Saturday, May 31, 2014

Intercessory Prayer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYL8WCk0I4k

Wilberforce Academy.

Wilberforce Academy 2014 applications now open

http://christianconcern.us2.list-manage2.com/track/click?u=bed173cc9adfcad1e0e442a35&id=6b9d7ded67&e=1ce5ae657b
Watch highlights from
Wilberforce Academy
2013 (3m 38s) >
 
The Wilberforce Academy is set to take place this September for three intensive days of equipping and commissioning the next generation to take the name of Christ into the public square. 
The Wilberforce Academy is aimed at students and young professionals with a passion to serve Jesus Christ in a variety of vocations including law, politics, education, media, arts and business.
Our aim is that delegates will be prepared for servant-hearted, Christ-centred leadership in public life, having been equipped with a robust Biblical framework that guides their thinking, prayers and activity in addressing the issues facing our society. We hope that they will also develop lasting friendships with peers and mentors that will be a source of support, encouragement and accountability for years to come.

Farage On Friday.

http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/479268/Winning-the-Newark-by-election-would-be-Ukip-s-most-spectacular-victory-says-Nigel-Farage

Newark.

If you are possibly able to campaign for Roger in the by-election next Thursday - please do so!

World War One Monument By Ray Lonsdale - Seaham.

I just love it! My Dad was on active service in World War Two and said that the worst thing on the battlefield was the constant tiredness.


As With Hospitals - So It Is With Schools.

I spent the greatest part of my working life in a huge comprehensive. As a child, I had two operations in 'a cottage hospital' and as an adult, several matters dealt with in a giant hospital.
In both of these situations, I am unconvinced by arguments which suggest 'economies of scale'. The cost is too high!

Nice One, Monarch!

Monarch is to ban reclining seats on all its planes after 90% of passengers vote to ditch them.

Celibacy To Go? - And Whyever Not?

A group of Italian women who are in love affairs with Roman Catholic Church priests have asked Pope Francis to make the celibacy mandate for clergy optional. Twenty six women recently wrote to the Pontiff, their letter being published on the website of the Catholic publication the Vatican Insider. Christian News.
(I promise readers - the RC contraception ban is soon going to disappear! Ed.)

UKIP To Retain Its Voters - Comres.

The majority of voters who backed Ukip in the European elections will also vote for the party at the general election, a poll predicts today.
Ukip is likely to retain 86 per cent of its support, the ComRes poll suggests.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/ukip/10866335/Ukip-vote-in-European-elections-no-flash-in-pan-according-to-new-poll.html

Carl Sagan.

UKIP Always Cleans Up Its Act - Do The Others?

A new UKIP councillor is found to have twittered racist and offensive comments. Immediately suspended - so how can this be used by any reasonable person to attack the party?
At the same time, in at least one council ward in the North East, political leaflets containing pure lies about UKIP were pushed through every letterbox.
Against this backcloth, how, in any way at all, does this not make headline news?

How It Is - How It Should Be.


More Dirty Politics In Runup To Elections.



Candidate for the European Parliament Jonathan Arnott, at the Sage, Gateshead.
Accusations of dirty politics have been made in Northumberland after UKIP had to deny writing an election letter calling for mothers to lose state benefits. Across south-east Northumberland, senior Labour figures received a letter claiming to be from a Newcastle UKIP candidate calling for an end to welfare for mothers after nine months and a demand that jobseekers never get more than the minimum wage. However, UKIP has said the letter is an obvious fake, pointing out that the return address appears to be to a Labour Party freepost address.Last night the party said it was considering complaining to the Electoral Commission, though it was unclear who had written the letter.UKIP general secretary Jonathan Arnott said: “This letter is a disgusting hoax. Investigation reveals that the freepost given actually belongs to the Labour Party. If we hadn’t noticed this deception, an innocent woman could have been falsely branded as racist. At first sight it looks like the Labour Party were responsible, and I’m appalled that our opponents could stoop so low. “The Labour Party should suspend its south-east Northumberland branch and hold a full investigation.“We are considering all options at present, including reporting the matter to the police or the Electoral Commission.” Northern Journal.

