Saturday, November 08, 2008

[thought for the day] saturday evening

'Tis strange but true - for truth is always strange; stranger than fiction.

Difficult day but a symmetrical one. Sleep tight.

Friday, November 07, 2008

[safely moored] no shifting this craft

Not easy to see the name but it is "Temporary Insanity".

[har megiddo] the massing of the armies

The map is much clearer at the original site. Click on the map.


Sometimes I want to visit the Valley of Jezreel and sometimes I don't.

Most historical places we visit, we can feel the history right there, for example, Whitby Abbey or some battlefield but when the place we visit is the site of some future event, a cataclysmic event, then it takes on a special significance.

My final novel [of three] is set in this roughly 25 mile by 20 valley and it took some research to try to get authenticity. How can you get authenticity for the end of the world though? For it is on the southern side of the valley that the hill called Har Megiddo or in the Hellenic form Armageddon lies.

At one end is Mt Carmel and Haifa and at the other, the Jordan River and the road to Jerusalem. Here, it is written, the final battle will take place and this valley will be for the massing of the armies against Israel. The hill itself, the "Har" of Megiddo, is run through with passages, a spring and many underground walkways.

It's a mystery in itself and a source of fascination for me. Below are some shots of the valley and the hill.




[the old values] one by one they pass away

Every so often, someone puts up a post which gets under the guard and not for any obvious reason.

Someone once said my views were from a world now long gone. Yes they are - G-d, Queen and country, the C of E, the sanctity of the family and so on. Freedom to run about safely as a child, to have virtually not a care in the world, to open doors for women and to give up your bus seat, home-cooked meals every evening, riding bicycles on the main roads.

Jams has run a post on Sydney Lucas, the WW1 veteran who moved to Australia and died in a retirement resort the equivalent of Cornwall.

When I look at him, I see my father one generation on - that jacket, the medals, the jumper, shirt and tie. That was my father from the second war, even down to the NHS glasses. These sorts of things bring you up short really.

I suppose my own generation is the last with these values forged in a society now truly gone. Will they ever return?

[tale of two ladies] can they arise, phoenix like

First the Bull moose. Among the stories reported by Fox News and Newsweek magazine:
-- She showed up in front of John McCain campaign aides "wearing nothing but a towel."

-- She sent campaign staff on a shopping spree for her family that insiders described as the "Wasilla hillbillies looting Neiman Marcus from coast to coast."

-- She was so shockingly ignorant of basic geography that aides prepping her for her single debate realized she didn't know that Africa is a continent and not a country, nor could she identify the countries that comprise North America.
The first is hardly a negative, the second can be adjusted by the GOP if it wants her and the third is a national American trait so if they want, as just said, she can be groomed for the part. There are grounds for it.

She does have brand image and not all of it is bad. If she is seen to grow into the role, she certainly has administrative experience [gubernatorial].

Across the pond, how is Segie faring? It's difficult to get up to date info in English but my rusty French encompasses this:
Ségolène Royal a enfin déclaré qu'elle souhaitait former «la meilleure équipe possible» en rassemblant tous «les les talents du Parti socialiste» (citant au passage Pierre Moscovici ou François Vallini).
In short, she's right in there and following the link back to le Figaro shows that at least she is the front runner. What it says to me, in both cases, is that there is deeply entrenched opposition to both women within their parties, perhaps even more so in that they are women.

On the other hand, they have both seen front line action and understand the process far better than before, something no other candidates can lay claim to.



[falklands] defended by the eu


Just a reminder of how the UK appears in EU eyes


The most serious sidelight in this new constitution seems to be:

The European Union classes the islands as a special overseas territory, subject to EU law in some areas, and eligible for some European funding initiatives. The inclusion of the islands in an appendix to the proposed European Constitution provoked a hostile Argentine response. Its mention is retained in the treaty replacing the abandoned Constitution, the Treaty of Lisbon.

As the UK is now virtually Scotland, Ireland, Wales and the nine formerly English regions, then the defenders of the Falklands are no longer Britain but the EU. Hence the self-determination on the islands and hence Argentina seeing its chance again.

Which forces would come to defend the islands this time? The UK's or the EU's? The latter has been looking for training practice. Their deployments so far, you'll notice, have not yet included former UK overseas dependencies.

However, Liam Fox has warned of the EU incursion, with particular reference to implications for NATO. The good news, if there is any, is that what the EU wants is not necessarily what they're immediately going to get.

[salmond] don't count your chickens

Just shows there is someone more detested than Brown in this local infight. Declaring they'd won even before the poll had closed - really!

Thursday, November 06, 2008

[niagara] la vie est peut-être belle





La meilleure chanson de Niagara! La barre est haute pour toutes ces pseudo-star que nous offrent les majors aujourd`hui. Niagara n`a pas de frontiere, la bonne muse n`a pas d`époque!

This brings back so many memories of my time in France when I had a French friend and we'd travel over cobblestoned back roads with dry stone walls to country farmhouses [used later in my second novel] whilst listening to her music on the car cassette player, including Cabrel and Niagara.

Like many French groups of the time, they had some excellent songs and others which were a bit dud. Generally they rocked and from St Malo to Lille, it was a good time to be in la belle France.

Vive la youtube. Ah, le nostalgie. Here is their site and here the wiki entry. If you like them, here is another good track.

[----] ------ ---- -------

[blogfocus] issues it would be nice to post on

The Croydonian raises the issue of people's memories of past history [20 years ago] fade with time. Some might venture to suggest it is because people are basically self-interested.

Chris Dillow writes "I don’t think anyone has grasped the full gob-smacking level of imbecility and venality within this ..." Great piece on Nu-Labour's grasp of economics and class hatred - not the usual rant.

Rob, of the Broadsheet Rag, writes of the feeling of depression or as he puts it, melancholy, he's been feeling. I do believe it is rampant across the world just now; it is especially so in Britain and more particularly, in the blogosphere. There have to be reasons. Mopsa adds to this in her way.

