Uncategorized

by

It Was Alright In The 1970s

Cecil Rhodes said: “To be born English is to win first prize in the lottery of life.” This is often seen as an expression of gloating triumphalism: but I would rather view it as a precursor of a well-known arachnid-related character’s catchphrase: “With great power comes great responsibility”.
So I was very depressed to see the harmless telly of the 1970s disembowelled by the sneers and exaggerated shock of a bunch of young whippersnappers in ‘It Was Alright In The 1970s’ (Ch4, 16th & 23rd Nov). They even managed to parade a couple of chaps who had actually been in the 1970s progs to shamefacedly condemn them, like Western hostages of the IS about to be beheaded.
The 1970s was the time of my teens and young adulthood. It was a golden era of galloping progress: we looked back at the war and the 1950s and saw how far we had come in terms of free speech, mod cons and technological development in every sphere. Everything seemed possible. I was looking forward to a life where I didn’t have to do anything I didn’t want to and might actually have a rich and enjoyable sex life, rather than the pre-60s norm of one fumbling and awkward shag leading to a couple with nothing in common being chained together for a lifetime for the sake of the child.
Didn’t quite work out like that, did it? Today the universe of public discourse seems to be hurtling back to a pre-Enlightenment mindset, where the rational separation between words and actions is being erased. We seem to have lost all psychological robustness.
I was much happier in a world where I could be unthinkingly happy to be male, heterosexual, British and white(-ish). I shall check my privilege when you pry it from my cold, dead hands.

by

Israel & Gaza – a Cymru Perspective

Imagine, if you will, that Plaid Cymru decided to adopt an extremist militant policy. Mindful that the whole of the island of Britain had once been their land, they decided to declare war on the United Kingdom. Not having access to any heavy weaponry, they resorted to such small arms, mortars and missiles as they could smuggle in or manufacture, and a campaign of suicide bombing, in an effort to demoralise and terrorise the British into dismantling the United Kingdom and re-instating the rule of the Romano-British Welsh over the whole island.

Now imagine another scenario. After the Anglo-Saxon invasion of the 5th to 7th centuries, a remnant of the Romano-British Welsh are driven to the Welsh and Cornish fastnesses, but the majority spread across the world, particularly to Patagonia and Pennsylvania, where they flourish and make enormous contributions to the nations in which they settle, most of all by bringing the incalculable blessing of Welsh (or ‘Bourbon’) whiskey to the USA. However, in the late 19th century, an international Plaid Cymru movement springs up with the aim of returning the worldwide Welsh to a re-established State of Britannia Superior. Since they have by now become Americans, they have the will-power and the weaponry – and they overthrow the rudderless and divided United Kingdom.

The first paragraph is how Israel sees Hamas. The second is how Arabs see Israel.

by

Israel and Gaza

Hamas can’t lose, because Hamas can’t win.
Furthermore, Israel can’t win – because Israel can’t lose.
Let me explain.
Hamas’s objective is clearly set out in their Charter, and nothing they’ve said or done contradicts it. Their goal is the overthrow of the State of Israel (or ‘Zionist Entity’, as they call it) and its replacement with a unitary State of Palestine, governed according to Sharia law, in which non-Muslims are dhimmis – second-class citizens, with the same level of rights as non-whites in South Africa or Mississippi in the 1960s.
Obviously Israel will never acquiesce to this, so Hamas will continue its ‘resistance’ in perpetuity. It is this interminable state of conflict which is Hamas’s true and achievable goal. If in this conflict children and other vulnerable Palestinian Arabs are killed, so much the better: each death makes Hamas look like the underdogs and Israel like murderers, thus encouraging the rest of the world to side with Hamas against Israel.
For the same reason, Israel can never give in to any of Hamas’s demands, since they are all about giving Hamas access to better weaponry, sited where it can attack Israel’s heartland with impunity. Israel can only survive by maintaining overwhelming military superiority: with equality of arms, Hamas (and indeed Hezbollah, Islamic Jihad, Uncle Tom Tanzim and all) would inflict on Israel the same level of massacre that the Little Giraffe is visiting on his own subjects in Syria. But this is a story that the outside world just doesn’t want to hear: for them, Israel is fatally condemned by its willingness and ability to defend its own citizens of all races and creeds.

