Rational Muslims probably have the second most, after Jews, to fear of Islamism
I think the problem is that islam is a political ideology in some parts as much as a religious one. I am afraid of radical islam for the same reason I am afraid of fascism, and for much the same reason. I've no such fear of Christians or Zoroastrians.
Where we in the west have made our bloomer, is in trying to be tolerant and diverse to all religions, which is admirable, without acknowledging the political aspects and tenents of radical Islam. What is happening at the moment is not about religion, it is about fascism. We believe fascism looks like Herr Flick in his dark uniform and leather coat. Unfortunately it takes other forms.
In a secular society then being tolerant and diverse to all religions is entirely reasonable, since if society is secular people can choose their own religion (or none) and it doesn't affect anyone else.
The clash of cultures comes when people oppose secularism and want their faith imposed by force as it is the "word of Yahweh/God/Allah/Buddha/FSM" himself.
Whether that be radical Islamists, radical Christians, radical Buddhist/Jews/Hindus/Vegans/whatever anyone who tries to impose their fundamentalism onto others is a problem.
The National Secular Society opposes religious schools and wants to close them all
Interesting you replied like that. Nobody mentioned state subsidy for religous sects' indoctrination of children till you did.
Now you mention it, about time we closed down all sectarian schooling on council tax or central government money.
You also one of the secular fundamentalists I see, denying religious parents (who are also taxpayers who fund state education) the right to choose the schools they want for their children
Religious education is a form of indoctrination where a set of unproveable statements are presented as facts and combined with threatened punishments for disbelief (like burning in hellfire forever) or for some religions, murder or torture or both probably followed by hellfire in the afterlife.
Ruling your "flock" through coercion and fear. And this is supposed to be moral? Admirable?
Make all schools secular. The parents can still choose which school they like, but none of them should be offering mental torture as an option.
As I said, you are a secular fundamentalist extremist.
You want to close all religious schools, despite most getting above average results and deny taxpaying religious parents the freedom to send their children to religious schools.
And the idea the average C of E primary is telling all its pupils all day long they will burn in hell forever is laughable
Just because someone doesn't believe in religious schools it doesn't make them 'secular fundamentalist extremists '. I believe in freedom of religion, but I disagree that any particular religion should be taught in schools, particularly state schools. It might be very mild, but it is a form of indoctrination and should not be part of a democracy. I have no issue with religion outside of education.
Yes it does, it means you want to drive religion out of education and prevent even schools with a religious ethos and with pupils from a similar religious background from existing to suit your secular agenda. It is fundamentally anti parental choice to deny religious parents the choice of good religious schools for their children
I don't have a secular agenda. In fact both my children went to a CofE school so clearly I don't as I could have sent them elsewhere. But religion really should play no part in education. It is not part of education. It is a belief not a fact or skill to be learnt. Parents can still get involved in their local church, Sunday school, etc. Why do they have to have it at school as well which should be about education, not faith.
Where would you draw the line? Would you be happy with pagan schools, voodoo school, rain god worshiping schools, or is it better that schools should focus on education and religion be left to personal choice.
As they want faith based values in the school they send their children to, which in a free nation they are entitled to if they wish.
I would not have a problem with any religion running a school, the more choice the better as far as I am concerned, hence I also support free schools and private schools and grammar schools
Schools shouldn't be able to discriminate on the basis of faith. Publicly funded schools especially.
Also what is the mechanism for converting a state funded faith school into a non-discriminatory school if the majority of parents at the school want that?
They would have to buy the premises via an academy chain/free school mechanism. Because the deal is that any religious school, the fabric and the premises are maintained by the church and the staff paid by the government.
However, in practice that would happen very rarely. That's a huge burden to place on a small charity, academy chains would just take the money, and most parents who chose religious schools are happy with the arrangement anyway.
Rational Muslims probably have the second most, after Jews, to fear of Islamism
I think the problem is that islam is a political ideology in some parts as much as a religious one. I am afraid of radical islam for the same reason I am afraid of fascism, and for much the same reason. I've no such fear of Christians or Zoroastrians.
Where we in the west have made our bloomer, is in trying to be tolerant and diverse to all religions, which is admirable, without acknowledging the political aspects and tenents of radical Islam. What is happening at the moment is not about religion, it is about fascism. We believe fascism looks like Herr Flick in his dark uniform and leather coat. Unfortunately it takes other forms.
In a secular society then being tolerant and diverse to all religions is entirely reasonable, since if society is secular people can choose their own religion (or none) and it doesn't affect anyone else.
The clash of cultures comes when people oppose secularism and want their faith imposed by force as it is the "word of Yahweh/God/Allah/Buddha/FSM" himself.
Whether that be radical Islamists, radical Christians, radical Buddhist/Jews/Hindus/Vegans/whatever anyone who tries to impose their fundamentalism onto others is a problem.
So, you think it was wrong of Israel to re-write its constitution in 2018 to define itself as a Jewish state?
I'd certainly oppose the UK Parliament doing the same.
I'm not Israeli, so don't get a say in their choices. I can appreciate they have special circumstances, like Vatican City.
Rational Muslims probably have the second most, after Jews, to fear of Islamism
I think the problem is that islam is a political ideology in some parts as much as a religious one. I am afraid of radical islam for the same reason I am afraid of fascism, and for much the same reason. I've no such fear of Christians or Zoroastrians.
Where we in the west have made our bloomer, is in trying to be tolerant and diverse to all religions, which is admirable, without acknowledging the political aspects and tenents of radical Islam. What is happening at the moment is not about religion, it is about fascism. We believe fascism looks like Herr Flick in his dark uniform and leather coat. Unfortunately it takes other forms.
In a secular society then being tolerant and diverse to all religions is entirely reasonable, since if society is secular people can choose their own religion (or none) and it doesn't affect anyone else.
The clash of cultures comes when people oppose secularism and want their faith imposed by force as it is the "word of Yahweh/God/Allah/Buddha/FSM" himself.
Whether that be radical Islamists, radical Christians, radical Buddhist/Jews/Hindus/Vegans/whatever anyone who tries to impose their fundamentalism onto others is a problem.
So, you think it was wrong of Israel to re-write its constitution in 2018 to define itself as a Jewish state?
I'd certainly oppose the UK Parliament doing the same.
I'm not Israeli, so don't get a say in their choices. I can appreciate they have special circumstances, like Vatican City.
We do have an established church in England, with the King as its head.
Cummings is up tomorrow at the whitewash inquiry into how well the government of Britain coped with covid.
Could be box office.
Popcorn ready...
Why call it a “whitewash inquiry”? It’s revealed plenty of critical material so far, and it’s only just getting started.
The way the KCs handled the Oxford evidence-based meds guy was a disgrace.
And seems they are not going anywhere near asking the actual question that matters:
Why did Sweden do far better than us?
Not even interviewing Tegnell.
It's a sham. Total whitewash as far as the real substance is concerned. All this bollx about who said who was a fat waste of space on WhatsApp is amusing and a bit relevant but it is not the issue that actaually matters for the next pandemic.
Sweden didn’t do far better than us.
Also, there’s a helluva lot more Inquiry to come.
Do they have a whole generation of kids with a mass of problems thanks to lockdown of schools for months?
Sweden actually had quite significant disruption in schools, contrary to the narrative. All upper secondary schools were shut for around five months, and in the lower secondary schools the high rate of infection among teachers meant around 50% of teaching was online, which was in some ways rather more disruptive than what we had here as it was unpredictable and so chaotic.
They managed to keep primary schools mostly open. However, you should also remember they have much smaller class sizes than we do anyway (which is something I've been advocating for years) around 21 as against 28, so it was much easier to contain any outbreaks.
It is also worth pointing out that the reason schools were kept open is not because of some mythical 'Swedish model' but because the Swedish schools system is independent of the government and several senior figures didn't want to shut their little empire. If OFSTED had been in charge of schools during the pandemic (which is the equivalent) schools would have stayed open. Not because it was the right or wrong decision, but so that twat Spielman could strut around saying how wonderful she was.
If she'd managed to save children from falling months behind in their schooling because of a virus that didn't affect them she would indeed be wonderful and deserve some self-congratulation.
Cummings is up tomorrow at the whitewash inquiry into how well the government of Britain coped with covid.
Could be box office.
Popcorn ready...
Why call it a “whitewash inquiry”? It’s revealed plenty of critical material so far, and it’s only just getting started.
The way the KCs handled the Oxford evidence-based meds guy was a disgrace.
And seems they are not going anywhere near asking the actual question that matters:
Why did Sweden do far better than us?
Not even interviewing Tegnell.
It's a sham. Total whitewash as far as the real substance is concerned. All this bollx about who said who was a fat waste of space on WhatsApp is amusing and a bit relevant but it is not the issue that actaually matters for the next pandemic.
Sweden didn’t do far better than us.
Also, there’s a helluva lot more Inquiry to come.
Do they have a whole generation of kids with a mass of problems thanks to lockdown of schools for months?
Sweden actually had quite significant disruption in schools, contrary to the narrative. All upper secondary schools were shut for around five months, and in the lower secondary schools the high rate of infection among teachers meant around 50% of teaching was online, which was in some ways rather more disruptive than what we had here as it was unpredictable and so chaotic.
They managed to keep primary schools mostly open. However, you should also remember they have much smaller class sizes than we do anyway (which is something I've been advocating for years) around 21 as against 28, so it was much easier to contain any outbreaks.
It is also worth pointing out that the reason schools were kept open is not because of some mythical 'Swedish model' but because the Swedish schools system is independent of the government and several senior figures didn't want to shut their little empire. If OFSTED had been in charge of schools during the pandemic (which is the equivalent) schools would have stayed open. Not because it was the right or wrong decision, but so that twat Spielman could strut around saying how wonderful she was.
If she'd managed to save children from falling months behind in their schooling because of a virus that didn't affect them she would indeed be wonderful and deserve some self-congratulation.
But she wouldn't have, as the rest of the comment makes clear.
In any case, if you are less exercised about:
1) her decision to put inspectors in rooms alone with vulnerable children without having safeguarding checks or basic training, or
2) prewriting reports to force perfectly good schools to academise, or
3) putting in place an inspection framework that if followed correctly makes it impossible for 25% of children to learn to read
than about trying to avoid unavoidable school closures - to reiterate, despite the lies often told, Sweden *did* shut schools - your opinion isn't worth much.
Edit - to be fair, that's rather off the point. The issue (and this really does need to be rammed home) is Sweden didn't keep some of their schools open out of a desire to avoid damage to learning, or because they thought it would make no difference to the virus, but because of administrative procedures.
The issue is it did cause the much wider spread of Covid, particularly among teachers, and it did put a major strain on the educational system. Less than it did in this country when we tried to keep schools open in December, because of their smaller class sizes, but still significant.
The issue in this country was that due to the ineptitude of the government and its advisers, most of whom are very stupid and all of whom are profoundly ignorant of educational matters we didn't take measures that might have mitigated school closures - e.g. blended learning where you have two weeks on and one off - and a chaotic system where every teacher was supposed to set and mark two lessons for every child - one if they were in, and one if they were not.
The result was utter meltdown and the bankruptcy of the school system. Which has actually been considerably more damaging to the education system in the long term than the lockdowns, which were hardly ideal.
Rational Muslims probably have the second most, after Jews, to fear of Islamism
I think the problem is that islam is a political ideology in some parts as much as a religious one. I am afraid of radical islam for the same reason I am afraid of fascism, and for much the same reason. I've no such fear of Christians or Zoroastrians.
Where we in the west have made our bloomer, is in trying to be tolerant and diverse to all religions, which is admirable, without acknowledging the political aspects and tenents of radical Islam. What is happening at the moment is not about religion, it is about fascism. We believe fascism looks like Herr Flick in his dark uniform and leather coat. Unfortunately it takes other forms.
In a secular society then being tolerant and diverse to all religions is entirely reasonable, since if society is secular people can choose their own religion (or none) and it doesn't affect anyone else.
The clash of cultures comes when people oppose secularism and want their faith imposed by force as it is the "word of Yahweh/God/Allah/Buddha/FSM" himself.
Whether that be radical Islamists, radical Christians, radical Buddhist/Jews/Hindus/Vegans/whatever anyone who tries to impose their fundamentalism onto others is a problem.
So, you think it was wrong of Israel to re-write its constitution in 2018 to define itself as a Jewish state?
I'd certainly oppose the UK Parliament doing the same.
I'm not Israeli, so don't get a say in their choices. I can appreciate they have special circumstances, like Vatican City.
That's an uncharacteristic cop out. You can still have an opinion on their choices, even if you don't get a say. Almost nobody on here gets a vote in American elections, but almost everyone has an opinion.
Rational Muslims probably have the second most, after Jews, to fear of Islamism
Gay people. Unless they enjoy being pushed off tall buildings. We saw what IS did to gay people in those places they momentarily held. Islam is a threat to gay people wherever it exists, let alone fundamentalists.
Yep. Many of the supposedly great religions detest us, but Islam definitely wins first prize in the gay persecution and slaughter contest, and by a tidy margin.
At this point we must remember that not only is Gaza ruled by Hamas, but a very large fraction of the people there actually voted for the fuckers. They like and approve of Hamas. They think they've got the right ideas.
One feels that one ought to be sympathetic to the predicament in which the Gazans now find themselves, but it's hard to care much about people that think you belong in Hell, and would rejoice at sending you there as soon as possible given half a chance.
A smaller fraction now, if it is true that more than half of the population was not around to vote. Ironically, Israel's action might harden support for Hamas, because at least they are fighting back against the destroyers of Gazan homes, infrastructure, and lives.
Fighting back by hiding under Gazan homes, infrastructure, and lives
Sadly, yes. Look back to the Falklands War with sailors firing uselessly with rifles against Argentinian warplanes: anything that goes bang helps.
Extremists on each side need each other to justify their own extremism. The other lot are psychopathic murderers so even if you don't like us, you need us to keep you safe.
Rational Muslims probably have the second most, after Jews, to fear of Islamism
I think the problem is that islam is a political ideology in some parts as much as a religious one. I am afraid of radical islam for the same reason I am afraid of fascism, and for much the same reason. I've no such fear of Christians or Zoroastrians.
Where we in the west have made our bloomer, is in trying to be tolerant and diverse to all religions, which is admirable, without acknowledging the political aspects and tenents of radical Islam. What is happening at the moment is not about religion, it is about fascism. We believe fascism looks like Herr Flick in his dark uniform and leather coat. Unfortunately it takes other forms.
In a secular society then being tolerant and diverse to all religions is entirely reasonable, since if society is secular people can choose their own religion (or none) and it doesn't affect anyone else.
The clash of cultures comes when people oppose secularism and want their faith imposed by force as it is the "word of Yahweh/God/Allah/Buddha/FSM" himself.
Whether that be radical Islamists, radical Christians, radical Buddhist/Jews/Hindus/Vegans/whatever anyone who tries to impose their fundamentalism onto others is a problem.
It will be interesting to see how it plays out in the USA. Apparently the new Speaker they elected is something of a fundamentalist himself.
He is a Southern Baptists but then that is the largest Protestant denomination in the USA, hardly on the fringes
He is personally anti gay marriage and pro life, so what, many religious people are including the Pope, not just Baptists, even the Tories are hardly pro trans at the moment, gun rights are protected under the US constitution.
