Stagflation.

A very interesting article explaining the current economic crisis.

Fractional Reserve Banking has had a Reality Crunch.

Credit given to the bank was used to enrich the bankers, instead of being injected into the capital flow of the global banking system.

The corporations were killed of by the greed and incompetence of the bankers, with a hundred years of future capital wasted on the contemporary luxuries and lifestyles of a profligate global banking class, resulting in a capital choking that has led to unemployment and stagflation.

Some good graphs are imbedded in the article, including one that shows the differential between financial transactions in the real economy and the financial economy - showing that a vampyric class of financial experts are creating 'sales' or trades of shares that profit only them and that are utterly unrelated to sales in the real world.

It is this fat, malevolent maggot of global finance that leeches away true profit in the name of financial speculation.

This pustulent wyrm feeds upon the blood and tears of ordinary people all over the world, as it sucks ever more profit from the fake financial sales transactions, corrupt financial instruments, insider dealing and banking conspiracies.

This worm must be crushed.

The vampyre bankers have fed upon the flesh of the last four generations of our people, and they are as powerful today as they were then.

Empires rise and fall, only banks remain.

The entire global banking system must be reformed.

An entire new economic model for the future must be developed that replaces the financial economy.

Ii suggest what I have been advocating for years , AN ENERGY ECONOMY, replaces the financial system.

The present real economy remains as it is, but the financial economy is subservient to the demands of an economy predicated not on the free flow of capital in false transactions, but on energy production.


A nations financial strength would be based not on fake credit produced as a result of fractional reserve banking, but on its ability to satisfy its own energy needs.

The more energy self sufficient a nation is, then the more efficient, productive and competitive in relation to cost to the consumer are the commodities produced by that nation.

The primary cost factor in commodity production are energy prices, direct and imbedded.

Take Saudi Arabia.

It produces nothing but oil.

It is so rich as the oil it produces is the basis of the global economy.

Cheap oil = cheap goods.

The world needs that oil to keep the global consumerist system alive and to manufacture fake credit.

The printing presses of the Federal Reserve that pump out the tens of millions of dollars a minute of fake credit for the bankers to waste on luxury jets, cocaine, high class prostitutes and ponzi schemes need Middle East oil companies to keep pumping out the black stuff.

Our addiction to cheap oil is the basis of the power of the Military Industrial Corporate Complex of Boeing, BAE, the Carlysle Group, Al Qaeda, George Bush, the Bilderbergs, bankers and oil corporations.

911 was the blow back from the wests addiction to oil.

An Energy Economy would create a radical new model for global action, and predicated on a co-operative NATIONALIST model and perspective.








http://www.henrymakow.com/a_term_you_should_know_stagfla.html


Since the start of the Credit Crunch in Sept. 2008, a fierce debate has raged over whether we will face deflation or inflation. We can now conclude we will have a toxic combination of both, known as stagflation.

Stagflation is the phenomenon of rising prices and falling demand and production. It was first experienced in the late seventies and although it eventually disappeared, there was never a good explanation for it.

Proponents of both sides of the aforementioned debate had strong arguments.

Deflationists said the banks were insolvent and would not be able to provide credit, leading to a diminishing money supply and declining prices.

Inflationists said Central Banking and Governmental policies of bail outs, QE1,2,x and stimulus would lead to more money in circulation, with rising prices as a result.

Both were right, but they missed a crucial point. There are two economies. One is the real economy, where you and I operate. We work and make stuff. Cars, food, all sorts of services.

And there is also the financial economy. This is the shadowy world of finance, FOREX, stock exchanges, commodity exchanges. The graph below shows the vast scale of this financial economy, which is many times bigger than the real economy.

margrit-kennedy-bernard-lietaer.jpgGraph by Margrit Kennedy and Bernard Lietaer, based on BIS figures

The transaction volume for the financial economy is in red and the real economy is in green. At this point we are talking about 5 trillion worth of transactions per day in the financial economy, many times more than in the real economy. We can also see that while the real economy grows in linear fashion, the financial economy grows exponentially. The unexpected decline we see around 2000 is explained by the introduction of the euro, which diminished FOREX speculation. A small price to pay for that giant leap towards World Currency.

It also shows that the financial sector began only in the early seventies. This is explained by the rise of the computer. Most people don't realize that even in the early sixties, most wages were paid weekly.....in cash. It is the computer that made it possible for banks to connect everybody to their system. It also explains why stagflation had not been around before the late seventies.

The financial and real economies to some extent interact, primarily via commodity exchanges. But the financial economy is largely isolated. Most of the hot money never reaches the real economy.

Thankfully, otherwise the dollar wouldn't even be worth the 1% of its 1913 purchasing power it has now. This is so, because for instance, FOREX is just an eternal ping pong of transactions within the banking sector, leading to an eternal wealth transfer from the not-so-savvy to the "usual suspects."

The two parallel economies also explain why price rises have not kept up with the expansion of credit. A lot of the newly created money was siphoned off to the financial economy.

We have a deflation in the real economy but a massive inflation in the financial economy. Stagflation is coming because a portion of this hot money is now entering the commodity markets, leading to inflation in the primary sector (agriculture and mining). These rising prices will be passed on by producers in the secondary and tertiary sectors (industry and services.)

An example of this process were the skyrocketing oil prices in 2009. It has been established that Goldman Sachs was using TAARP funds to drive up prices.

Another example is the current rise in food prices. Or what do we think of JPM cornering the copper market?

The deflation in the real economy is caused by the credit crunch, and by the new Capital Reserve Requirements that were foisted upon the banking system by the Bank of International Settlements.

Meanwhile corporations are choked by lack of credit and going out of production, resulting in rising unemployment.

So what does the future look like? We will be facing rising prices while the economy will be depressed, i.e. declining production and high levels of unemployment. This will result in volatility in the commodity markets, something we are now seeing with commodity stocks correcting by as much as one third.


I would like to express my appreciation for Dick Eastman's courageous and groundbreaking thoughts on the parallel economies and its implications.

Anthony Migchels' Website

---

Financial Times on Stagflation

The Guardian on Stagflation

bRITAINS YOUNGEST MOTHER A RAPE VICTIM

http://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/view/172959/-I-was-gang-raped-by-5-Asians-at-the-age-of-12-/



BRITAIN’S youngest mum fell pregnant at 12 after being passed around an Asian sex gang.

The five-strong mob, made up largely of Pakistani taxi drivers, blitzed the schoolgirl with gifts including phones and sweets.


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And after plying her with booze they took it in turns to have sex with her in a car park on “numerous occasions”.

The nation was stunned when the girl fell pregnant and became Britain’s youngest mum in 2002.

Police vowed to hunt the dad and prosecute him for statutory rape. But they were stunned when the girl revealed she had been having sex with five men and did not know who was the father.


Officers soon uncovered she had been lured into underage sex by the mob, but rather than highlight the problem the authorities decided to “brush it under the carpet”, a whistleblower said.


None of the gang was prosecuted and the girl was taken into care. She was Britain’s youngest mum at the time but that record has since been broken.


An injunction bans identifying anyone involved to protect the girl’s identity. The girl, from South Yorkshire, moved away and brought up her daughter with the help of her mum.


The case supports ex-Home Secretary Jack Straw’s claim that Pakistani sex gangs have been preying on white girls for years.


An official involved in the case contacted the Daily Star after reading our exposés of Asian sex gangs.


They said: “It was one of the most horrifying examples of the way these gangs operate. The tragedy was she didn’t even know she had been effectively raped by these men time and again.


“She said they were all her boyfriends and had given her mobile phones, sweets, and drinks.


“She was ever such a sweet girl really and very, very pretty. But starved of affection in her own home she looked to these men for comfort.


“They knew that if they befriended her and were nice to her she would respond.


“Afterwards she was moved away to bring up the youngster and the men involved all just seemed to vanish.


“Political correctness dictated issues like this just could not be discussed. It was brushed under the carpet.”


In another case last year, five Asian men were jailed for a total of 32-and-a-half years after being convicted of sexually abusing three girls.


Nine members of a similar gang were also jailed for 41 years.


And yesterday we revealed Rochdale’s child services chief is to meet ethnic leaders in a bid to drive Asian sex gangs out of the Lancashire town.


Police have smashed four sex gangs in the town in the past three years.


So far 16 fiends, mainly British-born Pakistanis, have been jailed for putting three white schoolgirls as young as 14 through group sex ordeals.


Nine more Asians are currently on police bail after being arrested following claims by 14 girls aged 13 to 17 they were forced into sex.


Seven other police forces are currently conducting operations to tackle the problem.

jerry.lawton@dailystar.co.uk

DO NOT WATCH THIS

DO NOT WATCH THIS ;


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IVkyG7XSVtI&feature=player_embedded

A Brilliant Article

What more can be said.

This is a brilliant article.




Sunday January 23,2011

By Leo McKinstry

THE British people are among the most tolerant on earth but that tolerance is being abused by a political elite that seems to regard ordinary citizens as the enemy within. One incident last week highlighted the tightening grip of a fashionable ideology that treats our national identity with contempt. in the once tranquil, quintessentially english town of st Neots in Cambridge- shire, two young mothers, emma Knightly and Kimberley Williams, tried to join a crèche where their toddlers could be looked after. to their astonishment they were told their British nationality barred them from becoming members since the publicly funded centre caters only for foreigners.

This is an outrageous policy, promoting discrimination against people who have been born here. this is all too typical of what is happening across Britain. the malign forces of multiculturalism and mass immigration are being used by the state to transform society and to denigrate our heritage. every culture has to be revered except our own. in many towns Britons now feel like aliens in their own land.

