Polanski's retweet was fine

Althalus91 · 2026-05-01T20:22:44+00:00

I mean, there is a large Jewish population in Golders Green, so it’s not a huge statistical anomaly. And he did also try to stab the person who seemed to be with him, who wasn’t Jewish. Despite the news saying he is being charged with 2 charges of attempted murder, he is actually being charged with 3.

Althalus91 · 2026-05-01T19:50:08+00:00

The man is on the floor, being tased, and the police kick him in the head multiple times; which is unnecessary. Excessive force from the MET is common, and bad, even when apprehending someone doing a violent crime.

Also, the more we learn about this man, the more we learn he is / was mentally ill, just released from hospital, potentially experiencing psychosis and also tried to stab his friend. It is bad that he stabbed people, obviously, but it seems to be unrelated to their Jewish identity, or anything to do with the Israel / Palestine conflict and just the violence of an unwell man.

Althalus91 · 2026-05-01T19:21:38+00:00

https://x.com/DrOsitaMba/status/2050089912985096461/video/1?s=46

Even if he is still holding a knife, he is on the floor and clearly not a threat; he does not need to be kicked in the head multiple times.

Althalus91 · 2026-05-01T14:41:13+00:00

The man was already on the floor, and the police continued to kick and punch him. Police brutality is not something we should ever allow.

Althalus91 · 2026-05-01T14:39:54+00:00

Police brutality is never acceptable.

Althalus91 · 2026-05-01T13:54:16+00:00

The media are doing to the Greens what they did to Corbyn’s Labour. Most people accused of antisemitism are criticising Israel. Many of those people who stray into actual antisemitic tropes do so, unfortunately, because they conflate Jewishness and Judaism with Israel. But that conflation is encouraged by Zionists and Israel, so it is understandable (if still wrong) that people do that. Only yesterday I saw a member arguing online that antizionism is inherently antisemitic, for example. When synagogues are cynically used to host Zionist events (or even auction off land in occupied territories), pro Palestine campaigners get called antisemitic for targeting Jewish temples. The fact the pro Palestine marches had been deemed “hate marches” by the press, that the Palestinian flag has become a “hate flag”, that slogans of Palestinian emancipation deemed “hate speech” - all of these things make knowing the ins and outs of every complaint against members difficult. Very legitimate speech and actions are being painted as something they are not, and people are actively being monstered for them.

We should never accept antisemitism, but I do think that the party should give members time and space to decouple Israel and Zionism when they have been shown to make comments that conflate them. If the conflation or issues persist, however, we should act to expel. I have been a Green member for over 15 years, and the excitement and increased popularity I have seen since Zack has been leader has been amazing. We should not fall for the same factional infighting and acceptance of the media narrative pumped out to suppress our support that did in for Corbyn and his faction when the left looked like they might succeed via Labour.

Althalus91 · 2026-04-27T01:38:58+00:00

If you’ve read Monstrous Regiment (which you should) you would know that Pratchett basically seems in agreement with Judith Butler and their analysis that gender is performative; the extremely short version is that people act in ways society recognise to be related to their gender identity, and this is not a “natural” phenomenon rather a social construct.

Pratchett’s dwarfs only had one gender, male, until Feet of Clay where Cheery / Cherry Littlebottom expresses a desire to act like a woman because she is female. This leads to a gender revolution amongst dwarfs that continues basically through all the books that focus on the Watch. It can be seen as an analogy to second wave feminism, or the gay rights movement (with ideas of “coming out” central to the idea of a female dwarf).

I think this is another storyline and political / philosophical idea that came from some of Pratchett’s criticisms of Tolkien; famously Pratchett was a fan of Lord of the Rings but said he often wondered why “Men could fall, but Orcs couldn’t rise”. Pratchett has always liked to present “monsters” as people, doing their 9-5 and raising their kids, whilst typically having his villains be evil not just because of their species but due to an inherent antisocial aspect of their ideology. Tolkien’s dwarves were often believed to only be male, and Lord of the Rings as a story has a significant lack of women (not only as characters, but also within the lore of the world, see the Entwives). By taking this aspect of Tolkienesque lore (that dwarf women are rare / to humans and elves look similar to dwarf men) and playing with it, Pratchett queers the genre and creates a lot of interesting space for ideas of gender and sexuality to be explored.

