Empire Total War 2016-11-17

Since the French faction has delcared war on me I have repaid the favour by besieging Paris.  In order to prevent the Maratha Confederacy from invading my Portugal region I sold it to the Huron-Wyandot native American faction. This means that Portugal is now occupied by native Americans whilst Spain is occupied by the Maratha Confederacy who successfully took it from me over the weekend.  ETW does come up with some strange scenarios.

Trump triumph and another fail for the left

If you wondered why it has been such a bad year politically for the left, check out this video blog from a leftwing blogger Jonathan Pie.

Empire total war 2016-11-11

I have been playing ETW now since July 2016 and I am still on my grand campaign as the British.  It is still a very addictive game, to an event that I have been neglecting my Sony PSP.  My British empire as it currently stands consists of :-

Europe

• Great Britain and Ireland
• Spain
• Portugal
• Alsace-Lorraine
• Bavaria
• Wurtemburg
• Norway

the Americas 

• New York
• New France(Quebec)
• Maine
• Virginia
• Carolina
• Florida
• Louisana

I did have Flanders(Belgium) but somehow the Maratha Confederacy(India) managed to take it off me by sailing all the way from India.  The Maratha also took Jamaica and Bahamas off me as well. I don't recall learning that from history but it makes things more challenging.

My favourite weapon is the carcass shot mortar, it is a shell that bursts mid air and spreads lime or other burning substances over the enemy, as demonstrated below.  

child refugees

Before I begin, I shall mention that I had practiced Tae Kwon Do for over 10 years, my first club was run by Master Shin and then after I moved down south I trained with Overton and Basingstoke Tae Kwon Do(OBTKD) club.  With great regret I had to give it up due to a neck injury when I was a red belt.  Before that happened, on one particular lesson at OBTKD, the instructor (Gerry) announced that the club must comply with the government's child protection policy and anyone who is and who wants to be an instructor must fill out a form which will be submitted to the authorities.  This was and is because OBTKD is a family friendly club which has both child and adult students.  This was a much needed piece of legislation to protect children in voluntary organisations like sports clubs.

We now fast forward to today and the UK government has decided to let in 14 refugee children from the Calais refugee camp to settle in the UK.  This has prompted Tory MP David Davies to remark that alot of them(all males) look too old to come under the UN's definition of a child (17 years and younger).  In Germany and Sweden we have seen cases where refugees have falsely posed as children, given asylum and promptly committed rapes of children when they have been put in locations with other children.  To prevent this abuse, Davies suggested that these refugees be subject to dental tests to prove their age.  This suggestion has since been rejected by the UK government.

Which brings me to the backlash against common sense from this piece written by Natalie Bloomer, she makes her point below

But in today's anti-immigrant climate, even this seemingly positive event prompts a torrent of hate. And not just from the usual suspects on social media who like to rant about foreigners. It was politicians and the press who led the attacks. The refugees had barely stepped onto British soil before it started.

These are not attacks these a fair concerns that people of all stripes have especially in light of the events in Cologne.  I have nothing against granting refugee children or even refugee adults asylum as long as we are not emotionally deceived into thinking that adults are really children.  These 'childen' will be put in schools and homes with real children and it is them that need protection.

If Tae Kwon Do instructors have to go through police checks before they can teach children what's wrong with checking the age status of these refugees before they can be put in contact with other children.

15 Million Degrees: A Journey to the Centre of the Sun - finished

A few weeks back I finished "15 Million Degrees: A Journey to the Centre of the Sun" by Lucie Green.  It tells you all you need to know about our nearest star, where it came from, what did does, how it does it and what will happen to it in future.  It does get bogged down in detail about nuclear fusion in the middle but I say this is a thoroughly informative book and I'd give it 4/5.

Virtual History: Alternatives and Counterfactuals

Last week I bought Virtual History: Alternatives and Counterfactuals by Niall Ferguson, a counterfactual history book exploring several what if scenarios that would or would not change history.  Common examples of counterfactual history include what if the Normans lost the battle of Hastings or what if the D-day landings had failed.  I am still on the introduction and having read Ferguson's other works, I believe this will be better thought out than other counterfactual books that I have read.

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