Your blogger. Rome 1975

Piazza del Popolo, Fontana del Nettuno, Rome, 1975.

As we wend our way from London to India, in our clapped out Ford Anglia. 

Imagine. Four young folks, Aussies, living in London, early twenties, two blokes, two sheilas. Boyfriends and girlfriends. I’d been given this Ford Anglia by an Aussie mate who was leaving London. Broke as he was, as we all were, this rusted pile of junk was too crappy, even for him, to bother trying to sell. 

So I decided to drive the “hippy trail”, London to India. Why not? I figured we’d go as far as we could and dump it…whenever and wherever.

I needed some company. “Shall we try it?” I asked my girlfriend, my mates. “You beauty!” they answered.

So off we went. Simple as that. A spare tyre strapped to the roof was all our prep. Oh, the magic of youth. The spontaneity. Oh, the stupidity. The foolishness.

We ended up making it all the way to India. The Anglia stopped right there in New Delhi. And never went again. It was like “well I’ve done my job, now get out”. We gave it away to the Delhi police.

Our route: London, Belgium, France, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Yugoslavia, Greece, Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India. 

Number of pictures we took along the way: about seven. Imagine today. You’d have photos coming out your ears: on your phone, on your laptop, on your iPad… instagram, blogs, vlogs, dogs, YouTube, pix of food, people, silly cats and selfies… 

Still, I wonder how many you’ll treasure in coming years. Could you find them 50 years later?

How about 80 years later? 

I have been going through some pictures of my mum and dad and baby me, in immediate post-war Japan, 1946 to 1952. They’re 80 years old. Black and white and tiny. Yet still in perfect condition. Immediately accessible in a lovely, black-bound, black-paged photo album, 80 years old. With the photos labelled in white ink, steel nib, in my mothers’s young, very elegant calligraphy. 

I cannot find a single photo from the ski trek I did across Greenland in 2006. Sled dogs and Inuit. Glaciers and ice cliffs. High skies and a vast Whiteland. Sleeping in tents on the sea ice. Eating seal, polar bear and musk-ox meat. 

Photos? Many taken. Many beautiful. All Gone. Lost in the ether. 

Makes you wonder, dunnit? About the downsides of plenitude and ease. Of “convenience”.

Our ancient Anglia (aka "Wrangle") on the Khyber Pass
Afghanistan-Pakistan border, May 2025

Hamas Are EVIL

The long war. Reflections on cease-fire in Gaza. 

A long post below by Rod D. Martin.

A very good perspective. 

I believe Hamas are evil. They kill and maim Israelis, Jews preferably. They also kill and brutalise their own people. 

Gaza could have been beautiful and rich. It was Hamas, and the people that voted for them, who turned Gaza into the tunnel-riddled charnel house it is today. Who use their own people as shields. Then blame the sword. It doesn’t wash.

Which is why no Arab state wants them. Not Egypt. Not Jordan. Not Syria. Not Lebanon. Nor even their patron death-cultists, the IRGC in Iran. Nobody in the Arab world wants them. Because as soon as they are in a new country they cause mayhem and butchery. No one wants that. Not even a majority Palestinian country like Jordan. Only in the west do we want them. At least a loony lot of us appear to want to invite them into our society. Including, incredibly, many in the LGBTQ community.

I have believed Hamas are evil since I first studied them in 2005. I saw that they followed the ideology of the Nazis. They made nazism even worse. They fused a millenarian, supremacist, misogynist, homophobic ideology to it. They throw in a Sky God who will drown you in virgin beauties if you die in pursuit of “killing Jews wherever you find them” (per the Hamas Charter). Killing Jews and Christians. And atheists like me, too.

Read the Koran. It’s all there. Read the Hamas Charter. This is its foundational and guiding document. Then read the Israel Declaration of Independence. I point out the clear differences in motivation. 

Prove me wrong.

Disclaimer: I don’t buy Martin’s “Trump as a 4-D chess player” narrative. I wish it were true. But I doubt it.

Back to Rod:

Some of you are telling me the Gaza deal can't last. You're not seeing the whole board.

