THE other day a young person asked me how I felt about being old. I was taken aback, for I do not think of myself as old. Upon seeing my reaction, she was immediately embarrassed, but I explained that it was an interesting question, and I would ponder it, and let her know.
Old Age, I decided, is a gift.
I am now, probably for the first time in my life, the person I have always wanted to be. Oh, not my body! I sometime despair over my body, the wrinkles, the baggy eyes, and the sagging butt. And often I am taken aback by that old Geezer that lives in my mirror (who looks like my grandfather), but I don't agonize over those things for long.
I would never trade my amazing friends, my wonderful life, my loving family for less gray hair or a flatter belly. As I've aged, I've become more kind to myself, and less critical of myself. I've become my own friend. I don't chide myself for eating that extra cake or cookie, or for not making my bed, or for buying that silly cement frog that I didn't need, but looks so avante garde on my patio. I am entitled to a treat, to be messy, to be extravagant. I have seen too many dear friends leave this world too soon; before they understood the great freedom that comes with aging.
Whose business is it if I choose to read or play on the computer until 4 a.m. and sleep until noon ?
I will dance with myself to those wonderful tunes of the 50's, and if I, at the same time, wish to weep over a lost love ... I will.
I will walk the beach in swim shorts that are stretched over my body, and will dive into the waves with abandon if I choose to, despite the pitying glances from the jet set. They, too, will get old.
I know I am sometimes forgetful. But there again, some of life is just as well forgotten. And I eventually remember the important things.
Sure, over the years my heart has been broken. How can your heart not break when you lose a loved one, or when a child suffers, or even when a beloved pet gets hit by a car? But broken hearts are what give us strength and understanding and compassion. A heart never broken is pristine and sterile and will never know the joy of being imperfect.
I am so blessed to have lived long enough to have my hair turn grey, and to have my youthful laughs be forever etched into deep grooves on my face. So many have never laughed, and so many have died before their hair could turn silver.
As you get older, it is easier to be positive. You care less about what other people think. I don't question myself anymore. I've even earned the right to be wrong.
So, to answer your question, I like being old. It has set me free. I like the person I have become. I am not going to live forever, but while I am still here, I will not waste time lamenting what could have been, or worrying about what will be. I am totally pleased for what it has been and what I hope it will continue to be with my loving wife and best friend. I shall drink scotch when ever I feel like it, and I shall eat dessert every single day. So there you have it. Vest.
Friday, 29 June 2007
Thursday, 28 June 2007
Just an ordinary day
ITS still raining! Yet the talk four weeks ago was all about water restrictions the never ending drought, desalination plants and larger storage reservoirs. Our dams were down to an average of 18% above the draw off level and now the drought has come back to bite us with storm damage floods power cuts and dams at a 52% level.
Yesterday we had sunshine and a break of 28 hours without rain, during the day I washed the car and rinsed it with seven pails of water, (We are not permitted to wash our cars with a hose)But during the time it took to fill 4 pails of water I could have easily hosed the car off. Ford falcon KGV000 is ten years old; its 4 litre heart is still beating well; thanks to (Mobil 1 the best and most expensive non fossil oil). Also both interior and exterior are looking remarkably well for its 133,000 klms or 83,000 miles, its only problem is that it guzzles fuel like a hog at a trough.
later I went out to have a new pair of trousers altered, at the one lady alteration shop, I found it very intriguing during the measurement stage, I must return soon for more trouser alterations.
Today I sent an E mail to the relatives in England, explaining due to many influencing factors that I shall not be visiting them this year. I am not sure who will be the happier; the recipients of the message; or me the sender.
Er indoors is having the full treatment on Saturday, Facial-eyebrows-shampoo-cut- dye- and foils, her modeling days may be over but she still maintains the status quo, but in contrast my pudding basin cut at the local hair butcher costs 12 bucks.
The dog next door doesn't bark at me anymore since I whacked him in the nuts with our rake handle, When I offered the dog a bone its owner said "I have never seen him refuse before.
The story of the week: I met a lady that I knew about 20 years ago, At that time after doing a few jobs for her she propositioned me, however, being cautious I Backed out but sent my friend Bruce over to do the next job. She told me just recently that Bruce was the best xxxxxxxxxxxxxx she ever experienced until he disappeared one day and could I recommend someone similar to Bruce for her right now.
Somewhere in Toukley NSW a 56 year old lady is buzzing hot for a bit of congenial company.
Yesterday we had sunshine and a break of 28 hours without rain, during the day I washed the car and rinsed it with seven pails of water, (We are not permitted to wash our cars with a hose)But during the time it took to fill 4 pails of water I could have easily hosed the car off. Ford falcon KGV000 is ten years old; its 4 litre heart is still beating well; thanks to (Mobil 1 the best and most expensive non fossil oil). Also both interior and exterior are looking remarkably well for its 133,000 klms or 83,000 miles, its only problem is that it guzzles fuel like a hog at a trough.
later I went out to have a new pair of trousers altered, at the one lady alteration shop, I found it very intriguing during the measurement stage, I must return soon for more trouser alterations.
Today I sent an E mail to the relatives in England, explaining due to many influencing factors that I shall not be visiting them this year. I am not sure who will be the happier; the recipients of the message; or me the sender.
Er indoors is having the full treatment on Saturday, Facial-eyebrows-shampoo-cut- dye- and foils, her modeling days may be over but she still maintains the status quo, but in contrast my pudding basin cut at the local hair butcher costs 12 bucks.
The dog next door doesn't bark at me anymore since I whacked him in the nuts with our rake handle, When I offered the dog a bone its owner said "I have never seen him refuse before.
The story of the week: I met a lady that I knew about 20 years ago, At that time after doing a few jobs for her she propositioned me, however, being cautious I Backed out but sent my friend Bruce over to do the next job. She told me just recently that Bruce was the best xxxxxxxxxxxxxx she ever experienced until he disappeared one day and could I recommend someone similar to Bruce for her right now.
Somewhere in Toukley NSW a 56 year old lady is buzzing hot for a bit of congenial company.
Wednesday, 27 June 2007
SHREK the Ugly Green Ogre, Is turning our kids into Lazy Greaseballs.
SHREK is top of the hit list for a group of health-conscious parents who say the animated character is encouraging children to pester for junk food.
Consumer advocate group The Parents Jury believes the number of unhealthy food products adopting the green ogre as a marketing tool was "out of control".
After sifting through nominations for poor food marketing campaigns from the 2700-strong Parents Jury membership, the group's trial by jury panel found food products linked with Shrek the Third were the worst example of junk food marketing aimed at children.
Do you think Shrek has been fairly targeted? What's your view on other fast food campaigns that target children?
"Major supermarkets have jam-packed their shelves with Shrek-branded food products, including sugary cereals, chocolate, lollies, chocolate spread and sweet desserts,"
"In some stores big green footprints even guide a path from the front doors to a section of the store dedicated entirely to Shrek products and promotions."
The trial by jury panel agreed the extensive marketing of the film on numerous junk food products actively encouraged pester power and made it hard for parents to resist buying the products.
It's tough enough for parents to limit the amount of junk food marketing their kids are exposed to but it's impossible to steer clear of it when Shrek products adorn an entire wall of a supermarket.
Using a lovable, animated character like Shrek to endorse unhealthy products sent the wrong message to children.
Given the current childhood obesity crisis, it's amazing just how many food companies are using this movie promotion to market nutritionally poor products.
It is even more amazing that the makers of Shrek are choosing to be associated with such unhealthy food.
Many products also provided extra inducement to children in the form of free Shrek stickers.
The Australian Association of National Advertisers today encouraged The Parents Jury to test their complaint with the industry watchdog.
The industry's code prohibited the use of "pester power''.
The AANA have a code that rules against pester power so they are quite free to register their concerns or complaints under that, and if they are correct it will be removed.
The Advertising Standards Bureau would consider any complaints
Certainly the industry is moving against pester power and (The Parents Jury) are certainly invited to get in touch with the standards bureau as fast as they like.
Consumer advocate group The Parents Jury believes the number of unhealthy food products adopting the green ogre as a marketing tool was "out of control".
After sifting through nominations for poor food marketing campaigns from the 2700-strong Parents Jury membership, the group's trial by jury panel found food products linked with Shrek the Third were the worst example of junk food marketing aimed at children.
Do you think Shrek has been fairly targeted? What's your view on other fast food campaigns that target children?
"Major supermarkets have jam-packed their shelves with Shrek-branded food products, including sugary cereals, chocolate, lollies, chocolate spread and sweet desserts,"
"In some stores big green footprints even guide a path from the front doors to a section of the store dedicated entirely to Shrek products and promotions."
The trial by jury panel agreed the extensive marketing of the film on numerous junk food products actively encouraged pester power and made it hard for parents to resist buying the products.
It's tough enough for parents to limit the amount of junk food marketing their kids are exposed to but it's impossible to steer clear of it when Shrek products adorn an entire wall of a supermarket.
Using a lovable, animated character like Shrek to endorse unhealthy products sent the wrong message to children.
Given the current childhood obesity crisis, it's amazing just how many food companies are using this movie promotion to market nutritionally poor products.
It is even more amazing that the makers of Shrek are choosing to be associated with such unhealthy food.
Many products also provided extra inducement to children in the form of free Shrek stickers.
The Australian Association of National Advertisers today encouraged The Parents Jury to test their complaint with the industry watchdog.
The industry's code prohibited the use of "pester power''.
The AANA have a code that rules against pester power so they are quite free to register their concerns or complaints under that, and if they are correct it will be removed.
The Advertising Standards Bureau would consider any complaints
Certainly the industry is moving against pester power and (The Parents Jury) are certainly invited to get in touch with the standards bureau as fast as they like.
Your Free Three Minute Management Course.
------------------------------------------------------------------
THREE MINUTE MANAGEMENT COURSE-
Lesson 1
A man is getting into the shower just as his wife is finishing up her shower, when the doorbell rings. The wife quickly wraps herself in a towel and runs downstairs. When she opens the door there stands Bob, the next door neighbor. Before she says a word, Bob says, "I'll give you $800 to drop that towel." After thinking for a moment, the woman drops her towel and stands naked in front of Bob. After a few seconds, Bob hands her $800 and leaves. The woman wraps back up in the towel and goes back upstairs. When she gets to the bathroom, her husband asks "Who was that?" "It was Bob the next door neighbor" she replies. "Great!" the husband says, "Did he say anything about the $800 he owes me?"
Moral of the story: If you share critical information pertaining to
credit and risk with your shareholders in time, you may be in a position to prevent avoidable exposure.
Lesson 2
A priest offered a Nun a lift. She got in and crossed her legs, forcing her gown to reveal a leg. The pries t nearly had an accident. After controlling the car, he stealthily slid his hand up her leg. The nun said,” Father, remember Psalm 129?" The priest removed his hand. But, changing gears, he let his hand slide up her leg again. The nun once again said, "Father, remember Psalm 129?" The priest apologies "Sorry sister but the flesh is weak". Arriving at the convent, the nun went on her way. On his arrival at the church, the priest rushed to look up Psalm 129. It said, "Go forth and seek, further up, you will find glory."
Moral of the story: If you are not well informed in your job, you might miss a great opportunity.
Lesson 3
A sales rep, an administration clerk and the manager are walking to lunch when they find an antique oil lamp. They rub it and a Genie comes out. The Genie says, "I'll give each of you just one wish". "Me first! Me first!" says the admin clerk. "I want to be in the Bahamas, driving a speedboat, without a care in the world". Puff! She's gone. "Me next! Me next!" says the sales rep. "I want to be in Hawaii, relaxing on the beach with my personal masseuse, an endless supply of Pina Coladas and the love of my life". Puff! He's gone. "OK, you're up", the Genie says to the manager. The manager says, "I want those two back in the office after lunch".
Moral of the story: Always let your boss have the first say.
Lesson 4
An eagle was sitting on a tree resting, doing nothing. A small rabbit saw the eagle and asked him, "Can I also sit like you and do nothing?" The eagle answered: "Sure, why not." So, the rabbit sat on the ground below the eagle and rested. All of a sudden, a fox appeared, jumped on the rabbit and ate it.
Moral of the story: To be sitting and doing nothing, you must be sitting very, very high up.
Lesson 5
A turkey was chatting with a bull.. "I would love to be able to get to the top of that tree," sighed the turkey, "but I haven't got the energy." Well, why don't you nibble on some of my droppings?" replied the bull. "They're packed with nutrients." The turkey pecked at a lump of dung, and found it actually gave him enough strength to reach the lowest branch of the tree. The next day, after eating some more dung, he reached the
second branch. Finally, after a fourth night, the turkey was proudly perched at the top of the tree. He was promptly spotted by a farmer, who shot him out of the tree.
Moral of the story: Bullsh*t might get you to the top, but it won't keep you there.
Lesson 6
A little bird was flying south for the winter. It was so cold the bird froze and fell to the ground into a large field. While he was lying there, a cow came by and dropped some dung on him. As the frozen bird lay there in the pile of cow dung, he began to realize how warm he was. The dung was actually thawing him out! He lay there all warm and happy, and soon began to sing for joy. A passing cat heard the bird singing and came to investigate. Following the sound, the cat discovered the bird
under the pile of cow dung, and promptly dug him out and ate him.
Moral of the story:
Not everyone who sh!ts on you is your enemy
Not everyone who gets you out of sh!t is your friend
And when you're in deep sh!t, it's best to keep your mouth shut!
This ends the 3 minute management course.
THREE MINUTE MANAGEMENT COURSE-
Lesson 1
A man is getting into the shower just as his wife is finishing up her shower, when the doorbell rings. The wife quickly wraps herself in a towel and runs downstairs. When she opens the door there stands Bob, the next door neighbor. Before she says a word, Bob says, "I'll give you $800 to drop that towel." After thinking for a moment, the woman drops her towel and stands naked in front of Bob. After a few seconds, Bob hands her $800 and leaves. The woman wraps back up in the towel and goes back upstairs. When she gets to the bathroom, her husband asks "Who was that?" "It was Bob the next door neighbor" she replies. "Great!" the husband says, "Did he say anything about the $800 he owes me?"
Moral of the story: If you share critical information pertaining to
credit and risk with your shareholders in time, you may be in a position to prevent avoidable exposure.
Lesson 2
A priest offered a Nun a lift. She got in and crossed her legs, forcing her gown to reveal a leg. The pries t nearly had an accident. After controlling the car, he stealthily slid his hand up her leg. The nun said,” Father, remember Psalm 129?" The priest removed his hand. But, changing gears, he let his hand slide up her leg again. The nun once again said, "Father, remember Psalm 129?" The priest apologies "Sorry sister but the flesh is weak". Arriving at the convent, the nun went on her way. On his arrival at the church, the priest rushed to look up Psalm 129. It said, "Go forth and seek, further up, you will find glory."
Moral of the story: If you are not well informed in your job, you might miss a great opportunity.
Lesson 3
A sales rep, an administration clerk and the manager are walking to lunch when they find an antique oil lamp. They rub it and a Genie comes out. The Genie says, "I'll give each of you just one wish". "Me first! Me first!" says the admin clerk. "I want to be in the Bahamas, driving a speedboat, without a care in the world". Puff! She's gone. "Me next! Me next!" says the sales rep. "I want to be in Hawaii, relaxing on the beach with my personal masseuse, an endless supply of Pina Coladas and the love of my life". Puff! He's gone. "OK, you're up", the Genie says to the manager. The manager says, "I want those two back in the office after lunch".
Moral of the story: Always let your boss have the first say.
Lesson 4
An eagle was sitting on a tree resting, doing nothing. A small rabbit saw the eagle and asked him, "Can I also sit like you and do nothing?" The eagle answered: "Sure, why not." So, the rabbit sat on the ground below the eagle and rested. All of a sudden, a fox appeared, jumped on the rabbit and ate it.
Moral of the story: To be sitting and doing nothing, you must be sitting very, very high up.
Lesson 5
A turkey was chatting with a bull.. "I would love to be able to get to the top of that tree," sighed the turkey, "but I haven't got the energy." Well, why don't you nibble on some of my droppings?" replied the bull. "They're packed with nutrients." The turkey pecked at a lump of dung, and found it actually gave him enough strength to reach the lowest branch of the tree. The next day, after eating some more dung, he reached the
second branch. Finally, after a fourth night, the turkey was proudly perched at the top of the tree. He was promptly spotted by a farmer, who shot him out of the tree.
Moral of the story: Bullsh*t might get you to the top, but it won't keep you there.
Lesson 6
A little bird was flying south for the winter. It was so cold the bird froze and fell to the ground into a large field. While he was lying there, a cow came by and dropped some dung on him. As the frozen bird lay there in the pile of cow dung, he began to realize how warm he was. The dung was actually thawing him out! He lay there all warm and happy, and soon began to sing for joy. A passing cat heard the bird singing and came to investigate. Following the sound, the cat discovered the bird
under the pile of cow dung, and promptly dug him out and ate him.
Moral of the story:
Not everyone who sh!ts on you is your enemy
Not everyone who gets you out of sh!t is your friend
And when you're in deep sh!t, it's best to keep your mouth shut!
This ends the 3 minute management course.
Tuesday, 26 June 2007
What the Church and the Faith Industry doesn't want you to Know.
WHAT the Church doesn't want you to know
It has often been emphasised that Christianity is unlike any other religion, for it stands or falls by certain events which are alleged to have occurred during a short period of time some 20 centuries ago. Those stories are presented in the New Testament, and as new evidence is revealed it will become clear that they do not represent historical realities. The Church agrees, saying:
"Our documentary sources of knowledge about the origins of Christianity and its earliest development are chiefly the New Testament Scriptures, the authenticity of which we must, to a great extent, take for granted."
(Catholic Encyclopedia, Farley ed., vol. iii, p. 712)
The Church makes extraordinary admissions about its New Testament. For example, when discussing the origin of those writings, "the most distinguished body of academic opinion ever assembled" (Catholic Encyclopedias, Preface) admits that the Gospels "do not go back to the first century of the Christian era" (Catholic Encyclopedia, Farley ed., vol. vi, p. 137, pp. 655-6). This statement conflicts with priesthood assertions that the earliest Gospels were progressively written during the decades following the death of the Gospel Jesus Christ. In a remarkable aside, the Church further admits that "the earliest of the extant manuscripts [of the New Testament], it is true, do not date back beyond the middle of the fourth century AD" (Catholic Encyclopedia, op. cit., pp. 656-7). That is some 350 years after the time the Church claims that a Jesus Christ walked the sands of Palestine, and here the true story of Christian origins slips into one of the biggest black holes in history. There is, however, a reason why there were no New Testaments until the fourth century: they were not written until then, and here we find evidence of the greatest misrepresentation of all time.