From welfare to education, the apparatus of the civic bureaucracy is geared towards the demands of the ever rising
number of immigrants, now running at more than 500,000 every year, most of them from Asia and Africa.

Meanwhile the British taxpayers who have to pay for this whole racket find themselves marginalised. Any challenge to the destruction of our nation is greeted with outrage by our political masters. those who refuse to support the official state dogma of multi- culturalism are smeared as dangerous reactionaries and xenophobes.

That was the thrust of the speech given on Thursday by Baroness Warsi, the co-chairman of the Conservative Party and the first Muslim to sit in the Cabinet. she warned of a rising tide of “islamophobia” throughout Britain, with anti- islamic bigotry now seen as an acceptable topic for “dinner party” conversation. Lady Warsi’s accusations against British people could hardly be more hollow. if Britain really is so prejudiced how come she holds high office and has been given a seat in the house of Lords? the truth is that in the face of severe provocation the public has shown the most remarkable restraint towards Muslims but we cannot deny the reality in front of our eyes.


SEARCH COLUMNISTS for:


What she calls “islamophobia” is a perfectly rational concern about the behaviour of a significant section of the
Muslim population here, which due to the collapse of our borders is now three million strong and growing.

When she complains about “isolation” she does not acknowledge that far too many Muslims have refused to integrate into our society. instead, they have pursued an aggressively separatist agenda, refusing to show respect for such traditional British customs as freedom of speech, while constantly demanding special treatment for their culture whether it be the acceptance of sharia law or sale of halal meat. it is a reflection of how craven our society has become that even in some mainstream schools and shops, the only meat served is halal, even though many
of us are revolted by ritual slaughter.

Only the most blinkered ideologues can deny that the rise of islam represents a major problem for our society. the terrorist threat remains enormous yet almost as worrying is the passivity, even acquiescence, of the islamic majority in the face of extremism. One recent study of Muslim students at British universities showed that a third of them support killing in the name of islam.

After the July bombings in London in 2005 there were no Muslim protests at what had been done in the name of their faith, no angry marches against the terrorists, but when an obscure Danish newspaper published a cartoon of the prophet Mohammed London was brought to a standstill three weekends in a row by mass demonstrations.
the language of victimhood comes easily to the followers of islam yet all too often they are the real oppressors, as has been shown in the appalling incidence of Muslim sex gangs preying on white girls in the north of england.

Similarly the grim catalogue of forced marriages, “honour” killings and domestic violence demonstrates the brutal
misogyny of islam, as does the enforcement of such grotesque dress codes as the burka. that primitive garment should have no place in an open, modern society. in the same fashion, self-appointed

Muslim “community leaders” have subverted the democratic process through actions like mass postal voting fraud
while racist attitudes towards the “infidel” are all too common.

In a depressing commentary last week a vicar’s wife from a Muslim-dominated area of Birmingham reported that her
husband was abused as a “white bastard” and they had had “dirty white dogs” daubed on the church door.

We have here a fundamental paradox at work in that the liberal doctrine multi- culturalism is demolishing our liberties through its collusion with islam. throughout the world, whether it be in Pakistan or the sudan, we can see that islam leads to totalitarianism, subjection of women and homosexuals, persecution of other faiths, savage tribalism and the obliteration of democracy. Aspects of that pattern are happening here already. the vicar’s wife said she recently asked a Muslim, newly arrived from Belgium, why he had moved here and was told: “everybody knows Birmingham best place to be a pure Muslim.”

Those words make a nonsense of Lady Warsi’s moans about bigotry. the British public has every right to feel worried.

Read more: http://www.express.co.uk/ourcomments/view/224825Baroness-Farcical-and-a-nasty-little-insult-to-every-one-of-you#ixzz1Bwfe2DrY

Chris Beverley - a statement

I have known Chris Bev for over a decade.

He is one of the few people in nationalism who every nationalist knows they can fully trust and respect as a fully committed and dedicated nationalist activist.

In the past I have attacked Chris under the direct orders of Nick Griffin.

Griffin even supplied me with a file of documents he had collected concerning Chris to issue to activists and BNP members to attack him during the Sadie Graham fall out.

At the time I did so as I was told to do so.

The news he has been sacked is a disaster for the BNP.

Chris is one of the most loyal BNP activists in the country.

His intelligence, commitment to nationalism and dedication to the party are second to none.

The fact that Andrew Brons has sit so long on the fence as regards Griffin and his pillaging of the party that the fence posts now visibly protrude from his silent mouth, is a source of confusion to many BNP members.

Griffin expelled Brons from the NF before, and his silence now is pathetic.

Some people are saying to me that the only reason Brons is silent is because he has his snout alongside Griffin in the EU pig trough, though I state in my opinion that this is not the case.

I believe he is silent as he cares about his personal legacy in nationalism and doesnt want to split the party.

The fact though that one of his most trusted and loyal friends has now had the Griffin Knife inserted into his back should, if he has any sense of loyalty, force Brons to pull his finger out of his arse and say something about what has been happening in the BNP.

The knife that has been stuck in Chris's back will go into Brons's as soon as Griffin thinks he can get away with it.

I know Andrew Brons is no coward and that he is a true nationalist.

We respect the man for who he is and his dedication to the nationalist cause.

But his silence has been taken by many people as a tacit approval of what Griffin and his cult of sycophants, hafwits and crooks has been doing in the party.

Now Brons must show he understands the meaning of loyalty to a friend and to a man who is a true BNP loyalist and nationalist.

Moe Asian Muslim Paedophiles Covered Up By Media Scum

http://www.shropshirestar.com/news/2011/01/21/seven-telford-men-in-court-over-child-sex-allegations/#ixzz1BmKjf3ue


Eight Telford men today appeared in court charged in connection with alleged sexual offences and child prostitution relating to four girls, one aged 13.

The offences are alleged to have taken place between 2007 and 2009.

All the men today denied a total of 50 charges between them when they appeared at Shrewsbury Crown Court.

Ahdel Ali, 22, of Regent Street, Wellington, is charged with raping a child aged 13, sexual activity with a child, trafficking for sexual exploitation – arranging or facilitating child prostitution – meeting a child following sexual grooming, facilitating child prostitution and controlling a child prostitute.

Mubarek Ali, 27, or Regent Street, is charged with trafficking for sexual exploitation – arranging or facilitating child prostitution – controlling a child prostitute and facilitating child prostitution.

Tanveer Ahmed, 38, of Urban Gardens, Wellington, is charged with sexual activity with a child, facilitating child prostitution, controlling a child prostitute, and causing child prostitution.

Marhoof Khan, 32, of Caradoc Flats, Wellington, is charged with sexual activity with a child.

Mohammed Ali Saltan, 23, of Victoria Avenue, Wellington, is charged with rape and sexual activity with a child. Mohammed Islam Choudhrey, 51, of Solway Drive, Sutton Hill, is charged with paying for sexual services with a child, causing child prostitution, and arranging or facilitating child prostitution.

Noshad Hussain, 20, of Regent Street, Wellington, is accused of having sexual activity with a child. Abdul Rouf, 33, of Kingsland, Arleston, is charged with conspiracy to cause child prostitution.

The case was adjourned until April 15 at Wolverhampton.

All the men were granted bail.

Read more: http://www.shropshirestar.com/news/2011/01/21/seven-telford-men-in-court-over-child-sex-allegations/#ixzz1Brh8oXAL

Hilarious - watch this

I almost cried with laughter ;



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yj2oXMdZ4sk

Yellowstone Volcano About To Blow

If Yellowstone blows, then it will kill tens of millions.


http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2009/08/yellowstone/achenbach-text

The last three super-eruptions have been in Yellowstone itself. The most recent, 640,000 years ago, was a thousand times the size of the Mount St. Helens eruption in 1980, which killed 57 people in Washington. But numbers do not capture the full scope of the mayhem. Scientists calculate that the pillar of ash from the Yellowstone explosion rose some 100,000 feet, leaving a layer of debris across the West all the way to the Gulf of Mexico. Pyroclastic flows—dense, lethal fogs of ash, rocks, and gas, superheated to 1,470 degrees Fahrenheit—rolled across the landscape in towering gray clouds. The clouds filled entire valleys with hundreds of feet of material so hot and heavy that it welded itself like asphalt across the once verdant landscape. And this wasn't even Yellowstone's most violent moment. An eruption 2.1 million years ago was more than twice as strong, leaving a hole in the ground the size of Rhode Island. In between, 1.3 million years ago, was a smaller but still devastating eruption.






http://beforeitsnews.com/story/368/926/Yellowstone_Has_Bulged_as_Magma_Pocket_Swells.html


Published January 19, 2011

Yellowstone National Park‘s supervolcano just took a deep “breath,” causing miles of ground to rise dramatically, scientists report.

The simmering volcano has produced major eruptions—each a thousand times more powerful than Mount St. Helens’s 1980 eruption—three times in the past 2.1 million years. Yellowstone’s caldera, which covers a 25- by 37-mile (40- by 60-kilometer) swath of Wyoming, is an ancient crater formed after the last big blast, some 640,000 years ago.

(See “When Yellowstone Explodes” in National Geographic magazine.)

Since then, about 30 smaller eruptions—including one as recent as 70,000 years ago—have filled the caldera with lava and ash, producing the relatively flat landscape we see today.

Griffin Exposed As State Agent ?

Every now and then one comes across something that is a WOW ! moment.

This was such a wow moment with Nick Griffin.

I think this is probably the best thing I have seen posted on stormfront for a long time.

Most of the time its just Hollywood Nazi shite, but this has a real point.

" The Police have refused to investigate the BNP fraud even at the request of an MP, three yrs ago.

There was more evidence last year that Griffin has state protection.

