Journal, Politics

Israel and Palestine conflict

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Israel and Palestine conflict

This a simple summary of a 75-year-old dispute over land from Vox Media. During this dispute, there have been numerous violent escalations between states and non-state actors.

The above video is 7 years old but gives the background to this ongoing conflict. The conflict has a long history, and I don’t know everything about it. I’m willing to listen and learn about it.

The heart of the conflict is a land dispute, violent escalations some by state actors and some by non-state actors. That cycle has been ongoing now for decades. Conflict at the moment is between Hamas and Israel. Politics within both Palestine and Israel is divided and deeply fractured. Extreme minorities on both sides have been corrosive to trust, destroying institutions and limiting the options for peace.

Palestinians are divided between Hamas and the Palestinian Authority, big divides exist within both. At the same time, politics in Israel is hopelessly divided and hardened against Palestinians due to terrorist attacks. A common tactic was firing rockets, often in large numbers. Two extreme minorities have gained power, adding fuel and making a two-state solution impossible.  An example is illegal West Bank settlements forcing out Palestinians by murdering and terrorizing. Another example is Hamas a terrorist organisation’s ongoing attacks against Israel using rockets. Both sides wished the other side did not exist.

Result peace talks have stalled, Gaza City is Hamas-controlled and West Bank pockets of Palestinian authority control. Thanks to the settler policies that have slowly reduced Palestinian areas in the West Bank. Palestinian civil war caused that split and terrorist group Hamas gained control of Gaza. Official policy was we couldn’t negotiate with terrorists. Therefore the Palestinians have been forgotten about and bypassed when it comes to resolving the conflict. This helps to explain why October 7th happened, lighting a fire and creating a regional war which ends the status quo. The status quo has slowly seen the Palestine cause forgotten about, and violence against them happening without consequence. With the West Bank seeing new illegal housing and Palestinians being forced out. Arab states have learned to live with Israel’s existence. The Arab world has started to normalize relations with Israel. Gone are the days when this turned into a regional war, the threat is now instability with terrorism spreading.

Benjamin Netanyahu has allowed Hamas to exist and it has benefited him. The threat of Hamas gave cover to the blockade of Gaza, and both Israel and Egypt placed heavy restrictions on the border. Building a wall, lined with cameras, sensors and constantly watching. Israel would be safe, and terrorist attacks against the people of Israel were a reason for settlement expansion in the West Bank. You can’t beat a group of militant religious zealots whose only aim is destroying Israel and who don’t care about dying. Both sides have committed violent acts against each other. Collective punishment of Palestinian people over Hamas’s actions is wrong. Or any terrorist group against Israel.

More of the same just breeding further hatred, breaking that cycle and rebuilding trust is key. The last point is challenging, repairing trust and offering an olive branch is required. Milality’s solution to political problems is a dead end. This has been building for decades and ideological non-state actors are difficult to end. Every single rival that could exist within Gaza has been pushed out. Changing the environment and conditions that have allowed them to exist won’t be easy. Pushing the Hamas leadership out of hiding and fostering a new political environment, Israel also needs similar change. That may prove difficult, the leadership of Hamas is in Qatar, Gaza and other places. For the past 10 months, the government of Israel has barely existed with huge amounts of instability. Plans to limit judicial power caused huge protests with military reservists refusing to serve.

Events of October 7th 2023, are truly horrific actions by Hamas. Launching a barrage of rockets into Israel, with an invasion of southern Israel.  Murdering innocent people, taking hostages, attacking police stations and military bases. This incursion was a terrorist attack against the state of Israel. This is nothing new for Hamas who has a long history of terrorism. The group has adapted, and changed tactics, October 7th shattered the sense of security the blockade provided. 

The Israeli response to the October 7th was a total blockade of Gaza. Nothing in or out, no food, no water or medical supplies or energy. Cutting off Gaza from anything and barely giving it enough to keep going. the humanitarian situation in Gaza is collapse on purpose and pure collective punishment.  The economy in Gaza before in permanent stagnation with supplies being limited. Now well everything is collapsing, it is total economic warfare. Gaza strip is only 45 miles long, between 4-7 miles wide with a population density similar to Hong Kong. 2.2 million people bordering Israel and Egypt. Most are children who currently live in the Gaza Strip. It took weeks before Egypt agreed to reopen the border for a small number of multinationals. Everybody else is trapped in.  It is impossible to avoid killing innocent civilians. Nowhere is safe, collateral damage is unavoidable. A desire for revenge on both sides is fueling escalation. Whatever sympathy existed quickly started to disappear due to the above actions.

