not have been as idiotic as it seems, however ridiculous.
In 73 my dad's regiment was in Derry and some young soldiers were searching bags. Someone pulled out a gun and shot 2 of them dead in front of their friends. The women behind the shooter linked arms to stop any pursuit. The 18 year old soldiers standing there with automatic rifles didn't shoot. I still find it remarkable.
The various scenarios and training around what was and wasn't permissable were extensive. Literally a matter of degrees.
Edit and wrt the DUP relations, it's like they say about the EU: they have the internet too...
Mainstream British politics is stuck in the uncanny valley, leaving the country with an unsettling feeling.
TBH, I think you're tad hard on Mrs Duffy. All she said, IIRC, was that Rochdale had changed. And, as one who lived there many years ago, and went back recently to see the great improvements in the river area, it has.
that was @isam's contention - around his area. Thing is the way it (East London) had changed had naff all to do with white eastern europeans.
Walthamstow High Street is a veritable Bucharest. It’s astonishing. Immigration changes society, and some - even many - are uncomfortable with that. However, we haven’t yet found a socially acceptable way of describing this sense of disquiet.
How about "aversion to (social) change" or reactionaryism, or nostalgia? All of us are sometimes prone to this, though many resist the temptation that this sometimes leads to; i.e. prejudice, hatred and voting UKIP/Brexit
There was a yellow card issued which detailed what was and what was not permissable (eg gunman running towards you/gunman running away from you). If it violated the yellow card it was possibly illegal, if not, not.
As for Bloody Sunday, on the balance of evidence it was judged that the IRA sniper fired after not before the troops opened fire and that in any case yellow card procedures were not followed. Did he? We'll never know for sure. The complicating factors being a) fog of war; and b) 1 PARA.
Karen Bradley remains an idiot, that said.
Hmm...when relations are quite so strained with the DUP this may not have been as idiotic as it seems, however ridiculous.
In 73 my dad's regiment was in Derry and some young soldiers were searching bags. Someone pulled out a gun and shot 2 of them dead in front of their friends. The women behind the shooter linked arms to stop any pursuit. The 18 year old soldiers standing there with automatic rifles didn't shoot. I still find it remarkable.
The various scenarios and training around what was and wasn't permissable were extensive. Literally a matter of degrees.
Edit and wrt the DUP relations, it's like they say about the EU: they have the internet too...
I just don't think any other army in the world would have responded that way. Of course there were crimes in a brutal war over many years but the British army often behaved with incredible restraint.
There was a yellow card issued which detailed what was and what was not permissable (eg gunman running towards you/gunman running away from you). If it violated the yellow card it was possibly illegal, if not, not.
As for Bloody Sunday, on the balance of evidence it was judged that the IRA sniper fired after not before the troops opened fire and that in any case yellow card procedures were not followed. Did he? We'll never know for sure. The complicating factors being a) fog of war; and b) 1 PARA.
Karen Bradley remains an idiot, that said.
Hmm...when relations are quite so strained with the DUP this may not have been as idiotic as it seems, however ridiculous.
Appeasing...erm...well, let's just say folk with extensive historical links to terrorist groups? Whatever will Brexit be enabling next?
There was a yellow card issued which detailed what was and what was not permissable (eg gunman running towards you/gunman running away from you). If it violated the yellow card it was possibly illegal, if not, not.
As for Bloody Sunday, on the balance of evidence it was judged that the IRA sniper fired after not before the troops opened fire and that in any case yellow card procedures were not followed. Did he? We'll never know for sure. The complicating factors being a) fog of war; and b) 1 PARA.
Karen Bradley remains an idiot, that said.
Hmm...when relations are quite so strained with the DUP this may not have been as idiotic as it seems, however ridiculous.
Appeasing...erm...well, lets's just say folk with historical links to terrorist groups? Whatever will Brexit be enabling next?
There was a yellow card issued which detailed what was and what was not permissable (eg gunman running towards you/gunman running away from you). If it violated the yellow card it was possibly illegal, if not, not.
As for Bloody Sunday, on the balance of evidence it was judged that the IRA sniper fired after not before the troops opened fire and that in any case yellow card procedures were not followed. Did he? We'll never know for sure. The complicating factors being a) fog of war; and b) 1 PARA.
Karen Bradley remains an idiot, that said.
Hmm...when relations are quite so strained with the DUP this may not have been as idiotic as it seems, however ridiculous.
