Put your own house in order King Abdullah

BBC reports that "King Abdullah says Britain is not doing enough to fight terrorism

Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah has accused Britain of not doing enough to fight international terrorism, which he says could take 20 or 30 years to beat.

He was speaking in a BBC interview ahead of a state visit to the UK - the first by a Saudi monarch for 20 years.

He also said Britain failed to act on information passed by the Saudis which might have averted terrorist attacks.

In the BBC interview he said the fight against terrorism needed much more effort by countries such as Britain and that al-Qaeda continued to be a big problem for his country. "

I find this very rich from the man whose country gave the world Wahhabism and Bin Laden. Wahhabism is with oil, Saudis principle export. Unlike oil they give it away all over the world. From its origins in ancient Salafi Islam comes the modern terrorism. We should say to the King, you reform Islam . That will help us stop terrorism. Show us the Islam of peace so many keep telling us about.

Unsighted in Gaza

This is from Melanie Phillips who like me does not belong to the Church of England :-) Posted in here diary earlier this month.

A Palestinian Christian activist was killed this weekend in Gaza. Rami Khader Ayyad, head of the Protestant Holy Bible Society in Gaza City, had been threatened by militants who wanted him to stop selling Christian religious materials. Earlier this year, someone blew up the Society’s shop in Gaza City. The 32-year-old was abducted Saturday night, and found dead yesterday with gunshot and stab wounds, the Associated Press reports. AFP says his body, which showed signs of torture, was found by Hamas-affiliated police. ‘We will pursue anyone who is found to be involved in this case,’ the regime said in a statement. ‘We will not be merciful with those who abuse the security and stability of our people.’ Ayyad’s wife is pregnant with their third child.

As I wrote here some months ago, a campaign of ethnic cleansing by Hamas against Palestinian Christians appears to be under way in Gaza and the West Bank. So might we expect a protest from the Archbishop of Canterbury? If we turn to his website, we do indeed find him speaking out robustly about the plight of Christians… in Iraq. And guess who the culprits are? Yup, you got it in one:


Questioner: Britain and America invaded Iraq and therefore these Iraqi Christians are suffering. Is that a link that you would make?
Archbishop: I’m afraid it’s a very clear link. This is the link that’s made locally and whether justly or not, that is how it’s seen.

Not one mention of the plight of Palestinian Christians persecuted by Hamas. And as for the talk about possible American action against Iran and Syria:


Archbishop: I can only say that I regard that as criminal, ignorant and potentially murderous folly.

So heartening to find the Church of England once again displaying its moral backbone.

More Dhimmitude

The Sunday Times reports:

"Some Muslim medical students are refusing to attend lectures or answer exam questions on alcohol-related or sexually transmitted diseases because they claim it offends their religious beliefs…It will intensify the debate sparked last week by the disclosure that Sainsbury’s is permitting Muslim checkout operators to refuse to handle customers’ alcohol purchases on religious grounds. It means other members of staff have to be called over to scan in wine and beer for them at the till. Critics, including many Islamic scholars, see the concessions as a step too far, and say Muslims are reneging on their professional responsibilities. "

If you can't stand the heat, why work in the kitchen? I would not work in a betting shop as have ethical objections. So why are these people chosing to work where their consciences offend them?

Christians not wanted as foster parents.

The Daily Mail reports that a "foster child iso be taken away because a Christian couple refuse to teach him about homosexuality
They are devoted foster parents with an unblemished record of caring for almost 30 vulnerable children.
But Vincent and Pauline Matherick will this week have their latest foster son taken away because they have refused to sign new sexual equality regulations.
Vincent and Pauline Matherick: Face being struck off despite fostering 28 times
To do so, they claim, would force them to promote homosexuality and go against their Christian faith.
The 11-year-old boy, who has been in their care for two years, will be placed in a council hostel this week and the Mathericks will no longer be given children to look after.
The devastated couple, who have three grown up children of their own, became foster parents in 2001 and have since cared for 28 children at their home in Chard, Somerset.
Earlier this year, Somerset County Council's social services department asked them to sign a contract to implement Labour's new Sexual Orientation Regulations, part of the Equality Act 2006, which make discrimination on the grounds of sexuality illegal.
Officials told the couple that under the regulations they would be required to discuss same-sex relationships with children as young as 11 and tell them that gay partnerships were just as acceptable as heterosexual marriages.
They could also be required to take teenagers to gay association meetings.
When the Mathericks objected, they were told they would be taken off the register of foster parents.
The Mathericks have decided to resign rather than face the humiliation of being expelled. '

