[housekeeping] national holiday

To non-English readers:

As it's a national holiday today, blogging will resume only in the evening. Have a good day too in your various respective ways, people.

[thought for the day] tuesday evening

All charming people have something to conceal - usually their total dependence on the appreciation of others.

[Semi Carnally, 1938]

[tuesday caption] add yours

[whodunnit 1] first of a holmes series

This is what I sometimes did with the Year 9s. See how you go:

Sherlock Holmes received an urgent telegram from a client who felt certain that his life was in danger. Holmes and Watson hurried to his lodgings only to find that they were too late. The man had been murdered minutes before they had arrived.

"I found him lying there," said the landlady. "Before he died, he muttered something about belonging to a secret club and quoted the number 92."

"Damned strange thing to say, Holmes," said Watson. Holmes nodded in agreement. "Did he say anything else?" Holmes asked the landlady.

"I asked him who had done this terrible thing to him, but he just repeated the number 92!" she answered.

Holmes thanked her for her help and discharged her. He then proceeded to search the dead man's room, coming across a letter addressed to the man from the other three members of the secret club.

Their names were Wilson, Updike and Brown. In the top left of the letter was the name of the dead man, Smith (Code 69).

From this, Holmes deduced that he had been murdered by another member of the club, and that the number that he had uttered to the landlady was in fact the code number of the murderer.

Holmes then supplied the name of the killer.

What was that name? More importantly, on what basis did you decide on him? The answer is tucked away down below in white. You'll need to highlight.

Wilson - each letter has a number.

[crisis] what crisis?

There is a tendency in the blogosphere to look at the "micro", e.g. the abolition of the 10p tax rate and rightly so.

However, not enough attention is given to the "macro" - the overall game plan globally and any who attempt this are caught up in a hostile barrage of cliches about "truthers" and "conspiracy theories", among other things.

It astounds me by what sort of logic these cliches are trotted out as a first knee-jerk reaction. For example, there is most certainly a change in the world's weather. Whether it is a downward point on a hundred year graph or whether something direr I shan't argue here but those who then say "it isn't man made" really mean "it isn't the common man's fault".

That's what it comes down to.

And the Gorites with all the "carbon footprint" bullsh - they are the ones who are milking the issue for all it's worth so to agree that there is a change taking place - does that put us in bed with the illuminists? And what's with all the cliches and catchcries?

I'm not interested in the cliches, I don't have an agenda to push. I'm an ordinary person trying to make sense of the plethora of words.

And this denial of the very principle of collusion - for example, Lisbon being voted on in Ireland - is that not evidence of collusion with Barros et al? And what's this denial of collusion anyway? Don't people collude to protect their interests wherever they are? Aren't the Round Tables in Europe logically going to do that? Isn't the Bilderberg Conference going to press for a certain world view? Aren't you going to collude with your partner for your mutual interests?

Isn't this simply logic?

And what's with this catchcry "conspiracy theorist" the moment someone draws attention to a global issue? Where's the theory in this? It's simple logic.

When Fred Gates said, in 1904:

In our dreams we have limitless resources, and the people yield themselves with perfect docility to our molding hands...

... is that not a commentary on what we are now seeing - the surveillance moves, the tightening of security, ID cards, global databases which mysteriously lose data, the Milliband EU army, China's muscle flexing, e.g. in Africa, the U.S. housing and sub-prime crises, the UK abolition of 10p taxation and the shifting of the poor onto tax credit dependence and so on and so on and so on.

And now this:

Japan's acute butter shortage, which has confounded bakeries, restaurants and now families across the country, is the latest unforeseen result of the global agricultural commodities crisis.

A sharp increase in the cost of imported cattle feed and a decline in milk imports, both of which are typically provided in large part by Australia, have prevented dairy farmers from keeping pace with demand.

While soaring food prices have triggered rioting among the starving millions of the third world, in wealthy Japan they have forced a pampered population to contemplate the shocking possibility of a long-term — perhaps permanent — reduction in the quality and quantity of its food.

A 130% rise in the global cost of wheat in the past year, caused partly by surging demand from China and India and a huge injection of speculative funds into wheat futures, has forced the Government to hit flour millers with three rounds of stiff mark-ups.

Ellee Seymour comes at it from the citizen's angle:

Am I the only shopper who has noticed that shelves in supermarket stores are not as plentiful as they used to be? In the last few weeks when I’ve popped into Tesco, it’s almost like the pre-Christmas rush has taken place, there are lots of unfilled spaces on the shelves.

I’ve just read that one of the UK’s biggest meat processing companies has been forced to close a factory blaming soaring food inflation, and 450 people have lost their jobs.

Faccenda Group, the second-biggest chicken processing company in Britain, said it had been hit by the rocketing cost of wheat - a key ingredient in chicken feed - which has more than doubled in the past year.

And there are also reports that some some retail chains are stockpiling goods, afraid that their suppliers will go bust due to rising prices.

One of the UK’s largest cash-and-carry chains has increased the volume of vegetable oil and rice that it holds in its warehouses and is understood to have spent £10 million on extra stock. How long before other outlets follow suit, spreading panic?

