Trains Back on the Tracks!

Dartmoor Classic and bikes for weddings!

2011-11-11T20:30:00.002Z

Would you two be interested - and tell Charlie - to do this over and around Dartmoor? Camp out on the Sat night as near as poss to the start.

Yesterday evening I cycled home from the office on my long route in the dark but also, for the first time, in rain that got going half way round. With the steel rims, it was really quite alarming not being able to bring myself to a stop! I overshot the alleyway to Peachley Close as I came down Dog Kennel Lane. Uffmoor Lane had to be taken at the slowest speed I have ever achieved - or not achieved - and there was a poor motorist behind me, whom I didn't let pass so I could see the road in his headlights! I did thank him when we got to the bypass.

I'm now trying out Halfords super lightweight racing bike mudguards on the new bike I've bought for Jonathan. The rear failed spectacularly on the first day but the replacement rear mudguard was fitted for free this afternoon. With the clips and straps on the pedals, I tried my brown pair of Hotter shoes, with air holes on the uppers this afternoon - and minus socks. My feet were sweating in Halfords while I waited for the fitting to be done but I was more comfortable once I got out on the road, even on a mild day. Halfords have a superb range of Chris Boardmen men and women's bikes. The women's are stunning white so would be ideal for arriving at your wedding, Becky, mounted on one - side saddle, of course! A white monocycle would mean less oil getting on the wedding dress, however but Halfords don't seem to sell them.

Halfords have a superb cross country Boardman, £899 machine, with drop handlebars, 20 gears, disc brakes and tyres that can take slick for racing or knobbly for towpaths, forest roads and bridleways. The width is between narrow racing tyres and wide MTB tyres. It is 4 lbs heavier than the £999 Boardman racing bike. I must find out if it can take a pannier rack for cycle camping/touring. I am very tempted! Interestingly, the Dartmoor Classic blurb mentions putting slick tyres on an MTB bike for their event.

I'm offering to buy mum a lightweight racing or hybrid bike - one of the dazzling white Boardman machines would be great for her, as well as for you, Becky on your wedding day. However, since she can so easily cruise up, in bottom gear, the two short but steep sections of Uffmoor Lane, she thinks the present heavy bike is just fine!

Can you give me Charlie's e-mail address, please Becky? I compliment you both on your entertaining writing skills of humour, spiced with keen observational skills and a healthy disrespect for this elder and his dazzling prowess on two wheels, including his cycling collection of, so far, one dislocated shoulder and one broken collar bone!

Summer Madness for Autumn Epic

2011-08-15T19:55:00.005+01:00

This 63 year old old man, that is me, was so desperate to see if he was up to cycling the 128 Km (80 miles) short route Autumn Epic that he couldn't wait for the 2 October event itself!

I put the bike in the back of the Polo for the very first time and set off for Knighton in Radnorshire. The car is a brand new Blue Motion, the most frugal, five seater, fossil fueled car you can buy. The bike, however, is a piece of antiquity - a 40 to 50 year old bone shaker with only six gears and a rusting steel frame. I'm even older, all skin and bones like a beanpole and very little hair left. And, I was cycling this epic hill route of seven key climbs, as the race organiser put it, in sandals - what a spectacle I was!

The road to Newtown took me to the zig zags up onto moorland where four sheep in single line ran before me until a passing car made them swerve off into the grass. Only for them to rejoin me, running in line in front as I toiled up the slope! Soon a cattle grid forced them off the road and let me pass.

I did Rhayader clock tower in exactly three hours. That was satisfying and the two real hills were taken in the saddle. The only problem was my right tendon that was slightly complaining. I stopped for nearly half an hour to eat my sandwiches, slumped against a post on NCR8, on the edge of Rhayader. The remaining 50 miles was taken at a more leisurely pace, I thought but, in fact, I did the complete circuit in 8 hrs 25 mins. So nearly 10 mph, including all the stops to correctly navigate the route, for food and to admire the views.

I had to walk up the three steepest hills; I stopped off to walk up the nearest summit from the high point on the road - Gilwern Hill to the south of the road; and I climbed a gate to get a superb view of the Black Mts and the Brecon Beacons. In the saddle I admired two funny looking churches - one where the stone was painted white and another with a stubby looking tower and spire. I met a 61 year old cyclist out with his son who was in training for the 60 miles Aber to Kington cycle event. I'm sure he said that the Autumn Epic involves more climbing.

The final climb was a 4 Km steady upwards to then enjoy the swoop down into Knighton and the finish. 8.5 hrs in the saddle in the stunning scenery of the Radnorshire hills, is definitely more arduous than 8.5 hrs walking up and down the big Scottish hills that I normally do! Even so, I must do the short route once more before the big event itself - and beat my time, of course.

When will I buy a new road bike more fit for these big rides? And how much should I pay? How many gears? Should it have mudguards? What kind of frame?

"The only thing we have to fear, is fear itself" FDR in 1933

2011-02-20T19:10:00.004Z

Don't be afraid of afraid; don't be scared of scared; or, of warning and alarming. The only trouble is that then (in 1933) the danger was obvious; today we are cossetted in the complacent and comfortable materialism of the acquisitive society, with our fatal assumption that energy grows on trees and that things can only get better!

"I am certain that my fellow Americans expect that on my induction into the Presidency I will address them with a candor and a decision which the present situation of our people impel. This is pre-eminently the time to speak the truth, the whole truth, frankly and boldly. Nor need we shrink from honestly facing conditions in our country today. This great Nation will endure as it has endured, will revive and will prosper. So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself—nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance. In every dark hour of our national life a leadership of frankness and vigor has met with that understanding and support of the people themselves which is essential to victory. I am convinced that you will again give that support to leadership in these critical days."

Franklin D. Roosevelt - opening paragraph, First Inaugural Address, Jan 1933 at the height of the depression.

This is prompted by my careless comment at a Transition Worcester meeting, last week, that others, as I am, should be almost scared into saving energy. I am scared of the future, as two others at the meeting also confessed to be. However, it seems, this is something that must never speak its name!

For decades, as I see it, the green movement has been the prophetic voice warning of danger ahead unless we take on that manifesto of a sustainable society that the Green Party has promoted since 1971. I think, it is better not to hide uncomfortable home truths from people but to assume that they have the maturity and responsibility to be able to take them.

I admire, but cannot copy, the Prof James Lovelock approach of quiet speaking sweet reasonableness. He's the most delightful and pleasant doom-monger I have ever heard on Radio 4! Perhaps he comes over as being so happy in dishing out the bad news, 'cos he knows he's near the end of his life!

I think we need to give the reason why it is urgent to save energy, to spend less, to make things last and to, generally, lower our impact on life support systems creaking at the seams. Transition - and each of us - needs to give "a leadership of frankness and vigour", as President Roosevelt put it.

Two Pertinent Points for Israel

2011-01-16T19:09:00.002Z

Could Israel not allow the Palestinians to carry on saying that Israel should be wiped off the face of the map, when they have known for years that it is only bragging, empty rhetoric and, cannot possibly be achieved? All downtrodden peoples always say the most uncomplimentary things about their oppressors.

Could Israel not attempt to meet Palestinian grievances through talking and compromising for the sake of getting peace through justice?

Daft and incapable in charge of a bike!

2011-01-09T20:37:00.009Z

From e-mail to Jono:

"Last week, (26 October 2010) I had my worst bike crash, at night, when I was not paying attention to the road ahead. I thought I had eaten too much condensed milk with my pineapple chunks, so thought I ought to cycle off the calories. It was at night, and on a dark country lane when I was not paying attention to the road ahead. I hit the kerb and landed awkwardly, twisting my back - thankfully on soft grass - and broke my left collar bone, cracked two ribs and am now suffering with chest and back pain, too. This was after 10 pm just below the summit of Romsley Hill as I was gathering speed. I stupidly looked down at the pedals to check they were the right way round before the long, 3 mile descent into Halesowen. That was my undoing! I had to eventually flag down a passing motorist for help. He straightened the handlebars but, as he could not get the bike in the back of his car, I had to somehow limp home on the bike. In bed, I was in so much pain and felt a protruding bone, I then had to get mum to ring 999 for the ambulance. In the ambulance there followed a haggle between the two paramedics and me as to which hospital I should be taken to. Later, after a cursory examination and X-ray, I had hours sitting on a wooden chair until it was time to go to the fracture clinic at 9 am. I had to stay awake or, as my friend and colleague, Chris said, I could have fallen off the chair and broken the other collar bone too! Stewart, from next door, and mum, took me in his car to the fracture clinic. Our car was at Fast Fit, with the leaking cooling system being investigated.

Since, then I've had loads of X-rays and now a scan on Monday to decide whether or not I have to have an operation on the shoulder."

Two maxims from a Quaker friend

2011-01-02T15:33:00.003Z

Two maxims which express my political philosophy. 1 There is very little that you can do, and it is very important that you do it. 2 The right thing is never done till there are wrong reasons for doing it. [The classic example is Victorian legislation to protect factory workers, like the Ten Hours Act. This was supported by the Tories because they thought it would harm their Whig opponents, who were industrial magnates, whereas the Tories were the 'landed interest'. Currently my peace movement colleagues tend to be sniffy about Henry Kissinger's conversion to nuclear disarmament. Undoubtedly he sees this as the most intelligent way to preserve US supremacy, but it's a great plus to have someone like him on side to get rid of the horrible things.]

With kind regards, Geoffrey Carnall

Two problems with Christianity

2011-01-01T18:31:00.008Z

One problem with Christianity is that it is mixed up with Judaism and the very different values, beliefs and behaviour of the people of Israel in the Old Testament. With its quite shocking track record down the centuries, even to the present day, Christianity I think, should really be confined to the life and teachings of Christ in the Gospels. His teachings should not have been mixed up with scores of other teachers, prophets and kings outside of four New Testament books in the Bible of 66 books. Christians have to be syncretists and to take on board so much that it is different from Christ's values and practices. You then have to be into defending the indefensible or, cherry picking the more ethical teaching and, even explaining what should, simply, be repented of.

Problem two is what my youngest brother in law mentioned to me at Christmas. He had read the mighty tome called 'A History of Christianity - over the last three thousand years'. One conclusion he came to was that Christianity's history has been noted by a love for truth rather than a desire for unity. I agree. I have found division, conflict and war within Christianity and out to others since the conversion of Emperor Constantine. Nothing changed with the rise of secularism over the last 100 years. War to defend our vital strategic interests around the globe is as common among the secularists as the church-goers.

Down the centuries, Christians have slugged it out between the different denominations and churches of Christendom. Now, against the Muslims and the Taliban in Afghanistan and the border with Pakistan whose killings we justify 'cos they are the terrorists and we are the angels of light, truth and justice; the angels of goodness bringing democracy and Western values to those who don't know better! All the Christian churches - and everyone else - are fully involved apart from the Quakers, whom the evangelical Christians sadly shake their heads at as not being Christians, at all.

2010/11 even snowier winter!

2010-12-27T09:37:00.008Z

Wed 1 Dec
Visit to Snailbeach, Stiperstones, the village and Stiperstones Inn. Climbed the iced up and snowy summit tor from Snailbeach. Met a yg woman with her dog and mountain board with wheels taken off and used as a snow board. Area of lead mining in the 19th century.

Friday 3 Dec
First walk from Hope Bowdler to Caer Caradoc via Willstone Hill and its rocky outcrop. Snow, wind and very cold.

Sunday 5 Dec
The day before my return to work after breaking my left collar bone. Climb from Bwlch Oerddrws towards Glasgwm. Too much soft snow to make the summit, so turned back about halfway along the N edge of the forest that had been clear felled apart from many clumps of trees that were left.

Sunday 26 Dec A Boxing Day walk with a difference and with a dghtr!
Soft, deep snow on this walk with Becky from below the normal sharp corner on the mt road to Bala. Snow on the steepening road meant that we parked with two other cars about 500 m away, on the tarmac free of snow. Wading, swimming and ploughing through the snow on the higher ground was very hard work. I greatly appreciated the trail blazing by Becky so that I could put my boots in her footprints. She often offered to break the trail to help the old man keep up with her and she was always uncomplaining. She later said, "It was just nice to be out in the big mountains and in the snow once more." A few times I put my hand down and it disappeared up to my armpit! You then had to struggle, swim and roll around before you could stand up and take the next floundering step! Snow up to halfway up the fencing and deeper in places. Reached summit Foel Hafod-fynydd at 689 metres

I made the mistake of walking N to get out of the strong and v cold S wind and then deciding to explore the attractive looking ridge and minor summit at the end of it. We then had a real battle with the snow traversing above the steep ground, below the ridge we had followed up; on through the deep snow to find the footpath that led onto the ascent/descent track and safety. We should have returned from the 689 m summit the same way that we had come. Deep snow and long grass meant that, at one stage, we were breaking through an upper crust of snow into air beneath!

Back home, Becky let the cat out of the bag over my mountain omissions and failings. She gleefully reported to everyone that I had tried to put on my overtrousers on a snowy hillside, only to discover that they wouldn't fit over my big winter boots! She remembered that I also went sliding down one slope with my ice axe uselessly still strapped to the rucsac. Earlier, I had poo pooed the idea of getting the axe in my hand when Becky got hers ready for business. I was also trying out new gloves from the Meiron Mill in Dinas. Snow balled up on them and got under the fingers flap. My ultrafleece suit and other layers were warm when on the move but also attracted the snow but slid off my black nylon waiscoat or gilert. My heavy winter jacket was rolled up in my rucsac ready for raging blizzard conditions - that we didn't get.

That day saw a very strong S wind, yet very cold. But it portended what came the next day - the thaw set in.

Saturday 8 January 2011

I had a great walk from Eisteddfa Gurig on the A44 to Y Garn 684m, a hill I last climbed on the 30 August 1982, that I remember absolutely nothing about! I then went on to Pumlumon Fawr where I had mum's cheese roll. It was wonderfully and bitterly cold with the strong W wind that meant the wind chill temp must have been at least -10C. I had base layer, corduroy shirt, ultrafleece studded shirt, ultrafleece zipped jacket, all topped out with my very heavy, blue winter mountaineering jacket. Even then, when heading into the ferocious wind, I really needed my silk balaclava on to block the draughts zipping through the gaps between hood and face. I've never known that before! I only saw two other young guys on the way up, as I was coming down.

Kings Kids thoughts

2010-12-11T14:44:00.006Z

This was an enjoyable evening of Israeli dance, music and verses from the Bible performed by mostly young Israelis who were all, also, Messianic Jews (Jewish Christians). Therefore, all had an unshakeable conviction that God had chosen only themselves, the People of Israel, for a special blessing and favour from the Lord. Only this tiny portion of God created humanity was to be treated as special, as God's Chosen People. All the other 99% of humankind is very plain and ordinary. Therefore, God shows partiality, favouritism, that is hardly in line with God being a God of justice, treating everyone the same.

It is also an unfortunate impression that Israel is a cut above all the other peoples of the world. It indicates that Israel has a certain hubris. Christianity also feels that it, alone is the true faith. Some Christians say they are the new Israel, the new Chosen People of God (replacement theology, I understand). Their faith alone is the manifestation of God's will; is the true Kingdom of God. They are the true city set on a hill; sometimes known as manifest destiny, who have a special favour and relationship with God. Therefore, the majority of humankind are second class citizens.

The evening was also noted for the leader of Kings Kids speaking with approval that one of the brothers was to enter the Israeli Defence Force in a few weeks time. The 16 year old young man in the dance group also told me how he was looking forward to entering the army. Therefore, Messianic Jews deny the Old Testament assertion, "Not by might, nor by power but by my Spirit, says the Lord" (Zech 4 v 6). The spirit of Jesus, that should include non-violence but never does, goes out of the window in favour of military might, great power and force. You don't talk and compromise and make friends of Arabs, Palestinians, Muslims, Hamas, Hezbullah, you just grind their noses in the dirt and make even more vociferous enemies of your neighbours. Extraordinary!

The evening was also noted for use of the quote from the Bible, that we are"to pray for the peace of Jerusalem." The context is never quoted but, it goes on as, "May they prosper who love you. Peace be within your walls,and security within your towers." (Psalm 122 v 6, 7). This is often quoted by Messianic Jews and born again Christians (the true believers) but, the verses strike me as fair enough if the literal interpretation is taken, that Jerusalem is never to be the subject of war - ever again. However, it again shows God as biased, showing favouritism and only interested in peace for one capital city out of the 193 nations of the world. All the other 192 can have struggles, conflict and wars, as far as God is concerned. Again, quite extraordinary!

However, the leader of Kings Kids on the evening, told me that it meant praying for the return of Christ. My wife said it was to do with the people of Jerusalem finding true peace through making their peace with God through the Lord Jesus Christ.

Quran v Bible; Islam v Christianity

2010-11-22T15:49:00.006Z

My motivation for reading the Koran was to get to the truth about the widespread assertion that the Koran tells Muslims to go out and kill the infidels (the unbelievers). In addition, as Muslims believe that Jesus is a great prophet, do they then follow his teaching in the Sermon on the Mount about loving enemies, turning the other cheek and being a peacemaker rather than a warmonger? (Not that the followers of Jesus, themselves, have been zealous in following this particular teaching for the last 1,700 years.)

This is the Jesus who was non-violent and non-aggressive in all he said and did. The irony is that the faith where Jesus is the most central is by far and away the most violent and aggressive when comparing the track record of Muslim and Christian nations over the last 1,400 years. The evidence for this is found on my blog and, in particular, in my piece, "Islam is all sweetness and light when ... " Both Islam and Christianity accept violence/aggression as perfectly acceptable from time to time, especially for self-defence. Having now read both the Koran and the Bible, the Bible, thanks to the Old Testament, is clearly the winner with the prize of most bloodshed.

Today, I finished reading the Koran (over 600 pages). Rather heavy going and nothing much that anyone could possibly take exception to. Lots of "God is Forgiving and Merciful" and being condemnatory of the unbelievers and polytheists and hypocrites. Old Testament characters and Jesus are given a similar treatment as we have in the Bible, except that Jesus is not the Son of God or divine, of course.

There were no stories of blood and gore, either, as you get in the Bible. No killing of unbelievers (infidels), except in self defence or when they are persecuting the Muslims. "Kill those who war against you." No holy war, either that we get in Deuteronomy ch 20 v 1-20 with the rules for waging holy war! The word, 'paradise' was never found, nor was that pernicious idea of suicide bombing to go straight to paradise. The nearest word to paradise was heaven and the Garden. However, I did find the following:

"And those who are slain in the way of God, He renders not their actions vain. He will guide them and improve their state and bring them into the Garden, which He has made known to them." Surah 47: 4-6. Also, Surah 4: 74, below.

Earlier in verse 4 in this Surah we read that, after battle against unbelievers, to show "either grace or ransom till the war lays down its burdens." Grace, I suppose, meaning showing forgiveness and mercy and releasing prisoners or, ransoming prisoners of war, perhaps.

One good verse about "Assuredly, the creation of the heavens and the earth is greater than the creation of humankind" Surah 40 v 57. And, my translation had humankind, too and not mankind. This is good, for me, if the verse means that the heavens and the earth will outlive humans and, if it means that we need to stop the deterioration of the earth's life support systems from human activities. This verse got the nearest to humans needing to follow the principles of stewardship of the planet. Stewardship of the earth's resources is also not found in the Bible - only plenty of references to people being stewards or servants. Sharing/equality (aka the Marx/Engels idea) is found in 2 Corinthians 8 v 13-15. Again, in contrast, the Bible has humans being greater than every other living thing (in Genesis 1) and being free to do as they will with the earth's resources and everything on it ("dominion over").

Quotations on the subject of Islamic warfare or, what we prefer to call, Islamic terrorism:

Surah 2: 190-193 "Fight in the way of God against those who fight against you, but begin not hostilities. Lo! God loves not aggressors. ... if they attack you then slay them. Such is the reward of disbelievers. But if they desist, then lo! God is Forgiving, Merciful. And fight them until persecution is no more."

Surah 2: 216 "Warfare is ordained for you, though it is hateful to you."

Surah 2: 217 "Warfare (in the sacred month) is a great transgression. ... And they will not cease from fighting against you until they have made you apostates from your religion, if they can" (This is what NATO - the traditional Christian nations of N America and W. Europe - is doing in Iraq, Afghanistan and the Pakistan border. In addition, on the backs of the military, are the Christian missionaries working hard to save Muslims as they turn from Islam to Christ or, to make them 'apostates' from their religion.)

Surah 3: 199-200 "Be patient and outdo your enemy in patience, be ready and fear God, in order that you may succeed."

Surah 4: 29-30 "... and kill not one another. Lo! God is ever Merciful to you. Whoever does that through aggression and injustice, We shall cast him into Fire, and that is ever easy for God."

Surah 4: 74 "Let those fight in the way of God who sell the life of this world for the other. Whoever fights in the way of God, be he slain or be he victorious, on him We shall bestow a vast reward." (not a harem of virgins in Paradise for the men and nothing for the women suicide bombers, as is commonly supposed by non-Muslims - and some Muslims, too!)

Surah 4: 75-76 "How should you not fight for the cause of God and of the feeble among men and of the women and the children who are crying, 'Our Lord!'. Bring us forth from out this town of which the people are oppressors! Oh give us from you some protector! Oh, give us from you some defender! Those who believe do battle for the cause of God; and those who disbelieve do battle for the cause of idols. So fight the minions of Satan." (this appears to reflect a time when Muslims were being persecuted)

Surah 4: 84 "So fight (O Muhammad) in the way of God. ... Perhaps God will restrain the might of those who disbelieve. God is stronger in might and stronger at inflicting punishment." (appears that the Muslims were suffering at the time of these writings)

Surah 4: 88-89 "... if they (self: unbelievers) turn back to enmity then take them and kill them wherever you find them, and choose neither protector nor helper from among them." (killing only in self-defence is allowed)

Surah 4: 90-91 "If they keep not aloof from you nor offer you peace nor hold their hands (self: nor hold back from killing Muslims), then take them and kill them wherever you find them. Against such We have given you clear warrant."

Surah 4: 100-101 " ... it is no sin for you to curtail your worship if you fear that those who disbelieve may attack you. In truth, the disbelievers are an open enemy to you."

Surah 7: 55-56 "(O People!) Call upon your Lord humbly and in secret. Lo! He loves not aggressors."

Surah 47: 4-6 "Now when you meet in battle those who disbelieve, then it is smiting of the necks until, when you have routed them, then making fast of bonds; and afterward either grace or ransom till the war lays down its burdens. ... He may try some of you by means of others. And those who are slain in the way of God, He renders not their actions vain. He will guide them and improve their state, and bring them into the Garden, which He has made known to them."

Quotations about men/women:

Surah 2:228 "Women have rights similar to those of men over them in a just manner and men are a degree above them. God is Mighty, Wise."