Converts.

Christian Concern backs safe refuge for Muslim converts
http://christianconcern.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=bed173cc9adfcad1e0e442a35&id=d3a26e968b&e=1cccfc6b93
Christian Concern is backing plans to provide safe refuge for those who face ostracism or danger as a result of converting from Islam to the Christian faith.
It is hoped that the network, provisionally named "Converts to Jesus", will launch in the Autumn and be chaired by Nissar Hussain, a convert from Islam, who lives in Bradford.
Nissar and his family have suffered as a result of following Jesus. He has been shunned by his family and been labelled a "Christian Jew dog" whilst his wife has been sworn and spat at and his children have been ostracised by school friends. His car has has been torched and an empty property next to his home set alight. He received a warning in advance but police told him that the threat was unlikely to be carried out.
However, Mr Hussain refuses to be ashamed of Jesus, saying: "it tells us in the New Testament that trials and tribulations are part of the Christian world".

Andrea Williams explained:
“We are motivated by a deep sense of love and compassion for those that feel trapped in a situation from which they cannot escape. The penalty for them at best is to be cut off from their family; at worst they face death. This is happening not just in Sudan and Nigeria but in east London. The government has failed to deal with the rise in anti-Christian sentiment.
"We need more churches and Christians sacrificially to offer welcome, support and safety for those Muslims who want to embrace Jesus Christ."

Read more in the Sunday Times (£) >

Friday, May 30, 2014

I Am Sick With Anger At This Derisory Sentence!

A teenage thug who savagely beat a great-grandmother with a crowbar in her own home has seen his sentence halved - because of his age. 
Frail Jean McDougall, 89, was smashed in the face with a crowbar by 18-year-old Aaron Davis last October.
She was beaten so hard her false teeth came out and her glasses were left in pieces.
Davis repeatedly kicked her and left her with a broken nose, broken eye socket and a fractured spine.
Injuries: Jean McDougall suffered serious bruising around her eyes, face and upper arm, a laceration to her lip, bleeding on her brain and a compression fracture to the top of her spine - which still causes her pain
Injuries: Jean McDougall suffered serious bruising around her eyes, face and upper arm, a laceration to her lip, bleeding on her brain and a compression fracture to the top of her spine - which still causes her pain
Her husband John, 84, was also clubbed with his wife’s walking stick by Davis who was raiding their home in Hextable, Kent.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2643013/Teenage-thug-attacked-great-grandparents-crowbar-raided-home-sentence-cut-judge-age.html#ixzz33Asfb8rU
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

Justified.

Jonathan Arnott UKIP MEP for the North East of England: New Huff Post Columnist!

PLEASE PASS THIS IMPORTANT ARTICLE ON TO YOUR ANTI-UKIP FRIENDS.
Jonathan Arnott
UKIP MEP for the North East of England. Over many years, British politics has thrown up a number of anomalies. Perhaps that's the nature of politics - a business in which perception can often seem more important than reality - but it can take generations before a sense of perspective is reached.
Let's go back a few decades. The Labour Party was traditionally seen as the champion of the coal mines, and the Conservatives as the Party of Grammar Schools. Labour, it was said, care about the environment more than the Conservatives. The facts don't always sit with our understanding of history:
  • Margaret Thatcher, as Education Secretary, closed more Grammar Schools than anyone else
  • More coal mines closed under Labour than under the Conservatives
  • Carbon emissions fell under the Conservatives from 1979 to 1997 (without trying)