Stockpiling promotes fear and greed, the instinct for self-survival kicks in, of caring for your own, it can bring out the worst in people’s natures.

This is insanity which Ellee is touching on - this is a return to mass uneasiness and helplessness, global eco-collapse, world war and so on. The pre-WW2 scenario. This is the USSR handout mentality, the British rationing, the American food queues - buddy, can you spare a dime. This is the current policy direction and have any of these policies borne fruit as yet or have they sunk us even deeper in the mire? Please tell me.

And all avoidable.

Yes there is a soaring population worldwide, particularly in AIDS infested Africa and Asia. Yes there is a biofuel ad speculative food crisis world wide. Bird flu is just one manifestation of the essential limitation of humans of a certain ilk at the top trying to out-God G-d. Anyone remember the Tower of Babel?

Hey - humans cannot sort out their problems on their own. They are incompetent, they make errors, they have no long term strategy, they're gullible, as Fred Gates pointed out and the people at the top hold all the cards. You hold food, water and the air we breathe in your hands and you have control, whether markets collapse or whatever.

Here are some snippets on population - here, here and here, this latter where David Cameron says:

But the net figure is currently too high, he will say, “so we need policy to reduce the level of net immigration – and we also need policy to reduce the pressure of household formation”.

Ho ho - reduce household formation? Meaning families. Oh yeah - the illumined plank of destruction of the family as a means of controlling population growth? Great stuff, David.

And is there an unofficial depopulation agenda or not? Well one blogpost can't answer that but here's some reading on the matter and one quote from the editors:

While some aspects of the depopulation agenda remain murky and speculative -- its precise implementation and how it will unfold, the evidence for the existence of an intentional depopulation agenda itself is overwhelming. The public record is clear and available for all to read.

And if that is one of the goals, then here are some methods of achieving it, whilst ostensibly finding a solution for it. Here are some other methods.

No governmental interference in any of this? All just happened by itself? If even part of this report is true, then it is food for thought:





Introduction to "The Population Factor'', in "Down to Earth", HRH Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, 1988:

Predation, climatic variation, disease, starvation--and in the case of the inappropriately named Homo sapiens, wars and terrorism--are the principal means by which population numbers are kept under some sort of control.

"People" interview with HRH Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, Dec. 21, 1981, "Vanishing Breeds Worry Prince Philip, But Not as Much as Overpopulation'':

The more people there are, the more resources they'll consume, the more pollution they'll create, the more fighting they will do. We have no option. If it isn't controlled voluntarily, it will be controlled involuntarily by an increase in disease, starvation and war.

Now be honest - you half agree with him, don't you? Over-population is a major problem and if a billion Africans and Asians perish, well that only means increased security for you and your family, it eases the pressure on food, as demonstrated in the 2008/2009 global food crisis and heck - how will their perishing affect you? They're living on another continent. Heck, if they can't look after themselves, they don't deserve to live, right?

Therein lie the seeds of elitism, conveniently ignoring human ethical standards, giving the nod to extreme solutions to problems artificially exacerbated. What separates us from the beasts when we go along with these subtle suggestions? Are we any better than the fair citizens at the Nuremburg rallies?

Looking at all the aforementioned in summary, could and would an Andy Jackson or Churchill or Ben Chifley or whoever be able to help defuse the human timebomb ticking away? Would they seize the moment and reverse the acquiescence to the coming genocide? Are we morally untainted - you and I?

People, in our cozy British, British Commonwealth and North American living rooms, we think we are still safe in April, 2008 except, that is, for Ellee's first speculative query that things might not be quite so good for us as we'd supposed.

Out there in the wider world there are already rioting, looting and mass deaths.

To invoke a well worn cliche myself - please, I beg of you, readers:

Wake up and smell the coffee.

[youth strategy] negotiating your father

Don't normally run these things but as She passed it along to me, I'll post it:

A father passing by his son's bedroom was astonished to see that his bed was nicely made and everything was picked up.

Then he saw an envelope, propped up prominently on the pillow that was addressed to "Dad." With the worst premonition he opened the envelope with trembling hands and read the letter.

Dear Dad:

It is with great regret and sorrow that I'm writing you.

I had to elope with my new girlfriend because I wanted to avoid a scene with Mom and you. I have been finding real passion with Stacy and she is so nice.

But I knew you would not approve of her because of all her piercing, tattoos, tight motorcycle clothes and the fact that she is much older than I am. But it's not only the passion...Dad she's pregnant.

Stacy said that we will be very happy. She owns a trailer in the woods and has a stack of firewood for the whole winter. We share a dream of having many more children. Stacy has opened my eyes to the fact that marijuana doesn't really hurt anyone. We'll be growing it for ourselves and trading it with the other people that live nearby for cocaine and ecstasy.

In the meantime we will pray that science will find a cure for AIDS so Stacy can get better. She deserves it. Don't worry Dad. I'm 15 and I know how to take care of myself. Someday I'm sure that we will be back to visit so that you can get to know your grandchildren.

Love, Your Son John

PS. Dad, none of the above is true. I'm over at Tommy's house. I just wanted to remind you that there are worse things in life than a report card. That's in my center desk drawer. I love you. Call me when it's safe to come home.