In 73 my dad's regiment was in Derry and some young soldiers were searching bags. Someone pulled out a gun and shot 2 of them dead in front of their friends. The women behind the shooter linked arms to stop any pursuit. The 18 year old soldiers standing there with automatic rifles didn't shoot. I still find it remarkable.
Indeed, the restraint of the well trained professional private soldier is often underestimated and under reported.
Mainstream British politics is stuck in the uncanny valley, leaving the country with an unsettling feeling.
TBH, I think you're tad hard on Mrs Duffy. All she said, IIRC, was that Rochdale had changed. And, as one who lived there many years ago, and went back recently to see the great improvements in the river area, it has.
that was @isam's contention - around his area. Thing is the way it (East London) had changed had naff all to do with white eastern europeans.
Walthamstow High Street is a veritable Bucharest. It’s astonishing. Immigration changes society, and some - even many - are uncomfortable with that. However, we haven’t yet found a socially acceptable way of describing this sense of disquiet.
How about "aversion to (social) change" or reactionaryism, or nostalgia? All of us are sometimes prone to this, though many resist the temptation that this sometimes leads to; i.e. prejudice, hatred and voting UKIP/Brexit
Nothing wrong, surely, with a bit of nostalgia, provided it doesn't lead to unrealistic or indeed, pointless, 'hopes'. My father grew up in, and had fond memories of (which he often talked about) the S Welsh coalfields. Doesn't mean he, before he died, or I, want to re-open the mines though.
What will it take for the PLP to say enough is enough?
Quite a lot it seems. Perhaps if Corbyn says that he thinks Mein Kampf makes some good points, that might be the moment, but maybe even then they won't rise up? Who knows?!
It is a hell of a mess. Before Falconer or whoever can even start looking at cases, it seems to me that Labour’s entire investigative and disciplinary process needs tearing up and starting again. It does not seem to me to be fit for purpose. I doubt whether any of the people involved in it have any investigative experience at all or the independence of mind and character to do ot surprising that it was crap, but it doesn't look like the current process is fully functional either (though I think it's problems are different).
Do you give Corbyn, Formby, etc, another chance to create an independent process?
Why would you?
I would appoint an expert in investigations to set up an independent process.
You don't expect a CEO to design one let alone run it; ditto the CFO etc. Whatever talents Jenny Formby has, they are not those of an investigator.
L Were I being asked to do this there are two questions I would need to ask: (1) Is Corbyn genuine about getting to the bottom of this problem? Or is he only concerned about getting it off the news pages? (2) Will he have my back if difficult - for him / his associates / Labour - issues arise? If you can't be certain that the answer to both those question is yes, step away.
Just for balance, how should the Tories deal with the islamophobia revealed by Baroness Varsi this week?
As they have done. Suspend those against whom the allegations have bene made, and investigate them promptly..
But also treat her claims with scepticism. She herself holds some pretty unsavoury opinions.
Mainstream British politics is stuck in the uncanny valley, leaving the country with an unsettling feeling.
TBH, I think you're tad hard on Mrs Duffy. All she said, IIRC, was that Rochdale had changed. And, as one who lived there many years ago, and went back recently to see the great improvements in the river area, it has.
that was @isam's contention - around his area. Thing is the way it (East London) had changed had naff all to do with white eastern europeans.
Walthamstow High Street is a veritable Bucharest. It’s astonishing. Immigration changes society, and some - even many - are uncomfortable with that. However, we haven’t yet found a socially acceptable way of describing this sense of disquiet.
How about "aversion to (social) change" or reactionaryism, or nostalgia? All of us are sometimes prone to this, though many resist the temptation that this sometimes leads to; i.e. prejudice, hatred and voting UKIP/Brexit
Yes.
It is easy for me not to care about - even to welcome - these changes. Not so easy when a sense of community or simply cultural stability is a key source of psychological well-being.
Immigration is like inflation. A certain amount is necessary for a modern economy. Too much (not that I have any idea on how much too much is) and you run into problems.
A coherent ethics of immigration is surely overdue.
The long view: Napoleon's pitching up in Egypt in 1708 was the moment that demonstrated western superiority to the Islamic world that sowed the seed for many of the problems we face today.
Is the Blackadder version - as in Napoleon the embryo?
There was a yellow card issued which detailed what was and what was not permissable (eg gunman running towards you/gunman running away from you). If it violated the yellow card it was possibly illegal, if not, not.