The 2014 local and European election campaigns threw up some similar anomalies about UKIP. In this article I'm going to take five of the main ones, and compare the public perception with the facts.
Anomaly no.1: UKIP's candidate list was more diverse than that of those accusing UKIP of racism
Opponents of UKIP throw around the word 'racist' like confetti. I believe that in today's society, an accusation of racism is one of the worst accusations that can be levelled against anyone. Therefore, bleating 'racist' at regular intervals devalues the meaning of the word.
The Greens and Liberal Democrats were the parties who attacked UKIP the most on this. The first political irony of 2014: UKIP's MEP candidate list was more ethnically diverse than the Lib Dems or Greens. Neither the Lib Dems nor the Greens had a single non-white face in a winnable position on their candidates' lists. Yet UKIP had Amjad Bashir and Steven Woolfe elected in the current wave of new MEPs. Our candidates' list even had an Orthodox Jew.
UKIP's ethnic minority candidates have had to put up with a lot of racial abuse and physical assault during this campaign, with even so-called 'anti-racism' campaigners aiming such racist slurs as 'oreo' or 'coconut' at them.
Anomaly no.2: UKIP, accused of misogyny, now has more women MEPs than any Party other than Labour
In 2014, UKIP had 7 women MEPs elected. Only Labour had more - and they achieved that through a quota system. Selection procedures should be about getting the best person for the job. UKIP's selection process didn't consider gender to be a factor in whether or not someone is capable of doing a good job as an MEP.
In fact, although only around 10% of those who applied to become candidates were women, 30% of our elected MEPs are women. There was no need for any 'positive discrimination' (and in my view all discrimination is still discrimination) to achieve this. A democratic vote of Party members ranked women candidates highly on the lists.
Anomaly no.3: UKIP's immigration policy, attacked as 'racist', is actually the most colour-blind policy of any Party
This one really should be self-explanatory. Labour, Liberal Democrats and Conservatives all support the current open-door immigration from 27 other countries in the European Union. However, they support limited immigration from those outside the European Union. The overwhelming majority of those who come into the UK from the European Union are white.
UKIP, on the other hand, believes that everyone should be treated on merit. Does a potential migrant have skills to offer the UK? Are they free from serious criminal record? Are they competing for jobs in areas where we have shortages at the moment? Have they learned to speak English to a basic standard? To UKIP, the answers to those questions are more important than which country you happen to have been born in.
And whilst we're on the subject of racism, we're the only Party that doesn't allow ex-BNP, National Front or EDL members to join.
Anomaly no.4: UKIP's LGBT track record doesn't fit the 'homophobic' tag
Within UKIP, sexual orientation is something which isn't made into an issue. Our newly-elected MEP for Scotland is openly gay, for example. But we don't count how many people are gay in UKIP, we don't label such people - people's sexuality is their own business.
Our LGBT* wing is growing fast, but we believe that associations of members should be bottom-up rather than top-down. It's a grassroots organisation, not a puppet or propaganda tool of the Party leadership. It has its own views on certain matters. Like UKIP's ethnic minority members, our gay members are often subjected to abuse. They have even been accused of homophobia, just for being part of UKIP. I can scarcely imagine just how twisted a mindset has to be to accuse a gay person of homophobia, yet it's a regular occurrence.
David Silvester - the one who made the 'floods' remarks about gay marriage - was allowed to remain in the Conservative Party for decades whilst making similar remarks. But they weren't tolerated in UKIP, who expelled him. As UKIP is a Party of freedom of speech, I should point out that we defend his right to hold those views - however abhorrent they are. But when those views were associated with UKIP, he had to go.

Anomaly no.5: Other parties' councillors and candidates have behaved worse than UKIP's
Whenever one of the 2,200 or so UKIP candidates at this year's Council elections said something out of line, it was front-page headline news. In any large group of people, it's easy for some to slip through the net although we will be tightening up our selection procedures. The Party is in the process of dealing with those people, and don't expect to see their name besides a UKIP logo again.
Oddly enough, the national press passed by the Lib Dem councillor who got 18 years in prison for bombing his own constituency. And when a councillor was found guilty of racially-aggravated assault, that did not become a major news story. Nor did the councillor pictured with an AK-47. Labour has sitting councillors who are ex-BNP, and selected a convicted fraudster in Harrow. A Conservative councillor kept his job after tweeting (et al) "I'm watching Machete - now THAT's how you deal with immigration", another Conservative councillor stole £150,000 from a pensioner with dementia and they selected a former BNP activist as a candidate in South Kesteven. Then in the final two weeks of the campaign, 17 councillors from other parties were arrested on various offences - some as serious as child porn.
Opponents of UKIP have a vested interest in attacking us, but ultimately such distortions simply alienate more people from politics. Let's hope for a much cleaner campaign at next year's General Election.
 Follow Jonathan Arnott on Twitter: www.twitter.com/JonathanArnott