So if one was a foster parent at variance with the law on another matter, say cannabis for instance, would one be banned as a foster parent? I think not.

More BBC bias

I listened to Any Questions repeat today. As it is the 40th anniversary of the Abortion Act the subject was raised in the light of the governments refusal to allow any review of the 24 week limit. for healthy babies. ( Less than perfect babies may be aborted any time before birth - an insult to the disabled. ) No-one on the panel was pro-life. So I phoned and complained as to the BBC liberal bias. The following Any Answers had decent contributions from pro-life listeners.

Up and down

I am an up and down person. Some call it a cyclothymic personality or bipolar. One learns to live with it. When the Apostle Paul says he has learned now to be abased and how to abound I can identify with that. Since our holiday in June I have been down long term I think this was in part due to tiredness from my heart failure. Is one down because of tiredness or tired because down? It is a chicken and egg question. Downs usually creep up gradually and there may be discernible causes. Ups can be more dramatic and mysterious in origin. Sometimes they are short, others longer. For over a week now I have felt better than in a long time. I am thankful. I have resumed my pipe. I still have a good stash of the weed. Often when down I put down the chimney.

One right decision

Ministers rule out smacking ban reports the BBC

A complete ban on smacking has been rejected by ministers, after a review suggested most parents opposed it.

Minister defends abortion limit

Fom the BBC

Dawn Primarolo is unpersuaded of the need to change the abortion law
Health Minister Dawn Primarolo says the government does not believe there is sufficient scientific evidence to lower the legal abortion limit of 24 weeks.
She said nothing had persuaded the Department of Health that survival rates had improved for extremely premature babies born before that time.

The Pro-Life Alliance wants the upper limit cut to 20 weeks.

But the British Medical Association says the number surviving at 24 weeks is still "extremely small".

Ms Primarolo is giving evidence to the Commons science and technology committee, which is looking at medical advances since the Abortion Act was passed in 1967 - rather than the ethical or moral issues associated with abortion time limits.

Viability

The committee is also questioning Fiona Adshead, deputy chief medical officer for England.

Ms Primarolo told MPs: "The Department of Health's view and the advice to me is that - and that's why there is no proposals from the government to amend the act - that the act works as intended and doesn't require further amendment at the present time."

She said 89% of abortions were carried out before 13 weeks and 68% before 10 weeks. The viability of babies born at 21 weeks was 0%, at 22 weeks 1% and 23 weeks 11%, she said.

"The medical consensus still indicates that whilst improvements have been made in care that at the moment that concept of viability cannot constantly be pushed back," she said.

However, Dr Peter Saunders, general secretary of the Christian Medical Fellowship, said it was not only doctors with religious beliefs who preferred not to carry out abortions.

He said one in five doctors will not refer patients for the procedure.

"A woman with an unwanted pregnancy is in crisis - whether she decides to have an abortion, to keep the baby, have an adoption, whatever - that's going to affect her life forever," he told Today.

Lord Steel, the architect of the 1967 Abortion Act, said too many abortions were taking place and the procedure was now being used as a form of contraception.

He told The Guardian he was not persuaded that the 24-week limit should be cut, but called for better sex education and a debate on sexual morality to bring the numbers down.

Catholic and Church of England leaders have called for a reassessment of abortion's role in society, as the 40th anniversary of the Act is marked.

In an open letter Cardinals Cormac Murphy-O'Connor and Keith O'Brien accepted that abortion will not be abolished, but stressed that it "robbed everyone of their future".