Eurodog has all you need to know about the background to the Basenji. You were obviously wondering where you could get your hands on such info before. Now you can.

The Flying Rodent, in his inimitable manner, writes: "From what I can pick up off FOX News and CNN, the internet's a veritable s--tstorm of rancid crazy, and here I am, reading mere books in my spare time! Proper ones, with no pictures!"

Hooky has a nice piece on Hewlett Packard getting it wrong again [Hooky puts it slightly differently] with: "Although the song used in the Hewlett Packard advert was a 1982 cover version sung by Joan Jett, the lyrics... Do you wanna touch (yeah)... Do you wanna touch me there, where..." are also those of Gary Glitter.

An older one from John Trenchard: "Britain loses control over immigration policy... and not a peep from the British mainstream media." 'Nuff said.

From L'Ombre: "Cat and dog owners are to be told to provide "entertainment" and "mental stimulation" for their pets under new government advice." Sigh - more government inanity. Longrider gives his take here. Interesting [to me] that two of my must-read bloggers should tackle the same piece. Well OK ... it's not that interesting, I suppose.

For those who like their posts a bit more enigmatic, you can't go past Lord Somber [that's his pic above left]. You make of it what you will but I agree with him.

If you like your entertainment earthy, the First Lady provides: "No, I canny see the ball at the end of the f****** table and I'm nay strong enuff, Im nay strong enuff to play snooker, and the ball, I canny see the balls, but see they Americans, they have much bigger balls, and bigger cues and bigger pockets ..."

Finally, how better to go out [and maintain the hellfire motif] than with Wonko's take on Guy Fawkes Night in this pic to the right.

[pull the other one] we're so altruistic


There is a theme running through many of my recent posts and I'll expand on it on Saturday, of people being so credulous. Look at this example:

The US has described as "disappointing" Russia's plans to deploy new missiles in the Baltic region to counter a US defence shield in central Europe. The US state department stressed the planned shield in the Czech Republic and Poland was "not aimed at Russia".

It puzzles me that anyone is supposed to swallow that guff about "not aimed at Russia". Oh come on, is there really anyone so patriotically blinded that they don't think the missiles take in Russia, among others? Who else do they take in then? Iceland?

Really and truly. They do believe people are taken in, don't they? Similarly, does anyone really believe that the Russians are not flying long range bomber missions to gear up for conflict? Of course they bl--dy well are.

And behind all this is money. And the money comes from sources. And the sources have no conscience. This one I wouldn't expect you to believe because it is so out on the edge for the average punter but even a moderate amount of research gives you all the evidence you need..

And why conflict? For example, twelve years ago the west and Russia were aiming for detente, good relations, opening Russia up economically and so on. There were excellent reasons for expanding trade and I even had a minor part in that. I can tell you that relations with almost every nation were not only cordial, they were warm at the upper level.

Now we have the British Council thrown out, Miliband speaking of an EU army, the Americans putting in missile shields, the Russian flights and so on and so on, let alone the real nutter presidents like in Iran.

Who caused this shift from detente to worldwide sabre rattling in such a short time? Jenner's and Quigley's quotes from previous posts touch on it. I know very well many of you think this is guff. It is not - do some research and find out for yourself.

We are heading for war for absolutely no good reason beyond the financial windfalls to be made.

Wednesday, November 05, 2008

[wordless wednesday] would you dare

Bonfire Live Blogging


20:59 – Everyone votes it was good fun and we all retire to the living room to watch V for Vendetta. Thanks for joining Bonfire Night Live Blogging.

20:56 – Each one is lit simultaneously by one person but two seem to be slewing so it’s behind the garage and into the kitchen again. Something hits the window and explodes into colour [have to stop drinking this green tea] I think one hit the garage wall but the rest went where they were supposed to. Luvverly colours.

20:54 – Everyone feels we’d better be a bit more careful with the rockets next time and we check that everything seems in order. We decide to let them all off at one time, plus the last Roman Candle. Seems a good plan. All gathered outside for the Big Bang, except for the dog and the toddler who are in the house with mum.

20:50 – Something wrong with one of the rockets stuck too hard. Father grabs toddler and runs behind garage, kids too, dog follows them, everyone else belts into the kitchen and closes door, pretty tight in there, rocket slews sideways, shoots across neighbour’s fence, and the next and the next and explodes in brilliant colours near the end of the street which the first kids have just reached in time to watch. Beautiful trajectory.

20:43
– Second and third rockets go up, two Roman Candles fizz away, kids love it, toddler’s playing with the remaining sticks, tea just about running out, trick or treat sweets now gone, not many sparklers left.

20:37 – First rocket lit, fizzes, shoots sky high and explodes in luvverly colours. Kids stop chasing dog for one moment. Tea drinkers approve. Toddler’s playing with the sticks from late afternoon. Bigger kids grab sticks and start sword fighting. I comment that they remind me of the Knights of Malta. That’s ignored.

20:24 – Neighbours’ noise beginning to die down, thank heavens and our turn to start. Decide to say nothing more about Malta. Dog scampering round looking for scraps, kids chasing dog, about half a box of sparklers left. Rockets ready? Check. Catherine wheels ready? Check. Roman Candles ready? Check. Last guests brought matches. Well, someone smokes at least.

20.12 – Everything’s just about ready for the Big Bang so I tell people about the fireworks factory of Santa Marija of Mqabba, well known in Malta for its beautiful fireworks displays, winning a competition in Rome, Caput Lucis. My mate’s mate asks me where I’d like the Catherine wheel inserted then gets back to his tea. Someone is watching Celtic v Man U upstairs. Seems Celtic scored.

19:53 – Last guests arrive and hallelujah – they bring some Catherine wheels and two rockets. Also a few bangers to use on the neighbours later. I tell the assembled crew that Catherine wheels are called "Irdieden" in Malta. Everyone just stares at me, wondering about my accent and someone puts the kettle on.

