Dead Babies or 'Medical Waste' Wash Up on Chinese Beach

When an entire country enforces a 'One Child Policy', dead babies are sooner or later going to overflow into rivers. I mean, what do you do with so much 'medical waste'? I expect that the Chinese government are apologising to the citizens of this province because the babies amounted to a breach of health and safety law. Notice that the babies bodies have been fuzzed out in the video, the full horror of abortion and infanticide, it seems, is too much for viewers. I wonder why...

The Telegraph reports...

Two mortuary workers were detained and two senior hospital staff were sacked in eastern China after the bodies of at least 21 infants and foetuses were found in a river. At least eight bodies had tags indicating they were from the hospital of Jining Medical University in Shandong province, Xinhua news agency reported.

Authorities were quoted by Beijing News saying the corpses could have been those of aborted foetuses or babies who had died of illness. They were found on the outskirts of the city of Jining. Xinhua quoted a spokesman for the city government as telling reporters that two mortuary workers had been sacked in connection with the incident and were in police custody.

Naming the two workers as Zhu Zhenyu and Wang Zhijun, Xinhua quoted the spokesman as saying that the two had been paid to dispose of the bodies. “Investigations by police and health authorities show that Zhu and Wang had reached verbal agreements privately with relatives of the dead babies to dispose the bodies and charged fees,” the spokesman, Gong Zhenhua, said. "They subsequently transported the bodies secretly to the Guangfu River, but they had failed to bury the bodies completely,” he was quoted as saying.

The river was not a source of drinking water for the city and municipal tests found it had not been contaminated, Xinhua reported. Two senior officials, Li Luning and He Xin, director and deputy director of the hospital’s logistics department, were removed from their posts, and a vice president of the hospital, Niu Haifeng, was suspended, Gong said.

The incident exposed “a serious loophole in the hospital’s management and indicates a lack of ethics and legal awareness of some hospital staff,” Gong said. “It exerts a very negative impact on society and teaches us a profound lesson.” He said the city government had ordered health authorities to immediately launch a general overhaul of body treatment at all local hospitals.

One of the bodies had been bundled into a plastic bag marked “hospital waste”, Beijing News said. Abortion is common in China, where at least 13 million births are terminated every year, due in part to the nation’s so-called “one-child policy,” which limits most urban couples to just one offspring. The family-planning rules are widely blamed for fuelling abortions of female foetuses in China, where boys are traditionally favoured. Reports of poor treatment of patients – both living and dead – in China’s underfunded hospitals are also not uncommon.

Last June, a hospital in central China’s Hubei province was found to have dumped the bodies of two adults and six aborted foetuses at a construction site after failing to locate relatives of the dead, state media reported. A bag containing severed human limbs was also discovered in the case, in the city of Xiangfan.

China is the vilest and most foul country on Earth for this policy alone, but sadly, the UK is not that much better and will doubtless begin to match China's heartless bloodbath sooner rather than later.

12-String Guitar: Only £39 left to pay...

I've been paying off £30 a week on a 12-string guitar which I found at a local guitar shop for £99 and she is very nearly mine. That guitar will join my other plug-in acoustic and I found a bass guitar for about a tenner in a local charity shop. I don't think I can fit drums in the flat, but I have egg shaker and tambourine. I have a few friends who might like to do some busking come summer, so I hope we can practise over the next few months before taking Brighton by storm and simultaneously give those pan-pipe players some competition in Churchill Square.

If we get good we'll record and maybe sell songs (mostly covers no doubt, though a friend and I have recently penned a sure hit entitled 'Where's My Horse?') in the town centre and see if we can avoid ASBOs all round. Oh, and hopefully buskers and all citizens including homeless people and drunk people on Saturday nights this year will manage to avoid having a few hundred volts from these delightful new 'Super Tasers' ready to roll out to the UK Police Force courtesy of the Home Office. Amnesty International claim 334 people in the US died between 2001 and 2008 from the original Taser stun gun which could only be used when up close and personal. Interestingly politicians who support the use of these weapons don't even bother dressing them up as an anti-terrorism measure. They're for us, UK citizens, the terrifying enemies of the State that we are.

Meanwhile, if you want yet more proof that the United Kingdom is going to Hell in a handbasket, check out this new 'Olympic sculpture', the ArcelorMittal Orbit, which does indeed look as if it has been donated by the Devil himself as a gift to the Greater London Authority for 2012.

The Red Shoes

Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger team up again for The Red Shoes (1948), a delightful, rapturous film. Despite the trite story and draggy pace, it's an extraordinary piece of work, with perhaps the most beautiful Technicolor cinematography ever. You will never see a more beautiful film, and for that reason alone it's watchable.

Arrogant ballet impresario Boris Lermontov (Anton Walbrook) commissions a new ballet, based on Hans Christian Andersen's The Red Shoes. He enlists Julian Craster (Marius Goring), an ambitious young composer, and dancer Victoria Paige (Moira Shearer) to help out. The show is a huge hit, and Victoria becomes a ballet superstar, but she is torn between her love for Julian and devotion to her career.

The Red Shoes shares a lot with The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943), not the least its ravishing appearance. Powell and Jack Cardiff create a masterpiece of photography: the Technicolor positively shines, with reds leaping off the screen in incredibly vivid contrasts, and even grays and browns takeon an impossibly beautiful hue. Complemented by Arthur Lawson's sumptuous, dream-like art direction - cramped theaters, huge mansions and hotels - the movie is impossibly beautiful.

We can add to the above virtues a fine, witty script by Powell, Pressburger and Keith Winter, vibrant costumes by Hein Heckroth, and an extraordinary score by Brian Easdale. There is not a single word to say against the film's technical qualities.

Many of Powell and Pressburger's films gleefully incorporate "magic realism" into mundane settings, but Red Shoes does it best. By far the best scene is the lengthy ballet sequence: starting out as a filmed performance, it builds into an extraordinary set-piece, with amazing choreography, shifting sets and visual sleight-of-hand (a paper man turning into a real dancer!), flaunting the story's unreality. This fifteen-minute sequence is absolutely jaw-dropping, pure cinematic fantasia, realism be damnded.

Unfortunately, The Red Shoes also shares with Colonel Blimp a deficiency in narrative. The story is fairly trite, a show-biz drama with a romantic triangle, but trite stories can be made grand. A bigger problem is the draggy pace; the film's story takes a long time to get going, and lingers a great deal afterwards, culminating in an unsatisfying, forced conclusion. Still, the gorgeous photography and dancing scenes dominate so much, that one can overlook problems in plotting.

Powell regular Anton Walbrook gives his usual solid performance, though he chews a bit of scenery in later segments. The luminous Moira Shearer gives a fine performance: her extraordinary dancing chops. Marius Goring is adequately stiff as Julian. The rest of the cast contributes nicely, mostly through their excellent dancing.

The Red Shoes has its shortcomings, but its reputation as one of the most attractive films ever shot is well-deserved.

Great Work by Damian Thompson

Damian Thompson has posted an authoritative and honest account of the truth of the New York Times article that led to hundreds of calumnous media columns about the role of the Holy Father in the case of Father Lawrence Murphy, a Catholic Priest who is alleged to have abused up to 200 boys at a school for the deaf during his tenure in Wisconsin.

Fr Thomas Brundage, the former Archdiocese of Milwaukee Judicial Vicar who presided over the canonical criminal case of the Wisconsin child abuser, issued the following letter which firmly states both his actions in the case and exposes brilliantly the outright lie that the then Cardinal Ratzinger was guilty of any wrongdoing or 'cover up'. We will wait to see whether The New York Times or indeed The Times will issue an apology to the Holy Father for an article that led to reams of vile accusations against the Holy Father and countless news stories worldwide aimed at destroying the still exemplary reputation of Pope Benedict XVI.

