Making the news today....

[Johnsond]

1 hour ago, sime42 said:

I always feel a bit sorry for the Kurds. I'm sure they've done their fair share of bad shit at times, but they seem like the least bad of all the constantly waring factions in the mess that is the Middle East. They're often mentioned in the context of opposing the nastiest Islamist groups in the area, like ISIS and often left to do the job alone. Though I barely see them get much international recognition. They're not even allowed to have their own country ffs.    

 

 

Just a moment...

BLOGS.TIMESOFISRAEL.COM

 

Kurds in retreat as US allies switch to backing Syria's new leader

WWW.BBC.CO.UK

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The US fought IS with the Kurds for years. Now, Donald Trump is siding with Syria's new leader.

 

 

Absolute warriors men and women ( Yazidi in particular) alike. 
The last sentence on the attached image might give you a clue. 

Kurdish religion is diverse, with the vast majority of Kurds practicing Sunni Islam (Shafi'i school), followed by significant minorities of Shia Muslims, Alevis, Yarsanis (Yarsanism), and Yazidis. While predominantly Muslim, Kurdish culture has historically included indigenous, syncretic beliefs, often emphasizing religious tolerance

.

 

[Mesterh]

Look, i'm sure you'll get over it, stop whining.

 

 

[Squaredy]

10 hours ago, Mesterh said:

I would be pulling my kids out of that school TBH.

Yes, the oldest one is now home-schooled.  Youngest one we would like out, but he has a great circle of friends there.  So for now we are keeping a very close eye on things.

[AHPP]

23 minutes ago, Squaredy said:

Yes, the oldest one is now home-schooled.  Youngest one we would like out, but he has a great circle of friends there.  So for now we are keeping a very close eye on things.

Home school them too. 

[Squaredy]

On 12/02/2026 at 17:22, Mark J said:

I knew very little about Zarah Sultana.  I now feel I am a bit better informed. 

 

Calling one of the most successful entrepeneurs to come out of the UK this century currently employing 25,000+ people a parasite says a lot about her.  Presumably all people who work hard and do well are parasites.  And perhaps those people who get a job in the public sector and then expect endless increments (regardless of performance) or even worse those people who decide it is a mug's game working for a living are the salt of the earth?

 

Or maybe the bitterness she displays towards Ratcliffe is because he is (along with thousands of other wealthy people) the living proof that if you tax wealthy people hard enough they will go.  Which is a phenonenom that has been know about for a very long time and yet still some people pretend it doesn't happen.

Edited 3 hours ago by Squaredy

[Squaredy]

21 minutes ago, AHPP said:

Home school them too.

Well as I say he has a great circle of friends at his current school.  And do I think he (and my wife and I) have the commitment and motivation to make a success of home schooling?  Maybe not right now.

 

I have a lot of scepticsm about schools, but I think that they can be very good.  Just a shame that so much nonsense idealogy has been sucked in by stupid teachers and other senior leaders.

Edited 3 hours ago by Squaredy

[Mark J]

2 hours ago, Squaredy said:

I knew very little about Zarah Sultana.  I now feel I am a bit better informed. 

 

Calling one of the most successful entrepeneurs to come out of the UK this century currently employing 25,000+ people a parasite says a lot about her.  Presumably all people who work hard and do well are parasites.  And perhaps those people who get a job in the public sector and then expect endless increments (regardless of performance) or even worse those people who decide it is a mug's game working for a living are the salt of the earth?

 

Or maybe the bitterness she displays towards Ratcliffe is because he is (along with thousands of other wealthy people) the living proof that if you tax wealthy people hard enough they will go.  Which is a phenonenom that has been know about for a very long time and yet still some people pretend it doesn't happen.

He employs roughly 3,800 people in UK. Dodges £4 billion in tax by skipping the country to be an immigrant over there. Those people in UK could get jobs elsewhere. 

 

Edited 1 hour ago by Mark J

[Steven P]

11 hours ago, Macpherson said:

 

I can't really be bothered getting into anything with you, but I can't let you get away with trying to belittle me by saying I posted BS.

 

I kinda always try to fully check stuff before posting and did as much as I could to find out whether it was real or AI, as did my Sister and another friend, and between us the best we could find was that it may have been at a meeting somewhere in Perthshire.

 

I see that it's being discussed on FB which I don't subscribe to, so can't verify.

 

So it would seem that either it's phone footage of a real meeting, or it's fake... to me having watched it several times I'd say that it looks like a typical group of Pseudo political vankers having the usual confrontational interactions that gets nothing done but shows them up for what they are...

Don't get me wrong, nether am I aligned in any way with the ' The Scottish Family party ' but I doubt that they're paedo's.... unlike the other family..

 

I'll just leave it at that, except to say you've been swamping this arborists forum with your opinions on everything for quite a long time now, and I'm quite sure that your incessant input of stuff not related in any way to trees and wood has led to many experienced members with much to share walking away from this forum, a mine of information which should not be lost !!

 

I guess you vote SNP.

 

Not trying to belittle you, the video you posted was genuine however I can't find any other reference to the video of "bananas in nutella" that they ask about anywhere else.. and it is that part I am calling BS.

 

Had a look at 'The Scottish Family Party' last night, loads of videos on youtube "this is what they are teaching in Scottish Schools" - the first was from a US satirist, and the other one I watched was Canadian.... what was distinctly missing was any video produced in Scotland for the Scottish education system. To me looks like they were grabbing at anything, labelling it "shown in Scottish schools" with the assumption that most of their followers would get all angry, watch the next video and never check whether it was true or not. Then took a look at the RHSP (?) (quoted in your video) website, resources for schools, not a video listed among their resources - powerpoints and documents only... So I will stand by my thought that the banana / nutella video "promoted by the Scottish governments to use in schools" is BS.

 

Looking at the resources though, I think there is some that should be cut... but they arn't as extreme as your video suggests.

 

However your experience might be different from mine, if you have had different, what did the school say or do when you took it up with them that they were being shown this video?

 

[sime42]

There's some extreme ideology at my boy's school too. The nutty teachers sometimes go on about an old beardy in the sky, and a younger beardy guy that died 2000 years ago.

 

We put up with it though because they also teach good moral values like tolerance and kindness and inclusion. 

 

 

[AHPP]

43 minutes ago, Squaredy said:

Well as I say he has a great circle of friends at his current school.  And do I think he (and my wife and I) have the commitment and motivation to make a success of home schooling?  Maybe not right now.

 

I have a lot of scepticsm about schools, but I think that they can be very good.  Just a shame that so much nonsense idealogy has been sucked in by stupid teachers and other senior leaders.

I meant home school his friends too.