Category: Thinking outside the box

In God We Trust

James Mattis latest speech in full

I have watched this week’s unfolding events, angry and appalled. The words “Equal Justice Under Law” are carved in the pediment of the United States Supreme Court. This is precisely what protesters are rightly demanding. It is a wholesome and unifying demand-one that all of us should be able to get behind. We must not be distracted by a small number of lawbreakers. The protests are defined by tens of thousands of people of conscience who are insisting that we live up to our values-our values as people and our values as a nation.

When I joined the military, some 50 years ago, I swore an oath to support and defend the Constitution. Never did I dream that troops taking that same oath would be ordered under any circumstance to violate the Constitutional rights of their fellow citizens-much less to provide a bizarre photo op for the elected commander-in-chief, with military leadership standing alongside.

 We must reject any thinking of our cities as a “battlespace” that our uniformed military is called upon to “dominate.” At home, we should use our military only when requested to do so, on very rare occasions, by state governors. Militarizing our response, as we witnessed in Washington, D.C., sets up a conflict-a false conflict between the military and civilian society. It erodes the moral ground that ensures a trusted bond between men and women in uniform and the society they are sworn to protect, and of which they themselves are a part. Keeping public order rests with civilian state and local leaders who best understand their communities and are answerable to them.

James Madison wrote in Federalist 14 that “America united with a handful of troops, or without a single soldier, exhibits a more forbidding posture to foreign ambition than America disunited, with a hundred thousand veterans ready for combat.” We do not need to militarize our response to protests. We need to unite around a common purpose. And it starts by guaranteeing that all of us are equal before the law.

Instructions given by the military departments to our troops before the Normandy invasion reminded soldiers that “The Nazi slogan for destroying us…was `Divide and Conquer.’ Our American answer is `In Union there is Strength.” We must summon that unity to surmount this crisis-confident that we are better than our politics.

Donald Trump is the first president in my lifetime who does not try to unite the American people- does not even pretend to try. Instead he tries to divide us. We are witnessing the consequences of three years of this deliberate effort. We are witnessing the consequences of three years without mature leadership. We can unite without him, drawing on the strengths inherent in our civil society. This will not be easy, as the past few days have shown, but we owe it to our fellow citizens; to past generations that bled to defend our promise; and to our children.

We can come through this trying time stronger, and with a renewed sense of purpose and respect for one another. The pandemic has shown us that it is not only our troops who are willing to offer the ultimate sacrifice for the safety of the community. Americans in hospitals, grocery stores, post offices, and elsewhere have put their lives on the line in order to serve their fellow citizens and their country. We know that we are better than the abuse of executive authority that we witnessed in Lafayette Square. We must reject and hold accountable those in office who would make a mockery of our Constitution. At the same time, we must remember Lincoln’s “better angels,” and listen to them, as we work to unite.

Only by adopting a new path-which means, in truth, returning to the original path of our founding ideals-will we again be a country admired and respected at home and abroad.

James Mattis

Lady Liberty

What does Lady Liberty represent? The Statue of Liberty stands in Upper New York Bay, a universal symbol of freedom. Originally conceived as an emblem of the friendship between the people of France and the U.S. and a sign of their mutual desire for liberty, over the years the Statue has become much more.

Godless Trump

godless/ˈɡɒdləs/ Learn to pronounce adjective adjective: godless

  1. not believing in God.”a sceptical, godless society” h Similar: atheistic

unbelievingnon-believing non-theistic agnostic sceptical heretical faithless irreligious ungodly unholy impious profane infidel barbarian barbarous heathen heathenish idolatrous pagan satanic devilish fiendish demonic diabolical infernal nullifidian h

Opposite:religious

  • without a god.”humanity coming to terms with a godless world”
  • profane; wicked.”a mob reeling out from their godless pleasures” h Similar :immoral

wicked sinful wrong morally wrong wrongful evil

Bishop ‘outraged’ over Trump’s church photo op during George Floyd protests

The Rev Mariann Budde says the institution aligns itself with those seeking justice for Floyd’s death.