Surah 4:26-28 "God would make the burden light for you, for man was created weak." (However, 'man' here, probably means men and women.)

Quotation about Abraham (Muslims, Christians and Jews are all children of Abraham or, all descended from him)

"Abraham was not a Jew, nor yet a Christian; but he was true Muslim, and he was not of the polytheists."

The Quran on manslaughter

Surah 5: 32 "We decreed for the Children of Israel that whosoever kills a human being for other than manslaughter or corruption in the earth, it shall be as if he had killed all human kind, and whoever saves the life of one, it shall be as if he had saved the life of all humankind."

The Quran on Judaism and the Bible

Surah 5: 67-69 "O People of the Scripture! You have nothing (of guidance) till you observe the Torah and the Gospel. ... Lo! Those who believe and those who are Jews and Sabaeans and Christians - whosoever believes in God and the Last Day and does right - no fear shall come upon them neither shall they grieve."

Tim Weller 21 November 2010

Much more remembrance of many more troops needed

2010-11-14T17:46:00.006Z

"We should never forget the lives which were lost during the First World War fighting for our country. They were heroes and should rightly be remembered by us and future generations to come." James Morris

"It is a wonderful deed, of great honour, to fight and die for your country". Such thoughtless but noble obedience is, of course, the ultimate in bravery, in sacrifice, in service and heroism. Why is it, then that we are only at war with three countries - Iraq (though less so now), Afghanistan and, even Pakistan with our drone attacks on villagers?

Can we please have more war fighting to give more of our young men and women the opportunity to serve our nation in heroic sacrifice, in great bravery and service as they kill and then get killed, and so be remembered by a grateful nation for ever.

Please see what you can do in Parliament to maintain and extend our war fighting attacks around the world to bring peace and democracy to the unfortunate countries who don't know any better.

Continuous at-sea deterrent

2010-11-14T17:40:00.004Z

" ... can my right hon. Friend confirm the absolute centrality in his thinking of the fact that we need to maintain a continuous at-sea deterrent?" James Morris MP

" Dr Fox: I have absolutely no problem in agreeing with my hon. Friend about the importance of continuous at-sea deterrence." Secretary of State for Defence

Our continuous at-sea deterrent, the Trident submarine, is essential for a great superpower and sea power that we always have been and always will be. We only, in the last fifty years, graciously and generously gave away the biggest and longest lasting empire in the history of the world and, therefore, we need to continue to punch above our weight.

The UK is as important as the US, of course and, as they have a continuous at-sea deterrent, so must we. We are the unofficial 51st state of the USA, we have a special relationship with them that means what they do we must do. Our big friend always knows best and we must continue to follow where they lead. We can't have some well-meaning types saying that we should think for ourselves and be independent of the USA.

In addition, of course, our continuous at-sea deterrent has prevented war and attacks on our land since the 2nd World War. Our continuous at-sea deterrent impresses our enemies like al Qaeda and the Taliban and shows them what a rich and muscle flexing and aggressive nation we are. We deserve to be a permanent member of the UN Security Council, for ever - thanks to our power and might in the world, reinforced by our continuous at-sea deterrent.

After all, we can't have the UK becoming like Norway that is notorious for its diplomacy and peace-mongering in attempting to settle the wars between Israel and Palestine and the recently ended violence in Sri Lanka.

ISLAM IS ALL SWEETNESS AND LIGHT - when ...

2010-11-03T12:47:00.014Z

... compared with the Christian West and Israel!

The 20th century was the most violent, destructive and horrific in the history of humanity, it seems to me. But we can't blame the Muslims, the Hindus, the Buddhists or the blacks. It has to be us - the Christians and the whites, in my opinion!
Centuries of persecution of Jews by Christians and not Muslims.
You can't blame Islam for the holocaust. It was a Christian nation that did it.
Centuries of on/off warfare in Europe between the Christian nations cannot be blamed on Islam. In fact, centuries of interference, invasions, attacks and occupations around the world by the white man was much more widespread, harmful and longer lasting than Islamic empires like the Mogul Empire in India.
Those European centuries of violence ended in the Great (magnificent) War to end all wars that Islam did not start. The Christian European nations started it and such was their unsatisfactory and unjust settlement that it then led to World War part 2 in 1939!
It was not Islam who also gave the world WMD and were the first to use them.
You can't blame the Muslims for vapourising Pacific Ocean islands on which nuclear bombs were tested.
The traditional Christian and Bible based, Western nations made 11 mega tonnes bombs that are 1,000 times more destructive than the Hiroshima bomb. Our half a mega tonne thermo-nuclear bomb makes it the most powerful weapon of mass destruction ever. All this evil intent is nothing to do with the much criticised (and even despised) Arabs, Muslims, Middle East nations!
It is our good friend and ally, the President of the USA who has the means to annihilate most of humanity; not a Muslim president or President Ahmadinejad of Iran.
The richest and most economically and military powerful nations and empires have been the Christian ones. They have dominated the world for centuries. Yet, their founder rejected any kind of domination in the Temptations of Christ.
It was the Christian nations who had the most slaves and indulged in the most slavery when compared with the Arab nations.
It was not Islam who that was responsible for Bloody Sunday and other horrors over 800 years of our occupation, settlement planting and colonial rule in Ireland.
Islam is not responsible for the thousands of men, women and children that our friend and ally, Israel has killed in its 62 yrs. 1,400 alone in the 2008/9 war on Gaza. In contrast, 13 Israelis were killed in that same war.
It was not Islam that introduced concentration camps. It was, guess who? Us - the UK in the Boer War. The camps killed 20,000 women and children!
It was not Islam that was responsible for Bhopal and decades of indifference, carelessness and complacency in the USA.
You cannot blame the the Islamic nations for the most greenhouse gas emissions and the most "help yourself to the most natural resources in the world" mentality and behaviour of the West.
The Christian nations and the Church waged their holy Crusades against 'evil' Islam. Evangelical Christian, GW Bush Jnr did the same with the War of Terrorism launched on 7 October 2001 that continues to this day. He called it a crusade until he was told not to.
We can't blame Islam for attacking Iraq to remove their WMD, only to find there were none, after all!
We can't blame Islam for the West's hypocritical behaviour in removing leaders it doesn't like but preaching the importance of electing governments and their leaders.
We cannot blame Islam for wiping out so many of the very long established, original peoples in both North and South America. It was Spain, France and the UK taking God, guns and the white man's germs. God led them to believe He had given them the new lands across the Atlantic. Guns helped to kill the original peoples; and, germs brought diseases that, again, led the colonisers to sincerely believe it was the hand of the good Lord in using the Western, European brought diseases to make it easier for them to claim the land for themselves as the Indians succumbed to foreign diseases and died in their hundreds of thousands (from BBC Radio 4, 'America: Empire of Liberty')
Unlike the Christian nations, Islam did not interfere or involve itself in affairs to bring Muslim culture, Shariah law, governance and Islamic faith to the Western, white nations. Rather, we have seen attempts by the hegemonic, white, Western European and Christian nations to impose their culture, commercialism, democracy and Christianity on the Middle East nations - and, SE Asia in the immediate post-war years.
We can’t blame Islam for the Korean War of 1950–1953 when, according to Lord Alton, nearly 3 million died (mostly Korean) but of which 38,000 were US and UN soldiers, 600,000 Chinese combatants and 1,000 UK servicemen. (‘Today’ programme on 27.11.10)
It was not Islam that was responsible for slaughtering 2-4 million men, women and children in Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos in the West's war from 1959 to 1975.
It was not Islam that was responsible for apartheid. Rather, it was the Dutch Reformed Church from Western Europe - yet, again, the stamp and authority and dictat of supposedly enlightened, forward thinking and so very democratic and civilised and traditional Christian nations!
We can't blame Islam for running the world in such a partial, lopsided way that the traditional Christian, white and very powerful nations have it all their own way on the world stage.
Muslim convert and heavyweight boxing champion at 32 yrs, Mohammed Ali, went to prison rather than fight in that crime of aggression, the Vietnam War. I have not heard of any Christian who had that same moral courage as that famous Muslim. Rather, some dodged the draft by fleeing to Canada.
We have proved to be the worst or the real terrorists down the centuries with our empires that were founded on violence throughout the world. Many Western European nations, in order to found their empires, went out to explore, conquer and decimate local populations of black people who wanted nothing more than to be left alone.
The Bible based and Christian European nations, if you look through history from today back down through past centuries, have killed many more humans than the Islamic nations.
It was not Muslims who invented poison gas, nor were they the first to use it.
The vast bulk of prison mistreatment, abuse, rape, torture and murder in Iraq and Afghanistan was done by foreign, NATO soldiers and not the home-grown prison officers and soldiers.
British intelligence was complicit in the mistreatment and even torture of Muslim detainees.
It was not Muslims who killed 23 people in Oklahoma in 1996.
It was Muslims who killed nearly 3,000 men and women on 11 September 2001. The Quran frequently asserts that their God is forgiving and merciful. Our nine years and continuing reaction of furious warfare shows that our version of God is the exact opposite. Our Bible says, “ ‘Vengeance is mine. I will repay’, says the Lord.” We believe the Lord needs a little help with his revenge!
Even taking into account that the Bible is very much bigger than the Quran, from my reading of both, there is clearly much more bloodshed in the Bible than the Quran. In fact, there are no stories of bloodshed in the Quran. In the Bible, we have 'Rules for waging holy war' in Deuteronomy 20 v 1-20. My commentary has: " ... holy war is not a human enterprise ... but is an action in which the Lord himself is engaged and in which his people respond with fanatical devotion." Does that help to explain the much greater violence and aggression by the Christian nations than the Islamic ones?

Why not believe in God?

2010-09-06T22:27:00.010+01:00

There is no evidence for 'God'. It has to be solely a question of faith.
There was no creation moment for life on earth but, perhaps, there was for the universe almost 14 billion years ago, after the Big Bang gave birth to it.
But, there is evidence that 'God' created the earth for dinosaurs - from their successful occupation of the planet for many tens of millions of years. Unlike humans very brief track record and their malign effect for both themselves and all other life forms.
Therefore, why did 'God' create the world for humans AND, in his image, too?! Does that not reflect very badly on 'God'? What on earth was 'God' doing creating humans? He was either mad, bad or made a genuine mistake! None of these options are consistent with 'God' and the nature that the theists say he has.

Colin's thought:

If God is all knowing, why would he embark upon a pointless
experiment to test our faith ? After all, he is GOD and would therefore
already know who would fail and who would pass the tests and temptations He
places in our paths. The idea of free will seems equally odd for God would
already know our fate. He would also be aware of the misery and pain we
would inflict upon our fellow, innocent creatures and our planet. This
God, or at least as I understand the whole set up, seems a bit of a sadist.
(I say this whilst checking behind me just in case there is a bolt of
lightening on its way). Colin Port

Myself: Is not a temptation - for example a lustful thought - a sin in itself, quite apart from the act of lust itself? In addition, isn't lust an essential element of human nature to ensure the continuation of the species? The Lord's Prayer, "lead us not into temptation" is well meaning but unrealistic and is asking God to censor our thoughts that is quite impossible ever to happen.

The theists say that God has given us free will, so we are not robots. We are free to disobey him and free to obey him. His omniscience should have told him that there would be the Fall in the Garden of Eden and more disobedience, as you write, and very much more disobedience. So why create the suicidal and ecocidal maniacs that are humans? It just does not add up; no, not one little bit!

However, the scientific, open, objective mind set should properly lead us to agnosticism until there is cast iron proof that it was man who created God. The believers get out of that by saying that it was God who put the thought of himself in their heads and who allowed them to work out his nature. So you can't win!

The Bible says, God created the world, not the solar system, not the

galaxy, not the universe! The Bible view, I believe I'm right in saying,

is of a flat world, with the stars in the heavens as the roof or ceiling

for the world and hell or hades is in the basement. It was the RCs who

tortured Galileo for saying it was nothing like that, I understand! (But I

must check my facts, sometime.)

Hello Tim,

Just one final thought. Atheists are, no doubt, overjoyed by Stephen

Hawking's pronouncement that God's presence was not essential for the

universe to form as this was just a coincidental collision of gases and

elements. The Believers would argue however, that it was God who put the

gases and elements there in the first place. And if that doesn't silence

the doubters, the Believers can always revert to their usual response

"because it says so in the Bible".

On a lighter note, it is said that we are all products of the "Big Bang".

The question is, does that mean we are formed of stardust........ or

nuclear waste?

Colin 7 September 2010

Thanks for this amusing piece.

And, at what point did God create the world and everything in it - at the
Big Bang or when the planet emerged or when life of some kind was first
seen or when the first section of the Bible was written or when the Church
of England was created by King Henry 8th who gave himself the divine right
to rule? The earth and everything on it is constantly and very slowly
changing!

The words that the Christians use for Jesus Christ are also anachronistic
eg King (I'm a republican); Lord (part of the aristocracy); Master (better
to be a servant, according to Jesus). In our history, kings and lords were shockingly brutal
and murderous and rarely exemplary role models.

Tim

Friends of Israel AND of Palestine!

2010-08-06T13:44:00.007+01:00

Dear friend - of Prayer for Israel organisation

I have picked up my wife's copy of your latest 'Prayer Bulletin' on this Christmas Day (2008) afternoon and read some of it.

It does seem to be more about saving native-born Israelis for an eternity in heaven, rather than working for a more heavenly holy land, in the hear and now, where justice is done and seen to be done for the impoverished Palestinians, as well as the paranoid Jews. Do you, in fact, see any part of your discipleship as being about opposing Israeli government policy when it comes to allowing further homes forJews by forcing out Palestinians and turning a blind eye to further settlements in the West Bank? The new Great Wall or fence is encroaching into great swathes of the West Bank to leave the suffering Palestinians in an even more desperate plight. They are being constricted into enclaves controlled by the IDF and seem to be treated like prisoners in poorly run, open prisons where all movement is determined by the Israelis. Is this the way for your friends in Israel - born again believers and devout Jews - to be conducting themselves? Do you think that this turning of the screw ever further on the oppressed Palestinians is the best way to win friends and influence people? Or do you feel it perpetuates the hatred for Israel - a wealthy and very powerful nation that has so much when the Palestinians have so little, in comparison? Even their lands and livelihoods and olive trees are taken away from them. Yet, Israel is a modern, Western, highly materialistic, regional super-power that is heavily armed and possesses WMD - funded by the West. Even then you write, "Israelis can't take for granted their right to exist"! You could not get a bigger contrast with the plight of the 'imprisoned' Palestinians who,with every attack by Israel, get wiped out in far bigger numbers than the Israelis. And, in true hypocritical style, Israel is always pointing the finger at Hamas and Hezbullah for wanting to wipe Israel off the face of the map. In fact, Israel justs get on with it without any of the talk. Israel is all action; the Palestinian groups are all talk, it seems to me!

I think an even more shocking contrast is the evangelicals supporting this rich and powerful nation when their Lord and Saviour is the despised and rejected of men and the friend of tax collectors and sinners. The Lord rejected the temptation to rule over the world which the Christian West has been doing for many centuries with its European empires and, now, with the Anglo-American-Israeli hegemony! I am horrified by my Messianic Christian family - and others at church - assenting to all this. I am sure it just washes over you, fails to impinge and you just get on with the more serious business of saving souls for eternity! Saved for an eternity in heaven but extra judicial assassinations and pre-emptive attacks (always in the name of defence, of course!) on Palestinian fighters - as well as even invading the weak and defenceless nation of Lebanon - is all perfectly acceptable for the disciples of the Lord in this small but violent nation. And, it got the blessing of our God-fearing, UK Prime Minister in July/August 2006 War on Lebanon!

You wrote, "There are more believers in the IDF than at any other time in her history." Do you not think there is something deeply contradictory in followers of the Way of Yeshua giving their first and only allegiance not to the King of Love, the Prince of Peace and the Creator/Ruler of theUniverse but to the very fallible and sinful, Prime Minister Olmert of Israel and his Cabinet? You publish a piece from HKACM, with pride and approval that even more true Christian and Messianic believers are engaged in illegal attacks and invasions on their neighbours, as members of the armed forces. Armed forces that kill many times more of their neighbours than the Palestinians kill of them! All this when they are called to love God and love their neighbour as themselves!

This shocking record by Christian believers and Jews has gone on for sixty years in a constant war of attrition between Palestinian fighters and the IDF. I think you should be teaching your young Christians and Messianic Jews to have nothing to do with the illegality and aggression of the Israeli state. If they cannot be excused from conscription, they should suffer the consequences of total Christian discipleship and go to prison for the Lord - a privilege and a joy in such circumstances!

Could you please explain if PFI can be described as Christian Zionist? Who or what is a Christian Zionist? It is Scriptural for us to "pray (enquire about) for the peace of Jerusalem". However, should this not also include praying for the peace of Arab and Palestinian refugee camps, villages and towns? And, does not praying for peace mean being loving, peaceful and fair in all our dealings rather than being warlike and indulging in crimes of aggression? In the 34 day attack on Lebanon, 158 Israelis were killed of whom the very large majority were service people but, the IDF killed over 1000 Lebanese andPalestinians of whom most were civilians. It does seem to me that if you can't live at peace and in justice with your neighbours - and, as a minimum, refuse to vote for the war parties at elections and refuse to be conscripted - you cannot possibly have made peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. "Judgement (and repentance) begins in the house of the Lord".

60th b'day w/e - Jan 2008

2010-08-06T13:40:00.000+01:00

I had a fabulous celebratory w/e with six close family members at a 4 star cottage 6 miles E of Devil's Bridge in mid-Wales. The weather was great onboth days and I had a superb 8 hour walk with my own two great children andthe guy who had better become my son in law - or else! Linda then did agreat meal in the evening and a discussion over future prospects forhumanity before the Will Hay film, 'Oh Mr Porter'!
On the big walk, Jon hugged a wind turbine - quite gigantic - we found aweather station that looked like a space craft just landed on planet earth;five footbridges over crystal clear rushing water; and even a 10 minutesjog downhill on a good track in beautiful countryside that was new to me.We even went to 2,000 feet and, at the summit, found a good stone shelterwith a sweeping, curving entrance that was better than anything I have seenanywhere else - really surprising! Unfortunately, it ended with a veryfine, character building, six mile road walk in the dark, when we couldn'tget a signal to summon a car! Only then did the youngsters outpace the oldman of 60! When he arrived back at the cottage, Tim got his car out, withJon, to pick me up. However, I was not that far behind so I wanted tocomplete the whole thing on foot - that Tim and Jon understood.

The Sunday morning was a leisurely walk on good paths and steps, a chainbridge and spectacular water features in Coed Hafod (Hafod Wood), nearby.

I'm longing to get back to Scotland next month to start on the Corbetts(2,500-3,000 ft) in earnest, with Ben Loyal. Meanwhile, I've had threeconsecutive Saturdays doing a 6, 8 and, yesterday, 5.5 hr walks.Yesterday's walk, was over Aran Fawddwy (905m), over snow and ice butthrough cloud and gale force winds. I had five thick layers on and I was,then, warm and cosy. It was exhilarating and I never had to bother with map, compass or, even torch!

"You should know better at your age!"

2010-08-05T22:17:00.003+01:00

April 2010 near An Teallach. My last full day to visit three Corbett summits after my fourth night of bivying out under the stars - well, the stars on one bitterly cold night, anyway! It was 7 am and I was on the move. No stream to wash in but I was able to leave the rucsac for my return to travel light for the first Corbett. A steep band of snow meant I went off to the left and got onto steep but snow-free ground. I got away with it and on the descent took the safer route on the other side of the snow. I found the rucsac but then had a long walk in to the next pair of Corbetts. Near to the base of the mountain I met two men walking through the mountains from Poolewe. They were taking a low level route and were staying in the two bothies, the second of which they were almost at. I, however, was heading off to do the next two summits.

The map seemed to show a route that I could take that would mean I could climb round the rampart of crags above. It worked in March but this time I was getting onto ever steeper ground that led me up onto a rocky ridge. I made some hesitant progress but when it seemed never ending and ever more hairy, I thought I should make a careful retreat down a very steep, mainly grass gully. My North Face mountain approach shoes with their studded soles held me to the mountain side and I clambered down safely. I found myself in a bowl or cwm having lost considerable height but, at least, there was now a clearer way up. From the ridge, the left hand summit did look higher but labouring up to the ridge, I began to doubt my judgement. I went off the right hand one first where I saw the true high point was indeed the one I had veered away from. That meant I lost more time doing an unnecessary summit.

I next had a difficult decision whether to play safe and return without completing the final Corbett or to risk all and go for it. I had no rucsac, torch, sleeping bag or even bivy bag. My bumbag held waterproofs, phone and a little food. It was the last full day, the final Corbett of the holiday, the weather was holding - so I went for it. I got to it in fine style, even phoned Linda from the summit and then had to very carefully check the map for the quickest and safest route off to find my rucsac and utlimate safety. Thankfully, I chose the correct side to descend off the ridge, kept the lochan to my left when the other side might have been a little quicker and then ended up half running and half walking to find my rucsac before darkness overtook me. In such situations, I always think the rucsac is on to top of the boulder sooner than the actual boulder is found! However, I found the correct boulder with half an hour before the light faded completely. It was 2030 hrs and I had been out and on the move - and with a dodgy Achilles tendon - for 13.5 hrs. I think a record for me!

In the morning, I walked over to the bothy. The two men were still there and they confirmed the conclusion I had already come to - there is only one safe route up and down "the mini An Teallach", as one called it. And it was certainly not the route I had foolishly chosen to get up!

August 2010 in Dumfries and Galloway. I had a superb cycle ride from Castle Douglas to Newton Stewart after Linda and Mike dropped me off on their way to the Glasgow Girls exhbition of painings in Kirkcudbright. The ride took nearly five hours instead of three when I foolishly thought I could get along a 1.7 Km footpath between a forest road and a country lane. I ended up carrying the bike much of the way through bracken and tussocky grass. And, I could have had a nice downhill section on smooth tarmac on a road! Its only redeeming feature was that it was downhill and it taught me never again to introduce myself to the daunting venture of cyclo-cross at my age of 62! At one point, I was ensnared amongst low lying branches, a stream and bracken on a steep section. I took a step or two to return from whence I came, only to find a wooden footbridge that I had missed amongst all the undergrowth. I climbed up to it and thought I'd continue, after all. By a cottage, on the lane where I came out I told my story to a father and son who were in their front garden. The old man laughed and the son was horrified at what I had done.

Whose killings are most reprehensible?

2010-06-06T22:13:00.002+01:00

Israel's Commandos killing 9 civilians, without firearms, trying to deliver humanitarian food and aid is, I think, more reprehensible than a 52 year old troubled and tragic man killing 12 unarmed people. A Western government - as Israel is - should not be likened to Derek Bird and should not be saying they were acting in self-defence when doing their killings.

