The oh, so righteous of the Lord

The righteous of the Lord have a blind spot or, they slide over the little matter of declining to participate in armed conflicts around the world.  In other words, our aggression on, and domination of, other weak countries that won't hit back never figures in their list of unrighteous deeds.  The righteous of the Lord shun the sex industry but not the arms industry and the armed forces - and all this warfare has been on the other nations' holy soil who simply wanted to be left well alone!  The righteous of the Lord taking part in such unrighteous activities is hypocritical and sinful.

Bible believing believers are reluctant to endorse peace talks between Israel and Palestine.  They say that peace can only come when Jesus returns - and we have all been waiting for that to happen for 2,000 years.  Or, if everyone were to believe on the Lord Jesus and be saved.  A reluctance to enter into peace talks to get a just resolution after 65 years of intermittent killing is boosted by their interpretation of Scripture and simply means continuing injustice and periodic violence.  It invites the charge of complacency and an attitude of care-lessness.

Exactly, as does the oft repeated refrain, from those made right by God and who are now on God's side, that He is in control and we have nothing to fear and nothing to do.  Some of the rest of poor humanity, on the devil's side, insist that Nature is in control and, if we don't get our numbers and our activities in harmony with the powers of the earth to support life, then collapsing life support systems will do the job for us - as we get our inevitable and, rightful, come uppance.  I know which side I charge with being complacent, dangerous and very foolish!

Valiant attempts to justify our Fourth Anglo-Afghan War

Comments I heard on the 'Today' programme in June 2013.

What it was all for:-

£40bn spent and 444 soldiers killed.  Commander of the Task Force in Helmand gave the following comments.  It was in Britain's interests to fight.  All the armed forces have shown sacrifice and courage in fighting this war to improve national security in the UK.  We are proud of the soldiers' courage, of our achievements and the differences we have made made.

£40 billion is much less than building HS2 (over £50 bn).  444 soldiers killed is considerably less than the losses suffered by our great friend and ally in the Vietnam War to protect Western freedom and security.  That was 58,000 soldiers.  A masssive difference even if you count in the so noble and heroic sacrifice of the other Western soldiers killing and killed in Afghanistan.

We are certainly getting better at suffering fewer losses when we fight our wars against these pesky foreigners.  Thanks to drones that keep up the killing without us suffering anymore.  Just how it should be, of course.

Just too many people and far too many of the wrong type of personal transport!

"the Toll Road has totally failed to divert traffic".  This is untrue.  The large bulk of the 34,000 vehicles using it each day would otherwise be on the M6.  From my calculation, at 7 miles traveled for a litre of fuel (or, 4 litres used to motor along the M6 Toll), the toll charge is similar to what most motorists are paying in fuel for the 27 miles and the £11 charge for HGVs must be much less than their fuel used in the 27 miles.  Therefore, the charge is well worth paying for the fast diversion of the congested and often stop/start M6.

On the other hand, much of the road that runs parallel to the M6 Toll is restricted to 50 mph.  For cars, 55 mph in top gear is the optimum speed for maximum fuel saving and lowest carbon emissions.  But, stop start congestion on the M6 is not!

If a car's running costs are 44p per mile, the £5.50 toll is 48% of the running costs for the 27 miles.

34,000 motorists, I think, are very sensible in paying it.  I am one motorist who would not want to discourage them from doing so!  The M6 Toll is a great success for the 34,000 using it every day and they can easily afford to pay the toll when you take into account all the other costs in buying and using a car that are many times greater.  We all, somehow, manage to find the money to swan around in our cars but cannot, so easily, find the money for parking fees and tolls!

MEL, the owners are heavily in debt from the construction of the road.  They are also committed to paying £100m towards the construction of the link road to the M54.

Make love not war, you war mongering Brits!

"I love you", he said.

"I'm sorry", she replied before he went back down to his prison cell for five years.

A young, "exemplary Maths teacher" fell in love with a pupil who fully returned that love.  Everything was consensual, including the few months of under-age sex and the running away to France for seven days.  Yet, he was branded a paedophile, as having groomed the young 15 year old woman and, as having abducted her for his own evil ends.  He got a sentence of 5.5 years in prison (actually, for telling the truth over the five times they had sex) and can never again work with children, even in a voluntary capacity.  He was labelled a sex offender for the rest of his life.  All this, when the pair are likely to stay in touch while he is in prison.  What a waste of an excellent and promising young teacher who loved and loved deeply for a young woman, now 16, who seems to have felt exactly the same for him.

From a similar case with one of my daughter's teachers who was also respected and well liked by staff and pupils, Jeremy Forrest will end up marrying the woman when he comes out of prison.  Has society really acted responsibly and proportionally and sensibly?

In shocking contrast, all the main political parties, on both sides of the Atlantic, have waged what will be a 13 year war of terrorism, invasion and occupation of two defenceless Muslim nations in the Middle East.  This war crime has gone unpunished and has been widely accepted as being a necessary evil to bring democracy and freedom to all in Iraq and Afghanistan and, education for girls.  With over a decade of aggression and killings by the rich and powerful West to, supposedly, prevent terrorism in the US and the UK , there has been no widespread protest by Christians who vote, en masse for the war parties.  What truly warped thinking.  What truly immoral and illegal behaviour for two supposedly advanced and civilised nations.   And, nations founded on the Bible, too.  Perhaps, that explains it (from the violent history of Israel in the Old Testament)!