Setting the record straight in the case of abusive Milwaukee priest Father Lawrence Murphy

Then-presiding judge for the Archdiocese of Milwaukee gives first-person account of church trial

By Fr. THOMAS BRUNDAGE, JLC

For CatholicAnchor.org

To provide context to this article, I was the Judicial Vicar for the Archdiocese of Milwaukee from 1995-2003. During those years, I presided over four canonical criminal cases, one of which involved Father Lawrence Murphy. Two of the four men died during the process. God alone will judge these men.

To put some parameters on the following remarks, I am writing this article with the express knowledge and consent of Archbishop Roger Schwietz, OMI, the Archbishop of Anchorage, where I currently serve. Archbishop Schwietz is also the publisher of the Catholic Anchor newspaper.

I will limit my comments, because of judicial oaths I have taken as a canon lawyer and as an ecclesiastical judge. However, since my name and comments in the matter of the Father Murphy case have been liberally and often inaccurately quoted in the New York Times and in more than 100 other newspapers and on-line periodicals, I feel a freedom to tell part of the story of Father Murphy’s trial from ground zero.

As I have found that the reporting on this issue has been inaccurate and poor in terms of the facts, I am also writing out of a sense of duty to the truth.

The fact that I presided over this trial and have never once been contacted by any news organization for comment speaks for itself.

My intent in the following paragraphs is to accomplish the following:

To tell the back-story of what actually happened in the Father Murphy case on the local level;

To outline the sloppy and inaccurate reporting on the Father Murphy case by the New York Times and other media outlets;

To assert that Pope Benedict XVI has done more than any other pope or bishop in history to rid the Catholic Church of the scourge of child sexual abuse and provide for those who have been injured;

To set the record straight with regards to the efforts made by the church to heal the wounds caused by clergy sexual misconduct. The Catholic Church is probably the safest place for children at this point in history...

For the full article click here.

Dawkins Gives Pope 'Career' Advice

I feel quite sorry for Dawkin's children. Can you imagine having Dawkins for a father? There he is, tucking his boy into bed like the good, tender, loving father that he is, having just read him his favourite Pullman fantasy, when the little boy looks up trustfully and asks...

"Daddy...Tell me about God."

Only for Dawkins to reply hastefully, in apoplectic rage...

"He doesn't exist you imbecilic little cretin! There is no bleedin' sky fairy! Get that through your thick skull!"

This week, the High Priest of Atheism and serial God basher, Richard Dawkins, has come out fighting from the atheist trenches, taking time out from getting paid vast sums to fly around the World preaching the 'bad news', to advise our beloved Holy Father on his role as Successor of St Peter...

"No, Pope Ratzinger should not resign. He should remain in charge of the whole rotten edifice – the whole profiteering, woman-fearing, guilt-gorging, truth-hating, child-raping institution – while it tumbles, amid a stench of incense and a rain of tourist-kitsch sacred hearts and preposterously crowned virgins, about his ears." ~ Richard Dawkins

Of course, unlike Mr Dawkins, the Holy Father is actually risking his life in preaching the Good News and it is, one imagines, actually a lot harder being Pope Benedict XVI, with the enormous responsibilty that comes with being Guardian of so many souls and knowing that you are reviled merely for getting up in the morning and dressing up in the Papal 'frock', than just being Richard Dawkins and spouting off in another ill-considered diatribe. I mean, just how much security does Dawkins need whenever he makes another embarrassingly awful, intellectually adolescent speech?

Anyway, if you are feeling absurdly, excessively charitable you can donate to the wonderful work of the embittered old misanthrope here (of course I'm not providing you with the actual link), because, let's face it, anyone who has been married thrice is a great defender of both women and children.

Thank God that the man doesn't suffer the Catholic guilt that the Holy Father feasts on, even in Lent, every day, brought to him, as it is, daily on a tray by Vatican child slaves for breakfast with a copy of Osservatore Romano and a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice, before he snaps his fingers and calls five Cardinals to send them off to be abused in secret Vatican padeophile bunkers buried deep beneath the Catacombs.

Yeah. Help poor Dawkins out, guys. I mean, the man is doing so much good around the whole World and he's working on a shoe-string, isn't he? He's kind of like an atheist Blessed Teresa of Calcutta. Richard Dawkins: A defender of women and children, a man who values liberty, cherishes the institution of the family and loves the poor. He is also a defender of freedom, especially religious freedom. If the British Humanist Association could canonize people (I hear they've already got 'ministers' so they'll probably start canonizing soon) he'd surely be a Saint. So make sure you go over to his website and buy a veritable truck load of his DVDs, because he's a man humble in both his station and his ways.

Pray for him. There are probably Signs all around Heaven with rewards for anyone up there who can capture this man, for we must bear in mind that he is still at large and 'wanted' up there, 'dead or alive'. I could go on knocking the old heretic, but it is a sin, after all, against Holy Charity to go on too much. Let's leave the man who makes Caiphas look open-minded where he wishes to be for now, screaming his bile at the Cross, and hand him over to the 'secular arm' where he is adored and worshipped as some kind of strange demi-god.

Kill Bill Vol. 2

Three months after slogging through Quentin Tarantino's interminable Scene-It game known as Kill Bill Vol. 1, I finally worked up the guts to check out the second installment. And whadaya know, it's a completely different movie. Whereas Kill Bill Vol. 1 was obnoxious, self-indulgent and stupid, Kill Bil Vol. 2 is obnoxious, self-indulgent, stupid and painfully overlong! Bonza!

The film picks up where the original left off. The Bride (Uma Thurman) is still out for revenge, and is gunning for the three remaining assassins responsible for the rude interruption of her wedding: Budd (Michael Madsen), Elle Driver (Daryl Hannah) and, of course, Bill (David Carradine). There are also flashbacks to her wedding, her training with Chinese kung fu master Pai Mei (Gordon Liu), etc., but who really cares? Not I, said the fly.

Most of what you loved or hated about Kill Bill Vol. 1 is present in the sequel: the garishly over-the-top, gore-soaked violence, the deliberately cheesy dialogue, the obnoxious homages to Spaghetti Westerns and Kung Fu flicks, and shots of Uma Thurman's feet. What's added, however, is a terrible pace. The movie features odd and inappropriate flashbacks that contribute nothing to the story (see Budd get fired from his job! See the Bride's pregnancy test!). And then we get to the finale, which consists of the Bride and Bill yammering on about Superman for about forty minutes straight. Some of you might find that cool. I find it tiresome.

Supposedly more plot-heavy, character-driven and "mature" than its predecessor, Kill Bill Vol. 2 is, if anything, even more ridiculous. Besides wasting our time with pointless digressions and Billy Jack-level dialogue, Tarantino gives us an utterly mean-spirited piece of drek that resorts to cartoonishness, toilet humor and gratuitous gore to keep things interesting. Everything is technically competent, but to what end?

You can play the satire or homage card if you like, but you won't get anywhere with me. That the movie is deliberately over-the-top just adds insult to injury: it smacks of calculated contempt for the audience, an acknowledgment by Mr. Tarantino that his goal is puerile cinematic masturbation, ejaculating his fantasies all over the screen and calling it art.

Let's get a few things straight here: It's okay to have a non-linear storyline if the non-linear-ness serves a purpose. It's okay if you use homages that are organic to the material, not if they exist to call attention to your DVD collection. It's okay to use "borrowed" music, but it's less acceptable to shoehorn pieces from A Professional Gun and A Fistful of Dollars into scenes that don't warrant their use. (I will concede that a piece from The Good, the Bad and the Ugly is very well placed.) It's okay to be slow-paced and talky if the talk is interesting; if not, you're just boring the audience.

If that was your goal, Mr. Tarantino, then mission accomplished. If not, you suck.