We should not expect bad behaviour from even a troubled and tragic Israel. Bad behaviour from troubled individuals like the Cumbrian killer is less reprehensible.

Mudguard breaks a grey area? Or, a new approach to customer relations

2010-05-16T16:14:00.008+01:00

How's this for commendable customer service?!

I bought the German made mudguards from Brotherton Cycles in Old Hill on the 16 March. In the week beginning 3 May - on the Tues or the Wed - I noticed a break almost halfway between the stay and the metal bracket fixing the mudguard to the frame. I couldn't get back to Brotherton's until after work on the 10 May. I was astonished by the attitude of the proprietor who, like me, had never seen anything like it before but, who pronounced it was a grey area and was most reluctant to believe that it was not my fault. I thought it must be a defect in the manufacture but this guy was doubtful and even more doubtful of the old adage that the customer is always right even when he is wrong! After much humming and haaing he started to take the mudguard off, only to change his mind and to take a photo instead to send to the manufacturer in an e-mail.

I objected to the guy calling it a grey area as if I was partly, if not wholly, to blame. Any other cycle shop would have immediately replaced the mudguards and sent the faulty ones back. No way. Certainly not this shop! What a song and a dance he kicked up. He thought I must have done it by taking the handlebars to lift it up onto the back wheel so that the bottom of the rear mudguard (a rubber mudflap) scraped along the ground. I denied doing that. When I got home, I checked and found that the rear mudguard did not wrap far enough round the back of the back wheel to be able to touch the road. There were no abrasions on the bottom of the mudflap, anyway. He was reluctant to believe me that I had not crashed on the bike, had not dropped anything on to it nor, abused it in anyway. He suggested I had sawn it in two! I even had to ask that he should ring me once he had heard from the mudguard company. He was wanting me to ring him!

Two days later he did ring after hearing back from Germany. He was told that he would get his £19-99 back if he returned the faulty goods. Hence, I would get my refund.

I replied, "Could you not simply replace the mudguards? I'm sure the next set will not snap and I liked the quick and easy fitting of these otherwise excellent mudguards."
"No", came the response. "I don't want you coming back with another story of them having broken. I won't be giving you a second refund!"

Later that day, I showed the break to a colleague at work. He found a second break in the mudguard! This one was adjacent and forward of the metal bracket that wraps round the mudguard and is bolted to the rear brake and frame. "This is unbelievable", I said to Chris who had also never seen anything like it before.

Yesterday, Saturday, I returned the mudguard to Brothertons. True to his word, he refused to give me a replacement but handed me two £10 notes saying, "I'm not wanting the 1p change". I laughed out loud that this guy - a motorcyclist all wrapped up in his leathers - should feel the need to have to say such a thing. Perhaps, it was to redeem himself in my eyes!

Pushing the boat out or ...

2010-04-20T21:59:00.007+01:00

... making the most of the daylight!

A week in Scotland in March to climb Corbetts. These are the Scottish hills between 2,500 and 2,999 feet. The idea was to see if my partially torn right tendon would stand up to the strain. I was constantly limping for the last four months of last year after using my zero carbon lawn mower. I got my foot at an awkward angle and loaded it too greatly when I pushed on the heavy machine up our steep front lawn.

The first week of a four and a half weeks holiday was a gradual toe-in in this great outdoor playground and wilderness. Well, that was the theory. After my first full day in Scotland taking in the little bump that overlooks the Kessock bridge, the second was going to be a slow ascent of my first Corbett of the year - 887m in Beinn Eighe NNR up the Mountain Trail. However, it went so well, I thought it would be a wonderful opportunity to do the next Corbett, that looked so near. Unfortunately, not bothering with any guide book or even properly studying the Landranger map, meant that I went quite the wrong way up a steep, scree slope. Eventually, I came round the high crags to the only gap through the encircling cliffs of Ruadh-stac Beag 896m. Quickly up through the narrow opening, over the summit plateau to the cairn and back down the only steep exit of loose rock. I then returned the correct and much pleasanter and safer ramp at the foot of the Corbett's near neighbour. This was an unusual geological feature I had never seen before. If I had studied the map more closely, I would have seen what a delight this route would have been for the ascent, too. When I reached the Mt Trail, I turned left. If I had bothered to look at the map, I would have seen the quicker way was right! I did that section the next evening in 3 hrs on my rest day. My first full day of gradual return to Corbett climbing, turned out to be one of 9.5 hrs and two big summits! No rain, cloud scraping the Munro summits and moderate wind and temperatures.

Western Priorities

2010-01-31T22:24:00.004Z

For the West, democracy, corruption, sexual sins, family values are all considered more important than OUR violence, aggression and occupation of countries that, in the process, we turn into enemies.

Dealing with poverty, ill health ignorance and malnutrition just do not figure when compared with bringing Western values and beliefs and Western patterns of consumption to failed and failing nations - like Afghanistan!

Bomb Baghdad with bikes not bombs; kill Kabul with kindness - caring not killings!

Who are the real failed or rogue or terrorist nations round here? Who are the real axis of evil nations?

RECEPTION COMMITTEE BUT, WITH A SILVER LINING!

2010-01-10T10:27:00.003Z

I had the whole farmer's family meet me on my return from a late winter's walk up Glasgwm and back. Having completely missed their newly created car park in Cwm Cywarch, I parked in the only spot I could find by their farmhouse.

It was 6.20 pm and they were obviously looking out for me, having seen the light from my headtorch coming down the hillside. I apologised if I had taken the wrong path through the farm but I hardly got the words out before they laid into me for starting the walk so late (2pm) and coming down in the dark. The farmer said that he hated people like me for putting the rescue services to such inconvenience and never having insurance. "If you can't find the car park, your map reading is crap and puts you in danger up the hill." The wife said that there had been a rescue of a walker further north in the national park that very day. I replied that I knew what I was doing and this afternoon's walk was part of my training . They were not impressed.

"Yet another stupid hill walker going out in bad weather with snow and ice everywhere", they must have thought.

Complete incomprehension by the locals for the sheer delight that some, like me, have for going out in what they think is a white hell, is a sheer white heaven for me!

What I should have said was "This is part of my continuous training in completing all the high hills in the UK and Ireland. I'm doing this kind of thing all the time; I'm properly equipped, with the right clothing; I'm qualified as a mountain leader in non snow conditions with the MLTB and I know this area like the back of my hand, having been here over many years in summer and winter conditions." I said none of that, however! Perhaps, that was just as well 'cos I had forgotten to take the ice axe out of the car, I was using instep crampons with my mt approach shoes, I didn't have insurance with the BMC and I very nearly didn't bother with taking the map (that I knew I didn't need to use, anyway). This was also my first major walk after four months of limping from an inflamed, weak tendon.

Three years ago, one of my party, in this very same valley, dialled 999 from her mobile when I lost my party who went steaming off without waiting for me to catch up. Aberdovey Outward Bound Mt Rescue were called out. We met them at the Red Lion in Dinas Mawddwy.

As I walked to the car after this harangueing, I saw that the farmer had put his Land Rover across the back of my car to make sure that I would have to call at the farmhouse to get out, anyway!

I then could not get the car started. I said to the farmer, "I now can't get the bloody car started. Could I make a free phone call from your landline, please?"

"It's a diesel isn't it? Try pumping the accelerator pedal up and down as you keep the key turning over the engine."

And that did the trick; no going into the farmhouse; no walking to the red kiosk 2 miles down the lane; and, no waiting for breakdown rescue. Brilliant! I didn't stop until I got to the the Brigands' Inn to change out of my mountain approach shoes and to take my coat off for the rest of the drive home.

1 January 2010

Struggles in snow plastered Wales

2010-01-09T21:51:00.006Z

Fri 1 Jan 2010
This week, for the first time since August 2009, I've not been limping from my weak rht tendon. I thought I would try a quick up and down of Glasgwm from its nearest start. I was using my mt approach shoes with the cut away heel. They worked well with instep crampons in a walk a little over 4 hrs with an unexpected reception party from the farmhouse on my return!

Sun 3 Jan
A drive to within two miles of Pistyll Rhaeadr and an abortive walk 'cos of the deep, soft snow; a sheep caught in a fodder cage; and then a drive up to the old quarry at the top of the pass from Llangynog to Bala at 486m spot height.

Wed 6 Jan
Snow in Wales and the W Mids yesterday. Today I took JP back to uni on a fast run on empty roads with snow ploughs and snow blowers on the A44 over the mountains that rise to 420m south of Pumlumon. We enjoyed the snow on the ridge top trail at Nant y Arian. I very nearly came to grief with a very stupid attempt to drive down that very steep and ice covered side road near Jono's digs.

Sat 9 Jan
A gruelling walk from Llangynog to Post Gwyn at 665m in deep, soft snow that demanded snow shoes that I didn't have. Far too long at 6hrs with my weak tendon and without snow shoes. Four walkers ahead of me, I noticed, took the more sensible decision to walk over the hills from Llangynog to Pistyll Rhaeadr and the cafe there.

At times, I was up to my thighs in soft snow that meant I had to climb out of those steps! Eventually, I reached the road at a point where there was a low stone wall to jump down onto the road and on the upward side of a nearby cattle grid. On that ghastly descent, there was not one fence or wall to climb over, either and, I managed to avoid the crags to the NW and the cutting to the SE. It was a sheer fluke or, my guardian angel at work! Weeks of strong NE winds had piled the snow onto the lee side of the slopes, including the one I descended.

Sun 17 Jan

Back to Llangynog while the cold weather lasted. This time, I parked next to the road, below the high point of the pass near the track that I walked up towards the Berwyns. This time I did get further but the soft deep snow made me turn back. Lunch in the car and then down the road to park in Llangynog to walk up to circle contour GR 059278. Rusty metal post almost filled with water and nothing memorable when I examined Bedd Trynddyn; then, long descent, despite the thaw of the previous week, a deeply filled snow laden ride down steep slopes to three ponds in the heart of the forest - Tre-y-llan. It led to a track, an abandoned Land Rover, a magnificent looking house off to the left and then the road back to the village.

Telegraph thunders against thermomaniacs!

2009-12-24T22:39:00.007Z

Thanks v much for the Daily Telegraph page featuring a broadside against the thermomaniacs like me and the telling cartoon next to it.

The cartoon summarises my position nicely. We in the rich West and North of the planet are so busy making wealth (bonuses from our "you've never had it so good" sham society) that we haven't noticed that there is an unfortunate downside to our ever rising material standards of living - that is, rising problems! In other words, what we take today we won't have tomorrow and, these heavy footed life styles affect the planet's life support systems to the detriment of life on earth. The cartoon has snow and ice turning into water to leave little habitable land on which to enjoy our material bonuses - ever rising material standards of living gives rising problems like energy and food security issues. Even the government is now realising they must get to grips with securing energy and food for our descendants.

We all enjoy being promised the moon by the main parties who are not at all bothered about the rather more important but mundane matter of guaranteeing the earth for our children and grandchildren! Only the Green Party has, in fact, got its priorities right. In other words, we gain the whole world (literally from the most extensive, longest-lasting and most powerful empire in the history of humanity that is still in control) and lose our soul - as someone a little wiser than Simon Heffer said!

Heffer, Lawson, Melanie Phillips, et al are all part of the self-satisfied, self-enhancing majority who think that sacrifice is all about the heroic sacrifice of being killed in Afghanistan by the resistance fighters rather than the restraint and noble sacrifice of living to tread more lightly on the planet to leave a land fit - not for heroes - but for others!

This trio of unbelievers do, of course, have a huge problem with climate science being championed by the Greens and the greens and other assorted left wing groups for over 30 years. The right has grown complacent with their built-in majority amongst the electorate and in government. Now, we have won the battle and they don't like, one little bit, the left being right and the right wrong!

I think it is more sensible to hope for the best but to prepare for the worst. More sensible to assume that the vast majority of international climate scientists are right and to behave accordingly.

Ben and Sharon

2009-12-11T11:36:00.006Z

The Liverpool couple, Ben and Sharon, this week, shows that evangelical Christians do seem to have a problem with Islam. A problem, too, with homosexuals, Catholics, evolution and with those who want abortion brought within the law. At one time, it was Jews that Christians had a problem with. Anti-Semitism was rife in Europe. It culminated in Nazism and World War part 2. Now, evangelicals have a special warmth for Jews and Israel, convinced that their divine destiny is wrapped up with their own and the return of Christ. Israel must be specially favoured (and armed to the teeth) by Christians and the West because God does favour His chosen people, Israel. God has promised all Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza to the people of Israel (actually, much more extensive area of land in Joshua 1v4) and no-one can get out of that one or, that God runs the world to fulfill His promises in the Bible.

Once, it was protestant Christian America that believed it was their manifest destiny from the Lord who gave them all the land from the Atlantic to the Pacific. That belief drove them ever onwards and outwards to drive out the Indians, the Spanish and the French. The religious right in Israel is doing the same to this day - claiming, owning and settling ever more of the Lord's promised land. After all, it was promised only to themselves! Non-violence and sharing are alien concepts to these believers!

Yet, for me, the week began with my sitting in the prayer chapel at Russells Hall Hospital in Dudley reading the first three or four pages of the Koran and being astonished at how much the Koran has in common with the Bible. The children of Israel were mentioned, being steadfast in prayer and that Allah is merciful. However, little of this aspect of God seems to be shown by the religious right in the Holy Land who behave in such an unholy way; yet, Jews, Christians and Muslims are all the children of Abraham - and, like everyone else, are all part of the one human family!

Brits: more American than European

2009-11-14T12:56:00.007Z

David Reynold's 'Empire of Liberty' looking back over 1,000 years of history on the N American continent was fascinating for someone like me who is more horrified than delighted by the behaviour of our American kith and kin. I say kith and kin because we Brits colonised what is now the USA to escape religious persecution by other religious people in England. Spain, Portugal and France also colonised the continent but our military prevailed. Our ancestors in England and Europe, said Reynolds, brought God, guns and germs to the native American Indians, especially germs!

Empire of Liberty is both a contradiction in terms but also accurately summarises American history over the last 500 years, I think. Liberty for the white man; empire that enslaved millions of black people; and, empire that incorporates us and imperialism over the poor world or, the black (non white) nations in the world.

The native Indians had survived for thousands of years before the white man appeared on the scene and upset their apple cart - well and truly! Their civilisation was impressive and was sustainable, unlike our own that is built on the flawed foundations of black sand - oil, coal and gas. That means we are eating tomorrow's seed corn and, therefore, contain the seeds of our own destruction, as our resources exhaust and life support systems collapse from our behaviours that are so alien to how we should be living as part of nature and part of the earth and Earth. We belong to the earth and the Earth, rather than the Earth belonging to us!

I think, we Brits are hopeless Europeans because of these traditional links with the new country. They speak the same language, they built their new country on England's example but with great improvements and, there is much more inter-marriage with them than with our European neighbours.

Hopeless Europeans because we have fought countless wars with them over more than 1,000 years that, finally, culminated with the Great War and its sequel in 1939. The European empires around the world and their religious persecution and wars are also a feature of European and British history.

Whereas, our good friends the Americans have bailed us out twice in the World War in two halves and then bailed us out again with their enormous loan that we only finally paid off a couple of years ago! We, in our turn, for 64 years have been their staunchest allies in our joint wars against godless Communism from Korea to Cuba, today and military occupation of Arab lands to this day - Israel, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Iran (to the overthrow of our stooge, the Shah), Afghanistan and Pakistan (our drones killing people in the borderlands). The Americans even supported us in the Falklands War after initially disapproving of Mrs T's bellicosity and intent to take back the islands.

As with the Middle East, our own green and pleasant land has been slowly disappearing under concrete runways, motorways, and American military bases for nuclear and conventional missiles and bombs. Our island is still America's largest aircraft carrier. We are, unofficially, the 51st state of the USA! We are the only nation that has a special relationship with them.

No wonder, so many Brits want independence from Europe and continuing dependance on hyper power, America!

BNP, churches and the Greens

2009-11-01T19:40:00.001Z

BNP is appealing to the Christian vote - already right wing and concerned about their faith being undermined by a growth in Islam, especially from the evangelicals I have spoken to. I think evangelical Christianity does have sympathy with traditional Britain being Christian and white and hankering after that former state. Now, Britain is even more less white and more Islamic - from immigration and from immigrants being younger and therefore, being more fertile, according to the Office of National Statistics. There is also the October 2009 projection of two thirds of the 10 m increase in the UK population over the next 25 years coming from immigration.

I do wonder if the Greens also favour much stricter controls on immigration 'cos of their concerns over ever more of the UK land disappearing under concrete brick and tarmac, and hills quarried away, and more greyness and less greeness everywhere in the UK. The Green Party has always been into a reduction in the UK population level to something more sustainable; and, a world population that can also meet the carrying capacity of the planet.

On the other hand, the Greens and Christians being true to Christ would want to welcome the stranger in their midst and to allow asylum under the 1951 Refugee Convention of the UN.

'The Age of Stupid'

2009-10-18T19:55:00.003+01:00

Worth seeing. I saw it yesterday evening, put on by Transition Stourbridge. Another climate change film with a novel approach. You look out through a computer screen at Pete Postlethwaite operating a touch screen to bring down film clips to keep your attention and interest.

One is of a remarkable 82 year old mountain guide from Chamonix taking his clients up the Alps, including via ferrata and showing how glaciers have retreated. Good shot of Mt Blanc at one point. Another, clip of a young wealthy man setting up the Indian equivalent of Easy Jet or Ryanair and contrasted with crowded trains and poverty. One film of an heroic young English guy trying to set up nine wind turbines on an old airfield in Bedfordshire but being foiled by NIMBY protesters determined to keep their view (of elecy pylons, I expect!). Oil and Africa is also featured; animation to depict our glorious colonial past to bring civilisation and light to the heathen tribes in their darkness; and, a man saving lives in drowned New Orleans. Plus, much else.

One thing leads to another

2009-09-10T20:03:00.003+01:00

An American warship, Vincennes, shot down an Iranian Airbus five months before the American airliner was brought down over Lockerbie in December 1988. This careless, gung ho shooting by our side may have led to the revenge attack on PanAm 103. It is likely that the USS Vincennes would not have been in the Persian Gulf if it was not for

the Iraq/Iran war from 1980 to 1988, that we were fuelling with our arms supplies to both sides; and,
the belief that we are the policeman of the world and that we must protect our oil supplies, and our possessions around the world.

Owning up to our little peccadillos!

2009-09-10T17:20:00.005+01:00

At every level, racial (whites), religious (Christian), wealth (the rich),

geographical location (western Europeans, Australasia, and North

Americans), it is our ancestors and we today who are the problem on this
planet. Our side, for a thousand years and going strong, are the primary
perpetrators of suffering for all humanity - and, some would say, the
animal kingdom, too.

First it was from exploration, trade, war and subjugation. From that list,
for some, we can now only delete 'subjugation'. To the list is now added

the catastrophic consequences of the industrialised nations' climate change
and their rapacious exhaustion of resources. They/we are imperilling all

humanity by these ruinous behaviours.

Midland Metro for never!

2009-08-30T22:34:00.002+01:00

* Nearly thirty years of little action have gone by. Only one line out of the three was achieved since 1980 - and that was on a rail line!

* There is even more traffic choked roads alongside empty rail lines.

* Electrification of the rail network is nowhere near complete even after 50 years of trying. It doesn't help when nearly everyone wants electric trams instead of electric trains on these 38 miles of Brum rail lines.

* The train/tram idea of 2008 was, years ago called track sharing or double running. This is something that is impossibly complicated for our rail industry that has trouble in running an efficient and well run rail network as it is. This resurrected idea is way beyond their abilities.

* Keep it simple, keep it plain; keep it obvious.

* Get the two main public transport modes at least as good as the average on the mainland of Europe. Then, extend the tram network further. We now have, not two, but three failing public transport modes - bus, train and tram.

* The green movement's traditional stance of accepting anything as long as it is public transport, is nowhere near good enough when issues of priority, value for money, least impact on climate change and resource depletion and, discrimination and discernment should be uppermost in our minds, I think.

* Even the very long established wish to put freight trains back on the full length Stourbridge, Dudley, Walsall rail line is impossible for our rail industry to achieve. Astonishing!

* Still, a rail line goes past the Waterfront complex of offices that are next to Merry Hill Shopping Centre but, office workers and shoppers still have to use their cars, a minority go by bus and I go by bike! This is a scandalous state of affairs because of the supposed popularity of trams everywhere.

* Trams on the middle section of this rail line has been developed for nearly thirty years but nothing has happened in even three decades of desperate transport bigwigs trying so hard. It also prevents, for ever, passenger trains returning to the 13 miles through three Black Country boroughs. This is transport negligence and incompetence, in my opinion.

WE ARE ALL ON THE MAKE - BIG TIME!

2009-08-30T22:12:00.005+01:00

It is all too easy to get indignant and sound self-righteous about MPs expenses. We wouldn't dare to do such a thing, of course, would we? The problem is that many of us do have the opportunity to claim expenses. Are we always beyond reproach?

Even if we don't claim expenses, we are all living so unsustainably that we are making the most of the system - as much as the MPs - to live it up today and to hell with tomorrow. Ripping through our one-off geological inheritance of oil, coal and gas to leave a most uncomfortable future for our descendants later this century.

I think it is only a question of degree. The richer you are, the more you are on the make, the more you are responsible for leaving less for your children and grandchildren. The more money you make, in a finite world, the more poverty you are creating for future generations. That is the uncomfortable reality for those who have to inherit the planet we are all busily trashing today with no thought for tomorrow and others!

Prisoner compassion is a notion strange to us!

2009-08-24T21:45:00.002+01:00

Prisoner abuse in US/UK controlled prisons in Iraq - little or no protest.
Prisoner torture in US/UK controlled police stations in Iraq - little or no protest.
Prisoners held without trial for years in Guantanamo Bay "anomaly" (Blair) - little protest ...
... when compared with massive protest at prisoner compassion and prisoner mercy. All hell broke loose. Is it because we are so inured by prisoner abuse, vile interrogation methods that amount to torture, mock execution and even deaths in custody? Or, was it because of our side's strong sense of revenge?

If by some totally impossible turn around of events, the Lockerbie bomber had been a UK citizen, we would have welcomed him home with a celebratory open top bus tour around London! At least, the Libyans didn't do that in their capital. Just as well our side is so upright that we never shot down a passenger airliner! We could never do such a thing.

Always violence, aggression and slaughter for ...

2009-08-02T20:53:00.007+01:00

... one millennium and still going strong!

Giving Afghans and Iraqis the vote every few years is just not worth all the slaughter. It is called bringing democracy down the barrel of a gun; just like we condemned the Communists for spreading revolution down the barrel of a gun - we are no better! In fact, down the years, the white nations have killed many more black people than they of us.