Thursday, May 29, 2014

Sunday Was SUCH A Good Day!

Tolerance?

The Irony of the New Tolerance: It Doesn't Tolerate Christians. John Stonestreet.

Beyond Our Ken!

http://www.express.co.uk/comment/columnists/virginia-blackburn/478843/Virginia-Blackburn-on-politics-Kate-Middleton-and-Shane-Warne

Not Milking Our Benefits System?


BRITISH taxpayers are giving more than £30million a year in Child Benefit to families in other EU countries, it emerged last night.

Nick Clegg, Lib Dems, Liberal Democrats, House of Commons, House of Lords, Parliament, Government, David Cameron, Vince Cable, EU, Benefits, Child Benefits, Poland, Country, Millions, Taxpayers, British taxpayers are spending millions to raise children in foreign countries [GETTY / GETTY]
Most of the cash is being paid to relatives of migrant workers, with almost two-thirds going to Poland.Brussels laws mean ministers are powerless to stop the payments which triggered fresh fury about foreigners milking the benefit system.The figures were released by the Treasury in response to MPs’ questions just days after the UK Independence Party won European elections following concern about migration.Andy Silvester, campaign director of the TaxPayers’ Alliance pressure group, said: “The Government has to step in. The idea that UK taxpayers should be paying to raise children in foreign countries is ludicrous.”
The figures showed that last year Child Benefit funded by British taxpayers went to 20,400 families with a total of 34,268 children living overseas.Most is being paid to relatives of migrant workers who have come to Britain under EU free-movement rules. Express.

Arrogant Europhiles NEVER Learn.

Days after elections to the European Parliament which saw a surge across Europe in support for anti-Brussels groups including Ukip.Undeterred, the EU Commission announced in a brief statement it needed £3.8billion extra this year – of which £500million would come from Britain under budget allocations.The extra was needed for employment and education projects including those which were set up after the 2014 budget was agreed, as well as to bankroll additional support for Ukraine. Express.

Pakistan & Syria.

USCIRF Chair Robert George Urges Obama Admin to Add Syria, Pakistan to Worst Religious Offenders' List

Robert P. George, chairman of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, has urged the Obama administration to designate more countries, particularly Syria and Pakistan, as "Countries of Particular Concern" due to their "worst religious freedom environment." Christian News.

What Life Is All About.

He loved us - the unlovable - that we might pass it on!

Oh, Oh. Looks Like My Trade Is On The Way Out.

Microsoft has revealed their language translation software for Skype (pictured). Known as Skype Translator, it will enable people with two different dialects to communicate using voice or video calling, with the software then translating what they say into text and voice so that the other person can understandDon’t bother learning a foreign language! Skype will soon translate spoken foreign words in real time

Microsoft has unveiled its new speech recognition software for Skype. It will allow two people to communicate through a language barrier. Mail.

Waste Not, Want Not.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2641993/Foods-eat-WEEKS-best-date-From-vegetables-chicken-tell-fresh-eat.html

Pray For A Faithful Lady.

Gabriel Wani, Meriam Yehya Ibrahim
(Photo: Facebook/Gabriel Wani)

A pregnant Christian woman from Sudan who has vowed to never renounce her faith in Christ even after being sentenced to death for it, gave birth to a baby girl in prison on Tuesday.

