To stop more Woolwich killings ...

... stop voting for the war parties, with their men of violence ready to unthinkingly obey their political masters and their policies to invade and occupy Muslim lands without the majority support of the UN Security Council.  We are the USA's biggest ally, supporter and most enthusiastic disciple of bringing freedom and democracy down the barrel of a gun.

It is universally accepted as being socially good behaviour for our young people to make a career in the armed services using violence as our country's official foreign policy in countries that have always left us alone and have never expressed a wish to invade and occupy us, as we have done with them.

Our men of violence must learn to restrain themselves and to be a better and more moral example to those of us who not in uniform.

Vote for the minority peaceful parties even if they have no hope of gaining power.  Support the peaceful men like the Austrian Foreign Minister who is stopping the EU arming the rebels in Syria as the UK and France want.  He said that "the European Union should remain a peace community."

Scotland's independence might just cut England down to size - but I doubt it!!

Scotland: Stop subsidising England's excesses.  Get your independence, Scotland!

I know that, from the opinion polls, Scotland distancing itself further from England seems a hopeless cause.  However, for what it's worth, these are my:  interesting/alternative/tendentious/horrifying/warped (delete as you wish)
thoughts on why I think Scotland would be sensible to separate from England and be its own sovereign nation within the EU and UN instead of the UK.

The big-hearted Scots* are subsidising London as the hub of the UK with continuing plans for Heathrow expansion, the very expensive Cross Rail and Thames Link project that opens in 2019 and, last year's London Olympics.

After more than one hundred years of an "essentially a Victorian rail network" (Chief Executive of Network Rail, Sir David Higgins on 8 January 2013 on the 'Today' programme), England has decided, rather late in the day, to modernise it, with the Scottish taxpayer helping to foot the bill.  Does Scotland have even one Victorian signal box?  England has 500 dating back to Queen Victoria and 300 are 1960s vintage! (same interview)

The Scots subsidised HS1 and, now, they generously help us out with HS2 that, again, gets nowhere near Scotland, even when fully completed.

Scotland should be most upset at subsidising England's armed conflicts on 23 nations since 1945 (Radio 4's 'Thought for the Day' slot in the 'Today' programme.  Repeated, on another occasion, without disagreement from the other team members, by the Green Party panellist on Radio 4's 'Any Questions').**

No doubt, there are some in the English Defence League calling for pre-emptive, unmanned drone attacks of self defence on the Muslim militant extremists before they kill another of our brave soldier heroes.  Heroes home in barracks, on leave from protecting the people of Afghanistan from the real killers.  Scotland should disassociate itself from this barbarity by no longer funding England's unappreciated occupation of, and drone attacks on, foreign lands (a total of thirteen years, in punishment for 9/11, when we finally leave Afghanistan in 2014).

Scotland provides a most convenient haven for England's submarines carrying its independent nuclear deterrent. The Clyde Trident workers might be redeployed in future proofing your nation from the accelerating, enhanced greenhouse effect and the exhaustion of the planet's oil and gas reserves. The subs and nuclear missiles might be sent off to Barrow to give employment to the English, who will be left with digging a little deeper into their pockets with the Scottish taxpayer no longer bailing them out.

With independence, Scotland would no longer be contributing to the very many billions of pounds for the replacement for the Trident subs. Preliminary work on the replacement began when either Tony Blair or Gordon Brown was PM.

Scotland's power from water, wind and sun could be used just for themselves or sold to the English at great expense! A golden chance for you Scots to become Great Scot - instead of the phrase being used simply as an exclamation! Great Britain, minus Scotland, would be just a little less 'Great' and a little less able to act, in tandem with the US, as the continuing great power and policeman around the world to get its way.

We English, have such an over-inflated view of our importance to the nations of the world, that we cannot possibly do without Scotland to enhance our prestige and weight! Without Scotland, how can we possibly continue to punch above our weight in the world?  Even more crucially, the US might not regard us quite so highly with only little Wales and littler N Ireland in tow.  Our special relationship might be that little less special without Scotland.

For us English, all this independence malarkey is diminishing our size and greatness. Great Scot, it might even threaten our place as a permanent member of the Security Council. We certainly can't have that!

Let Scotland raise its own taxation for its own spending - that is all independence is - like the fifty other countries that have gained their independence from London since 1945 "and not one has expressed an interest in coming back under London's control." Alex Salmond on 21 May 2013 on 'Today'.

I think, Scotland's taxation is essential for England to continue to fund her excesses; it also makes her also responsible for the UK's most unfortunate, aggressive, domineering and provocative foreign policy in Muslim lands.  That certainly is an excess, to put it mildly!