We whites are so hypocritical and racist!

It was the Christian, white nations and not the Muslim, black nations who developed and first used chemical, biological and nuclear weapons. We were responsible for the 1st WW and its sequel, the 2nd WW. In fact, we had the Arabs, united to the last man under our army hero, T E Lawrence fighting with us in the 1st WW - only for the Arabs to be let down later!

In a recent thirty year period, in one corner of our country, we had a civil war between two branches of the UK and two branches of the Christian Church that resulted in many more Irish republicans killed than they managed to kill of our own Irish monarchists who were loyal to the Queen. Figures from the BBC website. Bloody Sunday is only one most disgraceful and shameful episode in the history of the heroic British Army.

I have just seen in the 'Church Times' that one leading Christian vicar is arguing in print and, this morning, on BBC Radio 4 that the US/UK/NATO must continue the warfare in and on Afghanistan. The churchman is the Rev Dr Giles Fraser, Vicar of Putney in London.

Giles Fraser agrees with the War of Terrorism on the good people of Afghanistan. I know it is directed at the Taliban and al Qaeda but, as usual in modern warfare, the people of non-violence get injured and killed in much greater numbers than the wicked Taliban and al Qaeda that our men of violence are trying to eliminate for ever. Does this really satisfy Giles' Church of England's just war teaching?

David Dimbleby on 'Question Time' last month, said that al Qaeda is to be found in fourteen countries. Does Giles seriously think that even if we were to defeat al Qaeda in Afghanistan, that they would no longer exist in the other thirteen?

Does Giles not know that our current war in Afghanistan is the fourth? We lost the first three, just like the Russians did more recently in their fewer wars in that country. We are certainly not winning this current war, even after eight years of desperately trying and we are told it is going to last for decades!

Does Giles not suppose that if we were invaded and occupied by foreign armies, that our men and women of violence would not similarly fight back? People of non-violence, like me, would be classed amongst the non-collaborators rather than the resistance fighters.

Does Giles not recall that our country has not been seriously invaded since 1066? Instead, we have had one millennium of invading, occupying and exploiting many nations around the world. Iraq and Afghanistan are simply the latest in a very long list of countries that are the victims of our many crimes of aggression down the centuries.

As a man of the cloth and a Christian believer, should Giles not be leading his flock in the way of non-violence as taught and practised by Jesus Christ, Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jnr and Donald, Lord Soper? In my book, Giles is now a man of violence, along with too many in the church and society.

We'll have everything we are allowed ...

2009-07-12T14:19:00.002+01:00

... thank you very much, for as long as we can get away with it! While the going is good, let's exploit the system for all its worth! If the rules allow it, we'll have it, thank you very much! It is this kind of thinking that leads to the behaviour that is meaning more wind farms that many don't like; and, now even nuclear power in desperation to plug the UK's energy gap. Many don't like nuclear power, either. But if we insist on grabbing all the fossil fuels we can while we can, what can you expect? If we want everything now and refuse to show any restraint, what else can the authorities do?

We are the problem in this world!

2009-06-13T18:38:00.002+01:00

The inconsistency and hypocrisy in our position is that we wish an open door policy for those immigrants who are skilled and valued or who are white and wealthy. We are not so happy to have the stranger come to our shores if that visitor is black, poor, unskilled or seeking refuge and safety from our crimes of aggression in Iraq and Afghanistan. We conveniently overlook the fact that the vast majority of men, women and children who are escaping our bombs, rockets and drones are taken in by some of the poorest countries like Pakistan, Syria, Jordan and other Arab/Muslim nations.

What is even more immoral is that we think we have the God-given right to jet around wherever we like on this globe and no-one is going to stop us. But we don't like it when these damn foreigners think they can settle in our so pure and white England. How dare they!

We can over-populate this planet with our high-living, high-impact life styles; we can act like the old colonial masters that we once were; but, we're not going to let them lot do it. No way!

What is the matter with us?

Hypocrisy begins at home!

2009-05-17T16:56:00.004+01:00

It is all very well us pure and holy electors of MPs getting all self-righteous and condemning their claims, until we consider that the MPs are simply a microcosm of society at large. They are like each and everyone of us - a mixture of the good, the bad and the ugly. In condemning them we condemn ourselves!

Given half the chance, would we really behave any better? Don't we all have a tendency to get away with what we can until we are stopped - by speed cameras, for example or by people's video cameras recording police lawlessness?

Police, PMs, Presidents like to feel that they are untouchable

2009-04-25T10:04:00.012+01:00

"To whom more is given, more will be required"

Our culture, our prejudices always tend to give the benefit of the doubt to all authority figures (except, perhaps, social workers!). We all seem to be most sympathetic to our own kith and kin, our own kind, our own class. We are less sympathetic to the stranger, the poor, the immigrant, the classes beneath our own. Hence, our prisons are stuffed full of a disproportionate number of blacks, the poor, the mentally ill and the illiterate - and, now, asylum seekers.

I am always astonished by the number of miscarriages of justice in which the Police are implicated. They tend to go for the old lags, the men already known to them. They go for the likely characters; the men who look as though they are up to no good! Getting the hard evidence is less popular. They also feel that they are entitled to use the tactics of the criminal to beat the criminal. In other words, 'cos they are on the side of the angels, they can use any means to get their good end. They are convinced that, for them, the ends always justify the means. Or, the ends are so important, the means can be stretched, are elastic and ethics can be ignored. Hence, the Police will hide their uniform numbers, be heavy handed and feel they are above the law (they used excessive force - unprovoked attacks, in fact - at the G20 protest in April 2009). No wonder there are so many complaints and so much rough justice. (Remember David Jessell and his 'Rough Justice' TV programmes?).

I think, for men and women of integrity, these sloppy, short-handed methods should be treated more seriously. The Police are so powerful that when they break the law, justice should be applied. It is less popular to do this 'cos we don't like to think that they could possibly be crooks and must, therefore, be charged with a crime. However, the good Lord says, "To whom more is given, more will be required." There should be justice done to deal with lawless Police officers to get the Police to be what we all think they are - upright, clean living, setting a fine example to the rest of us. The problem is, I think, they let themselves down too often and nothing is done. The murder of the Brazilian electrician is one of many examples. General Pinochet also got let off. Margaret Thatcher, in sinking the 'Belgrano', contrary to the rules of engagement when the ship was outside the exclusion zone, killed over 400 Argentinian sailors yet, was unassailable; but, was not beyond criticism on the TV programme, 'Nationwide'.

An extension of this is when our Prime Minister and President think that they can short circuit the UN and international law by deciding they can attack other independent, sovereign nations and, in consequence, be responsible (directly and indirectly) for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of men, women and children. However, even with this enormous war crime, both men are untouchable. Yet, the Lord says that these top men (who both belong to Him) should be required to account for their sins. More is given to them; more is expected of them. Does this not mean that we should be stricter with those in power? But, always justice tempered with mercy, of course.

We are more prepared to forgive those in authority for their crimes because, it seems to me, we are almost all prepared to give the benefit of the doubt to the Police and we supported every post-war governments' unethical foreign policies (Robin Cook's phrase when he was Foreign Secretary). For example, although the small majority of the UK seemed to be against the attack and six year war on Iraq, the people were not against our invasion and, so far, eight and a half year war on Afghanistan. The ends still justify the means when it comes to Afghanistan. Incidentally, our present war is the fourth against Afghanistan since 1839; we lost the previous three and we are losing this one. Our foreign policy is not only as unethical as ever but is as incompetent as ever!

Last night's 'Unreported World' on Ch 4 showed how Kabul is a bloodbath and a hell hole thanks to our well intentioned and sincere intervention but, it is wrong, stupid, immoral; simply a war crime. And more troops from the US/UK are pouring in from Obama and Brown! Attack and invade, occupy and fortify, grab and brag is what we do best as the New Colonialists from New Labour.

Summary
Whenever the law makers, enforcers and upholders break their law, behave like criminals and worse, rather than us lot sympathising, excusing and turning a blind eye, prosecution and justice tempered with mercy is essential - in my opinion. "Those to whom more is given; more will be required."

Scrappage scheme for planet Earth!

2009-04-19T20:03:00.007+01:00

We can scrap, use and waste resources until we are blue in the face. We humans are the king pins on this planet and we can do what the hell we like because we are in control. We can rip through our remaining oil and gas and coal reserves, regardless 'cos we must have unlimited growth and expansion to allow for our love of living way beyond our means, our limits and our boundaries.

We are entitled to have as many babies as we like and to consume just as much as we like, with no holds barred. How dare these greens tell us that living infinitely on a finite planet is not a good idea. Of course we are not part of nature or part of the web of life, as these greens tell us. We are the top dogs on the planet and what we say goes. We can live unnaturally on a natural earth. Our science and technology and new inventions will save us from our excesses.

Carry on regardless, scrapping perfectly good cars. Waste is what we do. Unstoppable growth of people and the products they want is what we do and nothing can possibly stop us. Over-consumption and over-population does not matter and, anyway, is none of my responsibility. I'm going to continue to live it up today and to hell with tomorrow. Scrap the lot of 'em - ten years or ten months old - build in obsolescence and, build bigger, newer and faster - and, ever more humans on planet earth, for good measure. It won't run out of precious resources or habitable land - will it?!

We're not disrupting life-support systems. Are we?

We're not scrapping life on earth. Are we? Only cars, after all.

Smoke nuisance in remote glens and hills!

2009-04-14T22:36:00.002+01:00

Here I am, wanting to get away from the big city and its, sometimes polluted air, into the clean, fresh, invigorating winds of the big hills in Scotland. It sounds like a great idea, especially for someone like me in the early stages of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease who cycles to work and for work, almost every day, in Birmingham and the Black Country.

The only snag is the grey and sometimes brown smoke wafting over the hills and down the valleys in the otherwise pristine environment of the Highlands. What causes this nuisance - and, for me, something that is harming my health, when there is no way for avoiding the smoke? It is the annual muirburn; the heather burning at the end of March and in April. The very weeks that are my favourite for burning rubber off my Vibram soles between the short days of winter and the long midge months of summer.

Is there anyone else out there who dislikes the heather burning and thinks that it puts walkers at a disadvantage for the benefit of the sportsman with his rifle? Or, do you not mind the occasional breathing in of smoke and smelling the fire of the recently blackened hillside?

On Easter Sunday in 2007, I was one of many tourists toiling up and down the path to the summit of Mount Keen, the most easterly Munro, when we were enveloped in smoke. The wind had re-ignited the fires of the previous week's heather burning. This last holiday, on both 1 and 3 April I was enveloped in smoke. Once in the hills north of Blair Atholl and, again, walking north from Loch Glascarnoch, in the Far North to visit the remote Corbett, Carn Ban.

Burning of anything spews out yet more carbon dioxide when one scientific research paper after another urges us to limit our greenhouse gas emissions for the benefit of all humanity.

Am I on my own in wanting heather burning restricted or even stopped?

Do as we say; not do as we do!

2009-03-28T09:20:00.004Z

TRANSPORT SUMMIT REVEALS MORE DOUBLE STANDARDS!

At today's city council Transport Summit in Birmingham Council House, Cllr Len Gregory, urged delegates to switch off when idling to cut exhaust gases, to cut carbon dioxide emissions and to save fuel.

Environmentalist, Tim Weller, in the first question after Cllr Mike Whitby sat down from his speech said,

"I fully support Cllr Gregory in his appeal to switch off when idling. However, he might start with his own leader on his left. Cllr Mike drives a 3 litre Jaguar, when he is the Leader of the Council who claims to lead all other councils in the UK in doing the most to cut very harmful carbon emissions. Three weeks ago I found his large limo idling uselessly in the Council House Courtyard when I returned for my cycle. When will he follow Cllr Len's example and, better, when will he lead from the front, gain the respect of of us all and either cut his hefty carbon emissions by driving a smaller car; or, car share with the Lord Mayor and Deputy Lord Mayor's two Jags; or, even better, follow Prof Julia King's work to replace high carbon cars with electric vehicles and drive an electric or hybrid car."

Cllr Whitby was not at all embarrassed by his gas guzzler and explained that he did not drive it so had no control over the idling engine.

Tim Weller commented that "Former London Mayor Ken was a regular bus and train user, Mayor Boris rides a cycle but our two Mayors and Leader Mike all drive their own, personal, chauffeur driven, carbon spewing Jags. This is totally unacceptable. It is business as usual for our three leaders; but they tell us to drive less and use public transport more. There is no leadership, no action and even they don't change one iota!"

Prof Julia King of Aston University, Cllr Mike Whitby and Cllr Len Gregory were the lead speakers this morning.

Islam and War

2009-03-21T22:13:00.005Z

I listened to an address from Karen Armstrong at Carrs Lane Church Centre
in October 2007. It was the first in the series, 'Dialogues in Faith' that
were recorded and put on CD.

"Islam means surrender", commented Karen Armstong. The war cry from the
fundamentalist, evangelical Christians of N Ireland is 'No surrender'. I
heard it with my own ears, shouted at us, in 2007 on an open top bus tour
of Belfast when we drove through a Loyalist area! And, it is the
evangelicals and Loyalists of N Ireland who support the War of Terrorism
and not the Republicans, from the panelists speaking on Question Time a
year or two ago.

Karen said,

"We talk about Islam today as though it is inherently violent. This is
nonsense of course. We should never equate a few extremists with the vast
majority of billions of Muslims who have lived throughout history far more
peaceably with peoples of other faiths than the people in western
Christendom, for example.

"You may hear in the Koran, in an English translation, talk about infidels
- a very bad translation. The word translated infidel does not mean an
unbeliever. ... The word for infidel means ingratitude to Allah; hurling
God's bounty back at him and, not being generous and peaceable. Another
word translated as infidel means aggressive, irascible, a pre-emptive
strike. ... It has nothing to do with unbelief.

"The Koran permits only war in self-defence in order to maintain decent
values. Mohamed was creating primitive just war theology, as we in the
West call it. So religion is not violent."

Non-violence and non-occupation are unheard of!

2009-03-21T21:46:00.006Z

On Wed eve 11 March, the Archbishop of Birmingham did not comment directly on the points in my comment summarised as, "Would he be prepared to teach and preach non-violence in his sermons and homilies? Would he urge Protestants not to retaliate against this week's Catholics with their killing of three Protestants, with tit for tat killings of Catholics?" The media reported it as Republicans killing Loyalists, to take into account Christian sensitivities and to avoid pointing up Christian violence. They prefer to highlight Muslim violence, of course.

When will we have faith leaders urging non-violent direct action (NVDA), restraint and conflict resolution by Churchill's jaw jaw, rather than war war; all this, instead of a career in the military and the years of military attacks and occupations in foreign lands that that then entails? Our schools, colleges and universities also shy away from teaching non-violence and avoid highlighting our invasions, attacks and occupations.

When will we have them applying, in their sermons and homilies, the
teaching of the non-violent Christ in the Gospels to everyday living today?

The Purpose Driven Life - an alternative view

2009-02-21T11:38:00.003Z

What on earth am I here for?

To pass on my genes;
to live as sustainably as possible;
to prepare for heaven;
to make my peace with God/to get right with God;
to glorify God and enjoy him for ever;
to support Israel in all that it does 'cos the Lord is working his purposes out through Israel for the return of Christ;
to tread as lightly as possible on the planet;
to leave the place in as good a heart as when I was born;
to be faithful to Christ in living out his life and teachings;
to turn my back on invading other countries to sort them out when there is no UN mandate to do so;
to make disciples of all nations - as long as they become non-violent disciples of all nations; and, it does not look like colonialism/imperialism or, we're right your wrong; and, it doesn't look like more white supremacy by the rich West telling everyone else how to behave;
to live for others, especially for those yet unborn, in order to leave a habitable planet for them;
to support Israel right or wrong, violent or non-violent, aggessive or non-aggressive, despite all the UN resolutions flouted and its transformation from oppressed to oppressor;
to live for God's pleasure;
to make all life on earth last for an eternity - a grand purpose, a magnificent obsession for me that is no part of God's purpose for his believers.

This I can't believe!

2009-02-21T11:23:00.005Z

This I can't believe I can't believe in a God who created humans for the sole purpose of them worshipping and praising him and to give him pleasure. What kind of God is that? The Westminster Confession has, "Man's chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy Him for ever."

I can't believe in a God who, as part of his purposes for his special nation of Israel, that nation under God can slaughter over 1,000 Lebanese and Palestinians in 2006 in Lebanon and a further 1,300 Palestinians in Gaza in 2008/9. Jews for Jesus Christians, certainly, and other Christians, too believe that God is working his purposes out through Israel and, therefore, Israel's aggression is all part of God's wonderful plan for Israel. They also believe that Christ's return is dependant on the Jews return to Israel and their acceptance of Jesus as the long-awaited Messiah. Israel's encroachment on to more and more of the West Bank is all part of God's glorious plan in these end times.

I can't believe that a God of justice and love, who is all powerful and all knowing can countenance the suffering, misery and large scale murder by the crown of his creation - humans killing humans. The track record of the West and the whites is easily the worst throughout the planet and down the centuries. Especially in the 20th century - the most ecocidal, suicidal and destructive in the history of humanity. And we all know which God fearers were responsible!

More snow than we ever expected!

2009-02-08T18:36:00.011Z

Saturday 7 February 2009
I had six days of walking through the snow to work between Halesowen and Harborne but there was no snow in Aberystwyth or along he Cardigan Bay coast as Jon and I drove to climb Cadair Idris in, we hoped, snow. We felt there was not enough, so we drove further inland to Dinas Mawddwy and up the narrow mountain road for six miles to the sharp corner where we parked to climb Aran Fawddwy. Earlier, back in the Jon's study bedroom, I had adjusted my ancient but adequate Salewa crampons to fit Jon's size 11 boots. I was keen to try out my new winter mountaineering boots with their matching crampons. They have a metal tongue that slots into the groove in the boot toe.

We soon met another walker on the track that goes up the valley side. He also had Grivel crampons, I immediately noticed, but of an older design. I next noticed Fergus, the small Scots terrier with his short and very hairy legs but all four were so thickly balled up with snow that he was struggling. The pair were on their way down because of Fergus. Fergus and master were from west London and were staying at the Red Lion. I mentioned we hoped to have our evening meal there. As we left the track, we got into deep soft snow. Only then, did I realise that I had not thought of bringing the snow gaiters.

Jon soon offered to take my heavier, green rucsac with the two pairs of crampons and I took his small black day sac with the ice axe. We soon reached the post and rail fence that we followed to the double summit of Foel Hafod-fynydd 689 m. On the way, Jon sank into snow up to his thigh. When I came up to it, we saw that it was a mass of rolled up rusty wire fencing that was fun jumping up and down on it to spring up onto the grass step; except, I didn't make it! On this hill, we heard the sound of the NW wind howling round our ears. I filmed Jon running and jumping down the slope into deep snow on his way to shoot the circular patterns on the semi frozen llyn at the foot of the E face of Fawddwy. Crampons were used to get up the long, broad SE shoulder to the main ridge between Fawddwy and Benllyn and the shoulder summit at 872 m. By now, we were in cloud but only more spindrift. The patches of icy snow near the top could have been avoided but we tried out the sharp crampons points that held beautifully in the ice.

We made our way south on the main ridge through the cloud and dusk. We stopped to get out our head torches. Soon, Jon shouted to me through the murk, "We're going down hill. Is that right?" "It's all right; we lose 30 m before climbing again", I shouted back.

The steeper N ridge took us, in the gathering gloom, to the cloud shrouded, ice and snow encrusted trig point at 905 m. Jon took two self portraits of the pair of us, despite the strong wind and the dark. The climb had taken over four hours to do less than four miles (6K). We completed the circuit with our new head torches and reckoned we were real mountaineers in the snow and climbing in the light of them; found snow to the top of the fence in one place; and, another stretch of fencing that Jon described as looking like a waffle, with the horizontal rime more on the windward side of the wire.

We came down before the 632 m spot height when passing it makes the descent easier; crossed the stream that flows from the large llyn we looked at earlier in the day; and, found the one man and his dog, Fergus in the bar of the Red Lion in front of the roaring log fire. Jon had lasagne and I had broccoli and cheese bake for the second time running. It was a great walk made all the more enjoyable and safer with Jon's presence. We were out for nearly seven hours in the most glorious of winter conditions.

Israel has forgotten its past or ...

2009-01-24T15:03:00.005Z

.. it is reliving it, this time, as the cruel oppressor.

"You were once strangers in a foreign land. Therefore, love the stranger in your new homeland." my paraphrase of Deuteronomy ch 10 v 18-19. Chapter 20 is the Lord's rules for waging holy war to obtain the Promised Land from the existing settlers - holy war endorsed by Jews and Christians but not found in the Koran.

You were once victims of barbarity and genocide in a strange land. Therefore, you of all peoples, should know how to behave to all the children of Abraham - and to all the human family - in your Middle East region.

You were once not a nation; now you are a mighty nation and the regional super-power. That brings its attendant responsibilities and restraints and obligations to behave within international law and in compliance with numerous UN resolutions over the last sixty years.

Unholy human inhumanity to human in the Holy Land!

2009-01-17T15:06:00.004Z

Everyone seems unmoved by the latest slaughter - a ratio of 100:1 in Gaza in favour of the Jews. Their big supporters, like some at our church, see what is going on in Israel/Palestine as fulfilment of biblical prophecy and everything working together for the return of Christ. Turning their back on violence and sharing the land with the Palestinians seems to be an alien concept! I really do despair for our God-fearing people and explains my infrequent church attendance, these days, on principle.

One friend wrote in reply:

If all this slaughter is there to prepare the way for the Second Coming, I do not want to accept a God who uses innocent humans as fodder to trumpet his eventual arrival...

I do not believe this is "God's Will"... it is the behaviour of a collective aggressive neurosis which has its basis in the Holocaust .. the Palestinians are only second in the queue behind the Jews when it comes to their revulsion of Hitler.

Justice; then, you might get peace!

2008-12-28T17:21:00.002Z

We are seeing collective capital punishment by our side on the Palestinian families of Gaza. Just two days after Christmas, hundreds of men, women and children are being killed, wounded and traumatised by the armaments and ammunition we have produced and sold to our good friends and close ally, the Israelis.

Rather than understanding the reasons for rockets being fired into the border towns of Israel from Gaza, we prefer to make, yet again, a wholly disproportionate response. Revenge is sweet for our side and for the Palestinians. It ups the anti and invites ever more rockets into border towns that kill Israelis infrequently. Therefore, ours is a counter productive response, too. For us and the Israelis, we have to wipe out every Palestinian to stop their rockets. Stupid and barbaric indeed.

Our aggression in Iraq and Afghanistan sets a very bad example to our friends the Israelis who, quite understandably, use killing of civilians to similarly 'defend' their expansionist policies into ever more of the West Bank.

