Patricia Davies

Differing political definitions of patriotism 3 of the 6 letters (4th quoted in the post) criticising Phillips 😊 Sir, Melanie Phillips expresses a very specific and slightly odd definition of patriotism as "love for the Crown, the armed forces and the common law, and attachment to faith, family and flag" ("Sorry Keir, you don't understand patriotism", , comment, Sep 30). Perhaps that is why she concludes that Nigel Farage offers “the only patriotic force on the horizon". Personally, I regard someone who had a very direct hand in diminishing the United Kingdom's GDP by 4 per cent — as a direct result of our leaving the European Union — as confirming Samuel Johnson's much-quoted remark that "Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel". Acts rather than words still count for some of us. Shaun Leavey Sherborne, Dorset Sir, Over thousands of years these islands have been invaded and occupied by various tribes, who, at any given moment, represented some kind of "Englishness". "In 300 years' time there might well be another kind of "Englishness", doubtless defending itself from the incursion of escapees from another foreign disaster, and claiming a threat to its purity". We were never pure, and attempts such as the present one to somehow freeze a manufactured notion of "Englishness" are doomed to failure. Jerry Stuart London SEI Sir, There is a fundamental flaw in Melanie Phillips's article. She talks of British patriotism as "attachment to faith, family and flag". °. She doesn't indicate which faith she is referring to, but presumably means the Christian faith as the traditional faith in Britain. However, the faith of Jesus of Nazareth shares much more common ground with the values she seems to dismiss - decency, reasonableness and compassion - than it does with the militarism and flag-waving she seems to endorse. I surely cannot be the only person getting worried when the Christian faith is conscripted into the support of strident nationalism. The Rev Paul Dowling

“That Brexit has made control of immigration more difficult, damaged our economy and weakened opportunities for future generations should make people think twice before putting Brexit's chief proponent in charge of running the country”

Times letters: a lonely oasis of sanity in the far right storm.

The number of people who go bankrupt every year because of medical bills.

Norway - 0
UK - 0
France - 0
Spain - 0
Portugal - 0
Denmark - 0
Australia - 0
Iceland - 0
Italy - 0
Finland - 0
Ireland - 0
Germany - 0
Netherlands - 0
Sweden - 0
Japan - 0
Canada - 0
United States - 643k

Indeed. As Yeats put it in The Second Coming:
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity

Do you know how much CEO pay has skyrocketed since 1978?

100%? 500%?

Try 1,085%

Meanwhile, the $7.25/hr fed. minimum wage hasn't budged in 15 years and the tipped min. wage has been $2.13/hr since 1991.

This is what I mean when I say the system is rigged.

This is some sick shit

world's wealth distribution chart

47 claims the entire world is taking advantage of the US, but we have 32% of the world’s wealth, generate 26% of the world’s GDP, and only have 4% of the world’s population

We have a wealth DISTRIBUTION problem

Raise the min wage
Give us universal healthcare
Create federal job-training programs

LIVE: Cory Booker speaks on the Senate floor YouTube video by Associated Press

Oh my God, I just had a full night’s sleep and Cory Booker is still going…
www.youtube.com/live/rCUK2Vb...

Why aren’t you wearing a suit?

Have you said “Thank you” to Greenland and Denmark for allowing you to have a base on Greenland?

Islamophobic posts about Sadiq Khan more than double in a year, analysis shows Most Islamophobic content referring to London mayor, a prominent voice against online abuse, was on X

Islamophobic posts about Sadiq Khan more than double in a year, analysis shows

Dreadful! I think he’s pretty amazing

www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Picture of Pete Hegseth. American Defence Secretary.

"Hey! We're doing beers tonight at Shenanigans! Are you guys in? Oh by the way...we're bombing Yemen!"

#DangerousBamOfTheDAy

#kokako issue 42 is out kokako10.wordpress.com/current-issue/ Thank you editor-in-chief Graham Bates for putting together a lovely big collection of poets I admire.

maga???

This Scottish City Just Banned SUV And Airline Ads. Here’s Why Advertisements for flights, gas-guzzling SUVS and cruises will no longer be permitted under a city ruling described as "historic" by campaigners.

.
Edinburgh Just Banned SUV and Airline Ads

We need to take urgent #ClimateAction to avoid the worst of #ClimateChange!

What action is your city taking to beat climate change?

Here’s why: forbes.com/sites/davidrvett...

🌎🌍🌏
via @Forbes @davidrvetter @Edinburgh_CC

If you want your country to stop arming Israel.

RT/Like this post.

I'm slow today. Just got it!

The guy whose daddy bought his way into Wharton, the guy whose grades were so shitty he's never disclosed them – that guy just destroyed the Department of Education. This is what dystopia looks like. This is what Fascism looks like.

Ahead of Germany’s election, with anti-immigrant sentiment rising, they released viral videos showing life without immigrants.

History proves that when a country starts erasing certain people, it doesn’t end well.
🧵

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth orders a halt to offensive cyber operations against Russia Russia has intensified cyber operations against Ukraine and NATO countries, according to previous U.S. intelligence and private sector reports.

www.nbcnews.com/politics/tru...

“To achieve success in the election, Donald Trump relied on certain forces to which he has corresponding obligations. As a responsible person, he will be obliged to fulfill them.”

- Russian presidential aide Nikolay Patrushev Nov. 11, 2024

Follow Heather Cox Richardson @hcrichardson.bluesky.social
I follow Heather and Alt National Park Services on FB. Both excellent for articulating daily developments & consequences.

This has been echoing through my head since 2016 and with the apparent inaction of the US Democrats the last two lines of the first verse are particularly pertinent.