The 'Tough Guys' Who Have Helped Make The Coalition As Bad As it Is.

Radio 4.

Gotter admit it - I really don't care for Radio 4 a great deal. A little bit of a cross between trendy tory; Guardian-reading leftie and arty pretentiousness.
Am currently listening to a nondescript Giles Brandreth wittering on about which celebs could be deemed 'a national treasure'.
Tedious in the extreme - as usual.
Yes, I know it has its moments but ...

Lib Dems.

In my life I have met many Lib Dems who spend most of their time talking the same common sense demonstrated by other normal folk.

Their weakness is that they then vote for a party which does not represent their views in any way shape or form.
I just don't get it! - (And the picture caption ONLY applies to local council elections.)

Hey - It's A Miracle!

'Image of Jesus' on sole of sock - apparently. Rather odd when we consider that people have no idea what Jesus actually looked like.

I thought it was a young David Bellamy.

Educashun, Educashun, Edducashun.

'Shocking: Recent polls show that one in four believes that Hadrian's Wall was built to keep out the French.' (Mail.)

Yipee! This means that the dilushion of 'reel educashun' asnt been ass cerius ass Id fort.

The Under Class.

'One in three people claiming unemployment benefit is a convicted criminal, figures show.
Taxpayers are funding around £2billion a year in out-of-work payments to nearly 1.3million people with criminal records, including £1.2billion to those on Jobseeker’s Allowance.
The rest of the money is paid to offenders who claim income support as lone parents or receive Incapacity Benefit and its replacement, Employment Support Allowance.
The figures lay bare the degree to which an ‘underclass’ that drifts in and out of criminal activity is using state handouts to bolster its income, while often continuing a life of crime.'
Knowing my world view many readers might expect me to latch onto the facts above and attempt to use them to prove some point.
The stats though are completely meaningless without understanding each individual case. There is no possibility of extrapolating anything from these figures whatsoever.
In general terms it may give rise to a certain disquiet and concern but there is no hint contained within of how you could distinguish between the criminal and the reformed: the genuine and the waster.
I remain deeply perturbed by the existence of this group but tragically, there is no quick-fix solution.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2079176/One-jobless-benefits-got-criminal-record.html#ixzz1hoJ773fD

Thallus.

'Jesus didn't exist?'  But Roman non-believer Thallus reported 'The Darkness' At His Crucifixion.

 "Circa AD 52, Thallus wrote a history of the Eastern Mediterranean world from the Trojan War to his own time.  This work itself has been lost and only fragments of it exist in the citations of others.  One such scholar who knew and spoke of it was Julius Africanus, who wrote about AD 221.  In speaking of Jesus’ crucifixion and the darkness that covered the land during this event, Africanus found a reference in the writings of Thallus that dealt with this cosmic report.  Africanus asserts:  'On the whole world there pressed a most fearful darkness; and the rocks were rent by an earthquake, and many places in Judea and other districts were thrown down.  This darkness Thallus, in the third book of his History, calls, as appears to me without reason, an eclipse of the sun.'

The Only Way Is Essex. (TOWIE.)

Oh dear. Finally seen it - well a small, hideous portion, anyway.

WRETCHED! TV for 12 year olds; TV for the mindless; TV as a total condemnation of how low our society has sunk.

A celebration of triviality and meaninglessness.

Mr D'Arcy.

Who on earth could possibly give a monkey's what the airheads on there pass off as opinions?

 

(Liked the pig though!)

Why Was Jesus Tried At Night?

Pastor Rick Bartosic outlines several 'minor irregularities' in The Trial Of Jesus before The Sanhedrin:

1. There was to be no arrest accomplished by a bribe.

2. All criminal cases had to be tried in the daytime.

3. There could be no secret trials, only public.

4. Sanhedrin trials could only take place in the Hall of Judgement in the temple compound. No decision was valid which did not take place there.

5. All evidence had to be guaranteed by two or three witnesses whose testimony had to agree in every detail or the prisoner was discharged immediately.

6. The witnesses were the accusers who had seen the crime, arranged for the arrest and presented the accusation before the judges.

7. A false witness was put to death.

8. Before a trial could begin there must be a presentation of the accusation by the witnesses (indictment) then arrest and trial.

9. At the trial the defense had to come first.

10. The judges were never to seek to condemn the accused. They were to take his side and seek every means for his acquittal.

11. The accused person never to be allowed to testify against himself.

12. A person could never be condemned on the basis of his own words alone.

13. In cases of capital punishment, the trial and the guilty verdict cannot occur at the same time but must be separated by 24 hours.

14. The verdict must be announced in the daytime.

15. After hearing the testimony of the witnesses, they must vote individually beginning with the youngest so they would not be influenced by the elders.

16. A unanimous decision for guilt shows innocence since it is impossible for 23 to 71 men to agree without plotting.

17. The judges were to be humane and kind.

18. The condemned person was not to be beaten or scourged beforehand.

"The law was broken so many times in the trial of Jesus that it is hard to see how a trial could have been more illegally run or the laws of Israel more thoroughly flouted." James Boice.

