Off Topic News & Current affairs

History is far more subjective than the historians would like to admit. The latest argument over whether or not Britain's part in the slave trade should be taught is an example of this.

 

The restructure of the armed forces is an absolute joke IMHO. The world is the most unstable I've ever known in my lifetime to date, the Chinese and the Russians must be pissing themselves, nobody appears to have told them that armour is a thing of the past.
Big trouble ahead with the Chinese I reckon.

 

The canal pilot has finally relented and agreed that her husband can reverse it out for her

 

Salmond not going away quietly it seems

 

Still out for revenge, then.

 

Good luck to the Asda workers, but if they did not have a large union behind them, with its funding, they would have been squashed.

 

Boris must be chortling at the goings-on in Scottish politics.

Just when the SNP was ramping up pressure for another referendum, Salmond declares war on it.
You don't stand divided. You fall.

 

It seems the efforts to dislodge the stuck container ship in the Suez canal are not going well.

It must be nearly time to consider unloading some of its cargo, if that is possible (regardless of the expense).
And if making the ship lighter doesn't free it, ultimately it will need to be broken up.

 

I hear on the news today that two SNP members of the Scottish Parliament have defected to Alex Salmond's Alba party.
I'm assuming the elections in Scotland are so close that voters in those seats are not going to feel they've been betrayed for any length of time.

I wonder if any split in the pro-independence vote will work to the advantage of Labour or other parties.
Presumably the SNP will contest those seats with new candidates.

 

The voting system in Scotland is a bit different from the FPTP, and will not necessarily favour any other party. Personally I'd like to see the whole independence movement implode, but that won't happen.

 

Interesting FHB, I was not aware of that difference.
Partly explains why a split in the pro-independence parties has come so easily.

From what I understand, despite him being cleared of any criminal offences, some of Alex Salmond's behaviour towards women is still a cause for serious concerns. And he has not addressed those concerns. If that is true I find it astonishing that he feels confident enough to begin a whole new political party.

 

Royston told me that Salmond is well known for it some time ago. When he is asked about this inappropriate behaviour he refers to the jury's "not Guilty" verdict, which was actually separate. His party followers parrot this disingenuous line as well. A slippery customer is Salmond, but then so is our PM.

 

Well done Thierry Henry

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/56571395

Like cigarettes I only tried social media once, and found it wasn't for me.
Until the providers of the platforms take proper action to permanently remove trolls and hate-mongers of all kinds including disinformation peddlers and racists, I think they should be boycotted by all decent folk and any sponsors.
Hurt them in their pockets. Bring them down if necessary. They aren't worth $billions if nobody uses them.

Enough is enough.

 

Never done Twitter/ Facebook or anything else other than footy forums , the wife does Instagram and that’s bad enough “ don’t touch ya dinner I need to take a picture of it “ ffs! , She’ll be taking pictures of bottles of beer next

 

Social media can be okay if you stick to non-controversial stuff. I stick mainly to music and horticulture on Twitter. Some parts of it sound like a cess-pit of the very worst of human nature.

 

What planet does Gavin Williamson live on?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-56566442

It's 30 years since I was at secondary school, but 'r@pe culture' existed back then among the older lads who wanted to impress their mates, and the less unruly but still impressionable kids who looked up to them. Sexually assaulting girls was something they boasted about - and it wasn't all talk either.
I'm not excusing it - this kind of thing should be stopped.
But is anyone who grew up around the streets even remotely surprised when it surfaces for attention?

This Government shouldn't be so full of public school chinless wonders.
It's a pretty pass when nasty marxist terrorism-lovers were the only alternative.

 

It seems a lot of people don't watch C4 news because they say it's too left-wing. Apparently they know this even though they don't watch it. It isn't half depressing though. Some of the reports from the world's trouble spots, like Myanmar, Liberia and Mozambique have been very good journalism, but very troubling these last couple of weeks. Human life has a very low value in some places to some people.

 

Police 'acted appropriately' at Sarah Everard vigil

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-56574557

Yes, of course they did.

Sadiq Khan - who was apparently incandescent with rage when this story first broke - has accepted the Met Police review.
Only the Liberal Democrats still aren't having any of it.

Blimey - well done the Lib Dems (something I don't say very often!)

 

Lardi, not wishing to get off on the wrong foot and all that old chap, but the review was by the independent HMIC and NOT the Met Police. They reached the correct conclusion - people were illegally gathered, had been asked not to, had been asked to disperse, became increasingly aggressive and uncooperative, were putting themselves and others at risk of catching Covid, thus putting nurses, doctors etc etc at increased risk and the Old Bill made a couple of arrests of people who then resisted and were therefore handcuffed. No one got hurt and the illegal gathering was brought to an end as the vast, vast majority of Londoners wanted. What exactly do you object to ?

The fact that Sadiq Khan got it completely wrong first time should come as no surprise to anyone.

Nor should the fact that the Lib Dems haven't got a f*cking clue how the real world works.

Nice to be here btw

 

I just have an instinctive problem with Police using force to break up peaceful demonstrations.
Doesn't matter to me how many independent commissions say it's right - it's wrong.

But that's the way it's going to be from now on.
That vigil was probably the least potentially dangerous gathering of people there ever was.
Yet still it degenerated into a situation where force was used on unarmed women.

The Police are being used increasingly for political purposes, just like they were back in the 1980's and many times before that.
Once the new Bill comes into effect there won't be any more legal protests, ever.
Sadly, even that won't make the streets any safer for women.