Just a brief note here..
The Chinese have virtually completed the world's largest hydro-electric facility, the 'Three Gorges Dam'. Now this was a project pondered as early as 1918 by the Nationalist leader Sun Yat-Sen.. an idea Mao Zedong waxed poetic on his vision of a 'great wall of stone' from which a 'smooth lake' would drown the gorges..
The completion of the massive wall was broadcast on State Television, but there were no high-ranking officials there, as a cost cutting measure..
Really. It would have had a pricetag of over a million yuan if it had been a State Occasion.. Instead, they marked the pouring of the last stretch of concrete with a small brass band and some confettii..
There's still work to do, but it's mildly disturbing to ponder the fact, that this sleeping giant is realling beginning to stir..
Ahh.. and as a final thought. The Chinese have imported foreign help for the first time for this project. German Engineers have been recruited to ensure the safety and integrity of the construction. This marks the first time any foreigner has been asked in, for any reason.
If credibility is what China seeks, allowing the techinal Germans to endorse the work would certainly accomplish that end.

Ahh, the world is reeling in the past couple of days of profit taking on the markets..
One had to realize, that with the Dow reaching it's highest levels ever, gold back to 1980's levels, oil supplies in doubt with the developing situations in the Middle East, investors would take a skim. The Indian Market, the Sensex, dropped by 7.1% today. The Hang Seng and all the others are suffering from the same malaise, that of corporate and individual cash inflow.
Nothing really to worry about in itself, but the American CPI could cause problems over a slightly longer term.
If the States does decide to raise interest rates, it's going to involve not only the long term borrowers the likes of corporate giants, but also those small businesses. Unemployment will rise as Joe's Market lets it's unessential workers go, State welfare costs will spiral upwards, and we'd be looking at another recession, if a mini one at that.
It's not what George wants to leave as his legacy.
But, optimism leads one to believe that OPEC will raise it's productivity levels, that gold and other precious metals will rebound, and investors will once again settle into the levels of complaincency they've enjoyed for the past decade or so.
It has been said, that as the US economy goes, so goes the rest of the world, and what perhaps is the real reason behind this temporary panic in the markets, is the proclaimed moves by several big economies towards non-fossil fuel sources. This is a manufactured blip, designed to underline the fact this world runs on oil, and while the Middle East has any clout whatsoever, it will play with it's customers economies at will.
This is one of the prime reasons research into alternate fuel sources should be accelerated. Now, acceleration is defined as a change in the rate of velocity per unit of time, and we are running out of the latter factor. There is going to be continuous dicord in the OPEC consortium, and continuous means just that. Perpetual.
Time we cut the oil umbillicus, with prejudice, if necissary.
George is still wrestling with the westernisation of Iraq, while dancing with the Iraqi's on the nuclear front, and the Sudanese by interfering with the internal problem in Darfour.
Now it's a given it is not politically correct to say 'let them work it out themselves'. It would be considered naive for us to think that they've millennia of expertise, having dealt with drought, famine, internicene wars and genocide, and that they should be left to their own devices. Bono would certainly chastise those of us in the West who enjoy a good meal once in a while, while strangers are starving thousands of miles away.
But, I'll bet Bono, and all the other celebrities who've tossed their hats in the political ring, never consider missing breakfast in support of those starving masses. It's a chimera, designed to impress the impressionable. It's also a good tax dodge, to donate towards an incurable disease.
So let the markets fall.. it's a correction for the time being.
When interest rates begin to rise, accept that as well, as a societal adujstment.
A side note here. There is growing pressure on Tony to name a date for his vacating No.10, and that, for us in these British Isles and for those we call 'allies', is a cause for concern. Whoever takes the reins could well lead us into closer ties with the EU, and that, for us, would be catastrophic.
Rumania and Bulgaria for God's sake. Do we really want to tie our economy with criminals? For, in fact, those states are developing normally, which includes at this point, anarchy.
Whatever may be watching over us all, keep us away from a developing hegemonic economy. Let us stay with those who've gone through the Wild West stage, like, Canada.