On the very same day that hundreds of men, women and children have died at the hands of the Israelis, our church leaders prefer to condemn the immorality of government policy. Yet, that did not include condemning government immorality in a decade of supporting the Israeli terrorism to supposedly stop the Palestinian terrorism.

As Peter Ustinov once said, "The Palestinians are the second victims of the Nazis". The one time oppressed are still the oppressors.

My verdict on GW Bush Esq

2008-12-25T18:34:00.012Z

We are coming to the end of an undistinguished eight years where, under GW and the 80% of the redeemed of the Lord who voted for him twice, we have seen what life is like under a Christian theocracy. President Bush is the most prominent evangelical Christian in the world. And, the Evangelical Alliance is proud of that fact.

The Lord’s rule through George W, has seen two major wars continuing to this day; our righteous empire ruling throughout the world as we control the economic and military power and control the structures and systems that deliver them; and, we have our supremacist nonsense in insisting that only democracy and Western freedom can be enjoyed by all the other nations of the world. In addition, of course, the evangelicals insist that only their Faith and their interpretation of the Bible is correct, wholly true and trustworthy and must be exported to every corner of the planet before, finally, the Lord comes. Evangelisation of the world is part of giving the nations of the world the gospel of democracy, the gospel of McDonald’s and the gospel of Western civilisation. Our attacks on two independent, sovereign nations have given Christian mission a splendid opportunity to place the Scriptures in the hands of Muslims - as they have been doing.

Eight years of Christian governance actually, in my opinion, is somewhat worse than undistinguished! And, in December, the ‘Today’ programme agreed. It announced that President Bush is the second worse president in the history of America and Dick Cheney is the worst Vice President. The devil has, indeed handed the righteous of the Lord all the kingdoms of the world for bowing down to him. Yet, no shame or even embarrassment from Christians for their President bringing temporal power with its attendant war, hundreds of thousands dead, prisoner abuse and torture!

Too late, too rough, too tough ...

2008-12-25T09:10:00.006Z

but ideal for the tough to get going!

On route to returning Jon to home after his first term at Aberystwyth Uni, the two of us tried out a Welsh circuit that is not recognised as such. We soon came across one or two little indications as to why it is so little walked!

On the south side of Tal-y-Llyn at the foot of Cadair Idris, we began the ascent from Corris Uchaf. There is good parking by the recycling facility and an unusual raised cabin on four legs! As you come out on to the main road, there is a cleverly built but very simple, stone sculpture of a long-beaked bird - just three or four stones built up on each other.

The going is rough with very few well defined paths or any paths at all. One huge tussock sent me shooting forwards, sprawling face down that even my very fine approach shoes, on their first outing, could not save me. Superb tread and some studs have revolutionised my walking on steep ground. What I thought were my newish boots were almost treadless I discovered after three slips on steep, wet grass above Cwm Cywarch a few weeks earlier. On that occasion, for the first time since my original left shoulder dislocation, I very nearly took the shoulder out again.

The route to the highest summit has an unexpected steep slope on the left that we carefully approached thinking that it was crags. Instead, it was not vertical but 70-80% of dead bracken, grass and heather.

Nearer to the summit of the 666m trig point, there is some fine, steep ground amongst high vegetation to climb that made me remark to Jon, "This is good training for Mt Blanc in June and the soft, deep snow we are likely to encounter." Over the steep ground, the hill flattens to the one metre higher 667m before the trig point is reached. We soon shot off again but found the forest would not let us through. We traversed round to the left over the shallow ridge that we should have followed from the summit and down the other side to gain the gate and forest road.

We jogged down the gentle slopes on the forest road. Jon photographed an abandoned car we came across. He commented, "It shows how quickly and easily nature takes over." We soon came out of the dark, forbidding forest and turned sharp right; only to find that the land disappeared that we needed to get down to have any hope of getting home! This was a second, very steep slope that we gingerly struggled down, holding onto rusty fencing while trying to avoid the rusty barbed wire that hung down and out on our side. What was worse, was a ribbon of white water at the bottom that was essential to cross to get back. Thankfully, 20 metres upstream, we found the swollen stream divided and the island formed allowed us to jump onto it and jump off the other side. This, finally, began the long return walk.

By now, I was kicking myself for starting so late - 1140 hours - and, not being more careful about packing in the rucsac two or more torches. All I had, for the two of us, was my £16 headtorch that worked intermittently, as I found out two weeks earlier. However, we made steady progress up grassy and sheep chewed slopes without ever getting to the top of the Graig Goch ridge. Felled forest way below to the right and some kind of path brought us to the head of a huge valley before us and the street lights of Corris Uchaf way out in the distance. Thankfully, before it got any darker, we saw a track on the far left hand side that would make our descent considerably easier. To our surprise, we very quickly came across the very beginning of the track that was out of sight when we saw the track far off to the left a few minutes earlier. This was a real God-send because this track was not marked on the map. An hour later, we were finally back on the main road, through the village and to the reassuring car, once more.

This was a challenging, adventurous walk that might be easier if the outward route continues to take in Graig Wen at 454 m and then down the N ridge to cross the river at the B road before the long climb up to Graig Goch at 586 metres. More should try it.

Africa: basket case, breadbasket and case of carbon famine

2008-11-22T19:37:00.008Z

Africa was almost certainly doing fine until the white man came on the scene with his alien culture, religion, slavery and warfighting (Tony Blair's alternative to 'warfare'). The culture was alien, the religion divisive, the slavery also involved whites and Africans enslaving/killing Africans and the warfighting resulted in the UK being the first, I think, with a scorched earth policy and the English named concentration camps that killed over 20,000 Boer women and children .

Wikipedia has:
"Eventually, there were a total of 45 tented camps built for Boer internees and 64 for black Africans. Of the 28,000 Boer men captured as prisoners of war, 25,630 were sent overseas. The vast majority of Boers remaining in the local camps were women and children. Over 26,000 women and children were to perish in these concentration camps."

In more recent years, the white powers and China see the continent, yet again as a mine for 'gold digging'; this time for the exploitation of mineral wealth to put in our mobile phones and computers. We carry on regardless, despite the complete inability of too many African countries to use their wealth to benefit all. We exploit and use this irreplaceable wealth to benefit ourselves, knowing full well that the Thatcherite trickle down theory will result in the rich West/North and the African elite continuing to enrich themselves - and, themselves alone.

In addition, we set them a very bad example with our unethical and hypocritical and aggressive foreign policy. No wonder the African leaders are such a shower when we are even more of a shower!

Our wealth grabbing lifestyles of carbon binging also result in catastrophic climate change that is resulting in the African deserts advancing while, at the same time, the African forests are, probably, being clear felled - like, almost, everywhere else.

I think we still have the major responsibility for the parlous state of Africa. We reckon ourselves the policeman, judge, jury and punisher of failed/rogue states in the world. We - the US/UK - are the hyperpower; therefore, we have the major responsibility by virtue of our self appointed world role, to alleviate the war and poverty in too much of Africa.

After all, we do run the economic and trading systems and structures of the
world so that they operate in our best interests!

CHRISTIAN PACIFISTS; CHRISTIAN ZIONISTS; AND, MAKING FRIENDS TO AVOID HAVING TO LOVE ENEMIES!

2008-10-05T10:32:00.004+01:00

I have listened to tape recordings of four long addresses by eloquent Bible teacher, Roger Price on the subject, 'The Doctrine of War'. Roger asked if Jesus was a pacifist. He emphatically said, 'No'. Like Roger, I don't take the hard-line position that the disciples of the Lord should be pacifists - that is too much to ask! Rather, they should not be combative and aggressive around the world. To be combative, as we have found to our cost (in SE Asia and now

Afghanistan

and

Iraq

), invites revenge. It ups the anti and the hatred for us. However, I do expect Bible believing Christians, like the large majority (80%) who have voted twice for their brother GW Bush, not to initiate violence, aggression, force around the world. It is counter-productive and is the opposite, I think, of loving God, neighbour, enemy. If we can’t love our enemy, at least don’t let us make enemies in the countries we interfere with! This is my soft-line position.

Extract from an article by Sarah Joseph who interviewed Dr Rowan Williams

Christian Zionists support the return

of Jews to Israel because they believe the

second coming of Jesus will not occur until

all Jews are in Israel. The Archbishop is

scathing, accusing them of being connected

to “the chosen nation myth of America,

meaning that what happens in America is

very much at the heart of God’s purpose for

humanity.”

In today’s world it is easy to see why

people would believe such an idea;

America seems so intrinsically involved in

everything. The Archbishop recognises that:

“We have only one global hegemonic power

at the moment.” But, he propounds, “It is

not accumulating territory; it is trying to

accumulate influence and control.”

Page 34 of ‘Emel’ magazine, December 2007

In other words, Christian Zionists, like ‘Bridges for Peace’, are an obstacle to peace because they want more Jewish settlers in more of the West Bank to help the return of Christ to be that little bit sooner!

Let them eat cake - nuclear cake!

2008-09-23T22:36:00.004+01:00

Well done, Mark Lynas!

With the approaching energy gap, Prof Fells' power cuts, fast rising
populations all wanting the electricity high life and not wanting to save
energy let alone be energy efficient, why not leave it to France to sell us
their nuclear electricity? Let them expand and we get on with offshore
wind and other renewables and, the likes of us - the righteous remnant -
vainly pleading for a low energy present and future!

Oil is more important as a chemical building block for the 500 everyday
products on which we depend than to turn, very inefficiently, into
electricity. It is urgent that we stop burning oil.

Many years ago, I can remember Jonathon Porritt saying that renewables
would not be enough but we must go down that route. The Greens were right
since the 1970s when New Zealand was the first Green Party. Our Manifesto
for a Sustainable Society is correct in its analysis and solutions.
However, such is the urgency of reducing the burning of fossil fuels, I now
think that James Lovelock and Mark Lynas are right, too. Nuclear is the
lesser of two evils. BUT, leave it to France AND still use deserts and
rooftops for solar power - everywhere.

Humans won't restrain themselves, so nuclear is what they must have - to
postpone inevitable ecocide. Give us the nuclear cake, 'cos we certainly won't slim down our energy hungry and oil rich lifestyles!

I hereby resign from my life membership of the Green Party and FoE!

One foot on the earth, the other in heaven!

2008-08-25T12:48:00.003+01:00

Or, Engaging with current realities to move to our heavenly home with even greater peace of mind!

I think the devout - and the rest - all need to engage with the periodic international and national reports that all warn of increasing difficulties for humanity as we continue through this century, on our present course. And, it is the rich North, the traditional Bible centred societies, who need to face up to their much greater responsibilities, in this respect, to move from over-reaching lifestyles to more sustainable behaviours.

The only drawback is that some believe in God but don't believe in the science! Or, believe in the Lord and in science to get us out of the jam we are in! Don't worry about the life-giving oil running out; something(science)/someOne greater than us will come up with something!

In other words, the devout must believe in the Lord to get them/us out of our difficulties - in other words one foot in heaven. But then, that does not excuse them from also having one foot on earth - using the practical, constructive, here and now steps to slow the rot and improve our lot this side of heaven.

God should be Green (and red!)

2008-07-28T22:04:00.017+01:00

My sermon (off the Mount) on selected texts, outrageously cherry-picked and totally out of context!

Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it. "Either, we get our numbers and our activities into harmony with the powers of the earth to support life or, collapsing ecosystems will do the job for us." (Green Party Manifesto for a Sustainable Society) It seems to me as though the white Christians down the centuries have done the most to fill the earth and to subdue it and, often, at the expense of the 'heathen' from the numerous tribes and peoples who simply wanted to be left alone to get on with their sustainable ways of life!

First, reducing the growth in our numbers and then reducing our high impact western populations, is still rarely discussed outside the Green Party. I fear that with the rise of creationism and fervent, right wing interpretations of the Bible in favour of armed force and homophobia, evangelical Christianity is still going in the wrong direction. Ironically, they insist they are the only ones with the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth and the rest of us are the great unwashed - we have not been washed in the blood of the Lamb.

Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness. Do God but don't do aggression, the war crimes and the colonialism that is the hallmark of the nations that have sought to live by the Bible. Seek to live more sustainably, with a lower carbon footprint, having less of an impact and taking fewer of your unfair share of the earth's limited resources.

The early Church had all things in common, according to the Acts of the Apostles. Very Communistic, very red and very Christian - but you would never have thought so! 2 Corinthians 8 v 13-15 says in effect, "From each according to his ability; to each according to his need." Here, in the Bible itself, we have good, left wing principles espoused. Ironically, it has been the traditional Christian nations, that regard Communism as so evil and godless, that have spent their taxes on decades of fighting and, in the process, killing millions of people, like you and me, that we labelled as Communists. This was in SE Asia!

The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof. The earth is now dominated by the rich humans in the north of the planet who rule as Lords and masters of all - with our World Bank, our World Trade Organisation and our International Monetary Fund. The black dominated UN is ignored by the white dominated USA/UK/Israel when it suits them. These three powerful nations rule the Middle East and act with impunity, whenever they wish, in protecting their vital strategic interests.

All things work together for good to those who love God and are called according to His purposes. But, not work for good for anyone if we persist in the widespread and weird attitude that money and electricity grow on trees and that we have a God-given right to ever rising population and ever rising material standards of living. Nature for some, God for others, will have the last word if we persist in behaving as if we know better than nature/God.

There is, therefore, no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. Romans 8 But, we all condemn ourselves if we persist in living outside the laws that say that it is pretty foolish to continue to live infinitely on a planet that is finite; living unnaturally on a planet that is natural; living with constant economic growth on a planet that is not growing in line with our ever greedy demands.

The fool has said in his heart, 'There is no God'. The fool says - even those or especially those who believe in God - that there is no climate change caused by human activities and that we humans can carry on regardless with burning up our one off geological inheritance, as if it will last forever and have no negative consequences from that burning.

Let not the sun go down on your anger. However, there is an anger that is acceptable and very necessary. For example, as seen by not the aggressive Jesus but the angry Jesus in the Temple. In one discussion, someone thought I was cross. I denied it at the time but what others say about you is invariably correct. More people like me who are living simply so that others may simply live, should be cross that the big majority are living greedily with an even bigger eco-footprint than me and are, therefore, doing even more than me to bring our way of life crashing down around our ears, even sooner. I am, in fact, more the true patriot and the true friend of the motorist!

The Right, the Righteous and the Unrighteous

2008-07-28T08:52:00.003+01:00

It seems to me that, since the end of the Attlee government in 1951, we have had our right wing electorates voting in right wing governments of either main party.

Right wing is characterised by belligerence of foreign policy in invading and attacking Korea, Egypt, SE Asia, the 'Belgrano' and, more recently, Afghanistan and Iraq. After this, not surprisingly, right wing is characterised by a lack of sympathy for the foreigner. However, this does not include Americans and Canadians and Australians who look like us and speak English almost as well as us! Right wing is characterised by generosity of spirit towards the arms manufacturers and traders with their subsidies from the taxpayer but much less so for those on State benefits of various kinds.

So right wing governments can't help but be right and on the right; always regarding the military and their supply line as the righteous but those on the scrounge as the unrighteous - despite the fact that it is these very right wing governments and their right wing electorates who decide on the 'largesse' going to the benefit claimants.

This I Believe

2008-07-27T11:21:00.011+01:00

Faith is very much part of the problem when even Bible-believing Christians insist that when the Lord comes again He will make a new heaven and a new earth and all will be well. It leads to complacency and a carry on regardless mindset when our lifestyles - our numbers and our activities - are putting the planet's life support systems under such strain.

For them, catastrophic climate change already affecting the poor nations, together with the fast melting of the Arctic ice and, resource depletion just does not impinge upon the far greater issue of an eternity with the Lord. Everything else - even ecocide - pales into insignificance when compared with making disciples, of saving souls, winning all who are to be saved for the Kingdom in the end days. However, this is no longer an adequate response, in my opinion.

Not adequate because our extravagant lifestyles - and warfare, for that matter (Armageddon in the Middle East is biblical and essential and fully supported by the righteous of the Lord, who do so like to help things along!) - is seen as much amongst the Lord's faithful as it is amongst everyone else. There is no difference. Complacency - and scepticism that we need to change our behaviours - is as prevalent amongst the Lord's saved as it is amongst the rest. In fact, for the Lord's people, the certainty of His return takes away any urgency to do anything about over-filling the earth with humans and subduing it to leave less and less in the way of essential resources and habitable land.

Now, wrong kind of fullness from too much subduing!

2008-07-27T10:44:00.004+01:00

The Bible says, "The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof ". Fullness meaning rich in resources, an abundance of wildlife and species and, fertile in soils to support all life.

That biblical text, I think, explains why humans are so dominant, still on the ascendancy and full of themselves! As the fullness of resources wastes away and as humans overfill the earth, to continue to assert that the earth is the Lord's does make me wonder if the Lord would now like to relinquish his claim on it. The Lord can no longer be proud of a planet that His creation is busily over-exploiting, indeed trashing in many parts and, making uninhabitable for yet more species humans have made extinct. One day, it may be our turn!

For too long, life has already ended prematurely for too many peoples on this planet.

The religious and political right is invariably wrong, hypocritical and inflamatory!

2008-07-12T17:53:00.012+01:00

Our right wing governments and electorates love to assume that we are going to be attacked at any time. We love to have enemies, too. Both help to justify our armaments, our aggression and our attacks. Tough, hard, bellicose stances by our leaders always attract the love of the electorate and their votes. Our most outstanding post-war prime ministers have been our great war leaders, Churchill, Thatcher and Blair. Eden is discredited. His right wing Conservative Party Cabinet who, with France and Israel attacked Egypt, failed to get the agreement and support of the USA and so lost the war.

For 63 years, the right in the US/UK/Israel first invented and used, and then maintained the largest arsenal of nuclear weapons in the world. The right wing democracies soon made the Bomb too destructive to be of any practical use. Yet, even so, our side came the nearest to using them in 1962 after our side provocatively put Jupiter missiles in Turkey near the border with the Soviet Union - our number one enemy. The political and religious right wingers worked hard to persuade Kennedy to use nuclear weapons - for a second occasion being the first to use them. A more right wing, Republican president, might not have resisted their demands to nuke the evil, Communist Russians.

Our side has always been the most bellicose in word and deed in attacking countries with Communist rulers or, governments with militant, Islamic tendencies that refuse to behave like we do in the world. Well, when you have all earthly power, of course might is right and you have a duty under God to make other nations as blessed and democratic and as Christian as yours!

Our side has tried hard to make more user friendly battlefield nuclear weapons that could be of practical use in our wars around the world. We have always made the running in finding new ways to spend our one-off wealth on ever more sophisticated and wonderful conventional and nuclear weapon systems, eg Polaris to make us independent of the US, Cruise missiles, star wars, renewing Trident - and all when the US is our best and closest buddy; and, the only country with whom we have a special relationship.

We don't believe in balance - only imbalance in favour of the US, UK, Israel! The other side gets it in the neck from our invasions, attacks and occupations if the other side, our enemy, try and correct the imbalance to make for less aggression by our side. Our behaviour around the world in attacking countries without nuclear weapons, sends the powerful signal to them that they must have the Bomb to prevent them from being attacked - and attacked by us; us who are always right and righteous and well intentioned and always know what is best for everyone else!

Our right wing electorates in the world's super-power bloc, love hard, tough, warring leaders to throw their weight about and to command the love and respect of the electorate. Democracy means war, aggression and war crimes - even from 1945 - by the great, outstanding and upstanding democracies! Right is wrong - for both our right wing political leaders and the right wing Christians who are right in there, whispering encouragements in their ears.

Might is right for the right, who are always right and blessed of the Lord. They are the righteous of the Lord, after all!

My green logic is impeccable but illogical!

2008-07-02T21:04:00.002+01:00

I think carbon cutting targets are a waste of time when absolutely no-one
is prepared to make any cuts - in fact, quite the opposite - and those like
you and me who realise the urgency of such things have already cut as much
as we possibly can - and go on doing so!

Intelligent people, including my team manager, who have gone through the
education system to university standard, disagreed with me this morning
(they were not disagreeing for fun, even though Paul, the manager is full
of wicked fun!) that if 2Kw fan heaters are blasting out, that may be
because two windows on the other side of the room were wide open!
Paul, the TM said that they had the fan heaters on yesterday
when the windows were closed. Therefore, the windows being open were
irrelevant to the fan heaters being on! Anyway, there was an awful smell
in the room this morning. My argument was lost! The heaters stayed
firmly on - and, on a warm day. Failed again!

This is similar to the occasional scenario in the office of someone being
too cold and having the fan heater on by their feet and their neighbour
being too warm and having the cooling fan on wafting lovely cool air into
their face!

There is just no conception, in even well educated people, that what we do
today has irreversible consequences for tomorrow. Is there any hope for
poor, heaving humanity on its one and only planet creaking at the seams?!"

Not so funny, not so noble, not so proud!

2008-06-29T20:44:00.005+01:00

It is funny how we Brits think of ourselves as being so perfect and everyone else so awful! That might explain your anti-foreigner letters. Let me put the other, rarely heard, side of the story.

For many centuries, the good, clean living Brits have been exploring foreign lands and taking home the booty, eg the piracy of the Elizabethans, Sir Francis Drake and Sir John Hawkins. Both men were knighted for their noble efforts and for making their own personal fortune on the backs of the foreigner. Some of their wealth – and ours - came from human trafficking with the iniquitous slave trade. This was a lucrative activity in the organised abuse of black Africans. Our whole nation allowed either one or two million to die or killed them, out of the 12 million carried off as prisoners. It lasted from the 16^th to the 19^th centuries. The foreigner well and truly got it in the neck at the hands of the whites and the church-going, good Christians of the UK.

When the Quakers started pointing out the sheer immorality of this systematic, large-scale abuse of our fellow humans, the Christians and the small minority who were not, argued that the British economy would so seriously suffer that we could not possibly afford to give up enslaving the foreigner!

Eventually, the Church and Parliament abolished the trafficking of Africans but it took another 25 years to end slavery in our glorious and civilising Empire. Much to their credit, the Church of England did acknowledge their major role in slavery, repented and apologised to today's descendants of the slaves.

For many more centuries than the British slave trade lasted, our numerous wars around the world – 7 or 8 against France alone – have killed many more foreigners than British slavery. Certainly, since 1945, 16,000 Brits have died on foreign battlefields but, very many more than 16,000 foreigners have been bumped off by our so beautiful bombs and bullets and righteous rockets. For example, in our war in Vietnam from 1959 to 1975, our good friends and compatriots, the Americans suffered 58,000 deaths in the process of killing an unknown number of Vietnamese whom we labeled as evil, godless Communists. Different encyclopaedias put the figure between 2-4 million. This is genocide of foreigners for which our side is wholly responsible. Both during our war in Korea and during the Cuban missile crisis, the hawks on our side were urging the use of nuclear weapons. Our General Macarthur wanted to nuke a 30 mile wide zone between China and Korea to make it de-militarised (and pulverised and barren!)

