Lest we forget; Christ and the soldier

Christ and the Soldier

by Siegfried Sassoon (1916)

I

The straggled soldier halted -- stared at Him -- Then clumsily dumped down upon his knees, Gasping 

"O blessed crucifix, I'm beat !"

And Christ, still sentried by the seraphim, Near the front-line, between two splintered trees, Spoke him:

"My son, behold these hands and feet."

The soldier eyed him upward, limb by limb, Paused at the Face, then muttered, 

"Wounds like these Would shift a bloke to Blighty just a treat !" 

Christ, gazing downward, grieving and ungrim, Whispered, 

"I made for you the mysteries, Beyond all battles moves the Paraclete."

II

The soldier chucked his rifle in the dust, And slipped his pack, and wiped his neck, and said -- 

"O Christ Almighty, stop this bleeding fight !"

Above that hill the sky was stained like rust With smoke. In sullen daybreak flaring red The guns were thundering bombardment's blight. The soldier cried, 

"I was born full of lust, With hunger, thirst, and wishfulness to wed. Who cares today if I done wrong or right?" 

Christ asked all pitying,

"Can you put no trust In my known word that shrives each faithful head ? Am I not resurrection, life and light ?"

III

Machine-guns rattled from below the hill; High bullets flicked and whistled through the leaves; And smoke came drifting from exploding shells.

Christ said 

"Believe; and I can cleanse your ill. I have not died in vain between two thieves; Nor made a fruitless gift of miracles." 

The soldier answered, 

"Heal me if you will, Maybe there's comfort when a soul believes In mercy, and we need it in these hells. But be you for both sides ? I'm paid to kill And if I shoot a man his mother grieves. Does that come into what your teaching tells ?"

A bird lit on the Christ and twittered gay; Then a breeze passed and shook the ripening corn. A Red Cross waggon bumped along the track. Forsaken Jesus dreamed in the desolate day -- Uplifted Jesus, Prince of Peace forsworn -- An observation post for the attack. 

"Lord Jesus, ain't you got no more to say ?" 

Bowed hung that head below the crown of thorns. The soldier shifted, and picked up his pack, And slung his gun, and stumbled on his way.

"O God," he groaned,"why ever was I born ?"

... The battle boomed, and no reply came back.

Do not go gentle

Do not go gentle into that good night

Dylan Thomas, 1914 - 1953

Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

And you, my father, there on the sad height,
Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

We must ensure life continues in our galaxy.

Just a thought, as I am on the bus; We should not only be obsessed with sending humans to the nearest planets, we should be sending microbial life to all sectors of our galaxy. If it is unrealistic for us to ever travel beyond our solar system, and if the possibility exists that we are the first or only lifeforms in our galaxy, then we have a duty to ensure the survival of life,even if that life is not our species. At some point we should send out spacecrafts that will travel indefinitely  in every direction, until we sadly become extinct. Many of those crafts will by the law of averages crash into habitable planets, and if we continue to this for the next 1 million years until our eventual demise, one of those microbes will take hold and multiply, ensuring the continuation of life.

The economy. From me in 2010

Time for a revolution?

7 October 2010 at 05:00

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Chris Mercer 6.10.10

How to really fix the economy.

The more I think about this, the angrier I get. One hundred years ago, when the gap between the rich and the poor was also as wide as it is today there was revolution. But as George Orwell predicted, our society has become sanitised, our voices drowned out by the state. Big Brother is watching us, and we know it, and we accept it. We don't have the choice of rising up against the system anymore. The proletariat have been silenced.

We have a situation where the whole of society will have to pay dearly for the mistakes of just a few. This week in the UK, the government gave the go ahead for universities to begin charging students £10,000 for tuition. As it stands a degree will no more ensure a successful career than an O level would 30 years ago. This means students from poorer families will have to be saddled with student debt well into their 30s. Why are they paying when the generations before them benefitted so much from universal education, free and topped up by government help? 

Government services are being scaled back at an unprecedented level, but yet  taxes continue to rise. Hospitals, schools, police , emergency services, the list goes on, are all facing dramatic reductions in their ability to function.  Today the taxation system is everywhere, it is a part of everything we do. V.A.T increases the cost of necessities, car tax, road tax, inheritance tax, fuel duty, alcohol duty, property tax/stamp duty, Council rates/tax, and of course income tax.  These taxes are paid by everybody. In the UK V.A.T  was not supposed to be levied upon children's goods, but ask any parent about the cost of flights,books and clothes-today there is no difference between adults and children.  Taxation systems throughout the world are now efficient and the long arm of the taxman is very difficult to avoid. This means that governments' revenues are enormous. The majority of this windfall is paid for by normal people, 'upper middle class, middle class, working class, and even the great unwashed, those at the bottom of the tree.

