Quotations

"Therefore I prayed, and understanding was given me; I called upon God, and the spirit of wisdom came to me. I preferred her to sceptres and thrones, and I accounted wealth as nothing in comparison with her. Neither did I liken to her any priceless gem, because all gold is but a little sand in her sight, and silver will be accounted as clay before her. I loved her more than health and beauty, and I chose to have her rather than light, because her radiance never ceases. All good things came to me along with her, and in her hands uncounted wealth." Book of Wisdom 7:7-11

"Netanyahu's government is not seeking to revive negotiations for a hostage release deal and is pushing for the gradual annexation of large parts of Gaza, senior defense officials told Haaretz." Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz today


"The plan proposed to Netanyahu and the Israeli parliament by a group of retired generals would escalate the pressure, giving Palestinians a week to leave the northern third of the Gaza Strip, including Gaza City, before declaring it a closed military zone. Those who remain would be considered combatants — meaning military regulations would allow troops to kill them — and denied food, water, medicine and fuel, according to a copy of the plan given to The Associated Press by its chief architect, who says the plan is the only way to break Hamas in the north and pressure it to release the remaining hostages." Associated Press this morning.

"In the West Bank, the situation contrasts starkly with that in the Gaza Strip, as Hamas enjoys significantly greater popularity. The trust in Hamas and the belief that it represents the will and aspirations of the people are heightened. This is attributed to the perceived inaction of the Palestinian Authority, the aggressive behaviour of settlers, and the daily confrontations with the Israeli army. In summary, completely eliminating Hamas is an unattainable goal. While it's possible to weaken the organization, outright elimination is neither feasible nor achievable. The only viable solution for achieving this end is the cessation of the occupation and the establishment of a Palestinian state. Therefore, stop killing children and civilians. This will not work. Believe me." Dr. Abdalhadi Alijla

"After a talk I gave at Wandsworth prison, I rather patronisingly commiserated with a university contemporary who was an inmate over what I had supposed must be a lack of intellectual stimulation there. ‘Oh no,’ he replied. ‘There are quite a lot of Oxbridge in C Wing.’" Andrew Roberts in the Spectator diary, 14 October 2021.

'“Western culture is basically invasive, for whatsoever reason it spreads in any country, it will gradually destroy the culture and identity of that nation” Ayatollah Khamenei

"As a matter of personal philosophy, I cleave to the despotic principle of business ownership and management. A private employer should be able to hire or fire anyone, at any time, for any reason or none. In my personal paradise, employment attorneys are all out of business. (Several other categories of attorneys are struggling, too.)" John Derbyshire

"Ethnic minority individuals overwhelmingly thought that class was more important than race in determining whether a person would succeed in modern day Britain (54% class vs 26% race). This held true over every ethnic group polled.
The ethnic group with the highest concentration of professional workers was Indian
White British pupils lag considerably behind multiple non-white ethnic-minority groups. Chinese-heritage pupils on free school meals perform better than their white-British peers who are not on free school meals.
Black Caribbean and Gypsy, Roma and Traveller ethnic groups continue to lag on most life outcomes.
Family breakdown has a dramatically disparate impact across ethnic groups: 63% of dependants with Black Caribbean ethnicity living in a lone-parent household, compared to just 6% of those with Indian ethnicity." From the latest report by the British think tank Policy Exchange.