Politics

  • A new salute

    Steve WoodsPolitics

    At one time right-wingers and fascists could be recognised by their giving the Roman salute (also known as the fascist salute. Ed.) or Nazi salute.

    In the former the right hand is swung from the left shoulder to fully extend the right arm forward perpendicular to the torso, with palm down, and fingers touching. In some versions, the arm is raised upward at an angle; in others, it is held out parallel to the ground. In the latter the salute is performed by raising and extending the right arm forward at an upward angle with a straightened hand, fingers together, and palm facing downward.

    In recent times, however, it appears these two traditional gestures of the far right have been superseded by another that is popular amongst populists – the thumbs-up signal, as demonstrated when they dined in Florida at the weekend by the disgraced 45th and current disgraceful 47th President of the United States, adjudicated sexual predator, condemned business fraudster, convicted felon and compulsive liar, one Donald John Trump (who is on a personal quest to Make America Grate Again or something similar. Ed.) and the part-time dishonourable member of parliament for Clacton, a grifter and charlatan rejoicing in the name of Nigel Paul Farage.

    Trump and Farage giving the thumbs up
    Image courtesy of the White House

    Farage’s trip has drawn plenty of adverse criticism, including from Lib Dem leader Ed Davey: “I see Farage is off to Mar-a-Lago to talk down Britain and suck up to Trump. There’s nothing patriotic about cheering on a foreign leader whose illegal war is sending British families’ energy bills through the roof.“

    For those who bemoan modernisation, there are plenty of those out there on the right who still prefer tradition, like Elon Musk.

  • Bezos title cheerleading for war

    Steve WoodsLanguage, Media, Politics, Social Media

    The image below courtesy of the Washington Post (proprietor one Trump-supporting, union-bashing billionaire rejoicing in the name of Jeffrey Preston Bezos. Ed.) came into your ‘umble scribe’s social media timeline this morning.

    Washington Post opinion piece with a headline reading In the long run, wars make us safer and richer

    There have always been those who profit from wars, from spivs operating on the black market (posts passim) to arms manufacturers.

    Wars always entail casualties, one of the first being reputed to be the truth.

    The Washington Post’s attitude illustrated in the opinion piece’s title reminds your correspondent of the quotation attributed to the then British Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin during a tough spell in the 1930s:

    What the proprietorship of these papers is aiming at is power, and power without responsibility—the prerogative of the harlot throughout the ages.

    No further comment is necessary, save perhaps one sentence from my political science lecturer, the late Elfed Roberts, in a lecture on war over five decades ago: “War is the destruction of the fittest“.

  • Dishonourable member plays the victim

    Steve WoodsPolitics, Social Media

    The dishonourable member for Clacton, a racist, grifting charlatan known as Nigel Paul Farage, is so proud of representing the seaside town that and its environs he tries to spend as little time there as humanly possible.

    However, during the current parliamentary recess, Nigel has turned up at the seaside, but on the Maldives in the Indian Ocean, not on the Essex shore of the North Sea (will the Indian Ocean succeed Monte Carlo as the new sunny place for shady people? Ed.). The trip is believed to have been paid for by an unknown sucker donor. One will have to wait until or if Farage updates his registered financial interests to discover the gullible party’s identity.

    Ever the attention-seeker, Farage has posted details of his whereabouts on social media and used the opportunity to play the victim yet again.

    Original Farage post reads: I have been denied entry to the Chagos Islands by the UK government. Below the post readers added context. The British Indian Ocean Territory is not a tourist destination. There are no commercial flights, access is restricted and you need a permit before you travel. The video from Nigel Farage gives the impression that he was individually refused access.
    Ah, diddums!

    The first paragraph of the context added by users is taken verbatim from the Foreign Office’s entry requirements advice which Mr Farage clearly decided to ignore before embarking on his latest trouble-making jaunt.

    At the end of the parliamentary recess, do us all a favour Mr Farage and stay in the Maldives like a good little boy. 😀

  • Bigotry blasted by Bedford BC

    Steve WoodsPolitics, Social Media, Tech

    The world’s 3 Semitic religions, Judaism, Christianity and Islam, frequently have festivals or periods of observance that overlap, coincide or occur very close together,

    One of those periods is happening right now towards the end of the second week of February. Islam’s holy month of Ramadan, a period of fasting and prayer, started yesterday, whilst Lent, the Christian period of repentance and fasting leading up to Easter, began today.

