sadoldgit

Bless him. You would think he would have more important things to do like wallow in his attention seeking CoT thread. Do you think anyone has actually explained to him that he doesn’t have to read my posts? Masochistic as well as narcissistic perhaps?

Yes I do waffle. And you are very grumpy. We were shown how precise munitions were in the Iraq war so it comes as a bit of a surprise to see so much “collateral damage” there is now by a well drilled and equipped military machine now. Unless,of course, the IDF are not bothered about precision and are just killing indiscriminately, which I think is more to the point.

Look at the headings, might give you a clue.

There was a phone in today on LBC where they discussed the fact that people who lived through WW2 rarely, if ever, spoke about their experiences. My mum was 9 and my dad was 11 when war was declared. My mum spent most of the Blitz in London although did spend a few months as an evacuee in Devon. My dad was in London and eventually joined the Home Guard. Neither of my grandads were involved due to injuries sustained in WW1. Some of my mum’s siblings took part in the action and my dad’s brother fought with the 8th Army in Italy. One of my mum’s sisters (she was one of eleven) was married to a Spitfire pilot who perished in an accident returning from a mission. With the exception of a few hoary old anecdotes, none of them spoke about the war. My mum had a couple of stories which would wheeled out once a year but my dad didn’t say a word. The same with his brother who saw action. There was a gas mask in the hall stand and various bits of military paraphernalia spread around the house in the 50’s; photos, badges, medals, bits of shrapnel etc. The subject of the war just didn’t come up. I asked my old mates from the same era and they said it was exactly the same with them and their families. It seemed to be a common understanding that us kids didn’t ask questions and the grown ups just didn’t go there. Was it the same with you guys? The general comment on the phone in was that the generations that lived through the war were so traumatised that they avoided reliving the memories as much as possible. It had been very touching watching the last of the old boys who took part of the invasion, some who have avoided returning before to now, finally, pay homage to their old friends and colleagues. God knows what goes through their minds when they see that war is still being waged in Europe. I would love to be able to pass on the memories of their grandparents to my children, but I can’t. They have died with them. God bless the previous generations who gave their lives for us.

Really?

I guess we will find out won’t we. Perhaps have a word with the BBC about their frequency of reports from Gaza too? Not sure why you find it a problem though. 14 women and 9 children killed if you are interested in a “precise” air strike Oh, and war crimes do not depend what the motivation of the people who commit them are.

You should go and work for Netanyahu’s press office.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/apr/15/racism-in-britain-is-not-a-black-and-white-issue-it-is-far-more-complicated The above is the article in The Observer that Diane Abbott had the whip removed for replying to. It is universally agreed, including by herself, that it was clumsy and wrong. The point that she was trying to make though is that black and brown people are immediately identifiable by dint of their skin colour and therefore are a greater target more frequently for racist abuse. They are more likely to be pulled over in a car than white people. They are more likely to be stopped and searched than white people. They have experienced more segregation over the centuries due to their skin colour. She was making her point based on skin colour, not religion, and she only mentioned some sections of white people as they experience”prejudice” as she put it, but not racism. Now some people have decided that was antisemitic and some people didn’t think it was. I didn’t think her comments in this instance were, which led to a few posters on here using it as evidence that I apparently hate all Jewish people. She has since had the whip restored and is now standing for Labour at the next election, so we must assume that Labour have decided that her comments were badly phrased rather than rabidly anti semitic and she is free to canvass in a constituency which contains a large Jewish presence. With the news that the Tory Party are keeping Frank Hester’s original donation and a further donation he made after his comments about seeing her made him wanting to hate all black women and shoot her, perhaps it gives more weight to her argument. Starmer quite rightly said at the time that there is no hierarchy in racism, but there does seem to be a disparity here. He is clearly paranoid about any hint of antisemism being levelled at the party again and goes out of his way to distance the party from it, but Sunak, even after being persuaded that he should call out Hester’s comments for what they are, is happy to take money from a blatant racist for his election campaign.

If this is directed at me I have condemned the invasion of the Ukraine by Russia and the killing of civilians. The IRA were a terrorist organisation. Hamas are a terrorist organisation. They both sought/seek autonomy and self determination. The argument stands. You do not deliberately attack targets like schools or hospitals. The Ukraine war has been going on a lot longer than the Israeli attack on Gaza. I expect, if the IDF are still blowing up schools and hospitals in another year’s time I will have given up posting about it.

The likes of Trump, Farage and Johnson pioneered the use of lying about pretty much everything. There is a big difference between them and someone like Blair. He rightly still gets called out about WOMD, you would spend a lot more time calling out the lies told by Trump, Johnson and Farage. Sunak is happy to join that club it seems now. It was once the done thing for politicians to resign if caught in a lie. It is now a perfectly acceptable campaign technique thanks to the trailblazing frequency of lying by Trump, Johnson and Farage. What was that about bringing back integrity Rishi?