The tumultuous end of our Empire in India resulted in the slaughter of over one million Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs and over two million who fled their homes.

Our present major wars in Iraq and Afghanistan always give the fatalities on our side but, rarely, any indication of the casualties amongst Iraqis and Afghans. It appears that their casualties are many times more than ours. But, then of course, the lives of our soldiers are far more valuable, as they have always been, than that of the foreigner.

Having made Iraq and Afghanistan not the most congenial of places in which to live, we then get all hot and bothered when a few of these foreigners finish up our shores. Most of the two millions who have fled are taken in by the rather more welcoming Jordan, Pakistan, Iran and Syria.

Indeed, I think, after centuries of not so noble British history, too many remain as racist, prejudiced and as anti-foreigner as ever. We can war on their shores but we don't like it when these foreigners come to our shores. We can go where we like but they can't come here!

Our enslaving, our imperial ways and our warfare against foreigners is a shocking stain on British history. We remain shameless, unapologetic and unmoved. That is not so funny.

Christianity began in non-aggression, non-violence, of loving even 'enemies' ... and ended in ... see the end, below!

2008-06-24T22:06:00.006+01:00

Christianity began in Galilee as 12 disciples of Jesus and then by many more as Followers of the Way. Only later were they called Christians - as a taunt.

Saul was converted and interpreted the death of Christ as atoning for the sins of the world, rather than the ultimate act of non-aggression and non-violence. A crucifixion that spoke volumes of the iniquity of capital punishment and, indeed of corporal punishment that was also used on this good man. Yet, both punishments are so beloved of the righteous of the Lord - and has been for centuries. They certainly don’t believe in sparing the rod, because the Bible tells them so.

The Apostle Paul took Christianity to Asia Minor and Greece but it never became a philosophy, even though the intellectual Greeks loved to debate religion.

It went to Rome and it changed from being almost unheard of for Followers of the Way to enter the army, to it becoming acceptable to do so - and ever since.

It went to Europe and the rot really did set in. Non-aggression and non-violence became not just unheard of but completely non-existent amongst the supposedly faithful of the Lord. The words even, were never used such was the popularity of the soldiers of the Cross being literally warring crusaders against evil Islam and, even the wrong kind of Christianity! No longer were they faithful followers of the way of the Lord who taught and practised loving enemies rather than aggression and violence.

It came to America and that most devout nation; indeed, the nation with the mostest - the most of absolutely everything, including Bible believing, born again Christians. Yet, for the last six decades, along with its best buddy, the UK those most righteous nations have warred, have attacked, have invaded, have occupied nations with their godless and evil Communism. Only the tiny, barely Christian sects and branches of Christendom have been noted for their non-aggression and non-violence. Only they have remained true to the roots of Christianity and its Founder's 'unsuccessful' Way of non-aggression, non-violent direct action and of, literally loving those who have come to war, attack, invade and occupy.

The worst heresy, the ultimate irony and the final insult is the Bible reading and prayerful duo who launched the War of Terrorism against two Muslim nations who had done nothing to deserve the judgement of the righteous of the Lord from the US/UK. This Christian war or crusade against evil shows just how far the supposed disciples of the King of Love and the Prince of Peace have departed the Faith. They, who talk the most about defeating evil, need to first repent of their own much greater evil, methinks! There is the Jesus parable of the mote and the beam or, the splinter and the plank. Judgement begins in the House of the Lord - and, indeed on all who take the sword and the rod to punish the evil, sinful, rogue and failed nations of the world. Except, the US/UK/Israeli hegemony gets away with it. There is no judgement for their injustice, aggression and violence because they are all powerful - unlike their founder, Jesus Christ; all powerless, non aggressive and all failing!

Open letter on living it up for ever and a day!

2008-06-13T23:04:00.003+01:00

WARNING! This is my green propaganda, green economics coming out as I
munch my lunch!

Thanks for the thoughts, Colin, from Newsnight.

I have not heard that speculators and the work of OPEC are responsible for
the 12p/litre price difference between petrol and diesel. I have heard
that it is due to the greater demand for diesel than petrol and greater
difficulties in processing diesel compared with petrol. As regards oil in
general, experts on Radio 4 news programmes have mentioned speculators as
being partly to blame, as well as supply/demand problems.

Far safer to take home the message of rising prices that the more we
conserve the stuff through keeping to speed limits, cycling and
driving/flying less, the more we will keep prices down and preserve the
planet's wealth.

Far more sensible to assume that we may be approaching peak oil plateau and
take the green message that money and energy do not grow on trees, more
seriously. The problem is that none of us want to change our lifestyles
and patterns of behaviour until we are forced to! I certainly don't want
to give up my Scottish car camping holidays in Scotland in April and May
every year. But, as you so rightly put it at Llanrug, fuel rationing must
be introduced for the good of all of us and future generations.

I am now writing about fuel rationing being more important than congestion
charging and, rationing as an essential part of making all life last that
little bit longer.

All the best

Tim

PS The first law of capitalism and of conventional economic wisdom is that
we must rip into all finite resources as if they are infinite.
The second law is that you live only for the present and pay no regard over
our future prospects.
The third law is that you don't cost in anything like the full or complete
or external costs of our exploitation of our one off cornucopia of
resources.

It is a live now pay later economics where the message of ever rising
prices for food, fuel and everything else has no bearing on our over
consumption, over population, over reaching of ourselves. We just carry on
over doing it without any acknowledgement that the complacent and careless, "You've never
had it so good" bonanza may have something to do with it!

Our leaders and the people are all in denial, I think!

Rainbow N Scotland and Robinson Crusoe!

2008-05-24T23:29:00.004+01:00

I returned on Sunday evening from Scotland having visited 13 summits in 8 consecutive and very full days. My longest day was being out for 11 hours that included two food/rest stops and two Corbetts. Only one of those days was in the rain. I had cloudy and cool weather with some low cloud that made walking ideal. One day was sunny with light winds. Two Corbetts out of the 13 were visited in the evening, when the darkness caught up with me. By the end of my last long day I had swollen ankles that were biting into my boots!

So I've now climbed 29 Corbetts out of 220. Of those, 19 were this season's batch in April and May. I had a slow start having been diverted onto lower hills by one blizzard and gale force N winds that made for mesmerising, mountainous seas to shock and awe! I just got away with rounding a headland as the tide and waves came sweeping in over my mountain boots. Then, I enjoyed pretending I was shipwrecked as I waded ashore out of the white surf on one remote and deserted sandy beach - apart from one otter surprised at man Friday - on Scotland's stunning N coast. There was a mix of white and red sandy beaches of sea and loch; blue, green and grey seas and lots of white, red and black rock - quite apart from the purple-headed mountain of the hymn!

My exploration of the one Munro, in April, that I thought I had not properly completed, proved that I was wrong. There was only the one obvious summit and the concrete base, only of the trig point/pillar. I must have found that summit cairn on my first, ridiculously long diversion from Beinn a' Chleibh to Ben Lui via this Munro outlier, Beinn Bhuidhe, miles away! That was on the 26 March 1991 when I was wearing fell running shoes, no crampons and when I saw, as I descended Ben Lui, that my tent had blown down, with my sleeping bag in the process of being sucked out from under the nylon! Therefore, my round of Munros was completed with Ben More on Mull on 4 August 2007.

They're behaving like animals!

2008-05-17T22:02:00.006+01:00

An understandable comment on the TV scenes of violence and destruction by Rangers fans after they lost against the Russian team in Manchester, the other evening.

Yet, we are the human animal, whose violence and destruction is a slur on other mammals. It is almost unheard of for the animal kingdom to behave with the gratuitous aggression that we show. The white humans have a history of genocide and mindless destruction going back centuries far, far worse than any other branch of humanity. Empire building, piracy and slavery, exploitation and war around the globe is still the hallmark of the white, human animal. And, my own gender is almost solely to blame for the despicable behaviour of that too dominant part of creation where, far from being the crown of creation, the aggressive male much more than the female, is actually the pits!

Our antics are threatening the rest of creation by wiping out species after species as our aggression and expansion and domination continues apace. We are intent on draining every drop of oil and every molecule of gas from the earth's crust. We continue to over-populate the planet and to over-consume. We continue to believe that we are the crown of creation, the bees knees, the top dogs who can do as we like, regardless. For me, this shouts abroad how arrogant; how foolishly dominant; how stupidly supremacist we white human animals are in the otherwise sinless and innocent animal kingdom. We have messed up and trashed the planet. We have learnt nothing!

Over-bearing, over-here and everywhere - and nature nowhere!

2008-05-08T16:42:00.006+01:00

Margaret Thatcher, when she was Prime Minister, in one of her three environment speeches said that we had begun a massive experiment with the very life support systems of the planet itself. She never spoke a truer word!

Yet, she did nothing to modify our behaviours that are threatening those ecosystems. Indeed, the problem is we are living unnaturally in a natural world and, we are part of nature. We are living infinitely in a finite world, convinced that money and energy grows on trees! We are living as God when the result is so far from God - so far from paradise.

We think we can increase our numbers infinitely and exponentially and that there will be no repercussions. Quite extraordinary!

A Green Party publication had: "Either, we get our numbers and our activities into harmony with the powers of the earth to support life or, collapsing ecosystems will do the job for us."

9/11 - Tutu called it a criminal act

2008-05-08T15:25:00.010+01:00

'Time' magazine wrote: "If you want to humble an empire it makes sense to maim its cathedrals. They are symbols of its faith ... The Twin Towers and the Pentagon ... are the sanctuaries of money and power that our enemies may imagine define us. But that assumes our faith rests on what we can buy and build, and that has never been America's true God."

However, I think it is what a nation does and not its spiritual or Christian faith beliefs that defines it and that it is judged by. "By their (rich) fruits shall ye know them", declared the Lord and Master of a higher proportion of Americans than any other nation. Riches for the richest nation on earth is contrary to the teaching and practice of their Lord and Master, who had no permanent home but was an itinerant preacher. Riches that have come from an abundance of its own natural resources, certainly but also by decades of running the world's structures and systems for its own material and military advantage.

It is richly ironic that for the nation that is fullest with the Lord's disciples should be the most powerful economically and militarily. This is completely contrary to the life and teaching of the Man for Others, the Servant of all and who came into Jerusalem for the last time not on a war horse but, non-violently, on a donkey.

America's true God is not the God, Jesus, of the Sermon on the Mount and who told the disciple Peter to put away his sword. It is, in fact, the wealth and vast military power that enables it to show that might is right on the world stage by keeping the weak and powerless, like Jesus, well under its dictatorial thumb.

The Anglo/American/Israeli hegemony is well and truly in charge. Indeed, Israel is the regional super-power and is funded by the devout US. Yet, the Jew who was the founder of America's Christian faith rejected the Devil's offer to give him all the kingdoms of the world if only he were to bow down to him. The most devout nation on earth, with its closest allies - the UK and Israel - has warmly embraced that offer! It has fallen at the feet of the devil. It is a fallen nation. Its crimes of aggression that come out of its empire, its imperialistic nature, its colonial ways, invite a similar response from the victims of its false God of money and power. For America's victims, revenge is so, so sweet.

A Tale of Two Hotels

2008-05-07T20:44:00.012+01:00

The first was one of the few buildings in Kylesku, in Sutherland in the remote NW of Scotland. Its stunning location - overlooking a sea loch, old ferry slipway and jetty - made it unforgettable and even the steady rain detracted nothing from its beauty. A fishing vessel was unloading its cargo just metres from the bar window where I was sitting.
Never before have I seen such a presentation of a £15 main course of fish - all dangling from a spike that was sitting on a plate of delicious delicacies, like a chandelier. Its name begins with 'l' and it was a new name for me, I remember or rather fail to remember! But, I do remember that it wasn't my meal!
The village is bypassed by an impressive, soaring, curving road bridge that was opened in 1984. Photos of the five different ferries, previously used over the decades, are posted above the bar in this old coaching inn.

Inchnadamph Hotel, in Assynt, is almost on the same fold of the Landranger map as the Kylesku Hotel but, is 8 miles south. Its claim to fame is the photos and text about the Scottish geologists who discovered the 'all back to front' rocks of the area - much older rocks on top of newer and featured in the nearby crags. A second claim to fame, for me, was a quite delightful, 20 year old looking hotel assistant who, on a quiet Wednesday evening, sat on the other side of the blazing log fire from me. Her complexion was so perfect that it was her pure skin that I noticed first! She was happy enough to chat for a time, even about the politics of the 1960s after she mentioned that the book on the floor by my chair was hers. It was a biography of the newspaper tycoon, Cecil King, who owned the Daily Mirror at that time. I lived up to my stereotype and talked about green politics - and, the charming, affable, humorous Alex Salmond who I like. She came from Sedgefield in the County of Durham. I never did ask her name.

Scotland's N coast in storm, snow and white water!

2008-04-20T20:22:00.005+01:00

I woke up - in the car at Ceannabeinne Bay, near Durness - to gale force N winds on Sat 5 April 2008. There were a few snow showers and impressive seas - the like of which I had never seen before! Numerous rock pillars, stacks and headlands whipped the angry sea into even greater fury. Waves, already white topped would smash into them and explode upwards in a fury of white water. One great cleft in a sea cliff gave an initial explosion of wave disintegrating into a white mass like a fire burst. A second later, the same wave, had funneled into another shock of white water much higher up the cleft! This second water burst had spray coming off the top, like smoke and disappeared far over the grassy headland.

In the morning, I had views as if I was in a plane from Beinn Ceannabeinne (383m) and, in the afternoon, views as if I was at sea as I got up close to the heaving sea. I paddled through it round a small headland just getting round as the tide was flooding in. A few minutes later I had a good view of an otter that I surprised. Sometimes, the sea was blue and white; at other times green and grey but always dominated by perfect white surf, spray and foam.

Walking across the virgin white sands in the shadow of towering rock pinnacles, I had the whole place to myself. As I waded through the water, round the headland towards land, I could have been Robinson Crusoe shipwrecked on what I pretended was this sandy, idyllic desert island - apart from the very cold temperature and snow on the distant hills!

Later, I had views from the cliff top towards Cape Wrath. Far away, I saw what looked like a mini nuclear explosion as a particularly heavy sea would smash into a rocky islet. It completely disappeared in a cloud of white water and spray that reminded me of the mushroom cloud from an H bomb explosion.

Pure, unadulterated genius!

2008-03-21T12:55:00.010Z

My compliment to the person who chose such a simply brave but meaningful and short title for a major Roman Catholic conference in Manchester. "LIVESIMPLY!" was the title to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the papal encyclical 'Populorum Progressio' (On the Development of Peoples).

The challenge to livesimply "is this generation's response to the document and the values it embodied", according to the event booklet. That 1967 document commands: - sharing the earth's resources with all; there is more to progress than economic growth; free trade can only work well between two equal partners; justice and the removal of the over-rich and the over-poor must be the basis of peace with justice; a duty to be of service to all, especially generations to come; dialogue between the wealthy and those in need; and, education to feed the mind.

This conference summarised the document for today as live simply, live sustainably and live in solidarity with the poor. For me, living simply is the perfect summary for living sustainably and, for standing alongside the poor. To live simply, you have to live sustainability and in solidarity with the poor. 'Sustainable' is now hopelessly overused with the word, but not the deed, being incorporated into so much. We now have sustainable development instead of economic development. It has long been hijacked by the concrete, brick and tarmac brigade of expansion come what may. Yet, this kind of sustainability is no way like the Green Party's unique 'Manifesto for a Sustainable Society' that is a blueprint for making human life - and all life - last indefinitely on earth.

It was the best conference I have ever been to with the most outstanding speakers, first rate drama and children signing reflections. Throughout, excellent organisation and timekeeping, too. However, where were the clergy? Few were in evidence in this 600 strong gathering of only the laity! Cardinal Cormac Murphy O'Connor really should have been there. The Rt Rev Vincent Nichols was.

Livesimply means simply smaller - smaller families, smaller cars, smaller homes. However, the Catholic emphasis on the sanctity of life and the outlawing of even abortion brought within the law, and contraception, does make me think that that sanctity is jeopardising all life on earth as we relentlessly press on with more wanted babies and more unwanted babies. And the babies of us lot - the over-rich - are living ever longer to have an increasing impact on climate change, peak oil and resource depletion, with their attendant famines, floods and droughts. Our babies are more of a problem than the teeming billions in the poor South. Yet, it is their population growth that worries us; not our own smaller growth in the UK that has a much bigger impact on deteriorating life support systems! Hypocritical? I think so.

Fossil fuels: take today; gone tomorrow!

2008-02-23T12:09:00.008Z

No one has a clue when oil will plateau and peak or, be too expensive to pump up and refine. For me - and all deep greens - it is obvious that our species is living dangerously and foolishly in expanding its numbers and activities (to 50% more people by the second half of the century!) when we are so utterly dependant on oil and gas. Totally dependant on fossil fuels that are finite and screw up the planet's climates for the worst when they are burnt, as decades of scientific research from around the world has proved and, without exception!

The complacency of Peter Odell, Austin Williams and of all non-greens, is utter folly, utter stupidity with their insistence on ever rising growth in numbers and in our material standard of living when the planet cannot expand in line with our ever greedy and unsustainable demands upon it! 'Live ever more richly to hasten the exhaustion of those finite riches', is their foolish cry! They are so welded to their motors, wedded to growth and their ephemeral riches that they think money and oil grow on trees!

When our wealth is dependant on irreplaceable resources, our supposed wealth creation is, in fact, poverty creation! Take today; gone tomorrow - simple but, unacknowledged by our sincere but misguided growth obsessed non-greens!

'The Forsaken Promise'

2008-02-19T22:35:00.002Z

Dear friend

I have just read the blurb on my wife's DVD, 'The Forsaken Promise'. I was astonished that you are still living in the 1920s or 1930s or 1940s! Have you not heard that the promise was fulfilled in 1948 when three Israeli terrorist gangs forced the hand of the UK government to give you the land of Palestine as the home for the Jews? Have you not got the wrong end of the stick, here?

The scandal you should be highlighting is this. Such was our government's partiality and incompetence that they gave land to the Jews but made no provision for the Palestinians! This has led to sixty years of refugee camps, expulsions of Palestinians and, daily humiliation and injustices for Palestinians at the hands of our good friends and allies, the Israelis! And, a never ending war of attrition and killings; and, our very own Western, Judaeo-Christian outpost in the heart of the Arab Middle East! Talk about provocation! Even worse, our very well military funded and supported Israelis are the regional super-power, too to keep the Arabs in order and, some Arab nations on side.

In addition, to rub the Arabs noses well and truly in the dirt, our Judaeo-Christian lands of the free and the brave interfere, invade and occupy land that the Arabs see as holy, Muslim lands. To have the infidel in so many lands of the Middle East, for them is, truly a red rag to a bull! Yet, we don't care a toss, do we? We know best and these Arab nations had better accept our Judaeo-Christian democracy and McDonald's - from Afghanistan in the east to Lebanon in the west; from Syria in the north to Egypt in the south!

In addition, the evangelicals see our control, our hegemony in the Middle East as a wonderful opportunity to spread the Gospel of salvation to the misguided adherents of the false religion of Islam! No wonder we are all so hated that they want to kill the lot of us - white faced, democratic, Jewish/Christian people. I am ashamed of my Anglo-American-Israeli axis of so well-meaning but deluded and aggressive people!

With every good wish for a less violent and just and sustainable planet of non-interfering nations.

Marking 60 years over six days!

2008-02-17T21:49:00.010Z

It was brilliant to have my friends from the Stourbridge Green Network at my home in Halesowen for one of our meetings on the eve of my birthday. We ate and drunk well and had a discussion on the extent to which science should be the final arbiter. Our guest for the night was an academic who soon got stuck into the cakes; next, required a cheese sandwich and who left the hot tap in the bathroom running full on - twice! And, this, at a super-energy conscious, green meeting, too!

Day two was a fabulous meal at Halesowen College at their training restaurant. It was more tipsy than either of us was expecting because it was a Robbie Burns night celebration rather than mine! We were served with an alcoholic punch on arrival; we ordered a glass of wine each, only to find that a second glass was thrown in for free; the haggis had to be toasted with a glass of whisky and, finally, more alcohol in the liquer with the coffee! A genuine looking Scotsman serenaded us, twice with a bagpipe full of Scottish tunes over the course of the evening. Just as well we had walked from home!

Day three demanded a bus ride with Deryn's magnificent birthday cake for the team at work. Such was my consumption of food and alcohol, I needed no breakfast and I certainly wasn't going to take the car! On the bus I was still under the influence and, to such an extent, that to avoid being sick on the bus, I had to get out a mile early and walk the rest of the way! What a wimp I am!

Day four, Friday marked the journey, after work to Esgair Wen, a beautiful white Welsh cottage in the back of beyond in the great expanse of rarely visited hills between Devil's Bridge and Rhayader. Becky gave us a lovely meal in Aberystwyth where we also met Jon, who had come from Manchester by train.

Day five was a wonderful 8 hour walk with Becky, Tim and Jon whose presence made, for me, easily the best present from these three youngsters. They loyally followed me up hill and down - and just about kept up! We explored the hills, the wind farm, the forest and the streams and rivers at the back of Esgair Wen; and even jogged along one green track that was downhill on our way to the stunning deep gorge of the Afon Rheidol at Parson's Bridge. The last 1.75 hrs and six miles from Devil's Bridge was a character building road walk back to the cottage when we found we couldn't get a signal to summon up a car to come and get us! However, it was under the stars - and some clouds.

Linda's fabulous meal was one of my favourites - shepherd's pie - and a once in a blue moon discussion on population, resources and the future of humanity. Phrases used were, 'Necessity is the mother of invention' (when the oil tap runs dry); the young are hypocrites in knowing the facts but behaving like everyone else; and, only the good Lord can sort this one out (my paraphrases!) I was in a minority of precisely one. Let's all hope I am wrong! Will Hay in 'Oh Mr Porter' rounded off the evening that was not as funny as when I first saw it - and, now I have a box of the films!

Day six photos are on the blog of our sedate walk through Coed Hafod and the final narrow footbridges of the two days; footbridges over roaring rivers and ravines. I counted five notable footbridges yesterday and two more were in this wood. Linda and I had a quick meal at 'The Clive', north of Ludlow, on the way back.

Esgair Wen sleeps seven and is of a very high standard. Strongly recommended. All electric and warm and comfortable.

HOPE 08 or an eco-HOPE 08?

