The best way to bring folks together is to give them a real good enemy.

A question here.

I don't know as much about the 'Wicked' universe as I do about the L Frank Baum stories.

So I'm confused as to who Elphaba's going to become.

Did the 'Wicked' book series author envisage a witch that was going to be different to L Frank Baum's Wicked Witch of The West? Will she be seen as a wicked witch because she's standing up to an oppressive regime, and they don't like it?

I could understand that being the case.

But looking at The Wicked Witch of The West and her sister The Wicked Witch of The East in the Oz books.

They are the oppressive regimes that need to be fought.

WWofW enslaves The Winkies, WWofE enslaes The Munchkins. That's messed up!

When both these witches die, there's general rejoicing all round. They're vile tyrants. They're not trying to help anyone.

The Flying Monkeys were enslaved by WWofW. And it's either Glinda, or Ozma that gives them back their freedom, after they've helped the Oz People.

Looking at Elphaba as she's portrayed here. I can't possibly see how she could become so cruel a tyrant and still remain a sympathetic character.

Can any Wicked fan explain how it all works, please?

I love the days of Winnie The Pooh, before Disney got their hands on him.

Yes.

He can wear dresses, play with dolls etc.

And still be a boy.

All being a boy needs is to be male.

Gender Dysphoria used to be a very rare, very specific condition combined with a lot of therapy.

And that was a good thing, because there needs to be a big difference between a trans woman and a man who cross dresses, a trans man and a butch woman (tom boy when she's a girl.)

teamwork

There is not a single thing about this I do not love, lol

Love It! 😀😀😀😀😀😀😀

Outrage has spread in Somalia after an eight-year-old girl, who had been missing for six months, was found living with a man who said he was her husband.

The girl was reported missing by her family in the semi-autonomous region of Puntland last September.

Months later, it emerged the girl's father had consented for her to be married to an adult named Sheikh Mahmoud.

Security forces surrounded the man's house last week and forced they way in after he locked himself in a room with the girl.

The incident has sparked anger on social media and public protests in Somalia's capital, Mogadishu.

It has also prompted fresh debates about child protection laws, as currently there is no minimum legal age for marriage.

"What's more shocking than the tragedy itself are the allegations of abduction and the fact that her family had no knowledge of her whereabouts for months," Fadumo Ahmed, chairperson of leading rights group the Somali Women Vision Organisation, told the BBC.

"We trust the responsible institutions to take the right and necessary legal action."

According to the eight-year-old's uncle, she was taken from her home in the city of Bosaso last September by a female relative. This relative said she was escorting the child on a trip to see another a uncle.

But months later, a video surfaced online, showing the girl reciting the Quran.

Her family subsequently launched a search for the child - it is unclear why they did not do this sooner.

They discovered she was in the Carmo area, living with Sheikh Mahmoud.

Sheikh Mahmoud initially said he was solely teaching the girl the Quran. But after legal complaints were filed, he changed his statement, saying he had married the girl with her father's consent.

When asked by the BBC how he justified marrying an eight-year-old, Sheikh Mahmoud said that the traditions of Islam's Prophet Muhammad, along with that of the Shafi'i school of thought, allowed child marriage.

After the BBC questioned his reasoning - citing opposition from numerous Somali Islamic scholars - Sheikh Mahmoud maintained that he would not abandon the marriage.

Puntland's police and human rights authorities intervened on 25 March, removing the girl from the man's home after her family filed a complaint.

The girl is now back with her family, Puntland's police force told the BBC.

Additionally, an investigation into the case has been launched, government officials have said.

Child marriage remains prevalent in Somalia.

According to a report published in 2020 by the United Nations Population Fund and the Somali government, 35% of women aged between 20 and 24 in the country were married before the age of 18. In 2017 this figure stood at 45%.

The rate of child marriage is driven by various factors, including poverty, insecurity and traditional customs that often disregard a girl's age in wedding arrangements.

In an attempt to tackle this issue, Somalia's ministry of women and human rights submitted a draft child rights bill to parliament in 2023.