    The starts of the two periods of religious observance were duly announced on its Facebook account by Bedford Borough Council, a procedure no doubt emulated by their Bedford’s counterparts around the land.

    However, one bigoted respondent took the council to task for allegedly showing favouritism to Islam and claiming that the country is apparently first and foremost a Christian country, as shown by the following thread.

    Bedford Borough Council - Wishing Bedford Borough a Happy Lent, the period of 40 days when many Christians may choose to give up certain luxuries and make space to reflect, pray, and read the Bible to prepare for the celebrations of Easter. Reply by MaggieTyers - Funny you put Ramadan and eid up first. Its a Christian country first and foremost. Bedford Borough Council response - Ramadan began on February 17. That is why we put our Ramadan message on social media yesterday. Lent began today, which is why our Lent message went on social media one day later. The date of Lent is determined by the church calendar, rooted in the decisions of the Council of Nicaea (325 AD). The official start of Ramadan traditionally depends on the sighting of the new crescent moon. Bedford Borough Council holds no authority over the Council of Nicaea and was not responsible for the creation of the moon 4.53 billion years ago,

    Imagine the ignominy of being corrected and taken down a peg or two so comprehensively by an English local authority since these are organisations not universally renowned for their competence, let alone deep knowledge of religious matters.

    One final point. If Bedford Borough Council – or any other local authority – had had some authority over the decisions of the (first) Council of Nicaea, then perhaps the date of Easter would be founded on a basis that did not play havoc with council bin collection dates. 😀

  • Saturday in Barton Hill

    Steve WoodsBristol, Politics

    Saturday last was St Valentine’s Day and the residents of BS5 decided it was time to show some love to Barton Hill in east Bristol.

    Organised as part of the ‘Love Your Community‘ event, shortly before noon eight of us volunteers gathered outside the Wellspring Settlement on Ducie Road to get kitted up with gloves, fluorescent tabards, litter pickers, etc. before heading down to give Gaunts Ham Park and the adjoining streets some attention. it was a real tonic for the soul to see the early signs of spring emerging, including beds of daffodils planted by the local community.

    After Gaunts Ham Park was sparkling, we retraced our steps to the fly-tipping and litter hotspot of Ducie Road car park to continue the work our regular monthly Saturday litter crew had done the weekend before (posts passim). Whilst on site we retrieved some of the heavier, bulky fly-tipping (note the shopping trolley and toilet pan in the photograph. Ed.). The rest of the fly-tipping has been reported to Bristol City Council.

    Photo courtesy of Harriet Wylie

    As you can see, we gathered quite a lot of grot, 5 bags each of stuff for landfill and recyclables, in addition to the bulky waste items. Riding past on the bus earlier today, your ‘umble scribe is pleased to report that Bristol Waste has collected the fruits of our labours.

    Many thanks to Harriet for organising the clean-up, plus my fellow volunteers for showing up and working so hard.

    Before leaving Barton Hill after the pick, your correspondent went on a walk organised by Barton Hill History Group on women who have shaped Barton Hill, a broad and fascinating topic.

  • Racist: it’s your fault you’re offended

    Steve WoodsLanguage, Media, Politics, Social Media

    Racist Jim Ratcliffe
    Ratcliffe the racist. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
    After the revelations in the news this week, it’s a fair comment to say that ‘Sir’ Jim Ratcliffe has more money than brain cells. Indeed he has so much money that he is no longer resident in the Untied Kingdom and has moved to Monte Carlo, the historic sunny place for shady people, to spend time with substantially more of his money due to the micro-state’s generosity to the super rich in matters fiscal.

    However, having a view of the Côte d’Azur has not prevented him from having some vile, bigoted views of what’s happening north of the English Channel.

    In an interview earlier this week with Sky News, the ‘businessman‘ and minority shareholder in Manchester United remarked that the UK has been “colonised by immigrants“, as well as having a swipe at those unfortunate enough to be forced to claim Blighty’s less than generous state benefits.

    His racism drew criticism not only from just from the country’s political elite, but also from his club Manchester United’s own football fans.

    Outside Old Trafford itself, the following billboard subvertisement has appeared according to your ‘umble scribe’s social media timeline, with a billboard outside Old TRafford being subvertised with the slogan: “Immigrants have done more for this city than billionaire tax dodgers ever will“.