He has hardly advocated abolishing democracy either, he was elected himself to his position and his seat
Honest as the day is long.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Johnson_(Louisiana_politician) ...On November 17, 2020, Johnson said: "You know the allegations about these voting machines, some of them being rigged with this software by Dominion, there's a lot of merit to that. And when the president says the election was rigged, that's what he's talking about. The fix was in. [...] a software system that is used all around the country that is suspect because it came from Hugo Chávez's Venezuela".[83][84][85][86] By October 2022, Johnson said that he had never supported claims that there was massive fraud in the 2020 election.[87]
In December 2020, Johnson led an effort in which 126 Republican U.S. representatives signed an amicus brief in support of Texas v. Pennsylvania,[85][88][89] a lawsuit filed at the United States Supreme Court contesting the results of the 2020 presidential election.[90] The Supreme Court declined to hear the case on the basis that Texas lacked standing under Article III of the Constitution to challenge the results of an election held by another state.[91][92][93]
During the January 2021 United States Electoral College vote count, Johnson was one of 120 U.S. representatives who objected to certifying the 2020 presidential election results from both Arizona and Pennsylvania, while another 19 U.S. representatives objected for one of these states.[94] The New York Times called Johnson "the most important architect of the Electoral College objections" because he had argued to reject the results based on the argument of "constitutional infirmity" and persuaded "about three-quarters" of the objectors to use that rationale...
Yes he contested the results, which was a perfectly legal and constitutional thing to do until the results of the election were certified by Congress
And he then tried to subvert that certification. Wriggle all you want. You are supporting a nasty, despicable, totalitarian theocrat. Just because he wears a suit rather than jackboots does not make him pleasant, honest or even likeable.
---
House Speaker Mike Johnson played a key role in efforts to overturn the 2020 election
"Well before he was elected House speaker, Rep. Mike Johnson, R-La., played a key role in efforts by then-President Donald Trump and his allies to overturn Joe Biden’s electoral victory in the 2020 election.
Johnson, who was the GOP caucus vice chair and is an ally of Trump, led the amicus brief signed by more than 100 House Republicans in support of a Texas lawsuit seeking to invalidate the 2020 election results in four swing states Biden won: Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
And he was legally and constitutionally entitled to do so, as it was lodged in December 2020 well before Biden's election was confirmed by Congress
Being epically pedantic, the election results were confirmed by the Electoral College meeting on December 14 2020, certified by the U.S. Congress on January 7, 2021, and Joe Biden was inaugurated on January 20, 2021.
This point was made by Dan Quayle to Mike Pence: Congress certifies the votes (that they have the right numbers, etc), not count them. If it was the latter, then Pence would have been within his rights to recount them
Yes and there was nothing unconstitutional about launching legal challenges to those state EC results until Congress certified the election, only at the latter point was the new President elected not before
Remind me again: when did Prince Charles become King Charles III?
On the death of his mother (15:10 BST 8 September 2022)
First speech via BBC (18:00 BST 9 September 2022)
When recognised by Accession Council (10:00 BST 10 September 2022)
When crowned in the Coronation (6 May 2023)
The UK is a different system. The King becomes King on the death of the previous monarch, affirmed by the accession council and with the ceremonial of the coronation.
The new US President however only gets that role once Congress has certified the presidential election result and he has been inaugrated in late January 2 months after the election
Apparently that long pause between election and inauguration in America is to allow the result to be communicated to the winning candidate and for the winner to travel to Washington, on horseback, from the deepest of deep south states.
Cummings is up tomorrow at the whitewash inquiry into how well the government of Britain coped with covid.
Could be box office.
Popcorn ready...
Why call it a “whitewash inquiry”? It’s revealed plenty of critical material so far, and it’s only just getting started.
The way the KCs handled the Oxford evidence-based meds guy was a disgrace.
And seems they are not going anywhere near asking the actual question that matters:
Why did Sweden do far better than us?
Not even interviewing Tegnell.
It's a sham. Total whitewash as far as the real substance is concerned. All this bollx about who said who was a fat waste of space on WhatsApp is amusing and a bit relevant but it is not the issue that actaually matters for the next pandemic.
Sweden didn’t do far better than us.
Also, there’s a helluva lot more Inquiry to come.
Do they have a whole generation of kids with a mass of problems thanks to lockdown of schools for months?
Sweden actually had quite significant disruption in schools, contrary to the narrative. All upper secondary schools were shut for around five months, and in the lower secondary schools the high rate of infection among teachers meant around 50% of teaching was online, which was in some ways rather more disruptive than what we had here as it was unpredictable and so chaotic.
They managed to keep primary schools mostly open. However, you should also remember they have much smaller class sizes than we do anyway (which is something I've been advocating for years) around 21 as against 28, so it was much easier to contain any outbreaks.
It is also worth pointing out that the reason schools were kept open is not because of some mythical 'Swedish model' but because the Swedish schools system is independent of the government and several senior figures didn't want to shut their little empire. If OFSTED had been in charge of schools during the pandemic (which is the equivalent) schools would have stayed open. Not because it was the right or wrong decision, but so that twat Spielman could strut around saying how wonderful she was.
If she'd managed to save children from falling months behind in their schooling because of a virus that didn't affect them she would indeed be wonderful and deserve some self-congratulation.
But she wouldn't have, as the rest of the comment makes clear.
In any case, if you are less exercised about:
1) her decision to put inspectors in rooms alone with vulnerable children without having safeguarding checks or basic training, or
2) prewriting reports to force perfectly good schools to academise, or
3) putting in place an inspection framework that if followed correctly makes it impossible for 25% of children to learn to read
than about trying to avoid unavoidable school closures - to reiterate, despite the lies often told, Sweden *did* shut schools - your opinion isn't worth much.
Edit - to be fair, that's rather off the point. The issue (and this really does need to be rammed home) is Sweden didn't keep some of their schools open out of a desire to avoid damage to learning, or because they thought it would make no difference to the virus, but because of administrative procedures.
The issue is it did cause the much wider spread of Covid, particularly among teachers, and it did put a major strain on the educational system. Less than it did in this country when we tried to keep schools open in December, because of their smaller class sizes, but still significant.
The issue in this country was that due to the ineptitude of the government and its advisers, most of whom are very stupid and all of whom are profoundly ignorant of educational matters we didn't take measures that might have mitigated school closures - e.g. blended learning where you have two weeks on and one off - and a chaotic system where every teacher was supposed to set and mark two lessons for every child - one if they were in, and one if they were not.
The result was utter meltdown and the bankruptcy of the school system. Which has actually been considerably more damaging to the education system in the long term than the lockdowns, which were hardly ideal.
The key paradox of UK government and COVID.
A government that clearly wanted to minimise restrictions, wanted normality, ended up having to apply longer, stricter, more harmful lockdowns than many other comparable places.
Moral: wanting something, having the right desires, is less important than competence in the face of unpleasant reality.
There's a fair bit Sweden got wrong. Their outcomes were a fair bit worse than other Scandi nations, and they badly overestimated how long it would take to get a vaccine ready. But stable rules (as opposed to the UK's full on accelerator/brake approach) was right.
Rational Muslims probably have the second most, after Jews, to fear of Islamism
I think the problem is that islam is a political ideology in some parts as much as a religious one. I am afraid of radical islam for the same reason I am afraid of fascism, and for much the same reason. I've no such fear of Christians or Zoroastrians.
Where we in the west have made our bloomer, is in trying to be tolerant and diverse to all religions, which is admirable, without acknowledging the political aspects and tenents of radical Islam. What is happening at the moment is not about religion, it is about fascism. We believe fascism looks like Herr Flick in his dark uniform and leather coat. Unfortunately it takes other forms.
In a secular society then being tolerant and diverse to all religions is entirely reasonable, since if society is secular people can choose their own religion (or none) and it doesn't affect anyone else.
The clash of cultures comes when people oppose secularism and want their faith imposed by force as it is the "word of Yahweh/God/Allah/Buddha/FSM" himself.
Whether that be radical Islamists, radical Christians, radical Buddhist/Jews/Hindus/Vegans/whatever anyone who tries to impose their fundamentalism onto others is a problem.
So, you think it was wrong of Israel to re-write its constitution in 2018 to define itself as a Jewish state?
I'd certainly oppose the UK Parliament doing the same.
I'm not Israeli, so don't get a say in their choices. I can appreciate they have special circumstances, like Vatican City.
Golly. If only we’d known that the 4752 times you’ve had a say on Israel’s choices.
Rational Muslims probably have the second most, after Jews, to fear of Islamism
I think the problem is that islam is a political ideology in some parts as much as a religious one. I am afraid of radical islam for the same reason I am afraid of fascism, and for much the same reason. I've no such fear of Christians or Zoroastrians.
Where we in the west have made our bloomer, is in trying to be tolerant and diverse to all religions, which is admirable, without acknowledging the political aspects and tenents of radical Islam. What is happening at the moment is not about religion, it is about fascism. We believe fascism looks like Herr Flick in his dark uniform and leather coat. Unfortunately it takes other forms.
In a secular society then being tolerant and diverse to all religions is entirely reasonable, since if society is secular people can choose their own religion (or none) and it doesn't affect anyone else.
The clash of cultures comes when people oppose secularism and want their faith imposed by force as it is the "word of Yahweh/God/Allah/Buddha/FSM" himself.
Whether that be radical Islamists, radical Christians, radical Buddhist/Jews/Hindus/Vegans/whatever anyone who tries to impose their fundamentalism onto others is a problem.
It will be interesting to see how it plays out in the USA. Apparently the new Speaker they elected is something of a fundamentalist himself.
He is a Southern Baptists but then that is the largest Protestant denomination in the USA, hardly on the fringes
He is personally anti gay marriage and pro life, so what, many religious people are including the Pope, not just Baptists, even the Tories are hardly pro trans at the moment, gun rights are protected under the US constitution.
He has hardly advocated abolishing democracy either, he was elected himself to his position and his seat
Honest as the day is long.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Johnson_(Louisiana_politician) ...On November 17, 2020, Johnson said: "You know the allegations about these voting machines, some of them being rigged with this software by Dominion, there's a lot of merit to that. And when the president says the election was rigged, that's what he's talking about. The fix was in. [...] a software system that is used all around the country that is suspect because it came from Hugo Chávez's Venezuela".[83][84][85][86] By October 2022, Johnson said that he had never supported claims that there was massive fraud in the 2020 election.[87]
In December 2020, Johnson led an effort in which 126 Republican U.S. representatives signed an amicus brief in support of Texas v. Pennsylvania,[85][88][89] a lawsuit filed at the United States Supreme Court contesting the results of the 2020 presidential election.[90] The Supreme Court declined to hear the case on the basis that Texas lacked standing under Article III of the Constitution to challenge the results of an election held by another state.[91][92][93]
During the January 2021 United States Electoral College vote count, Johnson was one of 120 U.S. representatives who objected to certifying the 2020 presidential election results from both Arizona and Pennsylvania, while another 19 U.S. representatives objected for one of these states.[94] The New York Times called Johnson "the most important architect of the Electoral College objections" because he had argued to reject the results based on the argument of "constitutional infirmity" and persuaded "about three-quarters" of the objectors to use that rationale...
Yes he contested the results, which was a perfectly legal and constitutional thing to do until the results of the election were certified by Congress
And he then tried to subvert that certification. Wriggle all you want. You are supporting a nasty, despicable, totalitarian theocrat. Just because he wears a suit rather than jackboots does not make him pleasant, honest or even likeable.
---
House Speaker Mike Johnson played a key role in efforts to overturn the 2020 election
"Well before he was elected House speaker, Rep. Mike Johnson, R-La., played a key role in efforts by then-President Donald Trump and his allies to overturn Joe Biden’s electoral victory in the 2020 election.
Johnson, who was the GOP caucus vice chair and is an ally of Trump, led the amicus brief signed by more than 100 House Republicans in support of a Texas lawsuit seeking to invalidate the 2020 election results in four swing states Biden won: Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
And he was legally and constitutionally entitled to do so, as it was lodged in December 2020 well before Biden's election was confirmed by Congress
Being epically pedantic, the election results were confirmed by the Electoral College meeting on December 14 2020, certified by the U.S. Congress on January 7, 2021, and Joe Biden was inaugurated on January 20, 2021.
This point was made by Dan Quayle to Mike Pence: Congress certifies the votes (that they have the right numbers, etc), not count them. If it was the latter, then Pence would have been within his rights to recount them
Yes and there was nothing unconstitutional about launching legal challenges to those state EC results until Congress certified the election, only at the latter point was the new President elected not before
Remind me again: when did Prince Charles become King Charles III?
On the death of his mother (15:10 BST 8 September 2022)
First speech via BBC (18:00 BST 9 September 2022)
When recognised by Accession Council (10:00 BST 10 September 2022)
When crowned in the Coronation (6 May 2023)
The UK is a different system. The King becomes King on the death of the previous monarch, affirmed by the accession council and with the ceremonial of the coronation.
The new US President however only gets that role once Congress has certified the presidential election result and he has been inaugrated in late January 2 months after the election
Apparently that long pause between election and inauguration in America is to allow the result to be communicated to the winning candidate and for the winner to travel to Washington, on horseback, from the deepest of deep south states.
Or in the modern age, allow tooled up goons in camo and SUVs to get to the Capitol.
Cummings is up tomorrow at the whitewash inquiry into how well the government of Britain coped with covid.
Could be box office.
Popcorn ready...
Why call it a “whitewash inquiry”? It’s revealed plenty of critical material so far, and it’s only just getting started.
The way the KCs handled the Oxford evidence-based meds guy was a disgrace.
And seems they are not going anywhere near asking the actual question that matters:
Why did Sweden do far better than us?
Not even interviewing Tegnell.
It's a sham. Total whitewash as far as the real substance is concerned. All this bollx about who said who was a fat waste of space on WhatsApp is amusing and a bit relevant but it is not the issue that actaually matters for the next pandemic.
Sweden didn’t do far better than us.
Also, there’s a helluva lot more Inquiry to come.
Do they have a whole generation of kids with a mass of problems thanks to lockdown of schools for months?
Sweden actually had quite significant disruption in schools, contrary to the narrative. All upper secondary schools were shut for around five months, and in the lower secondary schools the high rate of infection among teachers meant around 50% of teaching was online, which was in some ways rather more disruptive than what we had here as it was unpredictable and so chaotic.
They managed to keep primary schools mostly open. However, you should also remember they have much smaller class sizes than we do anyway (which is something I've been advocating for years) around 21 as against 28, so it was much easier to contain any outbreaks.
It is also worth pointing out that the reason schools were kept open is not because of some mythical 'Swedish model' but because the Swedish schools system is independent of the government and several senior figures didn't want to shut their little empire. If OFSTED had been in charge of schools during the pandemic (which is the equivalent) schools would have stayed open. Not because it was the right or wrong decision, but so that twat Spielman could strut around saying how wonderful she was.
If she'd managed to save children from falling months behind in their schooling because of a virus that didn't affect them she would indeed be wonderful and deserve some self-congratulation.
