The plunder of the poor is in your houses

In my house I have many items of clothing that have been plundered from poor people.  I paid much less for them than they were actually worth which means I stole money from the workers that made them, somewhere across the other side of the world.

Lots of the food that I buy, I pay less for than the food is actually worth.  Which means I have stolen money from the farmers who grew the food, somewhere across the other side of the world.

Much of the petrol I fill my car up with, I get quite cheaply because my country has gone to war to get cheaper oil.  This means I buy into those wars, somewhere across the other side of the world.

“‘The plunder from the poor is in your houses.  What do you mean by crushing my people and grinding the faces of the poor?’ declares the Lord, the LORD Almighty.”    Isaiah 3:14-15

Prepare for today’s adventure

Everyday is an adventure.

Can you imagine setting off on a mountaineering expedition without studying a map, packing the appropriate equipment and shunning the advice of an expert guide?

Some days I feel like a blind, naked, stupid, proud boy attempting to climb Everest without any help or equipment.  It just ain’t gonna be a good outcome. 

However, if I wanted it, there is great help at hand to get me through the day.  I have the opportunity at the start of each morning to sit down with the Expert on life.  He’s always there waiting to give me some advice on what is coming up and how to prepare myself yet so often I am too busy and lazy to listen to him.

Why not take time out today (and every day!) to read The Guide Book and listen to the Expert?  Don’t think you can get through in your own wisdom and experience. 

“The way of a fool seems right to him, but a wise man listens to advice.”  Proverbs 12:15

Having sex prevents aids, apparently

I saw this t-shirt for sale in H&M yesterday.

The slogan is ‘Life is too short, have sex, be safe’.  It made me quite mad actually.  We live in a world where people don’t like others’ beliefs rammed down their throats and here was I quite innocently going about my business when I was confronted with this ‘world view’ emblazoned in front of my eyes.  According to the media (including t-shirts) one of the most important things you need to be doing to be fulfilled is to be having sex.

I think this is wrong.  I see that many of the world’s problems (family breakdown, poor mental health, substance misuse, abortion, disease) have a strong link to people having sex or not having it when they believe they should be having it.  I believe that we are designed to share sex with just one person.  When you go against this design then there are negative consequences.

As a youthworker it is wrong for me to force my beliefs onto the young people I work with.  Fair enough.  But what frustrates me is that through music, TV, film, clothing, magazines, radio etc. young people are forced to absorb the value that they must have sex as much as possible yet nobody seems to care.  Nobody actually does anything about the influence of the media on vulnerable minds.  Just take all the stripping, sex obsessed acts that were paraded on ‘wholesome family entertainment show’ Britain’s Got Talent as a prime example.

What really shocked me, as I searched for an image of the t-shirt, is that the t-shirt is part of a range that is meant to be fighting AIDS!  Don’t get me wrong, I understand people will have sex and need to be constantly reminded to make sure they are safe.  However, the slogan on this t-shirt has got it all wrong and definitely gives out the message – life is too short to worry about consequences and responsibility, just make sure you have loads of sex (and while you’re busy at it try and stay safe).

Make sure you vote

I called in the polling station on my way to work this morning. I don’t need to remind you it is so important to vote. If you don’t then you have no right to grumble about what politicians are doing.  There were 12 choices on my ballot paper so there is so much choice.  If you’re totally fed up with the main parties then have a look at one of the others.

I think it is particularly important to vote today because this could be a dangerous opportunity for the BNP to get a bit of a stronger foothold in democracy.  Please don’t waste your vote because you can’t be bothered to get down the polling station.  I believe they are open till about 10pm so you have plenty of time.

For those who would like to vote with a bit of a social conscience there are some options out there for you.  The Green Party, The Christian People’s Alliance, Libertas and Jury Team seem to be alright and don’t seem to be focusing on money as their main agenda.  I personally am vary wary of those parties who predominantly push for a better economy and ignore the environment and social justice.  Whilst a good economy is very beneficial to improving these areas of society I think there are a lot of greedy people in politics and there are several parties who seem to believe that British people are better than everybody else.

Anyway, if you haven’t voted yet, please do!

Man on train fears human contact

When I got on the train this morning there was a sole seat available near the back of the carriage.  One man was spreadeagled over two seats and he had the body language that said don’t you dare ask me to move up.  So I asked him, “Could you move up please?”

He gave me a look of disgust and stood up.  So I slotted myself and my legs into the seat by the window.  The disgusted man sat downwith his back to me. and his legs in the aisle.  As I relaxed my shoulders into the seat they brushed his jacket on his back.  The man squirmed away from me and perched himself as far away from me as possible.

Sad.

This video below is very typical of me on the train on my way home from work.

Why can’t North Korea test nuclear weapons?

