Solva: autumn 2019, before the half term invasion

Solva is a splendid place in West Wales, on the Pembrokeshire Coast Path. Arfordir Penfro, Parc Cenedlaethol y glannau pentigili. Pembrokeshire Coast, Britain's only coastal National Park.

I love the tides, the boats, the harbour, the cliffs, the small beach, the little river, the birdlife, the pubs, the Mam Gu coffee shop, Window in Wales (great for its range of clothing, particularly Joules, and rainwear) and the beautiful coastal paths. The sea views from the high paths are magnificent.

Now come and look at Solva, through my eyes, in October 2019. Please click within the image to enlarge the photograph.

 A very popular spot in Mam Gu. They sell exceedlingly good Welsh cakes.

An aspect of France in Main Street, Solva

Own goal Abbott on the front bench with Catastrophic Comrades Corbyn and McDonnell

Come on Labour Party, for the sake of a stronger opposition, please dump these losers. They are putting you in a painful position. You cannot win an election with these incompetents on the front bench, and John McDonnell does not help your cause. You are destined for another defeat at the ballot box. This team is fatally flawed.

I understand that Diane Abbott was not the brightest and among the best when she was an administration trainee at the Home Office. Disaster prone Diane did not impress in the fast stream.  Her parliamentary career, to date, is a far from glorious, with gaffe after gaffe and spectacular own goals. This morning, talking to Andrew Marr, DA declared that she wanted to make immigration to the UK easier, if she becomes Home Secretary.

Keep Corbyn, Abbott and McDonnell in place and Labour will have no chance of a majority in the House of Commons. The electorate are not going to buy their brand of politics and be lead down to road to nowhere. They are on the way to failure.

Fleecing the flock: it keeps happening

It is very sad and shameful when a clergyman steals from an elderly parishioner. Today Rev. Edward Morris, known as Andy to his former flock at St. Matthew's Church in Nottingham, is serving a custodial sentence for his recent crimes. (Earlier crimes and his greed have come to light.) His ministry as a vicar is over for the theft of £5,000 from the bank account of 96 year old Mavis Pennack, who trusted him with her bank card and PIN.

It seems that standards in the recruitment of clergy have fallen, and some very dodgy and dubious characters are now people of the cloth. There are, however, serious ecclesiastical shortages and pastoral vacancies. I know of cases of clergy being ordained who would never have been selected for ministry in the 20th century. Clergy are human, after all, and they usually fail because of matters relating to sex, money, behaviour, and power/pride, but we expect a certain level of morality, intellect, integrity and Christian conduct. Lessons need to be learned from this unhappy situation.

Andy Morris has let himself down, as well as his wife and family, his flock and the Church of England. He has to live with the disgrace. He has time to think of the damage he has done in his prison cell. He is said to be full of remorse. Andy will probably be out of prison by this time next year. Perhaps he can find a job with Alpha for Prisons. The prison chaplain may find some use for his fire-eating (perhaps not) and entertainment talents dressing up as a clown. Church of England clergy are often good at dressing up.

Saints alive! Two miracles to make a saint?

According to a certain religion, it takes two miracles to make a saint.

 Now I do not necessarily rule out miracles, if by miracle we mean a special, divine intervention or supernatural occurrence, in the 21st or any century for that matter. But, the doctrine of praying to men, women and/or children, however holy they are considered to be, for miracles and wonders rather than to God, who is alone sovereign and almighty, is a departure from biblical truth.

Saints in the New Testament were believers, folk in the Christian community, who were sanctified by the Holy Spirit. They were not elected or beatified by a religious hierarchy, a holy huddle, high ranking priests, ecclesiastical elders, a college of cardinals, mitred ministers or clever clergy.
When the Apostle Paul wrote to the young churches he wrote to the saints there, those in that Christian assembly or fellowship. There was no canonization process. They believed and they were baptized.

John the Baptist, in the words of the Lord Jesus was great, Matthew 11:11, yet he performed no miracles. Please read John 10:41. Yes, he performed not one miraculous sign. But today we have a false doctrine that declares that two miracles must take place before sainthood (canonization) can be conferred. Canonization is a classic case of man made religion. It has absolutely no basis in the Bible. This falsehood is not found in any New Testament document or ancient text and was not held by the early church. Prayer to the "saints" is not a divinely revealed truth at all. Such intercession makes human beings into mediators. This tradition comes from religious men who were not moved by God, nor did they speak words from Him, but it is a human construct, made up to satisfy religious appetites.

People want heroes, don't they? John Henry Newman is a hero and a saint to many people today.

No Turkish delight but Turkish destruction for the Kurds

There is, in effect, ethnic cleansing on a massive scale taking place on the Turkish/Syrian borderlands.
Multitudes of Kurdish people are leaving their homes as a result of Turkish shelling and arms fire, weapons of destruction raining down on many innocent people. They are moving to safer areas, which may not be that safe or secure but a living hell, in conditions of deprivation and decay.

The future looks bleak as IS/Daesh fighters have escaped from Kurdish custody in the mayhem. These terrorists along with some very bitter and vengeful people will want to wreak havoc on their opponents. Fiery times are at hand.