Yes, I'm sure if my son had caught Covid at school, then given it to his unvaccinated grandparents who then died, he would have been *totally* unaffected...
There is a lot of US air activity in the greater Gulf region this evening including notable bridging resources. Hard to know if this is routine but just increased in scale with more forces in the area given current tensions or something specific but its a notable tempo.
(I had to work with an early version of WinCE, trying to build a stack on top of it. It was an interesting experience. I heard to got better later, but too little, too late.)
Apologies if already mentioned but on my X-twitter feed someone has posted pictures of Met officers tearing down posters of kidnapped Israelis. Apparently, the Met says it is "looking into the matter."
Rational Muslims probably have the second most, after Jews, to fear of Islamism
I think the problem is that islam is a political ideology in some parts as much as a religious one. I am afraid of radical islam for the same reason I am afraid of fascism, and for much the same reason. I've no such fear of Christians or Zoroastrians.
Where we in the west have made our bloomer, is in trying to be tolerant and diverse to all religions, which is admirable, without acknowledging the political aspects and tenents of radical Islam. What is happening at the moment is not about religion, it is about fascism. We believe fascism looks like Herr Flick in his dark uniform and leather coat. Unfortunately it takes other forms.
In a secular society then being tolerant and diverse to all religions is entirely reasonable, since if society is secular people can choose their own religion (or none) and it doesn't affect anyone else.
The clash of cultures comes when people oppose secularism and want their faith imposed by force as it is the "word of Yahweh/God/Allah/Buddha/FSM" himself.
Whether that be radical Islamists, radical Christians, radical Buddhist/Jews/Hindus/Vegans/whatever anyone who tries to impose their fundamentalism onto others is a problem.
So, you think it was wrong of Israel to re-write its constitution in 2018 to define itself as a Jewish state?
I'd certainly oppose the UK Parliament doing the same.
I'm not Israeli, so don't get a say in their choices. I can appreciate they have special circumstances, like Vatican City.
Isn't it only the UK and somewhere like Iran that has clerics in Parliament ex officio?
The point is that the attitude of religious parliamentarians is more important than how they got there. Anglicans in general, and bishops in the Lords in particular, are pretty good at saying "we're here to help if you need us". Elected religious types, especially if they are a minority exploiting a balance of power situation, are much more of a problem.
Yesterday morning I ready the appalling Andy Macdonald comments and found myself agreeing with Simon Clarke (ewwww).
This morning I read Twitter and @SouthamObserver tells me that I missed Andy Mac getting the whip removed. Huzzah!
Can more crankie morons remove themselves in this manner? Would be great for renewing our politics. Tory Morons to be removed in large numbers, a few Labour crankies are getting the ban hammer - need more.
Yesterday morning I ready the appalling Andy Macdonald comments and found myself agreeing with Simon Clarke (ewwww).
This morning I read Twitter and @SouthamObserver tells me that I missed Andy Mac getting the whip removed. Huzzah!
Can more crankie morons remove themselves in this manner? Would be great for renewing our politics. Tory Morons to be removed in large numbers, a few Labour crankies are getting the ban hammer - need more.
Cummings is up tomorrow at the whitewash inquiry into how well the government of Britain coped with covid.
Could be box office.
Popcorn ready...
Why call it a “whitewash inquiry”? It’s revealed plenty of critical material so far, and it’s only just getting started.
The way the KCs handled the Oxford evidence-based meds guy was a disgrace.
And seems they are not going anywhere near asking the actual question that matters:
Why did Sweden do far better than us?
Not even interviewing Tegnell.
It's a sham. Total whitewash as far as the real substance is concerned. All this bollx about who said who was a fat waste of space on WhatsApp is amusing and a bit relevant but it is not the issue that actaually matters for the next pandemic.
Sweden didn’t do far better than us.
Also, there’s a helluva lot more Inquiry to come.
Do they have a whole generation of kids with a mass of problems thanks to lockdown of schools for months?
Sweden actually had quite significant disruption in schools, contrary to the narrative. All upper secondary schools were shut for around five months, and in the lower secondary schools the high rate of infection among teachers meant around 50% of teaching was online, which was in some ways rather more disruptive than what we had here as it was unpredictable and so chaotic.
They managed to keep primary schools mostly open. However, you should also remember they have much smaller class sizes than we do anyway (which is something I've been advocating for years) around 21 as against 28, so it was much easier to contain any outbreaks.
It is also worth pointing out that the reason schools were kept open is not because of some mythical 'Swedish model' but because the Swedish schools system is independent of the government and several senior figures didn't want to shut their little empire. If OFSTED had been in charge of schools during the pandemic (which is the equivalent) schools would have stayed open. Not because it was the right or wrong decision, but so that twat Spielman could strut around saying how wonderful she was.
If she'd managed to save children from falling months behind in their schooling because of a virus that didn't affect them she would indeed be wonderful and deserve some self-congratulation.
But she wouldn't have, as the rest of the comment makes clear.
In any case, if you are less exercised about:
1) her decision to put inspectors in rooms alone with vulnerable children without having safeguarding checks or basic training, or
2) prewriting reports to force perfectly good schools to academise, or
3) putting in place an inspection framework that if followed correctly makes it impossible for 25% of children to learn to read
than about trying to avoid unavoidable school closures - to reiterate, despite the lies often told, Sweden *did* shut schools - your opinion isn't worth much.
Edit - to be fair, that's rather off the point. The issue (and this really does need to be rammed home) is Sweden didn't keep some of their schools open out of a desire to avoid damage to learning, or because they thought it would make no difference to the virus, but because of administrative procedures.
The issue is it did cause the much wider spread of Covid, particularly among teachers, and it did put a major strain on the educational system. Less than it did in this country when we tried to keep schools open in December, because of their smaller class sizes, but still significant.
The issue in this country was that due to the ineptitude of the government and its advisers, most of whom are very stupid and all of whom are profoundly ignorant of educational matters we didn't take measures that might have mitigated school closures - e.g. blended learning where you have two weeks on and one off - and a chaotic system where every teacher was supposed to set and mark two lessons for every child - one if they were in, and one if they were not.
The result was utter meltdown and the bankruptcy of the school system. Which has actually been considerably more damaging to the education system in the long term than the lockdowns, which were hardly ideal.
The key paradox of UK government and COVID.
A government that clearly wanted to minimise restrictions, wanted normality, ended up having to apply longer, stricter, more harmful lockdowns than many other comparable places.
Moral: wanting something, having the right desires, is less important than competence in the face of unpleasant reality.
There's a fair bit Sweden got wrong. Their outcomes were a fair bit worse than other Scandi nations, and they badly overestimated how long it would take to get a vaccine ready. But stable rules (as opposed to the UK's full on accelerator/brake approach) was right.
Yes, the erratic "shopping trolley" approach to covid control measures was not helpful, such as the fiasco around Christmas 2020, and even more so the insistence that schools opened in the new year, followed by closure a day later.
One thing that is often conflated and confused is societal and economic damage from the restrictions, and damage from the pandemic itself. The alternative to restrictions was not normality. That option disappeared when the virus arrived.
At the Medical School we are struggling with a substantial part of the student cohort admitted under Covid. There are real problems across all the domains of Knowledge, Skills and Attitudes. The problems are real and will take a lot of fixing or departures, but running a Medical School Programme normally in the middle of a health crisis was not a possibility.
There is a lot of US air activity in the greater Gulf region this evening including notable bridging resources. Hard to know if this is routine but just increased in scale with more forces in the area given current tensions or something specific but its a notable tempo.
What are bridging resources
A good question. It could be the obvious: engineering capabilities for crossing rivers. But that probably does not make sense here, and I have heard it used in a different way occasionally; military units taken across a sea to create a bridgehead. A floating bridge, in a way.
In the same way the D-Day landings were a bridgehead
Apologies if already mentioned but on my X-twitter feed someone has posted pictures of Met officers tearing down posters of kidnapped Israelis. Apparently, the Met says it is "looking into the matter."
Rational Muslims probably have the second most, after Jews, to fear of Islamism
I think the problem is that islam is a political ideology in some parts as much as a religious one. I am afraid of radical islam for the same reason I am afraid of fascism, and for much the same reason. I've no such fear of Christians or Zoroastrians.
Where we in the west have made our bloomer, is in trying to be tolerant and diverse to all religions, which is admirable, without acknowledging the political aspects and tenents of radical Islam. What is happening at the moment is not about religion, it is about fascism. We believe fascism looks like Herr Flick in his dark uniform and leather coat. Unfortunately it takes other forms.
In a secular society then being tolerant and diverse to all religions is entirely reasonable, since if society is secular people can choose their own religion (or none) and it doesn't affect anyone else.
The clash of cultures comes when people oppose secularism and want their faith imposed by force as it is the "word of Yahweh/God/Allah/Buddha/FSM" himself.
Whether that be radical Islamists, radical Christians, radical Buddhist/Jews/Hindus/Vegans/whatever anyone who tries to impose their fundamentalism onto others is a problem.
So, you think it was wrong of Israel to re-write its constitution in 2018 to define itself as a Jewish state?
I'd certainly oppose the UK Parliament doing the same.
I'm not Israeli, so don't get a say in their choices. I can appreciate they have special circumstances, like Vatican City.
Isn't it only the UK and somewhere like Iran that has clerics in Parliament ex officio?
The point is that the attitude of religious parliamentarians is more important than how they got there. Anglicans in general, and bishops in the Lords in particular, are pretty good at saying "we're here to help if you need us". Elected religious types, especially if they are a minority exploiting a balance of power situation, are much more of a problem.
The UK has an established church and a very secular political culture. The US constitution explicitly separates church and state, and has a very religious political culture. It is a notable conundrum.
Rational Muslims probably have the second most, after Jews, to fear of Islamism
I think the problem is that islam is a political ideology in some parts as much as a religious one. I am afraid of radical islam for the same reason I am afraid of fascism, and for much the same reason. I've no such fear of Christians or Zoroastrians.
Where we in the west have made our bloomer, is in trying to be tolerant and diverse to all religions, which is admirable, without acknowledging the political aspects and tenents of radical Islam. What is happening at the moment is not about religion, it is about fascism. We believe fascism looks like Herr Flick in his dark uniform and leather coat. Unfortunately it takes other forms.
In a secular society then being tolerant and diverse to all religions is entirely reasonable, since if society is secular people can choose their own religion (or none) and it doesn't affect anyone else.
The clash of cultures comes when people oppose secularism and want their faith imposed by force as it is the "word of Yahweh/God/Allah/Buddha/FSM" himself.
Whether that be radical Islamists, radical Christians, radical Buddhist/Jews/Hindus/Vegans/whatever anyone who tries to impose their fundamentalism onto others is a problem.
It will be interesting to see how it plays out in the USA. Apparently the new Speaker they elected is something of a fundamentalist himself.
He is a Southern Baptists but then that is the largest Protestant denomination in the USA, hardly on the fringes
He is personally anti gay marriage and pro life, so what, many religious people are including the Pope, not just Baptists, even the Tories are hardly pro trans at the moment, gun rights are protected under the US constitution.
He has hardly advocated abolishing democracy either, he was elected himself to his position and his seat
Honest as the day is long.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Johnson_(Louisiana_politician) ...On November 17, 2020, Johnson said: "You know the allegations about these voting machines, some of them being rigged with this software by Dominion, there's a lot of merit to that. And when the president says the election was rigged, that's what he's talking about. The fix was in. [...] a software system that is used all around the country that is suspect because it came from Hugo Chávez's Venezuela".[83][84][85][86] By October 2022, Johnson said that he had never supported claims that there was massive fraud in the 2020 election.[87]
In December 2020, Johnson led an effort in which 126 Republican U.S. representatives signed an amicus brief in support of Texas v. Pennsylvania,[85][88][89] a lawsuit filed at the United States Supreme Court contesting the results of the 2020 presidential election.[90] The Supreme Court declined to hear the case on the basis that Texas lacked standing under Article III of the Constitution to challenge the results of an election held by another state.[91][92][93]
During the January 2021 United States Electoral College vote count, Johnson was one of 120 U.S. representatives who objected to certifying the 2020 presidential election results from both Arizona and Pennsylvania, while another 19 U.S. representatives objected for one of these states.[94] The New York Times called Johnson "the most important architect of the Electoral College objections" because he had argued to reject the results based on the argument of "constitutional infirmity" and persuaded "about three-quarters" of the objectors to use that rationale...
Yes he contested the results, which was a perfectly legal and constitutional thing to do until the results of the election were certified by Congress
And he then tried to subvert that certification. Wriggle all you want. You are supporting a nasty, despicable, totalitarian theocrat. Just because he wears a suit rather than jackboots does not make him pleasant, honest or even likeable.
---
House Speaker Mike Johnson played a key role in efforts to overturn the 2020 election
"Well before he was elected House speaker, Rep. Mike Johnson, R-La., played a key role in efforts by then-President Donald Trump and his allies to overturn Joe Biden’s electoral victory in the 2020 election.
Johnson, who was the GOP caucus vice chair and is an ally of Trump, led the amicus brief signed by more than 100 House Republicans in support of a Texas lawsuit seeking to invalidate the 2020 election results in four swing states Biden won: Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
And he was legally and constitutionally entitled to do so, as it was lodged in December 2020 well before Biden's election was confirmed by Congress
Being epically pedantic, the election results were confirmed by the Electoral College meeting on December 14 2020, certified by the U.S. Congress on January 7, 2021, and Joe Biden was inaugurated on January 20, 2021.
This point was made by Dan Quayle to Mike Pence: Congress certifies the votes (that they have the right numbers, etc), not count them. If it was the latter, then Pence would have been within his rights to recount them
Yes and there was nothing unconstitutional about launching legal challenges to those state EC results until Congress certified the election, only at the latter point was the new President elected not before
Remind me again: when did Prince Charles become King Charles III?
On the death of his mother (15:10 BST 8 September 2022)
First speech via BBC (18:00 BST 9 September 2022)
When recognised by Accession Council (10:00 BST 10 September 2022)
When crowned in the Coronation (6 May 2023)
The UK is a different system. The King becomes King on the death of the previous monarch, affirmed by the accession council and with the ceremonial of the coronation.
The new US President however only gets that role once Congress has certified the presidential election result and he has been inaugrated in late January 2 months after the election
Apparently that long pause between election and inauguration in America is to allow the result to be communicated to the winning candidate and for the winner to travel to Washington, on horseback, from the deepest of deep south states.
I'm not sure either Biden or Trump would be up to that trip. If it's Trump, we're going to need a bigger horse.
Apologies if already mentioned but on my X-twitter feed someone has posted pictures of Met officers tearing down posters of kidnapped Israelis. Apparently, the Met says it is "looking into the matter."
Now you mention it, isn't fly-posting illegal, even in a good cause?
Scooped by Foxy! I've a vague memory of an episode of The Bill some decades back.
Apologies if already mentioned but on my X-twitter feed someone has posted pictures of Met officers tearing down posters of kidnapped Israelis. Apparently, the Met says it is "looking into the matter."
Now you mention it, isn't fly-posting illegal, even in a good cause?
Scooped by Foxy! I've a vague memory of an episode of The Bill some decades back.