Tim Weller

* "Over the last thirty years, in every single one of these last thirty years, Scotland per head contributed more in taxation than the UK average.  So that does indicate the financial and the potential financial strength goes over a long period of time."  Alex Salmond interview on the 'Today' programme, 21 May 2013.

** "Since 1946, the UK has engaged in more armed conflict than any other country with a total of 23 if you include Libya.  Do we conclude from this that we are a nation of warmongers or, a country that values peace and justice?"  Rhiddian Brook on Thought for the Day on 25 March 2011.

V serious contradictions and flaws in our national life

Without even a second thought, we have for centuries gone to other lands around the world. We occupied, fortified and even killed the native populations to ensure our domination of such lands. We dragged our feet over giving them independence and, at times fought wars to maintain our domination and governance over those lands. And, never with even a hint of conscience operating in our minds!

With the USA, we fought tooth and nail to try and maintain our rule and ownership and say so over them. What is wrong with us? Why are we so aggressive and dominating and violent? Even when, over these same centuries we have had the Bible and Christian teaching and practice at the heart of our national life - the Bible (well, actually, the New Testament) completely contradicting these behaviours!

We even had two openly, God believing, talking to God men, Christian leaders indeed - in George Bush Jnr and in Tony Blair who were both anxious to do what God wanted them to do over first Afghanistan and then Iraq. However, it led to both waging a united war on both nations in a brutal and cowardly over-reaction to what another Christian leader, Bishop Desmond Tutu called an act of terrorism, not an act of war, on 9/11 (2001).  Which Christian leader was nearest to the mind of Christ?

CARDINAL KEITH O’BRIEN

CARDINAL KEITH O’BRIEN – response on CrazyRev blog, Rev Brian Ross

Thanks for these excellent thoughts on the need for repentance by us all.  My own less worthy thoughts follow!

Are you not missing the point, Brian, that although his own sexual orientation appears to be gay, he was speaking out, very vigorously in recent years and months, against homosexual activity and orientation.  Therefore, the charge of hypocrisy remains and his repentance - if it ever happened and you are only hoping it did to help salvage your position(!) - was not genuine.

Cardinal Keith O'Brien remains in a very strong state of discrimination and prejudice from his outspoken comments, something that the Lord Jesus Christ never did.  In fact, He embraced gladly the outcast minorities of His day - women, lepers, tax collectors and sinners.  And you must know who the sinners were (while telling them not to do it again, I know!).  But the good Lord was really rather namby-pamby on such issues of sex, according to Dr Luke.  He was much stronger on preaching non-violence.  He was, too, dead against empire building, according to temptation no 3 - something that we Christian Brits have been particularly good at down the centuries, along with the accompanying violence.

Did you also oppose the decriminalisation of homosexuality in 1967, Brian?  Do you, now wish the law to be repealed?

Letter to sister Jude

Dear Jude

What on earth was she (the petition organiser) doing bringing four children into the world at a time of living on the environmental knife edge (She wrote, "We are currently living on an environmental knife edge and this backward step will be damaging to our future.")  We have rising populations, decreasing/depleting sources of energy and renewables even being opposed by many that, anyway, will never be sufficient to meet an ever rising demand for elecy.  The UK's energy gap is an uncomfortable reality, as we now have to scrabble on world markets for depleting gas reserves.

People in Halesowen are still buying 150 watt incandescent bulbs in our local Smiths electrical shop!  The well lagged with clothing shop owner, right now, is pouring out electricity from fan heaters with his doors open wide with a bitterly cold east wind blowing in.  I got nowhere in a brief conversation, even when he knew people should not be buying very wasteful 'E' energy rated bulbs.  He refuses to no longer stock them to stop them buying the things.  He refuses to close his doors to boost his profits - insanity.  We live in a mad, mad world!  What on earth was our perfect God doing when he knew we humans would turn out so imperfectly - and all made in his image, too?!

I despair of the future and I am only too glad I am no younger than I am!

Remembering what went wrong over our so virtuous military intervention in Iraq

This is written ten years on since London was awash with 1-2 million opponents of our nation's intention to attack, invade and occupy Iraq.  "Britain's biggest ever political protest"  (Andrew Murray in the Guardian 15.2.2013).  This blog has partly relied on that article (here, in double quotation marks) to catalogue the many blunders of those who should have been men and women of integrity and honour.  Instead, I think, they became war criminals and terrorists.