The Guardian newspaper applied to the CPS for a transcript of Griffin's race hate trial that took place in 1998. This was the trial in which he was charged with the crime of race hate for an article in The Rune which claimed the Holocaust was a hoax.

The CPS refused to release the transcript.

Did Griffin do a deal with the state in return for a suspended sentence? Halfway through the trial he sacked his legal team and conducted his own defence. Would he have done that if he hadn't known in advance that he was going to get off? The following year, Griffin became BNP leader and the party has now been wrecked.

The Guardian lodged a complaint after the CPS refused to release the transcript but nothing ever came of it. "



This is a brilliant point.

The refusal of the CPS to release the documents due to 'privacy' concerns under the Data Protection Act is total bollocks.

This was a public case in an open court involving a politician on trial for his opinions published in a magazine sold to the public.

The idea that any of that information was 'private' is laughable.

Therefore the issue is this - why has the CPS refused to release the documents ?

The only thing would be is that a deal had been brokered between the CPS and Griffin which meant the judge had been informed of the deal and this would be reflected in his sentence.

That information would have to be released by the CPS if it was recorded.

I am sure some people will say 'what about the Leeds Trial' ?

That was undertaken under a different CPS with different political priorities, a different Attorney General and for the sole reason that the BBC aired covertly filmed footage of Griffin potentially breaking the law, and therefore the CPS was forced to act.

If it hadnt acted to prosecute him, then that would have revealed and exposed Griffin.

I suspect that if Griffin had been found guilty in the Leeds trial a deal would have been struck to give him what he always wanted as part of his "Hitler Image", which was a short prison sentence to make him appear a free speech martyr and then mass publicity and his control of the BNP and the wider nationalist movement would have been assured forever.










http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/jan/22/nick-griffin-race-trial-details


The Crown Prosecution Service is ­blocking attempts to disclose details about the prosecution of Nick Griffin, the leader of the British National party, for race hate crimes, claiming that to do so would breach his data protection rights.

Griffin was given a suspended prison sentence in 1998 after being convicted of "publishing or distributing racially ­inflammatory written material", an offence under the 1986 Public Order Act. The following year he was elected leader of the BNP.

The prosecution centred on a magazine edited by Griffin called the Rune, in which he dismissed the Holocaust as a hoax. At the trial he sacked his legal team and, conducting his own defence, attempted to justify the material he had published.

Griffin has been widely reported as ­dismissing the Holocaust as an "extremely profitable lie" when he gave evidence at Harrow crown court. But no transcript of the hearing was made and the only records about the case are held by the CPS.

Although the trial was heard in open court and ended in Griffin's conviction, the CPS has rejected an request made under the Freedom of Information Act (FoI) for disclosure of information in its files on the grounds that it is "sensitive personal data" that is protected by the Data Protection Act.

In a letter to the Guardian, which ­submitted the request almost four months ago, the CPS said: "The majority of the information contained in the case papers is personal data.

"A large proportion of this personal data is sensitive personal data because it consists of information as to the commission of an offence and Mr Griffin's political opinions."

On appeal, the CPS last week ­reiterated its view that Griffin's rights are not outweighed by the public interest in the disclosure of the information.

Only last month the government announced fresh guidelines intended to give the public more information about criminal prosecutions.

Unveiling the guidelines, Alan Johnson, the home secretary, said they were intended "to set straight the ­misconception that human rights and data protection laws prevent criminals and their punishments from being exposed".

The Guardian is now lodging a ­complaint with the Information ­Commissioner's Office, which is responsible for final ­decisions on FoI requests.

Hang Them All

This is why the death penalty must be brought back, to hang filth like these pervert rapist Asian Muslim paedophile scum, and protect the victims from reprisals ;

http://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/view/172631/Sex-gangs-ex-slaves-in-terror/


SEX GANGS' EX-SLAVES IN TERROR
ABOVE: Jail fear
19th January 2011
By Jerry Lawton

SCHOOLGIRLS who helped to jail an Asian sex gang are living in fear after the monsters vowed to hunt them down when they are freed.

Up to 27 girls, aged 12 to 18, gave evidence in court against the mob.


Nine members of the gang were jailed for a total of more than 40 years for multiple rapes, sex assaults, false imprisonment, and luring children into pornography.


Their convictions prompted former Home Secretary Jack Straw to warn Asian mobs were targeting white girls for sex abuse because they saw them as “easy meat’’.


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But the girls, whose evidence nailed the gang from Derby, have been told that they will be targeted again.


A mother of one victim, who tried to kill herself after being drugged and raped by the mob, told the Daily Star: “All the girls who gave evidence are scared to death.


“They have been warned as soon as this lot get out they will return to ‘do them all again’.


“All these girls are vulnerable and terrified.”


The gang’s ringleaders, Abid Saddique and Mohammed Liaqat, both 28, were last week jailed for a total of 19 years.


Seven other members of their gang were earlier jailed for 22 years in total.


But the mum said: “The sentences they got were a joke. They should have been banged up for life, but some will be out in a few months and back on the streets.”


The woman’s own daughter refused to give evidence in court for fear of possible revenge attacks.


She was 19 when she was assaulted after being plied with cocaine.


Police suspect many more girls were too scared to make formal complaints.

Natural Mankind

http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/hawaiinews/20110118_Natural_selection.html


Mankind needs to start working with nature, not exploiting it with chemicals.



Natural selection

A self-sufficient system of farming is increasing yields across Hawaii

By Susan Essoyan

POSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, Jan 18, 2011

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Farmer Samson Delos Reyes reached into his bluejeans pocket to grab a phone call from a buyer and ended up smiling but shaking his head.

The caller wanted to triple her order of his pungent Thai basil, to 60 from 20 cases a week, but S&J Farms of Waianae is already booked solid. Since trying "natural farming" last year under the guidance of a folksy South Korean master farmer known as Han Kyu Cho, Delos Reyes said production on his 10-acre plot has doubled — and demand is growing even faster.

"This is my first time having earthworms on my farm," he said, scooping up a handful of earth and nutrient-rich worm castings in his fingers. "They're cultivating the soil for me."

Unlike conventional or even organic farming, "natural farming" is a self-sufficient system to raise crops and livestock with resources available on the farm. Rather than applying chemical fertilizers, farmers boost the beneficial microbes that occur naturally in the soil by collecting and culturing them with everyday ingredients such as steamed rice and brown sugar. They also feed their crops with solutions containing minerals and amino acids made from castoff items such as eggshells and fish bones.

"What others consider rubbish, we use," Cho told gardeners and farmers at a workshop in Honolulu last month. "Natural farming uses local resources, but you have to give what the plants need, when they need it and in the right amounts."

On land once classified as unsuitable for farming, Delos Reyes' sturdy stalks of Vietnamese kalo now stand taller than he does, and his basil bushes are thick with leaves. He no longer has to buy fertilizer, herbicides or pesticides, and he has cut water use by 30 percent. The indigenous microorganisms in the dirt — bacteria, fungi and protozoa — help nourish his crops. The plants grow hardier because their roots have to reach further to find water, according to Cho.

"You use less water, you use less inputs and you end up with a healthier plant which produces more nutritious food, of a higher quality," said landowner David Wong, who ran Oahu's last dairy on this Waianae property and is working with Delos Reyes in the first commercial operation using Cho's methods on Oahu. "Here's a system that is not freight-dependent, and it changes the economics of how agriculture could be done in Hawaii."

Cho, founder of the Janong Natural Farming Institute in Chungbuk, South Korea, held his first workshop in Hilo last February. Dr. Hoon Park, a retired physician in Hilo, heads Cho Global Natural Farming-USA, a nonprofit that promotes Cho's approach. Its workshop last month was sponsored by the Hawaii FFA Foundation, the University of Hawaii College of Tropical Agriculture and Kamehameha Schools, among others.

Across the state, an unusual piggery in Kurtistown on the Big Island is another showcase for Cho's system of "natural farming." The pig farm's claim to fame: It does not smell or attract flies or even require cleaning. And its pigs are thriving.

"It is the first piggery of this kind in the United States," said Michael DuPonte, a livestock extension agent with the University of Hawaii College of Tropical Agriculture and a technical adviser on the demonstration project. "It's been in production for 20 months, and I haven't cleaned the piggery yet. It looks the same as the day I opened it. No smell, no flies. It's a combination of the dry litter soaking up all the liquids and the microbes working together to break down the manure."

DuPonte said the idea of not cleaning a pigsty did not sit well with him at first blush. "When Master Cho came to see me, I was a skeptic," DuPonte said. "I asked him, 'What about disease?' You don't clean a piggery in Hawaii, guarantee your pigs are going to get sick. He said, 'Don't worry about disease. The microbes will take care of that.' I didn't believe him."

But after a trip to Korea to see a piggery in action, DuPonte became a convert. The Kang Farms "Inoculated Dry Litter System" piggery building, opened in August 2009 in Kurtistown, measures 30 by 60 feet and handles up to 125 pigs. It uses natural ventilation and is oriented for sunlight. The pens are filled with a deep bed of dry sawdust and wood chips, spiked with microorganisms cultivated from local soil that help break down the manure. The pigs are fed rations made from agricultural waste, including sweet potatoes, macadamia nuts and bananas.

DuPonte says the pigs seem "stress-free and contented," and they are good neighbors because the piggery produces no waste, runoff or telltale smell. That is important for Hawaii's swine farmers, who have been pushed from one location after another by urbanization and complaints from neighbors. The piggery project was supported by the University of Hawaii, Farm Pilot Project Coordination, Hawaii County and Agribusiness Development Corp., among others.

