Hi All,
The festival of Shavuot- when Jews received the Torah from Mount Saini is almost upon us- it is great that a lot of the government restrictions are being lifted tomorrow in terms of who you can and cannot meet up with. Unfortunately it comes at a time when Israel is yet again forced to defend herself against Hamas, with the resulting backlash against Jews in the Diaspora and the usual massive demos by the usual suspects. But anyway regardless of that, Happy Shavuot!
Hi All,
For the better part of six years anyone who agreed with brexit was deemed by the left to be a 'xenophobe' and exit from the EU akin to the kinds of catastrophes written in disaster movies. The left at very turn throughout it's history has emphasised inter-nationalism, rather than what they see as crude and vulgar nationalism of nation-states (even something as mild as waving a flag around). Yet we are now facing in the next year the very real possibility of another Scottish Independence referendum and 'Scotxit' from the UK. Yet we never hear or read of the same condemnation used towards Scottish Nationalists as 'xenophobic' from the mainstream left. In fact Scottish Nationalism seems to have been given a pass, on the following grounds :
1) It's civic and not religious or racial nationalism, so that's ok.
2) The majority of Scottish Nationalists are left wing, so that's ok.
3) We need the Scottish Nationalists to get power, so that's ok we need a 'progressive coalition' to put Labour into power.
Dealing with these in turn:
1) There's another country continually panned by the left that has a form of civic nationalism and it's called the USA: from flag waving patriotism to the swearing the pledge of allegiance every morning at school or treating the US constitution as akin to a holy book, these are all parts of American civic nationalism. Yet the left distains America and sees it as a racist country and the constitution as a racist conservative document, written by slaveholders. In any case, whenever you begin to debate with Scottish Nationalists you see that there is zero civic nationalism in their creed and worldview and it increasingly becomes hostile along ethnic grounds, especially if you are English. Treated even worse- treated as traitors- are those Scots who are Unionists (i.e. at least half the population) and those Scots who lived outside of Scotland and are also in favour of the Union.
2) The Scottish Nationalists as left wing is somewhat of a misnomer. They are Nationalists first, but what better way to be popular than have a set of policies that require government spending on the Nordic model (which while a related topic is why the 'Sovereign Wealth Fund' akin to Norway would never actually have been built up, because they'd have spent it all) ? Just because you are into leftist welfarism and state intervention doesn't mean you are 'left wing': for example, Spanish and Italian Nationalists /Fascists Franco and Mussolini operated from the right, but used the power of the state in economic and social policy. Zionism has many different aspects to it, but its roots lie the ideal of an independent Jewish State , i.e. Jewish nationalism, but also what kind of Jewish state it was going to be, i.e. a left wing social democratic and not a theocratic one. Indeed from the beginning of the Jewish state to the 1980s, the politics was dominated by the centre left and the Israeli Labour Party, with most industry nationalised. Yet the left today cannot stand Zionism and use it as an insult.
3) The problem with this argument is that it forgets the point above : Scottish Nationalists are Nationalists and don't actually care about putting a Labour government into power, except to give themselves independence, in which case the whole thing is self -defeating, because as soon as that happens, Labour looses its majority and credibility with English voters.
Hi All,
Shabbat Shalom and an open thread. My apologises for not writing anything at all this week. It's been busy, although I have written stuff, it's become a mosaic jungle, so haven't had the courage to post it as I don't think it's any good.
But regardless of that, keep in touch as always.
Hi All,
Hopefully the weather will pick up for next weeks opening of the pubs. Until then.
Shabbat Shalom!
Hi All,
In 1962, humanity fought its last great world war in which millions died. In such a war people forgot that not only life and potential life was lost, but also a lot of history: the books, manuscripts, artwork and other such spectacles that one might find in a library or museum.
Or so people thought: In fact both NATO , Warsaw Pact and neutral countries hid 99% of their national treasures , via launching them into space. The first evidence of this was in 2015, when a treasure trove of a thousand artefacts from the Hermitage Museum had been found in an old Soviet Rocket in the orbit of Uranus. Then came the legal case : who owned those priceless pieces of Earth history? The answer was in a High Court case called State of Orthodox Russia Vs Only Interested in making a quick Buck : whoever discovered them, rather than the initial state which put them into orbit in the first place. The rationale being that the States obviously didn't care about owning it, if they were prepared to risk them being obliterated in space.
The result of this case was that treasure hunters, if they discovered such artwork etc, were allowed to auction it off for a profit which inevitably went to private wealthy individuals . In response, in 2026, the Earth Parliament passed the bipartisan Farage- Bariner 'Antique, Artwork and Earth Heritage Salvation restoration it's not for the rich' Act over Presidential veto, which stipulated than any further discoveries where to be sold at public auction within the Earth Sphere of influence , but mandated the newly created post of National Heritage Secretary to purchase such artwork et al, that was to be deemed 'important cultural artistic and antique heritage' at a price of 3 times the final bid and that the Earth Central Bank would provide an 'unlimited credit line' for such purchases.