Uma Thurman continues her fine performance as the Bride, while the late David Carradine gets by on sheer charisma and screen presence. Michael Madsen and Daryl Hannah have much more to do than in the original, and come off reasonably well. Gordon Liu is funny, even if his beard-stroking schtick gets tiresome real fast. We have good actors doing excellent work with awful material; why couldn't Mr. Tarantino have given them something worthwhile?

What more can I say about the Kill Bill films? Well, I didn't pay any money to see them, so I can't claim any indignance on that score. I could weep over the four-and-a-half hours lost, but I'm the master of wasting time so I'd have no leg to stand on. Maybe, after all this negativity, I ought to say something nice?

Okay: It wasn't Transformers.

The Missing Word Game

I found the following poster in a Catholic Church. Reading it, I became convinced that something has replaced Christ in the hearts of our Bishops. Have fun and hope you can work out the missing word. This Holy Week, remember to renew your commitment to __________!

The Diocese of ******* & ******** Pastoral Team

__________________

In solidarity with the poor

Lent and Easter 2010

Buy one more ___________ item, when you can, during Lent and beyond...

If you buy Easter eggs or chocolates for family and friends - buy ___________: available at Coop stores, Oxfam, Fair Share (Coventry).

Get ___________ Easter Eggs if you have them at the Easter Service in Church - make sure everyone knows they are _____________!

Use _____________ Palestinian olive oil for Chrism Service and services that include anointing - available from Zaytoun www.zaytoun.org

Include prayers for the ____________ producers:

See CAFOD and Traidcraft websites and the 'Church's Guide' from the ___________ Foundation for ideas.

Renew or make your personal or Church commitment to ___________ and ensure that the whole church community is aware of what it means to be a ___________ Church. Ensure that _____________ is being used for all church events - no matter who is making the tea or coffee.

Review your promotion of ____________ - ensure that people who visit your church and hall can see that you are a ____________ Church - do you need posters, leaflets?

Encourage those groups which use church premises to become ____________ users too. Write them a letter explaining that you are a _________ Church and ask if they would use ____________ refreshments too - include a leaflet and tell them where they can easily buy what they need.

For more information, prayer and worship suggestions, assemblies and lesson notes please see: www.cafod.org.uk
www.christianaid.org.uk
www.traidcraft.co.uk
www.__________.org
www.cafedirect.co.uk

How to Develop a Messiah Complex...

'Ah my little fishes. Behold these are times of great tribulation, of trial and storm and flood. But see, I am doing a great deed. The waters become murky and your hearts fail for fear of the tankocalypse. A big hand and net comes into the tank and you cannot understand the might of your keeper. See, I am placing you in a small bowl next to the tank while I make a new fish tank, a place of happiness, of joy. A place where there is cleaner gravel, a place where there is more gravel than you had before, where there are fewer snails. See, I am doing a great deed and placing a filter bought from the aquarium for just £29.99 which replaces the old one which was knackered. You find it hard to breathe in the glass vase which I now place you in, all 22 of you, but you, my little ones are kept safe, for your keeper loves you and is refashioning the tank. Behold, I am making for you a new tank which is paradise where the water is clean.




Yes, my little ones. This new tank will be a tank of milk and honey where you will be able to drink freely of the clean water mostly filtered out of impurities by using a Brita water filter, but normal water for the times when I couldn't be arsed for it to drip through and thought, 'Sod it, they'll survive'.

See, little fishes how happy you now are. These are the fishies who endured to the end the great persecution of the snails and the Anti-fish. Come my little fishes into the tank prepared for you since the foundation of the tank before, where you can enjoy every now and again the beatific vision of my face, my happy countenance, every time I come along and admire you, my little fishes.'

Becket

Happy Palm Sunday everyone! As you wind down your preparations for Easter, finally throwing off your heinous, self-imposed lenten prohibitions, let us consider Peter Glenville's adaptation of Jean Anouilh's Becket (1964).

King Henry II of England (Peter O'Toole) is engaged in a power struggle with the Church of England over issues of law and taxation. When the Archbishop of Canterbury (Felix Aylmer) dies, Henry is struck with a brilliant idea: appoint his advisor, friend and carousing buddy Thomas Becket (Richard Burton) the new Archbishop! Unfortunately for Henry, his scheme backfires when Becket, long searching for a cause to devote himself to, finds it in his new post. Henry and Becket clash over the murder of a priest, and their confrontation tears Henry apart - and leaves his barons an opportunity to dispose of the treacherous Becket.

Becket invites comparison with A Man for All Seasons, but isn't nearly as good. Unlike Robert Bolt's script, which deftly mixes modern sensibilities with period dialogue, Anouilh's play is intelligent but overwritten, straining for modernity with improbably self-aware characters. It not only plays fast and loose with facts (Becket was not a Saxon in real life), but plays as an anachronistic farce, with Henry, Becket and others speaking like squabbling college students occasionally struck with philosophical insight. Edward Anhalt does what he can to refine the source material, but the film still seems overwritten - though at least not as obnoxious as The Lion in Winter. It's not very convincing as a period piece, and lacks the subtle craft of Bolt's play.

However, Becket works very well as a drama, with a great story and interesting thematic material running through it. Due to excellent direction and some powerhouse performances, it largely transcends the problematic material.

The crux of the play is Henry and Becket's relationship, and their contrasting personalities: Henry the spoiled brat, raised to believe his self-indulgence is of greatest importance; Becket, the low-bred, thoughtful but empty man looking desperately for something to believe in. A clash between these two is inevitable, and in light of later events, their improbably close friendship seems almost baffling. Henry misreads Becket's willingness to serve him as complete devotion, a miscalculation which leads to tragedy for all concerned.

Just as interesting is the film's portrayal of men in power. Henry's thoughtless, destructive exercise of power, tormenting friends and family, and bedding a brace of not-always-willing women - including Becket's lover (Sian Phillips) - is reflected by other characters. The perfidious Bishop Folliot (Donald Wolfit), who abandons his principles to settle a petty score with Becket; the French King (John Gielgud), who subtlely humiliates Henry's envoys (and his own staff); and the murderous Barons, who spend all their time drinking and killing. Politics is reduced to a game of one-upsmanship, with Kings and Bishops whose power is only limited by their rivals.

Glenville's handsome direction is striking, making full use of art direction. Maurice Carter creates some truly astonishing sets; the film was mostly shot on the Shepperton lots, and its cavernous castles and beautifully-ornamented cathedrals are truly a sight to behold. Margaret Furse's radiant costumes are also quite impressive. The movie opens up with crowd scenes and set-pieces (the excommunication of Lord Gilbert being the most impressive), but remains primarily an intimate drama. Laurence Rosenthal contributes a powerful score mixing religious incantations and sweeping orchestra.

Richard Burton gives a career-best performance. Often a stiff and wooden actor, Burton invests Becket with true dignity and strength of character, putting his extraordinary voice to brilliant use. Peter O'Toole gets the easier part, having fun carousing and chewing out his obnoxious family. The supporting cast couldn't be better, with Donald Wolfit (Lawrence of Arabia), Martita Hunt (Great Expectations) and John Gielgud (Gandhi) standing out.

Becket has its share of flaws, but the underlying story remains powerful, and the extraordinary acting and direction makes it a fine film worthy of your two-and-a-half hours.

The Life of 'Sarah' Testifies that Abuse is Rife in Social Services

Picture: The former children's home Haut de la Garenne on Jersey island, site of the biggest abuse children's care home scandal in the history of the UK.

Anyone listening to the radio, reading the internet, watching TV or reading the newspapers recently would be forgiven for thinking that physical and sexual abuse is something that afflicts only the Catholic Church. The truth of the matter is that the scandals that have been poured over the pages of the press are bad, very bad, but by no means a scandal in the Church only. Today I met a young lady, 19, who we shall call 'Sarah', whose life testifies to the unpalatable fact that abuse is rife in families, society and, it appears, particularly in children's homes ran by Social Services.