 

Yet the return that normal people get back from that system is dwindling. The shortfall is the crux. The shortfall means that people have less to spend on leisure, consumer goods, luxuries. People only have enough to survive, to sustain themselves, to pay the myriad of  government and utility charges they are burdened with. As this group represent a very large majority of the population, the knock-on effect is drastic. No purchasing power for goods and services, no sales, no jobs, less tax revenue, more unemployed to share that revenue. An ever decreasing circle, and if we listen to the idiots charged with getting us out of this, a very bleak future indeed.

Some things do have to change. We are living longer and stronger, we must work longer too. We cannot continue to let people rot away in the welfare system, deserving or not. There are ways to deal with long term unemployed, but non more successful as making sure they have jobs to go to. How can we not have enough manpower to help the elderly, to sweep the streets, to clean the beaches, to paint the fences, to teach our children, and to build our homes? We have to find a way, to get everything done that needs to be done with the people that we have. That means of course paying a decent wage. We can't escape big government, we just have to pay for it.

 Back to the beginning though, and back to the reason for my anger. There are many reasons for the collapse of the world's economy, from the greed of banks that didn't care about the credit that they gave, that created  a false sense of security based completely in the 'never-never'. The arrogance and fraud of the markets and financial institutions take your breath away. Surely we cannot let them continue to produce nothing, and trade only in imaginary goods. To think that these people spend their days pressing buttons on keyboards, gambling with the wealth of nations, for no apparent reason is staggering to the extreme-how stupid are we to let this go on?

 Thatcher's idea that everyone should own their own home was seriously misguided, and still is.  In the frenzied race  that followed, the prices of those homes rose to way beyond the means of normal people. A run of the mill 2 bedroom house in the UK(outside London) now costs 20-30 year's salary!! I mean, really! That is unsustainable. It was great while it lasted for those able to buy and sell during those years, but now it's time to come back to earth. 

 The rich have become much, much richer and the poor much poorer, and that is a reality. Those least affected by all of this are the super rich and the rich. They are still paying the same amount of taxes in proportion to their worth as they were before all of this. In fact most of them have become richer. We find that more of the world's wealth is being controlled by a smaller group of people. In the case of the UK, we can also see that large corporations are becoming ever bigger monopolies and duopolies. These companies are able to dictate prices both to consumers and to those who supply them. There are areas of the UK that now remind me of those tumbleweed cowboy towns after the gold rush had moved on. In Hong Kong too, there is a definite danger that too few companies are beginning to strangle the very market that created them. Where is  the dynamism, creativity and competition?

 

It is time to redistribute the wealth again. We don't need communism to do this, again as Orwell pointed out, it doesn't work. We don't even need to give up on capitalism, it's not perfect but it's all we have.

The Americans are terrified of the word socialism, and to be fair it does probably give the wrong idea. Yet in the US right now we have the rise of 'The Tea Party' , which were able to galvanise themselves into existence just because of the fear that arose from Obama's Healthcare reform. The terms Socialism and Communism were bandied around so much, even in relation to Europe that rallies of frightened right wingers soon sprang up. The US has an uphill struggle in trying to even the score out, but after a few years of middle class hardship the tide may well turn.

So, we need capitalism with some very strict controls, with a touch of socialism(not a dirty word outside the US). The controls need to be put on banks, as well as just making a profit, they have a role to play in society. We can't trust them to regulate themselves, so we will have to do it. To begin with, they are more responsible for the mess that we are in  than any other group. Even if they didn't take any government money (Barclays, Hsbc), they still created the conditions for the banking collapse. I am not talking about a small levy on their revenues, but quite a hefty one. This levy must be agreed by the WTO, thereby ensuring the banks don't bugger off to avoid it.  Also a simple rule that if you do any business here you must pay , no matter where your headquarters are. That should bring a nice hefty sum into government coffers to get started with the real recovery.

 Next on the list are the large corporations, to begin with a large increase in business tax, with small and medium sized companies being given a reduction in tax. If the large companies don't like it-so what? Let them go. These commercial tax policies can implemented at least Europe wide, and once again if the companies want access to our markets, they will pay, one way or another.