Read more at http://www.christianpost.com/news/pregnant-christian-woman-sentenced-to-hang-for-faith-gives-birth-to-baby-girl-in-prison-says-she-wont-renounce-christ-120422/#mt6SD3ZyZzmvvC4w.99

Michelangelo.

Will You Take the Hand of Jesus?

By Dan Delzell
In Michelangelo's famous painting, "The Creation of Adam," the hand of God is almost touching the hand of Adam. When God came into the world in the Person of Jesus Christ, the hand of God "closed the gap" and lovingly took the hand of sinners in order to bring us into His family. But not everyone is interested in taking the hand of Jesus. Not by a long shot. Christian News.

Thanks Are Due To ...

 ... The Mail, Guardian, Observer, Torygraph, BBC, LBC and The Huffington Post for the mountains of publicity they gave to UKIP in the runup to the elections of last week.
It all goes to prove that in some contexts, there really is "No such thing as bad publicity." Brendan Behan. (attrib.)

Wednesday, May 28, 2014

Thurcroft & Dinnington.

Two wards won last week in Rotherham by UKIP. Interestingly, both of these neighbouring villages used to have pits.

Car Bomb.

At least five people were killed Sunday when a suspected car bomb exploded in a predominantly Christian area in the northern Nigerian city of Kano. Islamist terror group Boko Haram is likely to be blamed. Christian News.

Church? - Roman Only or Christian?

North East Lincs - Nearly A Storm To Match Rotherham.

Labour lost overall control of control North East Lincolnshire Council as UKIP won seven seats.The party picked up four seats at the expense of Labour, with two from the Conservatives and one from the Lib Dems.UKIP councillor James Cairns, who won the Yarborough ward seat, said he was "pleasantly surprised" at the result.Fifteen of the council's 42 seats were up for election. UKIP previously held one seat on the council.

The North East Region - Electoral Details.

A New Christian Resurgence On The Cards?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/hay-festival/10856665/Christianity-will-rise-as-sceptics-die-out-geneticist-claims.html

The Greatest Lie Of All.

The EU - What Happens Next Will Be Decided By Merkel.

The talks will undoubtedly have taken place already between Merkel and Cameron. It is now probably no more than the merest of fine tuning which will be needed to completely scam the British public. (Look at the body language in the photo and decide who is the boss and who the lackey.)
Both now realise that 'Dave' will have to bring back 'a triumph' of Chamberlain-style proportions to the British public to prove that, not only is Brussels tameable, he - the mighty statesman -  has managed to accomplish just that.
The triumph must, perforce, be all glitz and no substance whatsoever. The only thing I do not yet know is what form the triumph (triumphs?) will take. Hmm. Sleight of hand or smoke and mirrors? 

No Fear!

Which Leader Would You Rather Be Today?

Cameron or Miliband? - Phew - that's a toughie. Cameron can see UKIP wrecking his marginals and Miliband knows that the insecure grasp he holds on his party is such that it could all split asunder. (That is not to say, of course, that the Tory party is not vulnerable to mega splits.)
What's more - all they both have to do is to look at the wreckage of the Lib Dem experiment and where the dripping wet Cleggie is today.
LibLabCon in crisis? - You betcha!

Tuesday, May 27, 2014

The Governing Elite.

'The governing elite is out of touch; has let us down and has abandoned God.' Andrea Williams.

Mac.

'It's Mr and Mrs Farage, Prime Minister - come to measure the carpets and the curtains'
'It's Mr and Mrs Farage, Prime Minister - come to measure the carpets and the curtains'

Literal? - Everest Move Over? - Hardly!

Eating Crow?

One after another, senior LibLabCon politicians have been queuing up to admit that UKIP is NOT racist. Shame they weren't so astute BEFORE the EU Elections - innit? 

Pastor Ade Omooba.

Radical Islam is a virus in the atmosphere, says Christian Concern Co-Founder.

