David Craig, on October 22nd, 2020(Thursday blog)
“Not a serious crime”?
I wanted to do a different story today. But then I came across this:
According to a leading scholar from our most favourite religion, the beheading of French teacher, Samuel Paty, was “not a serious crime” (at about 3 minutes into the video). The only crime, according to this learned scholar was that the beheading was carried out by an ordinary member of the religion we all admire rather than by someone delegated by leaders of that religion to do the beheading.
Meanwhile, another leading scholar from the world’s most tolerant and peaceful religion has claimed that just like the 9/11 attacks, the murder of the French teacher was orchestrated by Western intelligence agencies “in order to distort the good reputation of Islam”.
And the Internet is full of messages and comments praising the beheader for being a “hero of Islam”.
Is there really anyone out there who still seriously believes that our most admired religion and Western liberal democracy are compatible?
Who will pay for the lockdown disaster?
And to cheer us up, here’s a mature lady in Yorkshire explaining who’ll be paying for the lockdown choas:
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I am much the same age as that lady and totally agree with her regarding the the dictatorial, Law-enforceable, not to say virtually incomprehensible and ever-changing, nature of the instructions now issuing on an hourly basis from Downing Street. How DARE just a small group of Ministerial incompetents, none of whom have ever known true hardship, the majority of whom have been privileged financially and educationally since birth, tell ME, who was raised during the chaos of WW2 and its privations, whom amongst my lovely children, their partners and my grandchildren, I may meet, or where, or even that I may not see them at all other than on Skype or Zoom? I feel ever more outraged. And I DO have family members working in the NHS right now, potentially up close to covid patients every day, and I DO understand the pressures on the system and the risks being encountered by clinical staff and their desire to avoid becoming infected. However, I was myself a Health professional and sorry folks, but encountering infectious patients every single working day is what you sign up for when you decide to become a doctor or a nurse or a member of any of the other health-related professions. No job is 100% “safe”. Living isn’t “safe”. The fact is that this lot of Parliamentarians, non-Ministerial MPs as well as those in Government, have never in their liftetimes encountered until now an infectious disease for which there is as yet no vaccine and no known cure and it has completely panicked them. Just the same throughout the rest of the West. We oldies like that outspoken lady grew up with the very real possibility of contracting TB in childhood and dying, of contracting polio and either dying or being left permanently paralyzed, as happened at 18 years of age to a school friend of mine. We all got measles and some children, like me at seven, were very ill indeed. I realise now that my mother feared I might die. Our parents’ generation of course lived as children at daily risk of diptheria or typhoid, due to the insanitary conditions in which so many people existed. And now we are deliberately ruining our economy because of a virus which, although very nasty for those who take it badly, has very few or only transitory effects on the majority who contract it. I am not minimising the affect of covid upon those who truly become seriously ill or die, but let us remember at the same time how many people are dying right now, or will soon die, because their treatments for cancer and heart problems, treatments which are known to be effective, have been cancelled or delayed. I have a neighbour who is now almost completely immobile and at very real risk of death through circulatory or heart problems because urgently needed hip surgery is indefinitely postponed. Let’s remind ourselves again – about 50 million people world-wide died in the ‘flu pandemic of 1918-20. So far probably just over ONE million have died world-wide from covid. As for who is going to pay for all this – well, we oldies who are of fixed abode, who have tax codes, draw State pensions, have NI numbers and above all own our own homes are sitting ducks. I hoped – am still hoping – to leave my home intact to my children, for them to sell and divide the proceeds. The same applies to almost all my friends and neighbours. If I were PM and Chancellor I’d be assessing our money-raising potential with a very acquisitive eye and deliberating upon Death Duties, more benignly known as Inheritance Tax, with a view to drastically reducing its tax-free element. NOTHING we possess is now safe. And there’s nothing we can do about it. Carpe diem folks! Spend any savings in any way you wish – not that there’s much we are permitted to do right now. Raise money against your house and give it to your kids for them to enjoy or pay for the grandchildren’s education or just to squander! I think we can be pretty sure that whereas a loaf of bread costs, say £1 today, in a few years’ time it is likely to cost the equivalent of £5 or more! (This last is the view merely of someone who is no economist but has thought about it. How else can a national debt now in the £trillions and increasing daily be reduced to acceptable levels other than by in effect devaluation? I well remember Wilson’s, “The pound in your pocket is stil worth a pound”!)
I’m puzzled.
France has exactly the same EU Human Rights laws as the UK does.
If any of the radical Muslims who are actively being deported from France as a consequence of the recent beheading want to appeal their deportation, they are told to do so from their country of origin. They do not appear to receive any Legal Aid, enabling Human Rights lawyers to get even richer courtesy of the taxpayer.
If the French government can do this with their radical Muslims, why can’t the British Government? Why do British Home Secretaries invariably claim that they’re completely powerless in this respect?
It’s curious that the only country that’s supposed to be leaving the EU, also appears to be the only country that blindly follows the strict letter of EU law, regardless of the consequences for the safety of its citizens
As far as paying for millionaire doom-mongers Whitty and Valance’s increasingly chaotic lockdown measures is concerned, fortunately the nation’s main source of income nowadays, the Financial Services industry, has so far remained relatively unaffected in real terms by lockdown, since the internet means that business can be carried on equally well from home.
And from what I read of history, it appears that no matter how large a country’s national debt appears to be, the most important factor is that nation’s credit-worthiness, rather than the size of the debt itself. There are, and have long existed, many creative ways in which a government can finance a debt, with precedents in the UK’s case dating back to the economic measures of the 18th century, when our economy became steadily more sophisticated.
