Yesterday Bedtime

I was chatting with my nine year old son at bedtime last night. He had heard on TV that America might get attacked by Korea and was worried about it.
I remembered my own nuclear fears at that age and wondered if his generation would grow up under the constant threat of nuclear war as well.
I reassured him that the issue with Nth Korea was just to distract our attention away from the troubles of the economy in Europe and America. "What troubles?" he asked.
I explained how the banking crisis started and why money is an illusion unless it is linked to something with real value. To his credit, he seemed to understand easily enough. I'm not sure I would have understood that at his age. Then he told me that Dumbledore is 115 years old and is actually related to the Queen. "Interesting" I said.
"Tell me more things" he said, "It makes me go to sleep".
I realised that my monotonous drone was not enlightening him so much, as lulling him off.

Have been feeling better yesterday and today. I'm sure it is in part, due to the seasonal weather. Even a few hours of sunshine at this time of year is enough to lift the spirits. It looked like everywhere I went, folks were smiling and happy. It is hard not to feel the same.
There are so many things going on at the moment. Its hard to know how to approach events from a blogging perspective. There are some things that have lain dormant for a while which should get an airing before too long. As usual, most of it is stuff which appears to fly over heads at the speed of sound. It doesn't mean It's not going to get written. In fact in some ways it's easier like that.

So Baroness Thatcher died today, filling the country with delight and sadness in seemingly equal measure. Most people still don't understand that Prime Ministers and Presidents, don't actually get to make decisions on their own.
Baroness Thatcher was promoting an ideology which was dictated to her by shadowy figures from the upper echelons of power. People like the Bilderbergers for example.
The Reason Mrs Thatcher seemed to be the architect of her policies, was because she believed in them so ardently. How convenient. It certainly made the appearance of strong government, unlike the shower of...  Err what can I call them without offending anyone?.....Politicians, we have in "power" today. I use the word power advisedly. Maybe "puppets" would have been better or even "Muppets" but anyway... moving on.

Thanks to James Higham and the merry bloggers over at Nourishing Obscurity for many interesting posts.

Sickness

Ill health had descended upon the McAdam household this week. I have been suffering with, lets say, an illness which most people get as children. I either didn't get it, or have it twice which is most unusual. Apart from the discomfort, I am highly contagious which does not go down well when trying to deal with my wife's illness, something that involves trips out, doctors, pharmacy etc.

Hopefully, next week will see us both on the mend. Its possibly a taster of what life will be like when we are old.

Caxton Gibbet

Caxton, a small village west of Cambridge is known for its famous gibbet pictured here:

 

 

This is not the original gibbet, but a reconstruction from around 1900 which used to stand outside the now disappeared inn of the same name. Rather than a traditional gallows, used for hanging, the gibbet was an altogether more macabre punishment.

 

"Gibbeting was the punishment for some capital offences including highway robbery. An iron cage would have hung from the wooden arm of the original gibbet. Here criminals were hung, imprisoned in the cage until they were dead. The head was clamped at the top to prevent tired legs from resting and the person would slowly starve to death, or in the winter succumb to exposure. The body would remain suspended for some time after death as a warning to others.". (Source: cprs.org.uk)

 

There are no primary sources indicating that the death penalty was actually carried out at Caxton. It seems that as Caxton had one of the only two post offices in the country, there would have been a high incidence of highway robbery. Local Antiquarian, William Cole (1714-1782) is believed to have referred to Caxton when he wrote this:

 

"About 1753 or 1754 the son of Mrs. Gatward being convicted of robbing the Mail was hanged in chains on the Great Road. I saw him hanging in a scarlet coat after he had hung 2 or 4 months it is supposed that the screw was filed which supported him and that he fell in the first high wind after."

 

This site in Caxton is shortly going to become a MacDonald's. Some would prefer the gibbet.

 



The Daily Mail Should Be Ashamed Of This

 

At least the Guardian agrees that this is terrible reporting with this article.

Don't get mad about the Mail's use of the Philpotts to tarnish the poor – get even



If we were to use such broad strokes in our condemnation of others, then ALL politicians are thieves and Paedophiles. OK I'll admit that the second part may not be true.

Since there is a concerted media campaign to label benefit claimants as scroungers, it seems worth the effort to examine exactly why so many people are forced (or choose) to sign on. Remember it's not just the unemployed who claim benefit, but also those who are in low paid or part time work.

Here is an excerpt from Greg Palast's "The Best Democracy Money Can Buy"

In 1998, he was hired by the Observer to find out what goes on inside "Corporate America".

I think his findings accurately display the relationship between corporatism and government.

 

$ CHAPTER 5 $  

  INSIDE CORPORATE AMERICA

"Wal-Mart invented the disposable workforce. About a third of the workers are temporary and hours expand, shift, contract at whim.

The workforce turns over like the shoe inventory, so few ever collect full pensions or profit shares.

But Wal-Mart does provide free meals-sort of. Most workers' salaries are near or below the official U.S. poverty line, so those without second jobs qualify for government food stamps. With 1.3 million workers, Wal-Mart has the nation's largest payroll, if you call that pay. Taking over the care and feeding of the WalMartyred workforce is a huge government welfare program. It could have been worse, but the courts rejected Walton's plea for exemption from the U.S. minimum wage"

 

What's the difference here, today?

 

Maybe I'm naive but if everyone was playing the game, technological advances such as the industrial revolution or the digital age, could have, (should have) made it possible for us all to do the minimum of work while still enjoying a relatively comfortable lifestyle.

 

I have more to say on this but not feeling 100% so I will go off to bed.