Of course what was definable as national heritage was somewhat subjective : does Tracey Emin's 'my bed' of 1998- launched into a 'time capsule' in 1999 and eventually discovered around Worf 359 in 2030- bought by the NH Secretary at the time for £23 billion, under pressure from the Feminist bloc of Parliament, stand up equally as a piece of Earth heritage as Sandro Botteicelli's 'Birth of Venus'- which the same Secretary allowed - because it was seen as 'sexist porn' by the same Feminist lobby - it to be sold to the Martian Museum for £400 billion ?
Hi All,
The Financial Services Industry likes to have its hands in the most lucrative of honey pots- Endowments (universities, religious organisations, charities), Sovereign Wealth Funds (national or state mega funds, often obtained via natural resources), Pension Funds (be it government or corporate) , High Net Worthers (The middle rich) and finally Family Offices (the wealth of the extreme rich). They were always on the look out for the next honey pot and in the religion of The Indulgers and their Divine Bank of Merit, they'd found it.
The Bank of Merit is the Galaxy's largest organised religion, cutting across thousands of species and cultures. Like most religions it has holy books, teachings and religious - quasi historical figures and interestingly a pantheistic set of gods and other divine to mythical creatures. It is their teaching on the after life that greatly interests Earth's financial services. In essence the Bank of Merit is the heavenly savings account of all the good things- merit- that people do in life. When people die, so this religion teaches, you are first judged for your various sins and punished accordingly, but as with the secular world, some sins carry the equivalent of the death penalty of your soul . After this phase of punishment, you are 'spiritually washed' for heaven and then enter the afterlife : it is your individual merits- what good you've done , how devout you've been and the confessions you've made- that have been credited to you at the Bank of Merit which determine how long this will take and your exact material status in heaven, believer or not.
Not to worry, for the representatives of the god's of the universe, The Indulgers of Merit, decreed that the divine had given to them permission to set up the Treasury of Merit, which has an unlimited credit facility from the Bank of Merit (which can in theory print as many merits as it wants and transmits these to the Treasury via the ability of the Indulgers authority to 'bind and loosen' Merits in the temporal world) and if you deposited cash or other goods to the Treasury, you'd be credited with Merits.
This system has evolved over the past 3,300 years to the point that the Merits have become an tradeable asset and forms an important Liquidity pool, given the religion's reach across the universe. Some nations use these Merits as currency reserves or Merchants for trading collateral & others as part of a FOREX punt. The Treasury of Merit still gives you Merits if you deposit cash or goods to them, in human terms they cost £100 each, but these are often then sold on into what's called the secondary market - i.e. Stock Exchanges, where they are traded like any other asset and depending on demand can trade at a discount (i.e. under £100) or at a premium (i.e. over £100) .
So to the Financial Services Industry of Earth, this was another lucrative, liquid and broad market in which to profit in so many ways . Firstly the religious institution itself, which if it were a company would be wealthiest in the universe - the enormous fees from being their interstellar Accountant, Lawyer, Deposit Banker, Insurance Underwriter, Insurance Broker, Investment Banker, Pension Fund Manager, Asset Manager, Consultancy Manager, Media and Marketing etc , etc! Then there's there devout themselves who could be sold Insurance, Investment Funds and even loans to increase their 'Merit Leverage' . Then there's the non-devout, who use these Merits in FOREX, Trade and speculation, which is red meat to a hedge fund or investment banker. To The Indulgers, they saw Earth's Sphere of influence as a lucrative market in which to save souls and even more importantly the fact Earth controlled the pathway to 2 other galaxies, full of even more trillions that could be converted. So in mutual deal, both sides agreed that the Indulgers would be free to go about their business and even Evangelise and in return the Indulgers agreed to 'open up' to Earth's financial services industry.
Hi All,
After the BLM riots and knocking down of 'racist' statutes last year, which were provoked by the death of an American thousands of miles away and in which the police did bugger all (unlike every other single protest of the last year, strange that the police were willing to haul white middle class women for just standing in a public space and away in hand cuffs three weeks ago, but not black people actually causing criminal damage last year ), the government set up a commission to investigate.
The commission basically says were are not a structurally or institutionally racist country. Cue a blacklash from the left be it on Twitter, media or the Guardian, as they only want to talk of oppression and- this is where I broke with the left about 12 years ago when I was at university - they pathologically need to put this country down as a shithole, be it by her history or current place in the world or social structure and race relations. I would never suggest that British history is without blemish, but the desire to see even positive things in a negative way. You can't say Churchill was a British hero anymore because someone somewhere has decreed him a 'racist' and also responsible for 'genocide' and equally get offended when you point out the reality of what the Nazis did to us Jews, would have done to BAME people had they controlled what was the then British Empire. But no, mention that word and it gets even worse- not that anyone would dare as you'd probably be called a racist and either loose your job or get the police onto you (which is funny when you've had 3 burglaries in the past 3 weeks on the street and its as if the police act as if it is on mars).
I agree with the report that we are indeed have a model race relations in this country and we are not some racist and or shithole place. If it were , then people would be leaving here en mass, the left suggested this would happen over Brexit and we've neither seen Europeans go back nor thousands flock to the continent. The City is still Europe's financial capital and life goes on.