Pastor Ade Omooba, co-founder of Christian Concern, told the attendees of a prayer vigil for the release of 270 abducted Nigerian schoolgirls, that “radical Islamism is a virus which is in the atmosphere” infecting vulnerable young men in Britain as well as in Africa.
 The vigil in London was supported by more than 400 worshippers and was organised by Nigerian church leaders in the UK, including representatives of The National Day of Prayer and Worship, The Overseas Fellowship of Nigerian Christians, Christian Concern and the International Strategic Alliance Committee.

Ade Omooba said: “I want to emphasise that what we are seeing playing out in Nigeria with the abduction of our schoolgirls, is part of a much wider threat to the free world, from a militant form of Islam that seeks to destroy Christianity and freedom of expression.
“Nations are sleepwalking if they think they are free from a faraway threat of Islamic ideologues.  These people are out to destroy the freedoms that Christian democracies have provided – freedom of thought, freedom of expression and freedom to follow beliefs without fear of persecution, torture, rape  and death.
“Militant Islamism will destroy the lives of those who join it, as well as the lives of their families and communities.  Just look at the mutations of this radical Islamist virus – across the world we have al-Quaeda, Al-Shabbab, the Army of Islam, Hezbollah, Harak-ul-Mujahideen and of course in Nigeria, Boko Haram.  They are all part of a worldwide ideology, which is bent on imposing a sharia regime in every land.
“Help us fight Boko Haram and also help organisations such as mine – Christian Concern – to expose the viral threat of militant Islamism in our midst.”

So Who's Offerin'?

Theresa May Refuses Idea Of a Tory-Ukip Pact.

Other People's Wars? - No Thanks!

A surefire UKIP policy to win millions of voters.

They Will Never Fail You.

Consumer Power Demonstrated. 40 Pence Drops Even In Aldi & Lidls!

Among the best-selling olive oil brands, the worst hit in the last year was Napolina with volume sales down 31.9 per cent followed by Don Mario which was down 28.9 per cent and Filippo Berio down 7.1 per centPremium olive oil sales plunge: Shoppers ditch big brands after prices shoot up by more than 16% in a year

Sales of leading brands of extra virgin olive oil have plummeted in the wake of a hefty hike in prices, a new report showed. Mail.

UKIP Target.

Monday, May 26, 2014

Give Thanks Oh Ye People!

New MEP.

Er ... Correction. The first UKIP MEP elected in 2014.
..

Independent Took Brave Stance On EU Election Result Two Months Ago.

Despite Nigel Farage's prediction that the UK Independence party will cause an “earthquake” in British politics at the European Parliament elections, Britons give Ukip as much chance of winning as finding life on Mars.
Ipsos MORI’s research reveals what the British public think is likely to happen in 2014  compared with the odds offered by Ladbrokes. Only three in ten think it is likely that they will be the largest party, the same as think the NASA Mars Rover will find evidence of life on Mars, according to the pollsters' representative sample of 954 adults. The research company note that the odds from Ladbrokes suggest people are way out on UKIP’s chances as despite this, Ukip are still the most popular bet by far to win the European elections.
According to Ladbrokes, 56 per cent of punters are putting their pounds on the party's success.Earlier in January, a YouGov poll showed Labour were in first place and the Tories in third. However YouGov noted at the time that this didn’t mean Ukip wouldn’t win the European Elections, writing:  “In past euro-elections, Ukip’s support has increased as the election approaches. If this pattern is repeated, Ukip is likely to overtake Labour by polling day.”

UKIP Triumph.

Ukip has won the European elections, leaving Westminster shaking from the political "earthquake" that Nigel Farage had long predicted.In the early hours of Monday morning Labour was on course to capture second place ahead of the Conservative Party. It is the first time since 1984 that the Westminster Opposition party has failed to top the poll. It is also the first time ever that the Conservative Party has not come either first or second in a national election.
The elections were a disaster for Nick Clegg, with the Liberal Democrats set to lose all but one of their 11 MEPs and dropping to fifth place in vote share behind the Greens.Speaking after being returned to the European parliament representing the South East of England, Farage said he would use the result as a springboard to the 2015 general election - when he hopes to be elected as an MP. (Huff Post - ha, ha!)