"Pig farmers are very, very interested in the system," DuPonte said. "I've had 50 people come in and ask me if I would build these piggeries in their place. It's going to take off, mainly because of lack of odor. Pig farmers have been kicked out of Kam IV Road and then Hawaii Kai, and now they're getting challenges in Waianae and they don't know where they are going to go next."

Versions of natural farming have been practiced for generations in Asia. But scientific proof of its efficacy is hard to come by because it is a complex system that adapts to local conditions, said Ted Radovich, assistant specialist in the Sustainable and Organic Farming Systems Laboratory at the UH College of Tropical Agriculture.

"It looks like there is value there," Radovich said. "There is increasing interest in doing research. While I think there is potential, we're quite a way from understanding how it works."

He said the appeal of Cho's approach in Hawaii lies in its "localness." "Any system that makes some inroads into decreasing our reliance on external inputs and improving the profitability of our local farms is important to consider," he said. "We're not at the point where we can make recommendations yet."

DuPonte estimates that 150 people are practicing "natural farming" techniques in the Hilo area, mainly backyard farmers and gardeners.

The Natural Resources Conservation Service is offering small grants to a few farmers in each Hawaii county who want to try converting part of their fields to natural farming, though not livestock. DuPonte said the ideal candidate is a farmer with about two acres, who would use the money to cover the cost of switching to "natural farming" on a quarter of an acre and keep track of costs and yields.

Cho will return for another workshop in July in Kohala, and he urged folks to give "natural farming" a whirl. "Don't doubt," he said through an interpreter. "Just jump in and try and practice and see how it works out."

 

JAMM AQUINO / JAQUINO@STARADVERTISER.COM
Farmer Samson Delos Reyes walks through rows of kalo at David Wong's Waianae farm. Wong is using a system called natural farming developed in South Korea that has his kalo towering overhead and producing huge basil bushes.
JAMM AQUINO / JAQUINO@STARADVERTISER.COM
Farmer Samson Delos Reyes walks among kalo patches at S&J Farms of Waianae, which uses a natural farming method developed by South Korean farmer Han Kyu Cho.
COURTESY MICHAEL DUPONTE
Pigs are thriving in a pig farm in Kurtistown on the Big Island that employs the same farming principles.
JAMM AQUINO / JAQUINO@STARADVERTISER.COM
Instead of using pesticides, bug baits consisting of beer in plastic bottles are hung along rows of Thai basil.
JAMM AQUINO / JAQUINO@STARADVERTISER.COM
Landowner David Wong, below, stands next to towering kalo and huge basil bushes.
JAMM AQUINO / JAQUINO@STARADVERTISER.COM
More Photos

Farmer Samson Delos Reyes reached into his bluejeans pocket to grab a phone call from a buyer and ended up smiling but shaking his head.

The caller wanted to triple her order of his pungent Thai basil, to 60 from 20 cases a week, but S&J Farms of Waianae is already booked solid. Since trying "natural farming" last year under the guidance of a folksy South Korean master farmer known as Han Kyu Cho, Delos Reyes said production on his 10-acre plot has doubled — and demand is growing even faster.

"This is my first time having earthworms on my farm," he said, scooping up a handful of earth and nutrient-rich worm castings in his fingers. "They're cultivating the soil for me."

Unlike conventional or even organic farming, "natural farming" is a self-sufficient system to raise crops and livestock with resources available on the farm. Rather than applying chemical fertilizers, farmers boost the beneficial microbes that occur naturally in the soil by collecting and culturing them with everyday ingredients such as steamed rice and brown sugar. They also feed their crops with solutions containing minerals and amino acids made from castoff items such as eggshells and fish bones.

"What others consider rubbish, we use," Cho told gardeners and farmers at a workshop in Honolulu last month. "Natural farming uses local resources, but you have to give what the plants need, when they need it and in the right amounts."

On land once classified as unsuitable for farming, Delos Reyes' sturdy stalks of Vietnamese kalo now stand taller than he does, and his basil bushes are thick with leaves. He no longer has to buy fertilizer, herbicides or pesticides, and he has cut water use by 30 percent. The indigenous microorganisms in the dirt — bacteria, fungi and protozoa — help nourish his crops. The plants grow hardier because their roots have to reach further to find water, according to Cho.

"You use less water, you use less inputs and you end up with a healthier plant which produces more nutritious food, of a higher quality," said landowner David Wong, who ran Oahu's last dairy on this Waianae property and is working with Delos Reyes in the first commercial operation using Cho's methods on Oahu. "Here's a system that is not freight-dependent, and it changes the economics of how agriculture could be done in Hawaii."

Cho, founder of the Janong Natural Farming Institute in Chungbuk, South Korea, held his first workshop in Hilo last February. Dr. Hoon Park, a retired physician in Hilo, heads Cho Global Natural Farming-USA, a nonprofit that promotes Cho's approach. Its workshop last month was sponsored by the Hawaii FFA Foundation, the University of Hawaii College of Tropical Agriculture and Kamehameha Schools, among others.

Across the state, an unusual piggery in Kurtistown on the Big Island is another showcase for Cho's system of "natural farming." The pig farm's claim to fame: It does not smell or attract flies or even require cleaning. And its pigs are thriving.

"It is the first piggery of this kind in the United States," said Michael DuPonte, a livestock extension agent with the University of Hawaii College of Tropical Agriculture and a technical adviser on the demonstration project. "It's been in production for 20 months, and I haven't cleaned the piggery yet. It looks the same as the day I opened it. No smell, no flies. It's a combination of the dry litter soaking up all the liquids and the microbes working together to break down the manure."

DuPonte said the idea of not cleaning a pigsty did not sit well with him at first blush. "When Master Cho came to see me, I was a skeptic," DuPonte said. "I asked him, 'What about disease?' You don't clean a piggery in Hawaii, guarantee your pigs are going to get sick. He said, 'Don't worry about disease. The microbes will take care of that.' I didn't believe him."

But after a trip to Korea to see a piggery in action, DuPonte became a convert. The Kang Farms "Inoculated Dry Litter System" piggery building, opened in August 2009 in Kurtistown, measures 30 by 60 feet and handles up to 125 pigs. It uses natural ventilation and is oriented for sunlight. The pens are filled with a deep bed of dry sawdust and wood chips, spiked with microorganisms cultivated from local soil that help break down the manure. The pigs are fed rations made from agricultural waste, including sweet potatoes, macadamia nuts and bananas.

DuPonte says the pigs seem "stress-free and contented," and they are good neighbors because the piggery produces no waste, runoff or telltale smell. That is important for Hawaii's swine farmers, who have been pushed from one location after another by urbanization and complaints from neighbors. The piggery project was supported by the University of Hawaii, Farm Pilot Project Coordination, Hawaii County and Agribusiness Development Corp., among others.

"Pig farmers are very, very interested in the system," DuPonte said. "I've had 50 people come in and ask me if I would build these piggeries in their place. It's going to take off, mainly because of lack of odor. Pig farmers have been kicked out of Kam IV Road and then Hawaii Kai, and now they're getting challenges in Waianae and they don't know where they are going to go next."

Versions of natural farming have been practiced for generations in Asia. But scientific proof of its efficacy is hard to come by because it is a complex system that adapts to local conditions, said Ted Radovich, assistant specialist in the Sustainable and Organic Farming Systems Laboratory at the UH College of Tropical Agriculture.

"It looks like there is value there," Radovich said. "There is increasing interest in doing research. While I think there is potential, we're quite a way from understanding how it works."

He said the appeal of Cho's approach in Hawaii lies in its "localness." "Any system that makes some inroads into decreasing our reliance on external inputs and improving the profitability of our local farms is important to consider," he said. "We're not at the point where we can make recommendations yet."

DuPonte estimates that 150 people are practicing "natural farming" techniques in the Hilo area, mainly backyard farmers and gardeners.

The Natural Resources Conservation Service is offering small grants to a few farmers in each Hawaii county who want to try converting part of their fields to natural farming, though not livestock. DuPonte said the ideal candidate is a farmer with about two acres, who would use the money to cover the cost of switching to "natural farming" on a quarter of an acre and keep track of costs and yields.

Cho will return for another workshop in July in Kohala, and he urged folks to give "natural farming" a whirl. "Don't doubt," he said through an interpreter. "Just jump in and try and practice and see how it works out."

Naughty Muslims and Not Naughty Muslims

Yet again the two faced Warsi lectures Britain about Islam.

She should shut up and realise she was only given her job and peerage as a sop to political correctness.

Instead she thinks she is a 'politician'.

She says one thing to Muslims and another thing to non-Muslims.

She is a Taqqiya specialist two faced idiot.

From now on those muslims that blow people up with bombs are not to be called extremists and terrorists but naughty and those who keep quiet about them preparing bombs or who support Sharia Law are to be called not so naughty.






Muslim baroness warns the 'bigots': Dinner party Islamophobia is rife, says Warsi

By Tim Shipman
Last updated at 7:57 AM on 20th January 2011

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Controversial: Baroness Warsi will use a speech to attack Britain's approach to Islam, claiming Islamophobia is seen as normal and acceptable at dinner parties

Controversial: Baroness Warsi will use a speech to attack Britain's approach to Islam, claiming Islamophobia is seen as normal and acceptable at dinner parties

The first Muslim woman Cabinet minister will today launch a controversial attack on Britain’s approach to Islam.

Baroness Warsi will caution that Islamophobia is seen as normal and acceptable at dinner parties.

The Tory Party chairman will warn that describing Muslims as ‘moderate’ or ‘extremist’, fosters prejudice against them.

In a speech at the University of Leicester, she will pledge to use her position to wage an ‘ongoing battle against bigotry’.

Lady Warsi will say: ‘It’s not a big leap of imagination to predict where the talk of “moderate” Muslims leads.