One more brief note here..
It's been established in the Courts here, that a spouse cannot be held responsible for his or her partner's suicide. That a man or woman can, for years, mentally abuse their wife or husband, and still be found innocent of any wrongdoing if the abused take their own life.
This revolved about an Indian couple named Harachan and Gurjit Dhaliwal. She hanged herself after what relatives and neighbours described as 'years of torment' by her husband. Now it's not to say the man didn't raise his hand against his wife, for he did. But no grievous bodily harm was ever recorded, and assault charges had never been laid.
This is a shame on our Judicial system.
In Indian tradition, arranged marriages are commonplace, and it's not a guarantee that each will grow to love and respect their partner. Often the case is one of a financial bond between two families, and has nothing whatsoever to do with the two people who will spend the rest of their lives together.
While one finds such a practice anathema, one must be even more outraged that the assumption has been made, and upheld in court, that a person cannot be driven to self-murder. That there must have been underlying psychological problems to effect such a drastic ending.
Children are bullied at school, and it becomes a national issue. Spouces are bullied, and suddenly it's not for the public to have an opinion on what goes on behind the closed doors of a household.
Something is askew here, and with a nation made up more and more of new immigrants keeping their old cultural values, we may find it harder and harder to be proud to say 'I'm British'.
We are diluting our values, rather than instiling them in those who choose to come here to live.

Yet another piece of the puzzle was handed to us today . Tony has declared that this island is going ahead "with a vengeance" towards the development and construction of more nuclear energy plants. As he explained, and as we already know, at this point we supply ourselves with 80 to 90% of our own natural gas, but this cannot last much longer. Tony made a point of emphasizing that in the very near future, if we continue with reliance on fossil fuels, we will be dependent on supplies from the Middle East for oil, and Middle Europe for natural gas, and this situation is, as Tony said, "unacceptable".
We agree.
And while Tony's own Press Secretary admitted their would be 'shreiks of outrage' from environmental groups opposed to nuclear development, it would perhaps be better if those objecting attended seminars dealing with both political economics, and environmentology. There is nothing inherently wrong with nuclear energy. If there are objections, let them be of a salient nature, to ensure these new plants are constructed and manned properly, and that there be some plan, perhaps involving other countries using nuclear power, to dispose of the depleted fuel.
That, in itself, is a sidebar though.
The focus is on a definitive move away from OPEC, and the control it has over the world economic picture. This move by the United Kingdom, if followed by some of the key members of the European Union and the United States, could slowly but surely reduce the importance of States the likes of Saudi Arabia, the Sudan, Iran and Iraq, Libya, and all those who sit on the substance this modern world is founded upon. They, and their lobbyists in the West, will fight vigorously against any form of energy self-sufficiency, and will bombard us with recollections of Chernobyl, and other technical blunders.
But Tony's right here. We, as an island, and the rest of the 'civilised world' as a whole, must begin the weaning process George spoke of a few months ago. And the sooner, the better.
A non sequitur.. during Georges 'Immigration speech', not once did he mention the 49th Parallel..
Not once.

Just watched George's speech on the 'immigration problem'..
Seems as though you folks who climb the wall or walk the desert should first, study English, 'cause dagnabit, it's American we speak here.
We know you do the jobs our own trailer trash would turn away from, but, you took our jobs and didn't pay taxes, dagnabit... and it's not like we don't want you people coming here and doing that work, we just want you to apply for a 'Temporary Work Visa', and get an electronically chipped card, so we know how much to take in taxes. 'Course if you were ever convicted of, say, stealing a chicken in your country of origin, you can forget it. Don't want criminals in these United States..
So, to keep you folks from even starting out on that desert trek, we're bringing in the National Guard.. putting 6 thousand more boots on the ground, to give the Border Patrol guys a hand. And we'll build more steel fences, and instal infra-red and heat seeking technology along the border.. and if you're caught by these good American boys and girls, we'll pack you off right quick, 'cause we're changing the deportation laws to fast-track the trip back down south.
Now, this fast-tracking may not apply to all who're caught trying to sneak across the Rio Grande.. Some nationals may have to be repatriated to a place some distance away, and that could take time. That's for the ongoing 'War On Terror' ..ism.
Now, it's a fact that some Mexicans, illegal immigrants who've been in America for, say, a generation or two, have made successes of themselves. Might even own their own home. Good on 'em, but while we might allow them to come forward now, and declare their wrongdoing, and pay some form of penalty or another, they may be allowed to finally take on the proper reponsibilities, and get the commensurate rewards, of becoming an American citizen. Maybe not though.
Let's not forget the American tradition of accepting immigrants from all over the world. The 'Melting Pot' is true American bedrock, and it must be respected.
But learn English for Gods sake..