Always makes me think of the photo a long time ago where there was an official sign on a wall announcing that “Bill Posters Will Be Prosecuted” and someone had graffitied next to it “Bill Posters is innocent”.
Apologies if already mentioned but on my X-twitter feed someone has posted pictures of Met officers tearing down posters of kidnapped Israelis. Apparently, the Met says it is "looking into the matter."
Now you mention it, isn't fly-posting illegal, even in a good cause?
Scooped by Foxy! I've a vague memory of an episode of The Bill some decades back.
Always makes me think of the photo a long time ago where there was an official sign on a wall announcing that “Bill Posters Will Be Prosecuted” and someone had graffitied next to it “Bill Posters is innocent”.
I remember it (as a Private Eye cartoon?) as "Bill Stickers" but yes same thing.
As for the fly-posters it is indeed illegal hence I have no problem with them being taken down one way or another. In the current environment I can also see how they could be seen as destabilising the "mood" of the nation.
Can I join others in welcoming back Mike! The “Bill stickers will be prosecuted!” posters used to be quite common in the 50s, frequently with the quoted graffiti.
Didn’t seem to make a lot of difference, particularly at election time!
Did Israel not encourage Jews from those states to move to Israel? As always, geopolitics in the Middle East are complicated.
"Migration, departure, flight, and expulsion" according to wiki.
Perhaps they unaccountably didn't want to live perfectly freely in those places just as second class citizens subject to different rules from the indigenous populations.
Edit: The World Jewish Council says it was forced migration. Well they would say that wouldn't they.
Did Israel not encourage Jews from those states to move to Israel? As always, geopolitics in the Middle East are complicated.
The Jews in the various countries were persecuted, treated as second class citizens and attacked on a fairly continuing basis.
In the aftermath of the defeats in 48, 67, 73 and others conflicts with Israeli there were mass expulsions. Not just in the countries fighting with Israel. Complete with stealing all their possessions etc.
Did Israel not encourage Jews from those states to move to Israel? As always, geopolitics in the Middle East are complicated.
As I recall it, there was a time, I think in the 60’s, when Israel had quite a strong “Welcome Back” policy. I can recall a furore over the welcoming back of “Black Jews” from Ethiopia.
"In professing to believe that it can expel the Jews from the river to the sea, Hamas has been selling a dream that has brought only tragedy and rubble. Once Hamas has been destroyed, the people of Gaza will only be able to flourish if they learn from all the other peoples who suffered large-scale population transfers in the later 1940s, and forswear revanchism."
"They must accept that back in the immediate post-Second World War period, many national groupings had to move en masse from the lands they had previously occupied, and happiness has only come to those who have been able to deal with it."
Did Israel not encourage Jews from those states to move to Israel? As always, geopolitics in the Middle East are complicated.
The Jews in the various countries were persecuted, treated as second class citizens and attacked on a fairly continuing basis.
In the aftermath of the defeats in 48, 67, 73 and others conflicts with Israeli there were mass expulsions. Not just in the countries fighting with Israel. Complete with stealing all their possessions etc.
Did Israel not encourage Jews from those states to move to Israel? As always, geopolitics in the Middle East are complicated.
Operation Magic Carpet brought most of the Yemeni Jews to Israel in the 40's. However, a small community remained until the last who wanted to leave were airlifted out in 2016, taking their 500 year-old Torah scrolls with them and so ending any religious community there.
You used to be able to buy very intricate old silver and coral Jewish jewelry in the markets in Sana'a. I have a museum-quality piece myself. (The pieces in gold were melted down.)
Rational Muslims probably have the second most, after Jews, to fear of Islamism
I think the problem is that islam is a political ideology in some parts as much as a religious one. I am afraid of radical islam for the same reason I am afraid of fascism, and for much the same reason. I've no such fear of Christians or Zoroastrians.
Where we in the west have made our bloomer, is in trying to be tolerant and diverse to all religions, which is admirable, without acknowledging the political aspects and tenents of radical Islam. What is happening at the moment is not about religion, it is about fascism. We believe fascism looks like Herr Flick in his dark uniform and leather coat. Unfortunately it takes other forms.
In a secular society then being tolerant and diverse to all religions is entirely reasonable, since if society is secular people can choose their own religion (or none) and it doesn't affect anyone else.
The clash of cultures comes when people oppose secularism and want their faith imposed by force as it is the "word of Yahweh/God/Allah/Buddha/FSM" himself.
Whether that be radical Islamists, radical Christians, radical Buddhist/Jews/Hindus/Vegans/whatever anyone who tries to impose their fundamentalism onto others is a problem.
It will be interesting to see how it plays out in the USA. Apparently the new Speaker they elected is something of a fundamentalist himself.
He is a Southern Baptists but then that is the largest Protestant denomination in the USA, hardly on the fringes
He is personally anti gay marriage and pro life, so what, many religious people are including the Pope, not just Baptists, even the Tories are hardly pro trans at the moment, gun rights are protected under the US constitution.
He has hardly advocated abolishing democracy either, he was elected himself to his position and his seat
Honest as the day is long.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Johnson_(Louisiana_politician) ...On November 17, 2020, Johnson said: "You know the allegations about these voting machines, some of them being rigged with this software by Dominion, there's a lot of merit to that. And when the president says the election was rigged, that's what he's talking about. The fix was in. [...] a software system that is used all around the country that is suspect because it came from Hugo Chávez's Venezuela".[83][84][85][86] By October 2022, Johnson said that he had never supported claims that there was massive fraud in the 2020 election.[87]
In December 2020, Johnson led an effort in which 126 Republican U.S. representatives signed an amicus brief in support of Texas v. Pennsylvania,[85][88][89] a lawsuit filed at the United States Supreme Court contesting the results of the 2020 presidential election.[90] The Supreme Court declined to hear the case on the basis that Texas lacked standing under Article III of the Constitution to challenge the results of an election held by another state.[91][92][93]
During the January 2021 United States Electoral College vote count, Johnson was one of 120 U.S. representatives who objected to certifying the 2020 presidential election results from both Arizona and Pennsylvania, while another 19 U.S. representatives objected for one of these states.[94] The New York Times called Johnson "the most important architect of the Electoral College objections" because he had argued to reject the results based on the argument of "constitutional infirmity" and persuaded "about three-quarters" of the objectors to use that rationale...
Yes he contested the results, which was a perfectly legal and constitutional thing to do until the results of the election were certified by Congress
And he then tried to subvert that certification. Wriggle all you want. You are supporting a nasty, despicable, totalitarian theocrat. Just because he wears a suit rather than jackboots does not make him pleasant, honest or even likeable.
---
House Speaker Mike Johnson played a key role in efforts to overturn the 2020 election
"Well before he was elected House speaker, Rep. Mike Johnson, R-La., played a key role in efforts by then-President Donald Trump and his allies to overturn Joe Biden’s electoral victory in the 2020 election.
Johnson, who was the GOP caucus vice chair and is an ally of Trump, led the amicus brief signed by more than 100 House Republicans in support of a Texas lawsuit seeking to invalidate the 2020 election results in four swing states Biden won: Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
And he was legally and constitutionally entitled to do so, as it was lodged in December 2020 well before Biden's election was confirmed by Congress
Being epically pedantic, the election results were confirmed by the Electoral College meeting on December 14 2020, certified by the U.S. Congress on January 7, 2021, and Joe Biden was inaugurated on January 20, 2021.
This point was made by Dan Quayle to Mike Pence: Congress certifies the votes (that they have the right numbers, etc), not count them. If it was the latter, then Pence would have been within his rights to recount them
Yes and there was nothing unconstitutional about launching legal challenges to those state EC results until Congress certified the election, only at the latter point was the new President elected not before
Remind me again: when did Prince Charles become King Charles III?
On the death of his mother (15:10 BST 8 September 2022)
First speech via BBC (18:00 BST 9 September 2022)
When recognised by Accession Council (10:00 BST 10 September 2022)
When crowned in the Coronation (6 May 2023)
The UK is a different system. The King becomes King on the death of the previous monarch, affirmed by the accession council and with the ceremonial of the coronation.
The new US President however only gets that role once Congress has certified the presidential election result and he has been inaugrated in late January 2 months after the election
Apparently that long pause between election and inauguration in America is to allow the result to be communicated to the winning candidate and for the winner to travel to Washington, on horseback, from the deepest of deep south states.
A bit like the second amendment which was written when guns fired 1 round every 30 seconds, not 30 rounds a second.
Yesterday morning I ready the appalling Andy Macdonald comments and found myself agreeing with Simon Clarke (ewwww).
This morning I read Twitter and @SouthamObserver tells me that I missed Andy Mac getting the whip removed. Huzzah!
Can more crankie morons remove themselves in this manner? Would be great for renewing our politics. Tory Morons to be removed in large numbers, a few Labour crankies are getting the ban hammer - need more.
Rational Muslims probably have the second most, after Jews, to fear of Islamism
I think the problem is that islam is a political ideology in some parts as much as a religious one. I am afraid of radical islam for the same reason I am afraid of fascism, and for much the same reason. I've no such fear of Christians or Zoroastrians.
Where we in the west have made our bloomer, is in trying to be tolerant and diverse to all religions, which is admirable, without acknowledging the political aspects and tenents of radical Islam. What is happening at the moment is not about religion, it is about fascism. We believe fascism looks like Herr Flick in his dark uniform and leather coat. Unfortunately it takes other forms.
In a secular society then being tolerant and diverse to all religions is entirely reasonable, since if society is secular people can choose their own religion (or none) and it doesn't affect anyone else.
The clash of cultures comes when people oppose secularism and want their faith imposed by force as it is the "word of Yahweh/God/Allah/Buddha/FSM" himself.
Whether that be radical Islamists, radical Christians, radical Buddhist/Jews/Hindus/Vegans/whatever anyone who tries to impose their fundamentalism onto others is a problem.
It will be interesting to see how it plays out in the USA. Apparently the new Speaker they elected is something of a fundamentalist himself.
He is a Southern Baptists but then that is the largest Protestant denomination in the USA, hardly on the fringes
He is personally anti gay marriage and pro life, so what, many religious people are including the Pope, not just Baptists, even the Tories are hardly pro trans at the moment, gun rights are protected under the US constitution.
He has hardly advocated abolishing democracy either, he was elected himself to his position and his seat
Honest as the day is long.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Johnson_(Louisiana_politician) ...On November 17, 2020, Johnson said: "You know the allegations about these voting machines, some of them being rigged with this software by Dominion, there's a lot of merit to that. And when the president says the election was rigged, that's what he's talking about. The fix was in. [...] a software system that is used all around the country that is suspect because it came from Hugo Chávez's Venezuela".[83][84][85][86] By October 2022, Johnson said that he had never supported claims that there was massive fraud in the 2020 election.[87]
In December 2020, Johnson led an effort in which 126 Republican U.S. representatives signed an amicus brief in support of Texas v. Pennsylvania,[85][88][89] a lawsuit filed at the United States Supreme Court contesting the results of the 2020 presidential election.[90] The Supreme Court declined to hear the case on the basis that Texas lacked standing under Article III of the Constitution to challenge the results of an election held by another state.[91][92][93]
During the January 2021 United States Electoral College vote count, Johnson was one of 120 U.S. representatives who objected to certifying the 2020 presidential election results from both Arizona and Pennsylvania, while another 19 U.S. representatives objected for one of these states.[94] The New York Times called Johnson "the most important architect of the Electoral College objections" because he had argued to reject the results based on the argument of "constitutional infirmity" and persuaded "about three-quarters" of the objectors to use that rationale...
Yes he contested the results, which was a perfectly legal and constitutional thing to do until the results of the election were certified by Congress
And he then tried to subvert that certification. Wriggle all you want. You are supporting a nasty, despicable, totalitarian theocrat. Just because he wears a suit rather than jackboots does not make him pleasant, honest or even likeable.
---
House Speaker Mike Johnson played a key role in efforts to overturn the 2020 election
"Well before he was elected House speaker, Rep. Mike Johnson, R-La., played a key role in efforts by then-President Donald Trump and his allies to overturn Joe Biden’s electoral victory in the 2020 election.
Johnson, who was the GOP caucus vice chair and is an ally of Trump, led the amicus brief signed by more than 100 House Republicans in support of a Texas lawsuit seeking to invalidate the 2020 election results in four swing states Biden won: Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
And he was legally and constitutionally entitled to do so, as it was lodged in December 2020 well before Biden's election was confirmed by Congress
Being epically pedantic, the election results were confirmed by the Electoral College meeting on December 14 2020, certified by the U.S. Congress on January 7, 2021, and Joe Biden was inaugurated on January 20, 2021.
This point was made by Dan Quayle to Mike Pence: Congress certifies the votes (that they have the right numbers, etc), not count them. If it was the latter, then Pence would have been within his rights to recount them
Yes and there was nothing unconstitutional about launching legal challenges to those state EC results until Congress certified the election, only at the latter point was the new President elected not before
Remind me again: when did Prince Charles become King Charles III?
On the death of his mother (15:10 BST 8 September 2022)
First speech via BBC (18:00 BST 9 September 2022)
When recognised by Accession Council (10:00 BST 10 September 2022)
When crowned in the Coronation (6 May 2023)
The UK is a different system. The King becomes King on the death of the previous monarch, affirmed by the accession council and with the ceremonial of the coronation.
The new US President however only gets that role once Congress has certified the presidential election result and he has been inaugrated in late January 2 months after the election
Apparently that long pause between election and inauguration in America is to allow the result to be communicated to the winning candidate and for the winner to travel to Washington, on horseback, from the deepest of deep south states.
A bit like the second amendment which was written when guns fired 1 round every 30 seconds, not 30 rounds a second.
There is a lot of US air activity in the greater Gulf region this evening including notable bridging resources. Hard to know if this is routine but just increased in scale with more forces in the area given current tensions or something specific but its a notable tempo.
What are bridging resources
A good question. It could be the obvious: engineering capabilities for crossing rivers. But that probably does not make sense here, and I have heard it used in a different way occasionally; military units taken across a sea to create a bridgehead. A floating bridge, in a way.
In the same way the D-Day landings were a bridgehead
Good chance it is bringing in kit that is missing to complete whatever they are trying to do
Did Israel not encourage Jews from those states to move to Israel? As always, geopolitics in the Middle East are complicated.
The Jews in the various countries were persecuted, treated as second class citizens and attacked on a fairly continuing basis.
In the aftermath of the defeats in 48, 67, 73 and others conflicts with Israeli there were mass expulsions. Not just in the countries fighting with Israel. Complete with stealing all their possessions etc.
Did Israel not encourage Jews from those states to move to Israel? As always, geopolitics in the Middle East are complicated.
The Jews in the various countries were persecuted, treated as second class citizens and attacked on a fairly continuing basis.
In the aftermath of the defeats in 48, 67, 73 and others conflicts with Israeli there were mass expulsions. Not just in the countries fighting with Israel. Complete with stealing all their possessions etc.
For laughs, look up the excuses for Palestinian Muslims persecuting Palestinian Christians.
VF buggered up my post, so let me emphasise that the antisemitism in many Muslim states was ultimately the responsibility of the local populations who acted to terrorise Jews.
Did Israel not encourage Jews from those states to move to Israel? As always, geopolitics in the Middle East are complicated.