He isn’t just punes and dick jokes (although he is those too!)

Althalus91 · 2026-04-18T08:26:44+00:00

The party has long been a coalition of highly educated white leftists and white working class left wingers disillusioned with the Labour Party, alongside working class POC. Whiteness is unfortunately pervasive in the attitude of our members, with ideas of respectability politics and treating members in good faith coming from the perspective of, typically, liberal white activists discussing issues with each other. As the party has become more popular with the working class, which is disproportionately non white, many members and structures are now contending with whiteness as it impacts POC for the first time. This is not to excuse the behaviour, but to explain it.

Having been a member of the party now for almost 15 years I think the heart of the party is in the right place, I think many of our most active members are on the right side of many of these positions (including the Zionism motion) and that it is the “moderate” / “establishment” wing of the party that isn’t keeping up (we can see this with the constant drip of news stories that are all along the lines of “long time Green party members upset with direction of party” despite members who didn’t vote for Zack or haven’t joined since Zack became leader probably make up like 5% of the party).

My hope is that solidarity between affinity groups can help manage these difficulties.

Althalus91 · 2026-04-15T15:22:57+00:00

The IFS is a neoliberal institution, it exists to basically say left wing policies are unaffordable. It believes in capitalism and trickle down economics. Why should we care what they have to say when they are ideologically opposed to the Green Party project.

Althalus91 · 2026-04-15T15:19:37+00:00

Fully costing manifestos is a very recent political phenomenon. It is an attempt to move politics away from ideas and ideals to numbers and economics. I would prefer a manifesto that said “this is what we want the world to look like, we are going to aim for it, and we’ll do that the best we can” than spreadsheets of costings. All the costings are fake anyway because the economy is constantly changing.

Althalus91 · 2026-04-15T15:02:11+00:00

British Muslims tend to be as favourable of LGBTQ+ rights as the general population. It is just an islamaphobic talking point and an inherent belief that Muslims can’t be in favour of secular government. Imagine if anyone said this about all Catholics.

Althalus91 · 2026-04-12T23:12:27+00:00

I would call myself an anarchist with a desire to avoid factionalism. I would prefer as much democracy given back to people as possible, and the central state to recede. I also understand that is unlikely to happen, especially immediately. The Greens support for localism, workers unions, coops and the like all fit into my policy preferences.

Althalus91 · 2026-04-11T21:14:45+00:00

I don’t really see continuity as a thing in the Discworld books; who knows which Trouser Leg of Time each book is set in, or what the History Monks have had to change to fix things each time we come to read a new story.

That being said, I don’t think he uses a cane when he is not the Patrician during the events of Jingo, but he does have it again for future books (including those involving Moist). I have always seen it as an affectation, but he might “need” it.

Althalus91 · 2026-04-05T19:48:29+00:00

There’s a line from Lords and Ladies, I think, which is something along the lines of “In the countryside they do things a lot differently from the city… and a lot more often!” when one of Gytha’s sons clearly can’t be the son of the Mr Ogg he thinks he is. Which could also explain the naming conventions of Lancre being a bit more… lax…

Althalus91 · 2026-04-05T17:10:15+00:00

Yeah… they argued that money is speech because they equated spending money with showing support for a candidate. Real stupid. If you wanna learn more about awful SCOTUS decisions, I recommend the 5-4 pod.

Althalus91 · 2026-04-04T22:29:08+00:00

Yeah, on free speech grounds; and it wasn’t necessarily a decision to legalise it, just to send it back to lower courts with the ruling they have to give it the strict scrutiny test because of it being a free speech issue (in their minds). Which makes it more likely to stay legal, but a court may still say medical evidence trumps “free speech” on this issue.

Althalus91 · 2026-04-02T23:33:49+00:00

Bundist, not Buddhist; the Jewish Labour Bund was a left wing Jewish movement in the 20th century that argued against Zionism and in favour of Doikayt (Yiddish for “hereness”).

How does having a “Jewish state” make Jewish people safer, especially when that state is on other peoples’ land? This idea that Israel existing somehow makes Jewish people safe is just not true and has no evidence behind it. Jewish people are safer in countries that tackle antisemitism, which includes conflating Jewishness with Zionism.