 

Artist Graham Ovenden Convicted of Historic Child Sex Offences

Artist, 70, found guilty of six charges of indecency with a child and one of indecent assault relating to photographic sessions.

Caroline Davies and Steven Morris

The Guardian, Tuesday 2 April 2013 20.16 BST

Graham Ovenden, pictured in his studio, denied his pictures of children were indecent, but was found guilty on six counts at Truro crown court. Photograph: SWNS.com

An internationally renowned artist and photographer, whose work has included portraits of nude children, has been convicted of historic sex offences against young girls dating back 40 years.

 

Graham Ovenden, 70, whose early tutelage was under Sir Peter Blake, the "godfather of pop art", was found guilty at Truro crown court of six charges of indecency with a child and one of indecent assault.

 

Ovenden, who at the height of his commercial success exhibited at the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Tate in London, and at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, was acquitted of two charges of indecent assault and found not guilty, on the direction of judge Graham Cottle, of three further charges of indecent assault.

 

The artist, who described himself as creator of "some of the best portraits of children in the last 200 years", had denied the charges relating to four girls who were aged between six and 14 years at the time of the offences, which occurred between 1972 and 1985. The court heard these children sat for him during photographic sessions when he "posed them indecently".

 

He was not in court to hear the verdicts, having been taken ill at the weekend.

 

Ovenden, of The Garage in Barley Splatt, near Bodmin Moor, Cornwall, whose work has hung in some of the world's finest galleries, had rejected claims he had a sexual interest in children.

 

But the prosecutor, Ramsay Quaife, told jurors during the five-week trial that he was "a paedophile". His portraiture was part of a ruse to abuse young girls, making them dress in Victorian clothing before removing it and committing indecent acts. The incidents took place at his former home in Hounslow, London, as well as in north Cornwall, where he had a studio.

 

Ovenden had denied the abuse ever happened, telling the court he had taken pictures of children – including those in various states of undress – but said they were not indecent.

 

From the witness box, he quoted biblical and literary works to justify his use of naked children as part of his "state of grace" body of work. He argued: "We're not born with trousers, skirts, shirts and shoes. One of the great qualities of art is to go back to the great point, the Garden of Eden."

 

He told the court: "I have to say the absolute witch-hunt which is going on at the moment – and the idea of a child naked as something to be frowned upon – is absolutely abhorrent."

 

The artist, who had been tutored by Lord David Cecil and Sir John Betjeman, attended the Southampton School of Art and graduated from the Royal College of Art in 1968, before embarking on a career in which he catalogued life on the streets of London and produced acclaimed countryside landscapes as well as portraiture of children.

 

In 1975, he founded the artistic movement the Brotherhood of Ruralists – artists who had left the city to live in the countryside.

 

He had since sold his home at Barley Splatt, though he remains on the sprawling estate, living in a converted outbuilding, but he described it as a place where writers, musicians and artists would gather.

 

Children, he said, would regularly discard their clothing when they were playing at the home, often accompanied on visits by parents.]

 

The court heard that the complainants only came forward as adults after 2000 – although two had returned to Barley Splatt years afterwards to have their picture taken by Ovenden and to attend an exhibition there. Read the full article.

The Jet Stream Is Doing The Hokey Cokey

I am so fed up with the cold weather but I have stopped complaining about it (at least outwardly).
It comes to something when the number one topic of conversation among Brits, is now considered to be overdone. Yes we know the weather stinks, we're all fed up about it. Whats the point in saying, "cold isn't it?" We know!

Its at the point now where, if I could, I would start to take issue with those in charge, but it's the powers of nature isn't it?

Over the last few years, most of the weather anomalies seems to have been the result of changes in the jet stream. This seems to be a relatively recent phenomena. I don't remember hearing about this as a kid or young adult. Is it really a new thing or are we just able to chart the jet stream more accurately now days?

It seems to coincide with what scientists are telling us about climate change, although the pattern of global warming seems to have been reversed, if indeed there was a pattern there in the first place.
So winters have been much longer and lower average temperatures  over the last few years, yet governments are forging ahead with carbon tax schemes. They say in investigative reporting, "follow the money" In this case, the finger pointed at the climate change scientists even before "climategate"

I am very reluctant to even give credibility to the notion of weather control but I have to consider HAARP as a possible culprit for this awful weather.
If so, I could take issue with those in charge after all.

Weather control and chem trails, tend to belong in the extreme fringe of conspiracy theory but I always think of that great adage,

"Just because you are paranoid, it doesn't mean they're not out to get you"

The Housing Benefit Bill Will Be Higher After Bedroom Tax

Frank Field recently pointed out, that the bedroom tax will ultimately cost the government more in housing benefit than at present.
Because of the shortage of suitable council properties, families who need to downsize in order to receive full housing benefit, will be forced to rent privately.
As private rents are usually much higher than for council properties, the overall housing benefit bill will ultimately rise, despite an initial saving.

The great council house sell off has resulted in (according to the Daily Mirror last week) 70% of ex-council homes ending up in the hands of private landlords. We are now reaping the consequences in welfare terms.

There can be no way to allow aggressive capitalism to bring suffering and deprivation to the population, unless there is still the underlying belief in "Social Darwinism"
This philosophy is ingrained into the subconscious of western thought due to its excessive promotion by the Royal Society and those merchants who were offered a degree of scientific legitimacy through its precepts.

We need to astablish a code of common decency. If business adopted a fair appproach to social issues, the government would not have to stump up to redress the inequalities that result from it.

It reads like a page from the humanist manifesto doesnt it?
Strange that, because my personal understanding is that there is a sinister side to humanism.