There are two default assumptions at work here. 

The first is that Islamist radicals can just spontaneously produce missiles, guns, and money from thin air. They can't. 

The second is just general black pilling, which is frankly stupid. So you're demoralized: big whoop. You'd have been more demoralized in the summer of 1940, or for that matter of 1942. And you'd have been just as wrong. Get over yourself. Look at the facts.

Ladies on the Black Sea, Israel

Jing, Eva, Michaela. 17 April 2017

DSA: who are they?

Lots of goings on about the Democratic Socialists of America. Which I warned about years ago. 

They’re doing the socialist thing. Which is to take over a party from within. As they did in china of the 1920s to 1940s. They took over, consumed and destroyed the Nationalist Party. They ate it from within.

Now they’ve doing the same with the Democratic Party of the United States. 

Their plans are not secret. They’re set out very clearly in the DSA website. 

These policies will destroy America. Go on prove me wrong. They would be a revolution. And virtually every revolution fails. Even policy by policy, we know from experience the same policies have failed, time and again every single time. 

Those who say “it’s no big deal. They’re a fringe”… you’re wrong. They’ve taken over a thousand elected local positions and hundreds at the national level. Their growth in membership and candidates is shockingly high. 

Xi Van Fleet says whenever you have the word “socialist” it doesn’t matter what qualifier you put before or after, it’s always socialism that the key word. “Democratic” in front of it doesn’t help. It’s socialism, stupid!

Scandinavian countries’ leaders are also at pains to stress: they are not Democratic Socialists. As excuse-making, truth-hiding DSA operatives keep trying to assure us.

 Noah Rothman:

The home of freedom. Now scared into silence by Islam

Laurence Fox at the Oxford Union. 

Watch them squirm…

Yikes! I'm famous!

Maybe I’m even an "influencer"

… yeah, right. Dream on, buddy.

But here's the thing. The other day I had a look at the metrics on this blog. 

First I'll set the table. 

I've never spent any time, since I started here in 2009, pushing the blog. I don't do any of the usual stuff you do if you want more clicks and  "engagement". 

I've not allowed Comments from the outset. Mainly because I didn't want the hassle of moderating them. And also I don't want my fragile ego bruised by criticisms. I just can't handle it. I do take email comments though, and engage with those, usually and eventually. 

I don't accept any ads, which would make Google itself push the blog. None of that.

So, I've not done any of the things you're supposed to do if you want to increase viewership. 

I started writing in 2009, just as a place to keep references to the subject I was studying at the time: namely Islam. Hence the blog's URL (“The Battle of Tours”) 

Every now and then, like every few years, I might look to see how many people were condescending to read what I write. It was like, some people. As in, more than zero, but less that a whole lot. 

Then the other day I had another look. And wow! Over recent 12 months I've had 3.4 million views. On some posts 70+ thousands. Crikey! 

That's nothing, of course, compared with most real influencers. But to me, it's a whole lot... 

It's a shocker really. I mean in a good way. Like, a surprise. So much so that I hd to double-check. It’s true. What's happened is a build up over time by word of mouth. 

AI tells me that blogs like mine, which have been going on, continuously for many years, on the subjects I cover, are relatively rare. Most everyone has gone over to Podcasts, YouTube, Tik Tok, Instagram, Twitch, X, Rumble, etc..

Anyhoo. Congrats to me! And thanks to youze all, you Dear Readers, née Occasional Readers.  Mwah... 💋

African Equator

Our 2011 Classic Car trip from Cape Town, South Africa, to Cairo, Egypt. My blog about the journey here.

Note the elevation. A lot of Africa is high altitude. For me, a surprise. Getting towards Ethiopia, we were up to 12,000 ft. Yikes!  We had to tune the carburettors. 

“I’m alternately exhilarated and terrified” by ASI | Elon Musk

ASI = Artificial Super Intelligence. 

The Economist lady has done decent research in the AI stuff. But cops flak, rightly so, for what she says at the end to Elon. For which he gives her heaps. 