by

The Main Event

I was very disappointed with the result of the main event on TV last night. I can’t see how Hughie Fury could have been given a win over Danny Alexander Hughes. To my (admittedly untutored) eye Fury looked sweating, unsure and unsteady, and buckled at least twice. Hughes OTOH, in spite of the natural disadvantage of a redhead’s skin that telegraphs damage, took what Fury gave him, impassive as a rock, and gave as good as he got. Still, at least the bearded lady won Eurovision, so that kinda restores the natural balance of things.

by

David Cameron: “Britain is a Christian country”

David Cameron in his article in the Church Times http://www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2014/17-april/comment/opinion/my-faith-in-the-church-of-england takes the same view that Natan Sharansky takes in ‘Defending Identity’: you will be more respected, even by those of a different faith, if you are firm and outspoken about your religious beliefs, rather than if you espouse a woolly and secular multi-culturalism. Understandably the great and good among the militant secularists bridled at this http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/letters/10777417/David-Cameron-fosters-division-by-calling-Britain-a-Christian-country.html
The militant secularists only tell half a story. What makes the West in general and Britain in particular a safe and pleasant environment for people of all faiths and none is not atheistic secularism, but the secularism ( or laicite) that evolved from Christianity during the Age of Reason and the Enlightenment. Our free and open society evolved from Christianity: it did not overthrow it.
The only point where I take issue with Cameron is his enthusiasm for ‘evangelism’. Evangelism is fine if it means winning back the disillusioned to the faith in which they were born: but if it becomes anything like the late and unlamented Christian Mission to the Jews of a century ago, it will find in me an implacable opponent.

by

Mum’s Eye Operations

Mum had a cataract operation back in November 2013. It didn’t go so well. She’s now had one cataract and two entropion operations, with the prospect of a cornea transplant and a second cataract op to follow. She’s been in constant discomfort for over four months, frequently flaring up into excruciating agony. And this is in spite of being treated in a private hospital, at great expense, by one of the top consultants in the country.
Before the op, everyone she knew had been saying for years that their cataract operations had been roaring successes, with miraculous improvement in vision after a very short time. I have subsequently found out that 60% – 70% of these ops are that successful: 20% or so show slow, little or no improvement; and 10% actually make things worse. Unfortunately, Mum’s a 10%-er. I feel like I’d like to be a 1%-er and introduce someone to Mr. Mayhem.
So be warned: cataract operations, even with all our current advanced medical knowledge, can go horribly wrong. It’s not a sure bet.

by

Terry Pratchett on Shechita

Here is Terry Pratchett in defence of shechita (alright, probably not his intention, but could be in an alternative universe).

Death (or, more properly, DEATH),has been told to retire and, somewhat at a loss what to do next, ends up working on a farm, under the name of Bill Door:

 

It was the most interesting technique she had ever witnessed. She wouldn’t even have thought that it was technically possible.

Eventually she said: ‘It’s good. You’ve got the swing and everything.’

THANK YOU, MISS FLITWORTH.

‘But why one blade of grass at a time?’

Bill Door regarded the neat row of stalks for some while.

THERE IS ANOTHER WAY?

‘You can do lots in one go, you know.’

NO. NO. ONE BLADE AT A TIME. ONE TIME, ONE BLADE.

‘You won’t cut many that way’, said Miss Flitworth.’

EVERY LAST ONE, MISS FLITWORTH.

‘Yes?’

TRUST ME ON THIS.

(Reaper Man, Terry Pratchett, 1991, Corgi edn. 1992 p.91)