My friend Paul and I dropped friends George and Diane back home today. Say a prayer for them because Social Services, having told their Brighton Housing Trust (BHT) solicitor that they would store their belongings from their old flat, instead, under the guidance of Moat Housing Association, who evicted the couple, 'disposed' of all of their possessions, quite what they have done with them nobody is sure.

George and Diane have a friend, 'Sarah', who lives in a nearby room at the squalid, disgraceful excuse for a hostel which they currently call home in Brighton. They introduced Paul and I to 'Sarah'. We talked together. It turned out that 'Sarah' was living at the 'temporary housing hostel' since 11 months ago her landlord evicted her because she refused his advances, maintaining that she is gay and had no interest in him. "Why are you here?" I ask. "Could you go home?"  'Sarah' looks at me and says. "I can't go home because my stepfather is a paedophile and my mother is still with him." She has learned, it seems, to look after herself because God knows, nobody else ever has. Nearly everyone she has known has wanted her for their own perverted ends. Her story may seem incredible, but it, I suspect, is all too common.

"My first memories are unhappy memories," she says. "Most people don't say that, but I was abused from the age of 3 until 7 by my stepfather." We sit and talk and I find her to be one of the most gentle, kind and genuine people I have ever met. The wisdom she expresses has come from years of suffering and trauma. I ask whether she was taken into care. She says she was. I ask her whether she was 'looked after' by social services. She laughs and says, "No. Things were no better under social services!" Her stepfather put her through every kind of physical, sexual abuse everyday she can remember, but then, she says, nearly everyday, so did workers at the care homes she was shunted to from year to year.

"My happiest childhood times," she maintains, "were with the two foster families I had." 'Sarah' stayed with one of these for a year and liked them so much that they are still in touch. I ask her why the foster placements didn't last. She replies, "They couldn't deal with my behaviour." It is hardly surprising. If someone has been dealt a catalogue of physical and sexual abuse since the age of 3, they are bound to display 'challenging' behaviour in childhood and adolescence. Her time with foster families ended at the age of just 9. From then on she was shunted around the country to secure units and children's care homes, ending her time in the woeful and scandalous 'care' of Social Services at the age of 18, just one year ago, in a therapeutic community ran by a private firm in Birmingham. After that she came back to Brighton, where she was born and bred, only to be evicted from her place by a predator landlord.

She had to leave the 'therapeutic community' in Birmingham because she was accused of raping another female resident, a crime of which she says she was wholly innocent. I ask her about her treatment by 'care workers' in Social Services. I ask her why she did not report the incidences of abuse, physical, sexual, mental and verbal to the authorities, or the police. Her answer was chilling, as chilling as the answer you would receive from someone who had been abused by, say, a Catholic priest in Ireland.

"What could I do?" she said, "I am just a child in care. The first time it happened I reported it. Do you know what they said? They said, 'Perhaps you are just re-living bad memories!' and ignored me! Life for me was no better in the care homes ran by Social Services than they had been under the care of my stepfather." I ask her 'Sarah', still just 19 years of age, if she thought that abuse was rife in Social Services care homes and whether there was any kind of a cover up. Her answer, again, is chilling to the bone.

"It is always a cover up! Not just me but all the kids who get abused can't say anything. They are either ignored, told they are 'lying' or told they are just 'doing it to get attention'. Social services can't admit what is really going on in their care homes. The problem is too big. Do you realise how much funding they are getting from the Government? Every year the Social Services will get £6.7 billion from the Government. £6.7 billion! Every single care home where I stayed had 3 members of staff who tried it on with me and either tried to sexually and physically abuse me, or did so. This went on, near daily, for as long as I was in their care!"

I assure you, dear readers, that if all of the adults, some of whom are still children, who have been abused physically, sexually and mentally in children's care homes ran by Social Services came forward tomorrow, in the UK alone, and went to the press, it would make a mockery of the current coverage of the Church's abuse cases worldwide. Basically, multiply the number of victims of abuse in cases committed by Catholic priests and multiply it by not ten, not a hundred, but a thousand and add a few thousand more. 'Sarah' made it clear to me that sexual, physical and all manner of abuse in children's care homes is institutionalised and, what is more it is all, all, covered up because Social Services departments rely on...You guessed it...Government funding.

Do you think the Head of Social Services in each city is aware of the abuse crisis in children's homes in the UK? Do you think if he or she does, they might want to hush this news story up? Do you think, that maybe, just maybe, the Cabinet Minister in whose portfolio is the administration of Social Services in the UK knows about it? Don't you think that the whole World deserves to know about it!?

She says she has never made the homeless hostel a 'home'. She despises it there. She despises the fact that whoever owns it makes at least £200 a room a week (there are 60 rooms), yet they do nothing, give absolutely nothing in terms of comfort to the residents. They treat everyone who lives there like shit. She maintains that there is a family of 3 living in one room in the place. On the top floor, in a 'slightly bigger room' is an asian family of 7 living in squalor. 'Sarah' is therefore happy to be leaving her hostel room as soon as she can get out. She has just got a job as a cleaning operative.

Her experieces have shaped her as a person. Yet, she is wise beyond her years. She has to be. She hopes that the new job, for which she will have to work between 60 and 70 hours a week will enable her to get a private tenancy again which will be more successful. For someone who has been through so much pain and suffering, for someone who to go to sleep at night means looming phantasms and horrific nightmares, for someone who has been used and abused all her childhood and nascent adult life, her eyes still radiate with optimism and hope. Say a prayer for her, George, Diane and all the residents of the homeless hostel in Brighton full with tales of misery, poverty and abuse. It was at some point toward the end of my discussion with 'Sarah' that I realised that the accusation that priestly abuse is caused by celibacy is worthy only of our scorn, contempt and ridicule, because if sexual abuse is as prevalent in State-ran children's care homes as 'Sarah' says it is, then this issue has absolutely nothing to do with celibacy at all.

49th Parallel

If you were laboring under the illusion that Canadians are a bunch of hockey-playing, Maple Syrup-guzzling hosers who say "Eh?" a lot, Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger are here to learn you different!

49th Parallel (1941) is a perfectly-constructed film, part wartime propaganda, part thriller. A few too many speeches belaboring the virtue of democracy does not hamper an otherwise brilliant movie, which works on multiple levels - and, I'd dare say, is Powell and Pressburger's best film. It sends a blunt but effective message: With Nazi spies crawling across Vancouver, the war is not an ocean way, but effects everyonet: no more isolationism for us.

German submarine U-37 is scouting off the coast of Canada after sinking a British freighter. Warships locate and sink the submarine, and the only survivors are six sailors, led by the fanatical Lieutenant Kuehnecke (Eric Portman), who were sent ashore to secure supplies. Our anti-heroes gradually dwindle in number, as they encounter a group of grizzled traders, a commune of pacfist Hutterites, and flee Mounties and vigilantes on their way to (still-neutral) America and freedom.

49th Parallel wonderfully flips audience expectations on their heads. The movie's straight-forward plot of heroic men behind enemy lines... has Nazis as protagonists. And, aside from the fanatical Lieutenant, our Nazis are human beings, their evils of ideology rather than humanity. We see the Nazis commit atrocities (leaving shipwreck survivors to drown, gunning down helpless Eskimos), but we also see them as human beings, particularly Vogel (Niall McGinness), who wants nothing more than to resume his career as a baker. It's the ideology that's bad, not the men, and only the Lieutenant who considers Mein Kampf his Bible is beyond redemption.

49th is not as openly subversive as The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943), which ran into trouble for suggesting that Englishmen and Germans can be friends, and that the English government makes mistakes in its conduct of war. But still, it's mind-boggling that the British government funded this film in WWII's darkest hour. One seriously wonders how Powell and Pressburger got away with this and Colonel Blimp without serious reprecussions.