Just a brief note here on the state of the American dollar.
George seems happy to see it in freefall, hoping the bargain prices foreign markets are being handed will increase American exports.. But more ominous is the falling of the $A below the key 8 yuan level, with the Chinese currency settling at 7.9982 to the buck..
America's trade deficit is currently on track to break last years $724 billion, with figures for the first quarter this year at $196.4 billion, with the deficit to China growing to $15.6 billion in March..
At this point, the American market imports three times more from China, than it exports to that behemoth.
And that represents an increase in American exports.
George had best keep a close eye on his country's credibility. It has been suggested that the benchmark $ for North American may soon be the Canadian, ands the $Canadian hasn't been worth more than the $American since the late 50's, early 60's..
This won't please Ottawa either..

Gladys Hammond is not exactly what you'd call a breakfast table name, but she has brought the wrath of Tony and his government down upon the 'Animal Rights' movement. And she's managed to do this from the grave.
There's been a spate of threatening letters received by some small shareholders in a company named GlaxoSmithCline (GSC), warning them of possible reprisals for their support of testing on animals.
Now these are not the men behind the Throne of this company being hectored, these are older people living on their investments and pensions. Neither was Gladys Smith involved personally in any objectionable treatment of wee beasties, yet 'Animal Activists' dug up her body, and held it for ransom for several months.
They dug up her grave, in the name of 'humanity'.. One recalls a slogan from the sixties, which ended with '..like fucking for virginity..'
Y'see her nephew ran a guinea-pig farm, and his customers were of course, companies the likes of GSC, along with universities who used the animals for testing purposes.
Let it be clearly understood, that while animals are cute, and necissary within their particular biosphere to maintain an environment, they are only animals. We breed cattle, pork, chickens, for no other reason than to butcher and eat them. And one has no doubt that those who preach violence against humans in retaliation for the use of animals for testing, start their day with a hearty fry-up.
Terrorism is a taxing job. Works up an appetite.

It is a constant source of amusement, this government of ours.
The House of Lords has blocked legislation dealing euthanasia, saying that, or implying that one must live, regardless of one's physical condition.
Now the initial proposal was restrictive in the extreme sense of the word. It would have taken two doctors saying the patient had six months or less to live, and that the patient was compus mentis at the time of the decision to end their life. Such in itself is an insult to the capacity to reason when the infirm are conserned, and it's a wonder the public hasn't risen, en masse, to proclaim their displeasure.
Having said that, this country is comprised of people who will silently wait twenty minutes in a queue at a bank, and thank the teller when finally they get around to being served.
Life is not sacred. Betimes, it's not even bearable. Why do we in the 'West' hold on to breath as though we were still under the thumb of Papal Bulls?
The simple answer is the attitude is inbred; we are taught from childhood that nothing is more important than life itself, a concept that is in itself, patently absurd. There are far too many of us on this planet as it is, and natural culls are being forestalled by governments and institutions who would keep those alive who have historically died through drought, famine, floods, and other 'Acts of God'.
One wonders if those who campaign religiously for life for the sake of life, actually realise they're thwarting the Grand Design set down by their Creator.
Or that those who campaign for the same cause without religious overtones, realise they're upsetting the ballance of nature itself. Better we all focus on what the living are doing to this planet, rather than what the dying are doing to themselves.