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, warned that abortion was increasingly regarded as normal, rather than as a procedure of last resort.

According to the Department of Health, 193,000 abortions happened in England and Wales last year, of which 89% were performed in the first 13 weeks of pregnancy.

The Pro-Life Alliance says babies born at 24 weeks now have a much better chance of survival than when the Abortion Act was passed.

But the BMA says that, despite "very considerable" scientific advances, the number of babies born at 24 weeks and surviving is still "extremely small". - end BBC quote.

The BMA is dominated by quacks making money out of abortion. They would say that wouldn't they? They murder babies who are viable no matter how few they are.

Zac the grandson

With Dad.

Sahara our third grandaughter

Torrington Park Health Centre

Opposite the pharmacy, reception for the doctors.

Pharmacy reception.

Goods delivered from a wholesaler. Four firms give up to six deliveries every day.

Shammi checks off the delivery.

Mauren measures water for an antibiotic liquid.

I give out a prescription. On busy days I dispense one item every minute.

We have a second doctor's surgery down the corridor.

Boks win a cup only

They did it as expected. We were beaten but proud. Well the Boks had some help from a ref, a TV ref and some of our side who gave them stupid penalties. They also had God on their side. He gives the bounces and they went the Boks way. They got the cup but won no friends. They did not come out to play, only to win. Habana got no ball except when he helped himself from the rucks. Kick and line out. that was it. Not pretty but for once it was clean. Well done our lads. Happy retirement to Jason. I hope he gets a TV job. The Boks will win nothing more if race not ability governs selection in the future. SWING LOW SWEET CHARIOT.

Diwali

Click on the title for an article on contemporary immigration. As a Christian I must welcome the fact that the world has come to England. It is an opportunity for Christian mission. We do not need to go overseas to be missionaries. The only time I resent immigration is approaching. The Hindu diwali festival, supposedly a festival of light, is celebrated with late night fireworks. These huge bangs late at night are illegal but Plod does nothing. Mt grandchildren do not want to stay at this time of year. Pets are distraught. We are leaving on holiday soon to get away from the pandemonium.

Now I read on BBC News,

"The population of the UK is set to increase by 4.4 million to 65 million by 2016, according to new projections. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) estimates that 2.1 million of the overall rise can be put down to immigration alone. Further projections say the population would reach 71 million by 2031 and 77 million in 2051. Estimates of the amount of migration inflow have risen to a net 190,000 a year from 145,000 a year. In percentages, total population rises by 2016 are put at 8% for England, 7% for Northern Ireland, 5% for Wales and 3% for Scotland. "

The government should get us out of the EU, the main culprit.

Bethany

North Finchley Pharmacy

Tally Ho!, the pub where I take my staff when we lunch out. This photo brought me to the attention of a police officer. The Chief Rabbi's office is along the street and the building was bombed in 1995. So I was asked to explain my photography to Plod. This was anti-terrorist policing.

On the left is Maureen, celebrating her 21st birthday once more. Next are Marina, Shammi and I.
The corner of the Torrington Park Health Centre is the pharmacy part. Note our air conditioning.

California here we come

November 5 DV we fly to SF for a 10 day vacation. Tell us if you want to see us in the fall!

No chance after today

Yesterday I heard that the South African government want their sports teams to reflect the country's racial mix. So if no more teams are selected on merit, today is Springboks last chance of a world cup come in my lifetime. but Of course all we need is a third weekly miracle and they will not win it today.

Come on England!

SWING LOW SWEET CHARIOT!