It was British-born Flavius Constantinus (Constantine, originally Custennyn or Custennin) (272-337) who authorised the compilation of the writings now called the New Testament. After the death of his father in 306, Constantine became King of Britain, Gaul and Spain, and then, after a series of victorious battles, Emperor of the Roman Empire. Christian historians give little or no hint of the turmoil of the times and suspend Constantine in the air, free of all human events happening around him. In truth, one of Constantine's main problems was the uncontrollable disorder amongst presbyters and their belief in numerous gods.
The majority of modern-day Christian writers suppress the truth about the development of their religion and conceal Constantine's efforts to curb the disreputable character of the presbyters who are now called "Church Fathers" (Catholic Encyclopedia, Farley ed., vol. xiv, pp. 370-1). They were "maddened", he said (Life of Constantine, attributed to Eusebius Pamphilius of Caesarea, c. 335, vol. iii, p. 171; The Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, cited as N&PNF, attributed to St Ambrose, Rev. Prof. Roberts, DD, and Principal James Donaldson, LLD, editors, 1891, vol. iv, p. 467). The "peculiar type of oratory" expounded by them was a challenge to a settled religious order (The Dictionary of Classical Mythology, Religion, Literature and Art, Oskar Seyffert, Gramercy, New York, 1995, pp. 544-5). Ancient records reveal the true nature of the presbyters, and the low regard in which they were held has been subtly suppressed by modern Church historians. In reality, they were:
"...the most rustic fellows, teaching strange paradoxes. They openly declared that none but the ignorant was fit to hear their discourses ... they never appeared in the circles of the wiser and better sort, but always took care to intrude themselves among the ignorant and uncultured, rambling around to play tricks at fairs and markets ... they lard their lean books with the fat of old fables ... and still the less do they understand ... and they write nonsense on vellum ... and still be doing, never done."
(Contra Celsum ["Against Celsus"], Origen of Alexandria, c. 251, Bk I, p. lxvii, Bk III, p. xliv, passim)
Clusters of presbyters had developed "many gods and many lords" (1 Cor. 8:5) and numerous religious sects existed, each with differing doctrines (Gal. 1:6). Presbyterial groups clashed over attributes of their various gods and "altar was set against altar" in competing for an audience (Optatus of Milevis, 1:15, 19, early fourth century). From Constantine's point of view, there were several factions that needed satisfying, and he set out to develop an all-embracing religion during a period of irreverent confusion. In an age of crass ignorance, with nine-tenths of the peoples of Europe illiterate, stabilising religious splinter groups was only one of Constantine's problems. The smooth generalisation, which so many historians are content to repeat, that Constantine "embraced the Christian religion" and subsequently granted "official toleration", is "contrary to historical fact" and should be erased from our literature forever (Catholic Encyclopedia, Pecci ed., vol. iii, p. 299, passim). Simply put, there was no Christian religion at Constantine's time, and the Church acknowledges that the tale of his "conversion" and "baptism" are "entirely legendary" (Catholic Encyclopedia, Farley ed., vol. xiv, pp. 370-1).
Constantine "never acquired a solid theological knowledge" and "depended heavily on his advisers in religious questions" (Catholic Encyclopedia, New Edition, vol. xii, p. 576, passim). According to Eusebeius (260-339), Constantine noted that among the presbyterian factions "strife had grown so serious, vigorous action was necessary to establish a more religious state", but he could not bring about a settlement between rival god factions (Life of Constantine, op. cit., pp. 26-8). His advisers warned him that the presbyters' religions were "destitute of foundation" and needed official stabilisation (ibid.).
Constantine saw in this confused system of fragmented dogmas the opportunity to create a new and combined State religion, neutral in concept, and to protect it by law. When he conquered the East in 324 he sent his Spanish religious adviser, Osius of Córdoba, to Alexandria with letters to several bishops exhorting them to make peace among themselves. The mission failed and Constantine, probably at the suggestion of Osius, then issued a decree commanding all presbyters and their subordinates "be mounted on asses, mules and horses belonging to the public, and travel to the city of Nicaea" in the Roman province of Bithynia in Asia Minor. They were instructed to bring with them the testimonies they orated to the rabble, "bound in leather" for protection during the long journey, and surrender them to Constantine upon arrival in Nicaea (The Catholic Dictionary, Addis and Arnold, 1917, "Council of Nicaea" entry). Their writings totalled "in all, two thousand two hundred and thirty-one scrolls and legendary tales of gods and saviours, together with a record of the doctrines orated by them" (Life of Constantine, op. cit., vol. ii, p. 73; N&PNF, op. cit., vol. i, p. 518).
The First Council of Nicaea and the "missing records"
Thus, the first ecclesiastical gathering in history was summoned and is today known as the Council of Nicaea. It was a bizarre event that provided many details of early clerical thinking and presents a clear picture of the intellectual climate prevailing at the time. It was at this gathering that Christianity was born, and the ramifications of decisions made at the time are difficult to calculate. About four years prior to chairing the Council, Constantine had been initiated into the religious order of Sol Invictus, one of the two thriving cults that regarded the Sun as the one and only Supreme God (the other was Mithraism). Because of his Sun worship, he instructed Eusebius to convene the first of three sittings on the summer solstice, 21 June 325 (Catholic Encyclopedia, New Edition, vol. i, p. 792), and it was "held in a hall in Osius's palace" (Ecclesiastical History, Bishop Louis Dupin, Paris, 1686, vol. i, p. 598). In an account of the proceedings of the conclave of presbyters gathered at Nicaea, Sabinius, Bishop of Hereclea, who was in attendance, said, "Excepting Constantine himself and Eusebius Pamphilius, they were a set of illiterate, simple creatures who understood nothing" (Secrets of the Christian Fathers, Bishop J. W. Sergerus, 1685, 1897 reprint).
This is another luminous confession of the ignorance and uncritical credulity of early churchmen. Dr Richard Watson (1737-1816), a disillusioned Christian historian and one-time Bishop of Llandaff in Wales (1782), referred to them as "a set of gibbering idiots" (An Apology for Christianity, 1776, 1796 reprint; also, Theological Tracts, Dr Richard Watson, "On Councils" entry, vol. 2, London, 1786, revised reprint 1791). From his extensive research into Church councils, Dr Watson concluded that "the clergy at the Council of Nicaea were all under the power of the devil, and the convention was composed of the lowest rabble and patronised the vilest abominations" (An Apology for Christianity, op. cit.). It was that infantile body of men who were responsible for the commencement of a new religion and the theological creation of Jesus Christ.
The Church admits that vital elements of the proceedings at Nicaea are "strangely absent from the canons" (Catholic Encyclopedia, Farley ed., vol. iii, p. 160). We shall see shortly what happened to them. However, according to records that endured, Eusebius "occupied the first seat on the right of the emperor and delivered the inaugural address on the emperor's behalf" (Catholic Encyclopedia, Farley ed., vol. v, pp. 619-620). There were no British presbyters at the council but many Greek delegates. "Seventy Eastern bishops" represented Asiatic factions, and small numbers came from other areas (Ecclesiastical History, ibid.). Caecilian of Carthage travelled from Africa, Paphnutius of Thebes from Egypt, Nicasius of Die (Dijon) from Gaul, and Donnus of Stridon made the journey from Pannonia.
It was at that puerile assembly, and with so many cults represented, that a total of 318 "bishops, priests, deacons, subdeacons, acolytes and exorcists" gathered to debate and decide upon a unified belief system that encompassed only one god (An Apology for Christianity, op. cit.). By this time, a huge assortment of "wild texts" (Catholic Encyclopedia, New Edition, "Gospel and Gospels") circulated amongst presbyters and they supported a great variety of Eastern and Western gods and goddesses: Jove, Jupiter, Salenus, Baal, Thor, Gade, Apollo, Juno, Aries, Taurus, Minerva, Rhets, Mithra, Theo, Fragapatti, Atys, Durga, Indra, Neptune, Vulcan, Kriste, Agni, Croesus, Pelides, Huit, Hermes, Thulis, Thammus, Eguptus, Iao, Aph, Saturn, Gitchens, Minos, Maximo, Hecla and Phernes (God's Book of Eskra, anon., ch. xlviii, paragraph 36).
Up until the First Council of Nicaea, the Roman aristocracy primarily worshipped two Greek gods-Apollo and Zeus-but the great bulk of common people idolised either Julius Caesar or Mithras (the Romanised version of the Persian deity Mithra). Caesar was deified by the Roman Senate after his death (15 March 44 BC) and subsequently venerated as "the Divine Julius". The word "Saviour" was affixed to his name, its literal meaning being "one who sows the seed", i.e., he was a phallic god. Julius Caesar was hailed as "God made manifest and universal Saviour of human life", and his successor Augustus was called the "ancestral God and Saviour of the whole human race" (Man and his Gods, Homer Smith, Little, Brown & Co., Boston, 1952). Emperor Nero (54-68), whose original name was Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus (37-68), was immortalised on his coins as the "Saviour of mankind" (ibid.). The Divine Julius as Roman Saviour and "Father of the Empire" was considered "God" among the Roman rabble for more than 300 years. He was the deity in some Western presbyters' texts, but was not recognised in Eastern or Oriental writings.
Constantine's intention at Nicaea was to create an entirely new god for his empire who would unite all religious factions under one deity. Presbyters were asked to debate and decide who their new god would be. Delegates argued among themselves, expressing personal motives for inclusion of particular writings that promoted the finer traits of their own special deity. Throughout the meeting, howling factions were immersed in heated debates, and the names of 53 gods were tabled for discussion. "As yet, no God had been selected by the council, and so they balloted in order to determine that matter... For one year and five months the balloting lasted..." (God's Book of Eskra, Prof. S. L. MacGuire's translation, Salisbury, 1922, chapter xlviii, paragraphs 36, 41).
At the end of that time, Constantine returned to the gathering to discover that the presbyters had not agreed on a new deity but had balloted down to a shortlist of five prospects: Caesar, Krishna, Mithra, Horus and Zeus (Historia Ecclesiastica, Eusebius, c. 325). Constantine was the ruling spirit at Nicaea and he ultimately decided upon a new god for them. To involve British factions, he ruled that the name of the great Druid god, Hesus, be joined with the Eastern Saviour-god, Krishna (Krishna is Sanskrit for Christ), and thus Hesus Krishna would be the official name of the new Roman god. A vote was taken and it was with a majority show of hands (161 votes to 157) that both divinities became one God. Following longstanding heathen custom, Constantine used the official gathering and the Roman apotheosis decree to legally deify two deities as one, and did so by democratic consent. A new god was proclaimed and "officially" ratified by Constantine (Acta Concilii Nicaeni, 1618). That purely political act of deification effectively and legally placed Hesus and Krishna among the Roman gods as one individual composite. That abstraction lent Earthly existence to amalgamated doctrines for the Empire's new religion; and because there was no letter "J" in alphabets until around the ninth century, the name subsequently evolved into "Jesus Christ".
How the Gospels were created
Constantine then instructed Eusebius to organise the compilation of a uniform collection of new writings developed from primary aspects of the religious texts submitted at the council. His instructions were:
"Search ye these books, and whatever is good in them, that retain; but whatsoever is evil, that cast away. What is good in one book, unite ye with that which is good in another book. And whatsoever is thus brought together shall be called The Book of Books. And it shall be the doctrine of my people, which I will recommend unto all nations, that there shall be no more war for religions' sake."
(God's Book of Eskra, op. cit., chapter xlviii, paragraph 31)
"Make them to astonish" said Constantine, and "the books were written accordingly" (Life of Constantine, vol. iv, pp. 36-39). Eusebius amalgamated the "legendary tales of all the religious doctrines of the world together as one", using the standard god-myths from the presbyters' manuscripts as his exemplars. Merging the supernatural "god" stories of Mithra and Krishna with British Culdean beliefs effectively joined the orations of Eastern and Western presbyters together "to form a new universal belief" (ibid.). Constantine believed that the amalgamated collection of myths would unite variant and opposing religious factions under one representative story. Eusebius then arranged for scribes to produce "fifty sumptuous copies ... to be written on parchment in a legible manner, and in a convenient portable form, by professional scribes thoroughly accomplished in their art" (ibid.). "These orders," said Eusebius, "were followed by the immediate execution of the work itself ... we sent him [Constantine] magnificently and elaborately bound volumes of three-fold and four-fold forms" (Life of Constantine, vol. iv, p. 36). They were the "New Testimonies", and this is the first mention (c. 331) of the New Testament in the historical record.
With his instructions fulfilled, Constantine then decreed that the New Testimonies would thereafter be called the "word of the Roman Saviour God" (Life of Constantine, vol. iii, p. 29) and official to all presbyters sermonising in the Roman Empire. He then ordered earlier presbyterial manuscripts and the records of the council "burnt" and declared that "any man found concealing writings should be stricken off from his shoulders" (beheaded) (ibid.). As the record shows, presbyterial writings previous to the Council of Nicaea no longer exist, except for some fragments that have survived.
Some council records also survived, and they provide alarming ramifications for the Church.Some old documents say that the First Council of Nicaea ended in mid-November 326, while others say the struggle to establish a god was so fierce that it extended "for four years and seven months" from its beginning in June 325 (Secrets of the Christian Fathers, op. cit.). Regardless of when it ended, the savagery and violence it encompassed were concealed under the glossy title "Great and Holy Synod", assigned to the assembly by the Church in the 18th century. Earlier Churchmen, however, expressed a different opinion.
The Second Council of Nicaea in 786-87 denounced the First Council of Nicaea as "a synod of fools and madmen" and sought to annul "decisions passed by men with troubled brains" (History of the Christian Church, H. H. Milman, DD, 1871). If one chooses to read the records of the Second Nicaean Council and notes references to "affrighted bishops" and the "soldiery" needed to "quell proceedings", the "fools and madmen" declaration is surely an example of the pot calling the kettle black.
Constantine died in 337 and his outgrowth of many now-called pagan beliefs into a new religious system brought many converts. Later Church writers made him "the great champion of Christianity" which he gave "legal status as the religion of the Roman Empire" (Encyclopedia of the Roman Empire, Matthew Bunson, Facts on File, New York, 1994, p. 86). Historical records reveal this to be incorrect, for it was "self-interest" that led him to create Christianity (A Smaller Classical Dictionary, J. M. Dent, London, 1910, p. 161). Yet it wasn't called "Christianity" until the 15th century (How The Great Pan Died, Professor Edmond S. Bordeaux [Vatican archivist], Mille Meditations, USA, MCMLXVIII, pp. 45-7).
Over the ensuing centuries, Constantine's New Testimonies were expanded upon, "interpolations" were added and other writings included (Catholic Encyclopedia, Farley ed., vol. vi, pp. 135-137; also, Pecci ed., vol. ii, pp. 121-122). For example, in 397 John "golden-mouthed" Chrysostom restructured the writings of Apollonius of Tyana, a first-century wandering sage, and made them part of the New Testimonies (Secrets of the Christian Fathers, op. cit.). The Latinised name for Apollonius is Paulus (A Latin-English Dictionary, J. T. White and J. E. Riddle, Ginn & Heath, Boston, 1880), and the Church today calls those writings the Epistles of Paul. Apollonius's personal attendant, Damis, an Assyrian scribe, is Demis in the New Testament (2 Tim. 4:10).
The Church hierarchy knows the truth about the origin of its Epistles, for Cardinal Bembo (d. 1547), secretary to Pope Leo X (d. 1521), advised his associate, Cardinal Sadoleto, to disregard them, saying "put away these trifles, for such absurdities do not become a man of dignity; they were introduced on the scene later by a sly voice from heaven" (Cardinal Bembo: His Letters and Comments on Pope Leo X, A. L. Collins, London, 1842 reprint).
The Church admits that the Epistles of Paul are forgeries, saying, "Even the genuine Epistles were greatly interpolated to lend weight to the personal views of their authors" (Catholic Encyclopedia, Farley ed., vol. vii, p. 645). Likewise, St Jerome (d. 420) declared that the Acts of the Apostles, the fifth book of the New Testament, was also "falsely written" ("The Letters of Jerome", Library of the Fathers, Oxford Movement, 1833-45, vol. v, p. 445).
The shock discovery of an ancient Bible
The New Testament subsequently evolved into a fulsome piece of priesthood propaganda, and the Church claimed it recorded the intervention of a divine Jesus Christ into Earthly affairs. However, a spectacular discovery in a remote Egyptian monastery revealed to the world the extent of later falsifications of the Christian texts, themselves only an "assemblage of legendary tales" (Encyclopédie, Diderot, 1759). On 4 February 1859, 346 leaves of an ancient codex were discovered in the furnace room at St Catherine's monastery at Mt Sinai, and its contents sent shockwaves through the Christian world. Along with other old codices, it was scheduled to be burned in the kilns to provide winter warmth for the inhabitants of the monastery. Written in Greek on donkey skins, it carried both the Old and New Testaments, and later in time archaeologists dated its composition to around the year 380. It was discovered by Dr Constantin von Tischendorf (1815-1874), a brilliant and pious German biblical scholar, and he called it the Sinaiticus, the Sinai Bible. Tischendorf was a professor of theology who devoted his entire life to the study of New Testament origins, and his desire to read all the ancient Christian texts led him on the long, camel-mounted journey to St Catherine's Monastery.
During his lifetime, Tischendorf had access to other ancient Bibles unavailable to the public, such as the Alexandrian (or Alexandrinus) Bible, believed to be the second oldest Bible in the world. It was so named because in 1627 it was taken from Alexandria to Britain and gifted to King Charles I (1600-49). Today it is displayed alongside the world's oldest known Bible, the Sinaiticus, in the British Library in London. During his research, Tischendorf had access to the Vaticanus, the Vatican Bible, believed to be the third oldest in the world and dated to the mid-sixth century (The Various Versions of the Bible, Dr Constantin von Tischendorf, 1874, available in the British Library). It was locked away in the Vatican's inner library. Tischendorf asked if he could extract handwritten notes, but his request was declined. However, when his guard took refreshment breaks, Tischendorf wrote comparative narratives on the palm of his hand and sometimes on his fingernails ("Are Our Gospels Genuine or Not?", Dr Constantin von Tischendorf, lecture, 1869, available in the British Library).
Today, there are several other Bibles written in various languages during the fifth and sixth centuries, examples being the Syriacus, the Cantabrigiensis (Bezae), the Sarravianus and the Marchalianus.