‘In the factory, where they’ve just hired a Muslim worker, the boss says to his employees: “Not to worry, he’s only fairly Muslim”.

‘In the school, the kids say: “The family next door are Muslim but they’re not too bad”.And in the road, as a woman walks past wearing a burka, the passers-by think: “That woman’s either oppressed or is making a political statement”.’

Her high-profile intervention suggests that the Government is more willing than its Labour predecessors to tackle sensitive issues of race and religion.

But Lady Warsi’s controversial speech will lay her open to the charge that she has sided with her own community at a time when Christian leaders are also concerned that public respect for their faith has diminished.

The Tory chairman will say that terrorist offences committed by a small number of Islamists must not be used to condemn all Muslims.

But she will also acknowledge concerns about the failure of some British Muslims to integrate into Western society.

And she will warn that some Muslim communities must do more to ostracise extremists.

‘Those who commit criminal acts of terrorism in our country need to be dealt with not just by the full force of the law,’ she will say.

‘They also should face social rejection and alienation across society and their acts must not be used as an opportunity to tar all Muslims.’
Echoing views: Baroness Warsi's views match, in part, those of David Cameron, who asked in a New Year speech why so many young Muslims were becoming radicalised

Echoing views: Baroness Warsi's views match, in part, those of David Cameron, who asked in a New Year speech why so many young Muslims were becoming radicalised

According to extracts of the speech, reported in the Daily Telegraph, she will reveal that she raised the issue of Islamophobia with Pope Benedict XVI during his visit to Britain last year, urging him to ‘create a better understanding between Europe and its Muslim citizens’.

In part, her views echo Mr Cameron’s New Year message. In it, the Prime Minister asked why Britain was allowing young British Muslims to become radicalised.

There are around 2.9 million Muslims in Britain today, up from 1.6 million in 2001.
The country has seen ten years of rapid growth in its Muslim population.

To temper Lady Warsi’s argument, she will also acknowledge that Britain has a long history of diversity and tolerance.

Lady Warsi became Britain’s first female Muslim Cabinet minister in May. But she has been attacked by extremist Islamic groups for not being religious enough.

In 2009 she was pelted with eggs by a group of protesters whilst on a walkabout in Luton, who complained that she was not showing enough support for Muslims in Afghanistan.

She later said the BBC the men were ‘idiots who did not represent the majority of British Muslims’.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1348797/Islamophobia-rife-says-Baroness-Warsi-warns-dinner-party-bigots.html#ixzz1BZ4qbrx4

Martin Luther King - DO NOT WATCH

YOU MUST NOT WATCH THIS.

IF YOU DO YOU WILL WAKE UP.

DO NOT WATCH IF YOU WANT TO REMAIN ASLEEP.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3cTDqd7MhUI&feature=player_embedded

FBI Chief speaks out on Chemtrails

DO NOT WATCH THIS ;


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gR6KVYJ73AU&feature=player_embedded#!




http://aircrap.org/

One Honest Man Amongst an Army Of Cowards and Liars

So there is one honest man amongst the shower of shit that run this pathetic politically correct country.




http://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/view/172487/Daily-Star-was-right-over-Asian-sex-gangs-scandal/



BRITAIN’S chief social worker yesterday backed the Daily Star’s exposure of Asian sex gangs.

Hilton Dawson, head of the British Association of Social Workers, warned children’s safety must not be put at risk by political correctness.


The former MP said the problem of mobs of British-born Pakistanis targeting schoolgirls for sexual abuse had been “under-reported”.


CHEAP SUMMER HOLIDAY DEALS: BOOK A BARGAIN NOW!


Mr Dawson praised ex-Home Secretary Jack Straw for speaking out about gangs who prey on white girls they see as “easy meat”.


And he backed a demand from charity Barnado’s for a Government minister to be appointed to probe the problem.


Mr Dawson, whose group represents 13,000 social workers, said: “There is certainly evidence that people from that particular south Asian background have been involved in a number of incidents.


“We must get away from worrying about the political correctness here.


“We must focus on protecting children.”


Mr Dawson spoke out after we revealed how a nine-strong gang of Asians were jailed for 40 years for abusing girls as young as 12 in Derby.


They plied the girls with vodka and cocaine and forced them into sex with groups of men.


Five British-born Pakistani Muslims from Rotherham, South Yorks, had earlier been jailed for targeting girls aged 13 to 16.


A Daily Star probe revealed there have been 17 prosecutions since 1997 involving on-street grooming of girls by gangs.


Out of 56 convictions, 53 were Asian and the remaining three were white.


Mr Dawson said: “This affects every community. Every parent needs to be aware of the dangers.’’


He said the mobs were “often very ordinary men’’ who had made “grossly immoral and disgraceful decisions’’.


His comments fly in the face of Islamic preacher Anjem Choudary’s bid to blame the evils of British culture.


As we revealed yesterday, the radical cleric insists the rape mobs have been corrupted by the vices of western society.

ACPO Castrated

Finally the most corrupt mafia organisation in Britain has been castrated.



Police chiefs body loses power to run undercover units in wake of eco-warrior spy scandal

By James Slack
Last updated at 11:28 PM on 18th January 2011

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Striped of powers: The unit which had responsibility for Mark Kennedy's undercover role is to lose all operational duties after the fiasco

Striped of powers: The unit which had responsibility for Mark Kennedy's undercover role is to lose all operational duties after the fiasco

A controversial policing body is being stripped of responsibility for the shadowy unit behind the Mark Kennedy eco-warrior fiasco.

The Association of Chief Police Officers, a private company which is unaccountable to the public, will also lose all other ‘operational’ duties.

In a further blow, it is facing a funding crisis after the Association of Police Authorities said it was no longer prepared to hand over £850,000 a year in grants.

ACPO could now be forced to ask ministers for extra cash to carry out its remaining tasks – which are limited to producing guidance, and providing ‘leadership’ to senior officers.

Police minister Nick Herbert said it was clear something had ‘gone very wrong’ in the case of Mr Kennedy – the undercover officer who infiltrated eco-activists for eight years.

The £1million trial of six campaigners accused of plotting to occupy a power station collapsed after Mr Kennedy ‘went native’ and offered to give evidence in their favour.

He was part of an undercover unit controlled by ACPO, known as the National Public Order Intelligence Unit.

A string of inquiries will shortly begin into what went wrong. The Independent Police Complaints Commission and Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary have already announced investigations and the Serious Organised Crime Agency is likely to follow suit.
Police Minister Nick Herbert said something had gone very wrong in the case of Mark Kennedy and that they needed to be held to account

Police Minister Nick Herbert said something had gone very wrong in the case of Mark Kennedy and that they needed to be held to account

Mr Herbert, quizzed on the case by MPs, said ACPO would be stripped of all ‘operational duties’.

The Metropolitan Police will take charge of the unit for which Mr Kennedy worked, which also controls a database of suspected activists. ACPO will also lose responsibility for two other linked ‘anti-extremism’ units, which will pass to the Met.

Teams which gather intelligence on vehicle and gun crime will be switched to large police forces.

It means a huge reduction in the power wielded by ACPO. Mr Herbert said: ‘It is not desirable that nationally operated units like that are run by ACPO.

‘The Government is strongly of the view that there needs to be proper accountability for ACPO.’

Scotland Yard’s acting commissioner Tim Godwin also expressed concern over the Kennedy case.

He said more consideration must be given to ‘necessity’ in deciding whether to undertake covert operations.

Last night, ACPO president Sir Hugh Orde said the association supported Government aims to reposition its focus.

He added: ‘What is vitally important is that national units have a transparent accountability framework which provides public confidence.’

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1348380/Police-chief-body-loss-power-run-undercover-unit-Mark-Kennedy-scandal.html#ixzz1BTEwpnVa

Tolerance is Fascism

The new intolerance is tolerance.

Gays demand that society respects them, then they fail to respect the rights of Christians.

I wonder if a gay pub in London or Birmingham would allow traditional christians or Islamist muslims to preach on their premises if they hired a room in the venue ?

No, of course they wouldnt.

An Englishmans home is his castle, except if you are a christian.

Then your home is owned by the state, and the state demands who you must allow to enter it.

We are all equal except those who are more equal than others.

Its lawful to discriminate against heterosexual couples, but illegal to discriminate against homosexual couples.

Those who prefer to have sex with their own sex, have more rights than those who have sex with those of the other sex.

Tolerance is just another name for the marginalisation of mainstream society and the imposition of liberal fascism.






Gay couple both win £1,800 damages from Christian hotel owners who unlawfully refused them a double room

By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 4:26 PM on 18th January 2011

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* Hotel owner Hazelmary Bull: 'Much is said about "equality and diversity" but it seems some people are more equal than others'
* Judge: 'It is a very clear example of how social attitudes have changed'
* Case brought by taxpayer-funded Equality and Human Rights Commission
* Hotel owners facing financial ruin after they are ordered to pay costs

Christian hotel owners who refused a gay couple a double room were today ordered to pay them compensation after a judge ruled they acted unlawfully.

Peter and Hazelmary Bull were breaking the law when they denied Martyn Hall and his civil partner Steven Preddy a room at their hotel in Cornwall in September 2008.

Judge Andrew Rutherford made the ruling in a written judgment at Bristol County Court as he awarded the couple £1,800 each in damages.

Mr and Mrs Bull, who have previously admitted they are struggling to pay debts, are facing financial ruin after being ordered to pay most of the costs of the Equality and Human Rights Commission which funded the action.

Mr Hall, 46, and Mr Preddy, 38, from Bristol, were seeking up to £5,000 damages claiming sexual orientation discrimination. After the ruling, the couple said they were extremely pleased with the outcome.