A constant flow of air strikes over the last 5 weeks to soften up the Gaza Strip before a ground invasion. A ground invasion of the Gaza Strip, and now has cut it into two with Gaza City surrounded. With weeks worth of air strikes it is hard to believe anything left to target that and this is not mindless destruction for the sake of it. Dropping warning leaflets but nowhere for people to go. They have launched a ground invasion against a large civilian population with no food, water or fuel.

Worse still various groups have tunnel networks across the strip, some entering into Israel. Been planning for this day, stockpiled weapons and supplies to wait out any invasion. This is why water, food and fuel are being restricted. I can’t justify or support that, seems more like vengeance and fighting a losing battle. So far no sign of guerrilla warfare but with the internet access restricted and no journalists able to report we don’t know. Misinformation with disinformation with the fog of war makes the picture even harder to understand.

What happens next? A cycle of bloodshed that never ends. Netanyahu stated aim of the ground invasion was to destroy Hamas. Hamas has other plans like an endless war, into a regional conflict due to Israel’s overreaction in Gaza. Therefore breaking that status quo destroys the state of Israel in the process. So far regional conflict has been avoided. Israel’s lack of restraint is really putting pressure on avoiding that outcome. Hamas’s other goal of breaking the status quo has been a success. The reoccupation of 2 million people creates nightmares to deal with. Forced relocation would be repeating history. You can turn Gaza into ruins but against a foe who wants endless war that is a trade-off they are willing to make.

I condemn the terrorist actions of Hamas and don’t support them. My support for Israel is not unconditional. What worries me is no off-ramp for what happens next or plan. Medium-term thinking is needed and yet to see anything of the sort. The status quo can’t carry on but what comes next is going to need agreement between the Gulf states. Along with pressuring Israel into an agreement. A long-term peace agreement is required not a short-term stopgap.

Breaking down international norms, as chaos spreads with nobody enforcing the norms. Condemning is an easy action, but influencing is much harder.

Video Games

Snap Loki season pass ladder climb, some deck thoughts

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Snap Loki season pass ladder climb, some deck thoughts

Marvel snap ladder goes up until rank 100, I’m currently in the low 90s. Making it my highest rank so far, I have seen a major improvement in terms of my gameplay. A game of luck with skill being a thing. Have been able to reach 97 but am now stuck at 96 again. 

Mainly used three decks all rather consistent in my view against other common styles. The archetypes used are ongoing, Serra control and high evo. Meta right now is all about using as much board space as possible. Yet to finish pool 3 some decks are missing parts and can’t access other decks. 

Mister negative – I don’t like this card, don’t find it works too great at the moment. Something is missing from my deck not sure what. 

High evo – I don’t have all the pieces but it can still work. Undervalued this playstyle but it is rather flexible with major power swing potential. Being able to impact your whole deck without being played is huge. Sort of becoming a tech card against Loki, just strong against others near the top right now. You can counter it but most people just ignore it. Sleeper deck that has been rising the ranks. 

Destroy – Past two months destroy has been popular, with three cards venom, death and knull. These cards push destory to being rather good and I don’t have them. I can’t destroy and people destroy me. Counterplay exists due to the familiar and easy-to-spot play pattern. Loads of power spread across the board. 

Loki – Okay card with loads of natural counters, requires building a deck around him. The collector was nerfed in response to him meaning none loki decks dropped off a cliff. 

Mainly playing against well evo, control decks and other weird combos. Which can seriously throw you off. 

Journal, Politics, Thoughts

Private schools and VAT

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I have updated this post wrote it last night in a bit of a rush before bed and published it.

I’m against private schools in principle. Giving people an unfair advantage, entrenching that with a massive impact on the establishment. They are designed to keep people at the top, out of fear of people’s social class falling for their children. Will this issue shape how I vote in any future election no, other issues which are far more important to me. I would rather private schools were banned or any special treatment removed so they were no longer viable. Removing artificial social barriers is important to society. 