A shudder of apprehension echoed through Christendom in the last quarter of the 19th century when English-language versions of the Sinai Bible were published. Recorded within these pages is information that disputes Christianity's claim of historicity. Christians were provided with irrefutable evidence of wilful falsifications in all modern New Testaments. So different was the Sinai Bible's New Testament from versions then being published that the Church angrily tried to annul the dramatic new evidence that challenged its very existence. In a series of articles published in the London Quarterly Review in 1883, John W. Burgon, Dean of Chichester, used every rhetorical device at his disposal to attack the Sinaiticus' earlier and opposing story of Jesus Christ, saying that "...without a particle of hesitation, the Sinaiticus is scandalously corrupt ... exhibiting the most shamefully mutilated texts which are anywhere to be met with; they have become, by whatever process, the depositories of the largest amount of fabricated readings, ancient blunders and intentional perversions of the truth which are discoverable in any known copies of the word of God". Dean Burgon's concerns mirror opposing aspects of Gospel stories then current, having by now evolved to a new stage through centuries of tampering with the fabric of an already unhistorical document.
The revelations of ultraviolet light testing
In 1933, the British Museum in London purchased the Sinai Bible from the Soviet government for £100,000, of which £65,000 was gifted by public subscription. Prior to the acquisition, this Bible was displayed in the Imperial Library in St Petersburg, Russia, and "few scholars had set eyes on it" (The Daily Telegraph and Morning Post, 11 January 1938, p. 3). When it went on display in 1933 as "the oldest Bible in the world" (ibid.), it became the centre of a pilgrimage unequalled in the history of the British Museum.
Before I summarise its conflictions, it should be noted that this old codex is by no means a reliable guide to New Testament study as it contains superabundant errors and serious re-editing. These anomalies were exposed as a result of the months of ultraviolet-light tests carried out at the British Museum in the mid-1930s. The findings revealed replacements of numerous passages by at least nine different editors. Photographs taken during testing revealed that ink pigments had been retained deep in the pores of the skin. The original words were readable under ultraviolet light. Anybody wishing to read the results of the tests should refer to the book written by the researchers who did the analysis: the Keepers of the Department of Manuscripts at the British Museum (Scribes and Correctors of the Codex Sinaiticus, H. J. M. Milne and T. C. Skeat, British Museum, London, 1938).
Forgery in the Gospels
When the New Testament in the Sinai Bible is compared with a modern-day New Testament, a staggering 14,800 editorial alterations can be identified. These amendments can be recognised by a simple comparative exercise that anybody can and should do. Serious study of Christian origins must emanate from the Sinai Bible's version of the New Testament, not modern editions.
Of importance is the fact that the Sinaiticus carries three Gospels since rejected: the Shepherd of Hermas (written by two resurrected ghosts, Charinus and Lenthius), the Missive of Barnabas and the Odes of Solomon. Space excludes elaboration on these bizarre writings and also discussion on dilemmas associated with translation variations.
Modern Bibles are five removes in translation from early editions, and disputes rage between translators over variant interpretations of more than 5,000 ancient words. However, it is what is not written in that old Bible that embarrasses the Church, and this article discusses only a few of those omissions. One glaring example is subtly revealed in the Encyclopaedia Biblica (Adam & Charles Black, London, 1899, vol. iii, p. 3344), where the Church divulges its knowledge about exclusions in old Bibles, saying: "The remark has long ago and often been made that, like Paul, even the earliest Gospels knew nothing of the miraculous birth of our Saviour". That is because there never was a virgin birth.
It is apparent that when Eusebius assembled scribes to write the New Testimonies, he first produced a single document that provided an exemplar or master version. Today it is called the Gospel of Mark, and the Church admits that it was "the first Gospel written" (Catholic Encyclopedia, Farley ed., vol. vi, p. 657), even though it appears second in the New Testament today. The scribes of the Gospels of Matthew and Luke were dependent upon the Mark writing as the source and framework for the compilation of their works. The Gospel of John is independent of those writings, and the late-15th-century theory that it was written later to support the earlier writings is the truth (The Crucifixion of Truth, Tony Bushby, Joshua Books, 2004, pp. 33-40).
Thus, the Gospel of Mark in the Sinai Bible carries the "first" story of Jesus Christ in history, one completely different to what is in modern Bibles. It starts with Jesus "at about the age of thirty" (Mark 1:9), and doesn't know of Mary, a virgin birth or mass murders of baby boys by Herod. Words describing Jesus Christ as "the son of God" do not appear in the opening narrative as they do in today's editions (Mark 1:1), and the modern-day family tree tracing a "messianic bloodline" back to King David is non-existent in all ancient Bibles, as are the now-called "messianic prophecies" (51 in total). The Sinai Bible carries a conflicting version of events surrounding the "raising of Lazarus", and reveals an extraordinary omission that later became the central doctrine of the Christian faith: the resurrection appearances of Jesus Christ and his ascension into Heaven. No supernatural appearance of a resurrected Jesus Christ is recorded in any ancient Gospels of Mark, but a description of over 500 words now appears in modern Bibles (Mark 16:9-20).
Despite a multitude of long-drawn-out self-justifications by Church apologists, there is no unanimity of Christian opinion regarding the non-existence of "resurrection" appearances in ancient Gospel accounts of the story. Not only are those narratives missing in the Sinai Bible, but they are absent in the Alexandrian Bible, the Vatican Bible, the Bezae Bible and an ancient Latin manuscript of Mark, code-named "K" by analysts. They are also lacking in the oldest Armenian version of the New Testament, in sixth-century manuscripts of the Ethiopic version and ninth-century Anglo-Saxon Bibles. However, some 12th-century Gospels have the now-known resurrection verses written within asterisksÑmarks used by scribes to indicate spurious passages in a literary document.
The Church claims that "the resurrection is the fundamental argument for our Christian belief" (Catholic Encyclopedia, Farley ed., vol. xii, p. 792), yet no supernatural appearance of a resurrected Jesus Christ is recorded in any of the earliest Gospels of Mark available. A resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ is the sine qua non ("without which, nothing") of Christianity (Catholic Encyclopedia, Farley ed., vol. xii, p. 792), confirmed by words attributed to Paul: "If Christ has not been raised, your faith is in vain" (1 Cor. 5:17). The resurrection verses in today's Gospels of Mark are universally acknowledged as forgeries and the Church agrees, saying "the conclusion of Mark is admittedly not genuine ... almost the entire section is a later compilation" (Encyclopaedia Biblica, vol. ii, p. 1880, vol. iii, pp. 1767, 1781; also, Catholic Encyclopedia, vol. iii, under the heading "The Evidence of its Spuriousness"; Catholic Encyclopedia, Farley ed., vol. iii, pp. 274-9 under heading "Canons"). Undaunted, however, the Church accepted the forgery into its dogma and made it the basis of Christianity.
The trend of fictitious resurrection narratives continues. The final chapter of the Gospel of John (21) is a sixth-century forgery, one entirely devoted to describing Jesus' resurrection to his disciples. The Church admits: "The sole conclusion that can be deduced from this is that the 21st chapter was afterwards added and is therefore to be regarded as an appendix to the Gospel" (Catholic Encyclopedia, Farley ed., vol. viii, pp. 441-442; New Catholic Encyclopedia (NCE), "Gospel of John", p. 1080; also NCE, vol. xii, p. 407).
"The Great Insertion" and "The Great Omission"
Modern-day versions of the Gospel of Luke have a staggering 10,000 more words than the same Gospel in the Sinai Bible. Six of those words say of Jesus "and was carried up into heaven", but this narrative does not appear in any of the oldest Gospels of Luke available today ("Three Early Doctrinal Modifications of the Text of the Gospels", F. C. Conybeare, The Hibbert Journal, London, vol. 1, no. 1, Oct 1902, pp. 96-113). Ancient versions do not verify modern-day accounts of an ascension of Jesus Christ, and this falsification clearly indicates an intention to deceive.
Today, the Gospel of Luke is the longest of the canonical Gospels because it now includes "The Great Insertion", an extraordinary 15th-century addition totalling around 8,500 words (Luke 9:51-18:14). The insertion of these forgeries into that Gospel bewilders modern Christian analysts, and of them the Church said: "The character of these passages makes it dangerous to draw inferences" (Catholic Encyclopedia, Pecci ed., vol. ii, p. 407).
Just as remarkable, the oldest Gospels of Luke omit all verses from 6:45 to 8:26, known in priesthood circles as "The Great Omission", a total of 1,547 words. In today's versions, that hole has been "plugged up" with passages plagiarised from other Gospels. Dr Tischendorf found that three paragraphs in newer versions of the Gospel of Luke's version of the Last Supper appeared in the 15th century, but the Church still passes its Gospels off as the unadulterated "word of God" ("Are Our Gospels Genuine or Not?", op. cit.)
The "Expurgatory Index"
As was the case with the New Testament, so also were damaging writings of early "Church Fathers" modified in centuries of copying, and many of their records were intentionally rewritten or suppressed.
Adopting the decrees of the Council of Trent (1545-63), the Church subsequently extended the process of erasure and ordered the preparation of a special list of specific information to be expunged from early Christian writings (Delineation of Roman Catholicism, Rev. Charles Elliott, DD, G. Lane & P. P. Sandford, New York, 1842, p. 89; also, The Vatican Censors, Professor Peter Elmsley, Oxford, p. 327, pub. date n/a).
In 1562, the Vatican established a special censoring office called Index Expurgatorius. Its purpose was to prohibit publication of "erroneous passages of the early Church Fathers" that carried statements opposing modern-day doctrine.
When Vatican archivists came across "genuine copies of the Fathers, they corrected them according to the Expurgatory Index" (Index Expurgatorius Vaticanus, R. Gibbings, ed., Dublin, 1837; The Literary Policy of the Church of Rome, Joseph Mendham, J. Duncan, London, 1830, 2nd ed., 1840; The Vatican Censors, op. cit., p. 328). This Church record provides researchers with "grave doubts about the value of all patristic writings released to the public" (The Propaganda Press of Rome, Sir James W. L. Claxton, Whitehaven Books, London, 1942, p. 182).
Important for our story is the fact that the Encyclopaedia Biblica reveals that around 1,200 years of Christian history are unknown: "Unfortunately, only few of the records [of the Church] prior to the year 1198 have been released". It was not by chance that, in that same year (1198), Pope Innocent III (1198-1216) suppressed all records of earlier Church history by establishing the Secret Archives (Catholic Encyclopedia, Farley ed., vol. xv, p. 287). Some seven-and-a-half centuries later, and after spending some years in those Archives, Professor Edmond S. Bordeaux wrote How The Great Pan Died. In a chapter titled "The Whole of Church History is Nothing but a Retroactive Fabrication", he said this (in part):
"The Church ante-dated all her late works, some newly made, some revised and some counterfeited, which contained the final expression of her history ... her technique was to make it appear that much later works written by Church writers were composed a long time earlier, so that they might become evidence of the first, second or third centuries."
(How The Great Pan Died, op. cit., p. 46)
Supporting Professor Bordeaux's findings is the fact that, in 1587, Pope Sixtus V (1585-90) established an official Vatican publishing division and said in his own words, "Church history will be now be established ... we shall seek to print our own account"Encyclopédie, Diderot, 1759). Vatican records also reveal that Sixtus V spent 18 months of his life as pope personally writing a new Bible and then introduced into Catholicism a "New Learning" (Catholic Encyclopedia, Farley ed., vol. v, p. 442, vol. xv, p. 376). The evidence that the Church wrote its own history is found in Diderot's Encyclopédie, and it reveals the reason why Pope Clement XIII (1758-69) ordered all volumes to be destroyed immediately after publication in 1759.
Gospel authors exposed as imposters
There is something else involved in this scenario and it is recorded in the Catholic Encyclopedia. An appreciation of the clerical mindset arises when the Church itself admits that it does not know who wrote its Gospels and Epistles, confessing that all 27 New Testament writings began life anonymously:
"It thus appears that the present titles of the Gospels are not traceable to the evangelists themselves ... they [the New Testament collection] are supplied with titles which, however ancient, do not go back to the respective authors of those writings." (Catholic Encyclopedia, Farley ed., vol. vi, pp. 655-6)
The Church maintains that "the titles of our Gospels were not intended to indicate authorship", adding that "the headings ... were affixed to them" (Catholic Encyclopedia, Farley ed., vol. i, p. 117, vol. vi, pp. 655, 656). Therefore they are not Gospels written "according to Matthew, Mark, Luke or John", as publicly stated. The full force of this confession reveals that there are no genuine apostolic Gospels, and that the Church's shadowy writings today embody the very ground and pillar of Christian foundations and faith. The consequences are fatal to the pretence of Divine origin of the entire New Testament and expose Christian texts as having no special authority. For centuries, fabricated Gospels bore Church certification of authenticity now confessed to be false, and this provides evidence that Christian writings are wholly fallacious.
After years of dedicated New Testament research, Dr Tischendorf expressed dismay at the differences between the oldest and newest Gospels, and had trouble understanding...
"...how scribes could allow themselves to bring in here and there changes which were not simply verbal ones, but such as materially affected the very meaning and, what is worse still, did not shrink from cutting out a passage or inserting one."
(Alterations to the Sinai Bible, Dr Constantin von Tischendorf, 1863, available in the British Library, London)
After years of validating the fabricated nature of the New Testament, a disillusioned Dr Tischendorf confessed that modern-day editions have "been altered in many places" and are "not to be accepted as true" (When Were Our Gospels Written?, Dr Constantin von Tischendorf, 1865, British Library, London).
Just what is Christianity?
The important question then to ask is this: if the New Testament is not historical, what is it?
Dr Tischendorf provided part of the answer when he said in his 15,000 pages of critical notes on the Sinai Bible that "it seems that the personage of Jesus Christ was made narrator for many religions". This explains how narratives from the ancient Indian epic, the Mahabharata, appear verbatim in the Gospels today (e.g., Matt. 1:25, 2:11, 8:1-4, 9:1-8, 9:18-26), and why passages from the Phenomena of the Greek statesman Aratus of Sicyon (271-213 BC) are in the New Testament.
Extracts from the Hymn to Zeus, written by Greek philosopher Cleanthes (c. 331-232 BC), are also found in the Gospels, as are 207 words from the Thais of Menander (c. 343-291), one of the "seven wise men" of Greece. Quotes from the semi-legendary Greek poet Epimenides (7th or 6th century BC) are applied to the lips of Jesus Christ, and seven passages from the curious Ode of Jupiter (c. 150 BC; author unknown) are reprinted in the New Testament.
Tischendorf's conclusion also supports Professor Bordeaux's Vatican findings that reveal the allegory of Jesus Christ derived from the fable of Mithra, the divine son of God (Ahura Mazda) and messiah of the first kings of the Persian Empire around 400 BC. His birth in a grotto was attended by magi who followed a star from the East. They brought "gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh" (as in Matt. 2:11) and the newborn baby was adored by shepherds. He came into the world wearing the Mithraic cap, which popes imitated in various designs until well into the 15th century.
Mithra, one of a trinity, stood on a rock, the emblem of the foundation of his religion, and was anointed with honey. After a last supper with Helios and 11 other companions, Mithra was crucified on a cross, bound in linen, placed in a rock tomb and rose on the third day or around 25 March (the full moon at the spring equinox, a time now called Easter after the Babylonian goddess Ishtar). The fiery destruction of the universe was a major doctrine of Mithraism-a time in which Mithra promised to return in person to Earth and save deserving souls. Devotees of Mithra partook in a sacred communion banquet of bread and wine, a ceremony that paralleled the Christian Eucharist and preceded it by more than four centuries.
Christianity is an adaptation of Mithraism welded with the Druidic principles of the Culdees, some Egyptian elements (the pre-Christian Book of Revelation was originally called The Mysteries of Osiris and Isis), Greek philosophy and various aspects of Hinduism.
Why there are no records of Jesus Christ
It is not possible to find in any legitimate religious or historical writings compiled between the beginning of the first century and well into the fourth century any reference to Jesus Christ and the spectacular events that the Church says accompanied his life. This confirmation comes from Frederic Farrar (1831-1903) of Trinity College, Cambridge:
"It is amazing that history has not embalmed for us even one certain or definite saying or circumstance in the life of the Saviour of mankind ... there is no statement in all history that says anyone saw Jesus or talked with him. Nothing in history is more astonishing than the silence of contemporary writers about events relayed in the four Gospels."
(The Life of Christ, Frederic W. Farrar, Cassell, London, 1874)
This situation arises from a conflict between history and New Testament narratives. Dr Tischendorf made this comment:
"We must frankly admit that we have no source of information with respect to the life of Jesus Christ other than ecclesiastic writings assembled during the fourth century."
(Codex Sinaiticus, Dr Constantin von Tischendorf, British Library, London)
There is an explanation for those hundreds of years of silence: the construct of Christianity did not begin until after the first quarter of the fourth century, and that is why Pope Leo X (d. 1521) called Christ a "fable" (Cardinal Bembo: His Letters..., op. cit.).Post Options Labels for this post:
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It has often been emphasised that Christianity is unlike any other religion, for it stands or falls by certain events which are alleged to have occurred during a short period of time some 20 centuries ago. Those stories are presented in the New Testament, and as new evidence is revealed it will become clear that they do not represent historical realities. The Church agrees, saying:
"Our documentary sources of knowledge about the origins of Christianity and its earliest development are chiefly the New Testament Scriptures, the authenticity of which we must, to a great extent, take for granted."
(Catholic Encyclopedia, Farley ed., vol. iii, p. 712)
The Church makes extraordinary admissions about its New Testament. For example, when discussing the origin of those writings, "the most distinguished body of academic opinion ever assembled" (Catholic Encyclopedias, Preface) admits that the Gospels "do not go back to the first century of the Christian era" (Catholic Encyclopedia, Farley ed., vol. vi, p. 137, pp. 655-6). This statement conflicts with priesthood assertions that the earliest Gospels were progressively written during the decades following the death of the Gospel Jesus Christ. In a remarkable aside, the Church further admits that "the earliest of the extant manuscripts [of the New Testament], it is true, do not date back beyond the middle of the fourth century AD" (Catholic Encyclopedia, op. cit., pp. 656-7). That is some 350 years after the time the Church claims that a Jesus Christ walked the sands of Palestine, and here the true story of Christian origins slips into one of the biggest black holes in history. There is, however, a reason why there were no New Testaments until the fourth century: they were not written until then, and here we find evidence of the greatest misrepresentation of all time.
It was British-born Flavius Constantinus (Constantine, originally Custennyn or Custennin) (272-337) who authorised the compilation of the writings now called the New Testament. After the death of his father in 306, Constantine became King of Britain, Gaul and Spain, and then, after a series of victorious battles, Emperor of the Roman Empire. Christian historians give little or no hint of the turmoil of the times and suspend Constantine in the air, free of all human events happening around him. In truth, one of Constantine's main problems was the uncontrollable disorder amongst presbyters and their belief in numerous gods.