As for Bloody Sunday, on the balance of evidence it was judged that the IRA sniper fired after not before the troops opened fire and that in any case yellow card procedures were not followed. Did he? We'll never know for sure. The complicating factors being a) fog of war; and b) 1 PARA.
Karen Bradley remains an idiot, that said.
Hmm...when relations are quite so strained with the DUP this may not have been as idiotic as it seems, however ridiculous.
In 73 my dad's regiment was in Derry and some young soldiers were searching bags. Someone pulled out a gun and shot 2 of them dead in front of their friends. The women behind the shooter linked arms to stop any pursuit. The 18 year old soldiers standing there with automatic rifles didn't shoot. I still find it remarkable.
The various scenarios and training around what was and wasn't permissable were extensive. Literally a matter of degrees.
Edit and wrt the DUP relations, it's like they say about the EU: they have the internet too...
I just don't think any other army in the world would have responded that way. Of course there were crimes in a brutal war over many years but the British army often behaved with incredible restraint.
I agree but also don't forget this was an IS issue (internal security, not *that* IS!!). Your dad was patrolling streets that looked like the ones he had left back home. It was, as Frank Kitson, termed it, a low intensity operation and it was in our backyard. Not a kinetic war in a far off land.
Not to do down our magnificent professionalism. Para Reg apart.
Mainstream British politics is stuck in the uncanny valley, leaving the country with an unsettling feeling.
TBH, I think you're tad hard on Mrs Duffy. All she said, IIRC, was that Rochdale had changed. And, as one who lived there many years ago, and went back recently to see the great improvements in the river area, it has.
that was @isam's contention - around his area. Thing is the way it (East London) had changed had naff all to do with white eastern europeans.
Walthamstow High Street is a veritable Bucharest. It’s astonishing. Immigration changes society, and some - even many - are uncomfortable with that. However, we haven’t yet found a socially acceptable way of describing this sense of disquiet.
How about "aversion to (social) change" or reactionaryism, or nostalgia? All of us are sometimes prone to this, though many resist the temptation that this sometimes leads to; i.e. prejudice, hatred and voting UKIP/Brexit
Nothing wrong, surely, with a bit of nostalgia, provided it doesn't lead to unrealistic or indeed, pointless, 'hopes'. My father grew up in, and had fond memories of (which he often talked about) the S Welsh coalfields. Doesn't mean he, before he died, or I, want to re-open the mines though.
I love a bit of nostalgia myself, so I am with you on that one! The nostalgia/neuralgia of Brexiteers and Corbynites is not for me though. Strikes, power cuts, toilet paper shortages and doffing the forelock to the local squire are not things that I look back in fondness on!
I thought the whole point of the Good Friday Agreement was that everything that happened during the Troubles was wiped from the slate. That's why convicted IRA killers were released, like the person responsible for the Brighton bombing.
'There was no amnesty for crimes which had not been prosecuted.'
Seems to be a rash of cabinet ministers lobbing small chunks of red meat to the backbenches and backwoods at the moment - SajJav on Syria, Williamson on China, Bradley here etc. Assuming a couple of those have enough self-awareness not to be positioning themselves for a leadership competition*, is there the semblance of a co-ordinated plan to remind Sir Hufton that there is still life in a Tory govt?
(*Can you *imagine*.. if Karen Bradley's last one standing.. we really are in a mess )
Mainstream British politics is stuck in the uncanny valley, leaving the country with an unsettling feeling.
TBH, I think you're tad hard on Mrs Duffy. All she said, IIRC, was that Rochdale had changed. And, as one who lived there many years ago, and went back recently to see the great improvements in the river area, it has.
that was @isam's contention - around his area. Thing is the way it (East London) had changed had naff all to do with white eastern europeans.
Walthamstow High Street is a veritable Bucharest. It’s astonishing. Immigration changes society, and some - even many - are uncomfortable with that. However, we haven’t yet found a socially acceptable way of describing this sense of disquiet.
How about "aversion to (social) change" or reactionaryism, or nostalgia? All of us are sometimes prone to this, though many resist the temptation that this sometimes leads to; i.e. prejudice, hatred and voting UKIP/Brexit
Yes.
It is easy for me not to care about - even to welcome - these changes. Not so easy when a sense of community or simply cultural stability is a key source of psychological well-being.
Immigration is like inflation. A certain amount is necessary for a modern economy. Too much (not that I have any idea on how much too much is) and you run into problems.
A coherent ethics of immigration is surely overdue.