The changing world -Introduction

Visiting our eldest son and family in celebration of our second granddaughter's fourth birthday I began to think about how the world has changed in my lifetime of 61 years and how it may change in my grandchildren's lifetimes. As a child in the fifties I remember thinking about how my grandparents had seen the world change beyond recognition in the previous half century. I thought this change greatest in transportation. from no powered flight to jet airliners, from horse drawn transport to motor vehicles everywhere. I thought how can the world change as much in some respect in my lifetime? In the fifties I had no idea. Now I know the answer is electronics and comunications. I grew up in a house with a splendid valve radio and no TV. I listened to two BBC stations and Radio Luxembourg. As I type this I have on the TV a programme recorded from satellite TV station onto a hard drive receiver box. Yet I remember seeing the first intercontinental TV broadcast from the USA via Telstar to Goonhilly Down Cornwall. Now I can get more TV stations than I can watch. This laptop gives instant world wide communication wirelessly. The first computing machine I used was to calculate square roots for a statistics course back in the mid sixties. It was wheeled into the lab on something the size of a meal trolley. So how will the world change most in the next half century? I have no idea.
I thought about how back in the fifties and sixties were were afraid of the bomb, a nuclear holocaust. Now that has gone and children today are frightened by a supposed threat from global warming. Well, after 50 more years, that too may not be the threat people fear. So I decided I aught to write something for my grandchildren concerning the vanishing world I have seen. I have decided to blog these reminiscences. I welcome feedback. Watch this space.

Les Bleus are singing the blues :-)

England 14-9 France
Agincourt, Crecy, Trafalgar, Waterloo and now PARIS!!!! I am pround to be wearing an ENGLAND SHIRT.

Can you see a likeness?

My llttle brother Geoffrey is eight years my junior.

Health report

Today the cardiology consultant pronounced his findings. I have had some heart failure probably due to uncontrolled high blood pressure, but now he wants an angiogram to make sure it is not due to narrowing of cardiac arteries. He has upped the hypertensives. Surprisingly he did not tell me to do the obvious, lose weight. Having given up my pipe , I am not well disposed to reducing further one of the few remaining physical pleasures in life. Yes I am obese. That is me. I am bothered by chronic fatigue which is part of heart failure. Oh well. I shall try not to lose heart but I am unlikely to diet or exercise the body which is what I am supposed to do. Physical exercise has no pleasures whatsoever. Exercising the gray matter is another thing altogether.

Australian Whine

I could not manage to copy the image but click on the title to see the 2003 vintage has now been overtaken by a 2007 bottle. You can compare the old bottle at http://www.nofear.org/Archives/2003/11/australian_whin.html


Wonderbra Australia are bringing out a new bra. It's gold and green, has lots of support - but no CUPS!!!! Of course Wonderbra NZ have been making something similar in Black & Silver since 1991!

What’s the difference between an all black and an arsonist??? An arsonist wouldn’t waste five matches

I hear the Kiwis are blaming the English ref. If you can't take the responsibility, shift the blame. Its as old as the Garden of Eden.

No I am not confident about our next match but hope springs eternal.
On being asked by a Frenchman as to the spelling of his surname, Woodrow Wyatt replied, "Waterloo, Ypres, Agincourt, Trafalgar, Trafalgar."- Reported in The Times

Wallabies wobbled!

I have had my most enjoyable sporting moment since we won The Ashes. Against all the odds we have knocked the Aussies out of the Rugby World Cup. Oz was out for revenge after our beating them in the final four years ago. They were favorites but the English terriers were not the underdogs on the day. Happiness is beating the Aussies! Tonight I shall support the Frogs against the All Blacks.

I am not a prophet nor the son of a prophet..........

...but I do not believe that Gordo is about to go to the polls. First of all he is not a gambler and even if he was, who would wager a certain three years against an uncertain five? No, his favorite adjective is prudent; so there will be no autumn election. It's all media hype folks.

Freudian slip?

John Humphreys interviewed Slick Willy Clinton this morning on Radio 4's Today programme. The interview ended with, "Thank you president Clinton". Is JH showing ignorance, bias or an innocent mistake?

Geriatrics and Viagra

I have yet to find a woman over a certain age who wanted her mate to have this recreational drug so I think this is a true to life cartoon. As I cannot get malt whisky, my recreational drug of chouce, on prescription, I do not see why others should get free Viagra.