Saturday, May 06, 2006

Incredible...Tony's had quite a time of it over the past few days.Charles Clarke is out of a job.. the second Home Secretary to have caused the government great embarassment of late.. John Prescott, our Deptuty Prime Minister, but loses his Department..(many a head's being scrateched over that one.. just exactly will the man do all day now but wait for Tony to suddenly drop dead..).Our Defence Secretary is the New Home Secretary.. one wonders just what will cause his expulsion, for it seems to go with the job..Jack Straw, that old hand at Foreign Affairs, has been replaced by Margaret Becket, a name that will no doubt become recognised.. Jack, by the way, is now Leader of the Commons.. whoopee..It's the biggest shuffle in Tony's tenure, and all the while he has the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown, hectoring for a date to book the moving vans at No. 10.True, Labour was sent a message by the electorate in these elections just past.. they lost 319 Councillors, with most of the replacements coming from the Tory ranks..But a change is inevidable. It is almost without question that David Cameron will be the next British Prime Minister, in part helped by Gordon Brown taking over Labour, and poor old Ming bumbling along with the LibDems..What is the salient issue at this point, is what stances will be taken by both Government and Opposition on several key domestic issues, and of course, our relationship with the US, and our presence in the Middle East. When Tony is going to step down will depend on what mark he feels he has made in history, and he would undoubtably try to make it impossible for his successor to step far away from the long-term policies he has yet to put in place. Gordon Brown is a Europhile, and would lean closer to the Continent just across the Channel, than to an ally across the Atlantic..It's a question of economics Tony faces. Leaving this country bound with the American economy will be his legacy, if he can effectively manage it. The IMF and the World Bank are suspicious of the European hegemony, and while it settles, Britain should remain aloof. It will not be long til the GNP of new European Union member states will outstrip that of France and Spain and Italy, and we here need as tenuous attachment to this consortium as can be managed.
posted by John at 9:08 PM
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It's somewhat amusing, to watch the media dive into these local elections in England. Now England is indeed correst in this case, the elections are not taking place in Scotland or Wales or Northern Ireland..
It's almost as though it matters, which party remains in power on the Council level, or which might be deposed. The funding all comes from Westminster, and while lip service is allowed in the commons from those who would take a Council's situation on the Floor, the decisions will remain constant, regardless of the colour of the badge the candidate campaigned under.
This is, as are all, false democracy at work. The public is fed pap for the toothless mind, in the absolute surety the importance of events will be controlled, perhaps promulgated would be a better word, by the media. Even redical groups the likes of the British Nationalist Party, or UKIP, are sops for those tired of the same old same old, and certainly there is no chance of such fringe groups ever taking significant power. They exist to pacify, and for that purpose alone.
an interesting side note here. A site dedicated to Esoterica, of all types, has been edited by the powers that be. The adress is http://esoterichomepage.tripod.com , and contains eleven sections. Only nine are still functional, two haveing been pulled from the public eye. Those two dealt with Magick, and the Templars, the Masonic Lodge, the Rosicrucians, and other sundry 'conspiracies'.
Now not one to easily be pushed into the belief that there are certain groups who pull all the strings, it remains a question why the writings of John Dee, or Aleister Crowley, or an overview of Rosslyn Abbey or the first Rites of Masonic Ritual, or HAARP, should be particularly centered, and erased.
This site is now almost seven years old, and has not in it's time attracted a huge number of visitors. Only some 20 thousand or so have logged in, but it is obvious that one or more of those twenty thousand took the time to object strenuously to Tripod, and have those sections removed.
Curious. One had not logged in for some three years, and it was over that length of time censorship struck.
Again, it's curious.

One must pause at times, to ponder the state of the immediate future..
We will see George Step off the podium.. Tony too.. whether their successors will be allowed to continue with their policies, as far as the Middle East, the environment, immigration, national hospitalisation programs, is moot at best.
Not that the general populace will in any way hinder what is to become future government policies, but the question is, what the puppeteers will dictate.
Italy has already voted in a government, albeit a weak one, which will turn itself away from 'the West', and towards the European Union. This in turn leaves one fewer under the American banner in the 'War Against The Axis Of Evil', and in itself is a good indicator that Europe, in general, is somewhat disinterested in the goings in in Iraq, having traditionally closer ties to those in charge in the Levant than those in the West. Whether George's replacement will be up to maintaining ties with increasingly hostile foreign governments will be crucial in the next couple of years. He has mid-term elections upcoming, and they'll indicate what the people think they think..
And Tony's leaving his Party in a state of total disarray. What with last week's revelations still looming both in the Commons and the media, he's running out of Cabinet Members capable of maintaining the status quo..
We are an island caught between a behemoth and a nascent New Holy Roman Empire... one which has replaced the religious element with financial development. Europe is teetering, this Empire is as fragile as a blown-glass poodle..
there are weekly riots in France by the unemployed and the future educated-unemployed, and riot police trying to defend not only their inept government but their own livelyhoods.. Germany is bankrupt, and will be for a few years more when the debt incurred with unification is absolved.. Russia is something of an amalgamation of the American Wild West and the American 1920's, when gangsters ran their own areas, and the best market was black.. these new states, Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia are beginning well, with high-tech companies wandering in to set up cheap corporate headquarters and factories staffed by folks who're more than happy to work for a wage a 'Westerner' would scoff at..
We're an island which has always depended on a strong hand on the tiller, be that hand the actual, or titular ruler.. David Cameron might get a shot, but one would expect any new government, while still 3 years away, would be a very trying coalition between a small Tory majority, dependent on Ming Campbell and the LibDems for any real clout..
Not good.
Then there's the Middle East. With the European Union leaning towards supporting the Muslim regemes, the States and Britain will be left to defend Israel.. We have an Iranian Prime Minister who had as a main plank in his election platform, the agenda to 'wipe Israel off the map', and we now have Iranian nuclear capabilities. We have an Israel that is still somewhat in a fluff about who's going to continue to lead the country, and who also has.. nuclear capabilities.
It could be almost gusrranteed, that should Israel be hit with a crippling attack by any single or group of Muslim States, that they have in place a 'Meggido Option', whereby they would render the entire Middle East, and possibly the bulk of the Mediterranian, uninhabitable. The Israeli mind would rather send itself to it's God, than allow their land to be occupied by any other.. thus is history..
And they can be somewhat over-reactive down there at times..