19:32 – Still waiting for the last guests to arrive, kitchen rocking, everyone high on green tea and sweets left over from trick or treat, kids all have sparklers and are running around the back yard like headless chickens. Noise in the neighbours’ gardens getting beyond a joke.

19:18 - Couple from the cul-de-sac at the end arrive with their kids. Kitchen getting pretty full by now. Cups of tea all round while a few of the lads go out back and stick more rockets in the ground. Kids have brought a boxload of bloody sparklers and want to light them. No one has matches and we're on electricity. No one smokes.

18:52
- First neighbours from four doors down arrive with lots of sparklers, a couple of bottles of coke but not much else. We make cups of tea and small talk all round. Someone complains about the bloody fireworks going off everywhere in the neighbourhood. Can't hear ourselves think.

17:54 - Stuck the rocket sticks in lines in the lawn in the back yard, plus the Roman candles. Hoping the guests will bring some fireworks themselves. Fireworks starting to go off in neighbours' yards before we get going.

17:21 - Built a fire in the back yard and decided to chance it. Not a big fire but a few sticks from the garage and a bit of kindling. Dog was so excited it charged through the middle of it, knocking the sticks everywhere. Gave up on the bonfire and decided to do the fireworks only. Couple of beers and phone calls later, the guests had been rounded up by phone and should be arriving soon.

16:15 - Council, fire department or whoever came and knocked it down while we were having a beer at the Park Hotel. Seems it was a designated site of something or other. How were we to know?

14:09 - Decided to shoot the Council but drove round instead and found another spot in the forest and it seems some other people who'd had their bonfire knocked down were also pretty p---ed off so we decided to join forces and build a humungous fire. Took two hours.

The story so far
- Found a vacant place to build the bonfire this morning; it took an hour and a half and then we broke for lunch. Council came, fire department or whatever and knocked it down. Not to worry.

[twilight's last gleaming] the last flickering of freedom

Oh, say can you see by the dawn's early light
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming?


What has America so proudly hailed last night? Just as the 1977 Aldrich film of the same name sank him into oblivion, I fear that any speaking out against this glib victory will be silenced by the cold shoulder of the entranced.

Blair came to power mouthing sentences without predicates, verbs or specifics: "Now is the time to do," "Britain forward, not back," and "If you value it, vote for it," and Obama has learnt from it: "Yes we can," "Change we can believe in," "If you believe that, I have a bridge I want to sell you in Alaska."

Oh, there is no doubt that the orchestrated insult to the intelligence will now be in full cry. The markets will rally, stocks will rise, the power will cease to bring the people to their knees for some time and give some respite. Obama will have victories and in spite of himself, he will find consensus. He'll be hailed as the Messiah America and the world have been hoping for. He is naive and therefore can be guided. Or coerced. The perfect president.

Then he'll go into the Middle-East and meddle with Israel.

That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion,
A home and a country should leave us no more!

We are just through the opening song in a bad horror movie. Pages and pages of quotes from key figures in the last decades should have given us pause for thought, should have woken us from our slumber. Over here, we voted in two Bilderbergers to wreak havoc in Britain and now bitterly regret our folly.

Thus it is also in the U.S.A:

Obama promises a new dawn after historic victory


Oh my goodness - this is their rhetoric down to a T.

Do you think Iraq was not a scene in a grand play, the grandest play of all, when GHW Bush's own certificates for servicemen stated it clearly [see pic below]? Why do you think the recent incompetence of the Fed and the CBs could contrast so starkly with their earlier savvy modernism? Why have banks gone to the wall, only to be rescued? Why have businesses gone to the wall and not come back? Have you not noticed how the finance is now legally centralized, even as the EU tightens its wasteful grip and the U.S.A. quietly passes its effective sovereignty to the NAU on March 23rd, 2009? Why was nothing done about immigration? Why was Islam given its toehold in western "democracies"? How do jihadis get through? Where is the promised Great Wall of Mexico?

Why are these things so? Many have written on the subject:

Some people call it socialism, some collectivism. I prefer to call it 'democratic centralism.'

The important point to remember about this group is not its ideology but its organization. It is a dynamic, aggressive, elite corps, forcing its way through every opening, to make a breach for a collectivist one-party state. It operates secretly, silently, continuously to transform our Government without our suspecting the change is underway.

This secret revolutionary corps understands well the power to influence the people by an elegant form of brainwashing. We see this, for example, in the innocent use of words like 'democracy' in place of 'representative government.' " [Senator William Jenner of Indiana - Feb. 23, 1954]

That quote refers to a collectivist one party state. Wild McCarthyist rhetoric? The rantings of a loony? Then how do you account for this paragraph in the Telegraph article this morning?

Democratic gains of up to nine seats in the Senate would give Democrats the 20-seat majority they need to withstand Republican filibusters and herald a new period of untrammeled one-party rule in Washington.


This is the reality of what America has just voted in, for itself:

May 18, 1972 - Roy M. Ash, Director of the Office of Management and Budget, declares that: "...within two decades the institutional framework for a world economic community will be in place...and aspects of individual sovereignty will be given over to a supernational authority."

The notion has been running through the corridors of power for some considerable time:

October 28, 1939 - In an address by John Foster Dulles [later U.S. Secretary of State], he proposes that America lead the transition to a new order of less independent, semi-sovereign states bound together by a league or federal union.

Harry S Truman, June 28th, 1945?

"It will be just as easy for nations to get along in a republic of the world as it is for us to get along in a republic of the United States."

Rear Admiral Chester Ward, former Judge Advocate General of the U.S. Navy, in 1975, referred to his CFR supporting:

"...submergence of U.S. sovereignty and national independence into an all powerful one-world government..."

