Tyme Flyes When You're Havin' Rum

Hi All,

In the West Country, travelled to Cornwall and now somewhere in Somerset. So in a pirate mood . Plus Macaws are well cool!

Shabbat Shalom, me harties!

This atheist gentile gets it

Dudes,

A video well worth watching, in respect of Israel :

Open thread

Hi All,

Shabbat Shalom!

10 reasons why Brexit NOT Fascism

One thing that absolutely gets on my nerves is the cliche that says Brexiters are "fascists".

It's so absurd , but let's get on with it :

1.  Fascists like secret police forces and paramilitary forces derived from party members. 

The 70 year old  blue rinsed brigade led by Barbara and Mavis as (knitting needle waving)  storm troopers?  The disgusted of Tunbridge Wells,  whose most serendipitous act is writing a stiff letter to the telegraph after a gin and tonic or a brandy and a cigar?

2. Fascists like a nationalised industrial  corporatist form of economy and thus bureaucrat heaven. 

Brexiters are in favour of a market economy.

3. Fascists will use the majority religion of a country as a prop 

Church of England?!

4. Fascists are anti democratic.

Brexit is about the principle of restoring  parliamentary democracy.

5. Fascists like a strongman  as the leader

Farage or Boris aren't Franco and Mussolini . Laurel and Hardy maybe.

6. Fascists are antisemitic 

Again I've not seen that being reported. Left wing Labour by contrast ?

7 . Fascists are in favour of state planning and autarky 

Brexiters are liberal free market, global free trade 

8.Fascists hate minorities and immigrants

By contrast Brexiters have said they are against uncontrolled, unlimited immigration i.e. freedom of movement , which incidentally restricts employment prospects for non European countries. No-one is calling for expulsion or concentration camps for British citizens who are with ethnic minorities, EU citizens arent going to be expelled, but Brexit politicians are calling for an immigration system based on economic need and cohesion.

9.  war and violence are fascists hallmarks

Which pro EU politician invaded Iraq?

10. Fascists are nationalist xenophobic like Brexiters

By this logic Scotland has a fascist government , even though it has left wing social and economic ideas (see point 2, above). In actual fact there is a canyon between patriotism , nationalism and xenophobia , isolationism. You can love one's country without vilifying anyone else's. You can enjoy real ale, but enjoy Guinness. You can love Europe without having to insist it or the UK belong in a tower of Babel super state.

Bloody tribes

It is commonly accepted by political analysts that we are a divided country over brexit. Half want to remain. Half want to leave. We're all bitter. It's xenophobia vs a liberal internationalism or a form of culture war as we see in America.

I would say this is misleading and untrue, but because the question "do you want to leave the EU?" requires a yes or a no , i.e. a binary question which you can affirm with  one answer only  , you are of course going to get a situation where people have fallen into one or two camps. 

Yet I find that I don't really belong in either camp and neither does the electorate once we get passed a yes or no answer on a ballot. At the Euro elections we found the Brexit party on about a third of the vote, the liberals on about a quarter.  Then what happens is that the media try to put the votes for other parties into these respective camps to see who now would actually win a second  referendum.

The thing is in doing so commentators miss something, which is that ultra remain is about a third of the population (liberals, greens, tiggets or whatever they're called).  The ultra Brexit group - leave and be damned I think you would say-  are also about a third of the electorate.  The remaining third are the ones that aren't as fired up either way and would be happy with a compromise or a gradual phasing out of the EU , or they'd remain if that's part of going with the flow.

I write this because I for one am sick to death of the ultra remain lot claiming to speak for the "48%" as if all who voted for remain accept their worldview. I'm appalled that this group see anyone who voted for brexit as racist, stupid, xenophobic and or a clone of UKIP, Farage or the worst possible stereotype of a leaver.  Note I'm not in favour of as another referendum. No it's not the 1930s. No Brexiters aren't "fascists". Yes Labour is a cesspool of anti-Semitism.

Likewise I'm appalled by the leave side. Yes leave won the vote. But no leave did NOT win by a landslide. Had the vote been 60-40 or above, then I would understand the ultra Brexiters and the" will of the people argument ". But it was a very close vote. It seems in going for too much , too soon ,  rejecting any compromises,the whole Brexit project could be derailed as May often warned. May isn't innocent in this either, her negotiations were bad , but even worse she never seemed to include colleagues in them and tried to bounce people into whatever she could concoct . Thus there was and is no actual consensus as to what brexit should be and people-MPs especially- know what they don't want rather than what they do. 