    One day later, Ratcliffe issued the by now standard non-apology, stating “sorry that my choice of language has offended some people in the UK and Europe and caused concern“, i.e. if you were offended by my choice of language, that’s entirely your own fault and not mine.

    Commenting on Ratcliffe’s remarks, today’s Guardian editorial states: “Normalising inflammatory language which presents migrants as hostile invaders does not enhance the possibility of civilised discussion. It contributes to the rise of everyday racism and xenophobia on the UK’s streets.”

  • Additional Barton Hill litter pick this Saturday

    Steve WoodsBristol, Politics

    Last Saturday our community litter pick team in Barton Hill held its regular monthly event. removing 6 bags of waste and recyclable materials – plus a load of bulky grot – from Ducie Road car park.

    Eric, Ronit and Alex pose with the rubbish removed from Ducie Road car park
    Eric, Ronit and Alex pose with the rubbish removed from Ducie Road car park

    However, that was not the only litter pick planned for Barton Hill this month

    Next Saturday is St Valentine’s Day and Barton Hill residents are being invited to ‘love their community‘ in a series of events planned by Barton Hill Activity Club, Bristol Somali Resource Centre, Travelling Light Theatre and Wellspring Settlement.

    One of the off-site events planned is a litter pick of both Gaunts Ham Park and the Urban Park. Those wishing to help are asked to assemble at the Wellspring Settlement at 12 noon for an hour of spring cleaning before retiring for tea and cake.

    Organiser Harriet has asked people to bring along their own picker if they have one. Hi-vis clothing, gloves and bags will be provided.

    See you there!

  • French raid X offices

    Steve WoodsAI, Politics, Social Media, Tech

    X/Twitter logoThe Paris Public Prosecutor’s office has today issued the press release in English below concerning a visit by its own officers and those of other agencies to the offices of the right-wing propaganda machine masquerading as a social media platform X.com, which was known as Twitter before its acquisition by far-right man-baby Elon Musk.

    A search is being carried out today at the French premises of the X platform, as part of the investigation opened in January 2025 by the cybercrime section of the Paris prosecutor’s office, with the UNCyber unit of the gendarmerie and in the presence of Europol.

    In parallel, summonses for voluntary interviews on April 20, 2026, in Paris, were sent to Mr. Elon Musk and Ms. Linda Yacarino, in their capacity as de facto and de jure managers of Platform X at the time of the events. Employees of Platform X are also summoned during the week of April 20-24, 2026, to be heard as witnesses. The voluntary interviews of the managers are intended to allow them to present their position on the events and, where applicable, the compliance measures envisaged.

    The conduct of this investigation is, at this stage, part of a constructive approach, with the objective of ultimately ensuring Platform X’s compliance with French law, insofar as it operates within the national territory.

    As a reminder, this investigation was opened following two reports received on January 12, 2025. On July 9, 2025, the Paris Public Prosecutor’s Office entrusted the investigation to the Directorate General of the National Gendarmerie (DGGN). The investigation was expanded following further reports denouncing Grok’s operations on the X platform, which led to the dissemination of Holocaust denial content and sexually explicit deepfakes.

    The investigations concern the following criminal offenses:

    • complicity in the possession of child pornography images of minors a © complicity in the organized distribution, offering, or making available of child pornography images of minors
    • violation of the right to privacy (sexually explicit deepfakes)
    • denial of crimes against humanity (Holocaust denial)
    • fraudulent extraction of data from an automated data processing system by an organized group
    • falsification of the operation of an automated data processing system by an organized group
    • Administration of an illegal online platform by an organized group.

    Elon Musk issued a typically petulant response to the action, calling it a “political attack“. If there’s any attack, Mr Musk, it concerns your platform’s lax attitude to responsibility.

    Furthermore, Musk was corrected in no uncertain terms by the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs account on X, which replied as follows:

    Tweet from Musk reads This is a political attack. French Foreign Ministry responds Investigating child sexual abuse material isn’t controversial. Turning it into political theater is manipulation. Maybe that logic flies on some island. Doesn’t fly in France.

    Your ‘umble scribe wonders if the French reference to “some island” is a less than subtle dig atMusk’s expression of interest in visiting paedophile Jeffrey Epstein’s child abuse island.