I thought the whole point of the Good Friday Agreement was that everything that happened during the Troubles was wiped from the slate. That's why convicted IRA killers were released, like the person responsible for the Brighton bombing.
'There was no amnesty for crimes which had not been prosecuted.'
Seems to be a rash of cabinet ministers lobbing small chunks of red meat to the backbenches and backwoods at the moment - SajJav on Syria, Williamson on China, Bradley here etc. Assuming a couple of those have enough self-awareness not to be positioning themselves for a leadership competition*, is there the semblance of a co-ordinated plan to remind Sir Hufton that there is still life in a Tory govt?
(*Can you *imagine*.. if Karen Bradley's last one standing.. we really are in a mess )
Even worse, imagine it's Williamson & Bradley as last two standing (Grayling omitted for reasons of public decency).
You will note her extensive investigative / disciplinary experience - or not.
But is the one thing we learn from this the belief the leadership of Labour have that they are in an impregnable position and will not be subject to any challenge of consequence.
It looks as if they have decided that the Labour party should be cut from the same cloth as the leadership.
It’s Baroness Warsi, I have no idea who Baroness Varsi is - she appears to only exist on PB.
Most languages in the subcontinent have no distinction between the sounds that are represented by V and W.
And F and V is complicated too - many pronounce it AVghanistan, for example.
In do know in Malayalam, "down sarf", F doesn't exist in native words, but the letter chosen to represent the sound in loan words (mostly English and Arabic) was originally used to transcribe an "aspirated" P, or "PH" - which is not pronounced the same as in "phone"!
Really like. Trouble is most of the calls I get are recordings telling me my internet or phone are compromised and I can't carefully explain my opinion of their parentage going back several generations. I used to enjoy the calls from the 'Technical Department of Microsoft' could keep them talking for several minutes until I got bored and just told them I had a Mac! One chap actually told me I was very wise.
Really like. Trouble is most of the calls I get are recordings telling me my internet or phone are compromised and I can't carefully explain my opinion of their parentage going back several generations. I used to enjoy the calls from the 'Technical Department of Microsoft' could keep them talking for several minutes until I got bored and just told them I had a Mac! One chap actually told me I was very wise.
One of the lying toerags on a recent call told me that he was calling from BT headquarters in London. I sometimes wonder whether some of these people are simply in a call centre in India and genuinely believe that they've been employed by a contractor for Microsoft/BT to help people, but I now know that at least some of them know they are lying.
In favour of the Tories winning it: -They won the last marginal by-election (Copeland) -They gained control of the local council last year -Even a lukewarm TIG performance would seriously harm Labour -They have a less toxic candidate than Stewart Jackson (I assume) -Labour could be punished for fielding such a poor candidate last time -Current polling has a swing to the Tories -Proximity to London should mean the Tories can get a decent number of activists/polling agents on the day -Owen Jones will probably campaign in the constituency
In favour of Labour: -Peterborough has been trending towards Labour for a while and probably wouldn't even be in play for the Tories had it not been for Onasanya -The rarity of governments gaining seats in by-elections -Although Tories are ahead in the polls, government satisfaction is very low. -The Brexit party/UKIP could hit the Tories. -Big membership advantage.
Mainstream British politics is stuck in the uncanny valley, leaving the country with an unsettling feeling.
TBH, I think you're tad hard on Mrs Duffy. All she said, IIRC, was that Rochdale had changed. And, as one who lived there many years ago, and went back recently to see the great improvements in the river area, it has.
that was @isam's contention - around his area. Thing is the way it (East London) had changed had naff all to do with white eastern europeans.
Walthamstow High Street is a veritable Bucharest. It’s astonishing. Immigration changes society, and some - even many - are uncomfortable with that. However, we haven’t yet found a socially acceptable way of describing this sense of disquiet.
How about "aversion to (social) change" or reactionaryism, or nostalgia? All of us are sometimes prone to this, though many resist the temptation that this sometimes leads to; i.e. prejudice, hatred and voting UKIP/Brexit
Nothing wrong, surely, with a bit of nostalgia, provided it doesn't lead to unrealistic or indeed, pointless, 'hopes'. My father grew up in, and had fond memories of (which he often talked about) the S Welsh coalfields. Doesn't mean he, before he died, or I, want to re-open the mines though.
I love a bit of nostalgia myself, so I am with you on that one! The nostalgia/neuralgia of Brexiteers and Corbynites is not for me though. Strikes, power cuts, toilet paper shortages and doffing the forelock to the local squire are not things that I look back in fondness on!