Rachel Reeves’s conference speech on private schools in 2021.

Right now, private schools enjoy charitable status which makes them exempt from both business rates and from VAT at a cost to the taxpayer of £1.7bn every year.

But conference here’s the truth: Private schools are not charities.

And so we will end that exemption and put that money straight into our state schools.

That is what a Labour government will do.

Two ways to interpret what Rachel said. Labour will remove charitable status or the exemptions. Two years later tax exemptions are being changed to reform private schools.

Opposition parties are reactive don’t have the ability to be proactive, and don’t have the power of government. Unable to control the narrative or pull the levers of the executive to their whims. What they talk about and give air time matters. Getting that message out is hard for opposition parties. Labour has focused on the sense of unfairness, and private schools are part of that push. Possible extra money going straight to state schools, parents have noticed schools having funding issues.

Labour’s argument is charitable status was shorthand for adding VAT to school fees. The media is reporting this as a U-turn, I don’t think it is. I do think it communication misstep by Keir.  With conference season coming soon, better to get it out with nobody listening. Not expecting voters to hear about this or notice it. I’m expecting it going be an important plank and talked about, with the Labour narrative driving the headlines.

The plan is to remove VAT exemption but leave that charitable status. Schools could get around this by lowering fees, and donations increase. Unless donations are no longer considered tax-free gifts. Therefore reducing potential VAT revenue. Changing the law can be a rather hard and time-consuming task. Simple quick fixes can leave an awful mess to clean up later. Watch this space this could join a long list. Maybe Labour plans to look at other tax exemptions.

My gut is telling me doing it matters more compared to how it is done. This is one way to implement adding VAT to school fees. They are sticking to their guns on the issue. I have a sneaky feeling voters care more about the action, the VAT tax break disappearing is easy to understand. One thing is clear this obvious difference between the main parties and Labour is sticking to it.

May not agree with final outcome. I do share deep-seated concerns about what Labour priorities are. Feeding into worse insights from a narrow group of voters and failure to control the narrative. Deeply unhappy and have not made up my mind about who I’m going to vote for in the next election.

Keir’s critics have been attacking him for ditching his leadership pledges and changing his policy platform. Some of that criticism is largely unfair, but this is another example they can use. A trade-off that leaves open an exemption, donations go up fees go down. Donations are tax-free, which helps elite older schools the most. If your ideology lean going much further you won’t be happy.

Part of me is willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. The other part of me is deeply worried that his priorities don’t align with my own. Never going to get a party that aligns 100% with your views and that’s something I’ve gotten used to. Britain won’t vote for radical revolution at the ballot box. To me seems people have yet to accept that and understand long term battle is required. Seems far too many people who frankly have not realised that and going to be disappointed until the end of time.

Path to general election has started we don’t know when.

Journal, Thoughts

Hot dry summer, warm wet autumn

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Hot dry summer, warm wet autumn

The hot dry summer is over, and warm autumn begins. Last year we had a wet warm winter. Seasons are changing, hot dry humid summers with wet warmer winters or colder. As temperature increases, heatwaves become common. The climate models show possible consequences but not everything. Once in a lifetime, extreme weather events are becoming more common. Volatility in the climate system has far-reaching impacts. Less water means lower rivers that impact shipping routes, higher sea levels mean ports need to move. The security of water and food comes into question rather quickly. 

The most obvious example is food crops, irregular rain means lower yields or floods or ruined farmland. Long periods of dry conditions are also a threat, the result is irrigation. With less water supply that causes a huge strain on what can be produced and how much. Suddenly water pollution looks rather important to and health of the water cycle. Everybody would need to use less water when water scarcity comes into question.  Humanity will have to adapt, be more efficient, find resistance crops or grow something else. A solution may be growing mixed fields over a single use. Old farming methods may be the answer. Tightly packed greenhouses use less water with a lower overall footprint could be the answer. Meat production requires livestock feed, less of that means less meat can be produced.

What worries me is nobody concerned about the scarcity of resources. 