The Jews in the various countries were persecuted, treated as second class citizens and attacked on a fairly continuing basis.
In the aftermath of the defeats in 48, 67, 73 and others conflicts with Israeli there were mass expulsions. Not just in the countries fighting with Israel. Complete with stealing all their possessions etc.
Re the encouragement of Jews to go to Israel, it was a bit more complicated than that. The driving force of Israel was essentially Ashkenazi Jews (i.e. European / North American). Their attitude to the Middle Eastern Jews arriving was somewhat mixed - their numbers built up the state, vital when surrounded by so many enemies, but they were also seem as more primitive given they were often poor (you had a similar situation when Russian Jews travelled west to places such as Germany post-the Pogroms and the Russian Civil War).
However, the primary reason why they left was hostility from the Arab rulers and / or as the colonial powers departed, the Jews felt less protected. The "historians" you refer to who claim Israel encouraged anti-semitism in Arab lands are more on the David Irving spectrum, if not nowhere near as bad.
Yesterday morning I ready the appalling Andy Macdonald comments and found myself agreeing with Simon Clarke (ewwww).
This morning I read Twitter and @SouthamObserver tells me that I missed Andy Mac getting the whip removed. Huzzah!
Can more crankie morons remove themselves in this manner? Would be great for renewing our politics. Tory Morons to be removed in large numbers, a few Labour crankies are getting the ban hammer - need more.
Nutter
Indeed. Which is why he has had the whip removed.
I think my favourite Andy Mac memory was a dinner where he was sat a few seats away from me when he was Shadow Transport Secretary. His response to various train issues which were hot news at the time was that they should be renationalised. I pointed out that the train company had already been renationalised and that the specific issues he was mentioning were the fault of Network Rail which had already been renationalised. He seemed displeased...
Bloke on 5 Live reckons Hamas has agreed to release all the hostages for all Palestinian Prisoners.
Described it as a "very difficult" offer
Talk about upping the ante. Israel's problem is that it once did a deal with Hamas trading a stack of prisoners for one hostage. There won't be such a deal this time. The Saudis remain hard at work trying to mediate, as do the Qataris.
The position should be the same as demanded of Germany in 1945. Unconditional surrender - initially of the hostages, then of themselves.
Did Israel not encourage Jews from those states to move to Israel? As always, geopolitics in the Middle East are complicated.
The Jews in the various countries were persecuted, treated as second class citizens and attacked on a fairly continuing basis.
In the aftermath of the defeats in 48, 67, 73 and others conflicts with Israeli there were mass expulsions. Not just in the countries fighting with Israel. Complete with stealing all their possessions etc.
For laughs, look up the excuses for Palestinian Muslims persecuting Palestinian Christians.
VF buggered up my post, so let me emphasise that the antisemitism in many Muslim states was ultimately the responsibility of the local populations who acted to terrorise Jews.
Yes. Anti-semitism was used by the uniformly dictatorial states around Israel to justify repression. The unending state of war was part of the game…
In Syria, for example, a whole genre of propaganda was created - all the defeats were down to Jewish saboteurs and their paid helpers. “Only Strong Government can Save! the! Country! from being conquered.”
Hilariously, a number of historians reckon that this demonisation of Jews and Israel contributed to collapsed in the Syrian Army in 67 and 73 - the propaganda had spread to army commanders who, at the first reverses, thought “we are betrayed by Jewish spies” and ran. They seriously thought that Israel would conquer the whole country….
Did Israel not encourage Jews from those states to move to Israel? As always, geopolitics in the Middle East are complicated.
The Jews in the various countries were persecuted, treated as second class citizens and attacked on a fairly continuing basis.
In the aftermath of the defeats in 48, 67, 73 and others conflicts with Israeli there were mass expulsions. Not just in the countries fighting with Israel. Complete with stealing all their possessions etc.
Re the encouragement of Jews to go to Israel, it was a bit more complicated than that. The driving force of Israel was essentially Ashkenazi Jews (i.e. European / North American). Their attitude to the Middle Eastern Jews arriving was somewhat mixed - their numbers built up the state, vital when surrounded by so many enemies, but they were also seem as more primitive given they were often poor (you had a similar situation when Russian Jews travelled west to places such as Germany post-the Pogroms and the Russian Civil War).
However, the primary reason why they left was hostility from the Arab rulers and / or as the colonial powers departed, the Jews felt less protected. The "historians" you refer to who claim Israel encouraged anti-semitism in Arab lands are more on the David Irving spectrum, if not nowhere near as bad.
I was referring to the work of Tad Szulc on Morocco. Would you call Szulc “on the David Irving spectrum”?
Chanelling Top Gear - GOOD NEWS !!! (Especially for people with asthma.)
ULEZ compliance in London is now above 95%: Not bad.
First data on @SadiqKhan's Ulez expansion: 🔴Londonwide zone raises up to £26m in first month in levies and fines 🟢95.2% of vehicles now comply with the exhaust emission rules 🟢 77,000 fewer non-compliant vehicles a day being driven in London, down 45% https://twitter.com/RossLydall/status/1719246092091392085
Rational Muslims probably have the second most, after Jews, to fear of Islamism
I think the problem is that islam is a political ideology in some parts as much as a religious one. I am afraid of radical islam for the same reason I am afraid of fascism, and for much the same reason. I've no such fear of Christians or Zoroastrians.
Where we in the west have made our bloomer, is in trying to be tolerant and diverse to all religions, which is admirable, without acknowledging the political aspects and tenents of radical Islam. What is happening at the moment is not about religion, it is about fascism. We believe fascism looks like Herr Flick in his dark uniform and leather coat. Unfortunately it takes other forms.
In a secular society then being tolerant and diverse to all religions is entirely reasonable, since if society is secular people can choose their own religion (or none) and it doesn't affect anyone else.
The clash of cultures comes when people oppose secularism and want their faith imposed by force as it is the "word of Yahweh/God/Allah/Buddha/FSM" himself.
Whether that be radical Islamists, radical Christians, radical Buddhist/Jews/Hindus/Vegans/whatever anyone who tries to impose their fundamentalism onto others is a problem.
The National Secular Society opposes religious schools and wants to close them all
Interesting you replied like that. Nobody mentioned state subsidy for religous sects' indoctrination of children till you did.
Now you mention it, about time we closed down all sectarian schooling on council tax or central government money.
You also one of the secular fundamentalists I see, denying religious parents (who are also taxpayers who fund state education) the right to choose the schools they want for their children
You're confusing education for everyone with indoctrination for every little religious sect. Because your demands only work if everyone gets their own little religious school at the cost of efficient education for everyone else. Anything else is simply unjust. Unless you think that only one, state approved, cult should be funded?
Bloke on 5 Live reckons Hamas has agreed to release all the hostages for all Palestinian Prisoners.
Described it as a "very difficult" offer
Yeah they must really have agonised over that one. Like Putin's offer to stop the war if Ukraine gives him all of Donbas and the West drops all sanctions. Quite the sacrifice.
Top tip: Make your h9me Halloween Ready by simply never dusting. It will soon be festooned with spooky cobwebs, ready for the big day.
And good to see Mike back in the saddle.
Halloween really gets my back up. But children seem to absolutely love it. 2 hours of not being able to sit down for more than 2 minutes before another ring on the doorbell.
Thankfully tonight I'll be out at a choir rehearsal in Central London so my wife will be manning the sweetie box.
Apologies if already mentioned but on my X-twitter feed someone has posted pictures of Met officers tearing down posters of kidnapped Israelis. Apparently, the Met says it is "looking into the matter."
Flyposting is illegal.
Not to trivialise the situation but it would be interesting to see how dozens of fly posted posters of dead Palestinian kids would be treated by the authorities, not to mention how the outrage generators would react to their placement and cops removing them.
Rational Muslims probably have the second most, after Jews, to fear of Islamism
I think the problem is that islam is a political ideology in some parts as much as a religious one. I am afraid of radical islam for the same reason I am afraid of fascism, and for much the same reason. I've no such fear of Christians or Zoroastrians.
Where we in the west have made our bloomer, is in trying to be tolerant and diverse to all religions, which is admirable, without acknowledging the political aspects and tenents of radical Islam. What is happening at the moment is not about religion, it is about fascism. We believe fascism looks like Herr Flick in his dark uniform and leather coat. Unfortunately it takes other forms.
In a secular society then being tolerant and diverse to all religions is entirely reasonable, since if society is secular people can choose their own religion (or none) and it doesn't affect anyone else.
The clash of cultures comes when people oppose secularism and want their faith imposed by force as it is the "word of Yahweh/God/Allah/Buddha/FSM" himself.
Whether that be radical Islamists, radical Christians, radical Buddhist/Jews/Hindus/Vegans/whatever anyone who tries to impose their fundamentalism onto others is a problem.
It will be interesting to see how it plays out in the USA. Apparently the new Speaker they elected is something of a fundamentalist himself.
He is a Southern Baptists but then that is the largest Protestant denomination in the USA, hardly on the fringes
He is personally anti gay marriage and pro life, so what, many religious people are including the Pope, not just Baptists, even the Tories are hardly pro trans at the moment, gun rights are protected under the US constitution.
He has hardly advocated abolishing democracy either, he was elected himself to his position and his seat
Honest as the day is long.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Johnson_(Louisiana_politician) ...On November 17, 2020, Johnson said: "You know the allegations about these voting machines, some of them being rigged with this software by Dominion, there's a lot of merit to that. And when the president says the election was rigged, that's what he's talking about. The fix was in. [...] a software system that is used all around the country that is suspect because it came from Hugo Chávez's Venezuela".[83][84][85][86] By October 2022, Johnson said that he had never supported claims that there was massive fraud in the 2020 election.[87]
In December 2020, Johnson led an effort in which 126 Republican U.S. representatives signed an amicus brief in support of Texas v. Pennsylvania,[85][88][89] a lawsuit filed at the United States Supreme Court contesting the results of the 2020 presidential election.[90] The Supreme Court declined to hear the case on the basis that Texas lacked standing under Article III of the Constitution to challenge the results of an election held by another state.[91][92][93]
During the January 2021 United States Electoral College vote count, Johnson was one of 120 U.S. representatives who objected to certifying the 2020 presidential election results from both Arizona and Pennsylvania, while another 19 U.S. representatives objected for one of these states.[94] The New York Times called Johnson "the most important architect of the Electoral College objections" because he had argued to reject the results based on the argument of "constitutional infirmity" and persuaded "about three-quarters" of the objectors to use that rationale...
Yes he contested the results, which was a perfectly legal and constitutional thing to do until the results of the election were certified by Congress
And he then tried to subvert that certification. Wriggle all you want. You are supporting a nasty, despicable, totalitarian theocrat. Just because he wears a suit rather than jackboots does not make him pleasant, honest or even likeable.
---
House Speaker Mike Johnson played a key role in efforts to overturn the 2020 election
"Well before he was elected House speaker, Rep. Mike Johnson, R-La., played a key role in efforts by then-President Donald Trump and his allies to overturn Joe Biden’s electoral victory in the 2020 election.
Johnson, who was the GOP caucus vice chair and is an ally of Trump, led the amicus brief signed by more than 100 House Republicans in support of a Texas lawsuit seeking to invalidate the 2020 election results in four swing states Biden won: Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
And he was legally and constitutionally entitled to do so, as it was lodged in December 2020 well before Biden's election was confirmed by Congress
Being epically pedantic, the election results were confirmed by the Electoral College meeting on December 14 2020, certified by the U.S. Congress on January 7, 2021, and Joe Biden was inaugurated on January 20, 2021.
This point was made by Dan Quayle to Mike Pence: Congress certifies the votes (that they have the right numbers, etc), not count them. If it was the latter, then Pence would have been within his rights to recount them
Yes and there was nothing unconstitutional about launching legal challenges to those state EC results until Congress certified the election, only at the latter point was the new President elected not before
Remind me again: when did Prince Charles become King Charles III?
On the death of his mother (15:10 BST 8 September 2022)
First speech via BBC (18:00 BST 9 September 2022)
When recognised by Accession Council (10:00 BST 10 September 2022)
When crowned in the Coronation (6 May 2023)
The UK is a different system. The King becomes King on the death of the previous monarch, affirmed by the accession council and with the ceremonial of the coronation.
The new US President however only gets that role once Congress has certified the presidential election result and he has been inaugrated in late January 2 months after the election
Apparently that long pause between election and inauguration in America is to allow the result to be communicated to the winning candidate and for the winner to travel to Washington, on horseback, from the deepest of deep south states.
A bit like the second amendment which was written when guns fired 1 round every 30 seconds, not 30 rounds a second.
No new ownership of full auto weapons has been permitted since the 80s so only criminals have them now.
Even then, the best mag fed full autos top out at about 900 rounds/min not 1800 rounds/min.
Top tip: Make your h9me Halloween Ready by simply never dusting. It will soon be festooned with spooky cobwebs, ready for the big day.
And good to see Mike back in the saddle.
Halloween really gets my back up. But children seem to absolutely love it. 2 hours of not being able to sit down for more than 2 minutes before another ring on the doorbell.
Thankfully tonight I'll be out at a choir rehearsal in Central London so my wife will be manning the sweetie box.
My kids are menacing a village 10 miles away with (different groups of) friends from school. I get to be dad taxi, sit in the warm Tesla watching the Hush episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer whilst wifey faffs with the door at home.
I mean, recycling (in the sense of using the right bins) is one of those "easy to do but questionably impactful" things - we know certain councils just have their recyclable waste sent overseas, depending on who they're contracted with, and other things (like not eating meat) have much bigger impacts. Also, I would argue that the systemic change that is needed is more called for by the young (in their activism and their votes) whereas older voters take the "personal responsibility" route.
Top tip: Make your h9me Halloween Ready by simply never dusting. It will soon be festooned with spooky cobwebs, ready for the big day.
And good to see Mike back in the saddle.
Halloween really gets my back up. But children seem to absolutely love it. 2 hours of not being able to sit down for more than 2 minutes before another ring on the doorbell.
Thankfully tonight I'll be out at a choir rehearsal in Central London so my wife will be manning the sweetie box.
My kids are menacing a village 10 miles away with (different groups of) friends from school. I get to be dad taxi, sit in the warm Tesla watching the Hush episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer whilst wifey faffs with the door at home.
Ah, Halloween. Perhaps my least favourite 'holiday'.
I thought 'Bah, humbug' was a Christmas tradition ?
If they still sell them, I suppose you could have a bowl ready to hand out. (Though in my role as PB H&S representative, I must point out that hard sweets can pose a choking risk.)
I particularly liked the part about rather being electrocuted than being eaten by a shark.
In contrast, I think Biden has been extremely Presidential in the way he has dealt with the Hamas crisis. It plays to his strengths and long experience but he has been measured, clear and not at all afraid of action (as shown by the air raids in Iraq and the interception of missiles in the Red Sea).
I think the multiplicity of law suits, the increasing risks to his wealth and indeed his liberty, is making Trump desperate. His fund raising is increasingly focused on paying for the plethora of lawyers he needs to deploy. Assumptions about him being the Republican nominee may well prove to be misplaced.