The Statue of Liberty (Liberty Enlightening the World; French: La Liberté éclairant le monde) is a colossal neoclassical sculpture on Liberty Island in New York Harbor in New York, in the United States. The copper statue, a gift from the people of France to the people of the United States, was designed by French sculptor Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi and its metal framework was built by Gustave Eiffel. The statue was dedicated on October 28, 1886.

The statue is a figure of Libertas, a robed Roman liberty goddess. She holds a torch above her head with her right hand, and in her left hand carries a tabula ansata inscribed JULY IV MDCCLXXVI (July 4, 1776 in Roman numerals), the date of the U.S. Declaration of Independence. A broken shackle and chain lie at her feet as she walks forward, commemorating the recent national abolition of slavery.[8] After its dedication, the statue became an icon of freedom and of the United States, seen as a symbol of welcome to immigrants arriving by sea.

Heart of the free world

I see the U.S.A. as the heart of the free world. With Covin-19, your President’s volatile nature where he bates and try’s to control or cancel all and any he see as his opposites or enemies, along with the recent protests over the death of George Floyd. The heart of the free world is really taking a heart beating and palpitating close to having a full on cardiac arrest.

I never wanted to visit the U.S.A. it always looked too dangerous, too scary and finally too expensive. But some of its people that I meet on the World Wide Web are hugely inspiring and influence my views and perspective on life. They appear if in the realms of fantasy and fiction like living legends, earth angels and walking saints.

So in essence the U.S.A is a paradox.

Paradox/ˈparədɒks/ Learn to pronounce nounnoun: paradox; plural noun: paradoxes

  1. a seemingly absurd or contradictory statement or proposition which when investigated may prove to be well founded or true.

Throughout the history of the free world it has many times thought led and beaten back all in the name of freedom. Free thought, free economicsish (ok but true freedom should be a freedom to purchase the perfect product for example clean water not just the right to flog any old shit to anyone i.e. dirty chemically polluted water). Plus your normal lack of safety netting for those that need support to stand up and get back into the economy is just downright destructive to all.

When the U.S.A gifts freedoms to corporations it has forgotten or refused to equally gift both rights and responsibilities of not being ripped off, persecuted, shot, stolen from or killed to its own citizens regardless of race, creed or colour.

Where all are equal but some more than others

No Peace in death – Or justice in blood

People now demand change – which they are right to demand

But what will that change be?

One humans freedom risks being another humans tyranny –

If you wish to free all then do not free them to their death.

Universal suffrage

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Universal suffrage (also called universal franchise, general suffrage, and common suffrage of the common man) gives the right to vote to all adult citizens, regardless of wealth, income, gender, social status, race, ethnicity, or any other restriction, subject only to relatively minor exceptions.[1][2] In its original 19th-century usage by reformers in Britain, universal suffrage was understood to mean only universal manhood suffrage; the vote was extended to women later, during the women’s suffrage movement.[3][4]

There are variations among countries in terms of specifics of the right to vote; the minimum age is usually between 18 and 25 years (see age of majority) and “the insane, certain classes of convicted criminals, and those punished for certain electoral offenses” sometimes lack the right to vote.[2]

In the first modern democracies, governments restricted the vote to those with property and wealth, which almost always meant a minority of the male population.[5] In some jurisdictions, other restrictions existed, such as requiring voters to practice a given religion.[6] In all modern democracies, the number of people who could vote has increased progressively with time.[7][8] The 19th century saw many movements advocating “universal [male] suffrage”, most notably in Europe, Great Britain and North America.[9][10]

In the United States, after the principle of “one man, one vote” was established in the early 1960s by U.S. Supreme Court under Earl Warren,[11][12] the U.S. Congress together with the Warren Court continued to protect and expand the voting rights of all Americans, especially African Americans, through Civil Rights Act of 1964, Voting Rights Act of 1965 and several Supreme Court rulings.[13][14] In addition, the term “suffrage” is also associated specifically with women’s suffrage; a movement to extend the franchise to women began in the mid-nineteenth century and culminated in 1920, when the United States ratified the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, guaranteeing the right of women to vote.

