Protest at Protesters

Protesting at the injustices of the socio-economic system under which we live has almost become a way of life. Whether we take to the streets, or merely mutter imprecations under our breath, the sense of malaise is endemic. Yet the commentators or analysts rarely get to the heart of the matter. Decades ago, Peter Maurin (1877-1949), co-founder of the Catholic Worker, wrote:

Modern society has made the bank account the standard of values.

When this happens, the banker has the power.

When the banker has the power, the technician has to supervise the making of profits.

When the banker has the power, the politician has to assure law and order in the profit-making system.

When the banker has the power, the clergyman is expected to bless the profit-making system or join the unemployed.

When the banker has the power, the Sermon on the Mount is declared impractical.

When the banker has the power, we have an acquisitive, not a functional, society.[1]

Peter Maurin’s “Easy Essays” are freely available to be quoted “for the greater honour and glory of God and the furtherance of the lay apostolate to which the author’s life was devoted”.

They can be found at "Easy Essays". http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fd/Catholic_Radicalism-_Phrased_Essays_For_The_Green_Revolution.pdf . They are also available in hard copy.

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[1] Quoted in Far East: Magazine of the Columban Missionaries, December 2010.

Hollie Demands Justice

If you follow this link, you will find a story that needs to be followed up by all who would defend constitutional rights in the UK:
http://holliedemandsjustice.org/content/who-really-issued-the-interdict-on-robert-green/

Perhaps you can get to tomorrow's hearing at Stonehaven Court?

Fighting Like the Flowers

Fighting the Sexual Revolution – is it Possible to?

In autumn last year I shared a platform with Judith Reisman, bought her book Sexual Sabotage, and reviewed it in the Winter 2011 issue of The Social Crediter, at http://douglassocialcredit.com/resources/tsc/2011_winter.pdf . Later in the year Dr. Reisman addressed the Society for the Protection of the Unborn Child (SPUC) in London: see
http://www.drjudithreisman.com/archives/2011/12/spuc_-_safe_at.html

In her lectures, Dr  Reisman introduces a host of complex, inter-related issues, each of which requires study and thought. For the parents and grandparents of today, Judith Reisman’s work is essential reading, revealing as it does an alarming agenda which would otherwise pass us by.

However, so alarming is this information that it could leave us feeling helpless and disempowered. What, after all, can we personally, as individuals, do to protect youngsters from the onslaught to which they are currently subjected from infancy to adolescence?

Far from just happening, the sexual revolution has been deliberately engineered, backed by solid financial interests since the 1940s. A materialistic ‘brave new world’ is the result, where personal gratification over-rules not only morality, poetry and literature, but also all rights of citizenship and responsibilities of parenthood. Poetry is for sissies – real men play football, and expect sex on demand. We cannot fight this with a barrage of moral teaching, still less can we put the clock back. Rather, it is necessary to look in unexpected places for the signs of a new spring. Quietly, underneath it all, something is happening. Over the past century certain men and women have sown vital seeds for the future. If each individual seeks, they may well be surprised to find nuggets of pure gold.

In this quest I was reminded of the work of men and women who have faced challenges in amazing ways. For a random example, the autobiography of Lawrence D Hills, entitled Fighting Like the Flowers, makes reference to the scientific work of Henry Doubleday and Rachel Carson in challenging the pharmaceutical, military- industrial complex by presenting sane alternatives. We need to turn from action packed desperate reactions to the so-well-documented specific ills, ranging from 9/11 mysteries, through GM crops, sexual sabotage, nuclear and financial meltdowns, in order to see how individuals can enable the desert to bloom as in Sekem http://www.sekem.com/english/default.aspx .

Peter Maurin, synthesiser of history, based his teachings on ‘Cult, Culture and Cultivation’ (see blog entry for Friday 2 December 11). Stanley Vishnewski explains:

“By Cult, Peter meant the Liturgical Cycle of the Church with its yearly cycle of festivals and ceremonials.

“By Culture, Peter meant the cultivation of the mind through the study of literature and the great classics.  

“By Cultivation Peter meant the return to the soil through the establishment of Community Life in a strongly individualistic society.”

Raw Milk Supplies

 

A news item in a recent edition of the Yorkshire Post (3 January 2012) carries the information that people have been queuing to buy unpasteurised milk from a newly-opened dispensing machine at Selfridges in London. The milk is delivered in a stainless steel tank which slots into the machine. Customers can buy a bottle to fill at a cost of £3.50 a litre or £2 for half a litre. The machine comes from Italy, where there are hundreds like it. The idea is also popular in France.