Powell and Pressburger present a romanticized view of Canada, not unlike their portrayal of Scotland in I Know Where I'm Going! (1945), full of broad stock characters - a plucky French-Canadian trapper (Laurence Olivier), a cynical deserter (Raymond Massey), cheery Indian and Eskimo sidekicks - and gorgeous landscapes. If the film makes a few too many speeches about the virtue of democracy and the degeneracy of Nazism, it makes up for it with the power of its convictions. The best moment is when the Lieutenant's bombastic pro-Hitler speech to the Hutterites is answered by the group's leader (Anton Walbrook), comporting himself with dignity and quiet anger, explaining how German immigrants think differently than Nazi Germans. Stereotyping can be forgiven when the characters make such strong impressions.

Powell was targetting still-neutral America, and it's hard not to think that his emphasis of Canada's diversity was a nod towards the melting pot to the south. As broad of stereotypes they are, all of the Canadians we meet are decent fellows, whose straightforward friendliness baffle the strictly regimented Nazis. At the end of the film, we see two Americans customs agents sending the Lieutenant back to Canada as contraband: an amusing twist in and of itself, and a sign that we'll come into the war on the right side.

Powell's direction is wonderful, with Freddie Young capturing eyefuls of gorgeous Canadian scenery - mountains, pine forests and snow flats all strikingly captured. Pressburger provides a perfectly-constructed script: its three acts are essentially self-contained, and yet flow together perfectly, with a perfect pace that develops tension and drives the action. David Lean provides some excellent montage work, particularly in the later segments of the film, and Ralph Vaughan Williams adds a superb score.

Eric Portman (A Canterbury Tale) gives a perfect performance as the Lieutenant. He's a one-dimensional character delivered with fiery conviction, the perfect representation of hateful Nazism. Niall McGinnis (Becket) does a great job as the most tragic of Portman's men. Laurence Olivier's bizarre portrayal of a Quebecois is rather cheesy, but the other star cameos are excellent: Raymond Massey (Abe Lincoln in Illinois), Leslie Howard (Pygmalion), Finlay Currie (Great Expectations) and Anton Walbrook (Gaslight).

What more can be said? 49th Parallel is a wonderful film from top-to-bottom. And those Canadians are awesome, eh?

Brighton MS Sufferer Ends His Own Life at Dignitas

Trust The Argus to give its seal of approval to the Culture of Death. Brighton & Hove's daily local newspaper, fresh from persecuting a local Catholic priest has covered 'in deepest sympathy', that is, in deepest sympathy with assisted suicide, the news of a Brighton man's ending of his personal struggle with MS at the offshore death chamber in Switzerland known as Dignitas.

There is something quite disturbing about this article. Someone is missing from it.

The article reports...

'A man who featured in a documentary about his battle against multiple sclerosis has died at a euthanasia clinic in Switzerland. Renowned graphic artist Johnny Hicklenton, best known for his work on comic books Judge Dredd and 2000AD, visited the Dignitas assisted suicide clinic after a ten year fight against the disease.

Friend Adam Lavis, who co-directed the TV documentary, travelled with 42-year-old Mr Hicklenton to the clinic. He described the Brighton artist as a “warrior.” He said: “Over the years he became a very good friend. He was someone I worked with but he became someone much more than that to me. He was like a brother. Despite the love of his family and friends, the MS became like torture. It was like a war for him, and he fought for as long as he could. The bravery for him to get up and go through that door was staggering. The decision to go to Dignitas really focused him. He decided a while ago that he didn't want to go down the road where it would permanently disable him.” He added that Mr Hicklenton had passed away at the clinic on Friday March 19.

Mr Lavis said: “He said that if he hadn't gone last week he wouldn't have been able to travel. It enabled him to live a lot longer. He said to me that he would've given up last year if he didn't have Dignitas in his mind. He beat MS. It takes away the control of your life but this gave him control.”

Mr Hicklenton's fight against MS, which he was diagnosed with in 2000, was the subject of the award-winning documentary ‘Here's Johnny’, produced by Brighton production company Animal Monday. Mr Hicklenton’s body was cremated in Switzerland. His ashes are to be flown back to the UK shortly for a memorial service.

A spokeswoman for the MS Trust said: "The fact that John Hicklenton was prepared to use his fame to raise awareness of a condition so often overlooked by the media, and to wage his personal war on MS so publicly is something that is greatly appreciated by people in the MS community.

"Anyone wanting more information on MS should contact the MS Trust on 01462 476700 or visit www.mstrust.org.uk.” 

Aside from offering our condolences to the family of this well-loved man, what can we say to them? They must be devastated. Oh, hang on, we don't know how they feel about this tragedy because those pioneers in journalistic excellence at The Argus have either not been able to contact them or decided their views were unnecessary, just printed the views of his "friend" in the media .

The other deeply disturbing aspect of this story is that the Multiple Schlorosis Trust have tacitly given approval of Mr Hicklenton's actions in the press when it should, in fact, be stressing that just because you suffer from MS, you don't have to kill yourself and that there is help and support out there if you are suffering with this chronic disease. God help this country and may the soul of Mr Hicklenton and the souls of all the departed rest in peace.

Yet More Shockingly Biased Reporting from the BBC

Some people go into journalism for the pursuit of truth and some people go into journalism for the pursuit of propaganda.

The BBC is clearly a hotbed of journalists who fall into the latter category. To the left is a picture of the then 'live correspondent' of the BBC in the US, reporting the fall of Building 7 (not hit by a plane) of the World Trade Centre while the building quite incredibly still stands to the immediate right of her head.

Of course, it could be that there is a perfectly reasonable reason for why the BBC reported the collapse of Building 7 a good 20 minutes before the event actually took place, but, hey, if the BBC are going to do reporting on events within the Church, we may as well examine just how accurate is the reporting of the aggressively left-wing, statist, anti-Catholic propaganda machine providing 'news' to the majority of British homes 24 hours a day and report on their coverage of important events like those of September 11th 2001 as they most certainly appear.

By the way, as an aside, apparently Damian Thompson, whose defense of the Holy Father has been second to none, called a cab driver a liar and refused him a tip because he had a sticker on his car reading, '9/11 was an inside job,' which is, frankly, a bit harsh, especially given that a group of 7 Danish scientists (I believe it is a similar number of British medical experts who believe Dr David Kelly was murdered by the British State, isn't it?) found highly advanced nano-thermite explosives in the dust of Ground Zero and well over 1,000 respected mechanics, construction workers, airline operatives, demolition experts and independent journalists agree with Damian's cab driver. Good grief, Damian! If the BBC can't report the truth concerning the Pope's record on dealing with abuse within the Church, or, for that matter, the truth concerning the falsification of data by climate scientists at an obscure university providing global 'climate research' in East Anglia, then what on earth makes you think they report the truth concerning acts of international terrorism and the attending illegal, unjust wars launched on the back of them?

Any way, concerning the latest attack on the Holy Father, which Damian clearly does believe is an 'inside job', the bonkers conspiracy theorist that he is, the BBC considers the events surrounding Fr Lawrence Murphy's abuse of over 200 deaf children and the fact that the then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger did not personally escort the then aged, dying, apparently repentant Priest to the police only to die and be Tried before the Court of Heaven, before being tried in a human court of law, to be the biggest news story of the day. In the highly sensationalised article, complete with video of abuse victims telling the World that the Pope was Fr Murphy's chief accomplice, taking precedence before all other news stories of the day, are the words...

'Our correspondent says that although there is no direct evidence against the then Cardinal Ratzinger, this is an uncomfortable confluence of events for the Vatican.'

But, hey, let's not allow the fact that there is 'no direct evidence against the then Cardinal Ratzinger', otherwise known as 'the truth' to in any way detract from what is yet another great opportunity to make this news story 'an uncomfortable confluence of events for the Vatican' and link the Holy Father with the abuse scandal, a habit now so deeply entrenched in the British media, that when the British public think of the Pope when he makes his visit to the UK, they'll be thinking of the leader of the World's most efficient, deadly and untouchable paedophile ring.