Banner State Woman's National Baptist Convention

Historian Martha S. Jones takes a look at the question of race versus gender in the quest for universal suffrage

Source: How the Daughters and Granddaughters of Former Slaves Secured Voting Rights for All

Is democracy the worst form of Government?

There is no alternative to Democracy that works for the people and nor should there be.

‘Many forms of Government have been tried, and will be tried in this world of sin and woe. No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed it has been said that democracy is the worst form of Government except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.…’

Winston S Churchill, 11 November 1947

Voice of Democracy (VOD) is an annual nationwide scholarship program sponsored by the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW). It is an audio-essay contest for high school students in grades 9-12. The program annually provides more than $2.3 million in scholarships. The first-place winner, who competes with all the first-place VFW Department (state) winners, receives a $30,000 scholarship that is paid directly to the recipient’s American university, college or vocational/technical school.

Besides competing for the top scholarship prize, as well as other national scholarships ranging from $1,000 to $16,000, each Department’s first-place winner receives an all-expense-paid trip to Washington, D.C. in March (annually).

The Voice of Democracy Program began in 1946 and was originally sponsored by the National Association of Broadcasters. Initially, there were four winners selected, representing the North, South, East and West regions of the country. Each winner received a $500 savings bond and a wristwatch. The second year of the program, a student by the name of Charles Kuralt, the late television news broadcaster and author, was one of the winners.

It is endorsed by the contest criteria of the National Association of Secondary School Principals and is designed to foster patriotism by allowing students the opportunity to voice their opinion in a three- to five-minute essay based on an annual theme. Historically, the Voice of Democracy theme (chosen by the VFW Commander-in-Chief annually) is purposely kept broad in scope to allow the participant flexibility in interpretation, and thus, encourage originality. The new theme is posted on the website by May of each year.

The audiotape or audio CD (with the typed essay recited word-for-word), the actual typed essay, and completed official student entry form must be delivered to a local, participating VFW Post by the student entry deadline of October 31.

They lied to you and they will lie to me

UK Government track record of hiding the truth

Calls for inquiry as UK reports highest Covid-19 death toll in Europe

Government’s handling of pandemic under scrutiny as UK becomes worst-hit European country

Coronavirus – latest UK updates

See all our coronavirus coverage

Denis Campbell , Frances Perraudin, Nicola Davis, and Matthew Weaver

Tue 5 May 2020 20.50 BST First published on Tue 5 May 2020 10.49 BST

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Dominic Raab at the Downing Street press briefing on 5 May

Dominic Raab announced that the number of people killed by the coronavirus in the UK stands at 32,313 on Tuesday, the second highest death toll in the world. Photograph: Pippa Fowles/10 Downing Street/AFP via Getty Images

Britain has the worst coronavirus death toll in Europe, official figures showed on Tuesday, prompting calls for an inquiry into the handling of the pandemic.

The government’s tally of fatalities across the UK reached 29,427 for those who tested positive for coronavirus, exceeding the 29,029 recorded in Italy – until now Europe’s worst-hit country. Italy’s total does not include suspected cases.

Let the truth set you free.

If this virus is not a serious enough issue that needs honesty and transparency in the eyes of Boris Johnson than quite frankly nothing is, only with the light of the truth may we see and learn from what was done.

This not some shoddy back room deal lives have been put on the line and deaths have been generated as a result of decisions made.

Stop HS2 – UK Civil Service Fraud and manipulation

Above is yet another example of how the UK state mechanics fail’s the people, politicians and legal mechanisms of the UK. If the civil service have to resort to lying to set and maintain their agenda, then it is important to know what exactly that agenda is. In the mist of time they have probably forgotten who for what reason the design and decision that was made was and why it is important to stick to it.


I am still having dealing with Network Rail and the Police presently and even though the Police Officer is acting within the letter of the law I am in no way convinced that Network Rail are acting in the letter or the spirit of the law and am awaiting a response now from Natural England concerning the Truth of a matter. It will be interesting to see if they are also accomplices in the bull that enables ecocide and the destruction of wildlife to take place along swathes of the UK all slaughtered on the altar of progress!!

For the love of money

Return Of The Jedi

So my last post was more about hope than solid progress though in the meantime I have received an email from https://secure.avaaz.org/page/en/ about how when people act locally there impact can be globally felt.