Next is individual tax, the upper tax rate must be drastically increased, back to the levels of the 60s and 70s. The simple fact is, is that we have to rebuild. If we reduce the wealth of the wealthy, their purchasing power remains the same, they still buy the same things.That money is of much better use to the society that enabled them to gain so much wealth. As things improve this can be reduced again. In the case of the UK, a new law may need to be tabled that even if a citizen in the upper tax bracket was to leave the UK, they would still be required to pay that tax. There are not that many 'tax havens' left in the world, and certainly not many without reciprocal extradition treaties.

These measures alone are enough to balance the huge deficits of Western nations, but they are also sound measures for developing nations as well.

 

Of course balancing the budget is not enough, that only takes care of  governments' needs. It surprises me how the leaders of the world have for some reason forgotten basic economics or are completely ignorant of basic economic principles. It was hearing Warren Buffet today and his views on taxation that gave me hope. I have had the same views on macro economics since school , and have watched the exact opposite happening for the last twenty years. That's why it was so heartening to hear those views repeated by one of the richest men in the world today, and why I felt the urge to write about it.

So back to the matter at hand. Demand also needs to be encouraged. As we have learnt, that demand should not be driven by reckless credit. We need to change society's mindset. The majority of taxation should not be borne by the majority of people. Of course, we should still have a system whereas services are paid for, and only occasionally subsidised(except for health and education which should always be free). Our aim should still be that government, local and national should pay for itself , but that is not a reality yet-only an aim.  The majority need to be free from an overwhelming tax burden. Once they are free from that burden, they will have money to spend. These people are the middle classes, and the working classes. As they spend their money in the economy rather than give it to government, the economy grows. This in turn, generates jobs, and reduces the welfare cost to the government, and the cost of poverty to society.  Hey presto! We once again have a functioning capitalist economy, built on work, goods and services rather than credit, speculation and the tooth fairy.

 

Obama understands this but he is at the helm of a very rowdy ship, and his chances of success are very slim. In the UK, we have a coalition of imbeciles  who don't understand this, and can only think cuts, cuts, cuts, and oh yeah, more cuts! The money that they will get from these cuts is miniscule, and not nearly enough to address the deficit. They are also  blind to the effects that these cuts will have on both the economy and to society as a whole. If they continue on their present track, disaster is nigh. The labour party are no better. All of these politicians are more interested in tabloid headlines, opinion polls and jingoism than thinking outside the box, or of having the guts to really change things.

Hong Kong is run by the corporations and by giant property developers. It, ironically has huge reserves, but won't spend them, it would rather keep the money under the bed. This when its own citizens suffer, when schools and healthcare are woeful, when the elderly sweep the streets and live in cages.

 

Revolution in the end is what is needed,  unfortunately a peaceful one, in my opinion.

War! What is it good for......?

We go to war against a group that 2 months ago were on the verge of completing absolute genocide against a Christian minority group, and would have succeeded if not for the intervention of the U.S. Iraq, including Baghdad would now be under the control of the Caliphate if not for that intervention. A group that have declared war on you, me, your children, and have promised to bring fire on Earth. The Iraqi government has requested help, any action has a legal basis because the sovereign government have invited them. Inaction is criminal, the continued beheadings, not only of westerners, but anyone not of the right 'flavour' of Islam. Whole towns and cities are under what can only be described as a living hell. Left alone, the borders of this 'state' will reach to the Med, left alone the wealth of these evil men will enable them to kill in our cities. There have been mistakes made in the past, killing that chemical weapon using tyrant Sadam was not one of them, nor was the destruction of Gaddafi, once a tyrant begins indiscriminately killing his own citizens on the streets it's time to move in, no matter what the consequences are, after world war 2 the world powers promised to never let that happen again, it is about time we consistently stood up to that promise, as a unified world community. People in the UK question foreign aid, the alternative is what we have in Africa, a plague ridden continent with barely a functioning government, a breeding ground for not only disease but also despots and religious radicals. We stand by and do nothing, we will pay the price later! 

Justice for who?

Justice for who?

So the ex-civil servant Wu Wai Chun was spared a custodial sentence for inflicting 1st and 2nd degree burns to 2% of her Bangladeshi helper's  skin. This was after she pleaded not guilty, so no acceptance of doing wrong and therefore no remorse, a lesser sentence can sometimes be justified with an acceptance of guilt and real remorse, this is not the case here. 

How ridiculous that her current helper asked for leniency, was she given a choice? Was she coerced? How can this evil woman even be allowed to employ another helper?

This case sends a clear message to the Bangladeshi  government and other regional governments " Send your helpers here to be abused without any hope of justice or protection from The Hong Kong government. Shame on Hong Kong justice.

Bonnie Scotland

You take the high road....

