markjgsmith

Catholic Belgian university ‘deplores’ comments by Pope Francis moments after speech - Women were upset he has traditional views on women’s role in society, and they spoke out to him about women being subjugated in the past by the church. I thought his comments about victims of church pedophilia were a bit odd: "There is a need for a great deal of mercy to keep us from hardening our hearts before the suffering of victims, so that we can help them feel our closeness". I find the use of the term 'mercy' strange here. Doesn’t it imply the victims did something wrong? And that the church needs to be mercifull towards them? WTF is that about? But also doesn’t it sound a bit pedo? 'Feel our closeness'? What are you saying mate? And lastly, I happen to know there is an american parish in Brussels called 'Our Lady of Mercy'. Bit of a coincidence. I note that last week there was news the woman president of the European Commision unilaterally re-organised all lead roles, flipping from 60/40 male-female to 40/60 male-female. Just 'because'. This whole thing seems weird. theguardian.com #

Top Russia diplomat warns west not to fight ‘nuclear power’ in UN speech - Russia’s "we can invade any small nation and you can't do nothing" policy is fucking demented. theguardian.com #

European ministers call for immediate ceasefire in Lebanon - This ground invasion thing is strange. I feel like it’s a rather extreme thing to do unless there is some sort of existing teritorial dispute. Ground invasions don’t tend to happen unless there’s a fight over said ground. I wonder if there are some facts thag are being omitted. theguardian.com #

UK universities urge government to restart flow of EU students after Brexit - I think that for university places, it’s a free market and there should be a corresponding number of good quality high standard places made available in the EU. Both sides should need to convince the students their courses are valuable. As long as fees are being paid based on demand for places there shouldn’t be much of an issue. Seems like they could figure out something. I think likely the bigger thing is the work placements side of things which is complicated, and Starmer is right to hold off on that. Using british youth as a bargaining chip doesn’t seem like such a great idea. theguardian.com #

China, South Korea, Taiwan to spend most on chip equipment 2025-2027, industry body says - It’s all about chips at the minute, at least until the current AI wave runs out of forward motion. reuters.com #

Keir Starmer calls for the 'return of the sausages' in Labour conference speech - Amusing gaff. Strange that it happened just a few days after my sausage pastry incident in the park, which was also the day I innadvertently Keith’d Keir. I think the return of the sausages would be magnificent right now, I've hardly eaten anything today. m.youtube.com #