Doctor Who finale

Hi All,

Can't wait !

Why socialism works

Answer

Shabbat post

Hi All

Shabbat Shalom!

Cool Dr Who language

Hi all,

One of my favourite scenes from one of my favourite episodes.

Day of hugs not rage

Hi All,

The umbrella grouping that is the far left (who btw are no friends of Israel) are  on the march  in Britain as they believe they  have won the election , despite being 60 seats behind the Conservatives. There's going to be a "summer of discontent",  class war and anything to destabilise and overthrow the government by riots and protest.

Meanwhile as  it is the state opening of parliament today there are parliamentary manoeuvres there is hope  to have Corbyn in power by  October.  May can't even seem to negotiate with the DUP.

This is Britain, a respectable country. We do not tolerate socialist busybodies and riots on the streets here. At the most we give a tidal wave of polite indignation , so these wannabe Che Guevara types should stop making a fuss, they didn't win and should be quiet and accept parliamentary democracy . I mean what's all this nonsense about ? Shouting and carrying on like this- it's an absolute disgrace . This should be sorted over some tea. Who's going to be mother?

Today is the day of rage  apparently.

Rather than a "day of rage" , couldn't we have a day of hugs, happiness and some positive stuff ? Maybe with a BBQ and some beer /wine / soft drink.

The mood music: you won't grind me down !

On the national stage the past few weeks have been pretty unsettling to say the least: several terrorist attacks , an   election with no clear winner , a tragic fire killing many. Today there's been a killing outside of a mosque, which will doubtless lead to more trouble. These are depressing days.

Furthermore  within the community there's been some pretty below the radar  unpleasant hysteria, venom, misquoting, out of context and just plain nasty  toward - although as a former Haredi (ultra orthodox) Jewish woman who was forced out of my family for coming out as lesbian I am not one bit surprised with this -   toward one particular and outstanding Sephardi  Rabbi  , see  some reporting here and here , although these don't show the below the line comments and  nasty social media campaign by what are basically Jewish   fundamentalist  foot soldiers commenting on various blogs to shoot down any rational  dialogues and using petitions etc on what was in effect a reaffirmation of centralist orthodox teaching.

To say that this all pretty distressing and depressing would be an understatement. It also means that as a blog which wants to talk about politics and Judaism , we as writers can get weary of having to explain our very existence to people online (Hannah takes a lot of emails , but you should note this blog is my creation and Hannah isn't responding to the more nasty ones anymore).

However we still keep buggering on as Churchill once said. But it is quite clear or rather two things are clear:

1). You cannot ever argue with fundamentalists (political or religious). You have more of a chance of being transformed into an ant and escaping from a tapped plastic bag.  It's pointless - so note 1 is to not bother.

2). Sometimes real life stinks and sometimes we need some escaping from this and forgets about them. So note 2 is to do some feel good posts.

3). This doesn't mean that one avoids elephants in rooms , but how to deal with them is a different matter. Sometimes humour and irony work better. So note 3 is to use them more.

In short :

Liberal Farron resigns

Hi all,

Liberal democrat Tim Farron has resigned because he feels he cannot be a liberal leader and an evangelical Christian (in respect of abortion and gay sex).

Full statement in the speccie

What sprung out to me was :

To be a political leader – especially of a progressive, liberal party in 2017 – and to live as a committed Christian, to hold faithfully to the Bible’s teaching, has felt impossible for me. I’m a liberal to my finger tips, and that liberalism means that I am passionate about defending the rights and liberties of people who believe different things to me.

And :

I want to say one more thing: I joined our party when I was 16, it is in my blood, I love our history, our people, I thoroughly love my party. Imagine how proud I am to lead this party. And then imagine what would lead me to voluntarily relinquish that honour. In the words of Isaac Watts it would have to be something ‘so amazing, so divine, (it) demands my heart, my life, my all’.

[For those who do not know , the last bit is from a Christian liturgical hymn  for Easter , we'd call them Piyyut in Judaism.] 

I would never vote liberal democrat precisely because of this hypocrisy, i.e. you can be a liberal and be tolerant of views , providing these views are mine.