Strong On Adjectives - Low on Factual Content.

Today, I made one of my rare forays into The Daily Mirror - and it hasn't improved one jot. What a most unpleasant experience!
I read this article by one Kevin Maguire which I invite you to read. Try to find the content behind the swirling vitrepuse and rank overuse of adjectives. If this were occasional - you could permit the odd rant; if it were accurate you could forgive; as it attacks 'Dave' you are desperate to agree with it - but it is just verbal diahorrea.
Shan't be going back in a hurry. It makesThe Sun look like quality reading matter!
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/opinion/2011/12/07/two-faced-david-cameron-is-a-euro-con-man-115875-23615599/

Honey? - Do You Know Where I Left That Shark?

Potiskum Nigeria. Yet More Persecution Of Believers.

'In Potiskum, residents fled after arsonists set alight 30 Christian-owned shops as well as the home of a Christian leader, on Sunday night in what appeared to be the continuation of religious violence that peaked with the bombing of churches on Christmas Day.' Telegraph.
Please pray for the victims.

Nadine Dorries.

Quote of the week: Tory MP Nadine Dorries, asked why she failed to show up for Deputy PMQs, replied: ‘Nick Clegg is an inconsistent, bad-tempered, sulky, misguided, badly-informed, opportunistic, political irrelevance.’ Mail.

Hmm. Does she like him or merely respect him as a politician?

Jesus.

Tacitus Knew ...

Tacitus was a Roman historian writing early in the 2nd century A.D. His Annals provide us with a single reference to Jesus of considerable value. Rather frustratingly, much of his work has been lost, including a work which covers the years 29-32, where the trial of Jesus would have been had he recorded it [Meie.MarJ, 89].

Here is a full quote of the cite of our concern, from Annals 15.44. Jesus and the Christians are mentioned in an account of how the Emperor Nero went after Christians in order to draw attention away from himself after Rome's fire of 64 AD:

But not all the relief that could come from man, not all the Bounties that the prince could bestow, nor all the atonements Which could be presented to the gods, availed to relieve Nero From the infamy of being believed to have ordered the Conflagration, the fire of Rome. Hence to suppress the rumor, he Falsely charged with the guilt, and punished Christians, who were Hated for their enormities. Christus, the founder of the name, was Put to death by Pontius Pilate, procurator of Judea in the reign Of Tiberius: but the pernicious superstition, repressed for a time Broke out again, not only through Judea, where the mischief Originated, but through the city of Rome also, where all things Hideous and shameful from every part of the world find their Center and become popular. Accordingly, an arrest was first Made of all who pleaded guilty; then, upon their information, an Immense multitude was convicted, not so much of the crime of Firing the city, as of hatred against mankind....

Very few would assert that this passage is a forgery [though see Cutn.JGMM, 111-2], for the evidence is strongly in favor of the genuineness of this passage. The passage is in perfect Tacitean style; it appears in every known copy of the Annals (although there are very few copies of it, and none dates earlier than the 11th century), and the anti-Christian tone is so strong that it is extremely unlikely that a Christian could have written it. [Tekton.]

So, Just What Is Wrong With Theologians?

Recent quote: 'Historians are more likely to believe in the authenticity of the Gospels than are theologians.'

 

Oh, dear!

Bethlehem.

We Celebrate His Birth - But He Came To Die For Us.

Isaiah.

Merry Christmas.

'A member of the Royal Air Force who was injured in the same explosion which killed a Royal Marine in Afghanistan has died of his injuries, the Ministry of Defence said today.
The serviceman was seriously wounded when his vehicle was caught in an explosion south of Kabul on Thursday. He was flown back to the UK but died of his wounds.' Huffington Post.

Two Christmases ago, my own son was in Afghastlystan. I cannot begin to imagine what these two families are going through but I can all too easily recall the unending concern for the entire period that he was there. He had been 'covered in prayer' by literally hundreds of people and happily returned to us.

So my interest is more than just 'passing' when I say:

 BRING OUR BOYS HOME - NOW!

     

Wise Men?

The Magnificat.

Mary’s Song.

 ⁴⁶ And Mary said:
   “My soul glorifies the Lord
 ⁴⁷ and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
⁴⁸ for he has been mindful
   of the humble state of his servant.
From now on all generations will call me blessed,
 ⁴⁹ for the Mighty One has done great things for me—
   holy is his name.
⁵⁰ His mercy extends to those who fear him,
   from generation to generation.
⁵¹ He has performed mighty deeds with his arm;
   he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.
⁵² He has brought down rulers from their thrones
   but has lifted up the humble.
⁵³ He has filled the hungry with good things
   but has sent the rich away empty.
⁵⁴ He has helped his servant Israel,
   remembering to be merciful
⁵⁵ to Abraham and his descendants forever,
   just as he promised our ancestors.”