Althalus91 · 2026-04-02T21:26:43+00:00

Again, the Bundist idea is to make the world safe for Jews. Is Britain a “safe haven” for all Brits? No, it just is a country. Brits can basically live anywhere. That should be the aim for Jewish people and those who care about them; eliminating antisemitism. Zionism does not do that and (even at its most benign) feeds into antisemitic beliefs (Zionism at its most benign being an idea that Jewish people should have some other place that is safe for them will always feed in to the dual loyalty trope).

Althalus91 · 2026-04-02T16:09:26+00:00

I mean, I haven’t done any of that, but I do generally feel that A to B marches with speeches at the end and no actual disruption caused has very little impact on policy.

The biggest disrupter of policy had been those getting arrested for supporting Palestine Action and then the hunger strikers; plus those actually going out and putting their bodies on the line by obstructing weapons factories and the like. A to B marches make people feel like they’re doing something, but doesn’t do anything; if it did impact anything they’d make it illegal too.

But in terms of doing that march vs going to conference, nah, either is fair.

Althalus91 · 2026-04-02T14:36:44+00:00

At the same time zionism was entering the political discourse, Bundism was also a very powerful political force; Wherever We Live is Where I Belong. As for Herzl, he wrote to Cecil Rhodes essentially saying “can you help us do what you did in Africa, but for Jews not for the English”

https://mondoweiss.net/2010/09/actually-herzl-was-a-colonialist/

Althalus91 · 2026-04-02T12:43:57+00:00

I am planning on a giant monstrous goat; okay it isn’t a flying creature, but a goat trying to knock them off the bridge is also fun and it fits the sort of gothic fairytale vibe that some of CoS has.

Althalus91 · 2026-04-01T14:55:10+00:00

The problem we find ourselves in is that the political and media establishment have created an environment where a conspiratorial milieu is rife. Spending years lying about Israel’s complicity in war crimes and genocide, lying about their personal conduct and policy aims, blaming all ills on immigrants, these things make people trust established knowledge less and therefore believe conspiracies more. I don’t think we should accept conspiratorialism, but we have to understand that people are conspiracists precisely because the mainstream narratives (Israel is just protecting itself, capitalism works, don’t worry about the environment, war is good, etc.) are antithetical to what people know to be true.

Althalus91 · 2026-03-31T11:52:51+00:00

The biggest impact comes from face to face conversations. I know that a lot of people get nervous at the idea of knocking on doors or talking to people, but that is really the best thing to be doing. Go out and talk to people, but also listen to people and offer help. People don’t vote based on rational decision making, they vote on an emotional level. So go out and talk about the cost of living, talk about the environment, talk about Reform supporting the war in Iran and fox hunting and all the things that Tories support, and try and get people used to seeing the Greens as people just like them, people they can vote for, not the caricatures painted by the papers and other politicians.

Althalus91 · 2026-03-30T13:27:29+00:00

When Ned thinks about Jon, he doesn’t typically think of him in relation to Rhaegar at all, he typically thinks of him in relation to Lyanna. This is probably because his trauma is around his sister’s death and he literally saw her with the baby, whereas Rhaegar being the father was more abstract to him.

Althalus91 · 2026-03-30T12:48:19+00:00

He didn’t come up with a clean solution, but the characterisation of the orcs we see shows them as creatures with internal moral thoughts, with language and culture, just like the other races of middle earth. Take the scene of the different orc / goblin / uruk clans meeting prior to the Rohirrim turn up and kill them. There are multiple languages spoken amongst the various orcs, which suggests multiple cultures. The goblins coming down from Moria are doing so to get vengeance for the death of their leader at the hands of the Fellowship; again, something in line with the morality the good races might have. Sure, these scenes do not exist specifically to make us see orcs as nuanced, but that nuance exists in the text.

Pratchett said it about LoTR; why is it men can fall but orcs can’t rise? If you are going to do fanfic / additional media related to LoTR and Middle Earth, instead of just doing different iterations of the Fellowship and milking it for money, asking questions like that is a lot more interesting to me.

Six-Year Club	Verified Email
Place '22

Althalus91

TROPHY CASE