It never ends:

1975 - In Congress, 32 Senators and 92 Representatives sign "A Declaration of Interdependence," which states that "we must join with others to bring forth a new world order...Narrow notions of national sovereignty must not be permitted to curtail that obligation." Congresswoman Marjorie Holt refuses to sign the Declaration saying:

"It calls for the surrender of our national sovereignty to international organizations. It declares that our economy should be regulated by international authorities. It proposes that we enter a 'new world order' that would redistribute the wealth created by the American people."

Where are these ideas springing from? Here is one source:

1966 - Professor Carroll Quigley, Bill Clinton's mentor at Georgetown University, authors a massive volume entitled "Tragedy and Hope" in which he states:

"There does exist and has existed for a generation, an international network which operates, to some extent, in the way the radical right believes the Communists act. In fact, this network, which we may identify as the Round Table Groups, has no aversion to cooperating with the Communists, or any other groups, and frequently does so.


I know of the operations of this network because I have studied it for twenty years and was permitted for two years, in the early 1960s, to examine its papers and secret records. I have no aversion to it or to most of its aims and have, for much of my life, been close to it and to many of its instruments. I have objected, both in the past and recently, to a few of its policies, but in general my chief difference of opinion is that it wishes to remain unknown, and I believe its role in history is significant enough to be known."

Secrecy. Here is one chief executive speaking specifically on this point:



Kennedy spoke from the heart, as does Obama. Both were put into power by forces behind the scenes, forces in control of the chief executive, or so they assumed. In Kennedy's case, there is a body of opinion which says he turned his rhetoric into a real belief in himself and his messianic mission. There are parallels here with Obama.

The socialist friends I have all have good hearts and really believe that it will relieve people's suffering for society to be re-engineered and for wealth to be redistributed forcibly. They speak of "fairness" but advocate coercion to achieve their concept of it. They seem to have no notion of the importance of "incentive" in producing the wealth they will then redistribute. They are focused on "injustice" and "prejudice" and see socialism as the ony way to make things right. They speak in Kennedian language.

The problem is that they are naive. They play right into the hands of the wolves and piranhas skilled in double-speak and ingsoc who pretend they are acting for freedom when they are really acting for slavery. Now Americans have voted a person in and have no idea that they have given him almost unlimited power, power which he does not himself have the wherewithal to exercise because of the forces which placed him in the presidency. If he does try, if he does start to follow his own rhetoric into action ... well.

This is the sort of thing he would be up against. Here is Pulitzer Award winning Professor Emeritus James McGregor Burns, in his innovation in leadership theory, which has been influential with all potential leaders of state, writing in "The Power to Lead" [1984]:

"The framers of the U.S. Constitution have simply been too shrewd for us. They have outwitted us. They designed separate institutions that cannot be unified by mechanical linkages, frail bridges, tinkering. If we are to 'turn the founders upside down' - we must directly confront the constitutional structure they erected."

The extremes of right and left are no different. This is where the BNP, the John Birch Society, the communists and the national socialists all lie. All have agendas of social engineering, redistributing wealth and centralized command and control. Far worse than these are the so-called "patriots" in the military industrial complex, the latter term a notion emanating from the farewell speech [1961] of the Chief Executive and former Commander of all Allied Forces, Eisenhower but laughed to scorn by many Americans :

In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the militaryindustrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.

We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together.


Does my memory serve me correctly that Ike was a patriotic Republican? This is what I am driving at here. What Ike was effectively saying was that you look at a man in a uniform, speaking of patriotism, democracy and freedom and you take him to be a patriot. Yet the quotes above are far from patriotic to America. The notion is too bizarre for the average person in the street to comprehend but it is so.

Some blogfriends said that America is a republic, not a democracy. I would suggest that America is an oligarchy and now it has a chief executive who has a mandate to alter the face of America, signing over vast amounts of sovereignty on March 23rd, 2009 to an NAU and no one can do anything about it because:

1. most Americans are in thrall to his charisma;

2. he has the political power to ram proposals through both congress and the senate.

Worse than this is that he is naive in the exercise of that power and will be subject to advice - the wrong advice. Plus coercion.

America has just signed its death warrant as an independent nation, as Britain did some years back in Nu Labour. Now Brown has come out with his "new financial architecture" of the world and is being roundly praised for it by the Round Table. Have you looked at this in any detail? It will repay the time spent. It is now impossible for England to exist as an entity and impossible for Britain to exist either with the provisions of Lisbon and the sheer weight of intrusive EU legislation stymiing every move to relieve the suffering of the UK.

Our task is not to weaken support for the IMF and World Bank at a time when the need for surveillance and coordination across the world is more pressing, but to strengthen them by building the operational rules and architecture for the new global financial system.

Ditto for America in the nearest future. And who will defend the sovereignty of the ordinary American and uphold the constitution? Obama?



And for how long can blogs publicize what is going on? Australia has brought in internet censorship. How long until America and Britain follow suit?

Small voices will still cry out, in ever decreasing numbers, to the bitter end:

Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: "In God is our trust."

[first indications] obama with breathing space

00:18 - exit polls show Obama but white males for McCain.

00:28 - electoral college 8 for McCain, 3 for Obama.

Live blogging at the Telegraph.

Time for bed. Sleep tight.

Tuesday, November 04, 2008

[change two matches] five squares make four


As the title implies, imagine that the "sticks" are matches [and in fact it is better to try it with matches on the table] and the idea is to move any two matches, only those two matches and create four squares where once there were five, all squares the same size and joined, with no matches left over or sticking out.

Try it.

Answer is here.

[which president] pet mix and match



[strange days] the messiah cometh ... or not



Today, someone said that if Obama gets in, there will be war in the Middle-East. That set me thinking because in the Telegraph today, on p19, it says:

“He’s been sent by G-d.” Even by the feverish standards of US politics, the messianic fervour of Obama’s campaign is disquieting.

What follows below was part of a radio programme on CentrExNews.com. [2000] with a supposed Illuminati escapee whom I’ve scoured the net for and have yet to see debunked. The Year 2000 date is quite significant because this scenario was only seen as the ravings of conspiracy theorists back then. Today it seems more plausible. I’m not asking you to accept it, only bear it in mind.