Sunday, May 25, 2014

Evangelical Voting.

It is a calculated guess on my part that most evangelical voters will have supported UKIP. The number would inevitably have been higher but how many will have fallen victim to the racist slurs, I wonder?

Dickie Dawkins.

“I would describe myself as a secular Christian in the same sense as secular Jews have a feeling for nostalgia and ceremonies,” said Dawkins. 
Good grief!

Janet Daley Talks Sense.

... The Liberal Democrats are slightly different in that the lesson they claim to have learnt is that their support for Tory measures in the Coalition has cost them the trust of voters. So they propose to move further to the Left – which is exactly the wrong direction. If there is any real lesson to be learnt from this tumultuous electoral event it is that the party of protest is now on the Right rather than on the Left.That means that the precious centre ground of politics, on which all elections are said to be won, has moved. The Westminster establishment, from which the country is so famously alienated, is now seen as uniformly Left-liberal. All the major parties, along with most of their media friends, are regarded by much of the electorate as members of an insular, mutually affirming coterie who regard any outside voice as risible or dangerous. At one point during the marathon broadcast coverage of the results, Vince Cable described Ukip as “muscling in” to the political scene on the strength of public discontent over issues such as immigration. Muscling in? On what: a closed shop? An exclusive little club? Telegraph.

Jericho.

Heffer On UKIP In Essex.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-2637896/For-Essex-man-way-Ukip-says-SIMON-HEFFER-25-years-ago-coined-phrase-Essex-Man.html

Castro: The Marxist Hero.

Castro, the commie hypocrite who lives like a billionaire: He's posed as a man of the people. But a new book reveals Cuba's leader has led a life of pampered hedonism and a fortune as big as the Queen's

Secret life of luxury: Cuban dictator Fidel Castro smiles as he smokes a cigar during a press conference in a 1978
The Communist Party styles Senor Castro as devoted to advancing the public good in a country where the majority of the 11 million residents live in abject poverty. Mail.

Free Will - A Deeper Look.

Review: Mind, Brain and Free Will by Richard Swinburne

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFtYrPP11V3COVlEYfp3ciBEB2mtf1piPS2Pe1gP4v9Py6nq55bAh1xTFIT08_o293NmQFxbA3l95w2r6vUPdwXAqayOSYzhRb2uubymYxjVOK72v1EqPEDIRqO08_g8BOj-LyeA/s1600/mind-brain-free-will-richard-swinburne-paperback-cover-art.jpg
Theologians and scientists seem blissfully unaware that that the soul is alive and well in contemporary philosophy of religion. JP Moreland, Dean Zimmerman, William Hasker, Charles Taliaferro, Stuart Goetz, Robin Collins and Alvin Plantinga have all produced novel and rigorous arguments in defence of dualism – that you are an immaterial self and not identical to your body. This must be gratifying for Richard Swinburne, who swam against the tides of philosophical fashion in 1986 with The Evolution of the Soul.Mind, Brain and Free Will updates his arguments for dualism. The book is refreshingly clear, rigorously argued and a joy to read.

Swinburne argues that physical events and conscious events – beliefs, desires, thoughts, purposes and sensations – are not identical. To put that another way, the terms we use to pick out physical events, and the terms we use to pick out mental events, never refer to the same thing. We need to think a little about words and concepts here – after all, we cannot say much about the world without them! Anyone who knows what terms like “red” or “pain” mean knows how to use them. They know exactly what it is to have a sensation of red or a pain. They know how when and how to apply the terms, and can make simple inferences using the terms. (For example we can infer “it is a sensation” and “it is unpleasant” from “it is a pain.”)

Christian Evangelist Killed in Uganda.

Christian evangelist killed in Uganda. Morning Star News    13 April 2024. (Photo: Getty/iStock) An evangelist was slain and a mother and he...