Go if you have to, like a best friend moving on, it's up to you. We can't and won't stop you, but it would be wrong of a friend to not to make it clear we think it's wrong. 

We can understand why you want to go, who wouldn't, our employer is shit, Westminster that is. No one even voted those fuckers in, anyone north of the Watford Gap would secede from those feckers if they could! But that is what a democracy is, no use taking your ball home, stay and change the system, the rest of us need your support. The last prime minister was Scottish, even that cunt Cameron is of scottish descent, as have so so many been in power.

Together we built the most powerful empire the world has ever seen, together we fought Napoleon, the Boer war, the 2 world wars, we colonised  and modernised India, and of course Hong Kong and together we still punch far far above our weight in today's very dangerous world. The rest of us will be weaker without you, but we will adjust. You will become an Estonia or a Belgium, albeit a noisy Estonia or Belgium. 

Culturally we are even closer, find a group of  friends in London, Paris, Hong Kong, New York, and you have the proverbial joke, an Englishman, Welshman, Scottishman and an Irishman walk into a bar.... Opting out is not the end of the world, the Irishman is still with us in that bar, but that's a different story.

Once it's done it's done, and I don't believe some of the bullshit that's been said, the Irish have always worked freely and even continued to vote in the UK....100 years after independence!

But, I feel most Scottish people are as proud of the history and heritage of the United Kingdom as the rest of us. As it stands, the Union is a unique beacon in the world of how a union can indeed work, peacefully, and even after hundreds of years the seperate states can keep their unique identity within that union. 

But, and this is a fact, apart we are all weaker, in every way. In today's world that is not a good thing. 

Bitter heart

Bitterness and anger.
At some point we all find ourselves bitter and anger, but we fight through it, move on. For others it covers them and changes them absolutely, it defines them. Who they are is first thought of in those terms. A bitter, angry person is at the forefront, a normal rational person is hidden within.
Inside, the awareness is there, increased outbursts of rage, of jealousy, of spitefulness, and at first apologies to those at the receiving end. Bitterness works like a drug, it becomes unstoppable, it slowly works its way to the heart where it takes root and destroys from within. Like an addict, denial begins, the apologies stop, the blame is put elsewhere, a strong sense of self justification prevails... 'You would act like this if you were me'
Bitterness is the cause, anger is the effect. Anger is the outlet we use when we have lost control, in earlier life we are often angry, we lose control, as we age we are supposed to learn to control that anger, to mellow. By the time we reach our forties that anger should be well under control, even a thing long since gone. If not, there is a cause, a problem...addiction, illness, bitterness.
When that bitterness has reached the heart and overtaken who we are, the transformation is complete, lies are told to deflect blame, those lies are so strong they take hold on the whole perception of reality, truth and fiction, paranoia rules.
Those still around, are used and abused. This is the final crossroads, the point where escape is still possible, a realisation, an epithany, a look in the mirror, or the realisation that the only people still close to you either have no choice or are as bitter and twisted as yourself. Good friends left long before, either seeing what you have become or indeed been the victim of your wrath.
For some help or professional help, counselling, support groups, etc is sought, where invariably the question arises where did the bitterness that feeds the anger come from? Was it rejection as a child, was it a broken marriage?
The solution remains the same, move on, learn from the lessons life throws.....everybody has to, or it would be a bitter world. Everybody's childhood is not perfect, marriages break down everyday. Take the chip off your shoulder and move on...you have no other choice, except of course the other route at the crossroads,
and that is ultimately loneliness and destruction. I have seen too many take that route.

Marching into the abyss.

The march into the abyss continues; Soviet, sorry Russian troops massed on a sovereign nation's border, officially sanctioned racist insults against a serving American president, the real spectre of empty supermarkets in Moscow...you can't eat gas and oil, an escalating sanctions war,a growing Russian friendship with Iran regardless that the same country helped to fuel the Muslim insurgency in Russia's south, and a growing state apparatus crushing any protests or debate.
A cold war in all but name!

Stop the murder

The world has gone mad or was always mad, seems to me  that everything that was fought for during the world wars has been lost. Now, it is ok to kill children, and if you object you are accused of being racist. I have had to block some of my Russian friends as they will not believe their leader is a fascist dictator, that was 6 months ago, now the whole world is appeasing him.  I personally grieved for Jews in a ex-concentration camp! I cried when I was 9 years old in Germany, I paid my respects at the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem 12 years later. I worked for and alongside Israelis and Palestinians in a Moshav, I loved all the people. The future back in 1992 seemed optimistic. That was before the walls, the siege. 