Rational Muslims probably have the second most, after Jews, to fear of Islamism
I think the problem is that islam is a political ideology in some parts as much as a religious one. I am afraid of radical islam for the same reason I am afraid of fascism, and for much the same reason. I've no such fear of Christians or Zoroastrians.
Where we in the west have made our bloomer, is in trying to be tolerant and diverse to all religions, which is admirable, without acknowledging the political aspects and tenents of radical Islam. What is happening at the moment is not about religion, it is about fascism. We believe fascism looks like Herr Flick in his dark uniform and leather coat. Unfortunately it takes other forms.
In a secular society then being tolerant and diverse to all religions is entirely reasonable, since if society is secular people can choose their own religion (or none) and it doesn't affect anyone else.
The clash of cultures comes when people oppose secularism and want their faith imposed by force as it is the "word of Yahweh/God/Allah/Buddha/FSM" himself.
Whether that be radical Islamists, radical Christians, radical Buddhist/Jews/Hindus/Vegans/whatever anyone who tries to impose their fundamentalism onto others is a problem.
The National Secular Society opposes religious schools and wants to close them all
Interesting you replied like that. Nobody mentioned state subsidy for religous sects' indoctrination of children till you did.
Now you mention it, about time we closed down all sectarian schooling on council tax or central government money.
You also one of the secular fundamentalists I see, denying religious parents (who are also taxpayers who fund state education) the right to choose the schools they want for their children
You're confusing education for everyone with indoctrination for every little religious sect. Because your demands only work if everyone gets their own little religious school at the cost of efficient education for everyone else. Anything else is simply unjust. Unless you think that only one, state approved, cult should be funded?
As opposed to you who wants 100% secular schools and to ban all faith schools, I am not proposing to ban secular schools just to allow religious parents the choice of faith schools if they wish
Top tip: Make your h9me Halloween Ready by simply never dusting. It will soon be festooned with spooky cobwebs, ready for the big day.
And good to see Mike back in the saddle.
Halloween really gets my back up. But children seem to absolutely love it. 2 hours of not being able to sit down for more than 2 minutes before another ring on the doorbell.
Thankfully tonight I'll be out at a choir rehearsal in Central London so my wife will be manning the sweetie box.
My kids are menacing a village 10 miles away with (different groups of) friends from school. I get to be dad taxi, sit in the warm Tesla watching the Hush episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer whilst wifey faffs with the door at home.
She actually likes Halloween. I despise it.
Take a tithe on the treats....
I think I have eaten enough sweets. I keep getting endless adverts for body shaping vest / pants on Facebook. And yes, I probably would benefit from them.
Chanelling Top Gear - GOOD NEWS !!! (Especially for people with asthma.)
ULEZ compliance in London is now above 95%: Not bad.
First data on @SadiqKhan's Ulez expansion: 🔴Londonwide zone raises up to £26m in first month in levies and fines 🟢95.2% of vehicles now comply with the exhaust emission rules 🟢 77,000 fewer non-compliant vehicles a day being driven in London, down 45% https://twitter.com/RossLydall/status/1719246092091392085
Detail:
Great to see this policy working so well. Kudos for Khan for sticking to his guns and delivering improved air quality to protect our children's lungs. A shame we don't have more politicians willing to take political flak for doing the right thing.
Top tip: Make your home Halloween Ready by simply never dusting. It will soon be festooned with spooky cobwebs, ready for the big day.
And good to see Mike back in the saddle.
I'm not sure this is in good taste, but I saw an effusive advert for one of the weirdest bicycle saddles I have ever seen this morning. Apparently it's going to transform the world of bicycles. Someone has a British sense of humour.
"A unique invention that has the potential to reshape the cycling industry." Anglia Ruskin University. Invented, developed, and tested in the UK, SaddleSpur™ has been designed to look as good as it feels. Whatever type of cyclist you are and whatever type of bike you use, you’ll find SaddleSpur™ to be a perfect fit."
https://www.politico.eu/article/future-warfare-400-army-strike-drone-unit-2m-tank/ ...A typical FPV weighs up to one kilogram, has four small engines, a battery, a frame and a camera connected wirelessly to goggles worn by a pilot operating it remotely. It can carry up to 2.5 kilograms of explosives and strike a target at a speed of up to 150 kilometers per hour, explains Pavlo Tsybenko, acting director of the Dronarium military academy outside Kyiv.
“This drone costs up to $400 and can be made anywhere. We made ours using microchips imported from China and details we bought on AliExpress. We made the carbon frame ourselves. And, yeah, the batteries are from Tesla. One car has like 1,100 batteries that can be used to power these little guys,” Tsybenko told POLITICO on a recent visit, showing the custom-made FPV drones used by the academy to train future drone pilots.
“It is almost impossible to shoot it down," he said. "Only a net can help. And I predict that soon we will have to put up such nets above our cities, or at least government buildings, all over Europe.”..
...“Only we and the Russians know how to do this — and we definitely did not teach them,” Andriy Cherniak, a representative of Ukraine’s Military Intelligence Directorate, told POLITICO.
Ruslan Belyaiev, head of the Dronarium military academy, shares that view. He warns that other militants will soon learn how to use FPV drones to sow terror.
“No one is immune from such attacks," said Belyaiev. "In theory, a specialist with my level of expertise could plan and execute an operation to liquidate the first persons of any European state ... Pandora's box is open.”..
It’s all been rather quiet in the media over the last few weeks, but there’s been a string of days of 1,000 losses for the enemy, alongside a dozen or more tanks and a hundred other vehicles. For how many days can they lose 10 MLRS, and still have any to field? Not that they’re a lot of good now that the defenders have ATACMS (Army TACtical Missile System, as I leaned a few months ago; and pronounced Attack’ems, as I learned a couple of weeks ago) with a massive range advantage, that will quickly push all of the Russian airfields and command posts back to what the Ukranians agree is Russia.
I mean, recycling (in the sense of using the right bins) is one of those "easy to do but questionably impactful" things - we know certain councils just have their recyclable waste sent overseas, depending on who they're contracted with, and other things (like not eating meat) have much bigger impacts. Also, I would argue that the systemic change that is needed is more called for by the young (in their activism and their votes) whereas older voters take the "personal responsibility" route.
The majority of people don't want systemic change. So, it makes sense to make a difference where you can. @Cyclefree has pointed out that one of the best things that anyone can do for the envrionment is gardening.
Top tip: Make your home Halloween Ready by simply never dusting. It will soon be festooned with spooky cobwebs, ready for the big day.
And good to see Mike back in the saddle.
I'm not sure this is in good taste, but I saw an effusive advert for one of the weirdest bicycle saddles I have ever seen this morning. Apparently it's going to transform the world of bicycles.
"A unique invention that has the potential to reshape the cycling industry." Anglia Ruskin University. Invented, developed, and tested in the UK, SaddleSpur™ has been designed to look as good as it feels. Whatever type of cyclist you are and whatever type of bike you use, you’ll find SaddleSpur™ to be a perfect fit."
https://www.politico.eu/article/future-warfare-400-army-strike-drone-unit-2m-tank/ ...A typical FPV weighs up to one kilogram, has four small engines, a battery, a frame and a camera connected wirelessly to goggles worn by a pilot operating it remotely. It can carry up to 2.5 kilograms of explosives and strike a target at a speed of up to 150 kilometers per hour, explains Pavlo Tsybenko, acting director of the Dronarium military academy outside Kyiv.
“This drone costs up to $400 and can be made anywhere. We made ours using microchips imported from China and details we bought on AliExpress. We made the carbon frame ourselves. And, yeah, the batteries are from Tesla. One car has like 1,100 batteries that can be used to power these little guys,” Tsybenko told POLITICO on a recent visit, showing the custom-made FPV drones used by the academy to train future drone pilots.
“It is almost impossible to shoot it down," he said. "Only a net can help. And I predict that soon we will have to put up such nets above our cities, or at least government buildings, all over Europe.”..
...“Only we and the Russians know how to do this — and we definitely did not teach them,” Andriy Cherniak, a representative of Ukraine’s Military Intelligence Directorate, told POLITICO.
Ruslan Belyaiev, head of the Dronarium military academy, shares that view. He warns that other militants will soon learn how to use FPV drones to sow terror.
“No one is immune from such attacks," said Belyaiev. "In theory, a specialist with my level of expertise could plan and execute an operation to liquidate the first persons of any European state ... Pandora's box is open.”..
Terrifying. I will be amazed if we get to the end of 2023 before the first terrorist attack by drone. It is going to change the way we all live.
It’s all been rather quiet in the media over the last few weeks, but there’s been a string of days of 1,000 losses for the enemy, alongside a dozen or more tanks and a hundred other vehicles. For how many days can they lose 10 MLRS, and still have any to field? Not that they’re a lot of good now that the defenders have ATACMS (Army TACtical Missile System, as I leaned a few months ago; and pronounced Attack’ems, as I learned a couple of weeks ago) with a massive range advantage, that will quickly push all of the Russian airfields and command posts back to what the Ukranians agree is Russia.
The Russian casualties look unsustainable but the Ukrainians have made no material advances in nearly 2 months. With the risk of ammunition being diverted to Israel the dreaded stalemate is looming.
Rational Muslims probably have the second most, after Jews, to fear of Islamism
I think the problem is that islam is a political ideology in some parts as much as a religious one. I am afraid of radical islam for the same reason I am afraid of fascism, and for much the same reason. I've no such fear of Christians or Zoroastrians.
Where we in the west have made our bloomer, is in trying to be tolerant and diverse to all religions, which is admirable, without acknowledging the political aspects and tenents of radical Islam. What is happening at the moment is not about religion, it is about fascism. We believe fascism looks like Herr Flick in his dark uniform and leather coat. Unfortunately it takes other forms.
In a secular society then being tolerant and diverse to all religions is entirely reasonable, since if society is secular people can choose their own religion (or none) and it doesn't affect anyone else.
The clash of cultures comes when people oppose secularism and want their faith imposed by force as it is the "word of Yahweh/God/Allah/Buddha/FSM" himself.
Whether that be radical Islamists, radical Christians, radical Buddhist/Jews/Hindus/Vegans/whatever anyone who tries to impose their fundamentalism onto others is a problem.
The National Secular Society opposes religious schools and wants to close them all
God doesn't exist.
How do you know?
Because if They existed, They would have solved the Mid East crisis decades ago.
"In professing to believe that it can expel the Jews from the river to the sea, Hamas has been selling a dream that has brought only tragedy and rubble. Once Hamas has been destroyed, the people of Gaza will only be able to flourish if they learn from all the other peoples who suffered large-scale population transfers in the later 1940s, and forswear revanchism."
"They must accept that back in the immediate post-Second World War period, many national groupings had to move en masse from the lands they had previously occupied, and happiness has only come to those who have been able to deal with it."
I suppose the Germans kicked out of the Sudetenland and elsewhere probably felt that, on some level, they had it coming, given German's behaviour before and during WW2. That probably made it easier to accept. It's hard to make the same argument for Palestinian Arabs. Of course the Israelis are going nowhere so it would be wise for the Palestinians to accept that, but I'm not sure the comparison to population movements in Europe is that compelling.
Apologies if already mentioned but on my X-twitter feed someone has posted pictures of Met officers tearing down posters of kidnapped Israelis. Apparently, the Met says it is "looking into the matter."
Flyposting is illegal.
Not to trivialise the situation but it would be interesting to see how dozens of fly posted posters of dead Palestinian kids would be treated by the authorities, not to mention how the outrage generators would react to their placement and cops removing them.
In various places, where I live, fly posting sites are covered, inches deep, in layers. Im sure I recall hearing that some academics did an archeology style "dig" though some London sites as part of a cultural study.
Anyway, various posters about Palestine, rallies for same, show up from time to time. Also flyposted on lamp posts etc. Can't recall much being done about them - they seem to last as long as the ads for music events. I think they are regarded as part of the urban landscape.
Top tip: Make your home Halloween Ready by simply never dusting. It will soon be festooned with spooky cobwebs, ready for the big day.
And good to see Mike back in the saddle.
I'm not sure this is in good taste, but I saw an effusive advert for one of the weirdest bicycle saddles I have ever seen this morning. Apparently it's going to transform the world of bicycles. Someone has a British sense of humour.
"A unique invention that has the potential to reshape the cycling industry." Anglia Ruskin University. Invented, developed, and tested in the UK, SaddleSpur™ has been designed to look as good as it feels. Whatever type of cyclist you are and whatever type of bike you use, you’ll find SaddleSpur™ to be a perfect fit."
Rational Muslims probably have the second most, after Jews, to fear of Islamism
I think the problem is that islam is a political ideology in some parts as much as a religious one. I am afraid of radical islam for the same reason I am afraid of fascism, and for much the same reason. I've no such fear of Christians or Zoroastrians.
Where we in the west have made our bloomer, is in trying to be tolerant and diverse to all religions, which is admirable, without acknowledging the political aspects and tenents of radical Islam. What is happening at the moment is not about religion, it is about fascism. We believe fascism looks like Herr Flick in his dark uniform and leather coat. Unfortunately it takes other forms.
In a secular society then being tolerant and diverse to all religions is entirely reasonable, since if society is secular people can choose their own religion (or none) and it doesn't affect anyone else.
The clash of cultures comes when people oppose secularism and want their faith imposed by force as it is the "word of Yahweh/God/Allah/Buddha/FSM" himself.
Whether that be radical Islamists, radical Christians, radical Buddhist/Jews/Hindus/Vegans/whatever anyone who tries to impose their fundamentalism onto others is a problem.
It will be interesting to see how it plays out in the USA. Apparently the new Speaker they elected is something of a fundamentalist himself.
He is a Southern Baptists but then that is the largest Protestant denomination in the USA, hardly on the fringes
He doesn’t believe in evolution. That’s a pretty fundamentalist view from a UK perspective.
Not for UK evangelicals it isn't
Every single one of the UK evangelicals I have met believe in evolution
80% of Baptists and Pentecostals in the UK reject the theory of evolution "Rejection of Darwinian Evolution Among Churchgoers in England: The Effects of Psychological Type on JSTOR" https://www.jstor.org/stable/24644037
Top tip: Make your home Halloween Ready by simply never dusting. It will soon be festooned with spooky cobwebs, ready for the big day.
And good to see Mike back in the saddle.
I'm not sure this is in good taste, but I saw an effusive advert for one of the weirdest bicycle saddles I have ever seen this morning. Apparently it's going to transform the world of bicycles. Someone has a British sense of humour.
"A unique invention that has the potential to reshape the cycling industry." Anglia Ruskin University. Invented, developed, and tested in the UK, SaddleSpur™ has been designed to look as good as it feels. Whatever type of cyclist you are and whatever type of bike you use, you’ll find SaddleSpur™ to be a perfect fit."
"In professing to believe that it can expel the Jews from the river to the sea, Hamas has been selling a dream that has brought only tragedy and rubble. Once Hamas has been destroyed, the people of Gaza will only be able to flourish if they learn from all the other peoples who suffered large-scale population transfers in the later 1940s, and forswear revanchism."
"They must accept that back in the immediate post-Second World War period, many national groupings had to move en masse from the lands they had previously occupied, and happiness has only come to those who have been able to deal with it."
