Donald Trump and Fake News

In view of Donald Trump's propensity to issue "fake news" all the time as true and to deride the true news as fake, I have found the following scriptural warning against him. This is from the Book of Enoch which was widely circulated among the early Christian churches, although it didn't quite make it into the final draft of the bible.

"Woe to you who set at nought the words of the righteous; for you shall have no hope of life. Woe to you who write down lying and godless words; for they write down their lies that men may hear them and act godlessly towards their neighbour. Therefore they shall have no peace, but die a sudden death."
[Enoch XCVII: 14-16]

Watch out Mr Trump!

A quote of Napoleon Bonaparte is also somewhat relevant:

"In politics, stupidity is not a handicap."

We are getting there ....... slowly

"Britain goes coal free as renewables edge out fossil fuels

At midnight on Wednesday (10th June 2020), the country will have gone two full months without burning coal to generate power. The current coal-free period smashes the previous record of 18 days, six hours and ten minutes which was set in June last year."

Right to Die

I have long harboured the suspicion that most Americans are quite mad. I have also harboured a nagging doubt that that might be being a bit disingenuous to Americans as a whole.  Donald Trump, of course, proves my first case, but he is just one individual and I really need a bigger sample size to scientifically justify the hypothesis. Further evidence has, however, emerged this week in the following press clipping emerging from America.

“Speaking at a rally outside the San Antonio City Hall, Bexar County, Texas, Republican Chair Cynthia Brehm made the outrageous claim that the coronavirus pandemic is a Democratic hoax.

A viral video from Texas shows a Republican Party leader speaking at local rally calling the coronavirus panic a hoax being perpetrated by Democrats with the goal of hurting Donald Trump, then encouraging people to take off their face masks.

She was speaking at a political protest against continued restrictions meant to slow the spread of the virus. Brehm said that a requirement to wear face coverings is a violation of people’s constitutional rights and hinted that the coronavirus panic is being manufactured by Democrats in order to hurt Trump.

“So, take off your masks, exercise your constitutional rights. Stand up, speak up and vote Republican.”

After Brehm made her wild remarks, those Republicans attending the rally began to shake-hands and hug each other, deliberately violating the social distancing guidelines and potentially placing everyone they come into contact with at risk.”

This woman is clearly deranged and steps should be taken now to ensure that she is not allowed to stand for election on the grounds of insanity.

Americans seem obsessed with their “constitutional rights”, whatever they might be. Of course, they have a “right” not to wear a mask if they don’t want to. But that doesn’t make it a good idea …….. any more than the fact they have a “right” to carry a loaded weapon but it is not a good idea to go around shooting people.

A large proportion of Trump supporters claim to be evangelical Christians but they don’t seem to have much idea what Christianity is all about. The example Jesus set was that we must not insist on our “rights”, even if we have them…….

Philippians 2:5-11 (New American Standard Bible (NASB))

⁵ Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, ⁶ who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, ⁷ but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. ⁸ Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 

Jesus was obedient to the point of death. Americans, it seems, cannot even be obedient enough to wear a face mask to protect themselves and others from a potential death sentence. Their "right" to die is more important!

Public Transport

"London's transport system was given a £1.6 billion government bailout yesterday after Sadiq Khan, the mayor, threatened to cut bus and Tube services."

Yet in the government's official briefing, people who can't work from home are being encouraged to return to work but, if at all possible, do not use public transport.

Not really joined up thinking is it?

Man is the Virus

There is a new theory going around than Man is the Virus rather than Covid 19.
On a global scale that is worth thinking about.
Many viruses are beneficial to man in that they infect and destroy harmful bacteria. These are called bacteriophages and are actively used in some therapies. The bacteria are harming man so viruses are used to kill off the bacteria. On a global scale man is harming creation - so could it be that creation is trying to save itself by introducing a new virus to kill off a few thousand people and reduce the damage being caused? Comparative photos of normally polluted cities before and during lockdown show clearly that the virus has been very effective in some places in reducing pollution levels. Covid19 virus has also been isolated from large particles of air pollution which keep it airborne for longer than it would be otherwise. Conclusion: reduce pollution and the virus will not be able to spread so rapidly.

Inger Andersen (Executive Director of the U.N. Environment Programme) - 

     "Nature is sending us a message".

Duchess of York:  "Mother Nature has sent us to our rooms....... like the spoilt children we are. She gave us time, and she gave us warnings. She was so patient with us. She gave us fire and floods, she tried to warn us but in the end she took back control."

Lockdown Birthday Party

I attended my first online birthday party yesterday. An interesting concept but a necessary one under the current lockdown restrictions. It was my grandson's 2nd birthday. He was too young last year to understand the concept of "birthday", but he's definitely got the hang of it this year. Despite only being 2 he has all the necessary vocabulary - "happy birthday", "presents", "balloons", "cake" etc. And, unlike most boys, he is extremely tidy, tearing off small pieces of wrapping paper from a very large present and handing them individually to his mum for safekeeping.

The idea was we would organise a family Zoom conference with all his relatives to watch him blow his candles out, sing him Happy Birthday and then eat our own cake that we had pre-prepared. Unfortunately our cake wasn't quite finished in time and his aunt could not make a cake because her grocery delivery was not due until the following day. Still - as lockdown birthdays go it wasn't bad!

Locust Plagues

If you thought coronavirus was bad enough, think yourself very lucky you don't live in East Africa at the moment. At the beginning of April a local pastor there reported the arrival of a huge swarm of young desert locusts estimated to cover 100,000 acres (by comparison, the whole of Tendring District is only 83,392 acres). This would therefore be a cloud covering everywhere from Colchester to Harwich and beyond! There has already been a huge plague of locusts in early 2020 which devastated the crops of East Africa. This second swarm is allegedly 20 times as bad. The insects are all young adults which eat more than their older counterparts and will live longer. They have arrived just as the new plantings are beginning to shoot and are stripping everything in sight.