Now my heart bleeds, not for the Israelis drinking their Cappuccinos on their smart phones in Tel Aviv in their outdoor cafés, but for the countless children and families who only know death today, whose life has been torn by smart bombs, children like my children and your children. There can never be a justification, none, for killing children. The USA continues to be a part of this crime against humanity, the UK appeases it as does the rest of Europe, why do we tiptoe around this, it is because of our guilt in our roles during the holocaust. 

We certainly do all carry guilt for that dark dark part of history, but we made promises because of it, we made pledges that we would never let it happen again, but apparently that doesn't apply to those that suffered the holocaust. 

It is time the world, stood up and said No, this is not our world, let no one describe Israel as a Western developed nation again, the events that are occurring are more reminiscent of Rwanda than Tiannemen. 

I long for logic, but sadly today that does not appear to exist.

Stop Killing Children

#Gaza #Israel

Snug as a bug in a rug.

Jacob

Putin's propaganda and murdering web of lies.

Mr Putin's doublespeak recalls the days of the Soviet Union when Pravda claimed to tell the truth. This mendocracy will end in the same way as that one did: the lies will eventually unravel, especially as it becomes obvious how much money Mr Putin and his friends have stolen from the Russian people, and he will fall. The sad novelty is that the West takes a different attitude this time round. In the old days it was usually prepared to stand up to the Soviet Union, and call out its falsehoods. With Mr Putin it looks the other way.http://econ.st/1jZe9L4

Ten farewells to the Red Army 龔玥 - 十送紅軍

龔玥 - 十送紅軍
Beautiful song! Ten farewells to the red army.
The song remembers The Long March when the communists escaped the siege of the evil corrupt government of Chiang Kai Shek, the Kuoimintang. The people came together to overthrow the evil overlord. This was 1935, long before the atrocities committed by The Communist party 20 years later. It was still a noble cause, an idealistic cause. The comrades marched to a certain death, but for a reason, to free their people. That is where the emotion of the song comes. A beautiful song.

Hank's farewell.

Hank Moody's final letter.

Dear Karen,

I've been thinking about Us, the story of us. How the fuck do I sum it up? Has it been perfect? Hardly. Any story with me at the center of it will never be anything less than a big smiling mess. But here's what I know for sure—our time in the sun has been a thing of absolute fucking beauty. The nightmares, the hangovers, the fucking and the punching. The gorgeous shimmering insanity of the city of ours. Where for years I woke up, fucked up, said I was sorry, passed out and did it all over again. As a writer, I'm a sucker for happy endings. The guy gets the girl, she saves him from himself, fade to fucking black. As a guy who loves a girl, I realize there's no such thing. There's no sunset. There's just now, and there's just the two of us, which can be scary fucking ugly sometimes. But if you close your eyes and listen for the whisper of your heart—if you simply keep trying and never ever give up, no matter how many times you get it wrong, until the beginning and the end blur into something called until we meet again -- and that's it. I didn't know how to finish it, because it's not over. It'll never be over, as longs as there's you, and there's me, and there's hope, and grace.

Goodbye Motherfuckeeerrr!

Fuck The Sun and News Corp

Today's front page of The Sun celebrates the verdict of the hacking trial..(including the hacking of the phone of a murdered girl'sfamily)...."A victory for all Red Tops" and waxes lyrical about Rebecca Brooks being found innocent without a single mention of News Of The World editor Andy Coulson's guilt. They must think their readers are some stupid motherfuckers....oh wait! They are!

Monopoly

So PCCW have bought CSL, and now plan to hike up prices!
We live in an age of rampant corruption and monopolies. We already pay highly inflated prices for shit services, especially in telecommunications and in supermarkets, 7-11, Wellcome and Park N Shop still holding us to ransom with ever increasing and strangely similar prices.

http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?pp_cat=30&art_id=146761&sid=42507789&con_type=1

Ban smoking?

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/stub-it-out-doctors-union-backs-lifelong-cigarettes-ban-for-all-children-born-after-2000-9559374.html

First I must say, I don't disagree with outlawing cigarettes for all those born after the year 2000, nobody wants their children to start smoking, including me.
What gets me is the hypocrisy.  How many people does alcohol kill every year, let's ban that too. How many deaths are caused worldwide by pollution from petrol driven private cars and through accidents? I don't drive and never will, and it pisses me off that I have to breath in the pollution from private cars, and risk my life on the roads as a pedestrian or bus passenger....take a bus! Will sugar, chocolate, and fast food be regulated for those born after 2000? Obesity being another major drain on health resources.
There is also the matter of personal freedom, as long as a smoker for example is not subjecting others to second hand smoke, unlike car owners, then surely it is their own choice. Yes, but it takes valuable resources away from the health service.....so does heart disease and diabetes and a myriad of other illnesses caused by alcohol and eating too much shit, or obesity as it is now called. So do car accidents and so does asthma brought on by the dire pollution in our cities.

