Monthly Archives: August 2015

Bring back our borders!

Looks like an outbreak of common sense has struck Germany. Yes, because of the massive influx of refugees, the police have requested that passport controls be carried out at borders just like the good old days. So Germany would become a proper country again. Poor old Germany is being forced to face reality as a borderless EU Schengen area is absolutely hopeless at dealing with the unforeseen and massive influx of refugees from the Middle East and Africa. You have to feel sorry for Germany with its massive landlocked border as part of the Schengen area, that area of 26 European countries that have got rid of passport and any other sort of border control on their common borders. Yes, it’s a European Union policy. As anyone can see, the Schengen area operates as one country for travel purposes. Once you enter Europe  you can melt into a vast area of about 420 million people, and have some leeway over which country you would like to settle in. Germany right now is experiencing a vast influx of refugees from Africa and the Middle East which will further change the population structure of the country. The article reports that a figure of 500,000, is expected to try and enter Germany this year. Staggeringly, statistics released In early August from the German Federal Statistical Office show that one in five people living in Germany have an immigrant background. No one is saying you have to lack compassion for genuine refugees from war and strife, but there has to be a better way of dealing with the situation.

One would hope that Germany being what it is, a very big boy on the European block, that it would have some influence now on the rest of Europe over this matter. If it gets back its own passport control it can then send refugees back immediately to the country from which they entered the Schengen area. It will be far harder for migrants or refugees to just move from one country to another if every EU country restores proper border controls. Then perhaps a more realistic and effective cooperative policy can be worked on to deal with the migrant crisis.

Here is the link:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3193887/Bring-borders-German-police-demand-reintroduction-passport-controls-Europe-cope-influx-refugees-make-easier-send-home.html

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fancy more Sunday shopping?

Well it’s come back to bite us in the bottom again after surfacing in the 1980s under Margaret Thatcher and undermining a little more of our Christian heritage. There was a big battle in the 1980s between the government who wanted to deregulate Sunday and such as the traditionalists of the ‘Keep Sunday Special’ pressure group campaign. Sunday trading law is in the government’s sights again, further liberalisation of course. This is against a historical background of Sunday being a day of rest in the UK, and legislation which forbade ‘worldly labour’ has been around since at least the reign of Charles the 2nd.

John Bingham reports in the Daily Telegraph that ‘an alliance of faith groups, unions and small retailers is lining up to oppose government plans for the biggest shake-up of Sunday trading in a generation, condemning it as a threat to family and community life as much as religious observance.’

Now I am a free marketeer because as far as I am concerned that is the norm. I remember seeing film of the time when the Soviet empire In Eastern Europe was falling. Immediately people were out on the streets trying to make money from selling their wares to make a dime and try and clear a profit. That’s reality and thus will it ever be. However, I do not believe that free markets should be totally unregulated, government intervention should be kept to a minimum of course, but Sunday trading is an issue where unfettered capitalism may not necessarily be the best answer. I think this is an issue where a little bit of regulation adds to the common good.

I was in Freiburg, Germany last summer and found myself in town on Sunday. Having been there a few days previously when it was buzzing to the rafters, it was a bit of a shock to see the town centre almost empty, as if everyone had gone on holiday. It was just like being transported back in time to when I was a kid in England and Sunday was for God, church, family and rest, or the last two for the heathens amongst us. Things have changed a little for us in the UK since the eighties and it’s the norm to nip to Tescos on a Sunday for our groceries. It’s still more traditional in Germany where there is a clause in the German constitution that Sunday should be a day of rest and ‘spiritual elevation,’ although some Sunday shopping has been allowed and the general trend seems to be towards more liberalisation. Interestingly in Germany shop regulation of opening hours has passed from federal to state government. However, quiet Sundays don’t seem to have affected the strength of the German economy, the fourth biggest in the world.

I must admit I think it’s a bit of a shame what’s happened to Sunday in England. In terms of business it has become much more like other days. Admittedly you don’t have the morning and evening rush hour, but you certainly have equivalent levels of traffic on the road at certain times of day. I miss that feeling of Sunday being significantly different and quieter than any other day.

Sunday as a day of rest of course has its roots in our traditional Judeo-Christian culture. Ancient Israel venerated the sabbath, there was something special about the number seven and it all goes back to what some biblical scholars refer to as the ‘first mention’ principle. In other words, where an important word is first mentioned in the bible it expresses its fullest and most complete meaning. Where is seven first mentioned in the bible? Why of course when God created the heavens and the earth in six days he decided to rest on the seventh day. If God needed a rest then surely the men and women he created did. After all, the bible teaches that we are made in His image. The Ten Commandments thundered ‘Remember the sabbath day to keep it holy’. It was the rule for ancient Israel, and in the New Testament and through church history the principle of one day in seven embedded itself in Christendom.

