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.

winmau trainer dartboard review

Empire Total War - 2016-09-19 - Grand Campaign

After winning the American revolutionary, I started the Grand Campaign on Empire Total War this weekend.  I selected the British as my faction and it gives me a series of missions to complete within a set date(or number of turns).  This campaign takes place over Europe, the Americas and India so basically it spans the European age of colonization.  So far I have conquered France and what is now Belgium.  In the Americas I took Hispaniola(modern day Cuba and Dominica) off the Spanish. Whilst it's very challenging the annoying thing is that countries or quasi-nation states declare war on you at a will. Also regardless how well you treat the population, it will always rebel against you.  Meaning that resources need to be spent putting down these rebellions rather than conquering your enemies.

Empire total war 2016-09-15

Last night I finally won the American revolutionary war and managed to repeat history.  It was a surprise how it happened because I had to put down a local rebellion in Maine and then both the Spanish and French decided to declare war on me.  So it would have been me against an allied coalition of Britain, the Netherlands, Spain and France.  The later three had powerful navies to deal with.  But before I had a chance to tackle the challenge the game announced that I had achieved my objectives and the USA was born.  Very strange ending.

Guy Debord's Cat on Mr Finegold - a conclusion

If you remember my take on Guy Debord's Cat post about the laughable non-existence of anti-semitism in the Labour party and the left generally, I give you Mr Debord's final comment.

As usually the case with most leftists he failed to answer my points and accused me of smearing him.  What's really interesting is that he denies that I was ever in the SWP.  So he obviously knows me better than I do myself.