This is Northumberland Calling 17.11.23

What is the difference between a mostly peaceful protest and a riot?

Hello America (particularly Central Ohio), this is Northumberland calling.

A riot  happened in Dublin last night, complete with burning buses, smashed windows and looting. The spark – a man  attacked several children and a woman yesterday outside a primary school. One child, a five-year-old girl, remains in hospital. The have-a-go hero who stopped the attack before it became much worse was apparently a Brazilian immigrant working as a Deliveroo rider.   The police have not released the identity of the attacker, but assumptions were made (rumours of an Algerian asylum seeker but that has not been confirmed). Thus the

far-right  inspired/anti-immigration riot happened. Probably looking for an excuse. While traditionally a country of mass emigration, Ireland has had a wealth of immigration in recent years, in part fuelled by the tech boom as well as the mass migration due to unrest etc in developing countries which most of the Western world has experienced. Housing has become very expensive  and Dublin has all the deprivation problems of a big city. A number of areas remain locked down and several businesses have told their employees to work from home. https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/dublin-attack-three-children-stabbed-near-primary-school-g3d7zxh0q or https://www.rte.ie/news/dublin/2023/1124/1418254-dublin-parnelll-street/

The counter-terrorism reviewer has stated that the police do have enough powers to stop the Pro-Hamas demonstrators and no new laws are needed. In fact any new laws could have unintended consequences and the police should use their existing powers, rather than asking for more. The context does matter and in the context of a mass demonstration a call to jihad would signify a call to violence and encouraging terrorism instead a call for peaceful reflection, for example. It remains to be seen what happens this weekend if the Pro-Palestine marches go ahead in London. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/11/22/jihad-chant-prosecuted-counter-terror-legislation/ or https://archive.is/b5qzv

If you want to get promoted at Kings College London, you have to be with the DEI programme. The college part of University Colleges London has stated that they will look favourably on  people who are applying who have done work for Stonewall.  This sort of stance borders on illegality. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/11/20/stonewall-kings-college-london-lgbt-promotion-inclusion/ or https://archive.is/5M2ml

This from Naomi Cunningham, the chair of Sex Matters giving a brilliant and lucid explanation of why the debate around the reality of biological sex has turned so toxic and why the correct words matter when speaking about the problems.

A museum in Britain has decided to call a Roman emperor ‘trans’. The source is highly dubious and quite frankly the emperor in question Elagabalus was considered to be  psychotic even by the standards of Roman emperors. He was eventually assassinated and the Syrian women who ruled Rome from behind the scenes put another relative in place.  I am not entirely sure this is the sort of person who should be considered a ‘role model’ for anyone suffering from gender dysphoria.  https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/11/20/trans-roman-emperor-hitchin-museum-claim-pronouns-woke/ or  https://archive.is/viPIb

Kemi Badenoch took well-deserved issue with an academic paper from the Museum of London which claimed black women were more likely to die of the plague in medieval London after using a notoriously unreliable method of determining ethnicity on 145 skeletons (measuring skulls – didn’t this sort of thing get discredited with the demise of eugenics?), determining 9 were black and making a pronouncement. Apparently 3 of the nine were found in close proximity and thus may have had some sort of familial tie. Calling the paper divisive and misleading, Badenoch pointed out that as half of London died,  and that it was wrong in the extreme to make such conclusions and that the Museum of London was failing in its mission not to promote racial division.  Her tweets on the subject:

https://twitter.com/KemiBadenoch/status/1727053616417288555

  The Times article:  https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/kemi-badenoch-rows-with-museum-over-plague-study-on-black-britons-jf7zkp5dg or https://archive.is/HoNMQ

Archaeologists have rediscovered the Sumerian water flume (until this rediscovery it was considered that it was the effect was only discovered in the 18^th century and the inward tipping property of bridges in the early 20^th century). A flume is a way to force water to move swiftly to places downstream and it is constructed in a highly specific manner. The site was abandoned in 1750 BCE and deconsecrated the gods had abandoned the Sumerians to a  terrible drought and the city could no longer support human habitation.   https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/11/17/ancient-sumerians-invented-water-flumes-british-museum-dig/ or https://archive.is/jwv0i

Because cats as well as humans are very fond of turkey….

Finally, wishing all of my readers a Happy Thanksgiving. Thank you for indulging me in my news obsession. Because the holiday is American, and therefore not a holiday in Britain, we are having our feast on Saturday, a long standing tradition in this household. And unlike 35 years ago, British supermarkets you can now get fresh pumpkins at this time of year (not pumpkin slices in at the end of October – never understood that one) and shelled pecans so I shall be making some pies. It is the little things…which is one of the reasons why I learned to make certain things from scratch.