The same article correctly reports that the Vatican has 'condemned claims that Pope Benedict XVI did nothing about a US priest who is suspected of molesting up to 200 deaf boys decades ago.' The Vatican has, the report continues, 'said the claims were an "ignoble" attack on the Pope and that there was no "cover-up".'
Unfortunately, the BBC decide to not report on some of the central facts of the case, reported well by the Catholic News Service, such as the fact that when the Vatican discovered the abuse he was just about to kick the bucket anyway.

Meanwhile, the man chosen by His Holiness to lead the Catholics of England and Wales from the See of Westminster has finally realised that the Pope, as Successor of St Peter, unlike Catholic education (I guess he thought it was half-term and so he didn't need to work, especially while the CES could be trusted to stand around watching while Ed Balls and his colleagues gang raped the Church), is worth defending after all and has told the Press that the Pope was not an 'idle observer' during the discovery of these scandals, his comments being reported on BBC News's Front Webpage with a bullet headline 'UK Catholics Back Pope'. Archbishop Vincent Nichols has said...

'What of the role of Pope Benedict? When he was in charge of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith he led important changes made in church law: the inclusion in canon law of internet offences against children, the extension of child abuse offences to include the sexual abuse of all under 18, the case by case waiving of the statue of limitation and the establishment of a fast-track dismissal from the clerical state for offenders. He is not an idle observer. His actions speak as well as his words.'

Well...late is better than never. Looks like the BBC aren't the only ones suffering from some kind of strange, inexplicable time delay in responding to events of global significance.

The Church is a Victim of Her success. She, unlike social services, the scouts, care homes, schools and every sector of employment with a vocation to protecting the vulnerable, is a global institution, so, if there have been a small number of dodgy Priests in a large number of countries across the World fiddling with children then it is a lot easier to report cases of abuse as being inherent within Her because She is global. It is then very easy to point to the 'man at the top' and say that he should take the blame as he is like the 'CEO'. Funny, isn't it, that the Cabinet Minister whose portfolio includes Social Services is never blamed or asked to resign when a spate of children die because Social Services did diddly squat to protect them? Still, neither sense nor truth are taking a central place in the coverage of the abuse scandals now being used to harpoon the Holy Father. This is a media circus, the public are watching and the Holy Father is the man in the ring confronted with a roaring lion. He needs not only our prayers, but also Catholics, especially those with Apostolic Teaching Authority to be loyal to the Church, loyal to the Truth and loyal to the Successor of St Peter!

Papal Witch Hunt Continues Unabated

The Times, the BBC, The Guardian and even the Catholic layman owned The Telegraph are sticking the knife into our beloved Holy Father, who it is now beyond doubt, was, as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, single-handedly orchestrating the deliberate abuse of over a billion Catholic children.

So, while the enemies of the Pope both within and without the Church continue to destroy His Holiness's reputation with so many news stories that one wonders whether the phrase 'media overkill' was invented solely for this past month, here is a picture of a Robin that I took today while gardening at a client's garden in Preston Park, because, after all, we all need a bit of cheering up, as if the Annunication of the Lord isn't enough to have us Catholics usually bobbing around like little birds full to the brim with holy joy. It rained at times today and I managed to avoid being struck down by lightning during a brief thunderstorm. The Priest at the heart of the latest allegations of the 'Papal Paedophile Ring' scandal which the media will seemingly never let lie, is another sinful Lawrence, one Father Lawrence Murphy of Wisconsin, USA. Here are just a few of the jaw-droppingly slanderous, salacious headlines:

• Letters place Pope at centre of child abuse scandal
• Pope accused of failing to act on sex abuse case
• Pope 'failed to discipline US priest' who abused deaf children
• Pope accused of covering up US priest's abuse of 200 deaf boys 

Damian Thompson quite rightly smells a 'stich-up' while the Catholic News Service tells it as it is:

'The Vatican defended a decision not to laicize a Wisconsin priest who sexually abused deaf children, despite the recommendation of his bishop that he be removed from the priesthood. In a statement responding to a report in the New York Times, the Vatican said that by the time it learned of the case in the late 1990s, the priest was elderly and in poor health. The Vatican eventually suggested that the priest continue to be restricted in ministry instead of laicized, and he died four months later, the Vatican said.'

So, something of a storm in a tea cup then? Why no, of course not! This is the smoking gun the gutter press has been looking for all along! To read the full and frank rebuttal of The Times's continual persecution of the Holy Father click here. Thank God someone out there is defending him against the most systematic, highly organised and unyielding media witch hunt since Senator John McCarthy first started drawing up questions to ask Americans concerning their personal adherence to Western capitalism. As we come closer to Holy Week, it only seems fitting that not only are the crowd beginning to revile, condemn and crucify the Vicar of Jesus Christ on Earth, but even the Apostles are keeping quiet, running away, or hanging themselves on the tree of their bitter and sinister betrayal.

Pray for the Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, now gloriously reigning.

The Wind That Shakes the Barley

Ken Loach provides a fascinating look at the Irish War for Independence and resultant strife in The Wind That Shakes the Barley (2006). A bit disjointed and cliched at times, it's nonetheless a very perceptive portrayal of a revolution whose imperfect victory sowed the seeds of a conflict lasting to the present day.

Ireland, 1920. Damien (Cillian Murphy), an ambitious medical student, witnesses the murder of a friend (Laurence Barry) by British soldiers. Along with his brother Teddy (Padraic Delaney), train driver Dan (Liam Cunningham) and various others, he joins the Irish Republican Army and wages a guerilla war against the Brits. Surviving imprisonment, torture, various skirmishes and retaliations by the brutish "Black and Tans," Damien and Teddy drift apart after the war ends, when a peace treaty gives the Irish only limited independence. Damien and Teddy find themselves on opposing sides as the Irish Free State collapses into bloody civil war.

Perhaps you haven't noticed, but this blogger is fascinated with political revolutions and their impure fruit. For all their idealism and talk of reform, virtually all revolutions turn around on themselves, leading to violence, chaos and repression resuming under a new ideological banner. Bourbon France and Romanov Russia were certainly bad, but the monsters who replaced them were exponentially worse. Reality, with its inherent compromises and crabbing, rarely lives up to the purity of ideals, and those who won't accept this incite more bloodshed.

The Irish War for Independence depicted in The Wind That Shakes the Barley exemplifies this. The initial rebellion is clear-cut, with the brutish Black and Tans a hateful, unsympathetic enemy; any remorse our protagonists have over killing them is assuaged by the death of their friend, their torture in captivity, and the harassment of love interest Sinead (Orla Fitzgerald). When Sinn Fein settles for an imperfect victory, with limited independence and a religiously-based partition, the lines gray: the ideologue's demand for purity clashes with enforcers of the impure peace, and war inevitably resumes. The British wash their hands of the mess, as the Irish turn to killing each other, but the open wound left by the Anglo-Irish Treaty festers on, with tragic consequences for all.

Ken Loach's direction is excellent: the film bristles with well-staged action, powerful set-pieces, perfect period detail and gorgeous, vibrant cinematography by Barry Ackroyd. George Fenton's subtly emotive score also deserves a mention. The film's main flaw is its pacing; the film often drags, while rushing through other segments, particularly the post-independence sequences. The opposition of brothers is a set-up for easy tragedy, but the film pulls it off well-enough, with Damien's ideological hardening off-set perfectly by Teddy's increasing moderation.