Can you imagine the outrage if Frank Hester had made his comments about a Jewish woman? It appears that he donated more money to the Tory Party since he made those comments and they have kept it all. Still no big deal because it is only a black woman eh? https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c900138vek4o.amp

No it isn’t. Yes, the IRA weren’t Hamas, but the principle remains the same. It is the same as the IDF shooting Israelis as well as terrorists when they have been taken hostage. https://watchlist.org/publications/what-does-international-law-say-about-attacks-on-schools-and-hospitals/#:~:text=An attack against a civilian,effective contribution to military action.

John Crace is always good value. https://amp.theguardian.com/politics/article/2024/jun/05/no-more-mr-nice-guy-rish-embracing-boris-johnsons-brand-making-stuff-up

This from the BBC recently. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ckrr1k1xl0lo.amp

You are welcome, but I was just chipping in my five penneth, for what it’s worth. I like to give the Chuckle Brothers something to laugh at apart from the growing civilian death toll in Gaza. 😉

Yet another “precise” strike. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/crggq0jygq6o.amp The point was made on LBC yesterday that, if the IRA were hiding people in hospitals and schools, there is no way that the British armed forces would shell them and that the public would support the actions if they did. This has happened so often now that it has become the norm. When will the UN finally take action to stop these blatant attacks on innocent, defenceless civilians?

The trouble is the rebuilding programme is going to cost money and that money has to come from somewhere. It is one thing not to increase tax but as we know, by not increasing the tax thresholds it drags more lower income houses into the various tax brackets. If you subscribe to taxing the people at a higher rate who can afford it more then the brackets should be changed but Labour don’t want to step into the trap of raising taxes and the Tories don’t like taxing anyone apart from the poorer section of society so those on relatively high salaries will continue to be okay (apart from having to stump up more for sending their children to private schools). The problem we have is that more of the middle classes are being dragged into the area where they are no ok financially. Labour are between a rock and a hard place. I’m sure they would like to be much more proactive with their rebuilding programme but haven’t got the financial backing to do as much as they would like. The austerity programme and Brexit have stuffed the UK good and proper. Current Tory policies have left Starmer a poison chalice and you can bet your life he will get a kicking from day 1 and everything will be Labour’s fault. Sunak is already distancing himself and his party from the last 14 years. It is all about the future. Of course it is Rishi, because you have nothing to crow about from the past.

Socialism is dangerous? Do you still believe that? I have said many times on here that I don’t think extremist views on either side, right or left, are helpful. The issue we have in the UK (and many other countries in the West) is that we are far more affected by those with a far right agenda.

Of course they are different people. They hold the same xenophobic/racist views though. Would you argue that a Communist from the 30’s held fundamentally different views from a Communist today. One of the defining features of the far right is its hatred of Jews/Muslims/Selective Foreigners. The people you have previously criticised me for attacking here make their views about these people very clear.

Funny when the poorer element of society are told to feed themselves on 30p, give up Netflix, mobile phones and going to the nail bar when money is tight, the higher end of society want sympathy when private school fees go up. Here’s a thought, do what the plebs are told to do, suck it up, tighten your belts and send your kids to public school instead. After all, we are all in this together aren’t we?

Did you hear Sunak say anything last night about the mythical £2000 tax increase being over the period of the next Parliament (5 years)? What happened to bringing back integrity Rishi? Another Tory liar.

If a number of different people have the same xenophobic/racist views against a different set of people, does it make them any less xenophobic/racist? What are you trying to say? That Britain’s far right are okay with Jewish people now because they have decided to hate on Muslims instead? Can you find any examples since before 7th October where our far right groups were cozying up to Jewish people? I don’t think you will find many Jewish people happy to see our far right marching with them.

Continue to play the antisemitic card for anyone expressing any pro Palestinian sentiments if it makes you happy. I have just listened to a statement from a Jewish survivor of the Holocaust saying that what is happening in Gaza is genocide. I guess that makes him an antisemite too? More and more people are calling on Israel to stop the carnage and for both sides to work towards peace.If that makes us all antisemitic so be it.

From what I am hearing this morning there is no bubble to burst. It was BS. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cd11m307jjvo.amp I think that everybody understands that Starmer and Labour have a tough job turning this country around after 14 disastrous years. If he was standing there telling us how wonderful things were going to be from day 1 I would be a lot more worried. The worst opposition as you put it can’t be any worse than what we have been experiencing.

If someone votes for, supports or defends someone/policies from the far right on social media, they are no better. You don’t have to be a full on Mosley to be an enabler for that kind of mindset.