The majority of modern-day Christian writers suppress the truth about the development of their religion and conceal Constantine's efforts to curb the disreputable character of the presbyters who are now called "Church Fathers" (Catholic Encyclopedia, Farley ed., vol. xiv, pp. 370-1). They were "maddened", he said (Life of Constantine, attributed to Eusebius Pamphilius of Caesarea, c. 335, vol. iii, p. 171; The Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, cited as N&PNF, attributed to St Ambrose, Rev. Prof. Roberts, DD, and Principal James Donaldson, LLD, editors, 1891, vol. iv, p. 467). The "peculiar type of oratory" expounded by them was a challenge to a settled religious order (The Dictionary of Classical Mythology, Religion, Literature and Art, Oskar Seyffert, Gramercy, New York, 1995, pp. 544-5). Ancient records reveal the true nature of the presbyters, and the low regard in which they were held has been subtly suppressed by modern Church historians. In reality, they were:
"...the most rustic fellows, teaching strange paradoxes. They openly declared that none but the ignorant was fit to hear their discourses ... they never appeared in the circles of the wiser and better sort, but always took care to intrude themselves among the ignorant and uncultured, rambling around to play tricks at fairs and markets ... they lard their lean books with the fat of old fables ... and still the less do they understand ... and they write nonsense on vellum ... and still be doing, never done."
(Contra Celsum ["Against Celsus"], Origen of Alexandria, c. 251, Bk I, p. lxvii, Bk III, p. xliv, passim)
Clusters of presbyters had developed "many gods and many lords" (1 Cor. 8:5) and numerous religious sects existed, each with differing doctrines (Gal. 1:6). Presbyterial groups clashed over attributes of their various gods and "altar was set against altar" in competing for an audience (Optatus of Milevis, 1:15, 19, early fourth century). From Constantine's point of view, there were several factions that needed satisfying, and he set out to develop an all-embracing religion during a period of irreverent confusion. In an age of crass ignorance, with nine-tenths of the peoples of Europe illiterate, stabilising religious splinter groups was only one of Constantine's problems. The smooth generalisation, which so many historians are content to repeat, that Constantine "embraced the Christian religion" and subsequently granted "official toleration", is "contrary to historical fact" and should be erased from our literature forever (Catholic Encyclopedia, Pecci ed., vol. iii, p. 299, passim). Simply put, there was no Christian religion at Constantine's time, and the Church acknowledges that the tale of his "conversion" and "baptism" are "entirely legendary" (Catholic Encyclopedia, Farley ed., vol. xiv, pp. 370-1).
Constantine "never acquired a solid theological knowledge" and "depended heavily on his advisers in religious questions" (Catholic Encyclopedia, New Edition, vol. xii, p. 576, passim). According to Eusebeius (260-339), Constantine noted that among the presbyterian factions "strife had grown so serious, vigorous action was necessary to establish a more religious state", but he could not bring about a settlement between rival god factions (Life of Constantine, op. cit., pp. 26-8). His advisers warned him that the presbyters' religions were "destitute of foundation" and needed official stabilisation (ibid.).
Constantine saw in this confused system of fragmented dogmas the opportunity to create a new and combined State religion, neutral in concept, and to protect it by law. When he conquered the East in 324 he sent his Spanish religious adviser, Osius of Córdoba, to Alexandria with letters to several bishops exhorting them to make peace among themselves. The mission failed and Constantine, probably at the suggestion of Osius, then issued a decree commanding all presbyters and their subordinates "be mounted on asses, mules and horses belonging to the public, and travel to the city of Nicaea" in the Roman province of Bithynia in Asia Minor. They were instructed to bring with them the testimonies they orated to the rabble, "bound in leather" for protection during the long journey, and surrender them to Constantine upon arrival in Nicaea (The Catholic Dictionary, Addis and Arnold, 1917, "Council of Nicaea" entry). Their writings totalled "in all, two thousand two hundred and thirty-one scrolls and legendary tales of gods and saviours, together with a record of the doctrines orated by them" (Life of Constantine, op. cit., vol. ii, p. 73; N&PNF, op. cit., vol. i, p. 518).
The First Council of Nicaea and the "missing records"
Thus, the first ecclesiastical gathering in history was summoned and is today known as the Council of Nicaea. It was a bizarre event that provided many details of early clerical thinking and presents a clear picture of the intellectual climate prevailing at the time. It was at this gathering that Christianity was born, and the ramifications of decisions made at the time are difficult to calculate. About four years prior to chairing the Council, Constantine had been initiated into the religious order of Sol Invictus, one of the two thriving cults that regarded the Sun as the one and only Supreme God (the other was Mithraism). Because of his Sun worship, he instructed Eusebius to convene the first of three sittings on the summer solstice, 21 June 325 (Catholic Encyclopedia, New Edition, vol. i, p. 792), and it was "held in a hall in Osius's palace" (Ecclesiastical History, Bishop Louis Dupin, Paris, 1686, vol. i, p. 598). In an account of the proceedings of the conclave of presbyters gathered at Nicaea, Sabinius, Bishop of Hereclea, who was in attendance, said, "Excepting Constantine himself and Eusebius Pamphilius, they were a set of illiterate, simple creatures who understood nothing" (Secrets of the Christian Fathers, Bishop J. W. Sergerus, 1685, 1897 reprint).
This is another luminous confession of the ignorance and uncritical credulity of early churchmen. Dr Richard Watson (1737-1816), a disillusioned Christian historian and one-time Bishop of Llandaff in Wales (1782), referred to them as "a set of gibbering idiots" (An Apology for Christianity, 1776, 1796 reprint; also, Theological Tracts, Dr Richard Watson, "On Councils" entry, vol. 2, London, 1786, revised reprint 1791). From his extensive research into Church councils, Dr Watson concluded that "the clergy at the Council of Nicaea were all under the power of the devil, and the convention was composed of the lowest rabble and patronised the vilest abominations" (An Apology for Christianity, op. cit.). It was that infantile body of men who were responsible for the commencement of a new religion and the theological creation of Jesus Christ.
The Church admits that vital elements of the proceedings at Nicaea are "strangely absent from the canons" (Catholic Encyclopedia, Farley ed., vol. iii, p. 160). We shall see shortly what happened to them. However, according to records that endured, Eusebius "occupied the first seat on the right of the emperor and delivered the inaugural address on the emperor's behalf" (Catholic Encyclopedia, Farley ed., vol. v, pp. 619-620). There were no British presbyters at the council but many Greek delegates. "Seventy Eastern bishops" represented Asiatic factions, and small numbers came from other areas (Ecclesiastical History, ibid.). Caecilian of Carthage travelled from Africa, Paphnutius of Thebes from Egypt, Nicasius of Die (Dijon) from Gaul, and Donnus of Stridon made the journey from Pannonia.
It was at that puerile assembly, and with so many cults represented, that a total of 318 "bishops, priests, deacons, subdeacons, acolytes and exorcists" gathered to debate and decide upon a unified belief system that encompassed only one god (An Apology for Christianity, op. cit.). By this time, a huge assortment of "wild texts" (Catholic Encyclopedia, New Edition, "Gospel and Gospels") circulated amongst presbyters and they supported a great variety of Eastern and Western gods and goddesses: Jove, Jupiter, Salenus, Baal, Thor, Gade, Apollo, Juno, Aries, Taurus, Minerva, Rhets, Mithra, Theo, Fragapatti, Atys, Durga, Indra, Neptune, Vulcan, Kriste, Agni, Croesus, Pelides, Huit, Hermes, Thulis, Thammus, Eguptus, Iao, Aph, Saturn, Gitchens, Minos, Maximo, Hecla and Phernes (God's Book of Eskra, anon., ch. xlviii, paragraph 36).
Up until the First Council of Nicaea, the Roman aristocracy primarily worshipped two Greek gods-Apollo and Zeus-but the great bulk of common people idolised either Julius Caesar or Mithras (the Romanised version of the Persian deity Mithra). Caesar was deified by the Roman Senate after his death (15 March 44 BC) and subsequently venerated as "the Divine Julius". The word "Saviour" was affixed to his name, its literal meaning being "one who sows the seed", i.e., he was a phallic god. Julius Caesar was hailed as "God made manifest and universal Saviour of human life", and his successor Augustus was called the "ancestral God and Saviour of the whole human race" (Man and his Gods, Homer Smith, Little, Brown & Co., Boston, 1952). Emperor Nero (54-68), whose original name was Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus (37-68), was immortalised on his coins as the "Saviour of mankind" (ibid.). The Divine Julius as Roman Saviour and "Father of the Empire" was considered "God" among the Roman rabble for more than 300 years. He was the deity in some Western presbyters' texts, but was not recognised in Eastern or Oriental writings.
Constantine's intention at Nicaea was to create an entirely new god for his empire who would unite all religious factions under one deity. Presbyters were asked to debate and decide who their new god would be. Delegates argued among themselves, expressing personal motives for inclusion of particular writings that promoted the finer traits of their own special deity. Throughout the meeting, howling factions were immersed in heated debates, and the names of 53 gods were tabled for discussion. "As yet, no God had been selected by the council, and so they balloted in order to determine that matter... For one year and five months the balloting lasted..." (God's Book of Eskra, Prof. S. L. MacGuire's translation, Salisbury, 1922, chapter xlviii, paragraphs 36, 41).
At the end of that time, Constantine returned to the gathering to discover that the presbyters had not agreed on a new deity but had balloted down to a shortlist of five prospects: Caesar, Krishna, Mithra, Horus and Zeus (Historia Ecclesiastica, Eusebius, c. 325). Constantine was the ruling spirit at Nicaea and he ultimately decided upon a new god for them. To involve British factions, he ruled that the name of the great Druid god, Hesus, be joined with the Eastern Saviour-god, Krishna (Krishna is Sanskrit for Christ), and thus Hesus Krishna would be the official name of the new Roman god. A vote was taken and it was with a majority show of hands (161 votes to 157) that both divinities became one God. Following longstanding heathen custom, Constantine used the official gathering and the Roman apotheosis decree to legally deify two deities as one, and did so by democratic consent. A new god was proclaimed and "officially" ratified by Constantine (Acta Concilii Nicaeni, 1618). That purely political act of deification effectively and legally placed Hesus and Krishna among the Roman gods as one individual composite. That abstraction lent Earthly existence to amalgamated doctrines for the Empire's new religion; and because there was no letter "J" in alphabets until around the ninth century, the name subsequently evolved into "Jesus Christ".
How the Gospels were created
Constantine then instructed Eusebius to organise the compilation of a uniform collection of new writings developed from primary aspects of the religious texts submitted at the council. His instructions were:
"Search ye these books, and whatever is good in them, that retain; but whatsoever is evil, that cast away. What is good in one book, unite ye with that which is good in another book. And whatsoever is thus brought together shall be called The Book of Books. And it shall be the doctrine of my people, which I will recommend unto all nations, that there shall be no more war for religions' sake."
(God's Book of Eskra, op. cit., chapter xlviii, paragraph 31)
"Make them to astonish" said Constantine, and "the books were written accordingly" (Life of Constantine, vol. iv, pp. 36-39). Eusebius amalgamated the "legendary tales of all the religious doctrines of the world together as one", using the standard god-myths from the presbyters' manuscripts as his exemplars. Merging the supernatural "god" stories of Mithra and Krishna with British Culdean beliefs effectively joined the orations of Eastern and Western presbyters together "to form a new universal belief" (ibid.). Constantine believed that the amalgamated collection of myths would unite variant and opposing religious factions under one representative story. Eusebius then arranged for scribes to produce "fifty sumptuous copies ... to be written on parchment in a legible manner, and in a convenient portable form, by professional scribes thoroughly accomplished in their art" (ibid.). "These orders," said Eusebius, "were followed by the immediate execution of the work itself ... we sent him [Constantine] magnificently and elaborately bound volumes of three-fold and four-fold forms" (Life of Constantine, vol. iv, p. 36). They were the "New Testimonies", and this is the first mention (c. 331) of the New Testament in the historical record.
With his instructions fulfilled, Constantine then decreed that the New Testimonies would thereafter be called the "word of the Roman Saviour God" (Life of Constantine, vol. iii, p. 29) and official to all presbyters sermonising in the Roman Empire. He then ordered earlier presbyterial manuscripts and the records of the council "burnt" and declared that "any man found concealing writings should be stricken off from his shoulders" (beheaded) (ibid.). As the record shows, presbyterial writings previous to the Council of Nicaea no longer exist, except for some fragments that have survived.
Some council records also survived, and they provide alarming ramifications for the Church.Some old documents say that the First Council of Nicaea ended in mid-November 326, while others say the struggle to establish a god was so fierce that it extended "for four years and seven months" from its beginning in June 325 (Secrets of the Christian Fathers, op. cit.). Regardless of when it ended, the savagery and violence it encompassed were concealed under the glossy title "Great and Holy Synod", assigned to the assembly by the Church in the 18th century. Earlier Churchmen, however, expressed a different opinion.
The Second Council of Nicaea in 786-87 denounced the First Council of Nicaea as "a synod of fools and madmen" and sought to annul "decisions passed by men with troubled brains" (History of the Christian Church, H. H. Milman, DD, 1871). If one chooses to read the records of the Second Nicaean Council and notes references to "affrighted bishops" and the "soldiery" needed to "quell proceedings", the "fools and madmen" declaration is surely an example of the pot calling the kettle black.
Constantine died in 337 and his outgrowth of many now-called pagan beliefs into a new religious system brought many converts. Later Church writers made him "the great champion of Christianity" which he gave "legal status as the religion of the Roman Empire" (Encyclopedia of the Roman Empire, Matthew Bunson, Facts on File, New York, 1994, p. 86). Historical records reveal this to be incorrect, for it was "self-interest" that led him to create Christianity (A Smaller Classical Dictionary, J. M. Dent, London, 1910, p. 161). Yet it wasn't called "Christianity" until the 15th century (How The Great Pan Died, Professor Edmond S. Bordeaux [Vatican archivist], Mille Meditations, USA, MCMLXVIII, pp. 45-7).
Over the ensuing centuries, Constantine's New Testimonies were expanded upon, "interpolations" were added and other writings included (Catholic Encyclopedia, Farley ed., vol. vi, pp. 135-137; also, Pecci ed., vol. ii, pp. 121-122). For example, in 397 John "golden-mouthed" Chrysostom restructured the writings of Apollonius of Tyana, a first-century wandering sage, and made them part of the New Testimonies (Secrets of the Christian Fathers, op. cit.). The Latinised name for Apollonius is Paulus (A Latin-English Dictionary, J. T. White and J. E. Riddle, Ginn & Heath, Boston, 1880), and the Church today calls those writings the Epistles of Paul. Apollonius's personal attendant, Damis, an Assyrian scribe, is Demis in the New Testament (2 Tim. 4:10).
The Church hierarchy knows the truth about the origin of its Epistles, for Cardinal Bembo (d. 1547), secretary to Pope Leo X (d. 1521), advised his associate, Cardinal Sadoleto, to disregard them, saying "put away these trifles, for such absurdities do not become a man of dignity; they were introduced on the scene later by a sly voice from heaven" (Cardinal Bembo: His Letters and Comments on Pope Leo X, A. L. Collins, London, 1842 reprint).
The Church admits that the Epistles of Paul are forgeries, saying, "Even the genuine Epistles were greatly interpolated to lend weight to the personal views of their authors" (Catholic Encyclopedia, Farley ed., vol. vii, p. 645). Likewise, St Jerome (d. 420) declared that the Acts of the Apostles, the fifth book of the New Testament, was also "falsely written" ("The Letters of Jerome", Library of the Fathers, Oxford Movement, 1833-45, vol. v, p. 445).
The shock discovery of an ancient Bible
The New Testament subsequently evolved into a fulsome piece of priesthood propaganda, and the Church claimed it recorded the intervention of a divine Jesus Christ into Earthly affairs. However, a spectacular discovery in a remote Egyptian monastery revealed to the world the extent of later falsifications of the Christian texts, themselves only an "assemblage of legendary tales" (Encyclopédie, Diderot, 1759). On 4 February 1859, 346 leaves of an ancient codex were discovered in the furnace room at St Catherine's monastery at Mt Sinai, and its contents sent shockwaves through the Christian world. Along with other old codices, it was scheduled to be burned in the kilns to provide winter warmth for the inhabitants of the monastery. Written in Greek on donkey skins, it carried both the Old and New Testaments, and later in time archaeologists dated its composition to around the year 380. It was discovered by Dr Constantin von Tischendorf (1815-1874), a brilliant and pious German biblical scholar, and he called it the Sinaiticus, the Sinai Bible. Tischendorf was a professor of theology who devoted his entire life to the study of New Testament origins, and his desire to read all the ancient Christian texts led him on the long, camel-mounted journey to St Catherine's Monastery.
During his lifetime, Tischendorf had access to other ancient Bibles unavailable to the public, such as the Alexandrian (or Alexandrinus) Bible, believed to be the second oldest Bible in the world. It was so named because in 1627 it was taken from Alexandria to Britain and gifted to King Charles I (1600-49). Today it is displayed alongside the world's oldest known Bible, the Sinaiticus, in the British Library in London. During his research, Tischendorf had access to the Vaticanus, the Vatican Bible, believed to be the third oldest in the world and dated to the mid-sixth century (The Various Versions of the Bible, Dr Constantin von Tischendorf, 1874, available in the British Library). It was locked away in the Vatican's inner library. Tischendorf asked if he could extract handwritten notes, but his request was declined. However, when his guard took refreshment breaks, Tischendorf wrote comparative narratives on the palm of his hand and sometimes on his fingernails ("Are Our Gospels Genuine or Not?", Dr Constantin von Tischendorf, lecture, 1869, available in the British Library).
Today, there are several other Bibles written in various languages during the fifth and sixth centuries, examples being the Syriacus, the Cantabrigiensis (Bezae), the Sarravianus and the Marchalianus.
A shudder of apprehension echoed through Christendom in the last quarter of the 19th century when English-language versions of the Sinai Bible were published. Recorded within these pages is information that disputes Christianity's claim of historicity. Christians were provided with irrefutable evidence of wilful falsifications in all modern New Testaments. So different was the Sinai Bible's New Testament from versions then being published that the Church angrily tried to annul the dramatic new evidence that challenged its very existence. In a series of articles published in the London Quarterly Review in 1883, John W. Burgon, Dean of Chichester, used every rhetorical device at his disposal to attack the Sinaiticus' earlier and opposing story of Jesus Christ, saying that "...without a particle of hesitation, the Sinaiticus is scandalously corrupt ... exhibiting the most shamefully mutilated texts which are anywhere to be met with; they have become, by whatever process, the depositories of the largest amount of fabricated readings, ancient blunders and intentional perversions of the truth which are discoverable in any known copies of the word of God". Dean Burgon's concerns mirror opposing aspects of Gospel stories then current, having by now evolved to a new stage through centuries of tampering with the fabric of an already unhistorical document.