1. Iraq is steeped in history.  It is the birthplace of civilisation.  Indeed, the birthplace of Abraham who was the father/founder of three world faiths - Judaism, Christianity and Islam.  Even so, they are at loggerheads and, there is an absence of understanding or even respect amongst them.  Each faith believes that it alone has the Truth and Right on their side.
2. There was an over reliance on what the enemies of Saddam Hussein were saying about his weapons of mass destruction (WMD).  An over-reliance because he was no longer our friend but was our enemy by this time.
3. An under-reliance on finding the evidence for WMD before the attack commenced on the 19 February 2003.
4. Our crime of aggression in attacking Iraq seems to have been about finishing the job from the Gulf War of 1990/1, when we failed to remove Saddam Hussein and had been kicking ourselves ever since for not doing so.
5. Saddam was no friend of Al-Qaeda, not an Islamist or militant Muslim and, he governed a secular state.  Yet, it was widely believed that he was, in order to help justify attack, regime change and occupation by ourselves - and retribution for 9/11!
6. The UN inspectors were not allowed to finish the job before our premature and over-enthusiastic desire for the opening shock and awe attack.  Unseemly haste, sidelining, even dismissing our own, Western, weapons inspectors.  They didn't come up with what we wanted them to say, so we went ahead anyway before their final and definitive report confirming that there were almost certainly no WMD.
7. The UN did not "give the attack a patina of legality." Andrew Murray (patina = shallow covering or cosmetic gloss)
8. The war did not make the Christian West safer from terrorism.  Quite the opposite, in fact.  We saw martyrdom videos showing that the martyrs saw themselves as soldiers defending Islam from the Christian Western attackers and occupiers of holy Muslim soil.
9. The Iraqi people did not welcome the invaders as liberators.
10. "Tony Blair was motivated solely by his secret pledges to stand by President Bush come what may."
11. "Consideration of legality and British public opinion scarcely registered with him."
12. "The Iraqi people have paid a staggering price" for the unwarranted and unlawful eight year war.
13. "The war was justified by the dodgy dossier" and a student's dissertation.
14. Justified by: "The 45 mins Iraqi missile threat."
15. There was "Duplicitous diplomacy."
16. Saddam Hussein - a one time ally and excellent customer of our highly valued arms industry and traders.
17.  This man and many tens of thousands of his citizens were wiped off the face of the map without a trial for him or, UN support for such extra-judicial killing by ourselves.
18. Even after Saddam was removed from power and we were in total control throughout the country, still no WMD could be found.  In other words, we were completely fooled and our intelligence experts and politicians proved, yet again, to be in the wrong.  They were led up the garden path.  They are guilty and were gullible.  They are war criminals.

Bringing freedom, democracy and Western culture to those who don't know better

There is nothing wrong with us all (very nearly) voting for the war parties (doing it and fueling it) while our votes keep the war well away from our shores.  While we don't get killed, we must carry on supporting our heroes when they return in either body bags or upright, regardless of how many they have killed in defending us in foreign lands, on distant shores, thousands of miles away.

Let them carry on sorting out these weak, war torn and sorry countries so that they take on board our right and good way of doing things.

Of course, the West won the war against Western Nazism, next we won it against Soviet Communism and got them to introduce our capitalism.  We never beat Chinese communism but we just got them to introduce capitalism, anyway.  And, without bringing our capitalism down the barrel of a gun, like Mao tse Tung tried to do with his revolution!  Now we are winning the war against those Muslim terrorists who think they can challenge our Western, Christian presence on their holy Muslim soil.  We pay their masters good money for making much better use of their gas and oil than they would ever do!

It simply boils down to the fact that what we do - violent or not - is always morally right and our enemies violent opposition is always morally wrong.  We are the virtuous West against the Islamic terrorists.  The West just can't help being the winners, all along the way - at the expense of the rest of poor humanity!!

The West is simply best.

PROMPTED BY DAVID ATTENBOROUGH'S 'AFRICA' - episode 6 - 'The Future”

His talk of climate change and more difficulties for wildlife and humans provoked incensed, vitriolic  comments on 'The Independent' blog site.

1)  Why do so many contributors use such weird and wonderful names?  Are they so ashamed of what they write that they cannot bear to stand by their comments using their real names?

2)  Why does no-one ever concede a point or even give credit to a valid point made by someone else in the discussion?

3)  Nothing that the climate scientists tell us, ever makes the slightest difference.  We all go our own sweet way, anyway.  We all carry on regardless with our fingers crossed, doing what we want to continue with our ever-rising and unsustainable material standards of living.