Q: What are the plans of the Illuminati for the Middle East and how will it affect the rest of the world? Will we see WWIII?

A: The conflict in the middle east is only to the advantage of the Illuminists. They HATE Israel, and hope one day to see it destroyed, and are biding their time. One of the olive branches offered by the UN when it takes over is that they will prevent war in the middle-east, and this will be greeted with joy by many. At the same time, the Illuminati covertly supply guns and funds to BOTH sides to keep the conflict fueled. They are very duplicitous people.

They used to funnel guns through the USSR to Palestine, for example, in the name of promoting "friendliness" between the USSR and this state and other arab nations. Then, the US Illuminists would help funnel guns to Israel, for the same reason. These people love the game of chess, and see warfare between nations as creating an order out of chaos.

Want to hear the end of the world scenario the Illuminati taught me? It was cult propaganda, but this is how they believed the New Order would be ushered in:

There will be continued conflict in the Middle East, with a severe threat of nuclear war being the culmination of these hostilities. An economic collapse that will devastate the economy of the US and Europe, much like the great depression.

One reason that our economy continues limping along is the artificial support that the Federal Reserve had given it, manipulating interest rates, etc. But one day, this won't work (or this leverage will be withdrawn on purpose) and the next great depression will hit. The government will call in its bonds and loans, and credit card debts will be called in. There will be massive bankruptcies nationwide. Europe will stabilize first and then Germany, France and England will have the strongest economies, and will institute, through the UN, an international currency. Japan will also pull out, although their economy will be weakened.

Peacekeeping forces will be sent out by the UN and local bases to prevent riots. The leaders will reveal themselves, and people will be asked to make a pledge of loyalty during a time of chaos and financial devastation. Doesn't sound pleasant, does it? I don't know the exact time frame for all of this, and wouldn't want to even guess. The good news is that if a person is debt-free, owes nothing to the government or credit debt, and can live self sufficiently, they may do better than others. I would invest in gold, not stocks, if I had the income. Gold will once again be the world standard, and dollars will be pretty useless.

Into this, the religious cannot be kept out of consideration of the Middle-East because political stability has heavy religious overtones there. The state of play is that the Zionist extremists [inc. the Temple Institute] are waiting to lay the corner stone of the temple but are constrained by the state from doing so because a red heifer which fulfils all the criteria can’t be found.

In case you think you’re going loopy, that was precisely what I wrote. Here are three articles relating to it – one, two, three.

In summary, when the cornerstone is laid for the rebuilding of the Third Temple, which itself depends on the birth of the red heifer, then the Messiah appears and the era of Israel is ushered in. This would light the tinderbox of the Middle-East, as has nearly happened a few times, for example:

On August 21, 1969 Michael Rohan a non-Jewish tourist from Australia set fire to the Al Aksa Mosque. Firefighters fought the blaze for four hours as an angry Muslim crowd shouted "Down with Israel." The president of the Muslim Council accused the fire brigades of a deliberately slow response. The Arab states blamed Israel for the incident even though Rohan identified himself as a "Church of God" member. The fire destroyed a priceless on thousand year old wood and ivory pulpit (minbar) that had been sent from Aleppo by Saladin.

… and:

Even though the Temple Mount has been regained and is officially part of the State of Israel, it is still being profaned as far as the God of Israel is concerned. When the Mount fell into Jewish hands after the Six Day War, Israel took the Western Wall Area but left administration of the Mount to the Muslim Council of Elders. Israel also banned Jewish worship. The secular Jews did not care and many of the Orthodox Jews believe that the Third Temple would have to await the arrival of the Messiah. These issues remain stalemated to the present day.

So there is a Jewish preparation to rebuild the Temple which would immediately create war across the Muslim world, which in turn would drag in the western powers. If the heifer can be found, then the only other precondition is the Messiah.

Here is where we switch to Christian eschatology. There is much disagreement, especially between pre-tribulationists and post-tribulationists. remember, at this point, that no one is asking you to accept any of the above or what follows, just to note it.

What is generally agreed by Christians is that these things will happen in the end times, whenever they are:

1. There is a “falling away” of belief, a time when parent is against parent, brother is against sister and iniquity is everywhere. All the old ways have fallen away.

2. There is a one currency system and the “mark of the beast” either on the forehead or in the right “hand”, in order to “buy or sell”. No one eats without this.

3. The Jewish Temple will be rebuilt.

4. A seven year period begins, the Tribulation, which culminates, halfway along, with the “desolation of abomination”. This is generally held to mean that someone purports to be the Jewish Messiah and says he will defend Israel against the hostile elements besieging it. Instead he goes into the Temple Inner Sanctum and says that the sacrifice need no longer be. He puts something in there “which should not be”. Then the Jews will know they’ve been tricked but it is too late.

5. The conflagration of the world really picks up and Christians are hunted down and persecuted as “insurgents” at this time. Almost everyone turns them in to the authorities because of the deep unpopularity whipped up by the powers that be.

6. Somewhere in there are the ten Northern Nations, whoever they are and an army of 200 million coming “from the east”. This army apparently crosses two great rivers.

7. It ends with the true believers taken up to Heaven and the rest of the place burns. Scripture says you can never tell the time this is all going to happen.

If you put all the above post together then, to the Telegraph article on Obama’s Messianic mission, long on rhetoric and short on detail, can be added the notion of the Black Nobility, although how Obama comes into this, originating in Kenya, remains a mystery.

What do I think of all this? I don’t know but I do think that we are in strange days. We are certainly witnessing the rise of a possible president in the mould of a Kennedy. Tomorrow will tell.

[palin] nick can see belgium from his house


The pic is just a screenshot but if you click here, which takes you to the Melbourne Age, you can hear the whole spoof of Sarah Palin by two Canadian pranksters and it is kinda nice actually. Pity she cut him off at the end when he admitted he was playing the prank.