Don't you live near some sort of American air force base - Norfolk ?
In favour of the Tories winning it: -They won the last marginal by-election (Copeland) -They gained control of the local council last year -Even a lukewarm TIG performance would seriously harm Labour -They have a less toxic candidate than Stewart Jackson (I assume) -Labour could be punished for fielding such a poor candidate last time -Current polling has a swing to the Tories -Proximity to London should mean the Tories can get a decent number of activists/polling agents on the day -Owen Jones will probably campaign in the constituency
In favour of Labour: -Peterborough has been trending towards Labour for a while and probably wouldn't even be in play for the Tories had it not been for Onasanya -The rarity of governments gaining seats in by-elections -Although Tories are ahead in the polls, government satisfaction is very low. -The Brexit party/UKIP could hit the Tories. -Big membership advantage.
I'd probably edge towards Labour holding.
I suspect TIG wouldn't run, on the basis they aren't running in Newport West. By the time of a possible Peterborough by-election they may have changed into a formal party and decide to do so, though.
There was a yellow card issued which detailed what was and what was not permissable (eg gunman running towards you/gunman running away from you). If it violated the yellow card it was possibly illegal, if not, not.
As for Bloody Sunday, on the balance of evidence it was judged that the IRA sniper fired after not before the troops opened fire and that in any case yellow card procedures were not followed. Did he? We'll never know for sure. The complicating factors being a) fog of war; and b) 1 PARA.
Karen Bradley remains an idiot, that said.
Hmm...when relations are quite so strained with the DUP this may not have been as idiotic as it seems, however ridiculous.
In 73 my dad's regiment was in Derry and some young soldiers were searching bags. Someone pulled out a gun and shot 2 of them dead in front of their friends. The women behind the shooter linked arms to stop any pursuit. The 18 year old soldiers standing there with automatic rifles didn't shoot. I still find it remarkable.
The various scenarios and training around what was and wasn't permissable were extensive. Literally a matter of degrees.
Edit and wrt the DUP relations, it's like they say about the EU: they have the internet too...
I just don't think any other army in the world would have responded that way. Of course there were crimes in a brutal war over many years but the British army often behaved with incredible restraint.
I agree but also don't forget this was an IS issue (internal security, not *that* IS!!). Your dad was patrolling streets that looked like the ones he had left back home. It was, as Frank Kitson, termed it, a low intensity operation and it was in our backyard. Not a kinetic war in a far off land.
Not to do down our magnificent professionalism. Para Reg apart.
That caused a lot of problems. Many of my dad's colleagues really did not think it was appropriate to be using their training on British streets and felt very uncomfortable about it. And one or two resigned in protest when some political idiot thought that the Paras would be good at the job.
In favour of the Tories winning it: -They won the last marginal by-election (Copeland) -They gained control of the local council last year -Even a lukewarm TIG performance would seriously harm Labour -They have a less toxic candidate than Stewart Jackson (I assume) -Labour could be punished for fielding such a poor candidate last time -Current polling has a swing to the Tories -Proximity to London should mean the Tories can get a decent number of activists/polling agents on the day -Owen Jones will probably campaign in the constituency
In favour of Labour: -Peterborough has been trending towards Labour for a while and probably wouldn't even be in play for the Tories had it not been for Onasanya -The rarity of governments gaining seats in by-elections -Although Tories are ahead in the polls, government satisfaction is very low. -The Brexit party/UKIP could hit the Tories. -Big membership advantage.
I'd probably edge towards Labour holding.
On top of all of that there is the huge uncertainty about Brexit. If May gets her deal through she just might get enough of a boost to win the seat. If she doesn't the Tories will get a preview of what the next GE might be like!
At this rate, Labour will end up with the head of Hamas as the person in charge of the complaints procedure.
Don't be daft. George Galloway is far more likely.
Apparently Galloway and Livingstone are on tour at the moment. Someone has put a poster up in the kitchen at work adverting their shiw at the Dancehouse in Manchester. (I work in the public sector, obviously.)
"She won't actually hold the title of Head of Complaints; it will just really look like she does and the actual Head of Complaints will be entirely answerable to her. Is that OK?"
Comments
It makes it hard for countries to become peaceful liberal democracies if you back violent authoritarians to get your way when the liberal democrats in those countries disagree with you.
https://order-order.com/2019/03/06/brandon-lewis-writes-senior-tory-party-activists-following-suspensions/
The fundamental difference (at the moment) between the two leading parties is that one (Labour) has a leadership that has been caught red-handed tacitly and actively (the mural) supporting repugnant and prejudiced views. Unless TMay starts approving of cartoons of the Prophet we do not have equivalence.