So in summary I'm fed up with being dragged into having to choose between two tribes that claim to speak for half the population each and be forced to indulge in a question that has in principle been settled. Can't we talk about the many other pressing matters to face the country and world?

On top of this is the fact no-one is even thinking about what happens after we leave the EU. At present we are simply trying to get out or in some cases keep ourselves in. But. What country do we want to be? Do we want to be a Switzerland or a Norway ? Do we want to be a Venezuela or a Zimbabwe? Do we want to continue the pretence of being a great power via acting as limpets to others ? Via the USA or the EU? Or do we simply acknowledge that they best days are over and we check into the retirement home and act as  helpful grandparents, via our soft power,  to the nations who can claim global reach?

The current situation could be rectified if we could have a national conversation as to what we want. But alas we're still stuck with the leave and remain tribesmen. We're still in 2016.

Shabbat and Shavuot

This weekend we not only celebrate Shabbat , but also the festival of Shavuot - wherein we celebrate the giving of the Torah (the "special food" in this case being based on diary products).

Shabbat Shalom and Chag Sameach!”

Not the 1930s

Hi All,

It's becoming a common place theme on the left that we are 'returning to the nineteen thirties' , because of Brexit and Trump. The problem with this thesis is that opponents of both, aren't in concentration camps or been shot. There's no book burning or general rounding up of groups the government doesn't like, be they ideological or racial . Congress and Parliament haven't been reduced to rubber stamps, there's no enabling act or 'strong men' in the wings*  - Parliament is blocking Brexit against the wishes of the executive and Congress is busily trying to find any muck that will stick on Trump, with the desire for impeachment the end aim; in any case Trump is severely limited in what he can do in terms of legislation because of the robust opposition to his policies. Next year Trump will have to fight to be re-elected and there's a great possibility of another British general election.  Above all there is still a free press, representing both left and right. And interestingly it is from the far left that the ultimate carnary in the goldmine of minority freedom (us Jews) is being threatened from. In fact what's worse with the left is that, unlike the far right, they simply can't see it . They deny it and get angry with you if you point out their racism toward Jews or just can't see it for what it is. But no this isn't a return to the 1930s. You will know when it is when you can't find any Jews left in Britain or the UK.

*You could say look at the Brexit party or Farage. But the thing is that Farage went into virtual retirement and would probably have gone into some other career- maybe a pundit for fox news or something, but it was only when Brexit wasn't delivered did he return to politics. This isn't the sign of someone who wants power for its own sake or for nefarious ideological reasons as in the 1930s.

'The greatest alliance world has ever known'

Hi All,

As the UK welcomes President Trump :

We (that is my British and America friends here in Britain- with roast beef, bangers and mash - kosher of course-  beef burgers and spotted dick*)  celebrate the greatest alliance the world has ever known:

God save the Queen!

God bless America!

* see here :

Splitters split

Dudes,

Splitters split caption contest:

Much as I think you are fit, it's time to say off thou to the lib dims with you Heidi (to join Scottish lass  "big t#ts" Jo S)  and Chukka  (except for Luciana , who should be welcome into the Conservative ranks) .

Sam and Lucifer

Hi All,

Is it me or does my bro Sam is a  look alike for  Lucifer aka 'Tom Ellis' in Lucifer ?! Forget why in American tv shows the Brit always has to be the 😈

😓😉😐😱

Brexit song

Hi All,

When we Brexit, well I know I’m gonna be
I’m gonna be the girl makes sure we

Get the PM who leads us out EU

When we’re marching, yeah I know I’m gonna be
I’ll be the Jewish geek banging on about EU

When I get drunk, well I know I’m gonna make
I’m gonna make us stop at every Real Ale pub
And when I sober up, yeah I know I’m gonna be
The girl who only got as far as Turvey

 And I would walk 280 miles from Buckinghamshire to

Hendon just to be the girl who who wants us out EU

But I’ll probably walk a damn sight fewer
Just to be the girl who staggered around Bedfordshire &
Buckinghamshire sampling local brewers

 Da da da (da da da)
Da da da (da da da)
Da da da dun diddle un diddle un diddle uh da

Oh :