The Soviets were your classic God haters and tried to eliminate God from society. One person described communism as a spirit from hell that overtook Russian society in 1917. Well the bloodstained history of the communist Soviet Union certainly bares testimony to that. What did they do? They brought in the Soviet Revolutionary Calendar from 1929 to 1940. 1929 to 1939 saw the most savage persecution of religion in the whole Soviet period. The seven day week was abolished in favour of a five day week, in part an anti-religious measure, to get rid of the Christian Sunday as a day of rest. All sorts of public and voluntary organisations including the ‘League of Militant Atheists’ were encouraged in anti-religious activity, including promoting the observance of the five day working week. In 1931 a six day work week was experimented with. It is reported that the Sunday tradition proved hard to get rid of, as workers would often take Sunday off as well as the new day of rest, and who could blame them! Eventually in 1940 the old seven day week was restored. So maybe God had the last laugh in the midst of godlessness.

One day in seven has persisted pretty well to date, and even in England where the forces of mammon encroached upon the traditional Sunday in the 1980s and left us with a somewhat watered down version, it’s still a day off for the majority of people. However most people don’t worship in their local Anglican Church but find their idols in the gilded shopping malls, in crowded cafes and restaurants, on the sports field or perhaps down at the beach.

So is it right for the government to be telling the church to back Sunday shopping? It is being proposed that supermarkets could be prevented from opening longer in order to help revive Britain’s ailing high streets, to ensure that high streets remain ‘the heartbeat of our communities.’ At the moment all shops bar the smallest cannot open for more than six hours on a Sunday, but it is proposed that local government regulate their own Sunday trading law. The government calculates that ‘relaxing Sunday trading laws will lead to £14 billion worth of benefits to the economy a year and increase the amount people spend by as much as 12.5%. Ah, ‘the love of money is the root of all evil.?’ Is the government putting pound notes before health and welfare. Might there be other ways of reviving High Streets? Methinks free town centre parking’s not a bad idea for a start!

My own view on this is that it is good to have one day in seven as a day of rest. I try to a degree to keep to this, no work to do with my normal occupation on a Sunday, avoid household chores and mowing the lawn if you can! This ingrained habit serves me well as the next day is Monday when the temptation might be to make sure you are well prepared by doing all your work planning on Sunday. But once you have learnt to put work aside and that you can do in six days what you imagine you need to do in seven, the battle is won.

A society builds up its social capital by having one day when everyone within reason has the option of a specific day off from work. We are not made to work every hour that God sends but to enjoy life and spend relaxation time with our families and friends. If anything the balance in the west is too performance orientated and not enough relationship orientated. Time with those we love or appreciate is extremely important for our health and welfare, adding to David Cameron’s concern about ‘wellness’ in society. It gives opportunity for us to build and cherish family which is under great pressure these days. Making Sunday a special day also provides protection to retail workers who may be put under huge pressure to work on Sundays. This is not a minor point as the UK has a massive retail sector.

Social capital is far more important than increasing the UK GDP at all costs . A healthy happy workforce that enjoys a day each week free from the pressures of having to provide for oneself or the family will probably be more productive in the long run. Human beings are made to work, but they are also made to rest and spend quality time with their loved ones. Former Bishop of Rochester, The Rt Rev Michael Nazir Ali recognises both that work and rest are important for individuals and society, the ‘humanitarian principle.’ He is right.

 

Communist goals for America, 1963 style

This is worth looking at just to help see exactly where we are. I may have referred to this before but it states the 45 communist goals to take over America back in 1963. It is interesting to see just how many of these goals have been accomplished in the States at this present time. America is a different country of course, but we share a common heritage in many areas here in the UK. And you could argue the same strategies have been used in UK culture. There are geo-political items mentioned such as the reference to ‘Red China’ that may seem somewhat outdated now, and certain things that may seem irrelevant. However there are other items that should make people think, especially if you have been educated in this politically correct age. Sometimes it’s best just to sit back and let documentation speak for itself, rather than repeat our own viewpoint. So have a look at the list and see how many of these ‘communist goals’ have been reached here. Food for thought indeed!

Here is the link:

http://www.uhuh.com/nwo/communism/comgoals.htm

 

Calais

In the Observer newspaper this last Sunday we see the headline ‘Church attacks David Cameron’s lack of compassion over the asylum crisis.’ Well as a member of the church myself I beg to differ. Unfortunately I believe the church here has a misplaced sense of compassion. Thank god that they don’t run the government. Now I’m not saying there is no room for compassion, of course there is, but when it comes to policing international borders, there should be a very high barrier to entry for any potential immigrant to any country worth its salt. Given that we haven’t a clue as to who these people are in Calais without rigorous checks, and the propensity of people to lie through their teeth to get what they want, hearing that the UK is ‘El Dorado,’ we have to be very careful about accepting any stories about asylum seekers.

Always and ever time the government’s first responsibility is to protect its own people, otherwise what is the point of having a nation state? The Calais crisis exposes the continental open borders policy that we have opened the door to through being members of the EU and by listening to people like Peter Sutherland, special representative of the UN Secretary- General for international migration and development, whose views on people migration should quite honestly be consigned to the dustbin of ideological nonsense.