Books read in October 2007 (8)

1. The Hebrides at War by Mike Hughes Visiting the beautiful Outer Hebrides on holiday I was struck by what looked like war graves in two burial grounds. These turned out to be the graves of men "Known unto God", WW II merchant seamen whose bodies had been washed ashore without any identification.I was interested to know more about these islands at war and this book tells the story of their contribution to defending the convoys and defeating the U boats. It is a story of bravery and humour from what seems like another age. I was prepare for tales of thatched crofts but not of barefoot school children. The book is well illustrated with many photos, quite a number of which must have been taken against regulations. 2. Carmina Gadelica: Hymns and Incantations from the Gaelic by Alexander Carmichael Collected over a hundred years ago by an excise man, I was interested to read this as a witness to Celtic spirituality. However the amount of invocation of the Virgin Mary and prayers to saints leads me to think it is more to do with Roman Catholic spirituality. It is an interesting compilation of a now mainly lost oral tradition but one is not alone in questioning the historical bias of the author. Presbyterianism was not the malevolent influence on music and dance in the Hebrides which he makes it out to be. Read Donald MacLeod's more contemporary assessment for a very different view. I confess this is the one and only book among my reviews which i did not manage to read to the end. 3. The Living Past by Donald Macleod About 30 years ago I heard the author speak at a conference and I was initially amazed at a strange voice and style. As he went on I was very impressed and so it is with this book. One has to wonder why he pretends to be writing two decades in the future, finishing up an old man with parkinsonism in a Stornoway nursing home. The reminiscences of life on Lewis from the forties to the sixties are told in a series of letters to the daughter of a deceased schoolfriend in Quebec. Strange but delightful, one learns of life a world away. Present day Lewis is a world away from London, but the Lewis of fifty years ago seems much much farther from us. School was a place of fearful teachers. Children were to be seen and not heard. What fascinated me was his warm yet critical appreciation of the Presbyterian culture. MacLeod is a man with a sense of humour, a real non-conformist. He prefers humble heretics to the legalistic orthodox He is well worth reading to understand life in the Hebrides and the culture of the Free Church. He will surprise you. It is pleasant to find he does love one very English thing, cricket. Minor criticisms are sometimes he assumes a knowledge of local history that not all readers will have. Gaelic is sometimes not translated. The book should have an index. 4. of Playing for Pizza by John Grisham I have read all his novels including Bleachers which is about football. I have enjoyed them all until now. This book is nothing but football. If you do not understand this sport do not read this book. The plot is weak. Its only strong point is the description of food in Italy. It is enough to make your mouth water. I should like to invite Mr Grisham to England and teach him about cricket. 5. Atonement by Ian McEwan

I wasted time starting to read this. Pretentious drivel would be the kindest thing to say. The author deserves a place in Private Eye's Pseuds column for his description of cow dung having a faint odour of leather. I gave up.

6. The Afghan by Frederick Forsyth
For me, Forsyth and Seymour are the masters of the genre. Forsyth does not take as many disparate strands and thread them together in the end as Seymour does. He knows his SAS and its heroes. A good read. The terrorist target is a well kept mystery. Only one small criticism. The Taliban are even more repressive than he says. No laughter or applause is allowed. I hope no terrorist will ever learn from this plot as people learned how to get false passports from The Jackal. One improvement could be made, some maps.

7. Wrinkled But Not Ruined: Counsel for the Elderly by Jay Edward Adams

Having reached 61 with seven chronic health conditions I decided I needed to read up om a Christian attitude to ageing. Adams as always is full of wise counsel though I thought he could have done more on the blessings of age like wisdom and grandchildren. There is much wise counsel here for older people and those caring for them pastorally.

8. God's Little Book of Encouragement by D.N. Marshall

Joy is the most infallible sign of the presence of God.
For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of
righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, - Rom. 14:17
This is all you get on one page, but it is excellent.

Because Jesus endured the darkness and came through, even the darkest
tunnel has its exit and every bad Friday is followed by resurrection
'on the third day.'
About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice,... "My God, my
God, why have you forsaken me?" Matt. 27:46

So here is quality if not quantity, a quote and a text on each page.
I received it as a gift, read with benefit and will pass it on.