Prophesy

Odd thing prophesy, you need to be either 100% accurate, couch your prophesies in such a way to be vague and could mean practically anything or set them so far in the future that no-one can fact check you until after you're dead, by which time you won't really care anyway.
What you don't do is go for the 100% accuracy when you already have a failure in the system already.


Telegraph.

A US evangelical Christian has predicted that the apocalypse will take place on Saturday, prompting derision from atheist groups.  Harold Camping, 89, previously made a failed prediction that Jesus Christ would return to Earth in 1994. But, the head of the Christian radio network Family Stations Inc has said that he is sure an earthquake will hit on May 21, sweeping true believers to heaven and leaving others behind to be engulfed in the world's destruction over a few months. "We know without any shadow of a doubt it is going to happen," he said. Harold Camping, 89, previously made a failed prediction that Jesus Christ would return to Earth in 1994.   Camping, a civil engineer who once ran his own construction business, plans to spend May 21 with his wife in Alameda, in northern California, and watch the doomsday unfold on television. "I'll probably try to be very near a TV or a radio or something," he said. "I'll be interested in what's happening on the other side of the world as this begins." Like his last prediction, Camping's doomsday date is based on his reading of the Bible and a timeline dating back to ancient events including the Biblical flood survived by Noah. But atheists are not convinced.

Judging a prophet of the biblical variety is actually fairly straightforward. In the Old Testament we are told in Deuteronomy 18:21-22, "You may say to yourselves, "How can we know when a message has not been spoken by the Lord ?" If what a prophet proclaims in the name of the Lord does not take place or come true, that is a message the Lord has not spoken. That prophet has spoken presumptuously. Do not be afraid of him."
In fact, back then, they stoned false prophets to death (which wasn't a pretty way to go).In otherwords you were either right or you were dead.
Of course these days we don't stone or do anything with false prophets other than mock them for which no doubt loads of internet prophets are very grateful for their ongoing survival.
So as for Mr Camping's prophesy? Well he's already failed the Deuteronomy test, so I expect we'll all be alive tomorrow and right though till the end of the month.
Perhaps he should have stuck to safe things like "a horse will win the Grand national" and stuff like that.

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The future?

♫ I believe that children are our future,

Teach them well and let them lead the way* ♪

Unfortunately what some of our children are being taught is not quite what as a society we'd expect. Now I know kids are generally violent little psychopaths not terribly adult in their dealings with each other, but as parents and teachers it's up to us to show them how to deal with those they don't get on with and show respect. It's not an easy job, but sometimes it's made all the harder when religion becomes involved.

Express.

FIVE Muslim schoolboys threatened to kill a patriotic classmate for supporting British troops.

The 12-year-old yobs boasted they planned to attack terrified Darius Gill, 13, with knives and knuckle dusters for not supporting Islamic extremists.

They made the threats on ­Facebook after Darius – who has a white mother and Asian father – posted a touching tribute on the same website to troops who have lost their lives defending Britain.

I think we can see where the next generation of poppy burners are coming from.

The gang – along with a white girl also aged 12 – have now been excluded from their school, the ­Sidney Stringer Academy which is in a predominantly Muslim area of Coventry.

One gang member said in a ­Facebook message littered with spelling mistakes: “Fight on ­Monday gonna be heavy knuckle dusters nd knifes hopefully I don’t die.”

Another added: “ill bang him ma slef am a terrorist.” One of the youngsters even posted a picture of himself holding a rifle. Darius’ mother Clare Allington, 42, who lives in Coventry, said: “If I hadn’t read the threats and pulled my son out of school that day he could be dead.

“They might just be school children but they are fanatical and dangerous. The threats have to be taken seriously.

“My son wrote supporting the British troops in Afghanistan and also said he was sad so many soldiers had died.

“It’s appalling and extremely upsetting for Darius.”

The school confirmed that six pupils had been disciplined for the hate campaign and face permanent expulsion pending an investigation.

Now it might just be threats, but facebook apparently was used for it.

Link.