What I don't quite get is that black  Pentecostals ,  Catholicism , orthodox  Judaism and Islam also have similar views to abortion and gay sex to Mr Farron..... maybe it is a form of white man's burden? This lack of tolerance doesn't stop with the lib dems, as the other parties are quick on the wagon too. Have said that my hat is off to Mr Farron for standing up and putting his religious beliefs . One wonders if post Brexit we will get an equivalence of the cultural wars from the US... 

it is all well and good  British politicians to gloat that we have no such things in the UK, but if this trend continues and there's a soft brexit with unlimited immigration and social conservatives feel squeezed from the main parties ,  then there will be a new political force ready to tap into social conservatism... then you will have a culture war . 

Lord buckethead returns !

Hi All,

British democracy is so cool!

Lord buckethead took on Margaret  Thatcher in 1987 :

And 30  years later Theresa May in 2017:

 

But who is this intergalactic warlord ?

And here's another party worth a mention (their policies kind of make sense, especially the 99p coin) :

British parliamentary  democracy , we can be proud of it ,!!😝

Leftist hypocrisy over DUP

Hi all,

The left-wing hysteria is ridiculously overdone. The left are attacking the potential supply and confidence alliance between the DUP and the Conservatives. Why? Because of the DUPs social conservatism in respect of abortion and gay marriage. Yet these are devolved matters for the North Irish Parliament and the DUP has made it clear they are not going to force the issue in the rest of the UK.  There has also been hype about the peace process.

And yet Labour in 2010 and when it was looking close in 2015, were in talks with the DUP. 

So ignore the false outage and note the hypocrisy. It's politics as usual ....

Parliamentary Gridlock

Hi All,

A note of caution for those taking the DUP arrangement as a carte blanche for social conservatism (gay marriage , abortion ) or " hard "Brexit, or would suggest a political reality check .

Firstly the issue of gay marriage is a devolved matter, so they can veto this in Northern Ireland , but the DUP wouldn't be able to change gay marriage in the rest of the UK as there isn't the numbers in the house of commons (such matters as well as abortion legislation are not whipped and are on free vote ) .

In respect of brexit , the DUP wants an open border between the republic and the UK and access to the European markets. So not quite" hard " Brexit without any deal.

In reality the deal with probably involve financial bungs to Northern Ireland and maybe devolving or setting the corporate tax rate to 12.5% to compete with the republic. The Guido blog listed the areas that conservatives and DUP could find common ground. It didn't mention gays or abortion once. This is a hysterical thing brought up by liberal and left types to rally their troops.

I think a third reality check is that without a majority and even with DUP support , any legislation is subject to the whims and rebellious nature of Conservative MPs, who are already pissed at not winning the election. It will take only a dozen or more MPs to halt legislation. Then there's the house of peers. Therefore expect a lot of compromise or gridlock. I think one senator in America once quipped it took two days just to get a majority to flush the toilets . We're in that territory and it's already beginning go stink. May will quiver with the wind and  no one  will be happy.

Why we lost and the next conservative leader?

Hi All,

Theresa May  ran a disastrous campaign with a crap manifesto and refused to appear in debate. That's the short version of why we're now reliant on the DUP- the British version of the Israeli  Shas - to cling to power. 

The long-term reason is because people are sick to death of austerity - massive stealth taxes, huge cuts(20,000 police- which is why the terrorism incidents didn't help the right : wait till people realise what they've done to our defence forces) and  with NO ALTERNATIVE plan to get us out of a quasi slump which would allow us to grow out of the debt.

In fact I cannot think of one positive thing in the manifesto that would have put us in a different direction. 

There was a glimpse of hope in Scotland . By contrast to the Theresa May (undertakers daughter ?) , Ruth Davidson ran a positive campaign for Scottish Conservatives and won a lot of seats  and finally put the SNP back in the box, as they lost several big hitters.

  Please Ruth, come down to London we need you here! 

Oh and I watched only HALF of May's speech about forming a government. 