Marvel Snap, Video Games

My budget patriot deck – Marvel Snap

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My budget Patriot deck 

Marvel Snap is a card game, everybody’s collection is different. You don’t always have required cards and need to experiment. Archetypes exist based around good cards creating new decks and playstyles. Some open up new ones others improve existing base decks. Patriot has a number of different decks, boosted or iron patriot. Zoo term comes from hearthstone due to being animal cards, but Magic: The Gathering is where the idea came from. Zoo decks are cheap, high power-to-mana ratio decks. Patriot decks generally are similar to the Ka-Zar playstyle. The difference is that 1 cost can be hard countered by Killmonger, Patriot avoids that weakness. Shang chi means we need to avoid reaching 9 power.

The core idea is similar to spreading cheap mana but high power cost cards across multiple locations. Overwhelming your opponent forces them to spread thin or overcommit. Control decks that lockdown lanes or big combo power match or beat this. After about a week’s worth of play, I like this archetype but it does have a number of weaknesses. Some due to missing cards and others due to the overall structure. You do need at least 3 cards in hand in order to apply pressure and win.

Decklist

(2) Forge – Core combo
(2) Luke Cage  – Flex
(2) Mister Sinister – Core
(2) Scarlet Witch – Flex
(3) Patriot – Core
(3) Brood – Core combo
(3) Cosmo – Flex
(3) Wave – Core combo
(4) Shang-Chi – Flex
(5) Blue Marvel – Core
(6) Doctor Doom – Core
(6) America Chavez – Good

Combos

Forge into Mr. Sinster or brood

Patriot with Blue Marvel

Wave into Dr. Doom

America Chavez

Why don’t you use an X card instead? 

The answer is simple cause I don’t have that card yet.

Iron Man has been swapped in and out of this deck a couple of times he a good option.

Absorbing Man and Iron Lad are two obvious choices to boost the consistency. Don’t draw the right card you can copy something or copy something in the deck. I’m missing both cards sometimes that consistency is badly needed. The result is I have 4 cards spare, one flex spot and 3 empty spaces.

Replacement cards

Luke cage – Counters reducing power effects

Scarlet witch – Change poor locations

Shang chi – Counters 9 power cards

Iron man – Flex spot

Cosmo – Goblin counter and on reveal counter.

Honestly more cards I could use but I don’t have them.

Final thoughts

Anything that causes disruption to filling up a lane or causing changes to the board state is a problem. Locking down a lane causes huge issues.  A couple of choices exist that can reduce or restrict that. I’m tempted to change the list as I climb right now this deck works. Off meta deck at my current collection rank which ends up surprising people. Big good card decks do well against it along with control decks.

I theorycrafted this deck after getting Dr. Doom and messing around with a couple of other cards here.

Journal

Heartstopper some thoughts

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Heartstopper some thoughts

I have been rewatching Heartstopper, by Alice Oseman.

An adaptation based on her graphic novel of the same name. Started as a web comic, which you can find here.  The story is about Nick and Charlie, and friends finding out who they are. Uplifting show that has made me reflect on my journey. The TV show does touch on darker themes like mental health problems. I now want to read the books to see how each plot is covered. Panels are recreated in the TV scenes with the same dialogue. Some scenes are expanded compared to the panels. Overall the show is a wonderful LGBT experience.

Ben’s internalized bi-erasure is something most LGBT people can relate to. Nick suffers from bi-erasure, people thinking he is just gay. Charlie being bullied causes his eating disorder and other mental health issues. Alice includes every single element of the spectrum, don’t feel forced. Every character feels relatable, two teachers discussing sexuality and late blooming. It made me smile and reflect on my journey, the painful process of accepting. Now understand that teenage moments can happen at any time.

Hand draw art helps add so much to each scene, waves that look like flags or flowers or butterflies. I enjoyed watching this series and gave me hope. Made me pause and reflect a couple of times, Wow that happened to me. Ben’s storyline hit home for me, internalised issues are never simple to fix. Society as a whole needs to be better at teaching kids about the world and relationships. The whole generation of the LGBT community needs older folks like me to act as role models. There needs to be louder bisexual and pansexual voices with trans. The gay community in the past has done bi-erasure. Without going to far off topic history here is full of these voices that often forget about.