'We're really pleased that the judge has confirmed what we already know - that in these circumstances our civil partnership has the same status in law as a marriage between a man and a woman, and that, regardless of each person's religious beliefs, no-one is above the law,' they said.

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Victory: Steven Preddy, left, and civil partner Martin Hall outside Bristol County Court today after a judge ruled that hotel owners Peter and Hazelmary Bull acted unlawfully when they refused them a double room

Victory: Steven Preddy, left, and civil partner Martin Hall outside Bristol County Court today after a judge ruled that hotel owners Peter and Hazelmary Bull acted unlawfully when they refused them a double room
Christian hotelier Hazelmary Bull

Christian hotelier Hazelmary Bull speaking outside court this morning. 'I do feel that Christianity is being marginalised in Britain,' she said. 'The same laws used against us have been used to shut down faith-based adoption agencies'

Outside court, Mrs Bull, 66, said she was disappointed by the decision and she and her husband, 70, would discuss an appeal with their legal team.

Mr Bull was unable to attend court for the judgment as he is due to undergo surgery for a triple heart bypass.

'We are obviously disappointed with the result. Our double-bed policy was based on our sincere beliefs about marriage, not hostility to anybody,' she said.

'It was applied equally and consistently to unmarried heterosexual couples and homosexual couples, as the judge accepted.

'We are trying to live and work in accordance with our Christian faith. As a result we have been sued and ordered to pay £3,600.

'But many Christians have given us gifts, so thanks to them we will be able to pay the damages.'

Mrs Bull added: 'Although we are disappointed by the decision, we are encouraged by some of the things the judge said.

'He said his decision affects our religious liberty and forces us to act against our deeply and genuinely held beliefs.

'In the meantime, I do feel that Christianity is being marginalised in Britain. The same laws used against us have been used to shut down faith-based adoption agencies.

'Much is said about 'equality and diversity' but it seems some people are more equal than others.'

At a hearing last month, the Bulls denied the claim, saying they have a long-standing policy of banning all unmarried couples both heterosexual and gay from sharing a bed at the Chymorvah Private Hotel in Marazion near Penzance.

Mr Bull and his wife said their policy, operated since they bought the hotel in 1986, is based on their beliefs about marriage and not a hostility to sexual orientation.
JUDGE: CLEAR EXAMPLE OF HOW SOCIAL ATTITUDES HAVE CHANGED
Judge RUTHERFORD

In his ruling, Judge Rutherford said that, in the last 50 years, social attitudes in Britain had changed.

We live today in a parliamentary democracy. Our laws are made by the Queen in Parliament,' the judge said.

'It is inevitable that such laws will from time to time cut across deeply held beliefs of individuals and sections of society for they reflect the social attitudes and morals prevailing at the time that they are made.

'In the last 50 years there have been many such instances - the abolition of capital punishment; the abolition of corporal punishment in schools; the decriminalisation of homosexuality and of suicide; and on a more mundane level the ban on hunting and on smoking in public places.

'All of these - and they are only examples - have offended sections of the population and in some cases cut across traditional religious beliefs.

'These laws have come into being because of changes in social attitudes. The standards and principles governing our behaviour which were unquestioningly accepted in one generation may not be so accepted in the next.

'I am quite satisfied as to the genuineness of the defendants' beliefs and it is, I have no doubt, one which others also hold.

'It is a very clear example of how social attitudes have changed over the years for it is not so very long ago that these beliefs of the defendants would have been those accepted as normal by society at large. Now it is the other way around.'

Mrs Bull told the court: 'We accept that the Bible is the holy living word of God and we endeavour to follow it as far as we are able.

'We have a kind of routine we go through with folk. It is never our intention to offend so we try to make it as gracious and as helpful as we can.'

James Dingemans QC, representing Mr and Mrs Bull, said they had been 'vilified as objects of fun' for only allowing married couples to stay in double rooms at their hotel.

He said: 'The defendants respectfully submit that their policy is directed at sex and not to sexual orientation and is lawful.

'Without the protection of the law they will simply not be able to operate their business.'

Hotel employee Bernie Quinn hinted that Mr Preddy and Mr Hall's booking was a set-up.

'It is not beyond the realms of possibility. I have no proof other than the phone call,' he said.

Mr Preddy said he and Mr Hall had booked the hotel room over the phone and were not aware of the policy until they arrived and were told by Mr Quinn they would not be able to stay.

The semi-detached Chymorvah Private Hotel has seven rooms in total three doubles, one family room, two twins and single with the Bulls living on the ground floor.

The Bulls legal defence was supported by the Christian Institute while Mr Hall and Mr Preddy were backed by the Equality and Human Rights Commission.

John Wadham, from the Commission, welcomed the ruling.

'The right of an individual to practice their religion and live out their beliefs is one of the most fundamental rights a person can have, but so is the right not to be turned away by a hotel just because you are gay,' he said.

'The law works both ways. Hotel owners would similarly not be able to turn away people whose religious beliefs they disagreed with.

'When Mr and Mrs Bull chose to open their home as a hotel, their private home became a commercial enterprise.

'This decision means that community standards, not private ones, must be upheld.'
Court order: Peter and Hazelmary Bull will have to pay compensation to the couple for refusing them a room at their guest house in Marazion, Cornwall

Court order: Peter and Hazelmary Bull will have to pay compensation to the couple for refusing them a room at their guest house in Marazion, Cornwall

No entry: Chymorvah House in Marazion where the gay couple wanted to stay

No entry: Chymorvah House in Marazion where the gay couple wanted to stay

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After the ruling Mr Preddy and Mr Hall said: 'When we booked this hotel we just wanted to do something that thousands of other couples do every weekend - take a relaxing weekend break away.

'We checked that the hotel would allow us to bring our dog, but it didn't even cross our minds that in 2008 we would have to check whether we would be welcome ourselves.'

Ben Summerskill, chief executive of equality campaign group Stonewall, also welcomed the ruling.

He said: 'We're delighted with the outcome of this test case.

'You can't turn away people from a hotel because they're black or Jewish and in 2011 you shouldn't be able to demean them by turning them away because they're gay either.

'Religious freedom shouldn't be used as a cloak for prejudice.

'For the estimated £30,000 that this court case cost Mr and Mrs Bull and their supporters during the last month, Oxfam or Save the Children could have vaccinated 100,000 people against meningitis in sub-Saharan Africa.

'That would have been a more Christian way to spend their money during the festive season.'
Support: Hotel owners Mr and Mrs Bull received the backing of Christians when they appeared at Bristol County Court in December

Support: Hotel owners Mr and Mrs Bull received the backing of Christians when they appeared at Bristol County Court in December

However Mike Judge, from the Christian Institute, which funded the Bulls' defence, said: 'This ruling is further evidence that equality laws are being used as a sword rather than a shield.

'Peter and Hazelmary were sued with the full backing of the Government-funded Equality Commission.

'Christians are being sidelined. The judge recognises that his decision has a profound impact on the religious liberty of Peter and Hazelmary.'

Judge Rutherford rejected one of the claims made in court that the booking had been a 'set-up'.

'There was a suggestion in the course of the case, and indeed in some newspaper reports prior to the case, that the defendants were "set up" by the claimants with the assistance of an organisation such as Stonewall.
SO WAS IT A STING BY ACTIVISTS?

Bernie Quinn

What began with a simple phone call to book a hotel room by Mr Preddy ended with a ground-breaking legal ruling and the start of a huge debate.

Mr Preddy decided to book the trip away with his partner Mr Hall and spoke with Mrs Bull.

Mrs Bull later admitted she forgot to ask the 'usual' questions when speaking to Mr Preddy on the phone and assumed he would arrive with Mrs Preddy.

But when the men arrived in September 2008, they were turned away by hotel employee Bernie Quinn, pictured above.

It was at this stage that the owners feared they were the victims of a sting set up to instigate the legal case.

They claimed in court that they feared the gay rights group Stonewall was behind the men staying at their hotel because they received a letter from the organisation criticising their policy a month before the couple made their booking.

Mr Quinn also hinted in court that the incident was set-up.

'It is not beyond the realms of possibility. I have no proof other than the phone call,' he said.

The gay couple immediately reported the incident to police and within months began a county court action for damages.

However, Judge Rutherford said he could see no evidence of such a sting operation and added that damages would have been greatly reduced if that was so.

He said: 'There was a suggestion in the course of the case, and indeed in some newspaper reports prior to the case, that the defendants were "set up" by the claimants with the assistance of an organisation such as Stonewall.

'If this were true then, while it would not of itself defeat a discrimination claim, it would very materially affect the issue of damages.

'If this were true then, while it would not of itself defeat a discrimination claim, it would very materially affect the issue of damages.

'I can see why the defendants might have thought that this was so but I am quite satisfied on the evidence of the claimants that this is not the case and, in fairness to the defendants, let me make it clear that their counsel, James Dingemans QC, did not seek to run the case on this basis.'

The judge said he found that the Bulls did hold 'perfectly orthodox Christian beliefs'.

'I should say at this point that I have no doubt - and the point was not seriously pursued by the claimants - that the defendants genuinely hold a perfectly orthodox Christian belief in the sanctity of marriage and the sinfulness of homosexuality,' he said.

'Such a belief, in my view, reaches the threshold set out in R (Williamson) v Secretary of State for Education and Employment and therefore does fall within Article 9 of the European Convention."

Judge Rutherford added: 'I have found this a very difficult case, not least because the application of these regulations is an area of the law with which I have not previously had to grapple.

'I am also acutely aware of the importance of this case to both sides and the deeply held views on both sides.

'Both can legitimately claim the right under Article 8 to have their private and family life - and in the case of the defendants their home - respected.

'The claimants are a family in the eyes of the law just as much as are the married defendants.