Where is the humility?  The contrition?  All we got was arrogant bluster. Even though in reality she lost. I think she will last a couple of weeks at best. I also think we now have our own form of a "coalition of chaos" . General election by December?

Shabbat Shalom!

Exit poll: hung Parliament

Hi All,

Exit poll:HUNG PARLIAMENT!

Bloody heck!

CONSERVATIVE 314
LABOUR: 266
LIBERAL: 14
SNP: 34

Where are the Martians?

Election special: The Martians

Hi All,

In an alternative reality far away...

The house is  a  detached rambling wooden and  brick affair, the many chimneys would work overtime and the nearest village is over 10 miles away . Everything was packed and the  polar Huskies were ready. I   stepped out onto the veranda to be with my employer, but what gets me is that morning air , it's  like fresh  ice in my  nose and mouth,  dazzling  snow lay on the ground,  every naked bud and branch that hadn't been enveloped ,  as the sun cast a long shadow on the frozen lake ,  which sat below  the vast mountain ranges of Elysium and well above the horizon. It was a standard  summer .

I live with my employer, an indigenous non human Martian,  the Right Hon. Charlotte "Lotty" Disraeli  Azaxyr, the recently returned  Westminster Member of Parliament  for Elysium Mons North, a seat she'd held for the Martian Parliamentary Party, since the general election of 1880. I am her latest Secretary.

I  couldn't help but gaze at her toga, which was wrapped around  her statuesque , toned athletic body, long brown hair, albino skin and elf like  pointed ears,  which contrasted with my olive features.  Despite being over 200 years she looked no older than 36.

"261 in actual fact, Dina"  as if Lotty had read my mind. Which is 14 less than our final tally of seats, you know we even gain seats outside of Mars?"

You see there has been a general election, triggered by the recently anointed conservative  Prime Minister, Theresa June. She'd hoped to gain a massive landslide win:  the opposition SDP was in chaos, polls said she was personally popular. Except the campaign was disastrous for June and as the result came in , she'd actually lost seats. The  federal "Westminster " parliament was "hung". No one party had the 630 seats needed for a majority.

The two traditional  parties needed our help to form a government . The Liberal party couldn't , mathematically, help either side. So it was our party , the Martian Parliamentary Party which were the kingmaker, not for the first time, in fact most of the same time . So we were about to take a 12 mile husky ride to the train station directly to London to meet with the rest of the Martian Parliamentarians. The press loved the display of the Britannia like figure riding on a slay with huskies to boot.  That looked strong and stable.  Mars was different to other parts of Albion.

I only needed to note this when we arrive in London a vast cosmopolitan city with the same population -80,000,000 - as the entire planet and moons of Mars.  Mars is an extremely industrial and technologically advanced place, but  at the same time one may get the impression of a mentality of a    small town and outlook of a  conservative, provincial, profoundly patriotic, paternalistic people . 

O.k. we Martians are a diverse bunch. Like  my family is human, Jewish  and  has been on Mars for several generations  : we came here on one of the first steamships,   a couple of years before Benjamin Disraeli negotiated the act of union between ,Great Britain and the native Martians ,  thus creating the United Kingdom of Albion . This was way back  at the Congress of Berlin in 1878.   

Then there's the native Martians, The Bahar, like my employer they were the first nation Martians.  Also we have a sizeable population of Homo Dinosauri , the T 'beet or first nations of Earth.  But London has every human culture represented in its population and over 155  non human "alien " ethnicities. It was a shock to first seek a talking cactus and to realise this was an alien species.

The London press were all around us as we arrived by train wormhole at London Euston.  Our security detail were Te'beetain of the Raptor tribe. These ten foot tall bipedal reptiles with jaws full of teeth and more ominously the 12 inch retractable scythe on each of their two feet , managed to keep the mob at a reasonable distance. 

One of the journalists got within earshot . "Who will you prop up?  The failed June or the communist? Wouldn't that make you an alien traitor?'