The revelations of ultraviolet light testing
In 1933, the British Museum in London purchased the Sinai Bible from the Soviet government for £100,000, of which £65,000 was gifted by public subscription. Prior to the acquisition, this Bible was displayed in the Imperial Library in St Petersburg, Russia, and "few scholars had set eyes on it" (The Daily Telegraph and Morning Post, 11 January 1938, p. 3). When it went on display in 1933 as "the oldest Bible in the world" (ibid.), it became the centre of a pilgrimage unequalled in the history of the British Museum.
Before I summarise its conflictions, it should be noted that this old codex is by no means a reliable guide to New Testament study as it contains superabundant errors and serious re-editing. These anomalies were exposed as a result of the months of ultraviolet-light tests carried out at the British Museum in the mid-1930s. The findings revealed replacements of numerous passages by at least nine different editors. Photographs taken during testing revealed that ink pigments had been retained deep in the pores of the skin. The original words were readable under ultraviolet light. Anybody wishing to read the results of the tests should refer to the book written by the researchers who did the analysis: the Keepers of the Department of Manuscripts at the British Museum (Scribes and Correctors of the Codex Sinaiticus, H. J. M. Milne and T. C. Skeat, British Museum, London, 1938).
Forgery in the Gospels
When the New Testament in the Sinai Bible is compared with a modern-day New Testament, a staggering 14,800 editorial alterations can be identified. These amendments can be recognised by a simple comparative exercise that anybody can and should do. Serious study of Christian origins must emanate from the Sinai Bible's version of the New Testament, not modern editions.
Of importance is the fact that the Sinaiticus carries three Gospels since rejected: the Shepherd of Hermas (written by two resurrected ghosts, Charinus and Lenthius), the Missive of Barnabas and the Odes of Solomon. Space excludes elaboration on these bizarre writings and also discussion on dilemmas associated with translation variations.
Modern Bibles are five removes in translation from early editions, and disputes rage between translators over variant interpretations of more than 5,000 ancient words. However, it is what is not written in that old Bible that embarrasses the Church, and this article discusses only a few of those omissions. One glaring example is subtly revealed in the Encyclopaedia Biblica (Adam & Charles Black, London, 1899, vol. iii, p. 3344), where the Church divulges its knowledge about exclusions in old Bibles, saying: "The remark has long ago and often been made that, like Paul, even the earliest Gospels knew nothing of the miraculous birth of our Saviour". That is because there never was a virgin birth.
It is apparent that when Eusebius assembled scribes to write the New Testimonies, he first produced a single document that provided an exemplar or master version. Today it is called the Gospel of Mark, and the Church admits that it was "the first Gospel written" (Catholic Encyclopedia, Farley ed., vol. vi, p. 657), even though it appears second in the New Testament today. The scribes of the Gospels of Matthew and Luke were dependent upon the Mark writing as the source and framework for the compilation of their works. The Gospel of John is independent of those writings, and the late-15th-century theory that it was written later to support the earlier writings is the truth (The Crucifixion of Truth, Tony Bushby, Joshua Books, 2004, pp. 33-40).
Thus, the Gospel of Mark in the Sinai Bible carries the "first" story of Jesus Christ in history, one completely different to what is in modern Bibles. It starts with Jesus "at about the age of thirty" (Mark 1:9), and doesn't know of Mary, a virgin birth or mass murders of baby boys by Herod. Words describing Jesus Christ as "the son of God" do not appear in the opening narrative as they do in today's editions (Mark 1:1), and the modern-day family tree tracing a "messianic bloodline" back to King David is non-existent in all ancient Bibles, as are the now-called "messianic prophecies" (51 in total). The Sinai Bible carries a conflicting version of events surrounding the "raising of Lazarus", and reveals an extraordinary omission that later became the central doctrine of the Christian faith: the resurrection appearances of Jesus Christ and his ascension into Heaven. No supernatural appearance of a resurrected Jesus Christ is recorded in any ancient Gospels of Mark, but a description of over 500 words now appears in modern Bibles (Mark 16:9-20).
Despite a multitude of long-drawn-out self-justifications by Church apologists, there is no unanimity of Christian opinion regarding the non-existence of "resurrection" appearances in ancient Gospel accounts of the story. Not only are those narratives missing in the Sinai Bible, but they are absent in the Alexandrian Bible, the Vatican Bible, the Bezae Bible and an ancient Latin manuscript of Mark, code-named "K" by analysts. They are also lacking in the oldest Armenian version of the New Testament, in sixth-century manuscripts of the Ethiopic version and ninth-century Anglo-Saxon Bibles. However, some 12th-century Gospels have the now-known resurrection verses written within asterisksÑmarks used by scribes to indicate spurious passages in a literary document.
The Church claims that "the resurrection is the fundamental argument for our Christian belief" (Catholic Encyclopedia, Farley ed., vol. xii, p. 792), yet no supernatural appearance of a resurrected Jesus Christ is recorded in any of the earliest Gospels of Mark available. A resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ is the sine qua non ("without which, nothing") of Christianity (Catholic Encyclopedia, Farley ed., vol. xii, p. 792), confirmed by words attributed to Paul: "If Christ has not been raised, your faith is in vain" (1 Cor. 5:17). The resurrection verses in today's Gospels of Mark are universally acknowledged as forgeries and the Church agrees, saying "the conclusion of Mark is admittedly not genuine ... almost the entire section is a later compilation" (Encyclopaedia Biblica, vol. ii, p. 1880, vol. iii, pp. 1767, 1781; also, Catholic Encyclopedia, vol. iii, under the heading "The Evidence of its Spuriousness"; Catholic Encyclopedia, Farley ed., vol. iii, pp. 274-9 under heading "Canons"). Undaunted, however, the Church accepted the forgery into its dogma and made it the basis of Christianity.
The trend of fictitious resurrection narratives continues. The final chapter of the Gospel of John (21) is a sixth-century forgery, one entirely devoted to describing Jesus' resurrection to his disciples. The Church admits: "The sole conclusion that can be deduced from this is that the 21st chapter was afterwards added and is therefore to be regarded as an appendix to the Gospel" (Catholic Encyclopedia, Farley ed., vol. viii, pp. 441-442; New Catholic Encyclopedia (NCE), "Gospel of John", p. 1080; also NCE, vol. xii, p. 407).
"The Great Insertion" and "The Great Omission"
Modern-day versions of the Gospel of Luke have a staggering 10,000 more words than the same Gospel in the Sinai Bible. Six of those words say of Jesus "and was carried up into heaven", but this narrative does not appear in any of the oldest Gospels of Luke available today ("Three Early Doctrinal Modifications of the Text of the Gospels", F. C. Conybeare, The Hibbert Journal, London, vol. 1, no. 1, Oct 1902, pp. 96-113). Ancient versions do not verify modern-day accounts of an ascension of Jesus Christ, and this falsification clearly indicates an intention to deceive.
Today, the Gospel of Luke is the longest of the canonical Gospels because it now includes "The Great Insertion", an extraordinary 15th-century addition totalling around 8,500 words (Luke 9:51-18:14). The insertion of these forgeries into that Gospel bewilders modern Christian analysts, and of them the Church said: "The character of these passages makes it dangerous to draw inferences" (Catholic Encyclopedia, Pecci ed., vol. ii, p. 407).
Just as remarkable, the oldest Gospels of Luke omit all verses from 6:45 to 8:26, known in priesthood circles as "The Great Omission", a total of 1,547 words. In today's versions, that hole has been "plugged up" with passages plagiarised from other Gospels. Dr Tischendorf found that three paragraphs in newer versions of the Gospel of Luke's version of the Last Supper appeared in the 15th century, but the Church still passes its Gospels off as the unadulterated "word of God" ("Are Our Gospels Genuine or Not?", op. cit.)
The "Expurgatory Index"
As was the case with the New Testament, so also were damaging writings of early "Church Fathers" modified in centuries of copying, and many of their records were intentionally rewritten or suppressed.
Adopting the decrees of the Council of Trent (1545-63), the Church subsequently extended the process of erasure and ordered the preparation of a special list of specific information to be expunged from early Christian writings (Delineation of Roman Catholicism, Rev. Charles Elliott, DD, G. Lane & P. P. Sandford, New York, 1842, p. 89; also, The Vatican Censors, Professor Peter Elmsley, Oxford, p. 327, pub. date n/a).
In 1562, the Vatican established a special censoring office called Index Expurgatorius. Its purpose was to prohibit publication of "erroneous passages of the early Church Fathers" that carried statements opposing modern-day doctrine.
When Vatican archivists came across "genuine copies of the Fathers, they corrected them according to the Expurgatory Index" (Index Expurgatorius Vaticanus, R. Gibbings, ed., Dublin, 1837; The Literary Policy of the Church of Rome, Joseph Mendham, J. Duncan, London, 1830, 2nd ed., 1840; The Vatican Censors, op. cit., p. 328). This Church record provides researchers with "grave doubts about the value of all patristic writings released to the public" (The Propaganda Press of Rome, Sir James W. L. Claxton, Whitehaven Books, London, 1942, p. 182).
Important for our story is the fact that the Encyclopaedia Biblica reveals that around 1,200 years of Christian history are unknown: "Unfortunately, only few of the records [of the Church] prior to the year 1198 have been released". It was not by chance that, in that same year (1198), Pope Innocent III (1198-1216) suppressed all records of earlier Church history by establishing the Secret Archives (Catholic Encyclopedia, Farley ed., vol. xv, p. 287). Some seven-and-a-half centuries later, and after spending some years in those Archives, Professor Edmond S. Bordeaux wrote How The Great Pan Died. In a chapter titled "The Whole of Church History is Nothing but a Retroactive Fabrication", he said this (in part):
"The Church ante-dated all her late works, some newly made, some revised and some counterfeited, which contained the final expression of her history ... her technique was to make it appear that much later works written by Church writers were composed a long time earlier, so that they might become evidence of the first, second or third centuries."
(How The Great Pan Died, op. cit., p. 46)
Supporting Professor Bordeaux's findings is the fact that, in 1587, Pope Sixtus V (1585-90) established an official Vatican publishing division and said in his own words, "Church history will be now be established ... we shall seek to print our own account"Encyclopédie, Diderot, 1759). Vatican records also reveal that Sixtus V spent 18 months of his life as pope personally writing a new Bible and then introduced into Catholicism a "New Learning" (Catholic Encyclopedia, Farley ed., vol. v, p. 442, vol. xv, p. 376). The evidence that the Church wrote its own history is found in Diderot's Encyclopédie, and it reveals the reason why Pope Clement XIII (1758-69) ordered all volumes to be destroyed immediately after publication in 1759.
Gospel authors exposed as imposters
There is something else involved in this scenario and it is recorded in the Catholic Encyclopedia. An appreciation of the clerical mindset arises when the Church itself admits that it does not know who wrote its Gospels and Epistles, confessing that all 27 New Testament writings began life anonymously:
"It thus appears that the present titles of the Gospels are not traceable to the evangelists themselves ... they [the New Testament collection] are supplied with titles which, however ancient, do not go back to the respective authors of those writings." (Catholic Encyclopedia, Farley ed., vol. vi, pp. 655-6)
The Church maintains that "the titles of our Gospels were not intended to indicate authorship", adding that "the headings ... were affixed to them" (Catholic Encyclopedia, Farley ed., vol. i, p. 117, vol. vi, pp. 655, 656). Therefore they are not Gospels written "according to Matthew, Mark, Luke or John", as publicly stated. The full force of this confession reveals that there are no genuine apostolic Gospels, and that the Church's shadowy writings today embody the very ground and pillar of Christian foundations and faith. The consequences are fatal to the pretence of Divine origin of the entire New Testament and expose Christian texts as having no special authority. For centuries, fabricated Gospels bore Church certification of authenticity now confessed to be false, and this provides evidence that Christian writings are wholly fallacious.
After years of dedicated New Testament research, Dr Tischendorf expressed dismay at the differences between the oldest and newest Gospels, and had trouble understanding...
"...how scribes could allow themselves to bring in here and there changes which were not simply verbal ones, but such as materially affected the very meaning and, what is worse still, did not shrink from cutting out a passage or inserting one."
(Alterations to the Sinai Bible, Dr Constantin von Tischendorf, 1863, available in the British Library, London)
After years of validating the fabricated nature of the New Testament, a disillusioned Dr Tischendorf confessed that modern-day editions have "been altered in many places" and are "not to be accepted as true" (When Were Our Gospels Written?, Dr Constantin von Tischendorf, 1865, British Library, London).
Just what is Christianity?
The important question then to ask is this: if the New Testament is not historical, what is it?
Dr Tischendorf provided part of the answer when he said in his 15,000 pages of critical notes on the Sinai Bible that "it seems that the personage of Jesus Christ was made narrator for many religions". This explains how narratives from the ancient Indian epic, the Mahabharata, appear verbatim in the Gospels today (e.g., Matt. 1:25, 2:11, 8:1-4, 9:1-8, 9:18-26), and why passages from the Phenomena of the Greek statesman Aratus of Sicyon (271-213 BC) are in the New Testament.
Extracts from the Hymn to Zeus, written by Greek philosopher Cleanthes (c. 331-232 BC), are also found in the Gospels, as are 207 words from the Thais of Menander (c. 343-291), one of the "seven wise men" of Greece. Quotes from the semi-legendary Greek poet Epimenides (7th or 6th century BC) are applied to the lips of Jesus Christ, and seven passages from the curious Ode of Jupiter (c. 150 BC; author unknown) are reprinted in the New Testament.
Tischendorf's conclusion also supports Professor Bordeaux's Vatican findings that reveal the allegory of Jesus Christ derived from the fable of Mithra, the divine son of God (Ahura Mazda) and messiah of the first kings of the Persian Empire around 400 BC. His birth in a grotto was attended by magi who followed a star from the East. They brought "gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh" (as in Matt. 2:11) and the newborn baby was adored by shepherds. He came into the world wearing the Mithraic cap, which popes imitated in various designs until well into the 15th century.
Mithra, one of a trinity, stood on a rock, the emblem of the foundation of his religion, and was anointed with honey. After a last supper with Helios and 11 other companions, Mithra was crucified on a cross, bound in linen, placed in a rock tomb and rose on the third day or around 25 March (the full moon at the spring equinox, a time now called Easter after the Babylonian goddess Ishtar). The fiery destruction of the universe was a major doctrine of Mithraism-a time in which Mithra promised to return in person to Earth and save deserving souls. Devotees of Mithra partook in a sacred communion banquet of bread and wine, a ceremony that paralleled the Christian Eucharist and preceded it by more than four centuries.
Christianity is an adaptation of Mithraism welded with the Druidic principles of the Culdees, some Egyptian elements (the pre-Christian Book of Revelation was originally called The Mysteries of Osiris and Isis), Greek philosophy and various aspects of Hinduism.
Why there are no records of Jesus Christ
It is not possible to find in any legitimate religious or historical writings compiled between the beginning of the first century and well into the fourth century any reference to Jesus Christ and the spectacular events that the Church says accompanied his life. This confirmation comes from Frederic Farrar (1831-1903) of Trinity College, Cambridge:
"It is amazing that history has not embalmed for us even one certain or definite saying or circumstance in the life of the Saviour of mankind ... there is no statement in all history that says anyone saw Jesus or talked with him. Nothing in history is more astonishing than the silence of contemporary writers about events relayed in the four Gospels."
(The Life of Christ, Frederic W. Farrar, Cassell, London, 1874)
This situation arises from a conflict between history and New Testament narratives. Dr Tischendorf made this comment:
"We must frankly admit that we have no source of information with respect to the life of Jesus Christ other than ecclesiastic writings assembled during the fourth century."
(Codex Sinaiticus, Dr Constantin von Tischendorf, British Library, London)
There is an explanation for those hundreds of years of silence: the construct of Christianity did not begin until after the first quarter of the fourth century, and that is why Pope Leo X (d. 1521) called Christ a "fable" (Cardinal Bembo: His Letters..., op. cit.).Post Options Labels for this post:
e.g. scooters, vacation, fall
All Labels:
Monday, 25 June 2007
It is Time to stop Procrastinating, Affairs to be put in order.
Although my departure date has yet to be decided by the elements which motivate the workings of my fast deteriorating being, I am still not in too much of a hurry to go. Most financial workings have been resolved, but the mortal remains thingy, like whether I should provide sustenance for the flora of the Cremmo gardens, in the form of a blood and bone calcium supplement; has been shelved.
Seventy per cent of our States departures end up in the cauldron of fire, Why? because its cheaper and easier to maintain, and harder to resurrect should there be a second coming. So, It has been decided that a more conventional resting place will be in order, A double plot in the local boot hill with headstones, ones that will remain readable for the extended family to discover, that I spent it all before I left.
The past few weeks have been less than normal, what with floods rain winds and seemingly never ending power cuts, trying to maintain the domestic scenario has been a pain in the ass, flash lights (torches) candles, boiling water on the BBQ and getting burned several times on the barby convinced me about the Cremmo thingy.
I hope my next post does what I hope it will do. Borrowing a phrase I picked up recently, Even If you are an Irish Catholic Atheist or a Protestant Atheist you will be astonished by its contents.
Seventy per cent of our States departures end up in the cauldron of fire, Why? because its cheaper and easier to maintain, and harder to resurrect should there be a second coming. So, It has been decided that a more conventional resting place will be in order, A double plot in the local boot hill with headstones, ones that will remain readable for the extended family to discover, that I spent it all before I left.
The past few weeks have been less than normal, what with floods rain winds and seemingly never ending power cuts, trying to maintain the domestic scenario has been a pain in the ass, flash lights (torches) candles, boiling water on the BBQ and getting burned several times on the barby convinced me about the Cremmo thingy.
I hope my next post does what I hope it will do. Borrowing a phrase I picked up recently, Even If you are an Irish Catholic Atheist or a Protestant Atheist you will be astonished by its contents.
Teachers Common Room Capers under scrutiny, 'Staying behind for a Naughty makes you a porno star'.
HIGH school teachers have complained they are being secretly filmed by students in the classroom and the videos posted on the internet.
In a sinister development involving mobile phone cameras, videos taken by students during classes are appearing on the MySpace and YouTube sites.
Teachers are angry the technology is being used to capture them in compromising situations or hold them up to ridicule.