[clarkson] one wonders

Is Clarkson a complete moron?

UPDATE: It's been brought to my attention that I may have been in error in running this post above. It was pointed out that Jeremy Clarkson probably made this programme months ahead and so couldn't control when this particular one went to air.

That was the decision of the highly paid producers and so it is the BBC I should be asking the question of, not Jeremy Clarkson.

[another bloody meme] four of ...

Now this is psychic.

I dropped off to sleep about midnight but about 2:30 a.m., woke up in a sweat and had this idea I'd best check comments. Turned on the Mac and checked. Nope - nothing unusual. Thought I'd check Ordo and Halls of Macadamia.

Now why would I do that? Well, because they're good blogs, I know but I think you understand.

Ordo had a meme up he'd been tagged with. Oh how I detest memes but he's an interesting guy and when I saw "four places I have lived", I thought hmmm - interesting. Got to the end and what do you know? He's tagged me among four people. Well, Ordo, your wish is my command.


Four jobs I've had

1. Radio DJ
2. Gardener
3. Storeman
4. Lecturer

Four films I can watch over and over

1. Daniel Craig Bond films
2. Jason Bourne films
3. Snatch
4. Lord of the Rings Goblin Version

Four places I've lived

1. Britain
2. Australia
3. Russia
4. Sicily

Four TV shows I love

1. Hard Talk
2. Travel shows
3. Antiques Roadshow
4. Various music from classical to rock

Four places Ive been on holiday

1. San Clemente
2. Vancouver
3. River Sai Yok
4. Reykjavik

Four of my favourite meals

1. Almost anything Italian
2. Almost anything Russian
3. Almost anything South-East Asian
4. Almost anything Northern British

Four websites I visit daily

1. Bloghounds members
2. Rest of my personal roll
3. Various news sources
4. Jobsites

Four places I'd like to be right now

1. Northern England
2. Russia
3. France
4. Italy, Canada, Australia , U.S.A. [sorry]

Four bloggers I tag

1. Longrider
2. L'Ombre d'Olivier
3. The Quiet Man
4. Posh Totty

[There were seventeen I wanted to tag straight away but the rules were strict and so this is where the pin stabbed. Sorry to two close friends but felt I shouldn't give you away by tagging you.]

Monday, November 03, 2008

[thought for the day] monday evening

It's not so much the situation you find yourself in which is important but how you feel about it. If you have internal comfort, you are calm. If you are calm, you can be happy. If you are happy, you make others happy and they return the compliment. In the direst of societal situations, it is still possible to be happy.

[cold] the genders react differently

I really like this site - it has some great shots of Russia.


Some very interesting posts from the Quiet Man just now but this one I particularly liked:

So women are actually designed to be cold. But while they moan about it incessantly, their ability to survive cold is significantly greater than men's, because the body of women retains its warmth in the inner torso, and hence the extremities are always cold. And the skin generally, too, and hence the woman will also feel cold (kind of like how alcohol makes one feel warm by the warmth rushing into the skin, without the body getting warmer). And that is so for when the woman gets pregnant, and the foetus can be warmed.

I've noticed something too and was talking to a lady a few days back about it - why is it that women shy away from hats in the winter but they'll wear gloves early, whereas the man will get his cap on early and go to gloves last?

[headstones] the measure of your respect


Let me quote from the Science Direct site:

The age-old tradition of feasting the dead has been maintained by Russian populations for well over five centuries. Graveyards hold a special place both in traditional Orthodox faith and in the lives of Russians and others.

The tradition of feasting the dead for three, nine and forty days after death, can be traced unbroken to pre-Christian Rus’. Details may vary, but always the soul of the deceased must battle its way out of the body and then spend time in both heaven and hell. While this journey is occurring, the living must remember the dead, helping their souls during this period of travail.

Even a final feast one year after the death of the individual does not end the relationship between the living and the deceased, for the graves are still visited on a regular basis as a sign of respect to the dead, who are potential saints in the Russian Orthodox tradition.

This ‘saintly’ land — Russian graves — defines homeland and roots the population to a new area. By examining the importance of graveyards to Russians, to the ethnic Komi of Northern Russia, and other Eastern Europeans, a sense of place is maintained in these rituals of daily life.

Of course, we also revere our departed family and I'm not downplaying that in any way but for the Russian, it is something just a little bit more. i experienced this during two deaths of people close to people close to me. One was my best mate's father and the other my girlfriend's grandfather who'd gone well over the odds, age wise.

The essential thing is that money does not matter in choosing the headstone and the best thing to buy is marble. This takes quite a bit of decision making at a traumatic time but it must be done properly. Then a photo must be found that will live in perpetuity. In my mate's case, it was his father in uniform as a younger man and in the gf's, it had to have a particular helicopter emblazoned behind it, as that had been his life's work, designing systems for those.

The ceremony we'll now skip over and move to the nine day feast and the forty day feast. It absolutely must be and the interesting thing is that you are not supposed to weep and gnash the teeth but really get into the food and converse. There are speeches and toasts and this way, you are assuring G-d, presumably, that the man was much loved. Or maybe it is just tradition.

Now, when you visit the cemetery on special days, it is the done thing to visit before midday apparently and there is a ritual to that too. On one occasion, I went with my mate and he formally introduced me to his father, the photo engraved picture in the marble headstone actually looking out at me, a stern figure but I'm sure he was present and said hello back.

One slightly amusing aspect is that the closer you are buried to the cemetery entrance, the more you are an important person [were] in the community. So I couldn't help noticing figures like the one in the photo above [sorry about the writing across it] and some of them were dressed in shell suits and t shirts.

They do things a bit differently over there.

[last day] last words in america

It might be much closer than people have thought. McCain is better on the back foot:

"I respect and admire my opponent, he has motivated millions of people around the world, around the nation, and has secured the nomination of his party against some pretty formidable opposition," McCain said.

The generous remarks fit with what advisors said weeks ago -- that McCain is intent on going out, win or lose, on something of a high note.