Jesus never had a swordfight.

 

From: David Thorne
Date: Wednesday 10 March 2010 7.12pm
To: Darryl Robinson
Subject: Permission Slip

Dear Darryl,

I have received your permission slip featuring what I can only assume is a levitating rabbit about to drop an egg on Jesus.

Thank you for pre-ticking the permission box as this has saved me not only from having to make a choice, but also from having to make my own forty five degree downward stroke followed by a twenty percent longer forty five degree upward stroke. Without your guidance, I may have drawn a picture of a cactus wearing a hat by mistake.

As I trust my offspring's ability to separate fact from fantasy, I am happy for him to participate in your indoctrination process on the proviso that all references to 'Jesus' are replaced with the term 'Purportedly Magic Jew.'

Regards, David.

From: Darryl Robinson
Date: Thursday 11 March 2010 9.18am
To: David Thorne
Subject: Re: Permission Slip

Hello David

The tick in the box already was a mistake I noticed after printing them all. I've seen the play and it's not indoctrinating anyone. It's a fun play performed by a great bunch of kids. You do not have to be religious to enjoy it. You are welcome to attend if you have any concerns.

Darryl Robinson, School Chaplain

From: David Thorne
Date: Thursday 11 March 2010 11.02am
To: Darryl Robinson
Subject: Re: Re: Permission Slip

Dear Darryl,

Thank you for the kind offer, being unable to think of anything more exciting than attending your entertaining and fun filled afternoon, I tried harder and thought of about four hundred things.

I was actually in a Bible based play once and played the role of 'Annoyed about having to do this.' My scene involved offering a potplant, as nobody knew what Myrrh was, to a plastic baby Jesus then standing between 'I forgot my costume so am wearing the teachers poncho' and 'I don't feel very well'. Highlights of the play included a nervous donkey with diarrhoea causing 'I don't feel very well' to vomit onto the back of Mary's head, and the lighting system, designed to provide a halo effect around the manger, overheating and setting it alight. The teacher, later criticised for dousing an electrical fire with a bucket of water and endangering the lives of children, left the building in tears and the audience in silence. We only saw her again briefly when she came to the school to collect her poncho.

Also, your inference that I am without religion is incorrect and I am actually torn between two faiths; while your god's promise of eternal life is very persuasive, the Papua New Guinean mud god, Pikkiwoki, is promising a pig and as many coconuts as you can carry.

Regards, David.

From: Darryl Robinson
Date: Thursday 11 March 2010 2.52pm
To: David Thorne
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Permission Slip

Hello David

While it would be a pity for Seb to miss out on the important message of hope that the story of the resurrection gives, if you don't want him to attend the presentation on Monday then just tick the box that says I do not give my child permission to attend.

Darryl Robinson, School Chaplain

From: David Thorne
Date: Thursday 11 March 2010 5.09pm
To: Darryl Robinson
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Permission Slip

Dear Darryl,

I understand the importance the resurrection story holds in your particular religion. If I too knew some guy that had been killed and placed inside a cave with a rock in front of it and I visited the cave to find the rock moved and his body gone, the only logical assumption would be that he had risen from the dead and is the son of God. Once, my friend Simon was rushed to hospital to have his appendix removed and I visited him the next day to find his bed empty. I immediately sacrificed a goat and burnt a witch in his name but it turned out that he had not had appendicitis, just needed a good poo, and was at home playing Playstation.

Someone probably should have asked "So the rock has been moved and he's gone... has anyone checked his house?" I realise Playstation was not around in those days but they probably had the equivalent. A muddy stick or something. I would have said "Can someone please check if Jesus is at home playing with his muddy stick, if not, then and only then should we all assume, logically, that he has risen from the dead and is the son of God."

If we accept though, that Jesus was the son of an Infinite Being capable of anything, he probably did have a Playstation. Probably a Playstation 7. I know I have to get my offspring all the latest gadgets. God would probably have said to him, "I was going to wait another two thousand years to give you this but seeing as you have been good... just don't tell your mother about Grand Theft Auto."

Also, is it true that Jesus can be stabbed during a sword fight and be ok due to the fact that he can only die if he gets his head chopped off?