'Both are entitled not to be discriminated against under Article 14 and the defendants have the right under Article 9 to manifest their religion or beliefs.

'At one point in the case I queried whether the running of an hotel along Christian principles could be described as manifesting one's religion but I have come to the conclusion that it can so be regarded.

'And it is clearly, in my view, the case that each side hold perfectly honourable and respectable, albeit wholly contrary, views.'

Judge Rutherford said that under the Bulls rules, two friends of the same sex who are backpacking around Cornwall could not have a double room at their hotel.

'How many students over the years must have shared a double room in such circumstances?,' the judge asked.

'Conversely two persons of the same sex, whether male or female, who are in a sexual relationship and who have come to Cornwall intent on a sexually fulfilling weekend may enjoy that weekend to the full in a twin bedded room.

'Putting it bluntly the hotel policy allows them so to do albeit in the confines of a smaller bed.

'It seems to me that a correct analysis of the position of the defendants is that they discriminate on the basis of marital status.

'I have reached the clear conclusion that on a proper analysis of the defendants' position on the facts of this particular case the only conclusion which can be drawn is that the refusal to allow them to occupy the double room which they had booked was because of their sexual orientation and that prima facie they fall within the provisions of Regulation 3(1) and that this is direct discrimination.'

Judge Rutherford said Regulations 3(1) and 4 were not incompatible with the European Convention.

'The defendants' right to have their private and family life and their home respected is inevitably circumscribed by their decision to use their home in part as an hotel.

'The regulations do not require them to take into their home - that is the private part of the hotel which they occupy - persons such as the claimants and arguably therefore do not affect the article 8 rights of the defendants.'

Judge Rutherford granted the Bulls leave to appeal his ruling, saying 'there is little or no direct authority on the issues I have had to decide', meaning the case could go to the High Court and Europe.
CHRISTIAN PSYCHOTHERAPIST WHO 'CONVERTS' GAY MEN FACING BAN

A psychotherapist who attempts to ‘convert’ gay men could be struck off this week after she was taped carrying out her Christian-influenced treatment.

In the latest example of Christian views clashing with gay people, Lesley Pilkington, 60, will appear before a professional conduct panel and faces losing her accreditation with the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy.

She agreed to help Patrick Strudwick become heterosexual without realising he was an undercover journalist and gay rights campaigner who had a tape recorder strapped to his stomach.
Facing being struck off: Lesley Pilkington agreed to help convert a gay man who wanted to be straight

Facing being struck off: Lesley Pilkington agreed to help convert a gay man who wanted to be straight, but turned out to be an undercover journalist

Mrs Pilkington, a devout Christian who says she ‘understands the issues’ because her son is gay, has treated around ten patients using the controversial Sexual Orientation Change Efforts programme over the past decade.

In tapes of her sessions with Mr Strudwick he asks her if she views homosexuality as ‘a mental illness, an addiction or an anti-religious phenomenon’.

At her practice in Chorleywood, Hertfordshire, she replies: ‘It is all of that.’

He complained to the BACP and it launched disciplinary proceedings against her, accusing her of ‘praying to God to heal him [Mr Strudwick] of his homosexuality’ and having an ‘agenda that homosexuality is wrong’.

Mrs Pilkington, who is fighting the case, accuses him of entrapment. Her defence is funded by the Christian Legal Centre.

She said she wanted to help ­others who were in a ‘similar place’ to her 29-year-old son who, she insisted, was ‘heterosexual. He just has a homosexual problem’.

‘I am not in this because I am judging people,’ she said. ‘I am in it because I understand what the issues are.

‘I have been able to help my son. We have gone through a process.

‘[My son] is still gay... we are developing a relationship that was quite difficult for many years but is now coming back in a very nice way. I am confident he will come through this and he will resolve his issues and that he will change.’

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1348207/Gay-couple-win-1-800-Christian-hotel-owners-refused-double-room.html#ixzz1BPTeTLck

The Red Dragon Awakes

http://www.salem-news.com/articles/january172011/china-nkorea-ta.php

China Moves Troops Into North Korea

Terrence Aym Salem-News.com

A South Korean official downplayed the report saying that it only permits China to come to North Korea's aid in the event of greater instability.
Hwanggumpyong
Hwanggumpyong, North Korea photo courtesy: wikimapia.org

(CHICAGO) - South Korea's daily newspaper is reporting that what Western analysts have feared has happened: Chinese troops have been deployed into North Korea. The Chinese now have a presence in the rogue state for the first time in more than 15 years.

China has had no military presence in the rogue country since 1994 after it quit the Military Armistice Commission that supervises the Armistice that suspended the Korean war.

Since that time, Pyonyang has stridently announced that it will no longer abide by the agreement. During 2010 the North Korean government officially declared that it is once again in a state of war with South Korea and the U.S.

The South Korean government confirmed reports on January 18, 2011 that China has stationed military forces in the special economic zone of Rajin-Sonbong.

It's a move on China's part that has seen U.S. and South Korean military experts rushing back to reprogram their war games scenario computers.

A week earlier, the South Korean daily newspaper, Chosun Ilbo, carried quotes from a government official wishing to remain anonymous. The official who works for the South Korean president stated that Party leaders in Beijing and Pyongyang's leaders recently held "substantive" talks about the need to station Chinese troops in the troubled region.

"North Korea and China have discussed the issue of stationing a small number of Chinese troops to protect China-invested port facilities," said the official. "The presence of Chinese troops is apparently to guard facilities and protect Chinese nationals."

The unnamed official further revealed that the Chinese planned to deploy their troops in the city of Rason, within Rajin-Sonbong, a special economic zone located in North Korea's northeastern quadrant.

The reasoning behind the Chinese troop deployment is presumably to afford protection for Chinese ports that might be at risk if a war breaks out on the Peninsula, but South Korean analysts consulted by the paper point out that the targeted location positions the troops in a militarily strategic location.

The city gives the Chinese direct access to the Sea of Japan.

One senior South Korean official downplayed the report saying that it only permits China to come to North Korea's aid in the event of greater North Korean instability.


"Pyongyang and Beijing have reportedly discussed the matter of stationing a small number of Chinese troops in the Rajin-Sonbong region to guard port facilities China has invested in," a Cheong Wa Dae official said. "If it's true, they're apparently there to protect either facilities or Chinese residents rather than for political or military reasons."

The government of North Korea has grown increasingly dependent upon their giant communist neighbor. As the North's economy continues to deteriorate their saber-rattling has become increasingly bellicose. During December of 2010 they warned that they were ready to annihilate any aggressor and would be more than willing to defend themselves with their nuclear stockpile.

Military nuclear experts estimate the North now has between six to twelve nuclear weapons. None have been successfully modified to arm missiles yet.

The South Korean paper also reported that Seoul's International Security Ambassador Nam Joo-Hong believed that China had the capability to rush large numbers of troops into the North if extreme stability became evident.

"The worst scenario China wants to avoid is a possibly chaotic situation in its northeastern provinces which might be created by massive inflows of North Korean refugees," Chosun Ilbo quoted Nam as saying.

The Death of the Dollar

http://www.infowars.com/china-says-the-end-of-the-dollar-is-near/

China Says the End of the Dollar is Near

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Andrew Brown
Wall Street Journal
January 16, 2011

Hu Highlights Need for U.S.-China Cooperation, Questions Dollar

BEIJING—Chinese President Hu Jintao emphasized the need for cooperation with the U.S. in areas from new energy to space ahead of his visit to Washington this week, but he called the present U.S. dollar-dominated currency system a “product of the past” and highlighted moves to turn the yuan into a global currency.

“We both stand to gain from a sound China-U.S. relationship, and lose from confrontation,” Mr. Hu said in written answers to questions from The Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post.

Mr. Hu acknowledged “some differences and sensitive issues between us,” but his tone was generally compromising, and he avoided specific mention of some of the controversial issues that have dogged relations with the U.S. over the past year or so—including U.S. arms sales to Taiwan that led to a freeze in military relations between the world’s sole superpower and its rising Asian rival.

Read full article

AFP
January 16, 2011

Hu calls currency system ‘product of the past’

China’s President Hu Jintao said Sunday the international currency system was “a product of the past,” but it would be a long time before the yuan is accepted as an international currency.
Hu’s comments, which came ahead of a state visit to Washington on Wednesday, reflected the continuing tensions over the dollar’s role as the major reserve currency in the aftermath of the US financial crisis in 2008.

“The current international currency system is the product of the past,” Hu said in written answers to questions posed by The Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post.

Highlighting the dollar’s importance to global trade, Hu implicitly criticized the Federal Reserve’s recent decision to pump 600 billion dollars into the US economy, a move criticized as weakening the dollar at the expense of other countries’ exports.

Read full article

The Racist Playground

And no doubt the majority of those called racists are white, whilst as usual the ethnic minority racists are not recorded for fear of the teachers appearing as 'racist'.

Pathetic.





30,000 pupils branded as bigots: Teachers log 'racist' and 'homophobic' jibes in playground squabbles, even at nursery

By Sarah Harris
Last updated at 11:45 PM on 17th January 2011

* Comments (148)
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More than 10,000 primary school pupils in a single year have been labelled racist or homophobic over minor squabbles.

Even toddlers in nursery classes are being penalised for so-called hate crimes such as using the words ‘white trash’ or ‘gaylord’.

Schools are forced to report their language to education authorities, which keep a register of incidents.
Penalised: Primary school pupils are being labelled as bigots over minor squabbles in the playground and so-called hate crimes involving words including 'gaylord' and 'white trash'

Penalised: Primary school pupils are being labelled as bigots over minor squabbles in the playground and so-called hate crimes involving words including 'gaylord' and 'white trash'

This leads to at least 30,000 primary and secondary pupils per year being effectively classed as bigots because of anti-bullying rules.