In my daughter's class, I thought the young teacher was an excellent prospect for my own daughter!  There was nothing wrong with the young man but he was sentenced to twelve months in prison as a lesson to others, the judge said.  It was such an effective lesson that Jeremy Forrest had never heard of what happened to my daughter's teacher.  Forrest had no idea that society took that kind of thing more seriously than our society's invasion, occupation and slaughter in defenceless Muslim lands for twelve years and rising.

What a truly punitive, condemnatory, revengeful and sick society I  live in.  "Make love not war"  John Lennon.

Armed Forces Day to show reverent respect

How would you like it if the armed forces of another country occupied Halesowen for twelve years to change the way we do things, really quite radically?  One radical change was to bring in voting that, surprise, surprise brought in a compliant government wholly in agreement with the armed forces coercing or forcing the changes the foreign government wanted to see in Halesowen?

In other words, bringing democracy down the barrel of a gun, exactly what we didn't like, one little bit when another world leader (China in the 1950s, 60s, 70s) wanted his way of doing things forced down the throats of the people, via the barrel of a gun.

Remember, democracy only means voting every five years to bring in a very similar government (but with a different name, admittedly) to the previous one.

In addition, our so sincere and well-meaning armed forces have so stirred things up in these foreign lands that many tens of thousands of their men, women and children have been killed in the War of Terrorism.  WE, in the West, are directly and indirectly responsible for these crimes against humanity.  But, we certainly don't think so.  Rather than feeling some discomfort at cutting the lives of foreigners short, we rejoice at what our armed forces have done - calling them heroes and having a special day of commemoration and celebration for the fine things they have done on our behalf.

We cannot even have the honesty to graciously admit that we have lost this fourth Anglo-Afghan war and lost it years before we finally pull out in 2014.  The Vietnam War all over again.  When will we ever learn?

By the way, this makes for four losses in a row, our armed forces are so incompetent.  Every war was fully supported by the main democratic political parties of their time, too.  What a disgrace!  Therefore, is it really worth imposing democracy down the barrel of a gun in foreign lands far from our shores that we never go on holiday to, anyway because of the mess we have left them in?

What a truly sick society we live in.

My serene, royal-like escort of the Swiss bound Triumvirate - was not!

Jon asked me if I would like to escort Mike, Joe and him on the safer/best cycle route to New Street Sta for the 8.5 miles from Halesowen to the city centre.  I jumped at the chance, without even modifying the invitation by saying that it all depended on it being dry - it was not!

The showers were the least of our troubles.  Things went awry from the outset.  We left at 1230 instead of 1200 for the 1350 train to Euston.  Next, my bypassing of a huge deep puddle on my cycle/footway route, unexpectedly for me, led us to a kerb that was not dropped to a smooth ramp back to the road.  Mike said, "Roads, for my bike, Tim."

I managed to lose my party going down a hill, signalling left but none of the three saw it.  As I hastily cycled back up the slope, I saw them flash past me.  I caught them and we quickly had to cycle the wrong way down a one way residential road to get back on route.

Again in Harborne, we were delayed by Mike's chain coming off the big front wheel and jamming between the very bottom of the frame and the chainwheel.  Joseph then Mike managed to free it without the much needed screwdriver.  At that stop we noticed that Mike's rear tyre was soft.  Joe quickly pumped it up.  We had more stops for the re-inflation and my losing the others again until, just under a mile from the station further pumping was pointless.  Jon quickly cycled ahead to get the tickets while I walked with Mike and Joe to the station - in the nick of time.  Jon texted from the train that due to them loading the bikes on, it delayed the departure by one minute.  In London they soon found a Halfords that fixed the problem.  He texted, "This is turning into quite a challenge just getting through the UK!"

Terrorists = Enemies

Isn't it funny how we use words to downplay our feelings of guilt; to put ourselves in the best possible light?  Hence, if foreign troops were in our country thinking that they can put us right and much improve the way we do things, we would call our men of violence fighting the enemy, resistance fighters.  We call the equivalent men of violence fighting our best intentioned armed forces in Afghanistan, the resurgence.

The West now calls its enemies 'terrorists' to help justify the West's war crimes of aggression.  For me, NATO's armed forces are also the men of violence, killing and maiming (but not in my name) to stupidly think they can defeat terrorism and bring voting to all (democracy) down the barrel of a gun!  How immoral.

Bishop Tutu called 9/11 an act of terrorism, not an act of war.  The surviving perpetrators needed to be brought to justice in a court of law.  Instead, the West had hundreds of thousands more innocents slaughtered since their commencement of their War of Terrorism on 10/7 (7 October 2001).  Except, they were foreigners in far off lands, so that was OK.  How despicable!

All the main Western political parties think they can get rid of terrorism by doing it better; defeating evil by doing evil in a bigger and grander and more successful way in the war of terrorism!  How foolish!

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.