I don’t understand why it is reported as something abhorrent in the West when North Korea (and Iran for that matter) do anything that suggests they have nuclear ambitions.  I checked up on an unnamed but highly reliable internet encyclopaedia which countries have nuclear weapons.  They are:

United States, Russia, UK, France, China, India, Pakistan, Israel and North Korea.

North Korea have about 0.2% of the amount of nuclear weapons that are possessed by the United States.  Therefore, I don’t understand the uproar.  How come the other countries are allowed nuclear weapons but North Korea aren’t.  Could somebody please enlighten me?

Out with a whimper

I spent much of this Premier League season haughtily publishing the top few places of the league table.  You may have noticed I haven’t done this for a while, for obvious reasons.  Out of our last 14 league matches we managed to win only twice!  Absolutely pitiful.  Just how poor we had become was totally evident yesterday as we only managed to limp past a disgracefully bad Newcastle through a flukey own goal.

The extent of the damage was masked by our terrific first half of the season.  Martin O’Neill must build the side over the summer if we are to have a chance of maintaining our top 6  ranking again.  I can see Man City, Tottenham, Fulham and West Ham being very strong next season.

It’s gonna be great to have three West Midlands sides in the top flight and I desperately hope Sheffield United will join us after today’s play off final.  I was genuinely gutted to see West Brom go down.  They are a great side and I’ve become quite fond of them since I started working in West Brom in September.

So, for your viewing pleasure, here is the final Premier League table to the 2008-9 season:

1. Manchester United   90pts
2. Liverpool   86pts 
3. Chelsea   83 pts
4. Arsenal   72pts
5. Everton   63pts
6. Aston Villa  62pts
7. Fulham   53pts
8. Tottenham Hotspurs   51pts
9. West Ham United   51pts
10. Manchester City   50pts
11. Wigan Athletic   45pts
12. Stoke City   45pts
13. Bolton Wanderers   41pts
14. Portsmouth   41pts
15. Blackburn Rovers   41pts
16. Sunderland   36pts
17. Hull City   35pts
18. Newcastle United   34pts    R
19. Middlesborough   32pts    R
20. West Bromwich Albion   32pts    R

Don’t settle for ‘them’ and ‘us’

So that fella Michael Martin has gone.  I suspect this whole hullabaloo will fade away.  Gordon Brown’s statements yesterday suggest that Westminster is totally rid of selfishness and greed now but I doubt it.

Any MP who can be proved to have deliberately claimed expenses they should not have should face the legal consequences.  I do not think we will see any MP in court over this affair but that would prove what the public feel, that there is one rule for them and another rule for everyone else.  What has been committed is fraud and, although I am no expert in the law, I do feel there should be one or two prison sentences handed out.  You cannot steal thousands and be able to slip away into obscurity.

My hope is that through this expenses row many of us plebs will take a long hard look at politics and how we vote and how we can influence our politicians.  There is the tangible fear that the BNP (and UKIP!) will benefit from this debacle, the big parties need to grow up and win the trust of the nation and lead by example.

Those of us not standing as politicians need to get to know our local politicians.  It is not that difficult to build some sort of relationship with them and once you have done that you can genuinely influence them.

All of this aside I think recent events have proved that institutions will always be corrupt.  As a Christian I have always had a hope that world leaders would do what is right but I have learnt that this is a futile hope.  There are so many things that make the most moral leader compromise.  What the world really needs is for those who love Jesus to declare his truth so that the wrong things in our society are exposed in the light of truth.  If politicians do the right things, and if we can influence them to do the right things, bonus.  But what must always happen is that Christians speak the truth with love and without fear.

MPs’ expenses poll

I have resisted commenting thus far in the crazy affair.  I can’t say that it has enamoured our trustworthy Members of Parliament to me that much.  I’ll comment/vent in a couple of days.  In the meantime….what do you think?

Any other creative methods of righting the wrongs?

I love Eurovision because…

…Terry Wogan is not on it anymore

…you get to glimpse a tiny bit of cultures you wouldn’t normally be exposed to

…if you ever feel embarrassed ever you can just think about the cringe worthy script the presenters have to read out to an entire continent and realise your own embarrassment pales into insignificance

…Graham Norton is quite likably and innocently enthusiastic*

…we get to hear Balkan music on British television and it is gorgeous music

…it is just really nice to see a load of people having a really good fun time – it’s healthy to get my snobby little nose a little more horizontal and just smile with the people being daft and crazy and eccentric

…I am a statistic geek and you can’t get anymore statistics than that crammed into one night’s entertainment

…we’re all different and it’s good to remind us (especially in the UK) that different isn’t bad and diversity makes life a whole lot more interesting

 

*Yes I know I wrote ‘Graham Norton’ and ‘innocent’ in the same sentence but I loved the way he was genuinely excited everytime we were given a few points and he’s soooo much less offensive than Terry.