In many ways, I have come to terms with things but I don’t want to let it be my only identity. I’m hooked on hearstopper most likely going to buy the books soon enough.

Comic book movies, Marvel, TV

Short history of comic book movies

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Short history of comic book movies

After writing some thoughts on the Marvel cinematic universe. Wanted to give a blog post on other movies that exist. Before the MCU other superhero movies existed, wanted to reflect on that. Loads of possible films to discuss, the list is rather long. So only going to focus on the ones I consider important. Quite a few that I consider as important you’re welcome to disagree with me.

Superman 1978

Offering a template for the future of the superhero genre. Richard Donner set the blueprint that Tim Burton would follow, both contributing to the genre as we know it. Genre owes much to these two directors, the current boom started in the 2000s follows the template. Genre owes Richard Donner and everybody else a huge debt. Worth repeating just how important this movie turned out to be.

Watching this movie today it has aged a bit but overall feels similar to modern movies. Brings Superman down to earth, grounded in reality. Something nobody had tried before to do, some silly comic book moments still believable within the story.

Mario Puzo’s original script was vastly different compared to the final product. Richard did a rewrite and gave us one of Donners most important contributions to film. Starts with an origin story, and deep storytelling along with complex characters with drama. The result is creating something new and refreshing.

Attention to detail along with laying the groundwork for the man of steel to appear after 45 minutes. Sharing an adaption that is proud to tell an accurate comic book origin.  What Richard Donner did was show the world the potential, leading others to borrow from his playbook.

Batman 1989, 1992 – Tim Burton

Tim Burton directed Batman 1989, and Batman Returns 1992. Tim’s vision is darker stylised and more realistic, a take on Batman’s origin. This feels like a Burton film, his fingerprints are all over this. He is focusing on the psychology of the character over being comic book accurate. Radically different compared to what came before, focusing on darker stylised elements of the comics. Some people dislike this approach but takes very core themes from comic books.  Borrowing themes and ideas over using direct stories, new take on old stories. 

Warner Brothers took a huge interest, playing a major part in creating an action hero Batman. The biggest most obvious criticism is just how many people get murdered by him. Thus it is not a very comic book-accurate flick at all. I don’t think Burton is fully to blame for this more executives following what the 1980s looked like. Superheros are untested and the studio really wants to make it a success but not got much faith in it. Why did I include it?

Complaints often focus on it not being comic book-accurate. That was never the goal or point behind it. What you instead get are major psychological themes that underpin and form the Batman universe. Showing it in a new fresh light compared to before along with pushing the norms. Okay took a while but the modern dark version of Batman couldn’t have happened without it. Batman Returns gives you an idea of what the future could look like. 

Tim Burton had made his Batman movie but when Batman returned he would get greater creative freedom. The result was Burton agreed to do another one. Pushing his stylised horror meeting the universe of Gotham. Really digs deep into the stylised horror and, a much darker tone overall including the story. The main villain is the Gotham elite, much darker direction compared to dark last movie. The Penguin costume pushes that, opening is more like a horror movie. Still filled with action the top gadgets and everything else. Takes creative risks, Gotham is a dark, timeless alternative design that is bigger. Speaking of which that design would go on to influence modern Batman for decades to come including cartoons. 

Parents complained to McDonald’s about Batman Return’s dark nature. Mismatch in terms of the partnership with McDonald pulling the partnership. The terms for the further partnership were Tim Burton could not be the director. Warner Brothers fired him from the 3rd movie, producer in name only.

Batman & Robin

This movie was so bad it changed comic book movies for the better. Watchable but my god it is awful crap. Sadly however far strong junk compared to some of the 2000s movies that got made. So awful at times you just have to laugh at it.

Fox Xmen 2000, 2003, 2006

The Superhero genre was largely unproven, small number of successful films followed by failure. 20th-century Fox had little faith in X-Men being a major hit. The surprise commercial success of Xmen started boom times for superheroes.  Hollywood jumped on the bandwagon, using various Marvel properties film rights it owned after Marvel wanted to create movies. Unlike Batman or Superman, the studio was embarrassed by the source material. Steering away from the source material, the meta costume joke is easy to miss in X-Men. Takes important themes but the story is different from the comics. Overall style with feel is lighthearted and family-friendly with more adult tones. Borrowing the best ideas but not being shoehorned by the comic book story. Character development adds to the overall story and special effects are used as plot devices. The human vs mutant conflict is a long story arc that finally pays off in the last movie. Watchable if flawed trilogy but still important showing the genre could be a box office success. Did show that the genre had box office legs and loads of movies followed the formula.