2008-02-15T22:32:00.004Z

I've mentioned to my Linda my concern that as only one church leader - our own at Hasbury Christian Fellowship - saw 'An Inconvenient Truth', was there any scope for this threat to our way of life to be included in this year's programme of or, part of an event in, HOPE 08? It was ironic that the meeting planning HOPE 08 clashed with the showing of the film!

At the heart of Christian teaching is the belief that we have to face up to our inconvenient and uncomfortable realities and sins. Then, and only then can there be repentance, the solution in Christ be presented and hope for the future be an abiding reality.

'An Inconvenient Truth' does present, starkly and frighteningly the overwhelming scientific evidence over these last thirty years of totally unvarying, verifiable and, conclusive evidence from 2,500 climate scientists from over 130 countries. If we all - Christian believers and the rest - can't face up to uncomfortable home truths, there really is no hope for us. Yet, the film goes beyond this and does present the hopeful ways forward that can slow climate change and mitigate its worst effects.

Any chance of the film, or scenes from it, being included in the HOPE 08 programme or, be part of an evening in that programme? Or, if not this particular film, then the DVD from Christian Ecology Link, that is part of its Operation Noah campaign?

We each, individually - and regardless of what everyone else does or does not do - should behave not just ethically but also ecologically, I think, shouldn't we? Salvation and stewardship are core realities in Christian teaching. In other words, it means behaving as though we are saved from sin (ethically) and behaving as stewards of the earth (ecologically); a planet that we have to pass on when we die, still fit to support life. This is not happening at the moment from all the reports I hear when listening to Radio 4 News and the BBC current affairs programmes!

After thirty years of knowing and doing nothing, we are still in denial and still drifting in the good ship 'Oikumene' rudderless and clueless and bereft of Captain Jesus to lead and to guide!

Angelic Brits with our democracy, our success, our peaceful ways!

2008-02-12T22:32:00.004Z

"90 years after some women in Britain gained the vote - why are there still so few women in Parliament? Westminster lags behind Rwanda, Pakistan and even Afghanistan on that - so what can be done to give women a bigger say in the mother of Parliaments? Debating the issue are the Conservative MP Theresa May and the veteran Labour MP, Gwyneth Dunwoody."

(from the Radio 4 website trailing 'The World this Weekend' on Sunday 10 Feb '08)

And, we reckon that these nations have got a hell of a lot to learn from us, in the West! And, we still cheekily refer to our Parliament as the mother of Parliaments! And, we reckon we are a cut above the rest! And, we behave as though our civilisation, our Christianity and our culture needs exporting to the benighted nations of the world who don't know how to do things properly, like our American/W European nations do!

Afghanistan is definitely a failed nation, we think; while our nation is a successful nation, of course! Invasion, occupation and war must put this failed nation right. Why don't they appreciate us and thank us? We can't help a few men, women and children getting killed by our brave boys in the process. Funny, how we are always on the side of the angels and the others, like the ungrateful Muslim extremist who are fighting the hated occupiers of their countries - us - are on the side of the devils!

I see all this as plain, white, supremacy. Arrogance and intolerance, too. But, then, some see tolerating evil - like the nations in our self-chosen axis of evil - as evil!

Angelic Brits with our democracy, our success, our peaceful ways. The other side is oh, so uncivilised, so full of terrorists and extremists!

Rowan Williams supports Muslims - good on him!

2008-02-12T22:28:00.001Z

I am delighted with Rowan Williams so courageously supporting Islam in one area. Since 10/7 - the 7 October 2001 - that began the War of Terrorism led by the two Christian leaders of the Free World, Islam has had it in the neck from the Christian West. Christian believers have NOT been noted for their conscientious stand in facing courts martial rather than obeying their leaders calls to go out and fight Muslims to bring Western democracy to the less than 'successful' Middle Eastern Muslim nations!

Dr Williams has always opposed the War of Terrorism and that is in line, I think with the teaching of Christ, if not the teaching and practice of the Lord God in the Old Testament.

"I have to confess I am terribly upset by the frenzied treatment that is currently being dished out to the Archbishop of Canterbury, mostly by people who haven't taken the trouble to understand what he is trying to say. There is something rather sinister about a culture that judges before it seeks to understand." Rev Dr Giles Fraser, St Mary's, Putney, London. Sermon on 10 February 2008.

Necessity is the mother of invention

2008-02-04T20:50:00.000Z

One member of the group at my 60th birthday weekend (photos opposite), came up with this saying to explain that we have nothing to worry about over our limited reserves of fossil fuels. Science and technology will come to our rescue as oil, gas and coal finally become too expensive to be worth exploiting. There will be hydrogen and nuclear to save us. But, hydrogen has to be made and that uses energy. Nuclear fission uses finite resources, too so cannot be the ultimate solution - unless, after all these decades of trying, nuclear fusion is perfected.

It seems that oil is more important as a chemical building block for our five hundred everyday objects around the home and office and in town and country. It is needed for even carpets! I don't think we should be burning, very wastefully, the oil - or gas, for that matter - to turn into electricity. For every $100 barrel of oil that is turned into electricity, two barrels go up the chimney of the power station! Even oil man and Texan, George W Bush admits that Western societies are addicted to oil but does nothing to even slow the rising and prodigious burning of the stuff. The President might well have said, "We need oil to survive as a nation, just like fish need water for their survival."

Our one off, never to be repeated, geological inheritance that took 300 million years to form is being foolishly blown in the Western and Christian and white man's thoughtless dash to blow the lot in just 300 years! What is the matter with the white races with their many centuries of the Judeo-Christian traditions and beliefs at their heart that see them as the peak of creation with the right to exploit this inheritance? This bonanza has gone to our heads and we've been unable to cope with this cornucopia of riches. These nations, alone, are responsible. Now, many other countries are wanting to do the same to even more quickly exhaust the remaining reserves!

The double whammy is that as we all burn the oil and gas and burn down the tropical rain forests, we also screw up, good and proper the climates of the world - to nicely further worsen our long term prospects! And, then, there are going to be 50% more of us on this tiny planet to do yet more of this stupid burning and consuming. The lot of us are the horror species not the human species on this earth, I think!

And, to think that the discovery of first coal (in about 1750) and then oil, followed by gas is an invention! Not even we humans in our arrogance and supreme intelligence can invent something so versatile, invaluable and precious as oil, gas and coal. How can we humans invent more oil when it took Nature 300 million years? Yet, on that evening, I alone was appalled by the complacency that was shown in using that saying to lull everyone into a false sense of security over our prodigality and greed in running through the black gold in the twinkling of an eye - relative to the geological time scale.

Our misguided faith in science and technology to bale us out of our folly and our reliance on the 'solution' of economic expansion from a diminishing capital resource base is like the 'Any Questions' questioner who said, "Our behaviour is like the smoker who keeps smoking confident in the knowledge there will be a cure for cancer - to allow him to keep smoking!"

Cyclists help to keep the monster behind the wheel!

2008-01-13T13:56:00.000Z

I don't always stop at red lights when on the bike. Years ago I used to get off and push the bike across, as a pedestrian, when it was safe. In more recent years, I feel it is safer and quicker to go across on red without walking with the bike. I also feel it is my reward and my prerogative for sacrificially and nobly leaving the car at home and for taking the bike to free up the road network for motorists who don't have my thoughtfulness, consideration and altruism!

In conversation with friends, colleagues and relatives, I do try and encourage these committed car addicts to, at least, let the cyclists go first, to be especially careful at roundabouts and to keep to this hierarchy:

Motorists give way to cyclist and walkers.
Cyclist must give way to walkers.
Cyclists should be treated more as walkers than motorists. Two use human power and reduce NHS costs; one is taking our dwindling oil reserves and contributing to ever higher oil prices and rising global temperatures. What the carbon polluters take today, none of us will have tomorrow.

Motorists are a major part of the problem; cyclists are a major part of the solution. Cyclists are the true patriots who are preserving the nation's wealth, slowing the liquidising of our assets, and slowing the devastating effects of human induced, climate change. We are the true friend of the motorists. Motorists should be saluting us in grateful acknowledgement of our noble efforts, on their behalf, to keep that little more oil in the ground to enable them to keep driving that little bit longer!

I will forgo the salute if they only give me a wide berth and, like me, try to cut their car use before they are forced to do so by circumstances - later this century, I would think.

Eco-home of curves and tower, cedar and sedum - and indoor well!

2007-11-18T17:58:00.000Z

Stourbridge Green Network visit to Prickley Top. Very cold and wet Sunday with 8 others. Remarkable tower with fabulous spiral staircase that I have long coveted for my own 'eco-castle'. Actually, Oliver and Sue's is the castle and my abode is the gate house! Grand design of spacious high lounge ceiling taking a 14 feet high panoramic window, overlooked by the master bedroom as part of the balcony. A wood burning stove gives focus in the lounge. Film studio coloured lights must give a warm and delightful effect at night. The lounge and dining hall ceiling slopes down to the kitchen down wooden steps. The kitchen has fetching pink floor, fridge and kitchen table with red seating. The dining hall has stainless steel table on wheels and six transparent plastic seats that are in perfect keeping with the modern design of the whole.

Underfloor Calor gas heating; two solar water heating panels and a sedum (not a grass) roof! The building is encased in cedar that, after two years, has mellowed to the intended grey appearance. The cedar is non maintenance. The spiral staircase comes out to the very private balcony and sun trap.

A further bedroom with en suite is in the main body of the house with two or three further cosy rooms. The office is at the opposite end of the house from the spacious lounge and dining hall. The design of curves in two planes for the lounge and dining hall shows the house up to its very best advantage from the commanding SW aspect. The great lounge window overlooks the beautiful and rolling Worcestershire countryside of orchard, hill and woodland.

With a building like this, compromise is unavoidable. Thus, the solar panels could not be ideally placed to avoid some shadow from the sun at the beginning and end of the day; and, the freezer and condensing boiler are not heating living space.

Yet, easily a home fit for the TV programme, 'Grand Designs' but, Sue and Oliver declined to pursue an initial show of interest by the programme makers.

British Legion respond to poppycock!

2007-11-13T20:49:00.000Z

Dear Frances

It seems as though you are growing your business on the US/UK's
longstanding predilection for warfare around the globe. Should you not be
a little more ethical and outspoken about our love for bringing freedom and
democracy down the barrel of a gun and, condemn rather than condone our
crimes of aggression?

All your servicemen have been injured or died on foreign battlefields and
certainly not defending our own homeland, since 1945.

Could you not start talking a little about the innocent blood we are
responsible for?

Tim

From: fhoy@britishlegion.org.uk on 03/11/2006 14:02:32

Afternoon Tim,

Thanks for your message. You absolutely have a right to your opinions, and
it seems you have strong opinions around the idea of what the poppy
represents to you. Thanks again for sending this through.

Frances Hoy, Head of PR and Campaigns
Corporate Communications Department
The Royal British Legion
48 Pall Mall, London SW1Y 5JY
Tel: 020 7973 7385 Mob: 07990 774 390

-----Original Message-----
From: Tim Weller [mailto:Tim_Weller@birmingham.gov.uk]
Sent: Friday, November 03, 2006 1:49 PM
To: Frances Hoy
Subject: Is this poppycock?

In my lunch hour:

Summary: The red poppy should remember the much innocent blood shed around
the world by our fallen heroes. And, a most unequal volume of blood it is
too!

But, we overlook that on Remembrance Sunday, because we don't like to be
reminded of all our invasions and bombings of other countries since the
2WW.

For me, the red poppy is a symbol of military might is right, where we are
remembering only our war dead of the 20th century and this. Even worse,
remembering our fallen heroes when, in actual fact, in the 2WW and in
everyone of our wars since, our dead soldiers, airman and sailors had
killed many times more of the other side, including women and children than
those who got killed amongst our armed forces and civilians!

The red poppy should be remembering all our war crimes of aggression and
the shocking bloodshed we have inflicted in fighting for our vital
strategic interests around the world - but it does not!

Palestine/Israel War of the 1940s
Korea and other Far Eastern wars in the 40s and 50s Suez War in 1956 that
killed many times more Egyptians than our dead soldiers Vietnam War (and
attacks on Cambodia and Laos) from 1959 to 1975 - 3 to 4 millions
slaughtered by our side and our WMD according to Encarta. UK continued
arms trading with America during the Vietnam War; we supported our foremost
ally and failed to express any disapproval for the genocide of the
Vietnamese by our side, apart from refusing to send troops to join in the
killing - only because we were fully engaged elsewhere in SE Asia fighting
evil, godless Communism. Actually, of course, killing innocent men, women
and children that we labelled as Communists.

Falklands War in 1982 of mainly Argentineans dead, especially the Belgrano
sailors from our war crime then. Lord Carrington (Foreign Secretary at the
time) said in 2006 on BBC Radio 4: " It was a very chancy business to get
them (the islands) back and now one doesn't realise how chancy it was.
The Chiefs of Staff said that they thought it would be almost impossible to
do."

Gulf War in 1991after we had armed Saddam Hussein for two decades, that
included supplying him with WMD! The highway of death, that was our doing,
showed no mercy on a defeated army of retreating Iraqi conscripts.

War of Terrorism (that includes Israel's attack on Lebanon in July/August
2006) that started on 7 October 2001 has slaughtered hundreds of thousands
of Palestinians, Lebanese, Afghans and Iraqis - and, 3,000 USA, UK and
Israeli soldiers and airmen.

Poppycock?
Is the blood of the poppy only the blood of our fallen heroes or, also, the
vastly greater numbers of fallen victims they were responsible for around the world?
Were these men, women and children of foreign lands, with a different
colour skin from us, asked if they wished to perish to leave their land
enjoying the blessing of western democracy, western values and true
civilisation?

Unusual mix of nuclear and nature in her wildness

2007-11-11T16:42:00.000Z

Walk with Colin and Ian from CemlynBay, Anglesey. From Bryn Aber Ho to tiny church of St Rhwydrus and we turned back at Hen Borth beach. Very windy; near high tide when we arrived and plenty of white water on the 'flat' rocks. Views of Wylfa Nuclear Power Sta, lagoon, shingle ridge between sea and lagoon, very high brick wall built as a bird refuge round Bryn Aber Ho and massives of sea spray driven inland by the powerful wind with flecks of dirty foam like snow blowing around and on the ground!

Inertia, apathy, in denial ...

2007-10-27T22:41:00.000+01:00

... and carry on regardless with your fingers crossed!

"Humankind is having a negative impact on almost every aspect of the earth's environment and is heading towards catastrophe unless urgent action is taken. The Global Environment Outlook has been compiled by hundreds of scientists from around the world. It concludes we are living way beyond our environmental means and if this continues the survival of humankind could be in doubt." Radio 4, 6pm News, 25 October 2007

Has anyone done anything like my quality of life improvements, below to acknowledge the above realities?

Driving a smaller car than you could afford or, limiting yourself to one car per couple or family or, making the motor last longer by repair rather than replacing.
Reducing your hypermobility when it comes to both work and holidays. My holidays are in a 12 year old car that doubles up as my superb hotel on wheels. When it's my five star hotel it is zero fossil fuel use 'cos the central heating comes from my layers of clothing and down filled sleeping bag!
For work, when I thought for so long that, as an essential car user, I could not possibly do without the motor, I have proved that my HPV (human powered vehicle) is just as good, with little or no loss of productivity - and 20p/mile danger money, on official council council business, from all you cycle blind drivers!
Banning the tumble drier and using the fresh air or the warmth of the house.
Giving up the dish washer for manual washing up - that I have now returned to!
Walking or cycling short distances instead of jumping in the carbon polluter.
Only boiling the water needed at any one time.
Reducing the time when the shower is burning up the energy and the planet's wealth.
Spending less - especially at Christmas!
Forgoing electric heating, for gas; forget the plane and use the train.
Condoms to cut your family size and to cut catastrophic climate change, instead of blaming immigration! 3m growth in UK population with zero migration or, 10m growth with immigration over 25 years, said the statisticians this week. Source: Evan Davis on 'Today', 26 Oct 2007
Back all that up by refusing to vote for the political parties that still peddle their live it up now and pay later economics; and, that so love engaging in war fighting on foreign (was Communist but is now Muslim) soil.

Here, we have eleven 'do something' actions; and, one occasional vote (or abstention) to change the politicians and to be part of the solution. Best not to wait for the politicians to act but, to be your own politician and to act yourself!

From alpha to omega for the meaning of life!

Live more simply so that future generations - and poorer nations - can simply live!

Live so that others may live (all religious faiths and political parties could try non-violence as an alternative to their present aggression).

Try leaving the planet in as good a heart as when you were born into it.

Retrench your lifestyle to postpone ecocide!

Economic and population growth means ecological disaster is, in effect, what the UN report, at the top, has stated this week.

We are the problem, not the solution!

2007-09-30T22:16:00.001+01:00

THE ORIGINS OF THE FIRST WORLD WAR - the war that started a century of wars by the West

We were talking about the origins of the World War in two halves at Llanrug. Here is a fuller explanation from the history according to me!

The 20th century was the most violent, destructive and horrific in the history of humanity, it seems to me. But we can't blame the Muslims, the Hindus, the Buddhists or the blacks. It has to be us - the Christians and the whites, in my opinion!

It was British imperialist attitudes that led to us joining the other nations of W Europe in 1914.

There was and still is a culture of warfare, after centuries of attacks and invasions by us on our neighbours in Europe and around the world. There were seven wars with France, alone, in 290 years! The 1914-18 war was simply the greatest, the best, the most violent by that time.

A great world power like ourselves can do nothing but go to war to prove its might to all and sundry.

The Great War was about protecting and extending our Empire from more recent upstarts like Germany.

We Brits love our war fighting or hard power (Tony Blair's phrases). We were tripping over each other to get on out there, thinking it would all be over by Christmas, 1914.

That war and its aftermath led, inevitably to dealing with the unfinished business of 1918/19 that brought such injustice that one of our own European men, Hitler came to dominate Germany and, who clearly, had to be dealt with. But we can't blame the foreigner, or even the blacks or the Arabs for Hitler! Hitler was a manifestation of our own violent past - and present.

Then, the second half of the century saw yet more killings by the mighty victors in 1945 - killings of the inhabitants of SE Asia, directly and of the people of the Middle East with our Western manufactured weapons (and the Russians)! Apparently, the USA has bombed nineteen countries since our '45 victory. Our friend and our ally in the Middle East is Israel whom we arm to the teeth to represent our interests against the Arab nations. With her, we are responsible for the wholesale collateral damage in Lebanon, Palestine, Afghanistan, Iraq and the rich nations induced climate change that brings famine and flood, drought and fire.

I think we slid into the war to end all wars¹ for all the reasons previously mentioned plus, it was due to our re-armament to keep up with German re-armament. There was also a mistaken belief, it seems, that we were obliged to keep to our alliance - one is attacked and the others in the alliance come to that nation's help. In fact, according to my brother in law, Tony Verduyn – the barrister and historian - we could have broken away from the alliance, not declare war and could have been neutral. On the other hand, it seems to me, our ships could have been attacked, anyway until we were forced to retaliate and declare war against the country sinking our shipping. This was how the US was brought into both world wars - in 1917 and 1941or 42, I think were the dates.

It was the mindset of the time (1914) that failed to put the brakes on the slide towards war, once more in W Europe. There was, in no way a sufficient abhorrence of war fighting amongst countries like ourselves. We all too readily took to violence, as in past centuries. This was the mindset in 1914, when war was second nature to both politicians and people - as it still seems to be today if and when it's going to be miles from our shores!

Some weeks went past after the shooting in Sarajevo before the nations started the warfare. Hence, the slide, the drift, the inevitability of it all, with none of the UK politicians of 1914 realising the horrific consequences of their far too relaxed stance towards launching yet another war! 100 years on, we are still seeing the consequences of how victors in war fighting, like ourselves, have their aggression reinforced to the detriment of countries who are chosen to be our enemies.

NOTES:

¹ Our so sincere and well intentioned phrase, of course, but in reality, more self-delusion and hypocrisy!

The fool has said in his heart ...

2007-09-07T20:20:00.000+01:00

... there is no over-consumption, no over-population and no runaway greenhouse effect! There is widespread complacency, scepticism, even denial over all three!

The scientific evidence can't possibly be right! We've lived like this for 250 years burning up our finite fossil fuels and, in the process, our quality of life and our length of life have both improved. We have flourished, thanks to fossil fuel exploitation!
2,500 scientists from 130 countries on the United Nations Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change are plain wrong! I know best, so there!
They can't possibly be right when their reports over the years have consistently maintained their conclusion that the major warming is due to human consumption and, hence, emissions of 200 greenhouse gases.
It stands to reason, its obvious, that natural variations over the years in the world's climates and much solar activity are to blame for ice shelves disintegrating, glaciers retreating, and the many extreme weather events and disturbed weather patterns.
What I think is right, so there! The scientists have got it wrong! I know best!

In fact, it is highly unlikely that, in the history of the earth, has it ever before seen such an enormous increase in greenhouse gases over such a very short time, relative to the geological time scale. It seems reasonable, therefore to assume that this will have a negative effect on life support systems. We sow the wind and reap the whirlwind. Over habitation makes the planet uninhabitable.

We all live in the rich West so unsustainably; the more extravagantly you live, the more you are taking an unfair share of the earth's resources. Hence, we are all fools - and worse; we are stealing from the rest of the planet's population and our own descendants! Fools and thieves, no less!

Israeli Propaganda!

2007-09-07T20:14:00.000+01:00

I don't like this misleading e-mail one little bit. Please do not pass it on!

It was the white, Christian, western Europeans who were responsible for the Jewish holocaust, not the Arab/Muslims. We killed tens, certainly, thousands of Arab/Muslims in the 1991 Gulf War and, again in this latest War of Terrorism since the 7 October 2001 that now amounts to hundreds of thousands of deaths from our (US/UK) unethical and illegal foreign policy.

We used Saddam Hussein as our surrogate to attack Iran from 1980 to 1988 when our Russian and Western weapons slaughtered one million young men in the Iran/Iraq War. Unlike ourselves, the West, Iran has not attacked another country for over 200 years. Yet, here we are having them as our latest enemy that we are planning to attack 'cos we assume that they are building (or just wanting) to build nuclear weapons! No evidence, mind you; just assumptions!

The e-mail is factually wrong. Russia was our ally throughout the 2nd WW. It was not just the "German and Russia (sic) peoples looking the other way!" The former BBC correspondent, Charles Wheeler has shown how Churchill and the War Cabinet were also anti-Semitic and looked the other way. They knew about the industrial killing of the Jews and others in Germany but, very nearly, did absolutely nothing to help. They were not even prepared to bomb the rail lines taking the victims to the concentration camps. We Brits invented the concentration camps, too! This was during the Boer War when over 20,000 women and children died in the appalling conditions that we allowed in those camps.