4)  Even if the climate scientists are wrong (I hope they are) and James Delingpole IS right about everything (I hope he is), is it not wise to take all the many positive, practical and helpful measures that will leave more finite resources for future generations?  Living more simply so that others may simply live is simply ethical and ecological.

1. The history of the planet is one of constant warming and cooling periods that is perfectly natural and normal. What we, so intelligent and sophisticated and clever humans are doing, is NOT – and, we are part of nature and NOT above it and that is the problem!

2. It seems to have started with the white European races burning and clear felling their forests for farming and building. Now, everyone is doing it. Next, the Europeans started on the fossil fuels – in earnest from the 18^th century – converting carbon into carbon dioxide. Now, everyone is at it. So far, we have got away with it. It may not be for ever, however.

3. Margaret Thatcher, in one of her three major speeches on the environment as Prime Minister, commenting on our industrialisation said, "we have unwittingly begun a massive experiment with the system of this planet itself.”

4.  This not too dissimilar from the more direct, "Either, we get our numbers and our activities into harmony with the powers of the earth to support life or, collapsing eco-systems will do the job for us." In other words, we either live within the rules of the way the planet works or, we get our come-uppance.  We respect and preserve and in harmony with eco-systems (life support systems) or, they collapse and our numbers and activities suffer.  We live within Nature's parameters or, Nature has the last word.

5.  The other unfortunate effect of ripping through our one-off geological inheritance is that we leave nothing for our children and grandchildren who will then be up against it. But, that doesn't matter because it will NEVER happen in OUR lifetime – and that's all that matters!

The potentially rich Falklands are OURS and OURS alone. Good-o!

Is there not a good comparison, here with N Ireland - and our other remnants of Empire?

The clear majority in N Ireland, want to remain in and with the UK and not become part of 

the Republic of Ireland that seems more logical and fair. Until that changes, these two tiny 

remnants of our glorious British Empire will remain for ever British. Just like Gibraltar, too. 

What other lands around the globe belong to us Brits, can someone tell me? All this,

thanks to our invading and occupying forces over the centuries.

"Grab and brag.  Occupy and fortify" - a Victorian sentiment quoted by Jeremy Paxman in  

his BBC TV series on the British Empire.

The Falkland islanders had better not change their mind, now with all the rich mineral 

resources around their islands that us Brits and us Brits, alone can make good use of in 

the years to come.

Our good, great and glorious Empire still has its uses to enrich us, still to this day. What a 

pity that N Ireland and Gibraltar don't have any oil reserves to enrich the homeland!

Tesco, Asda and the High Street

For many decades, some have been prophesying the death of the High Street - first, in the 1970s from too many building societies, then from too many charity shops and, in the last 20 to 30 years, from superstores like Tesco in Stourbridge and Asda in Halesowen.  In the early 1980s we had the rise of Merry Hill Shopping Centre.  In Halesowen, in the last decade, Lidl came and Aldi next to the new Travel Lodge on Earls Way/Whitehall Road.  However, the High Street remains as vibrant as ever, thanks to coffee shops and tea rooms, pound shops and our Farmers Markets in Halesowen and Stourbridge.  The passing of the years has shown that there is room for many small businesses and large superstores in our High Streets up and down the land.

The great thing about Merry Hill, of course, is not the free parking but the enormous car parks that make us get out of our cars and walk for really great distances for those who are normally so wedded and welded to their cars and sofas - no more parking outside the shop you want to pop into and back into the motor and away (except for High Street, Stourbridge that completely destroys my argument!).  All thanks to pedestrianisation and Merry Heaven and the nirvana of economic growth!!

I remember that Oldbury in Sandwell was a real dive in the 1960s and 70s - dilapidated and down at heel until the superstore, Sava Centre heralded the town's revival and transformation.  It, now even has Sandwell MBC's prestigious Council House.

Apartheid sorted; N Ireland sorted; Israel/Palestine sorted when?

Magnificent magnanimity from the South African government led to a peaceful transition from the immoral apartheid state, to majority rule there.

Amazing perseverance from outside politicians and concessions from both sides led to the Good Friday peace agreement and, for many years now, far fewer killings in N Ireland.  Dr Ian Paisley was transformed and even became, almost, best friends with a former IRA commander, Martin Maginnis.  They were even known as the chuckle brothers from all their laughter, such was their similar sense of humour.  Astonishing, astounding but, proves what can be achieved.  Oh, for the miracle of Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu and Mahmoud Abbas becoming benevolent and bosom buddies!