More Batman, dark knight trilogy 2005, 2008, 2012

Christopher Nolan’s dark knight trilogy used Richard Donner’s template to refine it. Borrowing heavily from both Richard and Tim’s previous works. A modern realistic take on the character, grounded in the real world. Not limited but embraces expanding on that idea. Attention to detail here that most films don’t come close to matching. A scene with a bomb timer that is the same length as the timer.

Inspired by the comic book source material, it is a love letter full of detail. Not embarrassed telling an accurate comic book origin story, similar to Superman. Christopher’s trilogy is a story split into three parts, it was never intended to be a trilogy. Therefore each part just adds to what came before and adds what is necessary. The final chapter is a perfect ending for the story arc. Created during the middle of the comic book box office boom fanatic piece of history. Showing that when Hollywood takes risks by respecting the source material magic can happen.

Hollywood today is full of green screen computer-generated imagery (CGI) using fake backgrounds. Saving studios on production costs during shooting, don’t have to do duplicate costly reshoots. Nolan instead opted for physical locations with effects. Any CGI is limited and sparingly used. Lighting to costume design shows the benefit of this old-school approach. An excellent script with set design, and special effects that look real are rare today. Nolan treats Batman with respect and creates three of the best movies ever made. Instead of playing safe, it takes risks to explore themes nobody else considered. The mental health of Batman is the obvious one. Tim Burton’s effort can’t begin to hold a candle to this.

Iron Man 2008

The birth of the Marvel cinematic universe started long before Iron Man.  In a previous blog post, I have written a section about it along with thoughts on MCU as a whole. Following Richard Donner’s template, Marvel created its superhero formula learning from what worked and what did not. At the time this was a risky move, an unknown hero who was not like other heroes. The studio behind it created a charming flawed character that was relatable. What makes this movie so improve is what comes next. Giant massive story arc along with decade long series of hits.  Leading us to the Avengers infinity war and Endgame which pushed how many heroes you could include in one movie.

Logan 2017

Fox X-Men movies are a mixed bag, from watchable junk to rather good. I have written about Fox X-Men and my thoughts here.

Logan is a conclusion to Charles and Wolverine’s story arc. Aged extremely ill Charles Xavier and Logan. It is perfect in so many ways, in how it tackles certain issues. Gives us a bunch of vulnerable, characters with loads of emotion and development. It works as a stand-alone or part of the X-Men ecosystem. The story is an alternative take on the war between humans and mutants. More grounded darker script allows Hugh Jackman and Sir Patrick Stewart to shine. Different approach and style compared to what came before. Genre-based needed a refresh and this darker take is great. Reminds me of what Christopher Nolan did with Batman reboots 2005, 2008, 2012. Logan 2017 came out and went the darker more grounded route to.

Genre as a whole has kept to action but slowly tried to explore other ideas. Honestly, time for another risk to be taken. Deadpool is R rated action comedy gamble but not that big of a risk. Pretty much every single superhero movie is action based.

Time to expand on what I wrote and explain why Logan was included on this list. The much darker side to having superpowers is shown here, gift and curse. Old age with illness are core to the plot, Xavier illness is believable. A character that weak physically from old age, unable to control his powers. Logan acts as protector just like Xavier did. Both are written like old friends, teaching each other bringing out the best in each other. You do see Xavier darker side here pushing Logan towards helping X-32. However it only briefly shown and easy to miss what going on. Flawed character is nothing new but to see vulnerable in a different way. What we get here is two characters sharing a similar experience.

Human and mutant war takes a dystopian twist, mutant kind is killed off by private company seeking to use them as weapons. That subplot turns out be the main real plot. Logan showed a much darker side but was still family friendly filled with adult themes. Age filled with more light-hearted fewer adult themes Logan showed you could be successful with adult themes. X-Men comics are full of them.