Living in the age of delusions | Triggernometry

Peter Hitchens:

"Don’t vote for someone you want. Vote based on who you don’t want."  

This strikes me as good advice. So often you don't like any candidate. Or you like one, except for this or that policy. Then it’s got to be “The lesser of two evils” voting. 

Like the American 2024 presidential election. If you care about politics and where the country is going, you have to vote. It's binary. Both may be bad. But even then, one candidate will be "horrible", the other merely “bad". 

Thus, you could vote for Trump in 2024, not so much because you like him. But because you judge Kamala Harris policies absurd — to the extent you could even fathom what her policies were through the fog of her "word salad". You really, roooly don't want her. So you have to vote for the other, in this case for Trump. 

That's fine. And just about sums up my view of it. Like, I don't much like listening to Trump and his pabulum; or reading his offensive tweets. But I'm still glad it's him there and not Kamala. I judge his policies to be measurably better than hers. Hurty tweets don’t change that.

I don’t buy, I don’t understand, those who are politically-engaged, but who won’t vote in a binary election because neither side meets their high and noble expectations. That’s just a cop out. 

Back to Peter Hitchens. Most of the talk above is not about what I just said. It’s about the U.K.. Mainly.

Hitchens recommends: Adam Tooze. The Deluge

Hitchens' books to read: The Abolition of Britain. And: The Phony Victory. 

Fun fact: in his youth Peter Hitchens was a Trotskyist. As was his more famous older brother, the late and much lamented Christopher Hitchens. Both lefties. Far-left lefties. Trots! Both became centre to conservative. They share this move with me. And with Thomas Sowell. Who was a Marxist until his thirties. Then was not Marxist. Asked why he abandoned Marxism, he answered: “Facts”. 

Xena RHKYC 2017

At the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club

That’s our lovely Xena, a 55’ X-Yacht from Denmark. 

Just back from racing in Thailand. 

Note the word “Royal” the name of our Hong Kong Yacht Club. In our Hong Kong, all street and building names from the colonial era, the statues, the squares, the monuments, all have been retained. I wonder: in how many ex colonies has that happened? 

“Hong Kong was not what we expected (here’s why)” | Cleared 2 Travel

My home town. Our home town. Where we live because we like it. Because we Love it. 

I’m posting this vid from the Cleared 2 Travel channel because so many people post 2020, post Beijing’s crack down after the riots of 2019, believe we are under the jackboots of paramilitary communist dictators. Not quite.  

One thing these visitor vids always miss out is our Country Parks system and their glorious hiking trails. 

One of them is a world-famous annual race on the 100 km MacLehose Trail: “The Trailwalker”. Which commemorates Hong Kong Governor Sir Murray MacLehose, who founded the Country Parks system, now a treasured part of our city, an easy escape from the hustle. And the bustle.

I’ve did The McLehose in a Trailwalker Race in 2002. One hundred kilometres in 30 hours. Not fast but at least we finished, we team of Wall Street Walkers. 

I’ve done all the other main trails — the Wilson Trail, the Hong Kong Trail, the Lantau Trail, the Dragon Back Trail. All are quickly and easily accessible by visitors. 

Another visitor video from Jay and Karolina. They’re not glazing Hong Kong. Fair pictures. 

Apologising to Charlie Kirk

It’s rather late. But still. 

It’s good to see people apologise when they recognise they’ve done wrong. 

It’s good. And needed. Just too rare.

ADDED: I wrote Vale Charlie Kirk on the 11th September 2025. When I was getting people asking me "do you know Charlie Kirk?" and who proceeded to show me how little they knew of him, just the knee-jerk reaction that the folks above describe. Just going on memes and attesting to his being "a horrible man", while knowing literally — and I mean "literally" literally -- nothing about him. At least the folks above are honest about it and have now learned. Charlie was a great man. Even as he said lots I disagree with. 

Testing AI LLMs: Grok the winner on neutrality

The Neutrality Project

Mutti at 101. Soon to turn 105…

At Canberra Floriade Festival. October 2022

Jesus the unkillable Jew

A clear explanation from Chase Owens of The Babylon Bee of why and how the Jews are responsible for every bad thing in the world. 