Another example is a Facebook page on the internet also hammering home to me the point from a web page called forgotten Ireland.

According to Wikipedia Indigenous peoples, also known in some regions as First peoples, First Nations, Aboriginal peoples or Native peoples, or autochthonous peoples, are ethnic groups who are the original or earliest known inhabitants of an area, in contrast to groups that have settled, occupied or colonized the area more recently. Groups are usually described as indigenous when they maintain traditions or other aspects of an early culture that is associated with a given region.[1] Not all indigenous peoples share this characteristic, as many have adopted substantial elements of a colonizing culture, such as dress, religion or language. Indigenous peoples may be settled in a given region (sedentary) or exhibit a nomadic lifestyle across a large territory, but they are generally historically associated with a specific territory on which they depend. Indigenous societies are found in every inhabited climate zone and continent of the world except Antarctica.[2]

Since indigenous peoples are often faced with threats to their sovereignty, economic well-being and access to the resources on which their cultures depend, political rights have been set forth in international law by international organizations such as the United Nations, the International Labour Organization and the World Bank.[3] In 2007, the United Nations issued a Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) to guide member-state national policies to the collective rights of indigenous peoples, such as culture, identity, language and access to employment, health, education and natural resources. Estimates put the total population of indigenous peoples from 220 million to 350 million.[4]

International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples is celebrated on 9 August each year.

According to the definition you would thing that right wing leaders would love them right none alien born and bred peoples but in fact Trumps administration is continuing to attack indigenous peoples. Which goes to show Trump care for no body but himself, if the truth be known.

But let’s leave trump out of this for a minute and discus other reasons to be optimistic.

The above episode has just been nominated for a WEBBY AWARDS in the Travel Category for 2020. We are up against big media like Nat Geo, BBC, and others. It would mean so much to the creator if you voted for it: https://bit.ly/2W4jOWa

So what makes these issues go viral well I think they light the imagination and people have passion for the courses which sparks a flame, people then blaze a trail resulting in global fire of righteousness bright enough for the like of you and I to see across the World Wide Web.

How cool

Cheers Huw

Revenge of the Sith

Not the happiest Star War’s title for May the 4th, but I do like to think outside the box.

So I started contacting my councillor and the police among others about a potential wildlife crime taking place along the railway track last week and the Wildlife Crimes officer phoned me today to say he had received mine and the councillor’s emails about the destruction of nest sites along the rail embankment.

He confirmed a fear of mine which was that to destroy a nesting site is indeed a crime, but only actually but witnessing the crime or having evidence of said crime could anything be done to legally tackle the crime. I did not bother to ask what the punishment would be as this seamed rather trivial.

So there we have a crime has taken place along rail embankments all across the UK during nesting season on a daily basis not just here but nationwide every nesting season and the only people with the evidence to report it are the very same people that are committing the crime in the first place.

This is madness it is like asking a fox hunt to police cruelty against foxes or a domestic abuser to be the only person that can report his or her crimes. A hunter reporting that he accidently caught a healthy fox or a domestic abuser phoning up to tell the police they have just attacked their partner and the police turning up to take the evidence from the aggressor who is then prosecuted due to his own testament! Bonkers or what a crazy piece of legislation. What then worries me is this ecocide legislation is accepted by the police and was designed and enacted by our politicians and then enforced by or judges and lawyers. They are all accomplices to the injustice of ecocide and by very implication guilty themselves to the law of the land. Ignorance is no excuse in the eyes of the law.

Martin Luther King Quote "When Evil Men Plot", MLK Promena… | Flickr

What is the meaning of a stitch time saves nine? Procrastination means to delay or put off doing something until a later time. People use “a stitch in time saves nine” to express that it’s better to spend a little time and effort to deal with a problem right now than to wait until later, when it may get worse and take longer to deal with.

Imagine if you will if Anakin had not turned to the darkside and the plot had been discovered how cool woudl that have been to be a Jedi then.