Ahh Charles..Charles..Charles..
Our Home Secretary is now proposing 'tough new legislation' to deal with foreign nationals jailed in the UK... Now he wants tham deported..
The idiocy of this is, that such laws are already inplace, and his Department has simply made a collosal blunder in letting more than a thousand go..free to roam this Kingdom at will.. free to re-offend..
Smacks of shutting the barn door after the criminals have stolen the horses..
One must wonder what the purpose of this little Panto is.. for if Clarkes suggestions are enacted into law, we will have redundancy in the courts, and general confusion among both the general populace an criminals alike..
Perhaps it is time for Charlie to follow in the footsteps of his predecessor, David Blunkett, and toss in the political towel. It can do Tony no more harm than has already been caused, and will at least give the British man on the street something to smile about.
The visissitudes of political life.. but then if it were all that easy to control the thousands of underlings a Minister presides over, we'd all want to be Members of the Cabinet..
Pay's good..

A brief word on the death of the Canadian-born economist and writer, John Kenneth Galbraith. Not that he had a short life..he was 97 after all, but doubtless there are few still alive today who could match his grasp on the political-economic scene.. his 'Affluent Society' should be required reading for anyone with a vote..
More problems with Tony's Cabinet... There are serious calls for the resignation of the Deputy Prime Minister after his affair with a secretary.. calls for the resignation of his Home Secretary over the release of more than a thousand prisoners who should have been deported immediately after serving their terms, a situation made far far worse by the re-offending of at least five of those let loose.. catcalls from those employed by the NHS, where millions have been spent while hundreds still face unemployment, or redundancy as they now call it.. The nurses are threatening strike action, and if that comes to pass, god help those who must be admitted to hospital..
Two points here. The one being that it is absolutely risible that we should expect our elected officials to be as 'pure as Caesars wife'.. that they are no more than any of the rest of us, with the obvious exception of the power they weild, power we gave them.. And while it has been an horrendous week for Tony, it's for the most part smoke and mirrors..
The release of those foreign criminals was indeed a reprehensible mistake by the Home Office, but that is in itself about the substance of all the media has been playing with..
And the second is somewhat of a non sequitur, in that it deals with the International response to the civil war in Sudan. We have George Clooney, for god's sake, walking about refugee camps in Darfour, begging for foreign money. The question is, would anyone give a damn, if Sudan wasn't sitting on oil reserves that rival those of Saudi Arabia?
George, Bush in this case, gave lip-service to the need to wean ourselves from petrochemicals, but the fact remains we are still 'addicted to oil', and no government legislation has yet to be presented that would take us in any other direction.

Interesting to note, that the new, infllexible non-smoking laws may yet me ammended to allow actors to puff away while on stage, thus providing god knows what danger to those sitting in the front seats..
This issue came to the fore when the Actors Guild complained this new law would seriously affect the portrayal of such characters as the cigar-puffing Winston Churchill, or Patsy Stone when playing in a production of 'Absolutely Fabulous'... Our Public Health Minister, Caroline Flint, is writing to the industry concerning this exemption, and what is exceedingly interesting is, a spokesman for 'Action On Smoking and Health' says his group would not oppose such leniency..
One wonders when pubs will start presenting Panto's, involving all paying customers in the cast..
Tony's woes continue..
The media is not being kind to himself and his Party, and persists in reporting on the row over the NHS..The escape of those nasty unwanted immigrants.. John Prescott admitting he's had an affair.. and of course the ubiquitous problem of Gordon Brown taking the reins when Tony steps down..
The vississitudes of political life, especially when one's is coming to an end..
To any normal mortal, it would be daunting indeed..