Outside of Kickass a black comedy, the genre has largely been action movies. Deadpool is an action comedy filled with violence, Does have some black comedy elements but focuses more on action. Making a movie for adults was a huge risk. Logan was a fresh much darker but family-friendly take.

Smite, Video Games

Smite common mistakes people make

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Smite Common mistakes people make

  1. Three pillars of smite, mechanics, knowledge and decisions
  2. Lack of present – Being near a lane changes decisions that players make, kills are a bonus. not the end goal. Sometimes all you need to do is turn up and that’s it.
  3. Vision is important – Wards help you inform your decisions and allow you to play safer or understand what happening. Ward anything you view as important. Jungle ward under your feet before late-game team fights
  4. Side lanes matter – Solo and carry are important, presence is required in both lanes don’t ignore one.
  5. Focus on one side lane
  6. Miss and commit anyway – Not hitting a target is fine leave a fight don’t have to commit if your missing.
  7. No plan –  While playing most players don’t have a plan for what to do next. Result they become reactive over proactive. Look at the map and plan what needs doing next, fight afterwards.
  8. The other team is off-meta and not present – Even pro players don’t know the match ups do you expect the average player to know? Just turn up and help people out.
  9. Behind in gold – Just farm, jungle need to help secure buffs
  10. Being focused is fine and dying early is fine – Don’t worry about dying, do your job later
  11. Understanding your god role and point
  12. Counter-ganking matters – Don’t babysit but keep the other team in check.
  13. Builds and scoreboard – Failure to check the scoreboard to find out what people are building and who is ahead or behind.
  14. Supports left and right hand – You must protect your carry and mid-laners. They are your left and right hand.
  15. Solo and supports running at people – Need to be flexible, aggressive and defensive with your team.
  16. Glass cannons running at people – Jungle players stop attacking head-on during team fights, hit from the side and wait for fights to start. Bruiser hybrid tank builds IF this is your style.
  17. Not understanding win conditions
  18. No surrender – 20k down at 15 mins just surrender
  19. Not understanding what is reportable
  20. Insulting players won’t make them play better
Labour, Politics, Thoughts

Labour proposal changes to the gender recognition act

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Labour proposal changes to the gender recognition

 

Anneliese Dodds shadow women and equalities secretary of the Labour Party. Writing in the Guardian plans to reform transgender rights.  Gay rights have largely been won, the queer community has moved towards transgender rights as the next campaign. Thus the opposition has moved to fight back against transgender rights. Voices have helped convince people to accept and support the movements. The trans community lacks mainstream voices but has slowly been getting heard. Often forget about when it comes to queer culture and history. The queer community has been winning the long war over social attitudes, still plenty left to do. Rolling back hard-earned rights is still possible and should be defended. Progress is slow but happening even during my lifetime the shift has been remarkable. Often we can forget just how far things have come. 

People have other priorities and don’t think about it or give a shit. One Labour MP in pink news. Labour has decided to try to neutralize the issue, to bring voters with it towards a compromise. You can disagree with that compromise but a positive first step. Instead of doing nothing, Labour has decided to have something to say. 

Conservatives’ plan is trying to divide and rally its supporters. 12 paragraphs and 3 making that point. A long history of throwing vulnerable groups into the dirt, both mainstream parties have done it. Rishi Sunak has nothing else to offer with a deeply divided party. 5 pledges looking increasingly difficult to achieve. 

Let’s go over what Dodds has written and understand the direction. Updating the Gender Recognition Act is a key plank, the wording used is important. 

 So we will modernise, simplify and reform the gender recognition law to a new process. We will remove invasive bureaucracy and simplify the process.

Modernise, simplify and reform it into a new process. Now we don’t know the details but that sounds promising. Thus removing bureaucracy and simplifying being mentioned twice is rather important.

The gender recognition act is UK-wide legislation, and updating it would apply to devolved regions.  Scotland tried last year unsuccessful update it locally, Scottish reform would impact England and Wales.

You can find my none expert summary here. I support self-ID and reforming the GRA to allow it. If the trans community wants it willing to support it. 

Highlighting the hidden constitutional truth Westminster holds control and devolution is a bit of a patchwork.  SNP purposed legislation was watertight and well-designed and had cross-party support. Dodds does a pot kettle-black moment doing the thing she earlier accused Lee Anderson of doing earlier. New purposed Scottish GRA slotted nicely into the safeguards and protections provided by the equality act. 