Students across the state have been warned they face disciplinary action if they improperly film school staff or each other.
They could also be prosecuted under the Listening Devices Act for posting videos on the internet.
Many members were concerned about "video and sound recordings of teachers".
"Sometimes students will film for a joke or to hold a teacher up to ridicule,"
"They put the video on YouTube or My Space . . . this type of thing is going to grow. The cameras used are so small that people don't know they are there."
Worried teachers have been told to seek advice on their rights at school and in the classroom.
Some principals had installed surveillance cameras in some classrooms for security purposes, causing further alarm over teachers' privacy.
Taking audio recordings without permission is illegal and can attract fines of up to $11,000.
In a sinister development involving mobile phone cameras, videos taken by students during classes are appearing on the MySpace and YouTube sites.
Teachers are angry the technology is being used to capture them in compromising situations or hold them up to ridicule.
Students across the state have been warned they face disciplinary action if they improperly film school staff or each other.
They could also be prosecuted under the Listening Devices Act for posting videos on the internet.
Many members were concerned about "video and sound recordings of teachers".
"Sometimes students will film for a joke or to hold a teacher up to ridicule,"
"They put the video on YouTube or My Space . . . this type of thing is going to grow. The cameras used are so small that people don't know they are there."
Worried teachers have been told to seek advice on their rights at school and in the classroom.
Some principals had installed surveillance cameras in some classrooms for security purposes, causing further alarm over teachers' privacy.
Taking audio recordings without permission is illegal and can attract fines of up to $11,000.
Thursday, 21 June 2007
Counselling Malarky Abolished, Its far better to " Have A Good Cry Instead".
June 21, 2007 12:00am
TRAIN disasters, floods, and now the Melbourne shooting - ghastly traumas dominate our news. Behind the scenes a small army of counsellors is making a living from the emotional fall-out.
When Victorian police emerged from the grisly task of sorting through the mangled Kerang train wreck they were immediately whisked away for trauma debriefing, to prevent any lasting effects on their psychological health.
At least that's what the counselling was supposed to do.
But it doesn't work. This type of trauma debriefing – or critical incident stress debriefing – is now discredited.
The Australian Centre for Post-traumatic Mental Health (ACPMH) has just released new guidelines on post-traumatic mental health – which have been given the tick of approval by the National Health and Medical Research Council.
The first of these guidelines spells out that psychological debriefing should not be offered on a routine basis. That's a mighty blow for the large numbers of debriefers – or "trauma vultures" as they have been called, who for the past two decades have been peddling this type of group psychological counselling as the salve for post-traumatic ills.
Yet evidence has been mounting that venting inner turmoil immediately after a trauma is not only often unhelpful but can sometimes make things worse.
There's solid research – studying survivors of earthquakes, motor accidents, bushfires, victims of assault, burns, dog-bites, emergency workers as well combat experiences such as grave diggers and soldiers in the first Gulf war.
With studies showing debriefing sometimes increases the likelihood of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), a review recommended compulsory debriefing should stop.
This doesn't mean leaving traumatised observers to battle with demons on their own.
What's needed is psychological first aid, say the guidelines, where survivors of potentially traumatic events are supported, their immediate needs met and monitored over time to see who runs into problems.
Most people who experience a traumatic event recover on their own with the help of family and friends.
Within a few weeks it is possible to tell who is likely to run into long-term problems – if they are having trouble sleeping, feeling highly anxious or distressed, using alcohol, drugs or gambling to help them cope or having difficulty expressing feelings or relating to other people.
That's when they need expert clinical help – which the guidelines say should involve five to 10 sessions of trauma-focused cognitive behaviour therapy, a treatment found to be highly effective in helping people regain psychological health (see http://www.acpmh.unimelb.edu.au).
But the large numbers of grief counsellors involved in the debriefing industry are battling hard to persuade their employers their skills are still needed.
Having attached themselves to a range of work forces – schools, banks, ambulance services, fire departments, and other emergency work forces – they now cling tenaciously to their hosts, fighting for survival.
Professor Grant Devilly from Swinbourne University's Brain Science Institute warns some are still doing debriefing under the guise of the recommended psychological first aid.
The landmark legal case – Howell v SRA – is used to convince employers that their services are required under law.
Yet this case – in which a railwayman received damages after he developed PTSD when the SRA offered only telephone counselling following a railway track suicide – makes the case for proper treatment as recommended by the guidelines, rather than debriefing.
So, beware the misguided trauma vultures and voice your protest if your child's school reacts to a tragedy by rounding up all the children for post-trauma counselling.
It's far better that children talk to their own teachers and their parents and those who don't want to talk be left alone.
Provide them with any information they may want to know and keep a careful eye for the rare few who may have lasting issues and only then seek professional help.
There's a role for the media here – challenging what has become the automatic postscript to every disaster story, the reassuring note that survivors will receive counselling.
This flat-Earth, cliched reporting is part of the problem – rather like advertising baby formula in third world countries. For all the efforts to present a good news spin, it won't improve their lot and may simply add to the disaster in their lives.
Then there were the far too many traumatic occasions with which I was personally involved with during WW2, Palestine 1947, the Korean war and other times during my service career, but I was among millions of others sharing these experiences.
I cannot recall during my service career anyone receiving counselling for witnessing any horrific Scenario, however, a few blokes cashed in on it, they were a small minority and heaps of Movies were made portraying these guys freaking out while sleeping, overreaction to the movie moguls created this present army of soothsayers whom I am glad to say have been given the chop.
I am not an insensitive person, I try to maintain a rational mind and think matters through, we were no tougher going back than the generations of today, most of us would have a good cry and get on with it.
life is not fair, get used to it.
Vest Daily Gaggle.
TRAIN disasters, floods, and now the Melbourne shooting - ghastly traumas dominate our news. Behind the scenes a small army of counsellors is making a living from the emotional fall-out.
When Victorian police emerged from the grisly task of sorting through the mangled Kerang train wreck they were immediately whisked away for trauma debriefing, to prevent any lasting effects on their psychological health.
At least that's what the counselling was supposed to do.
But it doesn't work. This type of trauma debriefing – or critical incident stress debriefing – is now discredited.
The Australian Centre for Post-traumatic Mental Health (ACPMH) has just released new guidelines on post-traumatic mental health – which have been given the tick of approval by the National Health and Medical Research Council.
The first of these guidelines spells out that psychological debriefing should not be offered on a routine basis. That's a mighty blow for the large numbers of debriefers – or "trauma vultures" as they have been called, who for the past two decades have been peddling this type of group psychological counselling as the salve for post-traumatic ills.
Yet evidence has been mounting that venting inner turmoil immediately after a trauma is not only often unhelpful but can sometimes make things worse.
There's solid research – studying survivors of earthquakes, motor accidents, bushfires, victims of assault, burns, dog-bites, emergency workers as well combat experiences such as grave diggers and soldiers in the first Gulf war.
With studies showing debriefing sometimes increases the likelihood of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), a review recommended compulsory debriefing should stop.
This doesn't mean leaving traumatised observers to battle with demons on their own.
What's needed is psychological first aid, say the guidelines, where survivors of potentially traumatic events are supported, their immediate needs met and monitored over time to see who runs into problems.
Most people who experience a traumatic event recover on their own with the help of family and friends.
Within a few weeks it is possible to tell who is likely to run into long-term problems – if they are having trouble sleeping, feeling highly anxious or distressed, using alcohol, drugs or gambling to help them cope or having difficulty expressing feelings or relating to other people.
That's when they need expert clinical help – which the guidelines say should involve five to 10 sessions of trauma-focused cognitive behaviour therapy, a treatment found to be highly effective in helping people regain psychological health (see http://www.acpmh.unimelb.edu.au).
But the large numbers of grief counsellors involved in the debriefing industry are battling hard to persuade their employers their skills are still needed.
Having attached themselves to a range of work forces – schools, banks, ambulance services, fire departments, and other emergency work forces – they now cling tenaciously to their hosts, fighting for survival.
Professor Grant Devilly from Swinbourne University's Brain Science Institute warns some are still doing debriefing under the guise of the recommended psychological first aid.
The landmark legal case – Howell v SRA – is used to convince employers that their services are required under law.
Yet this case – in which a railwayman received damages after he developed PTSD when the SRA offered only telephone counselling following a railway track suicide – makes the case for proper treatment as recommended by the guidelines, rather than debriefing.
So, beware the misguided trauma vultures and voice your protest if your child's school reacts to a tragedy by rounding up all the children for post-trauma counselling.
It's far better that children talk to their own teachers and their parents and those who don't want to talk be left alone.
Provide them with any information they may want to know and keep a careful eye for the rare few who may have lasting issues and only then seek professional help.
There's a role for the media here – challenging what has become the automatic postscript to every disaster story, the reassuring note that survivors will receive counselling.
This flat-Earth, cliched reporting is part of the problem – rather like advertising baby formula in third world countries. For all the efforts to present a good news spin, it won't improve their lot and may simply add to the disaster in their lives.
Then there were the far too many traumatic occasions with which I was personally involved with during WW2, Palestine 1947, the Korean war and other times during my service career, but I was among millions of others sharing these experiences.
I cannot recall during my service career anyone receiving counselling for witnessing any horrific Scenario, however, a few blokes cashed in on it, they were a small minority and heaps of Movies were made portraying these guys freaking out while sleeping, overreaction to the movie moguls created this present army of soothsayers whom I am glad to say have been given the chop.
I am not an insensitive person, I try to maintain a rational mind and think matters through, we were no tougher going back than the generations of today, most of us would have a good cry and get on with it.
life is not fair, get used to it.
Vest Daily Gaggle.
Tuesday, 19 June 2007
"Vest Remembers" Typhoon 'WANDA' Hong Kong, 1962.
Typhoon Wanda
Typhoon Wanda struck at about eight o’clock am, Saturday, 1 September 1962, its epicentre travelled over the colony. It is recorded as the most severe storm that Hong Kong has experienced in the past forty-two years. We secured our second-storey flat with battens and carpets over the windows and doors, and then waited. The rain and wind were unbelievable – about twelve inches of rain in twenty-four hours with winds exceeding 100 mph, the piston of the anemometer at the observatory stopped at wind speed 130 kilometres per hour, an accurate reading was not possible. Eight year old Christopher and six year old George our sons bravely baled out the lounge room floor which had become flooded from the rainwater pouring in, while I crawled outside the flat with a rope tied to my body and unblocked the balcony drains. The woman next door came into our flat screaming because her flat had been smashed. She hadn’t been prepared and had lost everything. In the general chaos, cars were overturned, trees went down, roofs torn off, and boats were smashed. The final toll was 130 lives lost, 60 more people missing and about 1,400 sampans and other vessels wrecked, also added to this was the inestimable misery suffered by those people who lost their homes and loved ones.
Definitely, a non fiction excerpt from the JLS book 'Waving g b t a t flies. Read it. Vest daily gaggle.
Typhoon Wanda struck at about eight o’clock am, Saturday, 1 September 1962, its epicentre travelled over the colony. It is recorded as the most severe storm that Hong Kong has experienced in the past forty-two years. We secured our second-storey flat with battens and carpets over the windows and doors, and then waited. The rain and wind were unbelievable – about twelve inches of rain in twenty-four hours with winds exceeding 100 mph, the piston of the anemometer at the observatory stopped at wind speed 130 kilometres per hour, an accurate reading was not possible. Eight year old Christopher and six year old George our sons bravely baled out the lounge room floor which had become flooded from the rainwater pouring in, while I crawled outside the flat with a rope tied to my body and unblocked the balcony drains. The woman next door came into our flat screaming because her flat had been smashed. She hadn’t been prepared and had lost everything. In the general chaos, cars were overturned, trees went down, roofs torn off, and boats were smashed. The final toll was 130 lives lost, 60 more people missing and about 1,400 sampans and other vessels wrecked, also added to this was the inestimable misery suffered by those people who lost their homes and loved ones.
Definitely, a non fiction excerpt from the JLS book 'Waving g b t a t flies. Read it. Vest daily gaggle.
Monday, 18 June 2007
What does Love Really mean.
Slow down for three minutes to read this. It is so worth it. Touching words from the mouth of babes.
What does Love mean?
A group of professional people posed this question to a group of 4 to 8 year-olds, "What does love mean?"
The answers they got were broader and deeper than anyone could have imagined. See what you think:
"When my grandmother got arthritis, she couldn't bend over and paint her toenails anymore. So my grandfather does it for her all the time, even when his hands got arthritis too. That's love."
Rebecca- age 8
When someone loves you, the way they say your name is different. You just know that your name is safe in their mouth."
Billy - age 4
(I love this one)
Love is when a girl puts on perfume and a boy puts on shaving cologne and they go out and smell each other."
Karl - age 5
"Love is when you go out to eat and give somebody most of your French fries without making them give you any of theirs."
Chrissy - age 6
"Love is what makes you smile when you're tired."
Terri - age 4
"Love is when my mommy makes coffee for my daddy and she takes a sip before giving it to him, to make sure the taste is OK."
Danny - age 7
"Love is when you kiss all the time. Then when you get tired of kissing, you still want to be together and you talk more. My Mommy and Daddy are like that. They look gross when they kiss"
Emily - age 8
____
"Love is what's in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen."
Bobby - age 7
(Wow!)
_____
"If you want to learn to love better, you should start with a friend who you hate,"
Nikka - age 6
(We need a few million more Nikka's on this planet)
____
"Love is when you tell a guy you like his shirt, and then he wears it everyday."
Noelle - age 7
"Love is like a little old woman and a little old man who are still friends even after they know each other so well."
Tommy - age 6
"Love is when Mommy gives Daddy the best piece of chicken."
Elaine-age 5
"Love is when Mommy sees Daddy smelly and sweaty and still says he is handsomer than Robert Redford."
Chris - age 7
"Love is when your puppy licks your face even after you left him alone all day."
Mary Ann - age 4
"I know my older sister loves me because she gives me all her old clothes and has to go out and buy new ones."
Lauren - age 4
(And at 14?)
"When you love somebody, your eyelashes go up and down and little stars come out of you."
(what an image)
Karen - age 7
"Love is when Mommy sees Daddy on the toilet and she doesn't think it's gross."
Mark - age 6
"You really shouldn't say 'I love you' unless you mean it. But if you mean it, you should say it a lot. People forget."
Jessica - age 8
And the final one -- Author and lecturer Leo Buscaglia once talked about a contest he was asked to judge. The purpose of the contest was to find the most caring child. The winner was a four year old child whose next door neighbor was an elderly gentleman who had recently lost his wife. Upon seeing the man cry, the little boy went into the old gentleman's yard, climbed onto his lap, and just sat there. When his Mother asked what he had said to the neighbor, the little boy said, "Nothing, I just helped him cry"
What does Love mean?
A group of professional people posed this question to a group of 4 to 8 year-olds, "What does love mean?"
The answers they got were broader and deeper than anyone could have imagined. See what you think:
"When my grandmother got arthritis, she couldn't bend over and paint her toenails anymore. So my grandfather does it for her all the time, even when his hands got arthritis too. That's love."
Rebecca- age 8
When someone loves you, the way they say your name is different. You just know that your name is safe in their mouth."
Billy - age 4
(I love this one)
Love is when a girl puts on perfume and a boy puts on shaving cologne and they go out and smell each other."
Karl - age 5
"Love is when you go out to eat and give somebody most of your French fries without making them give you any of theirs."
Chrissy - age 6
"Love is what makes you smile when you're tired."
Terri - age 4
"Love is when my mommy makes coffee for my daddy and she takes a sip before giving it to him, to make sure the taste is OK."
Danny - age 7
"Love is when you kiss all the time. Then when you get tired of kissing, you still want to be together and you talk more. My Mommy and Daddy are like that. They look gross when they kiss"
Emily - age 8
____
"Love is what's in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen."
Bobby - age 7
(Wow!)
_____
"If you want to learn to love better, you should start with a friend who you hate,"
Nikka - age 6
(We need a few million more Nikka's on this planet)
____
"Love is when you tell a guy you like his shirt, and then he wears it everyday."
Noelle - age 7
"Love is like a little old woman and a little old man who are still friends even after they know each other so well."
Tommy - age 6
"Love is when Mommy gives Daddy the best piece of chicken."
Elaine-age 5
"Love is when Mommy sees Daddy smelly and sweaty and still says he is handsomer than Robert Redford."
Chris - age 7
"Love is when your puppy licks your face even after you left him alone all day."
Mary Ann - age 4
"I know my older sister loves me because she gives me all her old clothes and has to go out and buy new ones."
Lauren - age 4
(And at 14?)
"When you love somebody, your eyelashes go up and down and little stars come out of you."
(what an image)
Karen - age 7
"Love is when Mommy sees Daddy on the toilet and she doesn't think it's gross."
Mark - age 6
"You really shouldn't say 'I love you' unless you mean it. But if you mean it, you should say it a lot. People forget."
Jessica - age 8
And the final one -- Author and lecturer Leo Buscaglia once talked about a contest he was asked to judge. The purpose of the contest was to find the most caring child. The winner was a four year old child whose next door neighbor was an elderly gentleman who had recently lost his wife. Upon seeing the man cry, the little boy went into the old gentleman's yard, climbed onto his lap, and just sat there. When his Mother asked what he had said to the neighbor, the little boy said, "Nothing, I just helped him cry"
Friday, 15 June 2007
Origins of The English Language in Less Than 800 Words.
DO You Know What You`re Writing?: Origins of The English Language in 800
Words For as long as I can remember (which, admittedly, isn`t that long) I have been interested in words and language.
As a writer it`s important to understand (at least in part) where the words come from.
English is a fascinating language, Its words are rich in both history and cultural content.
But how did these words, this language, come to be? What are these scrawlings writers write? In this article we`re going to take a look at a little history and a few entertaining resources too! I`ve kept it as short as I could, and though it did tempt me to become a 5000-word essay Isteadfastly resisted ;) 1.
Old English No, not those in the twilight of their lives. This is the name given to the dialects spoken in England up until about AD 1100. Where did it all begin? Well, I`m not going back all the way.
We`ll start, for our purposes, during the 5th-6th Century AD.
Three tribes speaking the Western Germanic language decided that they would come settle in England. These we know as the Jutes, Angles and Saxons. They pushed the native celts into Scotland, Wales and Cornwall and established settlements across England.
Their language divided into four dialects: Northumbrian (spoken in northern England), Mercian (the Midlands), Kentish (the south- east), and West Saxon (south and west). These dialects we collectively call Old English. You can see and hear some Old English by visiting the link below (I found some readings from the well-known Old English epic, Beowulf!).
http://www.engl.virginia.edu/OE/Beowulf.Readings/Prologue.html 2. Old Norse Around AD 850 the North Germanic tribes decided to start invading the land (mostly in the north) and thus Old Norse started to permeate the language.