Regards, David.

From: Darryl Robinson
Date: Friday 12 March 2010 10.13am
To: David Thorne
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Permission Slip

Nowhere in the Bible does Jesus have a sword fight. Learning the teachings of the Bible is not just about religion. It teaches a set of ethics that are sadly not taught by parents nowadays.

Darryl Robinson, School Chaplain

From: David Thorne
Date: Friday 12 March 2010 2.23pm
To: Darryl Robinson
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Permission Slip

Dear Darryl,

You raise a valid point and I appreciate you pointing out my failings as a parent. Practising a system of ethics based on the promise of a reward, in your case an afterlife, is certainly preferable to practising a system of ethics based on it simply being the right thing to do.

Many years ago, I lived next door to a Christian named Mr Stevens. You could tell he was a Christian because he had a fish sticker on his Datsun. He used to wave at us kids from his bathroom window on hot summer days as we played in the sprinkler. I learnt a lot from Mr Stevens. Mainly about wrestling holds. The trick is to oil up really well making it hard for the other person to hold you down. I would often lie on his living room rug looking up at the pictures of sunsets behind quotes from Psalms while waiting for him to unwrap his legs from around my torso.

Your job would be made much easier if, after making the school children sit through an hour of church youth group teens dancing, singing and re-enacting Jewish magic tricks, you simply told them that it was just a small taste of what hell is like and if they didn't believe in Jesus they would have to sit through it again.

When I was at school, we were forced to attend a similar presentation. Herded into the gym under the pretence of free chips, we were assaulted with an hour of hippies playing guitars and a dance routine featuring some kind of colourful coat and a lot of looking upwards. Due to the air-conditioning in the packed gym not working and it being a hot day, the hippie wearing the colourful coat blacked out mid performance and struck his head against the front edge of the stage spraying the first row of cross-legged children with blood. Unconscious, he also urinated. There was a bit of screaming and an ambulance involved and everyone agreed it was the best play they had ever seen.

Regards, David.

From: Darryl Robinson
Date: Friday 12 March 2010 2.47pm
To: David Thorne
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Permission Slip

Hello David

I don't see what any of that has to do with this play. It's important for children to have balance in their life and spirituality is as important in a childs life as everything else. There's an old saying that life without religion is life without beauty.

Darryl Robinson, School Chaplain

From: David Thorne
Date: Friday 12 March 2010 3.36pm
To: Darryl Robinson
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Permission Slip

Dear Darryl,

I agree completely that balance is an important component of a child's education. I will assume then that you will also be organising a class excursion to a play depicting the fifteen billion year expansion of the universe from its initial particle soup moments following the big bang through to molecule coalescion, galaxy and planetary formation and eventually life?

Perhaps your church youth group could put together an interpretive dance routine representing the behaviour of Saturn's moon Hyperion, shattered by an ancient collision and falling randomly back together, tugged to and fro by the gravitational pull of Titan, sixteen sister moons, the multi-billionfold moonlets of Saturn’s rings, Saturn’s gravitational field, companion planets, the variability’s of Sol, stars, galaxy, neighbouring galaxies... or possibly not, according to an old saying, there is no beauty in this.

Also, while I understand that the play is to be held outside school grounds, due to the fact that it is illegal to present medieval metaphysic propaganda in public schools, it is also my understanding that you are now required by law, as of last year, to go by the title Christian Volunteer rather than School Chaplain. A memo you may have missed or filed in your overflowing 'facts that cease to exist when they are ignored' tray.

Regards, David.

From: Darryl Robinson
Date: Monday 15 March 2010 9.22am
To: David Thorne
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Permission Slip

I'm not going to waste any more precious time replying to your stupid emails. If you don't want your child to attend the play just indicate that on the permission slip.

From: David Thorne
Date: Monday 15 March 2010 11.04am
To: Darryl Robinson
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Permission Slip

From: Darryl Robinson
Date: Monday 15 March 2010 2.11pm
To: David Thorne
Subject: No Subject

I will pray for you.

From: David Thorne
Date: Monday 15 March 2010 2.19pm
To: Darryl Robinson
Subject: Re: No Subject

Thanks. Mention that I want a Toyota Prado if you get the chance. A white one. With dark grey leather interior and sat nav.

Regards, David.

From: Darryl Robinson
Date: Tuesday 16 March 2010 9.20am
To: David Thorne
Subject: Re: Re: No Subject

I've had enough of your nonsense. Dont email me again.

