Israel/Palestine? The Whole World's Going to Hell in a Handcart, it seems! Jan 14th 2024.
The entire world's going to hell in a handcart, it seems.
From someone who formerly had a reasonably high profile, both here, and around the world, my decision to step back from the torchlight, rather that spotlight to a more comfortable life of complete obscurity has provided me with a front-row seat to observe the lunacy of other humans I share this planet with: and it's a shit show, putting it bluntly.
Today I caught a brief, thankfully, glimpse of a shadow health politician proudly announcing the introduction of teeth-brushing classes in schools should his party be elected to govern the country, and this further reinforced just how absolutely on-point I was in my previous blog post when I referred to this country, never mind the rest of the world, becoming increasingly screwed by the 'Millennials' and their 'Gen X' offspring. Dumbing down on just about everything from music to even uni courses nowadays suggests the common denominator that joins the dots is to present everything at bottom of the barrel level so that understanding couldn't be any simpler. Frustrating for those with a higher level of common sense and intelligence, and a walk in the park for the majority who are taken to be as thick as two short planks.
I just ran a quick scan of useless university courses, more aptly described perhaps as studying for a hobby. Take, for instance, 'Viticulture and Oenology.' It sounds fascinating, right? Well, that is until you realise that to flog it to eighteen-year-olds as 'wine making and brewing' doesn't sound anywhere near as attractive as a selling point for probably a twenty of thirty grand course with a degree in getting pissed. My understanding as most students do this every weekend and don't need a bloody degree in it. All these Viticulture and Oneology students need to add is a Masters in cannabis plant growing, and let's face it, all angles of student life outside of studies I'd say were covered.
Okay, how about this for you? Floral Design. Now, I won't say too much about this one as Ricky Gervais has already covered it in his show 'Armageddon' and he is far better than I can ever aspire to be when it comes to jocular commentary - after all, it's his job and he gets paid for it! However, It's basic bloody flower arranging, that with a few self-help books and an artistic eye, a five-year-old could probably do with a little help from an older family member.
If, on the other hand, you're into saving people from swallowing poo, syringe needles, used sanitary towels, and toilet paper, then the following course for you is, wait for it, 'Surf Science.' Yes, believe it, or not, that white foamy stuff you see rolling in towards the beach is surf, and there's a science to it.
Now, personally speaking, in my obvious ignorance I wouldn't have thought there was too much science to this, as a quick search on Google informs me that "Waves come from the wind, plus, the wind blows strongest when isobars are close together in a low-pressure system," - and hey presto, I've just saved myself from three years of study and a minimum of just over nine grand for the foundation course alone. I wonder if they've created a degree course specifically teaching children to brush their teeth yet? Oh, wait, that's probably to come. You see, these courses are all, perhaps, very well and good, however, I somehow don't really see the best of them in flower arranging, or winemaking taking on the likes of Oxford's Magdalen College in a round of University Challenge - and if I ever do it will be the final confirmation that this country really has hit rock bottom and we are all well and truly fucked!
Trust me, by all accounts we're on the way right now because those millennials and their offspring have enjoyed the benefits of a relatively cushy lifestyle where needs have been met, for the most part by the state, and yet feel fit to complain that they are somehow still hard done by, and life is unfair. My heart bleeds for them, of course, and my advice, as always, is to find a hard shoulder to cry on - of which the M1 has plenty, and to make sure in doing so that rush hour would be the best time by far.
Better still, next time there is another of these ludicrous 'marches for Palestine, and those attending really want to get their message out there, the M1 starts at Edgware in north London and ends between Micklefield and Aberford, just outside Leeds. Trust me, they'll have news media flooding in from around the world to convey their protest. Why not, when the equally delusional 'Just Stop Oil' and similar protest groups have pioneered the way in respect of impeding traffic - and who knows, this may even be another useless university course in the making, along with basket weaving for other basket cases that will be specifically designed for Millennials and their Gen X offspring.
Now, believe it, or not, I have nothing against protests per se. However, to us sane people, you'd think that even the micro-iota of common sense would inform those marching for Palestine are giving Hamas: a proscribed terrorist organisation, by the way, the kind of global publicity they couldn't buy if they hired the world's best publicists, and make this group appear like normal, rational, human beings when their modus operandi could be described as being somewhere to the right of Genghis Khan, and terrorism is the new 'cool'. Having said that, I'm in no way dismissing the fact that there are two sides to this conflict and there are questions to be asked of Israel's IDF also. However, apart from the feeling I have that Israel is very much the underdog given that Islam extremists insist on death to all Jews, it's the very same extremists who don't care who dies in their war, and this includes women and children, as it's all in the name of Allah anyway.
Do you remember in my previous blogpost, how I referred to language now more commonly being distorted from its original meaning to whatever someone chooses it to be nowadays? Well, here's yet another word to add to the collection, 'genocide.' You see, I would call Hitler's eradication of the Jews to be genocide, which oddly enough, seems to bear an uncanny resemblance to that of Islam versus Jews: and purely coincidental, of course. Or am I being my default cynical self?
Look at it this way, is Israel carpet-bombing Palestine? I think not. Are Israeli troops mowing down every Palestinian in sight? I think not. Is Israel deploying deadly chemicals over Palestine? Again, I think not. Yet, language has now become so confusing in interpretation that Israel is facing a charge brought to a top United Nations court by South Africa. So, do you not find it more than a little odd that among the judges hearing this case is one from Russia (don't mention the war on Ukraine, among other things). One from China, which, of course, is the bastion of human rights issues. Another from Somalia, where terrorist attacks targeting places frequented by civilians are commonplace and indiscriminate, and lastly, let's not forget Uganda, who seem well on their way to an entry in the Guinness Book Of Records where their human rights are concerned:
Significant human rights issues include credible reports of unlawful or arbitrary killings, including extrajudicial killings; forced disappearance; torture, and cases of cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment by government agencies; harsh and life-threatening prison conditions; arbitrary arrest or detention; political prisoners or detainees; serious problems with the independence of the judiciary; arbitrary or unlawful interference with privacy; punishment of family members for alleged offenses by a relative; serious abuses in a conflict, including unlawful civilian harm; serious restrictions on freedom of expression and media, including violence, threats of violence, and unjustified arrests or prosecution of journalists, and censorship; serious restrictions on internet freedom; substantial interference with the freedom of peaceful assembly and freedom of association, including overly restrictive laws on the organization, funding, or operation of nongovernmental organizations and civil society organizations; serious flaws with citizens’ ability to determine their government through free and fair elections; serious and unreasonable restrictions on political participation; serious government corruption; serious government restrictions on or harassment of domestic and international human rights organizations; lack of investigation of and accountability for gender-based violence, including domestic and intimate partner violence, sexual violence, and child, early, and forced marriage; crimes involving violence or threats of violence targeting lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or intersex persons; and the existence of laws criminalizing consensual same-sex sexual conduct between adults, albeit not fully enforced. Well, I'm surprised this Kangaroo court didn't include a Saudi judge too! Aren't you?
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