When will Israel and Palestine, similarly get together?  First, actually sit in the same room in the White House and talk about the weather would be a good start!  Let them indulge only in small talk for the first few meetings.  Better, get them to play funny games together, watch romantic comedies, to see the 'Sound of Music' together or 'Cool Runnings'.  Next, when the're all smiling and happy, sit them down to thrash out compromise, concessions and some amazing mutual magnanimity and self sacrifice to bring, at least, an uneasy peace with justice, some kind of harmony between the peoples; even peaceful co-existence and tolerance, if not actual acceptance.

One problem, I think, is right wing thinking that brought us colonialism, empire building by the Western European nations, leading to one of them going one better than imperialism with their Nazism.  The 1945 victors have since defended their 'colonies' and dependencies - called defending their vital strategic interests around the world (or, more domination to bring democracy, freedom and the blessings of Western Christian culture down the barrel of a gun).  Such foreign policy is not about fairness with peace; not about living within our own borders; is not conducive to compromise and land sharing.  Hence, our ally and friend, Israel continues this white man thinking, this Judeo-Christian tradition, with its perpetual right wing, coalition governments that think like the West with disputes settled by coercion and military might is right - always first and last and only.  Thus, Prime Minister Netanyahu ups the anti with his tendency for a "belligerent stance",  "warmongering rhetoric", and "messianic impulse" (Yuval Diskin, former head of the Israel Security Agency, aka Shin Bet; former Mossad chief Meir Dagan,^[124] and the RAND Corporation in the US.  Taken from Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Netanyahu)

Another problem is that the fundamentalist, evangelical Christians in both Israel and the USA/UK want biblical prophecy quickly fulfilled, Armageddon and the return of Christ to wind things up and themselves taken to be with the Lord for eternity.

"The Jews were the first victims of the Nazis and the Palestinians are the last."  Peter Ustinov

"We either live together as brothers and sisters of the one human family on this one and only planet or, we perish as fools." So far, the latter is looming. But the true, born again believers have nothing to worry about because they will be taken up to be with the Lord!

The UK Independence from America and Israel Party

It seems to me that we get into such a lather about being ruled by Europe and losing our sovereignty that we are already semi-detached from them and much more in union with America and Israel.  For years, we have been fully attached to the United States of Aggression and their well funded and supported, 52nd state, Israel.  The UK is the officially unrecognised 51st state with our special relationship, our common language, films, Christian faith and strong kinship with Israel and the Jews; and, of course, our solid support for every war our American friends fight after they fought and won for us (with the Russians) the 2nd World War.  We still sent armaments to the US during the sixteen years of the Vietnam War, although not troops that time.

One 'Thought for the Day' contributor (on Radio 4's 'Today') said we have attacked or bombed or occupied 23 countries since the end of the 2nd World War.  Caroline Lucas MP related part of the full list on 'Any Questions' and not one other panelist disagreed with her.  If our friend and ally, Israel is included, it is even more than this, of course.  Leonie and Emily, Yr 11 pupils at Lambeth Academy, seemed to think that the UK in its time, had NOT invaded only 22 out of nearly 200 countries in the world!!  (Radio 4's 'BH' on 20 January 2013 in an amusing piece called 'Teenagers Fight Back')

After all that, not surprisingly, the White House would like us to stay in the EU to continue to represent the Anglo-American world view and to keep Europe on side (the US/UK side). ‘Today’ 10 Jan 2013

The European Courts of Justice and of Human Rights, alone makes our membership of the European Union worthwhile.  Officially leave the EU and we lose them both.

Europe has a transport system that is much better than ours.  We would do well to learn how they do their superb railway system, instead of ours being like the poor American rail network.  Chief Executive of Network Rail, Sir David Higgins said on 'Today' on the 8 January 2013, "We still have a Victorian rail network ... we have 500 Victorian signal boxes."  The McNulty Report of 2010 stated that our rail costs are 40% higher than four European nations; a shocking statistic that came out in the same interview.

In Birmingham and the Black Country, we have 38 miles of unused and underused double track rail lines around our own New Street Station that is the UK's no 1 rail congestion bottleneck!  Yet again, we model ourselves on America instead of Europe and get into such a state about being members of Europe.  This is all complete madness yet, we have no insight into our insanity!

Let those four European countries run our rail network to bring it up to their standard of excellence.  It does not mean being ruled by them but having the humility to be shown how to do things better by Europe and not by our good friends in America.

All this shows that we need more union with Europe, not less!  Let us distance ourselves from America's bad examples and learn from our immediate neighbour, Europe.