It just never ceases..
As Labour waits with some trepitationfor the end of Tony's reign, they're also watching their senior Ministers commit blunder after blunder.. This time it's once again the Home Secretary, Charles Clarke in this case. Now he's not to be confused with David Blunkett, his immediate predessessor, who resigned for reasons of a personal, read sexual, nature..
Clarles is on the griddle because he's released more than a thousand, actually thirteen hundred and a bit, illegal immigrants into the general population.
These were people awaiting deportation, for reasons of association, direct evidence, or just because they'd outstayed their welcome.
This is our Home Secretary.. Amazing...
Of course David and Menzies (pronounced 'Ming') have pounced on this, as has the media. It is incredible in this country, as far as the man on the street believes, for such a Senior Minister to allow such a breach of secutiry..
Damn...
It's almost the British equivalent to the Rio Grande, this Immigration Service we have..
One must take things in perspective, and while it is indeed a blunder on the part of Charlie's department, it's not as though the dams have broken, the floodgates overwhelmed.. it won't be long before most of these people show up on some sort of government radar, the most likely being Social Service..
And if indeed this mistake has allowed seditious and malicious people loose among the general population, then the situation will need be re-examined..
And while this particular writer has yet to find much right with Labour, again, it's a matter of perspective. Surely there's better skeleton's to unearth..
Italy has apparently agreed that Prodi is in charge, albeit by the skin of his teeth.. No doubt we'll see a reasonably rapid recall of Italian troops from Iran, for this new PM has no great fondness for George.. Watch Italy concentrate it's diplomatic efforts towards cultivating a better national position within the European Union, and there will doubtless be a cooling towards the West in general..
As for the EU itself, if it's hardiest constituent states continue to founder economically, it will find itself looking up it's own backside for hard cash.. The new additions simply cannot at this point, and will not for the forseeable future, be able to contribute as much as they take, and with yet another expansion due in two years time, Germany and France might begin to re-think their own positions..
Perhaps the Deuchmark and the Franc weren't so bad after all.. at least they only depended on the stability of their respective countries for worth..

It's come to light that China has been harvesting the organs of executed prisoners for transplant purposes, apparently at a rate of thousands per year..
Now this would suggest two things; one, that the Chinese do not have the moral qualms we suffer from in the West concerning the 'sanctity of life', and are willing and able to condemn those who breach societal rules to death, and two, that they have the foresight to use those cadavers to aid those in dire need.
The apparent boggle, at least from the British Transplantation Society, is that these organs are being taken 'without consent'.
That begs the question: Do those who are executed for a crime acually have any rights? After all, once the bullet passes through the brain, and you're left with a corpse and nothing else, do ethics come into play concerning the disposal of that body?
Personally, if it were a case of a child or a loved one, or even one's self who was dying for the lack of an organ or two, it would be a welcome announcement that replacements were available.
Perhaps selling the organs would become an ethical point, but if they're given to those in need on such as the NHS, it would no no-one any harm, and certainly do good for those on endless lists..
On the home front, David Cameron, perhaps soon to be merely David after the next elections, has been branded a chameleon after a speech which claimed the Tories would try to change Britain into a more ecologically aware state..
The Conservative leader, s do many on this island these days, scoffed at Labour's attack, and brand Tony's men as far far behind the times.
Record floods in Europe you say? The Dandube flooding as far south as the Ukraine you say?
It seems Labour would all wish us to put the pot on the hob, and have a nice cup of tea.