Turning round the reporter's eyes  met with Lotty's Sapphire steel ones.  Off message and unscripted she replied 

 "Martians have stood shoulder to shoulder with the humans ever since 1878 : through three world wars and countless small ones our people have never wavered in this Union , our beliefs in this alliance has meant millions of our sons and our daughters have given their lives to defend it. I myself have taken up arms in defence of this realm: six kingdoms , one principality and one province and countless territories.....

 to quote my departed father in law :' I am a Conservative to preserve all that is good in our constitution, a Radical to remove all that is bad. I seek to preserve property and to respect order, and I equally decry the appeal to the passions of the many or the prejudices of the few'".

Vote ? Better things to do

Ok. Voting takes all of several minutes. Yet I really will have to be  dragged out to vote tomorrow. I really cannot be bothered . What a disastrous campaign May has had and yes as much as I loath him Corbyn has done well-known admittedly the media have given him a low bar, e.g. shock he can string a sentence together. 

I was reminded yesterday that Saatchi once said "oppositions don't win elections :  governments loose them". If that's true I think May and co will be worried. I think they will win. But not by the landslide. But even if the Conservatives win, I cannot see May lasting . I will vote, if I vote, conservative ,but not for May for the party and it is a vote through gritted teeth. If anyone other than Corbyn was the opposition , I would probably vote Labour . 

But watching wonder woman comes first :  No boycott of the "Zionist warrior propaganda film"  👭😃 🔯. 

Malo periculosam, libertatem quam quietam servitutem

... written  by Sarah

I do not know about anyone else and maybe I am alone in this one, but every time there is a terrorist outrage , my first thoughts are for the  victims and those left behind , their friends and families.  They and fellow countrymen need time to grieve. And our thoughts and prayers are with them right now. As is the case with these crises and dreadful events the media will move on and the spotlight will focus elsewhere, but for the people directly affected by Saturday's events , this will take a long , long , long time  and much love, prayer , community support  and counselling to heal , bind and to have a form of normality .

Unfortunately and whether we like it or not , there is the  macro level about how the government should respond to these terrorist outrages: I will admit I couldn't do the job of the politicians who have to use the right mix of compassion  and summary of the national mood and trying to lead the country through it , with our democracy intact. 

 The tension is there between sorrow, anger, fear , loss at the individual level and the  need to formulate a strategy as  to what to do next , because as Theresa May said yesterday "enough is enough " and it is time to be more proactive about this situation.  But precisely what to do about this situation , is beyond doubt complex. Or to put it another way , it is complex for Britain if your starting position is to protect citizens and wish to main a  free democracy , let alone a liberal democracy.  What liberties and freedoms are you willing to sign away ?

It is less complex, but far more frightening, and incidentally not my position ,  if your answer is to turn the UK in a totalitarian police state of mass arrests , presumption of guilt  before a crime has been committed and expulsions of non white , non Christians and in some cases non white  Christians (those who are salivating at this prospect won't stop with one particular religion or race ) . 

This is just to domestic front, let alone the discussion on the external front with multiple  failed states, being  ruled by Islamic state terrorists as a base of operations ... 

 I don't pretend to have a list of answers and those who  do are doubtless reacting in anger and grief, but it is something which needs to be at the forefront of the national conversation , even as we grieve at the latest murders by ISIS.

I will conclude by quoting Thomas Jefferson :

Malo periculosam, libertatem quam quietam servitutem: 

"I prefer the tumult of liberty to the quiet of servitude."

Introduction

Hello,Hi , Bonjour, Shalom, 

Welcome to the blog of Sarah(24)  and Hannah(30) , two lesbian religious Jews who live in Britain. One of us is Ashkenazi (European and specifically Czech and100% Geordie ) and one of us Sephardi or Mizrahi (middle eastern,specifically Iraqi ,Indian and Irish ,100% Northerner). Hence the title of this blog of the two different types of Jewish Sabbath (Shabbat ) food.

Our blogging topics will include

• Short stories
• Science fiction
• Israel
• Judaism
• British politics
• International affairs
• Food 
• And anything we will try to fit it.
• LGBTQ

We hope you will enjoy our blogging efforts.

Love Sarah and Hannah.