We have to be honest and face up to these 9 observations on the Faith!

God is wrong in having 'Rules for Waging Holy War' in Deuteronomy 20 v 1-20.

He is mistaken about homosexuality being immoral.  I believe I am right in saying that Christians, Muslims and Jews did nothing about changing the law to prevent homosexuals being imprisoned.  Now, all of them accept the new law without a murmur of dissent being heard.  Homosexuality is not unheard of in the animal kingdom, of which we are part, as the human animal.

God shows favouritism in having one nation out of 193 nations as his one and only Chosen, Special and No 1 nation who is the apple of His eye (Israel).  For the surrounding Arab nations, Israel is seen as part of the all powerful, all domineering, War of Terrorism Western powers.  The West is noted for its centuries of Christianity and, unfortunately, its Scriptures command the faithful to pray only for the peace of Jerusalem - certainly NOT Mecca or any other city!  Thus Israel is identified even here, with the West in the heart of the Arab and Muslim Middle East.

God has missed out the most obvious and much needed command that should be the first and foremost viz: "Thou shalt embrace non-violence and never embark on attack, aggression and dominating other countries." The last one, domination, in defiance of temptation 3 that Jesus rightly rejected.

The Lord's Commandment no 6 is not strong enough with "Thou shalt not murder."  It let the people of Israel off the hook to allow them to wipe out the inhabitants of the holy land - the land that God promised them and them alone - as now.  Hence, we have in the Bible how the people rejoiced that, "King Saul has slain his thousands but David his tens of thousands."  No wonder the modern people of Israel are so ready to attack their neighbours, of course in self defence and, so desperate not to kill women and children.  However, Israel always seems to end up killing many more of them than their enemy kill Israelis. Over ten times more in both the November 2012 attack on Gaza and the 2008/2009 war on Gaza when 1,400 Palestinians, unfortunately and quite unintentionally, of course, ended up dead.

All God-fearing Jews, Christians and Muslims should see this behaviour, above as morally deviant.  Perversely and shamefully they do not, viewing instead, homosexuality as being morally deviant.

God is wrong in having Kings and Queens over past centuries who all appointed themselves as having the authority and power of God on earth; together with Presidents and Prime Ministers down the years.  Two of them, since 7 October 2001 with the War of Terrorism, who both believed they were doing God's will in attacking first Afghanistan on 10/7 (2001) and then Iraq in March 2003.

God is prejudiced in disallowing women from positions of leadership in His church.  Yet, His Son was forgiving, compassionate and sympathetic to women - even those caught in adultery and, prostitutes, too.

It is unacceptable for God to promise one nation, Israel all the land from the cedars of Lebanon in the north to the deserts of Sinai in the south; from the rivers Euphrates and Tigris in the east to the Mediterranean Sea in the west (Joshua 1 v 4).  It all the more encourages that nation's expansionist tendencies, the growth of illegal settlements on the West Bank and in east Jerusalem; and, the flouting of UN resolutions.

Skyfall-ing in

The most spectacular and the most impossible to nod off Bond film ever.  In the process, perhaps, the film with the world's worst driving!

'Skyfall' underlines the status quo, so that the next generation is brought up 'right'.  It passes on our society's established values, attitudes and beliefs, over recent centuries, that are not the most worthy - of getting our way by coercion, force and, astonishingly, the slaughter of the innocents (this latter is not in the Bond films).

I think the films reinforce our Western predilection for such things that has been at the heart of too much European life for centuries of going out to conquer and dominate other countries.  All this, even after the Europeans' world wars that finally brought them up short to unite in peace between themselves.  Such a pity that the European's non-violence between themselves did not spread to leaving other countries well alone, too.

We had twenty children killed in Connecticut a few days ago;
twenty thousand children in our 13 years War of Terrorism;
even, many more than that, in the War on Communism in SE Asia between 1945 and 1975.
The Bond films nurture our Western ways for such things, to ensure they are passed on to the next and succeeding generations.  The general media message is: enemies are essential but, making and keeping friends with those who do things differently from us - other cultures, religious beliefs, political systems and traditions - is not so essential.

The film glorifies and promotes behaviour that we are not meant to indulge in - from speeding over roof tops breaking every imaginable speed limit, even sending old ladies flying on pedestrian crossings, to blowing up a beautiful old and isolated Scottish mansion.  It also continues the silent, imperceptible, so easily absorbed indoctrination of us all that we have very dangerous enemies of the State and that attack, aggression and violence is the only way - to get them before they get us.  Therefore, we cannot possibly abandon our love affair with guns and grenades, rifles and bombs - even when the sky falls in on the New England families of the latest killings.  We are subconsciously inculcated with this drivel via entertainment, of which fifty years of Bond is the most popular.

