I am against violence. I am against celebrating violence. I’m praying for peace. I’m praying for healing. I’m praying for the family, especially the children. I know what they’re going through. I’ve been through it.
I’m deeply scared for this country. The way some people are reacting on both sides is dangerous. If I had one wish right now it would be for everyone to please just step back and take a breath and remember we are all just sophisticated apes trying to coexist on a rock hurtling through space.
If we cannot tolerate polite and reasoned disagreement then there is no hope for our society.
There is a famous quote falsely attributed to Voltaire that however does sum up a principle of enlightenment philosophy, ‘I disagree with what you say, but I would die to defend your right to say it.’
The ideas of people like John Locke and Voltaire and Thomas Paine are what lead to the American Revolution which then inspired the French Revolution. They introduced the World to the idea that individual rights were important and should be protected from Monarchs (tyrants and dictators), and ultimately led to the idea that a country should be governed by its people NOT by the Church and NOT by a King.
If citizens don’t protect and respect each other’s right to disagree, then we cannot have a democracy. If we do not protect our right to disagree then we’ll get violence.
We do NOT want a society where violence is the way we win arguments, because then nobody wins. Everyone loses.
We are ALL losing right now. The whole society is losing together. Losing to violence. It’s unbelievably sad. It took so much work to get us here. We can’t throw it all away like spoilt children.
I did NOT agree with Charlie Kirk’s views on MANY important topics. I know he helped get Trump elected and people hate him for that. But he was a conservative Christian. What do you expect a conservative Christian to believe? How can those views surprise you? He argued those views calmly, reasonably, and considerately as far as I’ve seen.
But no matter what he did not deserve this. His wife did not deserve this. His kids did NOT deserve to have their world torn apart!
The way some people are being so cold and uncaring and even celebrating is disturbing and repugnant to me. It is making me physically ill. If you are celebrating the murder of a non-violent man for his opinions then you are NOT the better person. Look in the mirror. Imagine telling his kids how you feel. Step back. Take a breath. Remember we are all humans. We are all just flickers of consciousness in an endless eternity. Love IS the answer. I really mean it.
We are quite literally ALL in this together. If this ship sinks we ALL drown. Look around you. Everyone you see is a shipmate. We have to figure this out. We have no other choice.
We're told the NHS is underfunded... If that is the case, why is over £80k being wasted on this diversity role?
If it were up to me, every penny spent on these jobs/schemes would be diverted to frontline staff.
I think most sensible people agree.
@GMB I'm sorry but this lady in the studio didn't come across well at all, when asked why she needs PIP she said it was for her sports massages and couldn't give another example. Then when asked about not working she said "I've got a lot on". I mean.....
@Sarah9999999@TheFakeDuchess Nah I disagree, it's not like gaining weight, it's her whole look. I felt a bit sorry for her cos I thought OMG I know that feeling 😫 loads of fluid retention and sheer exhaustion. She looks like a woman who recently gave birth imo
@TheFakeDuchess And I actually thought it seemed like they'd been forced to go out and show everyone the baby. If they'd had their way they wouldn't have. They wanted to against the normal protocol, which is annoying!
@JoshuaGBoyle@TicketmasterCS Yeah then they keep telling you to refresh the page! I'm at the front and can't buy the bloody tickets! Surely their tech can sort a bot from a real person!
@cobbowers@CenterParcsUK Totally agree, my kids had pocket money and couldn't spent it in the sweet shop. However no safety concerns about the arcade 🤔
Today we welcomed Norman Imms, a long-term supporter of our children’s wards, to Sunderland Royal Hospital.
Norman and wife Cathy save up through the year to buy Christmas presents for our young patients. They dropped off an amazing 100 gifts!
Thank you for your kindness 💝