He might just get a surge back to him and then the only question is whether it is in crucial areas.

Sunday, November 02, 2008

[housekeeping] tweaking the template

UPDATE: This page is as it was but the blogroll page has been redone.


The two sidebars together are not meant to be a mistake - I've put them there to see how they go for a few days.

As I usually have pics across the top of a post or on the left, this lends itself to the new format but there've been difficulties with the html. I can't seem to determine sidebar length and so it seems to cut off below a certain point and the text then wraps around. At first I thought this was not so good but it actually shortens the page, so I've left it.

Not being sure how it would look on Windows with IE, I downloaded IE5 for Mac and have looked at the page in Safari, Firefox and IE. Seems to be basically all right.

See how it strikes you.

[haute couture] of a topical yet practical nature

Just flicking through the haute couture, as one is want to do on a post-halloween, pre-election weekend and came up with the headgear to the left here.

An eminently practical number, this would require a voiture with adequate headroom, say a Bentley or similar and would be more suited to a shorter woman, say around 150 cm. A London taxi would do the trick, of course.

For use at the call centre phone or in a business meeting, some form of curtain-tie would be necessary to hold the grassy bits up out of the eyes but the beauty of this hat is that it does not intefere with the ears and thus phone answering would not be impaired.

Note the muted colours and absence of anything actually spectacular or daring in the below neck area. This is French couture down to a T - only one extravagant item at any one time.

Perhaps a floral stoll could be designed though to compliment the number for these chilly days or failing that, a floral wreath or two could be pressed into service.

Yes, I know what you are saying - that outfit is far too "green" and de rigeur. It hardly takes into account the current fashion for all things African and third world. To address these concerns, the number below right has been designed to re-create the "peasant in the fields at harvest time" effect.

Can't you see yourself now, sashaying down the footpath with oomph and elegance, sporting third world, emerging economy chic that grabs everybody’s attention?

Who needs the ultra glamorous layered look, when you are just so politically correct in this tribute to global sustainability?

And just look at those carbon footprints!

If you're one of those unfortunates of a Caucasian complexion, this shouldn't pose insurmountable problems. A week or two of the yellow tanning oil should produce the desired effect but I'd be more concerned with the conversational limitations - a few turns of the head and someone is whacked over the mush something awful, particularly if you are 150 cm tall.

The appropriate response is tailor made: "Are you oppressing me?"

[electoral college] nearly dropped in 1970

Read about the current state by state situation here.


Some people are not aware that on November 4th, the President and Vice-President of the United States are NOT being chosen by the people.

Rather, the people are voting for Electors who will themselves vote for the President and Vice-President on December 15th.

You might like to read about this here or here. What some people may also not be aware of is that the system was nearly abolished in 1969/70:

The closest the nation has ever come to abolishing the Electoral College occurred during the 91st Congress. The presidential election of 1968 had ended with Richard Nixon receiving 301 electoral votes to Hubert Humphrey's 191. Yet, Nixon had only received 511,944 more popular votes than Humphrey, equating to less than 1% of the national total. George Wallace received the remaining 46 electoral votes with only 13.5% of the popular vote.

House Joint Resolution 681 was introduced to amend the Constitution:

On April 29, 1969, the House Judiciary Committee voted favorably, 28–6, to approve the Amendment. On September 30, 1969, President Richard Nixon gave his endorsement for adoption of the proposal, encouraging the Senate to pass its version of the Amendment. In its October 8, 1969 edition, the New York Times reported that the legislatures of 30 states were "either certain or likely to approve a constitutional amendment embodying the direct election plan if it passes its final Congressional test in the Senate." On August 14, 1970, the Senate Judiciary Committee sent its report advocating passage of the Amendment to the full Senate.

Then it was filibusted out. Shame.

[chaucer and luther] of like mind on pardons



Geoffrey Chaucer, of course, wrote the Canterbury Tales and one of his targets was the Pardoner, even though the church did not specifically approve of their excesses:

According to canon law, a pardoner or quaestor of alms did not have the right either to forgive sin or to sell indulgences. Indulgences remitting punishment for sin could only be legitimately granted to persons who confessed their sins to their own parish priests.

Despite canon law, the practice did become corrupt:

As early as 1212 the Church acknowledged the corrupt practices of many pardoners. Church officials created numerous bulls recommending that the practice of pardoners be restricted: that they not be allowed to preach but only to read their letters.

Chaucer wasn't the only one to criticize pardons:

When the preaching friar in Piers the Plowman wishes to scorn the Augustinians, his worst accusation is that they lived by the "pur pardoners craft."

... but he was maybe the first to publicize it in a populist manner for the time:

By this gaude have I wonne, yeer by yeer,
An hundred mark sith I was pardoner.
I stonde lik a clerk in my pulpet,
And whan the lewed peple is down yset,
I preche so as ye han herd bifore,
And telle an hundred false japes more.

Martin Luther, despite the views of some revisionist historians, probably nailed his 95 theses to the Wittenburg church in 1517 and the idea really began to take hold:

75. To think the papal pardons so great that they could absolve a man even if he had committed an impossible sin and violated the Mother of God -- this is madness.

76. We say, on the contrary, that the papal pardons are not able to remove the very least of venial sins, so far as its guilt is concerned.

77. It is said that even St. Peter, if he were now Pope, could not bestow greater graces; this is blasphemy against St. Peter and against the pope.

78. We say, on the contrary, that even the present pope, and any pope at all, has greater graces at his disposal; to wit, the Gospel, powers, gifts of healing, etc., as it is written in I. Corinthians xii.

The threat to the Catholic church is in the idea that no one but G-d can forgive and extrapolated, that means that the Pope can aid, teach and point people in the right direction, intercede with G-d, possibly even heal ... but he can't actually forgive, nor can those he sends out to do so. This is contained in Mark 2:7:

Why doth this man thus speak blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God only?