It was King Alfred the Great who pushed the Danish invaders back but they still held the north of England and so that`s where the main Old Norse infusion occurred, but it spread and the two mixed - often leaving two words with the same meaning intact; which means, today, your thesaurus has a lot more entries than it otherwise would have had! ;) But many more synonyms were to be added... 3. Anglo-Norman Yes, that strange Norse-French hybrid that is used to describe all those heraldic terms. This language dominated England after the successful invasion made by William of Normandy in 1066. The Normans (the word comes from `Norse man`) were actually of Western Germanic stock but had settled in France. England became dominated by this French language and Old English (which also became known as Anglo-Saxon in Alfred`s time) went underground. Not only that but the Normans brought with them the Latin script which was used in ecclesiastical and legal matters. It was to be another 300 years before English became the language of the rulers again, Middle English (Chaucer), Modern English (Shakespeare) and Late Modern English (today!) followed. Summary English, influenced heavily by Old English, Old Norse, the Norman French and Latin has become a rich and multi-synonymed language. Personally I wouldn`t write or speak another! Well, actually I can`t do either anyway ;) I thought I`d end this article by providing you with some interesting linguistic facts as well as a couple of great links.
Interesting Linguistic Facts .
1. The last native Cornishspeaker died in 1777. The dead language of Cornish (though it is being revived) was spoken in the far southwestern extremity of England.
(Cornwall).
2. Although only a sixth of known Old English words form the origins of today`s English, a full half of today`s most- commonly-used
words are from Old English. Read that again ;).
3. The modern-day English counties of Sussex and Essex take their name origins from `South Saxonland` and `East Saxonland` respectively; Wessex (`West Saxonland`)no longer exists but was the homeland of King Alfred the Great.
4. The influence of the Norman French `good life` as rulers can be seen in the language. For instance, many animals (such as deer, pig, sheep, chicken) retain their Anglo- Saxon (Old English) names whilst the `meat for the table` employs the French (`venaison`, `porc`, `mouton`, `poulet`).
5.It was largely the blending of Anglo-saxon and French to bring about multiple synonyms that today gives English the largest vocabulary of all languages. Examples include sweat/perspiration, dead/deceased, want/desire, ad inf! (oh, ad. inf. is Latin ;) ).
6. It is thought that the mispronunciation of the Anglo-Saxon letter, `edh` (likely pronounced as th as in `the`) was responsible for the emergence of the word `Ye` as in `Ye Olde Worlde...` It should probably be `the` not `ye`. A Couple of Great Links You can read more details about by visiting:http://www.wordorigins.org/histeng.htm.
You can find some good resources (including Old English fonts) by checking out this web site:
http://www.wordorigins.org/source.htm For those who know HTML, you can use the three weird-looking characters from the Anglo-Saxon alphabet (eth, thorn and the ae/AE ligature) with these named entities: eth,thorn,aelig and AElig.
I hope you feel a little better now you know what you`re writing ;)
P.S. There`s a bit more in the online version of this article which cannot be conveyed in text:
http://www.writers-and-publishers.com/essays/d_andrews.html ------ Darren Andrews is a writer and writes about anything he jolly well likes. He lives in England and tries to help writers understand the Internet. You can take his free mini-course, "Write Your Way To Success & Profit" by visiting:
http://www.writers-and-publishers.com/pop.html
Words For as long as I can remember (which, admittedly, isn`t that long) I have been interested in words and language.
As a writer it`s important to understand (at least in part) where the words come from.
English is a fascinating language, Its words are rich in both history and cultural content.
But how did these words, this language, come to be? What are these scrawlings writers write? In this article we`re going to take a look at a little history and a few entertaining resources too! I`ve kept it as short as I could, and though it did tempt me to become a 5000-word essay Isteadfastly resisted ;) 1.
Old English No, not those in the twilight of their lives. This is the name given to the dialects spoken in England up until about AD 1100. Where did it all begin? Well, I`m not going back all the way.
We`ll start, for our purposes, during the 5th-6th Century AD.
Three tribes speaking the Western Germanic language decided that they would come settle in England. These we know as the Jutes, Angles and Saxons. They pushed the native celts into Scotland, Wales and Cornwall and established settlements across England.
Their language divided into four dialects: Northumbrian (spoken in northern England), Mercian (the Midlands), Kentish (the south- east), and West Saxon (south and west). These dialects we collectively call Old English. You can see and hear some Old English by visiting the link below (I found some readings from the well-known Old English epic, Beowulf!).
http://www.engl.virginia.edu/OE/Beowulf.Readings/Prologue.html 2. Old Norse Around AD 850 the North Germanic tribes decided to start invading the land (mostly in the north) and thus Old Norse started to permeate the language.
It was King Alfred the Great who pushed the Danish invaders back but they still held the north of England and so that`s where the main Old Norse infusion occurred, but it spread and the two mixed - often leaving two words with the same meaning intact; which means, today, your thesaurus has a lot more entries than it otherwise would have had! ;) But many more synonyms were to be added... 3. Anglo-Norman Yes, that strange Norse-French hybrid that is used to describe all those heraldic terms. This language dominated England after the successful invasion made by William of Normandy in 1066. The Normans (the word comes from `Norse man`) were actually of Western Germanic stock but had settled in France. England became dominated by this French language and Old English (which also became known as Anglo-Saxon in Alfred`s time) went underground. Not only that but the Normans brought with them the Latin script which was used in ecclesiastical and legal matters. It was to be another 300 years before English became the language of the rulers again, Middle English (Chaucer), Modern English (Shakespeare) and Late Modern English (today!) followed. Summary English, influenced heavily by Old English, Old Norse, the Norman French and Latin has become a rich and multi-synonymed language. Personally I wouldn`t write or speak another! Well, actually I can`t do either anyway ;) I thought I`d end this article by providing you with some interesting linguistic facts as well as a couple of great links.
Interesting Linguistic Facts .
1. The last native Cornishspeaker died in 1777. The dead language of Cornish (though it is being revived) was spoken in the far southwestern extremity of England.
(Cornwall).
2. Although only a sixth of known Old English words form the origins of today`s English, a full half of today`s most- commonly-used
words are from Old English. Read that again ;).
3. The modern-day English counties of Sussex and Essex take their name origins from `South Saxonland` and `East Saxonland` respectively; Wessex (`West Saxonland`)no longer exists but was the homeland of King Alfred the Great.
4. The influence of the Norman French `good life` as rulers can be seen in the language. For instance, many animals (such as deer, pig, sheep, chicken) retain their Anglo- Saxon (Old English) names whilst the `meat for the table` employs the French (`venaison`, `porc`, `mouton`, `poulet`).
5.It was largely the blending of Anglo-saxon and French to bring about multiple synonyms that today gives English the largest vocabulary of all languages. Examples include sweat/perspiration, dead/deceased, want/desire, ad inf! (oh, ad. inf. is Latin ;) ).
6. It is thought that the mispronunciation of the Anglo-Saxon letter, `edh` (likely pronounced as th as in `the`) was responsible for the emergence of the word `Ye` as in `Ye Olde Worlde...` It should probably be `the` not `ye`. A Couple of Great Links You can read more details about by visiting:http://www.wordorigins.org/histeng.htm.
You can find some good resources (including Old English fonts) by checking out this web site:
http://www.wordorigins.org/source.htm For those who know HTML, you can use the three weird-looking characters from the Anglo-Saxon alphabet (eth, thorn and the ae/AE ligature) with these named entities: eth,thorn,aelig and AElig.
I hope you feel a little better now you know what you`re writing ;)
P.S. There`s a bit more in the online version of this article which cannot be conveyed in text:
http://www.writers-and-publishers.com/essays/d_andrews.html ------ Darren Andrews is a writer and writes about anything he jolly well likes. He lives in England and tries to help writers understand the Internet. You can take his free mini-course, "Write Your Way To Success & Profit" by visiting:
http://www.writers-and-publishers.com/pop.html
Monday, 11 June 2007
Vest is undergoing interrogation by blogging thought police
How well do you know me?
Monday June 11th 2007, 6:06 am
Filed under: MeMe
I stole this from Lil Bit, A Five*****Star X (who between you and me is a Lil Hottie!). I thought it was interesting. You are supposed to answer the questions about me. Even if you don’t know the answers, have a guess… Go on, give it a go.
Summarize me in three words:Where did we meet:
Take a stab at my middle name:
How long have you known me:
When is the last time that we saw each other:
Do I drink:
Am I happy:
Am I a good person:
What was your first impression of upon meeting/seeing me:
What’s one of my favorite things to do:
Am I funny:
How do you make me smile:
What’s my favorite type of music:
Have you ever seen me cry:
Can I sing?:
What is the best feature about me:
Am I shy or outgoing:
Am I a rebel or do I follow the rules:
Do I have any special talents:
Would you call me preppy, average, sporty, punk, hippie, glam, nerdy,
snobby, or something else (what):
What is my favorite food:
If there was one good nickname for me, what would it be:
What is my worst habit:
Have you ever had a dream about me? If so, what?:
If you and I were stranded on a desert island, what is the one thing I
would bring?
Are we friends:
Do I believe in God?
Am I family oriented?
Who is my best friend?
Will you repost this so I can do it for you?
Copy and paste into the comments , then reply below the Q's.
VEST DAILY GAGGLE.
Monday June 11th 2007, 6:06 am
Filed under: MeMe
I stole this from Lil Bit, A Five*****Star X (who between you and me is a Lil Hottie!). I thought it was interesting. You are supposed to answer the questions about me. Even if you don’t know the answers, have a guess… Go on, give it a go.
Summarize me in three words:Where did we meet:
Take a stab at my middle name:
How long have you known me:
When is the last time that we saw each other:
Do I drink:
Am I happy:
Am I a good person:
What was your first impression of upon meeting/seeing me:
What’s one of my favorite things to do:
Am I funny:
How do you make me smile:
What’s my favorite type of music:
Have you ever seen me cry:
Can I sing?:
What is the best feature about me:
Am I shy or outgoing:
Am I a rebel or do I follow the rules:
Do I have any special talents:
Would you call me preppy, average, sporty, punk, hippie, glam, nerdy,
snobby, or something else (what):
What is my favorite food:
If there was one good nickname for me, what would it be:
What is my worst habit:
Have you ever had a dream about me? If so, what?:
If you and I were stranded on a desert island, what is the one thing I
would bring?
Are we friends:
Do I believe in God?
Am I family oriented?
Who is my best friend?
Will you repost this so I can do it for you?
Copy and paste into the comments , then reply below the Q's.
VEST DAILY GAGGLE.
Sunday, 10 June 2007
We have Sunshine, but for how long? flooding continues . More dark skies..
FROM my balcony to the East the dark clouds are gathering for a further assault so it appears. I am hoping the rain clouds will deposit their rain on the parched areas of the interior , although not as bad prior to the rain, they are able to absorb more than we can; here on the Central Coast of New South Wales Australia.
The central coast is a disaster area; over 100,000 homes without power and other normal day to day necessities. News around the globe may have reached you, if not Google www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph this will save time and unnecessary explanation.
On the personal front, I wrote my last post on Friday evening, it had been raining fairly hard most of the previous days but now it had whipped up into a frenzy and absolutely bucketing down. the cold S/E winds coming in off shore sent us all off to bed early and finally some sleep after listening to to the noise outside.
I woke about 5-30 am, darkness and no power. At daylight we all had hot drinks made from the BBQ side burner, plus brekky cereals. we then heard it would be days before any power was restored. Tim our son took off with the gr/daughters to a friends house. Rosemary and myself drove through flooded streets and got petrol for the car and we called into a supermarket. which had it own Gen/power, we had a feed of KFC trans fats and fries, then got soaked getting to the car, got home lit candles everywhere. played UNO with a torch and went to bed at 9pm, we both woke suddenly when the Fan heater turned on at 1005, we were back from the dark ages.
Our eldest son returned home at 11pm and we all went to bed again at 12 plus am.
We consider ourselves more fortunate than most around this neck of the woods. but then there is more to come, so we wait and see. The last paragraph was finished at 2-35pm Sun June 10 and saved as a draft. Continuing post at 8-03 am Mon June 11.
Yesterday Sun at 2-40 pm, as we all sat down for an early dinner the power went off again, soon after at 5 pm we were ferried to our club; a one minute drive away, our son Tim taking us in the large SUV.
Although power had been restored by 6-30 pm, the club with its own generator was open until 11pm with all services plus a band playing, went to bed about midnight and woke this morning with the usual headache but- the Sun was shining and clear skies, it is now 22 hours since the last rain- but the roads are still flooded and the salt water lake is lapping against the back doors of those unfortunate to be on the water-front( We moved from there last year for several other reasons).
In the wash up-I suppose we have not been that hard done by, a lot of inconvenience maybe but the fact that thousands of other people are still without services to their homes plus the damage caused by the wind and flooding mean I have little to complain about, mind you the gardens are more than a bit messed up, (But I'll point the wife in that direction as she is a habitual 'tidyupperer').
That's it for now, see ya Vest.Daily Gaggle.
The central coast is a disaster area; over 100,000 homes without power and other normal day to day necessities. News around the globe may have reached you, if not Google www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph this will save time and unnecessary explanation.
On the personal front, I wrote my last post on Friday evening, it had been raining fairly hard most of the previous days but now it had whipped up into a frenzy and absolutely bucketing down. the cold S/E winds coming in off shore sent us all off to bed early and finally some sleep after listening to to the noise outside.
I woke about 5-30 am, darkness and no power. At daylight we all had hot drinks made from the BBQ side burner, plus brekky cereals. we then heard it would be days before any power was restored. Tim our son took off with the gr/daughters to a friends house. Rosemary and myself drove through flooded streets and got petrol for the car and we called into a supermarket. which had it own Gen/power, we had a feed of KFC trans fats and fries, then got soaked getting to the car, got home lit candles everywhere. played UNO with a torch and went to bed at 9pm, we both woke suddenly when the Fan heater turned on at 1005, we were back from the dark ages.
Our eldest son returned home at 11pm and we all went to bed again at 12 plus am.
We consider ourselves more fortunate than most around this neck of the woods. but then there is more to come, so we wait and see. The last paragraph was finished at 2-35pm Sun June 10 and saved as a draft. Continuing post at 8-03 am Mon June 11.
Yesterday Sun at 2-40 pm, as we all sat down for an early dinner the power went off again, soon after at 5 pm we were ferried to our club; a one minute drive away, our son Tim taking us in the large SUV.
Although power had been restored by 6-30 pm, the club with its own generator was open until 11pm with all services plus a band playing, went to bed about midnight and woke this morning with the usual headache but- the Sun was shining and clear skies, it is now 22 hours since the last rain- but the roads are still flooded and the salt water lake is lapping against the back doors of those unfortunate to be on the water-front( We moved from there last year for several other reasons).
In the wash up-I suppose we have not been that hard done by, a lot of inconvenience maybe but the fact that thousands of other people are still without services to their homes plus the damage caused by the wind and flooding mean I have little to complain about, mind you the gardens are more than a bit messed up, (But I'll point the wife in that direction as she is a habitual 'tidyupperer').
That's it for now, see ya Vest.Daily Gaggle.
Friday, 8 June 2007
Drought ! What Drought !..Its Pissing down here in NSW Oz
Well we wanted rain and plenty of it and at last we are getting it. We have had unrelenting rain for the past two days here where I live in the seaside town of Budgewoi NSW Australia.
Our garden is under water and the garage floor too, the road is now a flowing stream. for hours we have heard the constant thunder; so the rain gods are intent on keeping it coming. The tourists will stay away from this the 'Queens birthday long weekend, when lilibet will be 81 years and 51 days old.
Elsewhere in Australia other states too are getting high rainfall where drought conditions have prevailed for several years. rivers dry for twenty years or more are now flowing again, and soon the grass Will be green again.
In recent years the people in the state of New South Wales and probably other states have been encouraged to install rainwater tanks to conserve the tap water supply,the rain water together with grey water from the washing machines is the used for such purposes as car and boat washing plus garden watering.
Our eldest son has just left to drive 200 klms down the coast in the pouring rain to his gig as a DJ. Our two beautiful granddaughters will be staying the weekend, that will be great fun in this wet weather.
At the moment I am sneezing; I have a stinking cold - the television is erratic and the two cats have gone missing, I am now taking day and night flu tablets, so now I can't have alcohol, the good news is, we will be having roast leg of Lamb for dinner(sorry vegans) with eight varieties of vegetables and roast spuds with gravy, dessert is to be Apple pie and french vanilla ice cream, going past that there seems to be little excitement to look forward to until the weather clears, I shall now turn the oven on, I'll get back to you later. Vest.
Our garden is under water and the garage floor too, the road is now a flowing stream. for hours we have heard the constant thunder; so the rain gods are intent on keeping it coming. The tourists will stay away from this the 'Queens birthday long weekend, when lilibet will be 81 years and 51 days old.
Elsewhere in Australia other states too are getting high rainfall where drought conditions have prevailed for several years. rivers dry for twenty years or more are now flowing again, and soon the grass Will be green again.
In recent years the people in the state of New South Wales and probably other states have been encouraged to install rainwater tanks to conserve the tap water supply,the rain water together with grey water from the washing machines is the used for such purposes as car and boat washing plus garden watering.
Our eldest son has just left to drive 200 klms down the coast in the pouring rain to his gig as a DJ. Our two beautiful granddaughters will be staying the weekend, that will be great fun in this wet weather.
At the moment I am sneezing; I have a stinking cold - the television is erratic and the two cats have gone missing, I am now taking day and night flu tablets, so now I can't have alcohol, the good news is, we will be having roast leg of Lamb for dinner(sorry vegans) with eight varieties of vegetables and roast spuds with gravy, dessert is to be Apple pie and french vanilla ice cream, going past that there seems to be little excitement to look forward to until the weather clears, I shall now turn the oven on, I'll get back to you later. Vest.
Thursday, 7 June 2007
To some readers its just Gobbledygook.
I find every day when visiting other blogsites there are people out there who use inordinate measures to unnecessarily incorporate uncommon words and phrases in order to compile an otherwise simple message, these are people who consider that an obscure, or Greek or a latin word adds weight to their statement, when in fact it does the opposite and repels readers and listeners who are only at ease with that which is normally easy to understand.
A person need not know Latin, but should at least have forgotten it.
VEST, Daily Gaggle.
A person need not know Latin, but should at least have forgotten it.
VEST, Daily Gaggle.
Wednesday, 6 June 2007
South African workers have no energy for SEX....Vest Say's "The Aussie Viagra Oysters would solve their problem".