 It is totally incomprehensible for us that our invading, attacking and occupying of other countries might make them so ungrateful that they turn into our enemies and try and hit back.  Indeed, quite outrageous for them wanting to harm us.  We can't have them defending their lands and resources from us.  Or, of letting them be so un-Christian (or un-Muslim) as to show revenge on us.

Never mind - "Man is God's greatest work."  (Sister Wendy Beckett on Desert Island Discs 16.12.2012.)  She could not possibly have meant the nation's greatest role model.  Could she?  What does Sister Wendy make of 007?

Uncomfortable home truths?

APHORISMS galore:

It is widely considered, it is universal, orthodox thinking, that we can go on expanding our numbers and activities on a planet that is not expanding.

We are living infinitely on a finite planet.

We are living unnaturally on a natural planet.

We are living for economic growth and population growth.

We are living beyond our means, our limits and our boundaries.

We have a live it up today and to hell with tomorrow mentality.

We are living today to come a cropper tomorrow!

What we take today, we don't have tomorrow.

We are liquidising our assets; living off capital as if its income.

Expansion economics from a diminishing capital resource base!

Economic growth is ecological retraction as the chickens eventually come home to roost.

Wealth creation is actually poverty creation.

There's no material gain without pain - eventually!

What goes up must come down - never ending wealth from economic and population growth must be living in cloud cuckoo land.  It must, eventually, lead to economic bust and population crash.

What takes an age for us, goes in the twinkling of an eye in the geological time scale of the earth.

Never before has the poor planet seen such an unnatural explosion of greenhouse gases, as the lot of us burn up the fossil fuels in 300 years that the earth took 300 million years to form.  Thus, the Lady must be right with this:

"We are embarked on a massive experiment with the very life support systems of the earth itself."  Rt Hon Margaret Thatcher (the most honourable thing she ever said!)

The Wild, White, Western Powers!

The West's world wars, after centuries of the European countries dominating everyone else, was the (not so grand) climax of centuries of warfare by and between these Christian, white, European nations.  The 2nd World War was the zenith, the high point (actually, of course, nadir or low point) of centuries of discrimination, persecution and hatred of the Jews, not by Muslims but by the Christian, white, European nations.

Questions for author and speaker, Kevin who was much taken by our victory in the battle of El Alamein as what prevented the Nazis from invading occupying what was then Palestine:-
From Christ's temptations, how would you conclude was His teaching on dominating other countries? From the Sermon on the Mount, how would you conclude was His teaching on warfare?

For President George Bush Jnr, the prophet Mohammed's teaching was "good and peaceful". What a pity that the President's actions, for all the many years after the 7 October 2001 when he launched his War of Terrorism, was the exact opposite of being "good and peaceful".

The exact opposite of "good and peaceful" was the hallmark of the first half of the 20th century and the second half was not much better - thanks to a string of American Presidents and European Prime Ministers, voted in by us!  A century of bloodshed and of white inspired conflicts.  It saw our wars (directly armed or in direct engagement), continuing on (almost immediately from 1945) in SE Asia and the Middle East.  It also very nearly saw a nuclear exchange between the two white, super powers over missiles both had installed - first, the Americans in Turkey on the Russian's doorstep and then, the Russians followed in Cuba on America's doorstep.

For Israel, attack is the best form of defence

Israel only ever tries violence, terrorism and targeted assassination as the best forms of defence.

The nation was born in 1948 out of Israeli violence and terrorism against the British.  Terrorism was rewarded and its attacks and aggression on its neighbouring countries since then hardly endeared it to those nations.  An Israeli promotional film, I recently saw at church, actually admitted it was surrounded by enemies, as if this was something to be proud of rather than ashamed of, as a sign of failure.

After 64 years, I would have thought Israel would have tried a different strategy to win friends and influence people - even if this was only out of sheer self-interest to improve its security and future prospects.  But, then, it is an outpost of what the Palestinians see as the loathed USA/West in the very heart of the Arab/Muslim Middle East.  So, what more can one expect from Israel/USA/UK than continued warfare to ratchet up the hatred, to never bring peace with justice for either Israel or Palestine?

We must always remember our dead and never ...

... those they killed for democracy, freedom and prosperity.