Interesting to note..
A recent poll indicates that up to as many of 25% of voters are seriously thinking of vasting their ballots for the B.N.P., our own version of the Nazi Party..
Now perhaps one is being too harsh in it's association, the British National Party hasn't it's version of Brownshirts panting for a UK Kristalnacht, but it is aimed at keeping Britain British..whatever that means to the rest of us, to the BNP it means racial purity, and the exclusion of immigrants..
This swing by those with a vote is hardly contained within the UK.. it's worldwide, and is spreading.. Exclusionism is being expressed by the populations of most countries these days, and all that holds us together is the need for mutual trade..
Economics, while perhaps the cause of all this nonsense in the first place, may well be the only cement holding us back from shutting borders completely..
Other than for, of course, tourists..
Pathetic, is what we are..

It would almost be enough to make one despair, if one wasn't prepared for it all..
Britain on the verge of 'eating the world' so to speak, meaning this island has used almost all of it's own combustibles.. the continued presence of occupying forces in the Middle East utterly bewildered at the fact democracy hasn't blossomed.. the civil war (let's not mince words here) in Iraq with Iran egging it's former enemies to continue to slaughter themselves, along with the announcement the afformentioned country has itself produced the enriched uranium needed to build atomic weapons.. the Pentagon and the White House still red-faced over the discovery of plans to nuke Iran if the above scenario took place.. and Iran's donation to Hammas, bolstering their political 'war chest' in the fight for a free Palestine.. Even the Copts and Muslim communites in Egypt have been at each other for the past three days.. two thousand riot police in front of a church in Alexandria, as some 200 Copts charged out to face Islam with crosses, clubs, and machetes..
Amazing..
Add to this the fact that Europe is in utter chaos..France periodically in flames and riots.. Italy without a firm leadership.. Germany still struggling to clear the debt incurred when the country was re-unified..
And of course.. the Western leaders the likes of Tony and George will be gone soon, leaving a huge power vacuum..
And of course, the fact the earth itself is evolving, either to cope with us.. protect itself from us.. or in a natural sequence.. choose the theory which suits you best, the facts remain.
Solutions..?
Of course they exist, but in this particular world we've created, it would take a miracle to effect any of them.
Or a global war..

Part The Fourth

On, to contrition.
This is yet another simple concept that becomes more and more complex as one looks within one’s self. It is the act of reparation, of making it better.
The operative word in that sentence is ‘act’, because contrition is a kinetic rather than a static element, it requires one to make movement towards fixing the damage, the feelings, the emotion.
This is not to be underestimated, either in difficulty, or importance to the whole process.
For this step in the process, means one must examine, and change the behaviour that led to the wrong being committed. This is the step wherein self-examination must be without shadow, and judgement, being that it comes from within, but be sure.
A few years ago, there was a movement among those in the psychiatric fields, to establish and develop the ‘inner child’. This undeveloped part of our psyches was lauded at one point, as the last untouched remnant of our unpolluted innocence.
I regarded this then, and still do now, as unadulterated self-serving crap; as a field of thought ploughed deep by those who preyed on the unwary naivety of the general public. Be that as it may, this ‘inner child’ concept gave license to people to utterly disregard the process of contrition, because it would be denying the childishness of the initial act, and therefore denying the child within. More damaged people are working their personalities into ethical knots these days because of that psychological fad, than perhaps is healthy for the rest of us.
One of the fundamental problems with getting practitioners of this behavioural pattern to stop is that it’s so damned easy to keep doing it.
It works to great effect on most people, and to those, on whom it has no sway, there is practised disdain, for who in this enlightened age would deny a child, even if that child is within an adult of forty or so.
Children avoid contrition at all costs, because it reinforces their wrongdoing, and makes them think on the consequences of their actions.
It is the tactile admission of guilt to the very person wronged, and that is anathema to those who cannot see themselves weakened.
It is unfortunate that their perception does not include the vision of self-enhancement through honesty.
It is amazing the lengths one will go, to defend the indefensible, when that is also what one has staked one’s ‘right or wrong’ on. The effort expended in justifying that which was wrong to those who don’t care, is far and away more than would have been spent on a simple apology, or the assumption of a contrite nature.
The solution in this case, is far simpler than the avoidance of it, and prolonged delays in starting this process bespeaks the mindset of the one doing the dodging.
But again this is a remnant of childhood, when the possible rejection and disdain of a parent was to be avoided at any cost.
It’s a spectre from unresolved youth that haunts so many people these days, those that cannot find the strength in the role of ‘adult’, that they need to perform it. It also speaks volumes about those who were entrusted with the job of teaching them.
For it is sad but true that we are nothing more than the sum of our parts, and those who raised us, were a very large part, for a very long time.
However, that is in no way justification for allowing our baser side to affect others. It only means we, individually, must wage daily warfare internally, to counter the learned responses from our childhood.
Confess, repent, and be contrite to those you wrong, and this world will seem less daunting.
Yours will be the knowledge, that someone’s doing it right.
Sometimes, that’s all that can keep you, that faith you’re doing the best one can.
A bit of a digression for a moment.
One of the most unpleasant of human traits is that of childishness. Mind you, this term covers a myriad of behavioural aspects, from surliness through self-deception, but the root is common to all, that being the refusal to end the time of life when someone else was ultimately responsible.
We all have within us the tendency to look for another to blame, it’s a facet of our makeup that must be trained into submission.