After WWII, though, most of the displaced national groupings actually had somewhere to go to. All of the Germans expelled from what are now parts of Poland and Czechia were able to go to the remainder of Germany, where they were easily accepted. The Palestinians had nowhere to go to and were the victims of a war they didn't start. They have paid a terrible price for European guilt at the horrors inflicted on the Jews.
Top tip: Make your home Halloween Ready by simply never dusting. It will soon be festooned with spooky cobwebs, ready for the big day.
And good to see Mike back in the saddle.
I'm not sure this is in good taste, but I saw an effusive advert for one of the weirdest bicycle saddles I have ever seen this morning. Apparently it's going to transform the world of bicycles. Someone has a British sense of humour.
"A unique invention that has the potential to reshape the cycling industry." Anglia Ruskin University. Invented, developed, and tested in the UK, SaddleSpur™ has been designed to look as good as it feels. Whatever type of cyclist you are and whatever type of bike you use, you’ll find SaddleSpur™ to be a perfect fit."
Ah, Halloween. Perhaps my least favourite 'holiday'.
Round my way, the bigger houses seem to be rented to quite a few ex-pats. Some Americans bought in the trick or treat thing in a big way - but a very tidy, pleasant version. Each house seems to compete to come up with the most artistic make over for the day.
The best was a coupe of years back - they were having building works done - so as part of their elaborate effort, a graveyard was done in the wreck of the front garden. On the scaffolding, they'd stretched a white sheet and back projected clips from Nosferatu and the other ancient black and white horror films, rather well cut together.
The kids seem well behaved and happy. It's become a genuine community event - lots of people meeting up as they go round with the kids, chasing and getting to know each other.
"In professing to believe that it can expel the Jews from the river to the sea, Hamas has been selling a dream that has brought only tragedy and rubble. Once Hamas has been destroyed, the people of Gaza will only be able to flourish if they learn from all the other peoples who suffered large-scale population transfers in the later 1940s, and forswear revanchism."
"They must accept that back in the immediate post-Second World War period, many national groupings had to move en masse from the lands they had previously occupied, and happiness has only come to those who have been able to deal with it."
After WWII, though, most of the displaced national groupings actually had somewhere to go to. All of the Germans expelled from what are now parts of Poland and Czechia were able to go to the remainder of Germany, where they were easily accepted. The Palestinians had nowhere to go to and were the victims of a war they didn't start. They have paid a terrible price for European guilt at the horrors inflicted on the Jews.
They've paid a terrible price for the decisions take by their own leaders, and neighbouring Arab governments.
Rational Muslims probably have the second most, after Jews, to fear of Islamism
I think the problem is that islam is a political ideology in some parts as much as a religious one. I am afraid of radical islam for the same reason I am afraid of fascism, and for much the same reason. I've no such fear of Christians or Zoroastrians.
Where we in the west have made our bloomer, is in trying to be tolerant and diverse to all religions, which is admirable, without acknowledging the political aspects and tenents of radical Islam. What is happening at the moment is not about religion, it is about fascism. We believe fascism looks like Herr Flick in his dark uniform and leather coat. Unfortunately it takes other forms.
In a secular society then being tolerant and diverse to all religions is entirely reasonable, since if society is secular people can choose their own religion (or none) and it doesn't affect anyone else.
The clash of cultures comes when people oppose secularism and want their faith imposed by force as it is the "word of Yahweh/God/Allah/Buddha/FSM" himself.
Whether that be radical Islamists, radical Christians, radical Buddhist/Jews/Hindus/Vegans/whatever anyone who tries to impose their fundamentalism onto others is a problem.
It will be interesting to see how it plays out in the USA. Apparently the new Speaker they elected is something of a fundamentalist himself.
He is a Southern Baptists but then that is the largest Protestant denomination in the USA, hardly on the fringes
He doesn’t believe in evolution. That’s a pretty fundamentalist view from a UK perspective.
Not for UK evangelicals it isn't
Every single one of the UK evangelicals I have met believe in evolution
In the UK creationism as observed in the USA South is a minority viewpoint amongst evangelicals - you will usually find the dogma amongst the groups known as "Reformed" (usually Calvinists) or some Pentecostalists.
Many more mainstream evangelicals will take a more rational tack of accepting evolution, whilst asserting that God is in the background somewhere, and avoiding a wholly eg literalist view of Genesis. There are various theological narratives along those lines.
It's quite ironic that the view of Genesis as basically historical narrative is a child of viewing religion through a rationalist / modernist lens, and attempts to treat the Bible as the type of literature it is not - whilst asserting that it is a return to the "roots".
Top tip: Make your home Halloween Ready by simply never dusting. It will soon be festooned with spooky cobwebs, ready for the big day.
And good to see Mike back in the saddle.
I'm not sure this is in good taste, but I saw an effusive advert for one of the weirdest bicycle saddles I have ever seen this morning. Apparently it's going to transform the world of bicycles. Someone has a British sense of humour.
"A unique invention that has the potential to reshape the cycling industry." Anglia Ruskin University. Invented, developed, and tested in the UK, SaddleSpur™ has been designed to look as good as it feels. Whatever type of cyclist you are and whatever type of bike you use, you’ll find SaddleSpur™ to be a perfect fit."
Top tip: Make your home Halloween Ready by simply never dusting. It will soon be festooned with spooky cobwebs, ready for the big day.
And good to see Mike back in the saddle.
I'm not sure this is in good taste, but I saw an effusive advert for one of the weirdest bicycle saddles I have ever seen this morning. Apparently it's going to transform the world of bicycles. Someone has a British sense of humour.
"A unique invention that has the potential to reshape the cycling industry." Anglia Ruskin University. Invented, developed, and tested in the UK, SaddleSpur™ has been designed to look as good as it feels. Whatever type of cyclist you are and whatever type of bike you use, you’ll find SaddleSpur™ to be a perfect fit."
I mean, recycling (in the sense of using the right bins) is one of those "easy to do but questionably impactful" things - we know certain councils just have their recyclable waste sent overseas, depending on who they're contracted with, and other things (like not eating meat) have much bigger impacts. Also, I would argue that the systemic change that is needed is more called for by the young (in their activism and their votes) whereas older voters take the "personal responsibility" route.
I was staggered, when I went to Reading to see Metallica play, a couple of years back, at the amount of rubbish ground into the ground.
The people running festivals are gouging scumbags. But, they had provided tons of bins, there were people with rubbish pickers wandering round and they were giving out free rubbish bags. They had a continuous rota of mini electric rubbish cart vehicles going round and emptying the bins. They had definitely made an effort.
Yet the ground was layered in ground in plastic and other material. To use it as farm land again, you'd need to scrape and sieve the topsoil.
Rational Muslims probably have the second most, after Jews, to fear of Islamism
I think the problem is that islam is a political ideology in some parts as much as a religious one. I am afraid of radical islam for the same reason I am afraid of fascism, and for much the same reason. I've no such fear of Christians or Zoroastrians.
Where we in the west have made our bloomer, is in trying to be tolerant and diverse to all religions, which is admirable, without acknowledging the political aspects and tenents of radical Islam. What is happening at the moment is not about religion, it is about fascism. We believe fascism looks like Herr Flick in his dark uniform and leather coat. Unfortunately it takes other forms.
In a secular society then being tolerant and diverse to all religions is entirely reasonable, since if society is secular people can choose their own religion (or none) and it doesn't affect anyone else.
The clash of cultures comes when people oppose secularism and want their faith imposed by force as it is the "word of Yahweh/God/Allah/Buddha/FSM" himself.
Whether that be radical Islamists, radical Christians, radical Buddhist/Jews/Hindus/Vegans/whatever anyone who tries to impose their fundamentalism onto others is a problem.
It will be interesting to see how it plays out in the USA. Apparently the new Speaker they elected is something of a fundamentalist himself.
He is a Southern Baptists but then that is the largest Protestant denomination in the USA, hardly on the fringes
He doesn’t believe in evolution. That’s a pretty fundamentalist view from a UK perspective.
Not for UK evangelicals it isn't
Every single one of the UK evangelicals I have met believe in evolution
80% of Baptists and Pentecostals in the UK reject the theory of evolution "Rejection of Darwinian Evolution Among Churchgoers in England: The Effects of Psychological Type on JSTOR" https://www.jstor.org/stable/24644037
I remember attending a debate at uni where Peter Hitchens was in attendance and, once off the topic of the debate, someone asked him if he believed in evolution - he got really angry and basically said it was an unproven theory that is as much faith as religion... So creationism is found in very strange places.
Rational Muslims probably have the second most, after Jews, to fear of Islamism
I think the problem is that islam is a political ideology in some parts as much as a religious one. I am afraid of radical islam for the same reason I am afraid of fascism, and for much the same reason. I've no such fear of Christians or Zoroastrians.
Where we in the west have made our bloomer, is in trying to be tolerant and diverse to all religions, which is admirable, without acknowledging the political aspects and tenents of radical Islam. What is happening at the moment is not about religion, it is about fascism. We believe fascism looks like Herr Flick in his dark uniform and leather coat. Unfortunately it takes other forms.
In a secular society then being tolerant and diverse to all religions is entirely reasonable, since if society is secular people can choose their own religion (or none) and it doesn't affect anyone else.
The clash of cultures comes when people oppose secularism and want their faith imposed by force as it is the "word of Yahweh/God/Allah/Buddha/FSM" himself.
Whether that be radical Islamists, radical Christians, radical Buddhist/Jews/Hindus/Vegans/whatever anyone who tries to impose their fundamentalism onto others is a problem.
It will be interesting to see how it plays out in the USA. Apparently the new Speaker they elected is something of a fundamentalist himself.
He is a Southern Baptists but then that is the largest Protestant denomination in the USA, hardly on the fringes
He doesn’t believe in evolution. That’s a pretty fundamentalist view from a UK perspective.
Not for UK evangelicals it isn't
Every single one of the UK evangelicals I have met believe in evolution
80% of Baptists and Pentecostals in the UK reject the theory of evolution "Rejection of Darwinian Evolution Among Churchgoers in England: The Effects of Psychological Type on JSTOR" https://www.jstor.org/stable/24644037
At risk of appearing culturally insensitive, where were these people educated? If abroad, anything is possible. If here, it is possible they gave up biology before being taught evolution. It is worrying because at one level evolution is common sense, part of the zeitgeist almost, like splitting the atom, but I doubt many sceptics know the details of what they reject. Does it matter? Hmm.
Off topic: I stepped onto the bathroom scales this morning, and for the first time in at least 20 years I weigh under 13 stone. Yay!
Maybe I should buy a cake to celebrate?
Why stop at one? Congratulations. I am trying to get under 15 stone.
Perhaps a product of my generation, but I'd need to look that up to have any idea whether that's heavy or not.
Ah, ~83kg and ~95kg respectively. Funny, I know my height in feet (and cm) and waist in both (well, inches rather than feet) but I've never really known my weight (~80kg) in stone.
It’s all been rather quiet in the media over the last few weeks, but there’s been a string of days of 1,000 losses for the enemy, alongside a dozen or more tanks and a hundred other vehicles. For how many days can they lose 10 MLRS, and still have any to field? Not that they’re a lot of good now that the defenders have ATACMS (Army TACtical Missile System, as I leaned a few months ago; and pronounced Attack’ems, as I learned a couple of weeks ago) with a massive range advantage, that will quickly push all of the Russian airfields and command posts back to what the Ukranians agree is Russia.
The Russian casualties look unsustainable but the Ukrainians have made no material advances in nearly 2 months. With the risk of ammunition being diverted to Israel the dreaded stalemate is looming.
AFU has captured Krynky recently & Russia makes some advances toward the Coke plant in Avdeesky. The moves are indeed small beer compared to the overall picture - but Ukraine's bridgehead on the left bank of the Dnipro is useful to them.
"In professing to believe that it can expel the Jews from the river to the sea, Hamas has been selling a dream that has brought only tragedy and rubble. Once Hamas has been destroyed, the people of Gaza will only be able to flourish if they learn from all the other peoples who suffered large-scale population transfers in the later 1940s, and forswear revanchism."
"They must accept that back in the immediate post-Second World War period, many national groupings had to move en masse from the lands they had previously occupied, and happiness has only come to those who have been able to deal with it."
After WWII, though, most of the displaced national groupings actually had somewhere to go to. All of the Germans expelled from what are now parts of Poland and Czechia were able to go to the remainder of Germany, where they were easily accepted. The Palestinians had nowhere to go to and were the victims of a war they didn't start. They have paid a terrible price for European guilt at the horrors inflicted on the Jews.
They've paid a terrible price for the decisions take by their own leaders, and neighbouring Arab governments.
How many Arabs alive today were alive in 1947, let alone responsible for those decisions?
https://www.politico.eu/article/future-warfare-400-army-strike-drone-unit-2m-tank/ ...A typical FPV weighs up to one kilogram, has four small engines, a battery, a frame and a camera connected wirelessly to goggles worn by a pilot operating it remotely. It can carry up to 2.5 kilograms of explosives and strike a target at a speed of up to 150 kilometers per hour, explains Pavlo Tsybenko, acting director of the Dronarium military academy outside Kyiv.
“This drone costs up to $400 and can be made anywhere. We made ours using microchips imported from China and details we bought on AliExpress. We made the carbon frame ourselves. And, yeah, the batteries are from Tesla. One car has like 1,100 batteries that can be used to power these little guys,” Tsybenko told POLITICO on a recent visit, showing the custom-made FPV drones used by the academy to train future drone pilots.
“It is almost impossible to shoot it down," he said. "Only a net can help. And I predict that soon we will have to put up such nets above our cities, or at least government buildings, all over Europe.”..
...“Only we and the Russians know how to do this — and we definitely did not teach them,” Andriy Cherniak, a representative of Ukraine’s Military Intelligence Directorate, told POLITICO.
Ruslan Belyaiev, head of the Dronarium military academy, shares that view. He warns that other militants will soon learn how to use FPV drones to sow terror.
“No one is immune from such attacks," said Belyaiev. "In theory, a specialist with my level of expertise could plan and execute an operation to liquidate the first persons of any European state ... Pandora's box is open.”..
Terrifying. I will be amazed if we get to the end of 2023 before the first terrorist attack by drone. It is going to change the way we all live.
Indeed. The best protection we have is the incompetence of the loonies. Anyone else remember the NHS doctors who thought that a car full of cans of petrol and some road flares would Jerry Bruckenheimer city blocks? One of them end up getting a shoeing by a Glasgow cab driver IIRC.
having not managed to sell very many (AAA guns were out of fashion) - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marksman_anti-aircraft_system - this would be one hell of a business opportunity, since the Gerard is so long out of production. IIRC they mothballed the ability to build more Marksman turrets.
Rational Muslims probably have the second most, after Jews, to fear of Islamism
I think the problem is that islam is a political ideology in some parts as much as a religious one. I am afraid of radical islam for the same reason I am afraid of fascism, and for much the same reason. I've no such fear of Christians or Zoroastrians.
Where we in the west have made our bloomer, is in trying to be tolerant and diverse to all religions, which is admirable, without acknowledging the political aspects and tenents of radical Islam. What is happening at the moment is not about religion, it is about fascism. We believe fascism looks like Herr Flick in his dark uniform and leather coat. Unfortunately it takes other forms.