The present crisis in Calais is concentrating the minds somewhat of the the British people. As yet there seems to be no adequate response to the migrant situation that has plagued this area for years and is now escalating to dangerous levels. However it is a very loud trumpet sound to the British people about the glories or otherwise of the EU, and as Matthew D’Ancona points out, a potent illustration of just why being a member of the EU might not be a good idea according to the euro sceptic mob.

There is no way any of these people should be let into the UK under the present regime. The very fact that some of them are pushing objects in front of lorries, threatening lorry drivers, brazenly resisting legitimate authority and wielding weapons should bring us to the swift conclusion that no such person should be allowed to enter the UK. The fact that some of them are also causing criminal damage by destroying fencing, breaking into lorries and trains, as well as indirectly disrupting the south east of England is even more reason for them not to come.

It seems that the incredibly enlightened policy of EU open borders is now proving to be a chocolate teapot in dealing with the flow of migrants across Europe. As far as economic migrants are concerned, British is under no obligation to take anyone as we have already taken hundreds of thousands of immigrants in a very short time period. As far as asylum seekers are concerned, they should be claiming asylum in the first country they reach, not travelling the length and breadth of Europe to go where they want. It seems that they are far too easily being allowed to transport themselves across the continent to their own favoured destination. If you were of a cynical disposition of course you would think that certain countries in Europe just don’t want to be bothered about processing people entering their countries, why not just wave them on to a country that will take them? Or if you were even more cynical you might believe that there is a policy at a very high level to make the UK the plug hole of Europe!

David Davies of the Conservative party echoed calls for the army to be sent to Calais and proposed camps in place like North Africa where migrants can be properly processed. Genuine asylum seekers can then be filtered out. Under no circumstances would anyone be allowed to travel without proper documentation. Any propensity to destroy your documents on your travels to ease your passage i.e. bare faced lawlessness, should be robustly dealt with. Back to the camp to get new documents! This is only one of the least worse solutions that could be discussed.

The most worrying thing about Calais to me is the potential invasion that it represents. Many of the migrants in Calais appear to be young men from Africa and the Middle or Far East. We have no idea how many of them are on assignment to cause mayhem in the UK. How many are militant Islamists who have been given their instructions. ‘Get to London at all costs where you will be given further instructions?’ We are beyond naive in our attitude to this issue.

We are now facing a vicious and utterly ruthless foe in the Middle East in the form of ISIS who have a plan to establish a caliphate. That caliphate no doubt has visions to be worldwide, for of course if you are a committed Islamist, the whole world is a mosque yet is divided into two, the house of war and the house of peace. If you are a good Moslem you are in the house of ‘peace’ but if you are in the house of war you are the kuffar or infidel, to be dhimmified, taxed and discriminated against until you bow the knee to Allah. How many ISIS fighters have smuggled themselves into every west European state and also into the U.S. through their southern border on the pretext of ‘asylum seeker’ or ‘economic migrant,’ but are now about to try to unleash terror and bloodshed on an unprecedented scale. This year has been full of warning signs, Paris, Copenhagen, Brussels, and of course Tunisia.

And then here he is again, the one man globalisation phenomenon, yes none other than Peter Sutherland, giving us the benefit of his all knowing wisdom on the subject. You can predict what is going to come out of his mouth. Now let me see, surely as day meets night, he will use the word ‘xenophobia’ at some point; his is the sort of trumpet herald we get from on high these days in the UK, making us of course ‘racist xenophobic little Englanders.’ I’d say that’s a flowery euphemism for ‘absolutely normal common sense thinking.’

Here is the article:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/immigration/11773836/Britain-xenophobic-to-demand-economic-migrants-kept-out-says-UN.html

If it is the first responsibility of any government to protect its own people, that means you discriminate in favour of your own people every time bar none. It goes without saying that you have to know exactly who is coming into your country so that you know they will not present any threat to your own nation.

I feel sorry for countries in mainland Europe that are much more at the sharp edge of what is going on. Imagine a country like Germany which is mostly landlocked and is taking massive numbers at present, or France which has a lengthy border with other European countries. You might count it as in the providence of God that we are an island, otherwise we would surely be finished as a nation by now. It should be far easier to police our own borders.

Having said this, we are coming to the end of an age. This is a new paradigm when the British people will have to contemplate doing things and taking the type of action that we thought was no longer needed, things that we perhaps deemed unacceptable in an ‘enlightened’ society based on human rights and tolerance. We live in a world which includes extreme wickedness which if it poses a threat to our heritage and culture must be dealt with very robustly and it will necessitate tough love and ruthlessness. Being nice won’t work any more. Instead we must do what is right for the sake of survival and for the sake of our children and grandchildren. Trouble is, have we forgotten how to fight? Interesting times!