EDIT - this seems to confirm: https://www.mib.org.uk/making-a-claim/accidents-in-the-uk-involving-a-foreign-registered-vehicle/green-card-system-explained/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IT9pjyMH6so
What was slightly more alarming was then applying that thesis to Africa which is at the beginning of an incredible population boom that will result in many countries more than doubling their populations in the next 30-40 years. The issue of people trying to cross the Mediterranean is not going to go away anytime soon.
The West has made some mistakes, but the idea that we're solely responsible, or even mainly responsible, for what happens in other nations and in quite different cultures is the same kind of unthinking self-centredness that children display when they think their parents fighting is their fault.
Rather more self-respect and self-confidence from the West in defending its important, superior values, such as free speech, would be a damned good thing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fswb4a9jcU
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Good_Friday_Agreement
Baroness Warsi is not a reliable interlocutor on this point since she has made a point of associating herself with Muslim groups who are themselves racist, anti-semitic and appeasers of terrorism. Nonetheless all allegations should be properly investigated, no matter who brings them.
To be serious, the crowds in the Rochdale streets DO look, and sound, different to those I knew when I lived there in the early 60's, and it's not necessarily wrong to look back and say that 'things were different was I was young'.
When it isn't, well ......
I don't understand the point you are making with your video of Nasser, though. Doesn't it bolster my point? Here you had a secular leader of Egypt, but he became an enemy of Britain because he nationalised the Suez canal. We sought to overthrow him, as we had done Mossadegh. Does that really encourage secularism?
Unfortunately much of the ME is, from our POV, regressing: witness the increased wearing of burkhas, hajibs etc. The question is why this is happening, and the answers are probably complex and not simple to resolve.
We're going through a time of very rapid change and it's understandable if people want to cling to something, anything which looks 'like it was'.
In 73 my dad's regiment was in Derry and some young soldiers were searching bags. Someone pulled out a gun and shot 2 of them dead in front of their friends. The women behind the shooter linked arms to stop any pursuit. The 18 year old soldiers standing there with automatic rifles didn't shoot. I still find it remarkable.
Edit and wrt the DUP relations, it's like they say about the EU: they have the internet too...
What will it take for the PLP to say enough is enough?
Whatever will Brexit be enabling next?
It is easy for me not to care about - even to welcome - these changes. Not so easy when a sense of community or simply cultural stability is a key source of psychological well-being.
Immigration is like inflation. A certain amount is necessary for a modern economy. Too much (not that I have any idea on how much too much is) and you run into problems.
A coherent ethics of immigration is surely overdue.
Leak everything that shows Corbyn to be a liar, and a fool.
Continuously.
Not to do down our magnificent professionalism. Para Reg apart.
(*Can you *imagine*.. if Karen Bradley's last one standing.. we really are in a mess
With an empty in-tray.....
Thought bubble. "What a good idea....."
Note To Phone Scammers: Don’t Call The Former Head Of The FBI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRJvzmfcVsM
You will note her extensive investigative / disciplinary experience - or not.
It looks as if they have decided that the Labour party should be cut from the same cloth as the leadership.
I have over seven years worth of experience of complaints and whistleblowing.
I also eat kosher food, kinda.
I used to enjoy the calls from the 'Technical Department of Microsoft' could keep them talking for several minutes until I got bored and just told them I had a Mac!
One chap actually told me I was very wise.
Forgot to mention: Both the Persian/Dari and the Pashto speakers say "Avghan".
In favour of the Tories winning it:
-They won the last marginal by-election (Copeland)
-They gained control of the local council last year
-Even a lukewarm TIG performance would seriously harm Labour
-They have a less toxic candidate than Stewart Jackson (I assume)
-Labour could be punished for fielding such a poor candidate last time
-Current polling has a swing to the Tories
-Proximity to London should mean the Tories can get a decent number of activists/polling agents on the day
-Owen Jones will probably campaign in the constituency
In favour of Labour:
-Peterborough has been trending towards Labour for a while and probably wouldn't even be in play for the Tories had it not been for Onasanya
-The rarity of governments gaining seats in by-elections
-Although Tories are ahead in the polls, government satisfaction is very low.
-The Brexit party/UKIP could hit the Tories.
-Big membership advantage.
I'd probably edge towards Labour holding.