Awesome Oregon Coast

I love the Oregon Coast and it's great to drive along Highway 101. I'll let the photographs speak for themselves, but the reality and beauty of the Oregon Coast has to be seen and experienced, especially when it is sunny, with bright blue skies, sometimes with fluffy clouds and wonderful foaming waves.
Please click within the images to enlarge them.

The Fugitive starring Anne Sacoolas

Diplomatic immunity may mean that some people can get away with manslaughter, but inconvenient truth and demands for justice have a way of pursuing the guilty.

As Anne Sacoolas has been publicly named and shamed, particularly in the British press, this story of a road traffic fatality is front page news and gaining much traction.

It will not go away under legal and diplomatic arrangements. Justice for the late Harry Dunn and closure for his grieving parents, and well orchestrated, co-ordinated campaigning will not let the matter rest. 

Extinction Rebellion: a new religion?

Followers of Extinction Rebellion seem to me mainly young folk on a sort of religious crusade, not a war of the cross, but a war against climate change and ecological disaster.

It could be defined as a religion, if by religion one means deeply held belief, a creed, that influences behaviour, views, lifestyle, and demands a commitment to certain values and practices. Not all religions are theistic and God affirming.

Extinction Rebellion (ER) preaches a prescient message and proclaims prophesies of doom, death and destruction. It has an eschatological dimension. It has produced its martyrs, bearing witness and being arrested on the streets of large cities for their cause.

Young people, particularly, have found and embraced a movement which gives them meaning, a message and significance. Going on a demonstration is a sort of religious experience, a pilgrimage, a journey of faith at a time when the future seems to them doubtful, dark and dismal.

It is a truly apocalyptic faith and as chilling in its predictions as parts of the Book of Revelation.
Fiery times are ahead if we believe in 2 Peter 3: 10, but I doubt if many ER adherents would consider or reflect on verses 11-14. For some the end times will be extremely bleak. But those who are in Christ shall look forward to many mansions in a new heaven and new earth, the home of righteousness. 

Who will rid me of this turbulent journalist?

The Jamal Khashoogi murder was in the Saudi consulate a year ago, at this time of year. It was perpetrated by agents of the Saudi Arabian government, on the watch of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Are there parallels with the infamous Murder in the Cathedral, when knights loyal to Henry II killed Archbishop Thomas Becket? Agents loyal to the Crown Prince removed with extreme prejudice, that is assassinated, the turbulent journalist, a dissident thorn in the flesh of MbS. Becket was a thorn in the flesh of Henry II, who eventually took responsibility for the crime. Henry's knights went about their "urgent business", and so did Mohammed bin Salman's agents.

The Crown Prince, in an interview, has said that he has taken responsibility for the crime. So what kind of penance and personal punishment will he submit to?  Not, I think, the same as Henry II.

Spurs were shocking, severely second best on a miserable evening at N17. Bayern Munich were magnificent.

Tottenham Hotspur put in a pathetic and poor performance yesterday evening. Seven good goals, not lucky strikes, went past Lloris. Now I am beginning to wonder if El Poch is that good a manager when he plays Aurier at full back, a player clearly out of form and off the pace. He should have been left back in the locker room, locked away from the pitch. He had a stinker, one the worst games ever in a Tottenham shirt. And I have seen some bad defenders over the years at White Hart Lane.

Serge Gnarby really rubbed salt into the TH wounds. Gnarby scored four great goals and feasted on the lamentable defending. Lewandowski scored a truly spectacular and stunning goal of beautiful brillance. The Spurs defence failed to cope, especially in the second half, when Bayern ran rings round pub team defending.

The German word for such a Tottenham second half display is grausam. But Bayern Munich played some world class football, highlighting the Lilywhites' defensive frailties. Bayern Munich were ausgezeichnet, exzellent, trefflich.

Inside the Bodleian: Building a 21st Century Library

Images of Oregon, September 2019

I had a great time in Oregon, particularly on the coast around Lincoln City.

Let's start with Oregon Coastal sunsets.

Beach life near Highway 101

Near Depoe Bay, whale watchers' delight

You can see an excursion boat for whale watchers in the distance on the top left.

Having a whale of a time at a lovely location. And why not? The excursion boats are visible in the distance and can be seen if you enlarge the image by clicking inside the photograph.

The Federal Agent on the right looks a bit like Ryan Gosling, in my opinion. Could be a body double?

Elizabeth Holmes, false prophet of haematology? Making false profits?

I watched the documentary film The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley about the rise and fall of Elizabeth Holmes. I watched it on a Delta airways flight and on Netflix in the USA. This film is an amazing mixture of facts about falsehood, lies and a career built on ego, confidence and sheer guile. I do not understand, as I write this, how on earth has Elizabeth Holmes not been jailed and punished severely for the criminal activity outlined comprehensively in the book Bad Blood by John Carreyou? Massive fraud involving Theranos, a company valued at an estimated $9 billion, that came crashing down.


I have just discovered that the fraud trial is set for 2020. Some people will be out for Ms Holmes' blood. She will need the quality of mercy that is not strained...