Including "where the hell did I put the TV remote??" The Joooz hid it, oc!

"Vehicle" goes rogue and plows into Berlin crowd...

... kills and maims dozens. 

Strange how these "vehicles" seem to have a mind of their own and plow into LGBT Pride parades and Christmas festivals. That's what we read in the headlines. A "vehicle" plowed into the crowd. Nary a mention of who might have been at the wheel or why....

Vince Dao can talk about this openly. As I cannot; this elderly, white, heteronormative, male. I mean, I can, but I’ll be labelled an “elderly, white, heteronormative, male” who has no right to speak because “no lived experience”. 

Vince's parents are Vietnamese refugees from the 1970s. They've done well in America, as has Vince himself and he talks of the family's gratitude to the U.S. for taking them in, and allowing them to prosper.  

Not so everyone. Many hate the west. Hate the country that's given them refuge. And try to kill random of its citizens. Guess who? I let Vince tell you. Spoiler: if you jumped to a conclusion, you're likely correct. 

Despite which the MSM in Germany and the U.K. tries to paint this as somehow the fault of media in the west that's not as leftie as the mainstream broadcasters. Which is absurd, but, I guess, a distraction. 

“Woke activists cope and seethe…”.   Greg Foreman 

Islamist is attacks. Berlin, London, New York. Winston Marshall. Winston talks of how “radical, extremist vehicles” keep on attacking crowds in the West.

"Why post-colonial African countries fail" | Bantu City Diaries

Bantu City Diaries is a Nigerian guy. He keeps his name anonymous. Which I understand. He says stuff that lots of his neighbours would not like, not one little bit. 

Like the one below. There's plenty of blame to go around. There's the west's "Colonial Settler" actions, its exploitative ravaging of Africa's resources over centuries. It's enslavement of Africans. The whole miserable panoply of pain it brought to the continent. Which we surely know full well in the West now as it's an obsession to auto-flagellate over it. 

Then there's the on-going blame of the Africans themselves. The main one, identified here by Mr Bantu City Diaries, as Tribalism.  And we surely also know all about this. 

Although it's not at all discussed, delved into deeply, in the West. There's no push to "we must have a discussion about African Tribalism". Not pukka, really, not the right thing to do. Not good to "hit down". 

Mr Bantu has no such qualms and doesn't hold back. With the blame firmly on the leadership of Africa. For it's rapacious looting of the people's wealth. 

Though he's as pessimistic about quashing African tribalism as I am. As are most people who have come in touch with it. As are most honest and deep observers of Africa. 

It doesn't help that the supra-Saharan, north of Africa has been colonised by Islam. More violence. More oppression. 

"China quietly saved the world last month" | Max Fisher

The above vid dropped before the most recent increased hostilities. And the recent spike over $100 a barrel. It's had 3 million views to date. 

But still, it's a fascinating outline of what's going on in the international oil market, and likely reasons. 

Max Fisher, the presenter, now makes his living off The Bigger Picture, an Explainer-type vid. He's ex The New York Times, The Atlantic and the Washington Post, so you can make your own judgements of his priors.

I will say however, the above presentation comes across as based and neutral, even to me, a man of a certain bias. 

I asked Grok to do a summary of Max's vid: 

"We love death more than the Jews love life". Sam Harris on the essence of Islam.

Sam Harris talks to U.K. host Piers Morgan. In the video above by OtherBarak.

I've been a follower of Sam's for decades now. I've bought his books and followed his podcasts. 

Then I had a falling out with him, mainly over his extreme TDS. 

My obligatory throat clearing is that I'm far from a fan-boy of Trump. He's inconsistent, incoherent and inarticulate. Just better than a Kamala. That's all. While Sam's views on him have at times seemed deranged to me. Like when he said to the Triggernometry lads something like "I don't care if Hunter Biden has dead babies in his basement, that still doesn't disqualify Joe...". 