/05/2007 07:32 AM
No Energy for Sex Say Striking Workers
South African workers have complained to their union, COSATU, that working conditions are so tough that energy for sex is minimal or non-existent.
Regional Chairman Monroe Mkalipi, has taken up the cause and complained, in an effort to negotiate with the government over pay and other conditions including performance in the bedroom. There has not been a pay rise awarded to the workers since 2004.
"The harshness that we have in our workplace is so severe to such a point that when you get home at night it becomes a problem expanding our families," Mkalipi stated in an interview.
Vest has stated that "Those Aussie Oysters laced with Viagra(see back post) will soon bring their flagging members standing to attention".
No Energy for Sex Say Striking Workers
South African workers have complained to their union, COSATU, that working conditions are so tough that energy for sex is minimal or non-existent.
Regional Chairman Monroe Mkalipi, has taken up the cause and complained, in an effort to negotiate with the government over pay and other conditions including performance in the bedroom. There has not been a pay rise awarded to the workers since 2004.
"The harshness that we have in our workplace is so severe to such a point that when you get home at night it becomes a problem expanding our families," Mkalipi stated in an interview.
Vest has stated that "Those Aussie Oysters laced with Viagra(see back post) will soon bring their flagging members standing to attention".
Another NESSY Sighting
06/01/2007 02:03 AM
Scientist May Have Caught the Loch Ness Monster on Video
Gordon Holmes, an amateur scientist from the UK, has captured what may be the Loch Ness Monster on video. The footage shows a 15m black creature swimming at about 10km/h. The legend brings 400,000 tourists to the loch anually.
The footage will be subjected to further scrutiny but even the normally sceptical Scottish media is running the footage. Stories of a monster in the loch go back as far as 565 AD and there have been over 4000 modern reports of sightings.
"I see myself as a sceptical interpreter of what happens in the loch, but I do keep an open mind about these things and there is no doubt this is some of the best footage I have seen," said marine biologist Adrian Shine.
Scientist May Have Caught the Loch Ness Monster on Video
Gordon Holmes, an amateur scientist from the UK, has captured what may be the Loch Ness Monster on video. The footage shows a 15m black creature swimming at about 10km/h. The legend brings 400,000 tourists to the loch anually.
The footage will be subjected to further scrutiny but even the normally sceptical Scottish media is running the footage. Stories of a monster in the loch go back as far as 565 AD and there have been over 4000 modern reports of sightings.
"I see myself as a sceptical interpreter of what happens in the loch, but I do keep an open mind about these things and there is no doubt this is some of the best footage I have seen," said marine biologist Adrian Shine.
Tuesday, 5 June 2007
Vest Remembers Sydney Australia Tues June 5 1945
According to my ancient illegally kept WW2 journal, the 38,000 ton British Battleship The HMS King George V arrived in Sydney on Tuesday June 5 1945(same calendar year as 07)& berthed at No 6 Wooloomooloo for a three week rest from the operation 'Iceberg' conflict near Japan, plus repairs and replenishment and rest &recreation for our crew, I had served nearly two years of wartime activity on the HMS King George V up and until then and I was not yet 19 years old, but I was thankful to be alive.
Vest Daily Gaggle.
Vest Daily Gaggle.
Monday, 4 June 2007
Living for Friday and that Long Weekend, the Queen Bless her and all who sail in her
IT seems that Australia and our close British Commowealth neighbour New Zealand may be leading the field when it comes to having a day off for some archaic reason.
These are what are referred to as public holidays. The people who take advantage of having a bludge from their workplace and being paid for doing so, more than likely none of these people have little idea about the significance or the reason for the public holiday and even if they do rarely show any degree of interest.
Australia has nine National public holidays,
New years Day, Australia Day, Good Friday, Easter Saturday, Easter Monday, Anzac Day, Queens Birthday, Christmas day, Boxing Day.
Australia's seven States and the Capital territory collectively; have a further sixteen public holidays, notably 'Labour Day' is one celebrated? in six states on five differing dates.
The worst culprit of all is the 'Two headed' State of Tasmania which has eight more lazy days than the national figure, five point five more than the state average, one of these days being Easter Tuesday-would you believe!.
Today is 'Foundation Day' in Western Australia which is 3,000 miles west of NSW where I am right now, but close by to the east over the briny a bit lies New Zealand, the 'land of the big day off' Where they enjoy ten national public holidays - also fourteen anniversary holiday per year (Do they ever work there).
However, today is the Queens Birthday in New zealand where her majesty will become 81 years and 44 days of age. Next week lucky Liz will collar another birthday when she becomes 81 years and 51 days of age in all Australian states except Western Australia, but wait, Western Oz will last of all but not least give her a birthday party on the first day of this October 07 when a tired old liz - totally pissed off with this birthday bullshit will be 81 years and one hundred and sixty three days of age.
Psst! : Ill let you into a secret, Queen Elizabeth will be 82 years and no extra days old on the 21st day of April in the year 2008. 'But only you and I know that, so shush.
Happy birthday to all birthday lovers. On average 57,539 Australians celebrated their birthday today. VEST Daily Gaggle.4-6-07
These are what are referred to as public holidays. The people who take advantage of having a bludge from their workplace and being paid for doing so, more than likely none of these people have little idea about the significance or the reason for the public holiday and even if they do rarely show any degree of interest.
Australia has nine National public holidays,
New years Day, Australia Day, Good Friday, Easter Saturday, Easter Monday, Anzac Day, Queens Birthday, Christmas day, Boxing Day.
Australia's seven States and the Capital territory collectively; have a further sixteen public holidays, notably 'Labour Day' is one celebrated? in six states on five differing dates.
The worst culprit of all is the 'Two headed' State of Tasmania which has eight more lazy days than the national figure, five point five more than the state average, one of these days being Easter Tuesday-would you believe!.
Today is 'Foundation Day' in Western Australia which is 3,000 miles west of NSW where I am right now, but close by to the east over the briny a bit lies New Zealand, the 'land of the big day off' Where they enjoy ten national public holidays - also fourteen anniversary holiday per year (Do they ever work there).
However, today is the Queens Birthday in New zealand where her majesty will become 81 years and 44 days of age. Next week lucky Liz will collar another birthday when she becomes 81 years and 51 days of age in all Australian states except Western Australia, but wait, Western Oz will last of all but not least give her a birthday party on the first day of this October 07 when a tired old liz - totally pissed off with this birthday bullshit will be 81 years and one hundred and sixty three days of age.
Psst! : Ill let you into a secret, Queen Elizabeth will be 82 years and no extra days old on the 21st day of April in the year 2008. 'But only you and I know that, so shush.
Happy birthday to all birthday lovers. On average 57,539 Australians celebrated their birthday today. VEST Daily Gaggle.4-6-07
Education Dept condones the possibility of US-style School Massacre
A SCHOOL near Goulburn is refusing to take back two 16-year-old boys who are alleged to have plotted a US-style classroom massacre over the Internet.
The Department of Education last week issued a directiveto Crookwell High School, northwest of Goulburn, to allow the two Year 11 boys to return tomorrow.
But the demand has triggered a brawl between departmental officers and teachers, who say the two boys pose a danger to both themselves and other students.
Teachers meanwhile held an urgent meeting last week during which they voted to take industrial action if the department refused to reverse its decision.
Crookwell High School, situated in the southern tablelands, has just 292 students.
The two boys were removed from the school by police last month after concerns they were plotting to kill classmates.
The boys, both aged 16, had allegedly discussed plans on an Internet chat site to shoot fellow students and school staff in a Columbine-style massacre.
School staff were alerted to the plans by another student, whose name was on an alleged hitlist drawn up by the boys.
Both of the boys were taken to Goulburn Base Hospital for a psychiatric assessment.
It is understood that the department received the results of the assessments on Friday. Police investigating the incident have not charged either of the boys.
One of the boys claimed his friend had been upset after he was dropped by his girlfriend.
A teacher from the school stated that students, parents and teachers remain concerned about their safety. It is understood that one of the boys had a history of violent behaviour, for which he had been suspended previously.
Staff had also been in discussions with the department over the boy's future at the school prior to the alleged massacre plot.
The teacher said the department had failed to follow proper procedures to deal with incidents.
This had included instigating an automatic 20-day suspension.
"We met on Wednesday, where we basically agreed to take industrial action if the students in question were re-admitted to our school, he said.
"We've had visits from parents, some of whom have serious concerns about the safety of their children (because of the plot).
"These two boys should not be re-admitted to the school."
NSW Teachers Federation senior vice-president Bob Pritchard said there were several education options available to the students.
These included enrolling them in distance education or having them attend a TAFE college.
"The department is more intent on pushing the students back into the school than addressing the concerns of staff," Mr Pritchard said.
"The teachers remain to be convinced that the department is taking the safety of the school's students seriously. One would hope that commonsense will prevail."
Mr Pritchard said teachers would meet again this week to discuss what measures would be taken if the boys are returned.
posted by Vest @ 6/03/2007 06:11:00 PM 0 comments links to this post
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The Department of Education last week issued a directiveto Crookwell High School, northwest of Goulburn, to allow the two Year 11 boys to return tomorrow.
But the demand has triggered a brawl between departmental officers and teachers, who say the two boys pose a danger to both themselves and other students.
Teachers meanwhile held an urgent meeting last week during which they voted to take industrial action if the department refused to reverse its decision.
Crookwell High School, situated in the southern tablelands, has just 292 students.
The two boys were removed from the school by police last month after concerns they were plotting to kill classmates.
The boys, both aged 16, had allegedly discussed plans on an Internet chat site to shoot fellow students and school staff in a Columbine-style massacre.
School staff were alerted to the plans by another student, whose name was on an alleged hitlist drawn up by the boys.
Both of the boys were taken to Goulburn Base Hospital for a psychiatric assessment.
It is understood that the department received the results of the assessments on Friday. Police investigating the incident have not charged either of the boys.
One of the boys claimed his friend had been upset after he was dropped by his girlfriend.
A teacher from the school stated that students, parents and teachers remain concerned about their safety. It is understood that one of the boys had a history of violent behaviour, for which he had been suspended previously.
Staff had also been in discussions with the department over the boy's future at the school prior to the alleged massacre plot.
The teacher said the department had failed to follow proper procedures to deal with incidents.
This had included instigating an automatic 20-day suspension.
"We met on Wednesday, where we basically agreed to take industrial action if the students in question were re-admitted to our school, he said.
"We've had visits from parents, some of whom have serious concerns about the safety of their children (because of the plot).
"These two boys should not be re-admitted to the school."
NSW Teachers Federation senior vice-president Bob Pritchard said there were several education options available to the students.
These included enrolling them in distance education or having them attend a TAFE college.
"The department is more intent on pushing the students back into the school than addressing the concerns of staff," Mr Pritchard said.
"The teachers remain to be convinced that the department is taking the safety of the school's students seriously. One would hope that commonsense will prevail."
Mr Pritchard said teachers would meet again this week to discuss what measures would be taken if the boys are returned.
posted by Vest @ 6/03/2007 06:11:00 PM 0 comments links to this post
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Sunday, 3 June 2007
Horny Aphrodisiac Oysters a Hard sell, say's drug company.
A NSW oyster farmer has been feeding his crop Viagra to make the ultimate aphrodisiac - but now the drug's maker is threatening to take him to court.
George May began lacing his oysters with the anti-impotence drug in a bid to sell them to overseas customers.
Marketing them as Viagra Oysters, he says the process not only boosts the aphrodisiac qualities of the shellfish but there is also a potential Asian market of up to $300 million.
The unusual additive has, however, landed the farmer in hot water with pharmaceutical company Phizer and state food authorities.
Food Safety NSW says Mr May's conduct is illegal and breaches the NSW shellfish program under the food act.
Pfizer has also threatened to take legal action because Viagra Oysters is a trademark violation.
Mr May, who has patented the process, is adamant he will continue harvesting the oysters and transferring them to tanks full of crushed Viagra because there is an overseas market.
"We realise we will not be able to sell them in Australia but we haven't been told we can't harvest them here despite a number of conversations with the food authority," Mr May said.
"Other countries have different regulations so we will be selling overseas.
"I'm happy to change the name but they are going to have a real David and Goliath battle if they want me to stop."
The 59-year-old came up with the idea because of the threat of impotence after having prostate cancer surgery this year.
"It really works, it's sex in a can," he said.
He has already produced 10,000 oysters, which he eats and gives away to friends.
But food authorities and health groups are concerned, saying the drug is contaminating the oysters.
"There are tight regulations on oysters in NSW so they are safe. They can't add Viagra to oysters - it is not allowed, it's up to doctors to prescribe Viagra," a Food Safety NSW spokesman said.
"Even giving it away is illegal as it is a form of marketing to induce a sale."
A Pfizer spokesman said the global company was not happy about its product being used that way. He added a lawsuit was an option.
Stiff upper lip ... oyster farmer George May is determined to continue making his product.
George May began lacing his oysters with the anti-impotence drug in a bid to sell them to overseas customers.
Marketing them as Viagra Oysters, he says the process not only boosts the aphrodisiac qualities of the shellfish but there is also a potential Asian market of up to $300 million.
The unusual additive has, however, landed the farmer in hot water with pharmaceutical company Phizer and state food authorities.
Food Safety NSW says Mr May's conduct is illegal and breaches the NSW shellfish program under the food act.
Pfizer has also threatened to take legal action because Viagra Oysters is a trademark violation.
Mr May, who has patented the process, is adamant he will continue harvesting the oysters and transferring them to tanks full of crushed Viagra because there is an overseas market.
"We realise we will not be able to sell them in Australia but we haven't been told we can't harvest them here despite a number of conversations with the food authority," Mr May said.
"Other countries have different regulations so we will be selling overseas.
"I'm happy to change the name but they are going to have a real David and Goliath battle if they want me to stop."
The 59-year-old came up with the idea because of the threat of impotence after having prostate cancer surgery this year.
"It really works, it's sex in a can," he said.
He has already produced 10,000 oysters, which he eats and gives away to friends.
But food authorities and health groups are concerned, saying the drug is contaminating the oysters.
"There are tight regulations on oysters in NSW so they are safe. They can't add Viagra to oysters - it is not allowed, it's up to doctors to prescribe Viagra," a Food Safety NSW spokesman said.
"Even giving it away is illegal as it is a form of marketing to induce a sale."
A Pfizer spokesman said the global company was not happy about its product being used that way. He added a lawsuit was an option.
Stiff upper lip ... oyster farmer George May is determined to continue making his product.
Saturday, 2 June 2007
At last 'A Sensible Shooting,' Music Lovers will love this.
MANILA: An unemployed man was shot dead by a security guard for singing out of tune in a Philippine karaoke bar.
Romy Baligula, 29, was halfway through Frank Sinatra's 'My Way' when 43-year-old security guard Robilito Ortega yelled that he was out of tune, before pulling out his gun and shooting him dead.
I wonder how many time's myself and other's have pointed their hands Gun fashion at these singers in utter despair. I think that guy asked for it somehow. However, a Stun gun or a Paint gun would have sufficed.
Romy Baligula, 29, was halfway through Frank Sinatra's 'My Way' when 43-year-old security guard Robilito Ortega yelled that he was out of tune, before pulling out his gun and shooting him dead.
I wonder how many time's myself and other's have pointed their hands Gun fashion at these singers in utter despair. I think that guy asked for it somehow. However, a Stun gun or a Paint gun would have sufficed.
Friday, 1 June 2007
The MALE version of Pub-Club and Public Toilet tendencies. You only flick it once or you'r Wanking.
Having read the previous sad tale relating to the female toilet bungling, I thought it to be only right and fair that the peculiarities of the Male rest room be unfolded to the ears of our Female readers, I will focus mainly on what I have perceived and not the here say of others.
Male toilets usually resume the same filthy state they were in an hour after the cleaners have gone. Hand drying paper litters the floor, fag ends in the pee trough mixed with the vomit of drunks and wash basins coated with miscellaneous crap.
My biggest gripe is with whom I call the 'Shy Boys', who regardless of whether anyone is within the the rest room or not; these thoughtless dickheads, needlessly use the Cubicles with 'Sit Down toilets', OK, its alright to use them for the purpose they were intended for 'The big job' or to sit down if you are blind or maybe if your wee willy winkle is embarrassingly small, but piddling all over the seats is totally selfish, sadly few complain until it is too late and we find ourselves caught short sitting on a pissed on seat. One smart guy informed
me his reason for not using the stand up trough was, "My mates get jealous and tread on mine", HARD! to believe; as most of the upstanding blokes at the peeing trough are usually discreet and avoid eye contact, and least of all glance down to observe the size of the sausage dangling from your piddling neighbours pants. then having finished pointing your Percy at the porcelain, it gets a quick flick to be rid of the last drip, flicking your feller more than once is eyed with suspicion.
But most guys know that, no matter how many times you flick it the last drop always goes down your trouser leg.
A Simple solution to assist in keeping the mens loos clean would be to install a notic on the outside of the cubicle, stating:
THIS TOILET IS TO BE USED ONLY BY THOSE MALE PERSONS WHO WISH TO SIT ON THIS TOILET.
Urinating in a standing position is forbidden. Please use the correct facilities.
Male toilets usually resume the same filthy state they were in an hour after the cleaners have gone. Hand drying paper litters the floor, fag ends in the pee trough mixed with the vomit of drunks and wash basins coated with miscellaneous crap.
My biggest gripe is with whom I call the 'Shy Boys', who regardless of whether anyone is within the the rest room or not; these thoughtless dickheads, needlessly use the Cubicles with 'Sit Down toilets', OK, its alright to use them for the purpose they were intended for 'The big job' or to sit down if you are blind or maybe if your wee willy winkle is embarrassingly small, but piddling all over the seats is totally selfish, sadly few complain until it is too late and we find ourselves caught short sitting on a pissed on seat. One smart guy informed
me his reason for not using the stand up trough was, "My mates get jealous and tread on mine", HARD! to believe; as most of the upstanding blokes at the peeing trough are usually discreet and avoid eye contact, and least of all glance down to observe the size of the sausage dangling from your piddling neighbours pants. then having finished pointing your Percy at the porcelain, it gets a quick flick to be rid of the last drip, flicking your feller more than once is eyed with suspicion.
But most guys know that, no matter how many times you flick it the last drop always goes down your trouser leg.
A Simple solution to assist in keeping the mens loos clean would be to install a notic on the outside of the cubicle, stating:
THIS TOILET IS TO BE USED ONLY BY THOSE MALE PERSONS WHO WISH TO SIT ON THIS TOILET.
Urinating in a standing position is forbidden. Please use the correct facilities.
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