Part The Third

We could take a page from the Japanese, who because of their culture’s history, have made an art of ‘manners’; have formulated characteristic responses to almost any social situation. To them, these steps are as ritualistic as any dance, and because of their familiarity, the process is deeply satisfying to both parties involved.
That is paramount when redressing a wrong that both parties feel good when it’s finished. Not indeed that it’s always the outcome, but in any situation, at least one will receive satisfaction, that being the confessor. For if the party you have wronged does not, after a reasonable and allowable amount of face-rubbing, forgive or forget once one has confessed, then at least the ethics of the situation have been resolved for the one who has initiated the dance.
That in it self, is satisfaction.
Now, the issue of repentance.
A simple concept, which expresses the regret one has for committing the wrong to the party wronged.
It’s the application that proves problematic. For what it requires is one the one hand, a truly repentant stance, and on the other, a forgiving nature.
Neither is normal human behaviour these days, wherein fast food, fast relationships, fast money, have replaced the more sturdy values seen in past decades.
Not to say people these days are shallow, merely to point out what when examined, becomes glaringly obvious.
It might be said that it is more difficult, today, to subscribe to ethical behaviour than it was some forty to fifty years ago. But in saying that, one would be understating an historical trend, one which has repeated itself throughout the millennia, throughout the civilised worlds. As we begin to expand on the value and importance of self, and self alone, we tend to allow the niceties of civilised behaviour to slip away, and become a blend of sometimes antipathetic philosophy and faith. It becomes more and more an ‘issue’ to assert oneself, and to be in the moral right.
A delusion in itself, because moral correctness can not exist beside or because of moral suasion, and it is this manipulative force that has become the mover of our worlds.
I say worlds, plural, because we are slipping away from one another in our competition to be the one with the Truth.
This is one of the reasons true repentance, an integral part of the sequence, is so difficult to achieve. It means one must realise one’s error, feel truly sorry for the mistake, and must inwardly examine that which led to the flaw in judgement in the first place.
This is not only the fawning of the weak we are talking about here, but the abasement of the strong.
For those who fawn with their repentance, inwardly seething at the necessity, and the indignity, and the true unworthiness of the one to whom the wrong was originally done, are paying no more than lip-service to this process, in an ingratiating manner trying to glean forgiveness without effort.
One might then say it was an effort in itself to be so obsequious and slavish, and that it was a measure of their true repentance.
But be not fooled by those who slobber when they apologise. As a rule of thumb, they feel sorrier for themselves being in that position, than they do for that which they did.
The feelings of resentment common to those who cannot follow these steps, is surely manifest at some later point, when perhaps a position of moral superiority has been achieved by them. When the shoe’s on the other foot, so to speak, those who cannot put wrongs behind them by step-by-step eradication will draw from the well of their indignation, stored against just such an opportunity.
For them, the issue of their guilt is never laid to rest, and their thoughts concerning those who brought them to that which they inwardly realise was justice, are never friendly. For justice is subjective, and those crimes people commit and consistently deny, become cornerstones of ill will. Those who cannot admit their wrongs yet are convicted through their actions, motive notwithstanding, will deny, deny, deny, and believe their own innocence eventually.
Such is the power of self-delusion, that fantasy becomes reality, to be fiercely defended against all whom would chip at the foundations of the dream.
And such is the measure of the person, whether or not reality itself is worthy of defence.
Repentance is a process by which thinking people unload their baggage, and deal with the spectres of self-indulgence and stupidity as they apply to one’s self. Without it, one will never heal, but will wander incomplete and bleeding from the countless cuts we self inflict on a daily basis.