But I always thought he was spot on with his critique of Islam. He's well-read on it. As am I. We agree on the basic thrust: that there are many, a large minority, probably a plurality of the 2 billion Muslims world wide who are "deranged" -- Sam's word -- by the doctrines of their faith. And, no, it's not "all religions are equal". It's not "all religions have problematic texts". It's not "Jews are just as bad". Or any of that nonsense. The problem of Jihad, of Islam, is "orders of magnitude" -- Sam's words -- worse in the Muslim world than they are in any other religion on the planet and specifically of Jews. 

I wish defenders of Israel -- and I'm glad to see Sam is a staunch defender -- would more often quote the founding documents of both the Israeli state and of Hamas. The Israeli Declaration of Independence sets out their guiding principles, and the Charter of Hamas set out their guiding principles. They could not be more revealing, or more opposite. 

I wrote about before:The Israeli Declaration of Independence. The Hamas Charter

The Israeli Declaration of Independence: 

[Article 13] THE STATE OF ISRAEL will be open for Jewish immigration and for the Ingathering of the Exiles; it will foster the development of the country for the benefit of all its inhabitants; it will be based on freedom, justice and peace as envisaged by the prophets of Israel; it will ensure complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants irrespective of religion, race or sex; it will guarantee freedom of religion, conscience, language, education and culture; it will safeguard the Holy Places of all religions; and it will be faithful to the principles of the Charter of the United Nations.

[Article 16]. WE APPEAL - in the very midst of the onslaught launched against us now for months - to the Arab inhabitants of the State of Israel to preserve peace and participate in the upbuilding of the State on the basis of full and equal citizenship and due representation in all its provisional and permanent institutions. [Here]

The Hamas Charter (Article 7): 

Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it, just as it obliterated others before it. (Preamble)

The Day of Judgment will not come about until Muslims fight Jews and kill them. Then, the Jews will hide behind rocks and trees, and the rocks and trees will cry out: 'O Moslem, there is a Jew hiding behind me, come and kill him." (Article 7)

Palestine is an Islamic land... Since this is the case, the Liberation of Palestine is an individual duty for every Muslim wherever he may be. (Article 13)

The Zionist project is a racist, aggressive, colonial and expansionist project based on seizing the properties of others; it is hostile to the Palestinian people and to their aspiration for freedom, liberation, return and self-determination. The Israeli entity is the plaything of the Zionist project and its base of aggression. (2017, Article iv).

Grok summary of Sam's points:

Sam Harris’ key points:

• Hamas’s actions and widespread Muslim support are primarily driven by religious (jihadist/Islamist) ideology, not just politics or grievances.
• Large numbers of Muslims worldwide are “powerfully deranged” by religious identity/symbols, prioritizing them even over their own children’s lives.
• Gaza/West Bank schools (many UN-funded) teach young children the love of martyrdom and hatred of Jews, producing a culture of suicide bombers and child bombs.
• Society accepts mocking other religions but not Islam, due to the risk of violent “psychopathic rage” over perceived insults to religious symbols.
• Religious fanaticism exists among a tiny minority of ultra-Orthodox Jews/settlers (settlements are provocative), but it is orders of magnitude smaller; most Jews are secular.
• Radicalization stems mainly from ideas of martyrdom and jihad that cross borders and recruit people with no personal grievances.
• Israel is fighting a “suicidal death cult” that uses human shields, embeds among civilians, and sees its own civilian casualties as a PR advantage because believers expect paradise.

It's not a land war in Gaza. It's a religious war. Hamas doesn't want more land for "two states". It wants the annihilation of Israel, the killing and displacement of Jews, so that they can reoccupy "from the River to the Sea". And so does the Palestinian Authority. And so does Palestinian Islamic Jihad. They all do. All the countries surrounding Israel. The all want it.

And what's the west's reaction? On the Left it's to say: "Ok, let's recognise Palestine as a state". Which Australia has done. To its shame. Though at their current Labor Party Conference they seem to be proud of what they've done. I say: Shame. 