Jesus, of course, argued that He had the authority to do that and the miracles he performed [and I have no doubt something happened, otherwise those huge crowds would not have followed Him] were material manifestations of that ability.

This is dangerous stuff, as anyone with a grasp of pyrotechnics, chemistry and the skill to speak authoritatively in pseudo-biblical language, such as Maitreya in Nairobi, [although some argue that he is something altogether different], can put on a spectacle to show he is the messiah.

Where the false messiahs fall down is that after the spectacle, there is nothing sustaining to go on with and none of the displays contain evidence of actual healing which stands the test of time. What follows is a lot of gobbledegook in blue and yellow watercolours and somewhere along the line, money comes into it. Share International is a front organization for this stuff.

What is interesting with many of these "messiahs" is how they try to ape the image of Jesus Christ in the popular imagination. Why not come as a Martian, for example? Why not as Mohammed? Why not the Buddha?

[all souls day] unique day of unity

Which day can unite Catholics, Protestants and Pagans? All Souls Day, of course:

It is a Roman Catholic day of remembrance for friends and loved ones who have left for their heavenly abode. All Soul's Day has its roots in the ancient Pagan Festival of the Dead, based on the pagan belief that the souls of the dead would return for a meal with the family.

Catholics believe that those who die are not immediately eligible for the Beatific vision (the reality and goodness of G-d and heaven) and need to be purged of their sins. This purification of the elect [is called] "purgatory," maintain[ing] that:

(a) there will be a purification of the believers prior to entering heaven and,
(b) the prayers and masses of the faithful benefit those in the state of purification.

Another site says:

It is practically universal folk belief that the souls in Purgatory are allowed to return to earth on All Souls Day. In Austria, they are said to wander the forests, praying for release. In Poland, they are said to visit their parish churches at midnight, where a light can be seen because of their presence. Afterward, they visit their families, and to make them welcome, a door or window is left open. In many places, a place is set for the dead at supper, or food is otherwise left out for them.

I'm not a Roman Catholic and yet the notion of Purgatory is a compelling one. The idea of being able to expiate the wrongdoing we might have been too stubborn to concede during our life, the idea of that "final chance" is one many of us would surely endorse.

Protestants say that the very moment of forgiveness through faith obviates the need for a Purgatory and they might have a point. I don't know. I just know that this day is a day for remembering departed family and friends, a day when you might, just possibly might, be able to intercede for them.

I'm certainly going to and this is what I meant by it being a day which can unite all faiths and non-faith as well. Think of it as a possibility. Think of your grandparents and anyone else close who has departed.

Your thoughts might have no effect at all if there is no creation, no G-d. But what if you let the chance go by and what if it did eventually turn out to be so? Could you forgive yourself?

So I'd urge everyone today to spare a thought for the souls departed. Remember, if you miss this day today, don't worry. It might just be efficacious tomorrow as well:

When NOV-2 is a Sunday, as it was for the year 2003, the celebration is held on the following Monday.


[presidential election] state by state guide and candidates


Clicking on the map above will take you to an interactive map on the election site and is the most comprehensive and succinct guide I've seen on the net so far. When you are in there, hover your cursor over the state and it will do the rest.

Karl Denninger, through whom I found this map, says:

The count for McCain (all red-shaded states) is 185. To win he must flip all of the blue-bordered and light blue states. If he misses any of them - any - he loses. Flipping all of them gets McCain 274 EVs, but the lowest-count state in the game here is worth 5 EVs (Nevada), which means there are no losses that can be sustained. Further, if he loses just one of the "barely republican" states other than Montana or North Dakota, nothing else matters.

The game is over John. While technically this race is winnable, were I a bookmaker I'd give you 20:1 odds against.


For a complete rundown of the candidates, you can't go past Wiki.

Karl Denninger is an astute American economist and all indicators are that he is right. However, there are so many unknowns, such as the anti-black factor, for example. Who is going to publicly say he won't vote for Obama because of race but what he does in the ballot booth is between the voter and that bit of paper.

People might also vote for John McCain for Sarah Palin - I imagine she'll soak up a lot of the women's votes, which are unrepresented really. There might also be a last minute gut reaction to Obama's inexperience, the too-slick way he's been railroaded through, slickness being an out of fashion idea just now in the light of Wall Street and the mortgage crisis.

I really feel that this one is down to the wire. I could well have egg on my face Wednesday morning after an Obama landslide and so I'll issue a pre-emptive apology now.

The two party system

Political commentators have long had concerns about the system:

Although the system has declined into a two-party system, the Constitution does not mandate a two-party system, nor does it limit political parties. In fact, it doesn't say anything about political parties at all. During the ratification, the Federalists and Republicans did debate and argue, but these two "parties" were not opposition parties, nor were they to truly develop into such until 1814.

James Madison, in Federalist Paper #10 argues against "factions," claiming that to ensure a fair democratic process such factions (politically parties) should be limited. Of course the anti-federalist's Clay reacted vehemently in Federalist Paper #11, claiming that limiting the liberty of citizens to form political factions violated the sprit of democracy, a point that Madison had already conceded.

The current dysfunctional, partisan, two-party system essentially creates an "either or fallacy" [and] has little to do with the Constitution, and everything to do with ideologues. Until a serious third party develops, the current false dilemma will be perpetuated, and the win-at-any-costs mantra will remain the common political strategy.

... and:

Most third parties also recommend taking back the public airways and granting media supported access to the public by all qualifying parties during an election cycle. That is the goal; giving the American people real choices at the voting booth. A government that is made up of multiple parties will diminish the concentration of power in the hands of a few political bosses over all the diverse people of this great land.

In the view of this blog, there is no true democracy any more in America, no real debate immediately prior to the ballot box - it's been a three card trick foisted on the voters for many generations. Americans need to get back to their constitution, the only document separating them from third world countries, politically. It is a fabulous document, for all its flaws and it is one which Americans will need to cling to tightly in the coming troubles, 2009-12.