The school can also keep the pupil’s name and ‘offence’ on file. The record can be passed from primaries to secondaries or when a pupil moves between schools at the request of the new head.

And if schools are asked for a pupil reference by a future employer or a university, the record could be used as the basis for it, meaning the pettiest of incidents has the potential to blight a child for life.

Figures for the year 2008-9 were obtained under the Freedom of Information Act by the civil liberties group, the Manifesto Club.

They show 29,659 racist incidents reported by schools to local education authorities in England and Wales. Of these, 10,436 were at primary schools and 41 at nursery schools.
Staggering: 112 racists incidents alone were reported by the local education authority in Barnet, North London

Staggering: 112 racists incidents alone were reported by the local education authority in Barnet, North London

Birmingham City Council had the highest number of any authority, with 1,607 racist incidents, compared with only two each in the Vale of Glamorgan and Hartlepool.
In the majority of cases, the ‘racist’ spats involved mere name-calling.

Yet in 51 cases police became involved, with Hertfordshire schools turning to officers for help in 38 incidents, according to the Manifesto Club report which will be published shortly.

A spotlight on just 15 LEAs discovered 341 homophobic incidents logged by schools in 2008-9, including 120 at primaries. A staggering 112 such incidents were reported in Barnet, North London.

At one primary, teachers filled out an incident form after three Year Four pupils, aged eight or nine, told a classmate he was ‘gay’ and could not play with them.
Under attack: The report's author Adrian Hart says that these policies misunderstand children profoundly and says they create an illusion of a racism problem in Britain's schools

Under attack: The report's author Adrian Hart says that these policies misunderstand children profoundly and says they create an illusion of a racism problem in Britain's schools

The Manifesto Club report’s author, Adrian Hart, said: ‘I feel that childhood itself is under attack. It’s absolutely the case that these policies misunderstand children quite profoundly.

‘Racist incident reporting generates the illusion of a problem with racism in Britain’s schools by trawling the everyday world of playground banter, teasing, childish insults – the sort of things that every teacher knows happens out there in the playground.’

Schools were required by the Labour government in 2002 to monitor and report all racist incidents to their local authority after the introduction of the Race Relations (Amendment) Act in 2000.

Teachers must name the alleged perpetrator and victim and spell out the incident and the punishment. Local authority records show the type of incident but not the name of the child involved.

LEAs are expected to monitor the number of incidents, look for patterns and plan measures to tackle any perceived problems. Heads who send in ‘nil’ returns are criticised for ‘under-reporting’.

In March 2007, the Commons Education Select Committee called for schools to record all types of bullying, including homophobic and disability-related.

LEAs also began demanding that schools report their homophobia data, alongside racist incidents, although not all do so.

Labour had also planned to make reporting ‘hate taunting’ statutory for every school but the policy is under review by the Coalition.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1348089/30-000-pupils-branded-racist-homophobic-bigots-teachers-nursery.html#ixzz1BNjAiaOl

Birmingham Exposed

http://www.standpointmag.co.uk/node/3650/full


I have just returned to London, where I have lived since I was 11. I have been away for four years, living as an ethnic minority in a monocultural part of the world, amassing a host of stories to tell to disbelieving friends. On the whole, I am glad to return. I shan't miss some locals' assumptions that, being a white woman, if I was outside after dark, as I occasionally was, usually to walk the few metres between my house and the church, I must be a prostitute eager to give them a blow job. I shan't miss the abuse my priest husband received: the daubing of "Dirty white dogs" in red paint on the church door, the barrage of stones thrown at him by children shouting "Satan". He was called a "f***ing white bastard" more than once, though, notably, never when in a cassock. I will also not miss the way our garden acted as the local rubbish dump, with items ranging from duvets and TV sets, to rats (dead or twitching) glued to cardboard strips, a popular local method of vermin control to stem the large numbers of them which scuttled between the rubbish piled in gardens and on pavements. Yes, I am very glad to have left Britain's second city.


Brum Deal: Everyday life in Britain's second city (Photograph by Julian Anderson)

For four years, we lived in inner-city Birmingham, in what has been a police no-go area for 20 years. We know that because some plain-clothed cops told us when they asked to use our vicarage as a stake-out to bust drugs rings that pervade the area. Having heard a parishioner's tales of what his neighbours did to him when he was wrongfully suspected of having grassed up a cock-fighting ring, we refused, explaining that we had to live here, they didn't. Even during this time we saw the area change. When we arrived, the population was predominantly Pakistani. Now Somalis are there in equal number. Most of the run-down Irish pubs were turned into mosques during our time.

As a woman, it was difficult for me to gain many first-hand impressions of the Muslims. I was generally ignored by both men and women, and on the rare occasion that I had to interact, when for example a car was parked illegally and blocking my gate, I was addressed as if inconsequential. My husband, however, faithfully reported conversations which you may find somewhat alarming. One of our favourite dinner-party pieces is this: opposite our vicarage there is a "library" which has some computers, some burkas and occasionally tracts that say offensive things about Jews and Christians. My husband did his photo-copying there, and got on rather well with everybody. One day he was chatting to a man with a passing resemblance to Lawrence of Arabia, who had just arrived from Antwerp — one of an increasing number of Muslims who are arriving here with EU passports. He asked him why he had come to Birmingham. He was surprised at the question: "Everybody know. Birmingham — best place in Europe to be pure Muslim." Well, there must be many places in Europe where Muslims are entirely free to practise their faith, but I suspect there are few places in which they can have so little contact with the civic and legal structure of a Western state if they choose. It seems to be particularly easy to "disappear" if that is their intention. A parishioner once described a lorry pulling up outside his house, the side opening to reveal stacked mattresses full of sleepy, and presumably illegal, immigrants, who staggered out into broad Brummie daylight. We heard tales of how houses are exchanged for cash payments in our area. An untaxed car was once clamped by a frightened-looking official at 8am, but within hours the owner of the vehicle had organised the clamps to be sawn off, and he sped away.

Another instance of separation from the Western world is revealed in the following: my husband frequently chatted to a neighbour who could be described as one of the more questioning Muslims, and who has often provided an insight into the locals' mindset. Even this man, however, believes what the whole community thinks: the 9/11 planes were organised by Jews. Everybody knows there were no Jewish people in the World Trade Centre that day, as they had been tipped off. Oh, and the Mumbai terrorists had been kidnapped and brainwashed by Indian people. The tendency towards denial is strong. When my husband mentioned the "dirty white dogs" graffiti to a local Muslim, the response was, "One of your people did it." I have to say that the police's response was no better when the local Methodists complained about the same thing. They chose not to believe it had happened, since we had removed all sign of it with the buckets of anti-graffiti chemicals we had stocked since we arrived. They asked, somewhat pathetically: "Are you sure it was racist?"

To a London reader, born and bred with multiculturalism, I know that my stories may come across as outlandish and exaggerated, and that I must surely be a BNP voter — I have observed people's expressions as they have listened to my tales of life in Brum. When I recently told a friend how a large Taliban flag fluttered gaily on a house near St Andrew's football stadium for some months, her cry of "Can't you tell the police?" made me reflect how far many of our inner cities have been abandoned by our key workers: our doctors and nurses drive in from afar, the police, as mentioned before, have shut down their stations and never venture in unless in extremis — they and ambulance crews have been known to be attacked — even the local Imam lives in a leafier area.

Only the priest remains, if you can get one — the thriving but clerically-vacant church down the road has had no applicant in two years. In their absence, we get stabbings that never make the news, dog- and cock-fighting rings, cars torched as pranks and cars used for peddling heroin. (One of the more amusing moments of our time came when a local lad provided one reason people often gave us stares when we drove past such deals: "Two white people wearing seatbelts — you've got to be cops.") In their absence, we simply have the witness of those who are unlikely to be heard, who, through a variety of unfortunate circumstances, have not been able to move out: the elderly, the infirm, the illiterate, the chronically poor. Indeed, some of the Muslim residents deeply regret the flight of the non-Muslim population. It is they who now have to live in a crime-ridden ghetto.

On holiday in Germany recently, we watched a TV documentary about how schools were coping with Essen's growing Muslim community, and how the community itself felt. When it was over, we turned to each other, and said simultaneously (a drawback of having been married for a while), "This could not have been made in Britain." At the moment, also in Germany, the whole country is debating Thilo Sarrazin's controversial book Deutschland schafft sich ab ("Germany abolishes itself"), in which the author — a former member of the board of the Bundesbank and the German Social Democrats — examines research about immigrant communities and then makes specific recommendations about the integration of the Muslim community. I have only seen scant reference to this in the British press, which usually dismisses it, wrongly and lazily in my view, as good old German racism. This has nothing whatsoever to do with race. The Muslim community in Birmingham, for instance, is made up of people from many continents and races, including Afghans, Yemenis, Pakistanis, Indians and Somalis.

There is no doubt in my mind that we need to have the same openness in discussing what is happening to many cities in Britain. If current demographic trends continue over the next few decades, the West Midlands, as well as other parts of the country, will become a predominantly Muslim area. Much more needs to be done to integrate the communities among whom I lived, and we need to be much less negligent of our own values too. Frankly, if we happened to walk down Broad Street on a Friday night, where mobs of identically undressed and mostly aesthetically unpleasing gals and lads were on the piss and pull, it was almost a relief to drive back to our ghetto enclave.

It is time to rub the rime from our eyes and to look clearly at the shape of Britain today. Everyone living here needs to be able to talk about what they see, without the lazy or fearful, but certainly paralysing, accusation of racism. Only then will we be able to discern what is best for the future.