Cillian Murphy (Batman Begins) gives a powerful performance, effectively showing Damien's hardening from disinterested dilettante to hardcore revolutionary. Liam Cunningham (First Knight) is excellent as the gang's conscience, and Padraic Delainey (The Tudors) is immensely sympathetic and tortured. Roger Allam (V for Vendetta) shines as a hateful English bastard, and a cast of unknowns - Orla Fitzgerald, Mary O'Riordan, Frank Bourke, Myles Horgan - provides fine support.

Despite its imperfections, The Wind That Shakes the Barley is a wonderful mixture of insightful art and gripping entertainment. Save In the Name of the Father, it's perhaps the best film ever made on the Irish "Troubles."

Question: "How are Conservatives Going to be Whipped?!"

Answer:  In a racy, black, leather number, by the looks of things. Watch these astonishing two clips of 'family man' David Cameron losing his cool with the Martin Popplewell of Gay Times, presumably a significant leader of a vociferous political lobby. Mr Cameron appears to be deeply uncomfortable with this interview, perhaps because he has the unenviable task of keeping not negligible traditional Conservatives happy while courting the not negligible 'pink vote'. In what appears to be a social bracket now much like the elderly, the disabled or just plain old C1, the 'gay community', according to Martin Popplewell, vote en masse as a singular body for the political party they think will benefit their agenda the most, rather than, say policies on, well helping the elderly pay heating bills.



Popplewell asks the questions and Cameron is left utterly floundering. It is fascinating and reveals quite clearly that David Cameron, for one, far from being an adherent of the 'gay rights' philosophy, is just fishing for votes amid an ocean of fish, many with competing views.

The Gay Times journalist asks, rather arrogantly, "Why should we ("Ding-Dong. This is a flight announcement for all gays. Please would you make your way to the lobby now. Yes, that's right, even you quiet ones in the closet.") vote for you, if you don't vote for us." Talk about the gay mafia! These guys are holding poor David Cameron hostage! It's a wonder he hasn't woken up with a gigantic, pink, 'My Little Pony's (TM)' head in his bed!

When asked the simple question as to whether 'gay rights' votes will be, under his stewardship of the country, free votes on matters of conscience, or official Tory policy for which the whole Conservative party would be whipped, he mumbles and frets before stopping the interview and starting again, only to mumble and vacillate more, before finally uttering those dreadful words which will echo around the House of Commons and which he will most probably live to regret: "...under those conditions the party would probably be whipped."

Oh dear! That'll go down well in Conservative Clubs all across the country, won't it!? Honestly, David. Just say it!

"Listen up, you guys have been running the show for a long time now. We repeal Section 28, you want civil partnerships. We give you civil partnerships and you want gay marriage with confetti, bells on and the Queen herself at every 'blessed' union while the age of consent is lowered to 9. It's about time you chaps put your todgers away and started thinking with your brains rather than your 'members'. This country is a country for everyone and that includes families, who, actually, still make up the majority of society and without whom society would either implode or cease to exist entirely. We've changed the Conservative Party so much for you. Heck! We've even got Tory MPs now who are 'out and proud' rather than in and getting bribed and yet you still want more! What do you want from us?! Blood! I'm starting to wish we'd just left you alone dodging coppers in the bushes, because, quite frankly, if I had thought 20 odd years ago that I'd be sitting here being interviewed by you now and you'd be telling me that the entire community you represent, the size of which is not neglible will only vote for me if I force my now morally barren party to vote for your anti-family, sexuality-driven agenda, I'd have voted to never let your incessantly meowing cat out of the bag! Indeed! I'd have drowned the over-sexed little kitten in a bucket!"

Go on, Dave! You tell him! Someone has to...

Time to Emigrate?

I have a couple of friends who are emigrating to Cyprus. All in all, it looks like a good time to leave the UK.  

Here is another reason why...

Straw: "We are angry these MPs got caught..."

The Telegraph reports that...

'The Justice Secretary said the three Labour MPs have damaged the reputation of the Labour Party, but he insisted that no serving member of the Government was implicated. The three former Labour cabinet ministers have been suspended from the Parliamentary Labour Party over allegations they tried to sway policy decisions by lobbying the Government. Mr Straw said: “There is such anger in the Parliamentary Labour Party, as well as I may say incredulity, about their stupidity in allowing themselves to be suckered in a sting like this."

What an incredible thing fort the 'Justice' Secretary to say! 'Carry on boys and girls, just don't get caught next time!' The Parliamentary Labour Party is not so angered at the corruption at the heart of Government or at the news that politicians can be bought off by special interests! Neither are they worried that the UK fast appears to be about as democratic as the mafia! Oh no! It is angry about the bad publicity! God help this country's politicians, but don't bother helping the Labour Party! These chancers are beyond the pale!

Brighton Church in Altar Rails Stunner

I paid a trip to St John the Baptist Church with my fiancee today. It has still got the beautiful altar rails and Sanctuary. Somehow it seems to have largely survived the 'Reformation' of the 1960s.

It has some large depictions the life of St John the Baptist from leaping for joy in the womb of Elizabeth and the Presence of his Redeemer, to being martyred by Herod's executioner, following a request by his dancing stepdaughter intent on doing her mother's dirty work in getting the camel-skin wearing herald of the Saviour's head chopped off. The back doors of the Church run straight into the main aisle. Perfect Church for weddings and funerals. A cracking Church, nearly ten out of ten...but then, St John Lateran, surely, has to clinch the perfect 10. You can view it here.

Anti-Pelosi Demonstrations to be Held outside Vatican

Hammers. Useful for passing votes in the US Congress and fastening nails into Hands and Feet of the Innocent.

American pro-lifers are to hold demonstrations in the front of Vatican against "Catholic" Nancy Pelosi.

The following was released today by Randall Terry, Director, Operation Rescue Insurrecta Nex.

What: Demonstration against Nancy Pelosi and Washington DC Archbishop Donald Wuerl; Pelosi pushing to pay for child killing in so-called healthcare. President Obama's "executive order" will not be worth the paper it is written on. (We're sorry that Congressman Stupak and his associates fell into this trap.)

When: First demonstration, 3 PM local (Rome) time, Monday, March 22. Second TBA

Where: On Italian soil, directly in front of Vatican fence in front of St. Peter's.

Who: Randall Terry, and 10 American Pro-lifers from The Vanguard of St. Catherine of Siena.

Why: Nancy Pelosi has betrayed the Catholic faith by pushing to shed innocent blood, and repeatedly voting to take money from Americans to pay for the murder of innocent babies.

Meanwhile, Washington DC Archbishop Donald Wuerl, has refused to rebuke her for this evil, and also continues to serve her Holy Communion.

Signs (in English and Italian) will state: Archbishop Wuerl Excommunicate Nancy Pelosi! American Bishops:
Obey the Pope! Archbishop Wuerl: Enforce Canon 915! No Communion for Pelosi! Archbishop Wuerl:
Obey Church Law or Resign.

Randall Terry states...

"The passage of this bill is the most horrific treachery against life since Roe versus Wade. I would hate to be in Nancy Pelosi's shoes on the Day of Judgment. And DC Archbishop Wuerl – more than any prelate in America – is responsible for this calamity by his silence. "Has he even once publicly rebuked Pelosi for trying to force us to fund murder, or openly tried to derail her? Worse yet, Archbishop Wuerl still permits Nancy Pelosi to receive Holy Communion."

"This scandal reeks to the heavens. If Archbishop Wuerl does not have the integrity and courage to uphold the teachings of the Church, defend babies from murder, protect the faithful's rights, and protect the Holy Eucharist from sacrilege, he should resign, and 'let another take his office who has true Apostolic valor.' "If Archbishop Wuerl won't defend the Holy Eucharist over a crime of this magnitude, he is either clearly deceived, or defiantly disobedient. Either way, he is not fit to be the D.C. Archbishop."

See proof of AB Wuerl's defiance to Pope Benedict's words as Cardinal Ratzinger in Sanguis Innocens at www.humbleplea.com. Contact: Catherine Veritas, +1-904-687-9804

If Our MPs Are For Sale then the UK is Not a Democracy

The Telegraph reports that...