The Jews in Israel are the most heavily armed and protected nation in the Middle East and the only nation with WMD in the Middle East. Israel is our Western outpost in the Arab/Muslim Middle East. The US gives them $1.5bn of weaponry every year! It is absurd to think that the Jews there are ever going to be wiped off the face of the earth by Muslims. We are wiping the Muslims in Iraq and Afghanistan and in Palestine and Lebanon off the map! This Jewish propaganda is all cock-eyed.

The Islamic extremists are simply defending their homelands from the United States of Aggression with its best buddy, the UK. We are the occupying force that the extremists/insurgents want shot of - and quite understandably so!

"The conquest of the world and the destruction of anyone who doesn't believe the way they do." For many centuries, the W European powers have been conquering the world and destroying the cultures and religions of the lands they discovered and claimed for their God and King, as well as killing the native populations. The white, Western nations have been supreme on this planet for many centuries. We still hold the upper hand and will never willingly relinquish it, will we? It is plain stupid/mischievous to put it about, as this e-mail does, that we would ever let the Arabs/Muslims conquer Israel or to drive her into the sea, let alone conquer the rest of the world! The rich, Western, white nations are the conquerors of the world and will remain so for as long as we can hang onto our power and wealth.

I think it is more the Chinese than the Arabs that the neo-Cons in the White House are fearful of. The Chinese, they think, might knock them off their powerful, pedagogic pedestal one day! The Muslims/Arabs are under the thumb of imperialistic America and its friends and the Muslim extremists can be imprisoned and tortured and killed, at will, by our forces.

I do commend the writings of blogger, climateextremist.blogspot.com, for sane, common sense on how we can all, as members of the one human family, get on better with each other. Read, 'Harnessing the Power of Belief ', dated October 2006.

Slow Learners - wrong to invade; slow to withdraw!

2007-09-03T12:32:00.000+01:00

Our presence, I feel, in Iraq and Afghanistan is an irrelevance at best and a provocation at worst.
There is not nearly enough troops on the ground to stop the violence that, anyway, we initiated on the 19 March 2003. We were the criminal aggressors.
Our soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan continue our very long history of invading and occupying other countries around the world. The sooner we reverse this unethical foreign policy and get out the better, in my opinion.
16 years of killing Vietnamese and her neighbours failed to prevent our defeat, then. So far, 6 years in Afghanistan and 4.5 years in Iraq has failed to reverse our failures and defeats in those countries.
Former BBC war correspondent, Martin Bell on Radio 4's, 'BH' on 2.9.07 said that nothing further can be accomplished in Iraq and we should leave. His exact words, "There is nothing left to do there(in Basra) that can be done ... Blame laying is in order in view of the depth of the catastrophe ... The troops cannot be risked anymore than they are being risked. They are merely an occupation force. They are being shot at. There is nothing left they can do."
LibDem foreign policy is for a timetable to be published for a phased withdrawal from Iraq. What do they say about Afghanistan?
"We could have stayed there for another six months ... and killed a lot of people in the process, but what would that have achieved?" Lt Col Patrick Sanders, Commanding Officer, Basra Palace, quoted in 'The Independent', 5 September 2007

Funky funeral service, plus ...

2007-09-01T21:00:00.000+01:00

... karaoke with the lyrics in the hymn book!

Today, excellent funeral/thanksgiving service for Ray Smith (84) with the sound of the Glenn Miller Big Band accompanying the congregation in and out of the cemetery chapel! 'The King of Love' and 'Immortal Invisible God only wise' sung so lustily, too - at least, by me, to the permanent hearing impairment of the poor woman immediately in front of me! Best sing song I've had for a long time! Best Christian funeral I've been to. The best humanist funeral was in 2003 (Andy Verduyn).

10-10-20 Vision for green eyes!

2007-08-28T16:10:00.000+01:00

I aim for 10/10/20 - no more than 10 units of elecy/day on average over the year for the four of us adults; at least 10 miles/litre for my diesel car (12 year old Astra); and, absolute max of 20C for the rooms we sit in. We all switch the gas heating off at 20C and, then no more fossil fuels until 16C is reached in our well insulated, middle of a block of four, home!

Can anyone else achieve that?

Yet another view of our 20th century history!

2007-08-27T16:58:00.000+01:00

Centuries of violence and war fighting in W Europe led to World War, part one. That led to World War, part two that was unfinished business from the the unjust 1919 settlements. The World War, part two led to 60 years of war fighting by the '45 victors. We had our work cut out ousting left wing governments, presidents (even when elected) and, dictators; Communists we happily killed in genocide proportions for decades; and, now we are flexing our muscles in the Middle East to show the Muslims that the Christian West is in charge of the world and they are not going to get a look in! They accept our way of doing things or else! We decide when their dictators are our friends or our enemies!

We Brits always love our wars away from our shores!

2007-08-27T15:13:00.000+01:00

THE WEST IS WEDDED AND WELDED TO WAR - led by the might is right US/UK!

Tony Blair is so well meaning in his warlike actions. He greatly respected Mgt Thatcher's premiership and she was a great fan of Churchill who authorised the overthrow of democratically elected Mosadeq in Iran in 1953 and supported our attack on Egypt in 1956 over the Suez Canal. This tradition of 60 years of warfare, of using the military on foreign soil, greatly helped our Anglo Catholic Tony to join conservative evangelical George W in launching the war of terrorism on 10/7 after the criminal act on 9/11! Bouncy, chuckly, irrepressible Tutu said 9/11 was a criminal act rather than an act of war. However, our Tony being well intentioned, charming, nice and such a superb speech maker is not good enough, me thinks. But it is for the Labour Party who adore him!

Tony is simply the latest in a long line of British PMs who love warfare or, war fighting as he prefers to call it. Churchill, even after our very necessary victory in 1945; Eden, with Egypt; Wilson in supporting the USA over Vietnam but without sending troops; Thatcher with the Falklands War and that unlikely victory for us Brits; Major with the 1991 war to oust Iraq from Kuwait; Blair with his wars until he came badly undone with his last attack on an independent, sovereign nation in March 2003.

Centuries of warfare amongst the W European nations and taking their wars abroad to win their empires around the world, culminated in the not so grand climax of the World War in two halves. That finally silenced their guns at each other and the EU was born with the Treaty of Rome.

An Alternative View of the 20th Century! Version 1

2007-08-27T13:52:00.000+01:00

Our centuries of violent history in W Europe - we alone had many wars with France, Spain and the Netherlands - culminated in the British concentration camps of the Boer War and deaths of more than 20,000 Boer women and children, alone! If that wasn't enough, we joined in the foolish Great War to end all wars, with our young men rushing to the Front to join in the warring fun. They thought it would all be over by Christmas 1914!

Former Conservative leader, Sir Ian Duncan Smith, has acknowledged that that war led to the 2nd World War. Therefore, I think it is legitimate to say that Hitler was the consequence of centuries of warfare in W Europe. The men of violence and the nations of violence, like our own, were entirely responsible for this monster of our own making, with their predilection for aggression, killing and murder. Therefore, one could further argue, it was only right that they should sort out Hitler, rather than the people of non-violent direct action, like me!

Attack on Egypt over Suez: A disproportionate response by the UK, France and Israel that was such a crime of aggression that it did not even get the approval of the USA! There was deception in the House of Commons and support by Churchill and both main political parties. Many more Egyptians killed than on our side.

Vietnam War: According to Dennis Healey, he dissuaded Harold Wilson from joining the US by saying that we were fully engaged in fighting Communism elsewhere in SE Asia and, therefore, could send no troops. 3-4m men, women and children - and mainly civilians -slaughtered by ourselves in Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos, alone! In shocking contrast, only 58,000 American soldiers and, virtually no American civilians died. Our side used WMD - "tens of million of gallons of agent orange dioxin was sprayed on Vietnam and babies with hideous deformities are still being born", said Christopher Hitchens on 'Start the Week' on 30.5.05.

Cambodian civil war may have been one unintended consequence of our warring in Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos. We certainly did not set the Khmer Rouge a good example!

Diego Garcia: We ejected the Chagos Islanders from Diego Garcia to make way for our best buddy's military air base - fully supported by the voters of our two main political parties that always get by far the bulk of the votes!

War on Iran: We used a surrogate, Iraq to attack our old enemy, Iran. 1m young men on both sides died from our weapons between 1980 and 1988. Saddam Hussein, who was "a bitch but he was our son of a bitch", very kindly did our dirty work for us! Unlike ourselves, Iran has not attacked another country for over 200 years!

Falklands War: A war that Argentina should easily have won had General Galteiri had been more ruthless and competent and determined to keep the islands. His exocets might have been used to sink the troop carrying 'Canberra' before the soldiers disembarked. Our unlawful sinking of the 'Belgrano' led to over 400 sailors drowning and freezing to death. And, then,we rejoiced at our mighty victory and gave thanks to God, in St Paul's Cathedral, for his help!

There is a widespread complacency that our actions are wholly admirable. When they turn out not to be, we were well intentioned, thoroughly sincere and we only wanted, after all, the very best for the other country. "It wasn't my fault, guv!" Blair said, time and again, "I did what I considered to be right for the country and my party"!

We can do what we like around the world because we are democrats; we know best for other cultures, religions and political systems. After all, they could not possibly refuse our democratic ways and our God, even if it must be forced on them down the barrel of a gun! Paddy Ashdown said, "International law is made by the strong and powerful. It is what they can get away with!"

Ups and Downs in Walking Scotland's skyline!

2007-08-25T10:48:00.008+01:00

I started hill walking, regularly in October 1974 when I sent myself off to Birmingham's Outdoor Pursuits Centre, Ogwen Cottage in Snowdonia. It was for the Mountain Leadership Certificate Introductory course, for one week in my half term holiday. I still use my favourite rucsac from that time, that I bought immediately afterwards. It's a rock climbers' sac (Berghaus 272) used by my instructor, whose name I can still remember - Isobel Rennie! Howard Jones was the Principal Instructor.

Later, out on some hill, I met Geoff Wood of Bolton who talked of the thrill of nearing a summit when the immediate skyline finally falls away all around you! He was using the only available list of hills over 2,000 feet at that time, in 1980, by George Bridge, 'The Mountains of England and Wales'. I, too, bought the book. Those hills I completed in 1990 and I returned to Scotland to work through all the Munros and Tops in earnest. In total, they make for well over 900 summits over 2,000 feet in England and Wales and over 3,000 feet in Scotland. I have three left at the time of writing. (Now, all completed as of 8 June 2008, when I am updating this.)

I have done them singly in less than a day, as well as in great groups taking anything from two to four days of glorious times away from it all - both backpacking and bivying out, even on snow. It is a wonderful undertaking for people like me who love walking, the outdoors, wilderness, exploring and, going to places I would never have thought of visiting. For me, it's not a challenge so much as an excuse, an excellent reason, to use up some of that annual leave, to get away from family, home and civilisation - but for only a relatively short time! Visiting all the 3,000 feet summits is a way to plan and organise and to make it easier to decide which hill to climb next. I was doing them from north to south, reckoning that as the years went by, diesel would become more expensive (and, indeed it has, too) and, therefore, it made sense to do the ones furthest away, first.

FINAL SUMMIT 527 IS A VERY CLOSE SHAVE!
or, Knight's Peak - on our way to our very last summit - bowled a boulder down on us and Becky dodged death by a hair's breadth!

I was with my daughter, Becky and her boyfriend, Tim on 2 June 2008, having just soloed Bhasteir Tooth via the Lotta Corrie route. We were in the gully between Sgurr nan Gillean and my final Top, Knight's Peak, on Pinnacle Ridge. Tim was leading and stepped off a huge boulder wedged in the gully. That extra little push off sent the boulder but not Tim, thankfully, hurtling down. It missed me on my left side but Becky, who was bringing up the rear, had to step smartly to the left as the thing went thundering down in a cloud of dust down her right side. It missed her by centimetres. It was like something out of an Indiana Jones adventure film. The one with the boulder hurtling down, or rather chasing, Harrison Ford! (Becky's account went, "Tim tried to kill me ... I leapt dramatically out of the way!") From then on, we were rather more zealous in checking for loose rock before using it for a handhold or foothold - for the whole of the rest of the week!

THE BOTHY WITH THE TENT INSIDE!
In March 1992, I had two nights at the Hutchison Memorial Hut in the Cairngorms. Except, such was the filth of the place I actually put the tent up inside the bothy when I was ready to sleep in it! On the second night, I didn't bother and simply slept in the tent outside the bothy, on its lee side.

MOST INCOMPETENTLY TACKLED HILL

I lost my bearings in the cloud, went off course too far left and started to panic on the descent! My excuse: there are lots more ways to come down than to go up, of course!

HILL THAT HAD THE MOST ATTEMPTS TO ACHIEVE THE SUMMIT CAIRN

Beinn Dearg 1084m (Ullapool) in winter. Now superseded by Basteir Tooth (see earlier blog)! Dearg took a second visit, in April 1995 when there was even more snow. On the third day, the weather cleared and, with an early start, a huge round of hills was achieved. By the late evening of that day, I was so tired, I fell off the bike as I approached a gate!

MOST FEEBLE EXCUSE FOR NOT SLEEPING OUT IN MY OWN DUG SNOW HOLE!

I forgot the small wooden spoon that was vital to eat my evening food and breakfast! That was in March 1995 on Beinn Dearg (Ullapool). I had parked the car at Loch Glascarnoch at over 1,000 feet. I remember wearing my 1970s, Point Five Glenmore Jacket that I still have and, occasionally, still use too! The snow was thick but not falling, although visibility was poor. Rather than pressing upward any higher when navigation was going to get increasingly uncertain, I decided to try out the £50 snow shovel. It worked brilliantly. Light, too, from the aluminium shaft and plastic scoop but my snow hole was nothing as ambitious as the one Griff Rhys Jones helped to carve out in this year's TV series!

DESTRUCTION DONE
A shower booth door in Aviemore was completely smashed when I slipped and fell through it. I also hit a deer driving to the next hill but, no pheasants!

WORST ACCIDENT

I was disappearing down the N face of Ben Nevis when I managed to hang on to the rock from which I had just left. I was following the very bad example of two men from the RAF Staffordshire Mountain Rescue Team. They had taken their crampons off after coming out of a snow gully and were stubbing the front of the their boots into the hard packed snow and pulling up on their ice axes. I tried it once too often and it nearly led to my early demise! It was the year (1985) when Linda was carrying Becky. I suffered broken specs and a badly cut nose when I landed on the adze part of the ice axe.

SCENE MOST LIKE ANTARCTICA

On Easter Monday (17.4.06) on the summit plateau of A' Bhuidheanach (936m), just E of the A9 above the Pass of Drumochter. Strong, very cold W wind brought snow showers and sun. Much soft snow. Two other walkers on skis, emerged out of the spin drift all wrapped up with snow goggles who looked like Scott of the Antarctic! A further summit, 2K further on took me to beautiful wind carved snow cliffs and drifts.

SABOTAGE!

SE of Poolewe in Wester Ross, I took the bike and the road that takes the traveller to two of the most remote Munros that, for me, needed a night out to take them both in. I came across a notice that did clearly forbade bikes. However, walkers and cars were allowed and it was so easy to carry on cycling - so, I did. If estate cars were allowed, there was no good reason for bikes, carrying walkers, should not, too. Or, so I thought! I left the bike locked to a tree above the now deteriorated track. On my return, the next day, I found the front wheel had been taken out of their forks but my cable lock had prevented it from being taken! Was it the act of the local laird, upset at my ignoring his notice?

MOST UNUSUAL, FINAL APPROACH TO THE SUMMIT

One winter, I was confronted with a wind created low snow cliff that barred my way. It was great fun to pull up on my ice axe to get up and over it.

MOST BIZARRE ITEM, UNINTENTIONALLY CARRIED IN MY RUCSAC
This was a pillow that was in my bivy/sleeping bag when I hurriedly rolled it up from sleeping in the car the previous night. A quick, and late, decision to go led to an inadequate lunch. Later, I felt really weak and unwell until I realised I needed more food and finally stopped! Then, that evening, in the dark, at the summit of some 3,000 footer I couldn't get the tent pole through the sleeve. I finally managed it when I put my back to the wind that had been keeping the sleeve so tightly shut the pole could not be pushed through.

NEAREST I CAME TO CALAMITY AT THE END OF A VERY LONG, HARD DAY IN THE HILLS!

I failed to zip up the inner door, that gave rigidity to the pole, of my Phoenix Phreerunner single skin, Goretex tent. Constant flexing in the moderate to strong E wind, on a ridge at 2,000 feet, eventually broke the pole. The wind had already sucked out my bivy bag cover and Karrimat and the sleeping bag was half out from under the outer door when, in the distance, I saw that the tent had collapsed. I charged down the slope and rescued it! The hill was Ben Lui (1130m), above Tyndrum. This was on a quite crazy day when I was wearing fell running shoes even when there was snow on the tops. I was full of more stamina than sense and took off on an enormous diversion to take in Beinn Bhuidhe miles away to the S that should have been left for another day. Then, arriving on the summit ridge, I was so cold after my exertions on the steep slope out of the wind, that I only went to the first of the triple summit cairns instead of all three. On looking back, I could see that there was another but I had so little on and time was so short that I never went back! Now, that one will be my very last Munro before the last two Tops! On this same crazy day, I reached the summit of Ben Lui after the long return run from Beinn Bhuidhe and saw two more summits (Ben Oss was one) in the distance that looked so close and I was so revved up, I thought I still had time to take them in, too! If I had, I would have lost the sleeping bag, for sure and then I would have been really up against it - even if I had been able to get back to the tent.

WETTEST INTERRUPTION TO MY PROGRESS

18 hours cosy and comfortable in my blue coffin tent as the rain descended; only to find, on my re-appearance in the outside world, that the swollen stream had come perilously close to the tent!

THE MOST COMFORTABLE LUNCH STOP EVER!

This was above Bridge of Orchy high on a steep slope where I found rocks and soft grass that beautifully cradled me as I lay back munching my lunch - and there was a view, too!

QUICKEST SUMMIT EVER

Ben Lomond, after I had given my son Jonathan my rucsac that slowed him down sufficiently and speeded me up, to make a lightening ascent in 1 hr 38 mins on a very good stone path in good weather. It was also a pleasure to have the company of Joseph Clayton. We were running at times and overtook almost all the other walkers out earlier than us!

MOST EXTRAORDINARY RANGE OF MOUNTAINS

I was taken by surprise, as I walked in to the Black Cuillin on a glorious May day in 1992, by the sharp, prickly, pointy peaks. I wrote, in May 1994:

"Walking in on the path from Sligachan to Loch Coruisk, more of this prickly and peculiar looking ridge appeared in close up on my right. The mountains looked just like those you see illustrated in a children's fairy story. It was as though they were the haunt of foul fiends and hobgoblins. Impressive but, certainly, very strange looking things. As usual, I hadn't thought to read up anything at all about these hills beforehand and quite expected to find that there would be a walkers' route round any difficulty. Roger Haworth, at Sligachan, had told me of some of the problems I could expect and how to avoid them but, my whole attitude was, I think, too laid back. He told me that he thought that I hadn't sufficiently taken on board the seriousness of the undertaking. I had blithely talked of soloing the whole ridge - of what Roger called the Greater Cuillin Traverse! In the end, he was quite right, of course but, I had an exhilarating, satisfying and quite unforgettable 3 nights bivying and 4 days walking in these remote and prickly peaks in quite perfect weather."

WITHOUT A DOUBT, THE MOST STUNNING, EXHILARATING DAY OF MY LIFE!

This was on the 26 March 1994 on Ben More Assynt and Conival, E of Inchnadamph. My entry in my copy of Munro's Tables records:

"An exhilarating day in the hills with the ridge in Alpine condition demanding crampons rather than ice axe for progress to be made. I've never before had a day like it for the clear weather and stunning, snow plastered rocky ridges and steep snow slopes. Camped on Conival. Narrow gorge widened out, weather improved and it turned out to be a magical day of true mountain top experiences. Unfortunately, ran out of film and took only one or two shots."

What made it such an unusual day was the sheer volume of snow and its perfect condition for crampons to be needed for most of the whole, long day. Ice axe was superfluous, although I carried it. I neither met nor saw a single other person and I was climbing on my own. Near the end, I noticed that the small, self-fitted, piece of metal coat hanger at the heel of one of my boots had come loose. By then, it was not critical. Crampons don't need the customer to fit a piece of metal today!

THE EXPEDITION WITH A STING IN ITS TAIL

Day One was the Five Sisters of Kintail from west to east after a midge bitten bivy on a warm summer’s night on the side of a hill above where I had parked the car. The next two days were straight-forward ridge walking, including the first two thirds of day four, too. Then, bump! Just as I was expecting a quick return and a plane ride out, came one difficulty after another as I had to get to grip with rock and, work out the least steep route. It was a challenging climax to a great four days out in the big hills.

THE EXPEDITION THAT ENDED WITH A PURR (of a car's engine)!
In Knoydart, I kept on meeting up with the same four guys but, I always got to the first summit of the day before them! Thereafter, they soon pulled ahead and were always far ahead of me for the rest of the day. For three mornings that happened. The reason was that although we were all going in the same direction, they had to peel off from the ridge to get to their bothy for the night. I put the tent up exactly where I had reached by the end of the day, with no diversion! On the final morning, I followed them back to their bothy where one of them took pity on my diet of sandwiches and cereal with dried milk and gave me my first hot food (of soup) for four days. Far better, they kindly gave me a lift back to where I had left my car by the dam and where they had left their second car. Otherwise, I would have been out for a fifth day and night just to do the long road walk back. A coincidence was that all four men came from either my home town or near abouts and I met two of them again at a quarterly meeting of the Halesowen Wildlife Group! On this expedition, I lost my rucsac for a few minutes as I hunted round rocks to find it on returning from doing the Munro that looks like a stuck up thumb and far too steep to climb.

DRIVING NAKED THROUGH THE SCOTTISH NIGHT!
Off the A74 in the Southern Uplands, my night's sleep was disturbed by a whirring sound just as I was getting back into my sleeping bag. I thought it was some engine that had started up in the nearby compound. I got into the driving seat and found a quieter spot to park up and sleep. Except, when I switched the engine off, I still had the whirring. I discovered that it was my electric toothbrush that I had put my hand on squeezing back into the sleeping bag! (I no longer bother with such excesses - the elecy toothbrush; not the sleeping bag!)

SAVED BY AN ICE AXE
This was on the N ridge ascending Ben Hope, many winters ago. There was a steep section in the way. Realising that I might slip, I had the ice axe ready to arrest my fall. Just as well I did because I did slip and the ice axe definitely saved me. I was shocked and shaken but soon recovered sufficiently to climb away onto safer ground where I thankfully collapsed into the snow to eat my lunch. I then retreated back to the car that was my base camp. The next day, I climbed Ben Hope successfully from the south in cloud and snow.