Justice inside and outside Brazil

Sergio Moro: Brazil’s popular justice minister quits in Bolsonaro clash

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Image copyright Reuters Image caption Sergio Moro was seen as a key figure in the government

Brazil’s popular justice minister has resigned from President Jair Bolsonaro’s government, accusing him of political interference.

Sergio Moro, a former judge who oversaw the country’s biggest anti-corruption probe, quit after the president fired the federal police chief.

Mr Moro said Mr Bolsonaro demanded someone who would provide him with direct intelligence.

In a public address, the far-right president called the claims “baseless”.

“The appointment is mine, the prerogative is mine and the day I have to submit to any of my subordinates I cease to be president of the republic,” Mr Bolsonaro said flanked by most of his cabinet in the presidential palace in Brasília.

But Brazil’s public prosecutor Augusto Aras asked the Supreme Court to allow an investigation into Mr Moro’s allegations against the president.

How did the political row escalate?

The dismissal of federal police chief Mauricio Valeixo was announced, with no further details, in the official gazette on Friday.

On Thursday, Mr Moro had threatened to resign if Mr Valeixo – his ally – were dismissed, but then said he would stay if he were allowed to choose a replacement.

Earlier this month, the president sacked his Health Minister Luiz Henrique Mandetta for his response to the coronavirus pandemic. The minister had advocated social distancing, which Mr Bolsonaro has scorned.

Fighting corruption was a central issue for Jair Bolsonaro in his 2018 presidential campaign. https://emp.bbc.co.uk/emp/SMPj/2.32.6/iframe.html Media captionThe BBC’s South America correspondent Katy Watson looks at how Bolsonaro has responded to the virus in Brazil

But Mr Moro on Friday accused the president of meddling in federal police efforts to fight corruption.

The sound of pot-banging protests rang out in cities across Brazil after his resignation was announced.

Blow to the Bolsonaro government

The departure of Jair Bolsonaro’s most popular minister is a blow to his government – Sergio Moro was a star minister. He was seen by his supporters as an anti-corruption crusader.

It is a departure that Jair Bolsonaro has clearly taken personally too, judging by his 45-minute television address on Friday afternoon. He recounted being snubbed by Mr Moro at the airport a few years ago, and accused him of not caring enough after he was stabbed during the campaign in 2018.

There is no doubt Mr Bolsonaro looks weaker now than ever – the events of Friday mark one of the most dramatic days in Brazilian politics in recent years.

Many are wondering who will be next – will the likes of Paulo Guedes, his economy minister and another star member of the cabinet, remain loyal or jump to save his reputation?

All this drama is distracting from a more urgent crisis – the number of coronavirus cases and deaths are rising ever faster each and every day.

Who is Moro?

Seen as an anti-corruption crusader, Mr Moro was a star pick when Mr Bolsonaro asked him to join the government.

Mr Moro earlier oversaw a huge corruption probe known as Operation Car Wash, which exposed billions of dollars in bribes and ended in the jailing of many powerful businessmen and politicians, including leftist former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

He once said he “would never enter politics”, but later agreed to serve in Mr Bolsonaro’s cabinet in order to fight corruption and organised crime.

He was promised full autonomy for his department, which united the justice and public security portfolios in a so-called “super ministry”.

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Liberation theology

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to navigationJump to search Not to be confused with Liberal theology.

Liberation theology is a synthesis of Christian theology and socio-economic analyses, based in far-left politics, particularly Marxism, that emphasizes “social concern for the poor and political liberation for oppressed peoples.”[1] In the 1950s and the 1960s, liberation theology was the political praxis of Latin American theologians, such as Gustavo Gutiérrez of Peru, Leonardo Boff of Brazil, Juan Luis Segundo of Uruguay, and Jon Sobrino of Spain, who popularized the phrase “Preferential option for the poor.”

The Latin American context also produced evangelical advocates of liberation theology, such as C. René Padilla of Ecuador, Samuel Escobar of Peru, and Orlando E. Costas of Puerto Rico, who, in the 1970s, called for integral mission, emphasizing evangelism and social responsibility.

Theologies of liberation have developed in other parts of the world such as black theology in the United States and South Africa, Palestinian liberation theology, Dalit theology in India, and Minjung theology in South Korea.