In a secular society then being tolerant and diverse to all religions is entirely reasonable, since if society is secular people can choose their own religion (or none) and it doesn't affect anyone else.
The clash of cultures comes when people oppose secularism and want their faith imposed by force as it is the "word of Yahweh/God/Allah/Buddha/FSM" himself.
Whether that be radical Islamists, radical Christians, radical Buddhist/Jews/Hindus/Vegans/whatever anyone who tries to impose their fundamentalism onto others is a problem.
It will be interesting to see how it plays out in the USA. Apparently the new Speaker they elected is something of a fundamentalist himself.
He is a Southern Baptists but then that is the largest Protestant denomination in the USA, hardly on the fringes
He doesn’t believe in evolution. That’s a pretty fundamentalist view from a UK perspective.
Not for UK evangelicals it isn't
Every single one of the UK evangelicals I have met believe in evolution
80% of Baptists and Pentecostals in the UK reject the theory of evolution "Rejection of Darwinian Evolution Among Churchgoers in England: The Effects of Psychological Type on JSTOR" https://www.jstor.org/stable/24644037
I remember attending a debate at uni where Peter Hitchens was in attendance and, once off the topic of the debate, someone asked him if he believed in evolution - he got really angry and basically said it was an unproven theory that is as much faith as religion... So creationism is found in very strange places.
I always find the 'believe in' idea for science odd.
I don't believe in evolution. I find it the most convincing theory of the development of life, but I'm quite open to alternatives. I don't believe in the big bang - I find it an interesting theory that explains much but also leaves a lot of questions. I don't believe in gravity - I don't need to, it's demonstrable.
Belief in things is, for me, reserved for things like religion or other more abstract/moral concepts.
Comments
However, in practice that would happen very rarely. That's a huge burden to place on a small charity, academy chains would just take the money, and most parents who chose religious schools are happy with the arrangement anyway.
I'm not Israeli, so don't get a say in their choices. I can appreciate they have special circumstances, like Vatican City.
In any case, if you are less exercised about:
1) her decision to put inspectors in rooms alone with vulnerable children without having safeguarding checks or basic training, or
2) prewriting reports to force perfectly good schools to academise, or
3) putting in place an inspection framework that if followed correctly makes it impossible for 25% of children to learn to read
than about trying to avoid unavoidable school closures - to reiterate, despite the lies often told, Sweden *did* shut schools - your opinion isn't worth much.
Edit - to be fair, that's rather off the point. The issue (and this really does need to be rammed home) is Sweden didn't keep some of their schools open out of a desire to avoid damage to learning, or because they thought it would make no difference to the virus, but because of administrative procedures.
The issue is it did cause the much wider spread of Covid, particularly among teachers, and it did put a major strain on the educational system. Less than it did in this country when we tried to keep schools open in December, because of their smaller class sizes, but still significant.
The issue in this country was that due to the ineptitude of the government and its advisers, most of whom are very stupid and all of whom are profoundly ignorant of educational matters we didn't take measures that might have mitigated school closures - e.g. blended learning where you have two weeks on and one off - and a chaotic system where every teacher was supposed to set and mark two lessons for every child - one if they were in, and one if they were not.
The result was utter meltdown and the bankruptcy of the school system. Which has actually been considerably more damaging to the education system in the long term than the lockdowns, which were hardly ideal.
Extremists on each side need each other to justify their own extremism. The other lot are psychopathic murderers so even if you don't like us, you need us to keep you safe.
Together with:
21 tanks
29 armoured fighting vehicles
25 artillery
10 MLRS
A government that clearly wanted to minimise restrictions, wanted normality, ended up having to apply longer, stricter, more harmful lockdowns than many other comparable places.
https://ourworldindata.org/covid-stringency-index
Moral: wanting something, having the right desires, is less important than competence in the face of unpleasant reality.
There's a fair bit Sweden got wrong. Their outcomes were a fair bit worse than other Scandi nations, and they badly overestimated how long it would take to get a vaccine ready. But stable rules (as opposed to the UK's full on accelerator/brake approach) was right.
If only we’d known that the 4752 times you’ve had a say on Israel’s choices.
https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2023/10/windows-ce-microsofts-stunted-middle-child-reaches-end-of-support-at-26-years/
(I had to work with an early version of WinCE, trying to build a stack on top of it. It was an interesting experience. I heard to got better later, but too little, too late.)
The point is that the attitude of religious parliamentarians is more important than how they got there. Anglicans in general, and bishops in the Lords in particular, are pretty good at saying "we're here to help if you need us". Elected religious types, especially if they are a minority exploiting a balance of power situation, are much more of a problem.
Yesterday morning I ready the appalling Andy Macdonald comments and found myself agreeing with Simon Clarke (ewwww).
This morning I read Twitter and @SouthamObserver tells me that I missed Andy Mac getting the whip removed. Huzzah!
Can more crankie morons remove themselves in this manner? Would be great for renewing our politics. Tory Morons to be removed in large numbers, a few Labour crankies are getting the ban hammer - need more.
One thing that is often conflated and confused is societal and economic damage from the restrictions, and damage from the pandemic itself. The alternative to restrictions was not normality. That option disappeared when the virus arrived.
At the Medical School we are struggling with a substantial part of the student cohort admitted under Covid. There are real problems across all the domains of Knowledge, Skills and Attitudes. The problems are real and will take a lot of fixing or departures, but running a Medical School Programme normally in the middle of a health crisis was not a possibility.
In the same way the D-Day landings were a bridgehead
If it's Trump, we're going to need a bigger horse.
The most important video on the internet!
This is a breathtaking moment that occurred in the UN.
Now more than ever, we need to remember the ethnic cleansing of the historic Jewish communities of the Middle East and North Africa.
Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Lebanon, Iraq, Syria, and Yemen:
Where are your Jews?
There’s a much larger story here… there always has been… and there always will be.
https://x.com/ReichmanShmuel/status/1719114876663033874?s=20
Secondly, this may be of interest to people on China's research capabilities:
https://clarivate2023indexrb.q4web.com/news-events/press-releases/news-details/2023/Clarivate-Report-Reveals-China-Challenging-U.S.-Research-Dominance-Signaling-Future-Research-Ambitions/default.aspx
Scooped by Foxy! I've a vague memory of an episode of The Bill some decades back.
As for the fly-posters it is indeed illegal hence I have no problem with them being taken down one way or another. In the current environment I can also see how they could be seen as destabilising the "mood" of the nation.
The “Bill stickers will be prosecuted!” posters used to be quite common in the 50s, frequently with the quoted graffiti.
Didn’t seem to make a lot of difference, particularly at election time!
Perhaps they unaccountably didn't want to live perfectly freely in those places just as second class citizens subject to different rules from the indigenous populations.
Edit: The World Jewish Council says it was forced migration. Well they would say that wouldn't they.
https://www.worldjewishcongress.org/en/news/the-expulsion-of-jews-from-arab-countries-and-iran--an-untold-history
In the aftermath of the defeats in 48, 67, 73 and others conflicts with Israeli there were mass expulsions. Not just in the countries fighting with Israel. Complete with stealing all their possessions etc.
I can recall a furore over the welcoming back of “Black Jews” from Ethiopia.
Edit. Corrected due to dodgy dictation facility
"In professing to believe that it can expel the Jews from the river to the sea, Hamas has been selling a dream that has brought only tragedy and rubble. Once Hamas has been destroyed, the people of Gaza will only be able to flourish if they learn from all the other peoples who suffered large-scale population transfers in the later 1940s, and forswear revanchism."
"They must accept that back in the immediate post-Second World War period, many national groupings had to move en masse from the lands they had previously occupied, and happiness has only come to those who have been able to deal with it."
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/10/30/palestinians-israel-history-grievance-future-forget/
You used to be able to buy very intricate old silver and coral Jewish jewelry in the markets in Sana'a. I have a museum-quality piece myself. (The pieces in gold were melted down.)
However, the primary reason why they left was hostility from the Arab rulers and / or as the colonial powers departed, the Jews felt less protected. The "historians" you refer to who claim Israel encouraged anti-semitism in Arab lands are more on the David Irving spectrum, if not nowhere near as bad.
Hoping you are recovering rapidly.
Described it as a "very difficult" offer
Young people cannot be bothered to save the planet and are leaving it to the oldies.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/d916c17e-76aa-11ee-8195-f4db79f3b3e3?shareToken=24dd928410203ed15ee6b3844e8a5182
allegedly
I think my favourite Andy Mac memory was a dinner where he was sat a few seats away from me when he was Shadow Transport Secretary. His response to various train issues which were hot news at the time was that they should be renationalised. I pointed out that the train company had already been renationalised and that the specific issues he was mentioning were the fault of Network Rail which had already been renationalised. He seemed displeased...
The position should be the same as demanded of Germany in 1945. Unconditional surrender - initially of the hostages, then of themselves.
In Syria, for example, a whole genre of propaganda was created - all the defeats were down to Jewish saboteurs and their paid helpers. “Only Strong Government can Save! the! Country! from being conquered.”
Hilariously, a number of historians reckon that this demonisation of Jews and Israel contributed to collapsed in the Syrian Army in 67 and 73 - the propaganda had spread to army commanders who, at the first reverses, thought “we are betrayed by Jewish spies” and ran. They seriously thought that Israel would conquer the whole country….
Chanelling Top Gear - GOOD NEWS !!! (Especially for people with asthma.)
ULEZ compliance in London is now above 95%: Not bad.
First data on @SadiqKhan's Ulez expansion:
🔴Londonwide zone raises up to £26m in first month in levies and fines
🟢95.2% of vehicles now comply with the exhaust emission rules
🟢 77,000 fewer non-compliant vehicles a day being driven in London, down 45%
https://twitter.com/RossLydall/status/1719246092091392085
Detail:
Top tip: Make your h9me Halloween Ready by simply never dusting. It will soon be festooned with spooky cobwebs, ready for the big day.
And good to see Mike back in the saddle.
Thankfully tonight I'll be out at a choir rehearsal in Central London so my wife will be manning the sweetie box.
Even then, the best mag fed full autos top out at about 900 rounds/min not 1800 rounds/min.
She actually likes Halloween. I despise it.
If they still sell them, I suppose you could have a bowl ready to hand out.
(Though in my role as PB H&S representative, I must point out that hard sweets can pose a choking risk.)
I particularly liked the part about rather being electrocuted than being eaten by a shark.
In contrast, I think Biden has been extremely Presidential in the way he has dealt with the Hamas crisis. It plays to his strengths and long experience but he has been measured, clear and not at all afraid of action (as shown by the air raids in Iraq and the interception of missiles in the Red Sea).
I think the multiplicity of law suits, the increasing risks to his wealth and indeed his liberty, is making Trump desperate. His fund raising is increasingly focused on paying for the plethora of lawyers he needs to deploy. Assumptions about him being the Republican nominee may well prove to be misplaced.
I did wonder about wearing a suitable outfit for my jury speech this morning but decided I look daft enough already.
Maybe I should buy a cake to celebrate?
I'm not that fond of Christmas either, to be honest. Easter is clearly the best holiday.
"A unique invention that has the potential to reshape the cycling industry." Anglia Ruskin University.
Invented, developed, and tested in the UK, SaddleSpur™ has been designed to look as good as it feels. Whatever type of cyclist you are and whatever type of bike you use, you’ll find SaddleSpur™ to be a perfect fit."
https://www.saddlespur.com/
https://www.politico.eu/article/future-warfare-400-army-strike-drone-unit-2m-tank/
...A typical FPV weighs up to one kilogram, has four small engines, a battery, a frame and a camera connected wirelessly to goggles worn by a pilot operating it remotely. It can carry up to 2.5 kilograms of explosives and strike a target at a speed of up to 150 kilometers per hour, explains Pavlo Tsybenko, acting director of the Dronarium military academy outside Kyiv.
“This drone costs up to $400 and can be made anywhere. We made ours using microchips imported from China and details we bought on AliExpress. We made the carbon frame ourselves. And, yeah, the batteries are from Tesla. One car has like 1,100 batteries that can be used to power these little guys,” Tsybenko told POLITICO on a recent visit, showing the custom-made FPV drones used by the academy to train future drone pilots.
“It is almost impossible to shoot it down," he said. "Only a net can help. And I predict that soon we will have to put up such nets above our cities, or at least government buildings, all over Europe.”..
...“Only we and the Russians know how to do this — and we definitely did not teach them,” Andriy Cherniak, a representative of Ukraine’s Military Intelligence Directorate, told POLITICO.
Ruslan Belyaiev, head of the Dronarium military academy, shares that view. He warns that other militants will soon learn how to use FPV drones to sow terror.
“No one is immune from such attacks," said Belyaiev. "In theory, a specialist with my level of expertise could plan and execute an operation to liquidate the first persons of any European state ... Pandora's box is open.”..
Congratulations. I am trying to get under 15 stone.
And welcome back to @MikeSmithson
Anyway, various posters about Palestine, rallies for same, show up from time to time. Also flyposted on lamp posts etc. Can't recall much being done about them - they seem to last as long as the ads for music events. I think they are regarded as part of the urban landscape.
"Rejection of Darwinian Evolution Among Churchgoers in England: The Effects of Psychological Type on JSTOR" https://www.jstor.org/stable/24644037
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raleigh_Chopper
The best was a coupe of years back - they were having building works done - so as part of their elaborate effort, a graveyard was done in the wreck of the front garden. On the scaffolding, they'd stretched a white sheet and back projected clips from Nosferatu and the other ancient black and white horror films, rather well cut together.
The kids seem well behaved and happy. It's become a genuine community event - lots of people meeting up as they go round with the kids, chasing and getting to know each other.
Many more mainstream evangelicals will take a more rational tack of accepting evolution, whilst asserting that God is in the background somewhere, and avoiding a wholly eg literalist view of Genesis. There are various theological narratives along those lines.
It's quite ironic that the view of Genesis as basically historical narrative is a child of viewing religion through a rationalist / modernist lens, and attempts to treat the Bible as the type of literature it is not - whilst asserting that it is a return to the "roots".
The people running festivals are gouging scumbags. But, they had provided tons of bins, there were people with rubbish pickers wandering round and they were giving out free rubbish bags. They had a continuous rota of mini electric rubbish cart vehicles going round and emptying the bins. They had definitely made an effort.
Yet the ground was layered in ground in plastic and other material. To use it as farm land again, you'd need to scrape and sieve the topsoil.
Ah, ~83kg and ~95kg respectively. Funny, I know my height in feet (and cm) and waist in both (well, inches rather than feet) but I've never really known my weight (~80kg) in stone.
having not managed to sell very many (AAA guns were out of fashion) - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marksman_anti-aircraft_system - this would be one hell of a business opportunity, since the Gerard is so long out of production. IIRC they mothballed the ability to build more Marksman turrets.
I don't believe in evolution. I find it the most convincing theory of the development of life, but I'm quite open to alternatives. I don't believe in the big bang - I find it an interesting theory that explains much but also leaves a lot of questions. I don't believe in gravity - I don't need to, it's demonstrable.
Belief in things is, for me, reserved for things like religion or other more abstract/moral concepts.