For me, the wearing of the red poppy is a mark that the wearer supports the shedding of innocent blood in far off lands AND by our military, too.  All this is done to maintain OUR freedom, our wealth and democracy.  Done to maintain the defence of the realm; the defence of OUR  realm!  Instead, give the poor beggars who are denied our democracy and decency, better housing, warmth and clothing - NOT drone attacks and the provocative presence of foreign soldiers!

Remembrance should be about reflecting on the continuing popularity for war to get our way around the world.  Why are we such a leading exponent of violence on other nations' soils?  Only those who themselves get killed in the process are honoured as having made the ultimate sacrifice, as having truly served their nation and been the real heroes.  What about the rest of us who advocate non-violence and abiding by international law and UN resolutions?

We only honour those who died fighting for our country, not those who died at our hands defending their country from us, their invaders and occupiers.

The poppy to mark all the blood we have shed.

The poppy is a symbol of how precious war is to us.

The poppy is the mark of how the wearer does as he is told and gladly supports the shedding of blood when their unrighteous government tells them to do so.

"But its OUR land, not yours!"

OPEN LETTER TO RUTH JACOB, who showed the film on Israel at our church in September.

So say both the Palestinians and the Israelis.  Both are wrong and both are right.  Both can't compromise.  "The Israeli/Palestinian congflict is not black and white.  "Both are the good guys and the bad guys ... (this is) a clash between wrong and wrong ... a tragic clash between right and right ... (neither) pro Palestine nor pro Isarel but pro peace." said Amos Oz on 'Start the Week' on 5 November 2012.  Both will not share with the other, so both suffer and have less than the best - especially the Palestinians who are under the cosh, dominated and controlled.

Do you believe that the greater boundary of the Promised Land (Joshua 1 v 4) is a legitimate ambition for Israel once all of Judea and Samaria falls into its hands?

Why do you think Israel is surrounded by enemies?  Is this really something to be seen as a badge of honour, as the film seemed to think?  For many evangelical Christians, Israel is likened to God.  Israel is hated by the surrounding countries because as Jesus said,  "As they hated me, so they will hate you."  The very hatred for Israel by all its surrounding countries shows how Biblical prophecy is being fulfilled and is proof that God is slowly but surely working His purposes out in the Middle East for His greater glory.

Self defence against intermittent/interminable rockets coming over the border turns out, from time to time, to be an all out, large-scale military attack, invasion and re-occupation of Gaza, as we saw in Dec 2008 to January 2009.  Is that fair enough?

Do you want a state for Palestine, provided it is Gaza and it is Judea and Samaria that officially become part of Israel, along with East Jerusalem?

It seems to me, that evangelical Christians, like those who saw the film on Israel at Hasbury Christian Fellowship in September, back Israel every step of the way.  They do so as part of their work to help God give all the land, promised to only Israel and not to the Arabs, from the cedars of Lebanon in the north to the deserts of Sinai in the south and, from the great river Euphrates in the east to the Mediterranean Sea in the west (Joshua 1 v 4).  Evangelical Christians do so to make sure that Bible prophecy is fulfilled.  Only in this way is Armageddon (the end of the world) and the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus hastened.

In other words, the solid Christian support for Jews and Israel, come what may, has an ulterior motive - to boost their own cause, to hasten the end of the world and, to turn Jews and Israelis into born again Christians, like themselves!

Hurricane Sandy - stereotypical thoughts

The planet and its life support have never before seen such an onslaught from humans and their greenhouse gases upsetting the natural order of things.  Thus, I think, we get our come uppance as payback time gets ever nearer.  It creeps up on us as we determinedly carry on regardless, in our mad mad world, with our fingers crossed.  We think we can get away with it for ever.  Living infinitely on a finite planet.  Living unnaturally on a natural planet.  Pretty foolish - and damn stupid, actually!

Alternative way of putting the same thoughts:

The planet and its life support systems have never before had humans on its surface in such an enormous and ever increasing number; AND, so resolutely and so enthusiastically  pouring out ever rising quantities of greenhouse gases - so dangerously; and, eventually, to screw up what is meant to be the protective and life giving greenhouse blanket round the planet.  The planet has never before seen human emissions of greenhouse gases.  What a terrible shock for the system!  The planet will carry on serenely.  We humans will not.

No wonder Nature is hitting back and giving us our come uppance!

Whatever the actual rise in temperature, what seems obvious is that our unprecedented burning up of every ton of fossil fuel we can lay our hands on is bound to have an effect.  It's called the enhanced greenhouse effect - not quite what we want!

"Either, we get our numbers and our activities in harmony with the powers of the earth to support life or, collapsing eco-systems will do the job for us."    Green Party manifesto from many years ago.