Remember, it stops being politics when they tell you THERE IS NO ALTERNATIVE

Self-loathing and the war on the classics by David Perks Recently, the government’s announcement of plans to reduce the number of trials by jury, alongside the recent lecture named ‘Why I hate Classical Civilisation’ by Sir Grayson Perry at Kings College London, have highlighted the continued tilt away from Greek civilisational ideas in modern politics... open.substack.com/pub/claire…

Over the years I got to know and befriend thousands of Jews, many of them are Israeli. Of the thousands of Jewish people I know I cannot think of one a single person who would agree to dedicate there afternoon to hunt down Palestinian avocados🥑. I can think of many Jewish people who would knock doors to help a Palestinian sell their product and promote peace and co-existence. The all consuming hate that has taken over the Free Palestine movement, has too many similarities to Gestapo officers going door to door hunting down Jewish children during the Holocaust. Regardless of your politics, this is not sane or healthy behavior.

Seen this clip many times. Loses none of its power. Partly of course because of that long catch in Branagh’s voice, and Dench’s reaction. But also because this is not about Hamlet, uniquely, or how great his father was, how goodly a King and so forth. It’s about the depth of feeling, and the width and length, that all men lucky enough to grow up with their fathers, have when contemplating them. There is no comparable span through which one grows oneself and watches another through changing eyes, and growing understanding, sympathy and self recognition. We shall not see *like that* again.

Disgusting. Let’s be clear: chanting “Death to the IDF” is calling for the murder of Jewish people. First, because most members of the Israeli armed forces are Jewish. And second, because the IDF prevents the mass murder of Israel’s Jewish citizens. Without the IDF, Israel would be destroyed and its Jewish citizens murdered.

"There is a girl in New York City who calls herself The Human Trampoline. And sometimes when I'm falling, flying, or tumbling in turmoil I say, 'woah, so this is what she means'."

Umberto Eco, who owned 50,000 books, had this to say about home libraries: “It is foolish to think that you have to read all the books you buy, as it is foolish to criticize those who buy more books than they will ever be able to read. It would be like saying that you should use all the cutlery or glasses or screwdrivers or drill bits you bought before buying new ones. “There are things in life that we need to always have plenty of supplies, even if we will only use a small portion. “If, for example, we consider books as medicine, we understand that it is good to have many at home rather than a few: when you want to feel better, then you go to the ‘medicine closet’ and choose a book. Not a random one, but the right book for that moment. That’s why you should always have a nutrition choice! “Those who buy only one book, read only that one and then get rid of it. They simply apply the consumer mentality to books, that is, they consider them a consumer product, a good. Those who love books know that a book is anything but a commodity.”

“Mary”. The funny thing about watching a movie as well-constructed as this, as many times as I’ve watched this, is early scenes trigger the whole movie in an instant. You get a rush. Last time I watched it, I started crying when he told - showed - the store keeper how large he wanted his suitcase. It’s about four minutes in, iirc.

And jihad just means 'spiritual struggle'. And 'Hamas' simply means 'Islamic Resistance Movement'. To the credulous, the politically naïve and those aching for the glory of a cause, 'terrorist' has always meant 'freedom-fighter'. But we saw what 'the shaking' means on Oct 7th.

Imagine if this was your daughter and you saw people in the uk supporting the man on the right.

Tell me you're living under terror without telling me you're living under terror

Pro-Pals are coming out in droves to support the Palestine Action hunger strikers - including MPs. One of them just said politicians are bought by “blood money” and “Zionist bullsh*t waft out like gas chamber ash”. Gas chamber ash. She then says “we sledgehammer the ovens”. This person is a nasty antisemite. No one should be supporting her.

“If the Jewish world is taken to be equal of Nazi perpetrators, then we no longer feel collectively guilty about the Holocaust.” Lawyer Anthony Julius tells @AndrewMarr9 the real reason behind the recent rise in antisemitism.

I know you are late to this @DaleVince but blaming Jews for their own murder - while also expecting them to be morally impeccable perfect victims, a contradiction that might baffle you - has a history that predates even X.

Stand up to bullies.

Can't recommend this enough. It's a brilliant engagement with working out what we know, and how we know it. (And that's got nothing to do with the fact I chair it). All welcome.

Hamas knew exactly where the body of a hostage was, so they brought it out of a building, dug a hole, put the body inside, and then pretended that they discovered the body digging in front of the Red Cross. What they didn’t know, however, is that there was drone footage of all their cover up. Hamas knows where the remaining bodies of hostages are — they are lying and they are violating the ceasefire.

Israelis in Spain report frozen bank accounts amid new royal decree “against the genocide in Gaza.” Spain’s Banco Sabadell is facing accusations of discriminatory treatment after demanding that all its Israeli clients sign declarations confirming they have no business ties to Israeli settlements. The forms require transaction details, addresses, an end-user information, and a written confirmation that products “do not originate from Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories.” A Sabadell representative said that activity has been restricted and that every payment now requires approval from the bank’s compliance department. Several companies have received warnings that funds from Israel will not be released unless the declarations are submitted, effectively freezing accounts and leaving clients unable to access their own money. Critics argue that the bank is applying the royal decree too aggressively, noting that it officially obliges only Spanish companies, not their clients, to confirm compliance. Do you think Spain applies the same rules to Lebanese businesses with ties to Hezbollah or Iranian companies linked to Tehran, or is this once again the privilege of the Jews? At this point, “Spain, antisemitic since 1492” should be the country’s new slogan.

People seam to have no idea how hard it was for me to walk away from this inquiry. I have fought for this my whole adult life. I had my children removed from me for 54 weeks by Bradford council 2 years ago to stop me fighting for this and try to silence me. I stood my ground and they returned them but the trauma from that will never leave me and my family. I have put my heart and soul into fighting for this. Been on every single news chanel and news paper since 2019 calling out the grooming gang scandal amd cover up. I spend every day trying to help other survivors off my own back just to try and make a difference. Realising this inquiry still wasnt going to give us the truth and was set up to fail from the get go was heart breaking. 16 years of my life this scandal has stole from me. I thought this inquiry finally would be the the moment that we all got proper justice and answers and could finally move on with our life's. Instead, left to run in the direction it was, it would of just been another white wash and another failing to add to the long list of failings. 16 years ive held strong in this fight against every system that tried to stop me and ive stayed hopeful. Sunday night that hope was finally killed in me. So no this wasnt politically motivated. Or what ever else im being accused of. This was a devastating and extremely difficult decision that I would of never of made unless I absolutely had to.

What does Plato’s philosophy still have to say to us about the questions we face today? #BattleFest @acadofideas Insightful discussion @dmperks1 @ProfDHayes and @stickyphysics.