Every so often I read an article that I just find bizarre and frustrating. I found this piece on the BBC News website and thought I’d share my sense of discombobulation.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cew790ppn8jo

Some Israeli soldiers responsible for taking a sledgehammer to a statue of Jesus in Lebanon have been removed from active duty and/or placed in military detention (prison).

The whole scenario is ridiculous for a variety of reasons:

Israel has been bombing Iran and Lebanon and killing lots of innocent people in the process. There’s been no apology for any of the death and destruction. The Israelis seem to think they are righteous in causing this carnage.

However, when a piece of religious iconography is destroyed, the Israeli authorities seem to think it’s important enough to take some kind of moral stand. Really? Is it just me? Are there some fucked up priorities or what? The statue of Jesus was just a thing. Easy to replace and of little consequence. How can a piece of plaster (or marble, or concrete, or whatever it was made of) be more important than human beings?

Right now in Lebanon, the Israeli military, having invaded a sovereign country, has been levelling towns and villages in the buffer zone it wants to ‘protect’ Israel with.

So, if levelling a place means destroying everything to make it uninhabitable for the local population, why would you leave a religious site untouched? Why would leaving something standing, that could draw people to the site you don’t want them in, make sense? Weren’t the soldiers just doing what they thought was expected of them?

And why would destroying a statue be more concerning than displacing people and destroying their homes? It’s nonsensical.

Finally removing soldiers from active duty seems like an odd punishment. The soldiers get removed from the war zone where they are at the greatest risk – isn’t that arguably a good outcome for the soldiers?

With all the chaos brought on by Trump and Netanyahu waving their dicks around, how can anyone have the bandwidth to give a stuff about something so insignificant as a statue? It just baffles me.

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I followed the NASA Artemis Two moon mission with a real sense of excitement. To me, the whole thing was brave and bold and adventurous, and a little scary too (just in case it all went horribly wrong).

I stayed up late for the launch, followed the live updates over the days the mission was in progress, and had my fingers crossed during the atmosphere re-entry and return to earth phase. I consumed every piece of news the BBC published and would have been happy for more. While others were bemused by her, I shared the ‘oh wow’ joy of the BBC’s science editor, Rebecca Morelle - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/videos/c05d6pprdleo.

In my opinion the mission was the kind of thing that genuinely showcases the greatness of the United States of America. There aren’t many countries in the world that could have pulled the mission off … or even funded it.

Donald Trump’s MAGA movement has got it all wrong in terms of making the country be the inspiration for the world again. Starting and continuing wars based on flaky evidence and aggressive rhetoric does the complete opposite of making the country great.

NASA and the Artemis Two mission, alternatively, evidence to the world that the US is a beacon and leading the way.

I thought my excitement about Artemis would be shared … and it turns out I was a bit naïve.

Mrs B. thought the whole thing was a shocking waste of money and that there were far more important ‘earth’ issues to focus upon rather than bothering with the moon. And let’s be frank, she has a good argument.

I then spoke to an American army veteran friend of mine, who I thought might share some of the ‘wow’. But no, he was scathing of the whole enterprise. His view of his own government, and the decisions being made by it at the moment, were fascinating.

Essentially his perspective was the whole thing was a colossal waste of American taxpayers’ money and something that shafted ordinary people that are already struggling with cost-of-living issues. As to going to war with Iran, he was gutted about the stupidity of it, and the lack of clear strategy surrounding it.

I didn’t see Artemis Two as a public relations exercise, but those whose opinions matter to me saw it as just that. Going around the moon and back was perhaps little more than a ten-day attention distraction from all the other shit that is going on right now.

Still, it was exciting (for me) while it lasted.

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Mrs B. and I have a trip to Malta planned in April and we are quite excited about visiting a country that neither of us has ever been to.

But nothing is ever plain sailing, or rather plane flying in this instance!

Our flights were booked months ago, but the airline ‘rescheduled’ the flights a week or so ago.

Here’s the detail shared - “We regret to inform you that your flight has been rescheduled by the airline.”

​Instead of flying in and out of Gatwick, here was the alternative offered:

Outbound
London Heathrow (LHR) – Malta (MLA)
KM Malta Airlines
Inbound
Malta (MLA) – London Gatwick (LGW)
KM Malta Airlines

So the solution offered by the airline was to fly us out from one airport and back into another. How ridiculous is that? Totally, and intentionally, unhelpful!

The option for getting a refund was offered, and that was quite clearly the option that suited the airline.

It was the only sensible option for us, so we took it and had to rebook our flights at a higher cost with British Airways (BA) instead. The important thing is that we still have a holiday.

We haven’t actually got the refund yet, so the new flight costs have put another dent on the credit card. I hope that we aren’t messed around in that regard too.  

The news is full of woe about fuel pricing in light of the US/Israeli war with Iran. I guess that the airline, like many others, is making decisions that suit its bottom line rather than taking care of its customers.

I was miffed that we were treated so poorly; corporates have all the power and can decide to shaft customers at will and face no consequences.   

Amusingly, we had chosen KM Malta Airlines to fly with because that allowed us to avoid Ryanair (an airline that we both hate). Ryanair is well known for viewing customers as necessary evils - flying with that carrier has never been an enjoyable experience for us. Maybe Ryanair's Air Malta would have been better!

I have always viewed flying with British Airways as a bit of a treat. The BA experience is just better than any of the budget carriers.

BA is better at forward planning too. In the news last week was the proof. Here’s a link to an article that shows that BA has not hiked its fairs or started cancelling/rescheduling its flights. It had funded its fuel into the future and, so far, has avoided the price shocks that affect the budget carriers.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c87w4x0n3j0o

We haven’t made it to Malta yet, so things could still go wrong for us, but I am hopeful that BA will have been the saviour of our Maltese break.

In knocking KM Malta Airlines, I balance the negativity with a bit of flag waving for BA, our flag carrying carrier. I may be a bit naive, but I trust BA a lot more than KM Malta Airlines.

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