However, the proposal was sent back after MPs objected to certain provisions. The bill is expected to be reintroduced, but there is no clear timeline for this.

Simple solution. Shoot the bastard and leave his body for the dogs

It's Somalia, they should use pigs instead of dogs. Much better deterrent to people that might do this kind of thing in the future to use pigs to dispose of their bodies.

I hope someone can get the child away 😥😥😥😥😥😥😥

Goin' for a dip.

Or if you want to be really British.

Stay on the beach and go

Paddlin'!

Sir Curse-a-Lot and his noble Not Merry men.

Amen and Amen 🙏

Eurythmics, Annie Lennox, Dave Stewart - Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This)…

April Fool's day used to be known as "Hunt the Gowk" in Scotland.

If you remember my post from last week about New Year having been on 25th of March, well it is said that Aprils fools day is tied in with that, Many writers suggest that April Fools originated because those who celebrated on 1 January made fun of those who celebrated on other dates- and we've been playing April Fool jokes ever since. But another tradition says that the first of April is known as Hunt the Gowk i People tell lies and play jokes on each other up until noon. The name is believed to come from an old trick where a person is sent out with a message:

Dinna laugh, an' dinna smile

But hunt the gowk another mile.".

Gowk means cuckoo or a foolish person. The unique thing about the Scotland’s fools’ day is that unlike many other countries Scotland celebrates it for two days i.e. on April 1st and April 2nd. On the first day people play pranks and tell lies to catch each other in an embarrassing situation. According to tradition people need to stop playing pranks and hoaxes by mid day. In olden times Hunt-the-Gowk Day was celebrated by sending a person to find the fool for the day. Although this tradition is followed in some areas, it is slowly dying out. On the second day or Tailie or Taily Day paper tails are attached to people’s back. Both the days are considered as a time for fun and merriment.

Then there was the story one year in the Scotsman newspaper which revealed that because of tight royal budgets, the Queen was to lease part of Holyrood Park in Edinburgh as a theme park - with wild boars for German tourists to shoot at and a waterfall for white water rafting down the side of Arthur's Seat....

More about the day in other countries can be found here......

Diversity has some importance. It can be a factor and can bring different skills and attitudes to an otherwise uniform table, but it shouldn’t dominate decisions in choosing casts or committees or councils.

Using races or genders as token characters is messed up. But using different races and genders so that people can relate to people like themselves is great. Using those different races and genders to show more diverse interaction between different backgrounds is great. It’s a way to express more things or more ideas in the world of art and cinema, or even in the world of business.

In short, diversity is good except for its own sake.

EXACTLY.

I like the use of the word 'More'.

That should be the point.

More non white As Well As white, not as replacement.

More women As Well As men, not as replacement.

A mixture of faiths, cultures, sexualities etc. Yes! This is a good thing.

But it should mean that the majority is Joined By minorities.

The present method is to replace one with the other.

That's not diversity.

Particularly not when the most glaring absence of all is diversity of thought and opinion.

Next up, female Muhammad

Jesus fucking Christ they're being blasphemous just for attention at this point

I say we cast Chris Pratt as MLK Jr next.

I'm not even Christian but, what the absolute fuck? I'm with @brosef-von-dudehomie on this. This is a cry for attention from the last people that need to make a cry for attention.

If they wanted to be controversial, why not just cast a Palestinian hamas simp? Like, still controversial enough to get the attention they so desperately crave, but not throwing off all accuracy in casting. I mean, it is, but at least they'd have been born in the same geographic region. Even if he'd be the wrong ethnicity, because he should be played by a Hebrew man.

Maybe they think Jesus was a ginger

I don’t think so. Even they know gingers don’t have souls.

As if that wretched musical wasn't absolute trash to begin with.

There are some fine songs in it. But as musicals go it's hardly one of the best, no.

And the first time I watched it, I was struck by the glaring omission. They end off with The Crucifixion, not The Ressurection. 😡😡😡😡