In fact to live in Britain in 2021 is probably one of the best times to live, for most people. We don't have children up mines or as chimney sweeps, we've got schools and university access for all, there's a minimum wage, there's a free at point heath care system. The life expectancy of people is going up and up. All the while the left like to see us as living in some racist or hell hole jungle , with a history akin to the Nazis. Yet people still come to this island and will take great lengths to do so, such as trying to cross the channel in dinghies. France is across the channel, another rich first world country. So the would be asylum seekers could and should stay there, but they choose, really want to go and come to the UK . They clearly don't get the message of the left, that we are such a terrible place, that they shouldn't even bother trying to get here in the first place. They don't because they know what the left refuses to acknowledge : we're a nice place to live and pretty decent people. There are racists, but that doesn't make a nation one. People do worry about culture, religion and their control over what they see as their country. And it doesn't mean that you have to accept the left wing idea of open borders for any one and everyone to come and live here as they wish and use the health services. That doesn't make you a racist.
Hi All,
It was 38 years ago today, that the Earth finally declared victory against their foe the Minotaurs : a war which lasted 4 years and saw the freeing of trillions of human slaves, who were the descendants of three colonisation ships which had disappeared during the 1990s and which the less technologically advanced Minotaurs had enslaved. Exo-Wombs and time dilation accounted for the huge increase in population.
The start of the war occurred when the Minotaurs started a pre-emptive strike against the 5th Fleet based at the Mau system, a shock which was akin to when Pearl Harbor was attacked in 1941, although revisionist historians note that President Garibaldi mired in (baseless) scandal accusations had the week before called for action against the Minotaur. Such politics was quickly forgotten as Earth's defence forces liberated world after world, revealing the depravity, torture and experimentation as well as the bitterness of slavery itself , it quickly took on the scope -as far as the citizens of Earth were concerned - of a 'moral' or 'just' war.
The war was started by a right wing President-Antonio Luigi Garibaldi- and for most of it was bitterly opposed by most of the hard left, although its moderate and central wing flocked to support this national war and emergency . The majority of the population - over 90%- supported the war and every year since it has ended there's been a public holiday in remembrance and celebration, which in true human fashion combined solemnity, with food and alcohol.
The Witter sphere, a galactic micro blogging site and a bastion of whoever shouts the loudest, such as left- liberalism, especially of the student variety, wasn't happy at the anniversary celebrations :
how dare anyone celebrate a galactic war, started by the 'fascist right', even if it were for the noble cause of anti slavery - which it actually wasn't - it was just a war to defend Earth's imperialist agenda, against helpless native aliens
all these war criminals had actually done was to free these human slaves, only to shackle them to the yoke of capitalism.
This racist event must be cancelled.
President Antonio Luigi Garibaldi : a xenophobic war criminal
current President (then Major General) F'szoorg, along with, the senior Parliamentarians who lead their respective parties in each chamber should be tried by the interstellar community as war mongers.
Why did ( Marine Captain) Emma Dumas ( Current Senate Leader of the left) save the bigoted phobe (Marine Major) Mark Shalhoub (Current Speaker of the House) in battle?
What? Gerhard Mohammed (Current House Leader of the Left) and Sir Gordon Godfrey ( now Senate Majority Leader) served and flew together on the Carrier Michel Bariner ?
Why do the establishment left support this anniversary, it's just war monger imperialism
What time is the demo?
Are we bringing our own vegan food?
Mother Earth should be 'liberated' from the evil deeds inflicted on her by wicked humans: Gia needs us"
It is true that these far left types did have a hard time understanding this part of history, which in their view portrayed slavery as a sole product of the Anglo-Saxon Male Imperialist Capitalist Patriarchy, undertaken by them to enslave women and people of colour, gays, lesbians, trans people and anyone else the left could announce as an oppressed minority group, whether in chains or by capitalism. The war of the Passover as it became known (as strangely enough the war began and ended just before the Passover festival) defied this logic, as you had an Italian male President leading a war to liberate male and female humans, who were of all human races, enslaved because they were human, not because of their skin tone.
Even more annoying to the left was that these now ex-slaves and citizens made a success of themselves on the newfound colony worlds. Slaves in the view of the left, were supposed to be ragged, poor and illiterate, needing democratic socialism as the knight in shining armour to save them from this oppression. It was true, these ex-slaves were poor and illiterate, in fact none of them had first or family names, just numbers as names, but all were determined to make the most of their newfound freedom and embraced with relish 'the Earther dream' of self improvement from one's current status, of being reasonably well off, which was achievable by merit, by hard work and determination, regardless of one's birth status and a desire that one's children would accomplish for themselves even more, fully embracing and believing in the 'Earther Dream' with gusto, they , after all, had nothing to loose and everything to gain. And made it so and helped to start an economic boom which later historians would call the 'gay '90s' (2090-2099). 'the gilded age' (2100-2119) and the 'roaring twenties' (2120-present).