Disappointing hearing more misinformation, blocking the Scottish Act was on constitutional grounds. Worth keeping an eye on Labour plans for constitutional reform. 

We will not make the same mistakes. The requirement to obtain a medical diagnosis of gender dysphoria remains an important part of accessing a gender recognition certificate. That’s especially the case now that gender dysphoria is no longer classified – and stigmatised – as a psychiatric disorder. It can help refer trans people into the NHS for support services – nearly a quarter of trans people don’t know how to access transition-related healthcare. Requiring a diagnosis upholds legitimacy of applications and confidence in the system.

I don’t have experience with transgender healthcare or know how it works. Reads like a push towards easier to access healthcare, support along with training. Loads of questions here and detail will matter. However, this could be further restrictions on transgender people. With loads of mistrust about Labour’s true intentions, transphobic statements from party members.

The current process also requires a panel of anonymous doctors to decide something of momentous significance, based on reams of intrusive medical paperwork and evidence of any surgery. This is demeaning for trans people and meaningless in practice. A diagnosis provided by one doctor, with a registrar instead of a panel, should be enough.

More questions over answers here, including primary or secondary care. Waiting lists for certain specialists are years long already. The concern here is restricting care it is the real goal. Does this mean new training, advice and extra funding? Worth keeping an eye on Labour’s overall healthcare reforms. A push towards more self-referrals is part of it. 

Moreover, let me be clear: we are proud of the Equality Act and will oppose any Conservative attempt to undermine it. We will protect and uphold it in government, including both its protected characteristics and its provision for single-sex exemptions.

We need to recognise that sex and gender are different – as the Equality Act does. We will make sure that nothing in our modernised gender recognition process would override the single-sex exemptions in the Equality Act. Put simply, this means that there will always be places where it is reasonable for biological women only to have access. Labour will defend those spaces, providing legal clarity for the providers of single-sex services.

Changing how GRA works in the UK won’t impact the equality act and disinformation or misinformation to suggest otherwise. The language makes me uneasy reading it, complicated and subject full of fear on both sides. Leaves me wondering if this would be a positive step after all. I support self-ID, unsure if this would be a step towards it. Leaning towards it would be a step towards it. 

Stonewall statement

It is wrong to suggest that safeguards cannot exist with a de-medicalised model. The Scottish Gender Recognition Reform Bill was the most scrutinised piece of legislation ever passed by the Scottish Parliament and was passed by a solid majority of MSPs with support drawn from all parties.

Safeguarding was extensively considered by Scottish parliamentarians over the course of the Bill, including several amendments that were tabled and included to explicitly bolster protections. One such successful amendment was by the Scottish Conservative MSP Jamie Greene, which created a new statutory aggravation offence connected to fraudulently obtaining a GRC. The safeguards in the Scottish Bill go much further than the UK Gender Recognition Act, and are much stronger and more specific than a GP being involved in the process, as was suggested by Labour today.

Trans people’s needs and priorities along with input are required for any reform to be a success. Legal recognition is pointless without healthcare, anti-discrimination and education playing a role. The experience of the gay community shows the importance. 

Mermaids have this on GRA reform worth reading. 

Mermaids’ Manifesto for GRA Reform

Marvel

Secret Invasion – Boring invasion

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Secret invasion – Boring invasion

The finale for secret invasion has aired, well streamed on Disney Plus. Inspired by the comic book story an adaption. TV sequel to Captain Marvel, after saving the Skrulls some settled on Earth.  Kree and Skrull war destroyed the Skrull home plant, Earth ended up being the safest place. After the events of Captain Marvel first group of Skrulls settled on Earth until a new planet could be found. Nick Furry with Captain Marvel made a promise they would try to find a new home planet for the Skrulls. In return, the Skrulls worked with Nick to protect the earth against threats. Exploring the aftermath of Captain Marvel and their failure to find a planet.

Marketing presented the show as a spy thriller, which doesn’t feel like it at all. Shows the limits of what a TV show can do within the MCU and an overall glut of Disney Plus.

Spoiler warning!

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