But a gang of pupils at Sidney Stringer Academy in Coventry – a predominantly Muslim area – expressed outrage at Darius’ patriotism.
One message – littered with spelling mistakes – said: ”Fight on Monday gonna be heavy knuckle dusters nd knifes hopefully I don’t die.”
His pal added: ”ill bang him ma slef am a terrorist.”
One of the thugs also posted a chilling picture of himself holding a rifle.
Shockingly, other pupils – who have set up a Muslim Defence League which celebrates British deaths in Afghanistan – also added comments condemning Darius.

They set up a Muslim defence league? A dyslexic one at that?
13 years ago I would have laughed at anyone suggesting that the UK could face a civil war or massive civil unrest by about 2020, now I'm not so sure. 13 years ago I would have laughed at any suggestion of the English working class setting up their own grass roots movement outside the auspices of politics called the EDL to defend against the continuing assault on our culture and values by politicians, activists and a totalitarian ideology wrapped up in religious trappings. I'm not laughing now.
Well we've had New Labour and look around you to see what happens when a political movement decides it would be good to rub the "rights" faces in multiculturalism and diversity by opening the doors of uncontrolled immigration. It might have worked but for one major problem, Islam doesn't do diversity, doesn't do multiculturalism, doesn't play nice with anyone not in Islam.
New Labour may just have consigned the UK's next generation to a terrible civil war in the name of diversity and multiculturalism.

* Awful, awful song

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Power corrupts

Politics is all about power and the use of power. We elect politicians to fulfil a set of promises (aka their manifesto) in order to make our lives better or sort out a set of issues that's currently making our lives less pleasant. Or that was the theory anyway. I know we've always had corrupt politicians, occasionally they've been outed and dealt with, sometimes by political pressure from their parties, oft times enough by public outrage forcing the hand of the political parties. Yet I've noticed recently that the stench of corruption has become that much greater in this current government (including the government in opposition) and it seems to be tied to a lack of conviction politics coupled with a lack of vision for the country as a whole. By this I mean a positive vision, it's become ever more apparent that Gordon Browns vision encompasses Gordon Brown, his leadership cabal, the Labour Party/anything anti the Tory party, Scotland and the UK in pretty much that order. Cameron seems equally to be surrounding himself with people that think his way as well as parachuting like minded and obliged candidates into safe seats in a sort of Romanesque patron client system.
Yet it all boils down to the same, politicians are increasingly putting themselves and their parties first and no longer seem to have the best interests of the public at heart but rather hold their own masters in the EU and elsewhere's interests first and foremost.

Yet all governments suffer a recurring problem in that power attracts pathological personalities. It isn't that power corrupts, but that power is a magnet to the corruptible. Such people have a tendency to become drunk on political power, a condition to which they become addicted and this has never been so apparent in UK politics over the last 13 years, though I suppose some would point to Thatcher as at least a catalyst for the current rogue crop of corrupt/corruptible politicians. Yet what we have is a situation where politicians will hold onto power and influence way beyond the bounds of decency and good taste, even returning to said power after the heat dies down (Yes I'm looking at you Mandelson and Blunkett).

What this situation eventually leads to is reform, either internally (best way) or by revolutionary means, complete with the hijacking of the revolution by extremists, usually of the left and usually leading to oppressive dictatorships in the name of the people but not remotely connected to them.

So, where will the UK be in say 5 years time if the current leaders (and their successors) follow the paths to EU serfdom and/or the deliberate destruction and dismemberment of England? I suspect support for the BNP and UKIP will rise to the extent of threatening the status quo in UK politics and some excuse will be found to crack down on them, there's already a civil contingencies act in place to do this. We'll be further burdened down by an intrusive authoritarian state interfering in areas of our lives it really has no business being in. Political dissent will become increasingly harder to do, bloggers will probably be open to libel actions by the states secretive paymasters all in all we'll be heading towards revolution as dissent is crushed and people see the iron fist beneath the velvet glove.

The winners will probably be the extremists, though they'll just sow the seeds of the next revolution.

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