Author: telboy2

From one of my favourite blogs

Gongs for the boys — again

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Looking at David Cameron’s ‘resignation honours’ list of people given peerages, knighthoods and other gongs either for doing their (often well-paid) jobs or for giving money to the Tories reminds me of a conversation I had recently with a friend who is a Life Peer. He is an eminent, decent, intelligent and thoroughly honourable person. I asked him how it felt being a Lord. He thought for a moment and then replied: “It’s a privilege but it’s no longer an honour, given some of the other people who now get peerages.”

Sums it up, really. Also, recall that we recently had a vote to leave the EU because we didn’t want to be governed by ‘unelected’ bureaucrats in Brussels. We are apparently still content to be governed by unelected political donors in London, though.

Source: Gongs for the boys — again | Memex 1.1

 

Donald Trump is in the news

Trump is the Republic party candidate for the presidential election in November. His campaign has been tracked with ongoing disbelief from the outset. He continues to confuse and shock the world but maybe not his intended audience with his words. Here is a neat description of him by Rupert Cornwall in the Independent:

Before he entered the race, he was merely the flashy, ever-bragging entrepreneur, with a knack for TV. Now we know Trump the politician. He’s shown himself to be incapable of self-discipline for more than five minutes. His relationship with the truth is next to non-existent.

He’s got an incredibly thin skin. He never lets an insult go unreturned. He lacks uttterly that vital political skill of sometimes turning the other cheek. And, even though he’s hopelessly ignorant on policy matters, he seems unwilling to listen to advisers, convinced that he himself is the source of ultimate wisdom on all matters.

International Film Festival

The NZIFF has started. Yet again it will be a long run to the finish line for us. So far I have been to three films and Sara four, over the first weekend.

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The 5th Eye is a doco made in NZ and this showing was it s world premier (a little less grand that it may imply). It tells the story of the perpetrators of the damage to the spy station in Blenheim by the “Waihopai Three” in parallel with a broader coverage of the surveillance in New Zealand, how it was done illegally, the law was changed without popular support to give more power to the national spy agencies, while John Key was, as ever, sucking up to the Americans. All this allowing more spying on Kiwis and support for the US government’s international terror actions. An important topic but the documentary was too ling, insufficiently focused and its techniques did not work as well as hoped.

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I, Daniel Blake follows the misery of having to use the UK benefits system and I am sure has echoes of how other national systems work against individuals too. A Ken Loach film. A worthwhile one to watch and shows how badly the system treats people both those accessing it and those working in it.

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And into the foreign experience A Country of Mine   that recounts how German POWs at the end of WW2 are forced to remove mines from the Danish beaches. No one comes out well from war. the essentially boy soldiers at teh end of the war pay the price for the actions of their country and superiors. Are they responsible? Who can blame the danes for getting the perpetrators to clear up the mess rather than risk their own lives again after five years of occupation?

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No one looks good. I am sure that is part of the reason for doing the film. A good one to see.

 

How much more can France take before it spirals into hatred?

From the Independentnice-attack-23

Why has France become such a persistent target for jihadist assault? There is a temptation, both inside and outside the country to suggest that France, and successive French governments, may be partly to blame. This hides a darker reality. The truck attack which slaughtered 84 people in Nice was the third mass killing in France in 17 months. There have also been a cluster of other, “smaller” incidents which were broadly jihadist in nature.

Source: How much more can France take before it spirals into hatred?

On the evening of Bastille day celebrations a driver of a trunk mowed down and killed 84 people with more in a sever state. Violence and the apparent Jihadist threat remains.

The reaction of the French government is more of the same. The state of emergency has been extended and more aeroplanes have been sent to bomb Syria some more. This was after the day before Francois Hollande had announced that the state of emergency would end by the end of July. So a reflex reaction for which there is some discussion regarding the effectiveness of this approach.

From the Guardian:

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There has been an admission from the prime minister of France that terrorism is here to stay and if I understand correctly that there are no simple solutions.

The Guardian gives a potted reasoning for why France is so targeted. Some of the explanation relates to local French problems and social exclusion. A more appropriate approach to find solutions?

 

Silver Wedding

Today marks 25 years of marriage. A remarkable thing to write really.

Memories of the M4, St. Margaret’s Road Southall and the trip to New York and New England.

The big celebration is the long trip to Canada in August plus the week long weekend to the ‘Rap” in two weeks.

Tonight we went to Boulcott Bistro for dinner. A nice evening- Sara chose better than me.

A bouquet of flowers sent to work too- so many things this time!

Conversation with a Brexiter

Via Whatsapp I had a conversation with MM today. He voted out and is pleased with the result.

His argument is that the EU is a failed programme and it is better to take your chance, leave and be optimistic regarding the outcome. Struck me as happy to gamble. Well for some people, who are in a good state in life and so are resilient to the potential adverse outcomes of the gamble that is likely to be OK. However all things are not equal in the UK and there are plenty of people who are already struggling, who were sucked into voting out, who do not have the resilience for when things turn out badly and are more likely to be on the end of the adverse effects anyway.

So there is a group of Brexiters who are happy to follow their doctrine because they are safe if things turn out badly. Reminds me of Peter Q in years gone by who was happy with the prospect of the socialist state even if quality of life was impaired by the change.

There is no plan, risks are not important,only opportunity and I’m ok Jack.