Steve Hook, the Kent farmer who runs the machine sells thousands of pints per week all over the country from his organic herd of Holstein Friesians, through a courier service. The minimum mail-order delivery is six pints for £13.40.

Mr. Hook said: “We started selling raw milk in 2007. We now sell about 1,800 pints to local doorsteps and about 3,000 all around England and Wales and most of Scotland, plus about 1,000 pints, and cream and butter, at four farmers’ markets at the weekend.”  

The Yorkshire Post article, entitled “Expensive raw milk sales put law into question” continues: “The Food Standard Agency commented: ‘The current controls are intended to ensure an appropriate balance between public health protection and consumer choice.'

“The Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratories Agency have asked Selfridges for further information on their sale of raw milk and discussions are continuing.

“ 'Pasteurisation kills dangerous bugs such as E.coli, TB and salmonella, that may be present in raw milk. This is why there are strict rules.’

“A Selfridges spokesman said: ‘We have been through all this with the Food Standards Agency already and we are confident we have good answers to their questions.’

“Mr. Hook said: “I think the law is about right. Our milk has to meet certain standards before we can sell it raw. And people are entitled to a choice.’”

See http://www.hookandson.co.uk/index.html  (note lateral thinking on wider issues of food, farming and society, e.g., http://www.hookandson.co.uk/ALLOTMENTS/allotments.html )

The issues surrounding consumption of pasteurised milk are introduced on:  http://www.campaignforrealmilk.co.uk/index.html

Readers familiar with the issues surrounding raw milk will be aware that EU law has restricted sales of raw milk as part of a world-wide campaign to control food supplies by denying customer choice on grounds of ‘health and safety’ being for-your-own-good.

Anyway

Yesterday, someone in deep despair reminded me of this text. Although it has been around for decades. Yet it is as fresh as ever as Christmas ends and we move on through the New Year.

ANYWAY

People are unreasonable, illogical and self-centred,

LOVE THEM ANYWAY

If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives,

DO GOOD ANYWAY

If you are successful, you win false friends and true enemies,

SUCCEED ANYWAY

The good you do will be forgotten tomorrow,

DO GOOD ANYWAY

Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable,

BE HONEST AND FRANK ANYWAY

What you spent years building may be destroyed overnight,

BUILD ANYWAY

People really need help but may attack you if you help them,

HELP PEOPLE ANYWAY

Give the world the best you have and you’ll get kicked in the teeth,

GIVE THE WORLD THE BEST YOU’VE GOT ANYWAY

Stepping out of the Christmas Nightmare

 Stepping out of the Christmas Nightmare and into the New Year

On the second day of Christmas a young man is stabbed through the heart, as shoppers battle for bargains on Oxford Street.  Across the country, parents drop exhausted from getting and spending on fashion items, electronic gadgets and software, mindful of the fact that poor children are bullied at school if they turn up without the latest consumer products. To the proverbial visitor from outer space, the collective madness of the consumerist Christmas must appear as a time of very little heartfelt joy.

For so many people Christmas is a time of great sadness. The empty chairs of families separated by premature bereavement, broken relationships and war, show up the getting and spending for what it is – at best a worthless sham. The joy of being together in good company, of giving time, not things, of putting home-made words to home-made music, of sharing sadness and joy with families, friends and community over the twelve Holy Nights: that is what a real Christmas is all about.

Christmas can be a time to start the vital task of “Gardening the Soul”. As Sister Stanislaus Kennedy explains in her book of that name:

“People are tiring of the competitive consumer-driven world we live in. They are starting to ask, What can be done to reverse the trend towards extreme individualism? How can we live our lives caring for ourselves and being supportive to others?

“I believe we can only fill this gap by developing a sense of ownership of the world and times we live in. This is our time and it is up to us to choose our destinies. What happens here, now, is our responsibility. It is not a matter of doing great things: it is a matter of doing or saying small things with responsibility and courage.”