'Former Labour cabinet ministers have been accused of offering to use their political influence in return for payments of thousands of pounds. MPs Stephen Byers, Patricia Hewitt, Geoff Hoon and Margaret Moran – who are all standing down at the next election – were secretly recorded discussing financial payment with an uncover reporter posing as a company executive looking to hire MPs for lobbying work.'

This revelation is a far, far worse scandal than the 'MPs expenses' story. The first one was one of taking too much out of the kitty, of being rather greedy and wanting more than was their due by claiming expenses on the taxpayers purse. It is understandable. A culture builds up, it becomes 'standard procedure' but democracy itself is not under threat. During the expenses scandal it was not apparant that our MPs, our elected representatives were subverting democracy. Now, a new scandal, and I would imagine this is the tip of the iceberg, has emerged. The implications of it are far-reaching and deeply disturbing.

Here is why. According to The Telegraph report...

'Mr Byers, the former trade and transport secretary, is alleged to have described himself as “like a sort of cab for hire” for up to £5,000 a day, echoing Mohamed al-Fayed's revelation 16 years ago that you can "hire an MP the way you hire a London taxi."

The Dispatches and Sunday Times investigation also alleges that Miss Hewitt, a former health secretary, claimed she was paid £3,000 a day to help a client obtain a key seat on a Government advisory group.

Mr Hoon, the former defence secretary, offered to lead delegations to ministers and said he was looking to turn his knowledge and contacts into “something that frankly makes money”, and added he charged £3,000 a day.

Miss Moran, the disgraced Luton MP who was forced to pay back £22,500 in expenses, boasted she could telephone a “girls’ gang” of colleagues to help clients, including Jacqui Smith, the former home secretary, Hazel Blears, the former communities secretary, and Harriet Harman, the deputy leader of the Labour party.'

The Catholic Church tries (or, at least, traditionally tries...it appears that modernity has choked Her Bishops) to influence Government through reasoned argument. The Church, for all of the now well disclosed faults of Her members, does not offer money to the Government to change policy or lobby Government ministers with hard cash. I would imagine that this culture of buying MPs interest is alien to the culture of the Catholic Church. Yet, it clearly exists.

Now, lets just imagine that our MPs were offered cash by say, groups working to further the abortion industry, or powerful groups working to gain access to human embryos for experimentation?

Don't they call that blood money?

If MPs, even were it only a few Government ministers, are taking money or have been taking money from powerful lobbying groups seeking change in Government policy then all of the arguments and petitions made by those against this Governments fiercely anti-Life agenda would have been pointless. Why? Because a proportion of MPs, and influential ones at that, would have already allowed the money to make up their minds. If that happened, that is not just corruption, it is a dictatorship of the country by a small set of lobbying groups. It would amount to the subversion of democracy itself.

Black Girl

A landmark film, Ousmane Sembene's Black Girl (1966) is among the first feature-length African films, and remains striking today. Though short (65 minutes) and dramatically simple, it's a powerful indictment of neo-colonialism, showing how European influence lingered on even after Africa gained its nominal independence.

Diouanna (Mbissine Therese Diop) is a poor girl from Dakar, Senegal who is hired as a maid by an unnamed French couple (Robert Fontaine and Anne-Marie Jelinick), who have a minor position of authority in Dakar. Returning to France with them, Diouanna finds herself increasingly unhappy with her demanding, uncaring masters, who treat her with a complete lack of respect. Diouanna passively rebels, refusing to work any longer, only heightening their racism and cruel treatment of her.

A simple melodrama on the surface, Black Girl is rich with symbolism and thematic content. Its exploration of racism is particularly damning; the white characters are nice-enough in Dakar, but in France, shorn of their nominal power and marked as shiftless losers, they show their true colors. They demean Diouanne and other blacks as lazy, violent and so forth, while acting listless and petty themselves; their rapidly degenerating marriage is a complete contrasts. Diouanne's hard-scrabble life in Dakar is pretty bad, but her dreams of great fulfillment in France only lead to resentment and disappointment.

The movie ends in a staggering denouement, with Diouanne, unable to leave her home or even write her own letters, finally unable to stand her domestic oppression. The French couple's attempts to "buy off" their charge results only in tragedy and guilt. While Europe can move on from the centuries of imperialism, Africa is stuck with the tragedy for years to come.

Sembene was the pre-eminent West African filmmaker; he continued making films until his death in 2004. His direction is fairly sparse, with a clear influence from Italian neo-realism, but he packs it with a vivid mise-en-scene, full of striking images, from the recurring tribal mask (serving as a symbol of African culture and Diouanne's subservience) to the stark black-and-white decor of the French house. Performances are mostly good, with Mbissine Therese Diop giving a subtly powerful performance, selling her character with little actual dialogue (only voice over narration) and marvellous subtlety.

Black Girl is a powerful, incisive and insightful film. Its simplicity is one of its greatest virtues; it makes its point well-enough that it doesn't need bells and whistles. As an indictment of colonialism and its lasting effects, it remains a powerful work of art.

Is the Far Right on the Rise?

20th March 2010, Bolton. The English Defense League (EDL) clash with Unite Against Fascism (UAF). The controversial Right-wing group EDL organised the rally. A counter-demonstration by UAF was held, and hundreds of police officers battled to keep control of the rival groups.

Clearly, there is a growing sense among sectors of society that prominent UK politicians are not speaking to them. These are worrying scenes. The Telegraph reports...

Assistant Chief Constable Garry Shewan, from Greater Manchester Police, who is leading the policing operation, said: "There have been unwarranted attacks on police lines that have resulted in injuries.

I am determined to identify the offenders by whatever means and bring them to justice."

Riot police and mounted officers armed with batons confronted the crowds in front of the town hall.

Weyman Bennett, the UAF joint secretary who organised the protest, was arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to commit violent disorder, police said.

Two UAF demonstrators have been taken to hospital, one with a minor head injury and the other with a minor ear injury, police said.

Second World War veteran Bertie Lois, 89, who lives in Farnworth, Bolton, protested with the UAF.

He said: "I fought the Second World War against these Nazis. What did I fight for if we let them? The EDL are the enemy. I would say to them 'you are the guys we fought for, what are you doing?'

"I am also here because I am against the war in Afghanistan."

The EDL describes itself as a peaceful, non-political group campaigning against "militant Islam".

Pope Benedict XVI Issues Pastoral Letter to the Irish Church

'Dear brothers and sisters of the Church of Ireland,
It is with great concern that I write to you as Pastor of the universal Church.

Like yourselves, I have been deeply disturbed by the information which has come to light regarding the abuse of children and vulnerable young people by members of the Church in Ireland, particularly by priests and religious.
I can only share in the dismay and the sense of betrayal that so many of you have experienced on learning of these sinful and criminal acts and the way Church authorities in Ireland dealt with them.
As you know, I recently invited the Irish bishops to a meeting here in Rome to give an account of their handling of these matters in the past and to outline the steps they have taken to respond to this grave situation.
Together with senior officials of the Roman Curia, I listened to what they had to say, both individually and as a group, as they offered an analysis of mistakes made and lessons learned, and a description of the programmes and protocols now in place. Our discussions were frank and constructive.

I am confident that, as a result, the bishops will now be in a stronger position to carry forward the work of repairing past injustices and confronting the broader issues associated with the abuse of minors in a way consonant with the demands of justice and the teachings of the Gospel.

For my part, considering the gravity of these offences, and the often inadequate response to them on the part of the ecclesiastical authorities in your country, I have decided to write this Pastoral Letter to express my closeness to you and to propose a path of healing, renewal and reparation...'

[It is a long letter, but very candidly and sensitively written. Click here for the full pastoral letter...]