Lefties see the light

Bridget Phetasy is like me. I'm like her. Both lefties from way back, now migrated to the small "c" conservative side. The Right. Or centre Right: we both still share many of the small "l" liberal values of the Left. 

Just that the Left has moved more and more left, until now it's known as the "loony left", the "crazy left", the "hard left", the "communist left", the "islamist left", the "Red-Green Left". And in the process left us...

That's now happening to famous folks on the Left. Here: Bill Maher and Van Jones.

Let's let Bridget tell the story in her inimitable way. Good on you, B!  Good on these guys. It's, like, finally!

Hong Kong must wake up to the cold hard geopolitics of AI | Bernard Chan

In the category of “not good news for our city “:

The geopolitics of AI are no longer abstract. They are beginning to shape who can use which tools – and on what terms.

Over the past few months, two major international banks in the city have reportedly felt the impact. Anthropic’s Claude, a generative AI tool used by staff at JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs, was apparently removed from internal systems used by Hong Kong-based teams.

The move amounts to more than an inconvenience. If colleagues in Singapore or New York retain access while those in Hong Kong do not, the city’s position as a global financial hub is weakened. Claude’s removal is not merely a corporate adjustment. It is a warning that AI is increasingly treated as a strategic asset, rather than as neutral infrastructure.

“Hong Kong must wake up to the cold hard geopolitics of AI”

Flower Dog

Hail, President Cortez! President of the People's Republic of America

No worries, AOC. The DSA wants to rip it up anyway...

Look. I told you. I did tell you. Didn't I? I told you!

Way back in 2018, I warned that the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) were out-and-out Socialists. With a horrible platform that amounts to out-and-out Communism.

By the way, for me these days, there's no difference between Socialism and Communism. I say that after living in China, a socialist country ("with Chinese characteristics") run by a Communist Party (with Marxist-Leninist characteristics). After working and visiting many other socialist/communist countries in the world: North Korea, East Germany before the fall of the wall, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia. Today, Britain….

There used to be a fine, and basically very small, distinction made between one and the other, mainly as to when the State would "wither away”. But I don't think that's relevant any more. So here on I use Socialism and Communism interchangeably.

Back to AOC and the DSA. 

My post of 18 August 2018:

The People’s Republic of America. Brought to you by the Democratic Socialists of America!

In that post of 8 years ago, I went into a deep dive on its platform. And tore it apart. I got some pushback from Occasional Readers along the lines of "it's no big deal, nothing to see here". But clearly there is. And I was right. 

Now I'm pointing out that what once seemed unthinkable is not just thinkable, but might even happen: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC), as a credible candidate for president of the United States in the 2028 elections. In a recent poll she leads in New Hampshire. In other polls she's nipping at the heels of Gavin Newsom. 

One Leftie loony and then another; even loonier. I mean, actually, it's tough to pick which is which. 

The full text of my post, unaltered from that date, is below the fold.

These Interesting Times, post of 18 August 2018:

=================================

Daughters and Nieces

 

Canberra 12 January 2016

Whose Playbook?

In memory of the late Scott Adams... 

Left Wing Terrorism | Coleman Hughes & Noah Rothman

Coleman Hughes talks to Noah Rothman about his latest book. Which I've read. 

“Blood & Progress. A Century of Left-Wing Violence in America”.

"Why only Left-wing violence and not Right-wing violence", the Left will say. “Isn't there more Right wing violence than Left-wing?”

Answer: No, and No. 

It's not "just" about Left-wing violence, if you read the book. It's on both sides. But Rothman focuses on the Left. Why? Because there have been plenty of books, articles and analyses of Right-wing violence while almost none on the Left. As Rothman explains in his book and in the above Conversation with Coleman.

The second "No” is about there being more violence on the Right than on the Left. The data show there is not. For the recent decades it's a statistical construct to claim more political violence on the Right than the Left. 

Eg from the Anti-defamation League:

Part of p32, on the misuse of ADL political crime stats

I leave it to Noah to explain why in the video above. In the book it's page 32 et.seq.