A seemingly impossible undertaking so long as we remain in thrall to the brave new technological world where, we live under the illusion that there is no alternative but to work for an economic system which we do not understand, producing goods and services which we do not really need, whilst longing for Friday, holidays and retirement. “The world is” indeed “too much with us”:

 “Getting and spending we lay waste our powers:

   Little we see in nature that is ours. …”

Two hundred years after Wordsworth put pen to paper, Sister Stanislaus draws our attention to the solid fact that “NOW is the time to live”, to step outside the make-believe world of work and consumerist desires, so that “we develop a sense of ownership of the world and the times we live in.” It is indeed up to us all individually to abandon protest and wage-slavery, seeking to “choose our destinies” for ourselves. In that way we can, with Sister Stanislaus, encourage others to “Take time to live – it’s what life is for.”

Government Guidelines

Government has issued Health & Safety and Equality Considerations for Christmas Songs

23 December 2011

The Rocking Song
Little Jesus, sweetly sleep, do not stir;
We will lend a coat of fur,
We will rock you, rock you, rock you,
We will rock you, rock you, rock you

Fur is no longer appropriate wear for small infants, both due to risk of allergy to animal fur, and for ethical reasons. Therefore faux fur, a nice cellular blanket or perhaps micro-fleece material should be considered a suitable alternative.

Please note, only persons who have been subject to a Criminal Records Bureau check and have enhanced clearance will be permitted to rock baby Jesus. Persons must carry their CRB disclosure with them at all times and be prepared to provide three forms of identification before rocking commences.

Jingle Bells
Dashing through the snow
In a one horse open sleigh
O'er the fields we go
Laughing all the way

A risk assessment must be submitted before an open sleigh is considered safe for members of the public to travel on. The risk assessment must also consider whether it is appropriate to use only one horse for such a venture, particularly if passengers are of larger proportions. Please note, permission must be gained from landowners before entering their fields. To avoid offending those not participating in celebrations, we would request that laughter is moderate only and not loud enough to be considered a noise nuisance.

While Shepherds Watched
While shepherds watched
Their flocks by night
All seated on the ground
The angel of the Lord came down
And glory shone around

The union of Shepherd's has complained that it breaches health and safety regulations to insist that shepherds watch their flocks without appropriate seating arrangements being provided, therefore benches, stools and orthopaedic chairs are now available. Shepherds have also requested that due to the inclement weather conditions at this time of year that they should watch their flocks via cctv cameras from centrally heated shepherd observation huts.
Please note, the angel of the lord is reminded that before shining his / her glory all around she / he must ascertain that all shepherds have been issued with glasses capable of filtering out the harmful effects of UVA, UVB and Glory.

Rudolph the red nosed reindeer
Rudolph, the red-nosed reindeer
had a very shiny nose.
And if you ever saw him,
you would even say it glows.

You are advised that under the Equal Opportunities for All policy, it is inappropriate for persons to make comment with regard to the ruddiness of any part of Mr. R. Reindeer. Further to this, exclusion of Mr R Reindeer from the Reindeer Games will be considered discriminatory and disciplinary action will be taken against those found guilty of this offence. A full investigation will be implemented and sanctions - including suspension on full pay - will be considered whilst this investigation takes place.

Little Donkey
Little donkey, little donkey on the dusty road
Got to keep on plodding onwards with your precious load

The RSPCA have issued strict guidelines with regard to how heavy a load that a donkey of small stature is permitted to carry, also included in the guidelines is guidance regarding how often to feed the donkey and how many rest breaks are required over a four hour plodding period. Please note that due to the increased risk of pollution from the dusty road, Mary and Joseph are required to wear face masks to prevent inhalation of any airborne particles. The donkey has expressed his discomfort at being labelled 'little' and would prefer just to be simply referred to as Mr. Donkey. To comment upon his height or lack thereof may be considered an infringement of his equine rights.

We Three Kings
We three kings of Orient are
Bearing gifts we traverse afar
Field and fountain, moor and mountain
Following yonder star

Whilst the gift of gold is still considered acceptable - as it may be redeemed at a later date through such organisations as 'cash for gold' etc, gifts of frankincense and myrrh are not appropriate due to the potential risk of oils and fragrances causing allergic reactions. A suggested gift alternative would be to make a donation to a worthy cause in the recipients name or perhaps give a gift voucher. We would not advise that the traversing kings rely on navigation by stars in order to reach their destinations and suggest the use of RAC routefinder or satellite navigation, which will provide the quickest route and advice regarding fuel consumption. Please note as per the guidelines from the RSPCA for Mr Donkey, the camels carrying the three kings of Orient will require regular food and rest breaks.
Facemasks for the three kings are also advisable due to the likelihood of dust from the camels hooves.