    In contrast to the muscular approach taken by the French, the UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has opened a formal inquiry into X and xAI over whether Elon Musk’s companies have complied with data protection law after the Grok AI tool was used to generate sexual deepfake images without consent.

  • A nightmare at the movies

    Steve WoodsLanguage, Media, Politics, Social Media, Tech

    A new ‘documentary’ film is currently being shown in cinemas across the United States. Entitled Melania, it documents the life of Melania Knauss Trump, the first lady of the United States, in the twenty days before the second presidential inauguration of her husband, the disgraced 45th and current disgraceful 47th President of the United States, adjudicated sexual predator, condemned business fraudster, convicted felon and compulsive liar, one Donald John Trump (who is on a personal quest to Make America Grate Again or something similar. Ed.).

    According to The Guardian, Amazon MGM Studios bought the rights to the film for $40m – which reportedly included a considerable sum to the subject of the film (no surprise there! The whole tRump family are high gains grifters. Ed.) – and is spending $35m on a global marketing push. This spend has so far been mostly in the US, with TV spots, billboards and a takeover of Las Vegas’s immersive events venue The Sphere.

    However, the film is not proving popular either with the public or the critics. As regards the latter, this might just be due to the mainstream press not being invited by Amazon the the premiere at the Kennedy Center.

    The exclusion of the Fourth Estate may also explain the dire reviews the film has been receiving, such as the one below ascribed to Variety, although Yahoo News suggests this could be a misattribution.

    Post reads Best review ever. On the Netflix Melania “documentary”: 'If they showed this film on a plane, people would still walk out.' -Variety

    What is more, it’s not just film critics that have been drawing attention to the film’s awfulness. Members of the public reviewing it on IMDb have given it an average score of 1.3 out of ten.

    However, this criticism is quite mild compared with the defaced bus stop poster portrayed below, which prompts ypour ‘umble scribe to ask when exactly will the so-called Epstein Files be released in full?

    Bus stop poster for film with addendum My husband fucks kids

    Update 31/01/2026: Another tranche of the Epstein Files was released yesterday, with at least one wag on social media suggesting the files’ release was intended to distract from from the Melania documentary.

    Post reads Can't believe they released the Epstein files to cover up for the Melania movie.

    Update 03/02/2026: The film continues to get panned, as revealed by this social media post referring to a recent review in The Grauniad.

    Post reads Brutal correction on the Guardian’s review of Melania: “The star rating for this film was corrected on 2 February 2026. A formatting issue led an earlier version to be awarded one star, when the reviewer’s intention was zero”

  • Irish language to have equal status with English during Irish EU presidency

    Steve WoodsLanguage, Politics

    Ireland coat of armsThe presidency of the Council of Ministers rotates between the European Union’s member states every six months. The presidency is currently occupied by Cyprus until 30th June 2026.

    On 1st June 2026 the presidency switches to Ireland, which has announced that for the first time in its membership of the organisation, the Irish language will have equal status with English during its presidency.

    Irish is recognised by the Constitution of Ireland as the national and first official language of the Republic of Ireland (English being the other official language). However, in spite this, almost all government business and legislative debate is conducted in English.

    According to the Irish Times piece, all official documents, policy programmes and press releases will be in Irish and English, while content on the Irish presidency website will be available in Irish, English and French.

    Furthermore, the Irish government has also given a commitment that content requiring immediate publication, such as European Council decisions, will be published simultaneously in Irish and English where feasible and within a very short period of each other, if not, with the aim of ensuring that Irish has close to equal status to English during the six-month term of the presidency.

    The commitment to the Irish language even extends to encouraging the use of Irish at all formal council meetings in Brussels and Luxembourg and during informal meetings in Ireland.

    The Irish EU presidency will also feature cultural programmes involving Irish language literature, arts and music. This programme will be co-ordinated by Culture Ireland in consultation with the Department of the Gaeltacht.

    Whereas Irish used to be the first language of the majority of Ireland’s population before the 20th century, its usage has since declined considerably. According to Wikipedia, the total number of people (aged 3 and over) in Ireland who declared they could speak Irish in April 2022 was 1,873,997, representing 40% of respondents, but of these, 472,887 said they never spoke it and a further 551,993 said they only spoke it within the education system.Linguistic analyses of Irish speakers are therefore based primarily on the number of daily users in Ireland outside the education system, which in 2022 was 20,261 in the Gaeltacht and 51,707 outside it, totalling 71,968.

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