This vid comes just a few days after the preliminary trial of the Charlie Kirk killer, Tyler Robinson -- a far Left, furry-lover, living with a trans MtF lover -- which documents extensive evidence of his guilt. and of his increasingly Left-wing leanings. 

Despite which both the Left and the Right went loopy. 

Coleman says "there are two competing stupidities". On the Left that Robinson was actually a Republican, based solely on the fact that his parents are. On the Right, that it wasn't Robinson, but Egypt, its military or ... something, or... wait a minute! of course! it's the Jooz... ! 

Argentina were A DISGRACE!

No shortage of agreement with ESPN: 

Argentina Disgraced Themselves. The Athletic

I hate the Argentine football team. Francis Foster

Why Everyone HATES Argentina Vizeh

Argentina, the MOST HATED World Cup team Batch 89 Studio

How Argentina became the most hated World Cup team Ivan Steff

A sad end to an otherwise interesting and fun World Cup.

Oh well, back to the grind....

Gale Force Winds. Tally Ho on her way to the Fastnet

I've followed Leo Sampson ("Hi, I'm Leo. I'm a boatbuilder and a sailor") since the beginning in 2017. And supported his endeavours. 

It's a great story. He's now put out around 300 vids, about 100 hours, so there's a bit of watching right there. 

Don't have the time? Leo has put out a "7 Years timelapse" which is around 17 minutes and has 11 Million views. 

We all wish him and his crew fair winds and fine sailing. He's going to be in the U.K. well before the 2027 Fastnet race that she'll race in, one century after she entered the third Fastnet in 1927. Which she won!

Leo is a wonderful carpenter and sailor. It's been such a pleasure watching the progress of the build over all these years, to see the people he's had in his life and who have helped the massive rebuild of this classic yacht. 

A comment from today's vid: 

14 minutes into the video, after hearing you guys sing, I realise there are moments in sailing — and this is one — where you are experiencing the thrill of your life being pared down to its most symbolic form :

There you guys are, grains of dust in the immensity of the world, conscious of the fleeting nature of existence, and paradoxically feeling that, at this moment there is nothing more suitable than to assert the brazen evidence that you are alive and as such and for this moment, possess something the universe cannot take away from you.

This is beyond the thrill ; it is happiness in its most immediate and fulfilled form. I join the community in wishing you guys more such blessings.

Water, water, everywhere...

For weeks now... in Hong Kong. Non-stop rain. 

Which makes me think: "A bit of something is good. Too much of something is bad". 

As in: "Moderation in everything". 

Even water. 

You need water to live. Without water you die. But too much you drown. You can even die from just drinking too much water! 

Same with so much in life. Perhaps everything. Hence "moderation in everything". In Chinese: "The Great Mean". 

And so it is with immigration. Some is good. Even necessary. Too much, especially unvetted, is bad. At the extreme, it can destroy countries. 

As we see now in the Anglosphere. And in Europe. Too much; too unvetted; too unqualified; too unwilling to integrate; too unwilling to share values of the host country. 

People on the right, conservatives, who are against unrestricted mass immigration are NOT against immigration. Just against the scale and the lack of qualifying. 

Lionel Shriver talks to Toby Young. About the issue and her book about it, which I've read. "A Better Life". The title referring to the usual motivation of immigrants: to have a better life. 

Which is indeed true. That's what immigrants want. A better life. Fair enough. Who can blame them. 

But all too often that "better life" of the immigrants is at the expense of the lives of poor people in working class suburbs, who have no choice in the matter. For them, mass immigration is very often not at all better. More crime; higher prices, crowded schools, queues at hospitals. No respect, from guests, of their hosts. [*]

So the empathy here only works for the foreigner not the locals. Why?

Look at Bradford, Birmingham, Leeds, Manchester, Tower Hamlets. Just in Shriver's adopted home of England. 

But, you know, BIGOT! If you dare raise this issue. If you've got concerns. Racist! Xenophobe! Even... the bigDaddy of them all: "Islamophobe!"

Sigh... 

=======================

[*] The epigraph of A Better Life: 

"Mankind is divisible into two great classes, hosts and guests."

~ Max Beerbohm

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