Therefore we are not yet in the position where the Treasury is merely printing worthless bills with nothing to back them up, as in Weimar Germany or Zimbabwe. In this one respect at least, this government composed of bankers has an advantage over the alternative currently on offer composed of ‘Human Rights’ lawyers, despite its other painfully obvious shortcomings.
You’ve raised my spirits slightly, Jeffrey Palmer, with your rather more optimistic view than mine of the nation’s financial future. I hope you are preoved correct. And how right you are about the UK’s attitude to deporting undesirables, be they proven non-UK-born criminals, identified terrorists or merely illegal immigrants. The plethora of human rights lawyers making a living from obtaining Legal Aid from the public purse, aka Jo and Joan Public, to defend the indefensible is deplorable. No ordinary member of the UK public with whom I have discussed it supports the way in which Legal Aid is handed out. As for last week’s French atrocity and the comments in today’s blog, were I publicly to state my views – and those incidentally of everyone I know – the Thought Police would be at my door in double quick time. 1984 is truly here! But I ask again, WHY is it unacceptable to state personal views on the attitudes and practices of one specific cultural and religious group, whereas were I to blaspheme publicly against Christianity, still (until we have King Charles III anyway) the Nation’s official religion, I doubt very much whether I should attract much more than a censorious glance or two. Why are European leaders positively competing to surrender ethnic and religious identities to an alien culture and religion?
Stillreading – it’s unacceptable probably for the same reason that Johnson’s ‘Conservative’ government is today boasting about the number of ‘refugees’ they’ve resettled in our overcrowded nation.
And probably for the same reason that we’re now all wearing veils, the pubs are closing, music, dancing, sport, theatre, and cinemas are all forbidden, and churches are closed.
It’s amazing what middle-eastern money can achieve, if distributed strategically and in sufficient quantities.
The nature of this killing will shock non-Muslims and I am sure many Muslims living in the west. One thing about it is that we know why it happened. Compare this with UK murderers like the Wests, Shipman, Hindley, Jack the Ripper, and many others. We don’t know why they committed their crimes. In this case it is because Islam has different laws and moral values. We know that if we visit a Muslim country we must obey their laws, and we see the consequences for those who don’t. The same should apply in reverse and our politicians should make this absolutely clear to the rulers of Muslim countries and to every Muslim living in the west. Such crimes committed by Muslims not born here should result in deportation.
The previous post suggested that democracy will allow the Muslims to take over, but democracy has not ensured that they comply with our laws. We only have ourselves to blame. Our past history puts us in no position to adopt a superior attitude. Look at the deaths at the hands of Christianity, and the killing of women for witchcraft. We seem to be obsessed with killing, even though most will say otherwise. The Romans enjoyed their violence in live performances. We now have unlimited access to violence from the entertainment industry. Not much has changed in 2000 years in my view.
Where is democracy in connection with lockdown and mask wearing? People who believe in democracy must surely believe in freedom from state control over the daily aspects of our lives. We have willingly accepted our freedoms being taken away and without any supporting evidence for lives being saved by lockdown and mask wearing, in fact the opposite is likely. This links with religion since there is no evidence to support belief in a creator god but billions around the world believe there is, and the rest seem to believe we are gods and can control the climate and a virus with ridiculous precautions.
It will not end well without significant changes. We must have smaller governments with limited power, and we must have freedom and accept personal responsibility for our lives with a complete end to socialist and religious state control.
Those of us of a certain age are only too aware of currency devaluation,we have experience of it.As a teacher who was responsible for the delivery of a “money matters” course to secondary pupils,(yes,it isn’t a new concept) I used to tell them that as a student I could withdraw £1 from my bank account and this would fund my lunches,a half of beer per evening and any other minor purchases for a whole week.Similarly my girlfriend and I could on 10 shillings (50p),afford the coach fare to Blackpool,entry to the Tower Ballroom,drinks for the night,with a little change remaining.They did not believe me of course.A similar level of currency debasement has of course continued and the present level of financial incontinence is certain to result in this in spades and more quickly in my opinion.I agree with Stillreadin ,get as much out of the system as you can,spend as much as is practical or gift to loved ones.Do not rely on the £85,⁰00 protection either,this can rapidly disappear if our politicians so desire.This is what we are being prepared for with the so called pandemic controls.
I believe you are correct Thorpe in everything you write above. “It will not end well without significant changes”. Sadly those changes are very unlikely to come about. Pockets of revolt, even in the apathetic UK, will probably arise from time to time and will be rapidly quashed. What hope is there for a nation whose Police Force “takes the knee” to commemorate a career criminal who lived his life and died elsewhere and never set foot in this country? As for religion, personally I have no time for any of it and observation tells us that throughout history religions of all creeds have been responsible for more evil and downright cruelty, individually and collectively, than any other single force. Perhaps, though, religion is merely a hook on which to hang the Human Race’s inherant violence? I dont know. I am not a philosopher, just an ordinary individual who somehow managed to rear single-handed wonderful children who now have families of their own and are doing, or have already done, similarly. Be as decent as you can to others, do not intentionally do unnecessary harm, work to earn what you need rather than expect others to earn it for you, and appreciate what you are fortunate enough to have. Seems to have worked for us without recourse to praying and undue self-flagellation. But what do I know? What I DO know is that one or two friends who are active, practising Christians, and very agreeable, kind people, are appalled at the current lack from the Christian establishment of effective leadership.