From: GOD
Date: Tuesday 16 March 2010 10.18am
To: Darryl Robinson
Subject: Word of God

DARYL, THIS IS GOD. BUY DAVID A TOYOTA PRADO. A WHITE ONE. WITH DARK GREY LEATHER INTERIOR AND SAT NAV.

From: Darryl Robinson
Date: Tuesday 16 March 2010 2.35pm
To: GOD  Cc: David Thorne
Subject: Re: Word of God

I'm serious.

From: GOD
Date: Tuesday 16 March 2010 2.48pm
To: Darryl Robinson
Subject: Re: Re: Word of God

OK.

More boys

With my boys

Jacob

The race to find that plane

The Chinese govt finds itself in quicksand of its own making.  The Nationalist fervour it has been whipping up against its neighbours recently with an almost state sponsored truth that their brown neighbours are beneath contempt and their islands and seas obviously belong the great and far superior Chinese nation. Sound familiar?  Chinese people are convinced without a shred of doubt theirs is the most powerful nation on the planet, without an inkling of an understanding of economics and the fact that they also have more souls living in abject poverty than any other nation and that the wealth they have is reliant on selling their goods to those beneath them. Manila has now been bullied for a number of years for the audacity to let a group of Hong Kong citizens be the victim of a vicious crime by a madman and laying claim to islands within actual sight of their country. Earth orbits and sending a box to the moon have given its people the belief that their government is all powerful and conquering, even if was 60 years after everybody else did it.
Yet they cannot find an itty bitty aeroplane that was flying to its capital, how can that be its faithful citizens ask? We are the greatest nation on Earth, and why can't you punish those brown bastards who owned the plane?

Sounds harsh, but that is the reality of the Chinese media,  and the already government sanctioned demonstrations against the overwhelmed Malaysian govt in Beijing.
Over the next few days and weeks the Chinese government will claim victory in trying to find the stricken airliner, and even possibly twist it so that it appears that it was their efforts that ultimately led to that finding, whenever that will be.
The Chinese govt has a lot to lose, its credibility amongst its own citizens being the fiirst, you can't claim to be Superman but not be able to get a cat out of a tree.

For those gone

Impose Leveson NOW

Impose Leveson recommendations NOW!

PCC ruling.
Intrusion into grief or shock

i) In cases involving personal grief or shock, enquiries and approaches must be made with sympathy and discretion and publication handled sensitively. This should not restrict the right to report legal proceedings, such as inquests.

*ii) When reporting suicide, care should be taken to avoid excessive detail about the method used.

Daily Mail front page headline this week (I refuse to link or post photos from this rag anymore it only gives them hits and therefore revenue ) ;

' The moment Mick heard L'Wren was dead: Jagger's face is etched with grief after hearing ...'
This together with a photo of moment Mick Jagger heard.

The toothless PCC will do nothing,  the time for self regulation is over.
Implement the Royal Charter, and be damned with them. #TheDailyMail #levenson #MickJagger

The Big Bang

What a time to be alive!
The most significant scientific findings, in millenia are being discovered not only during our lifetime but in just this decade. These findings will be marked down for generations to come. It was during the first few years of the 21st Century they found out the true size of our universe( 14 billion light years, 400 billion galaxies, each with 300 billion stars), the finding of 700 earth like exoplanets and the realisation of billions more, the time when man  was truly able to comprehend the Earth's position in the stars.
 2013/4 was the year The Big Bang was finally proven incontrovertibly with the actual echo and light from that moment a trillion trillion trillionth of a second after the Big Bang taking place being discovered. This was the time the Higgs Boson was found. Of course Einstein foresaw a lot of these findings, but it has taken decades for technology to catch up.
The next frontier? Of course to find other life, but also to detect the 'Multiverse'. 
Fascinating times!

Return of The Cold War.

In the end nothing can be done against Russia's illegal annexation of Crimea and its threat to annex the whole of Ukraine.  It is tragic that Europe once again finds itself in the same old position of before both World wars. This is no different from Germany marching into Poland.

Although the west may be unable to stop Russia,  appeasement and inaction are just as dangerous as they were before. When the dust settles Georgia,Poland and Russia's other western neighbours will be extremely nervous and uncomfortable,  wouldn't you be?
After a 20 year hiatus,  there will be an inevitable resumption of the cold war, which ultimately Russia can ill afford as it couldn't 20 years ago.
This seems now to have been Putin's aim, he was never happy with the loss of the Empire and longs for the return of his halycon days back in the KGB. He has always felt deep regret and shame in his belief that Russia was humilated by losing the cold war. His long term plan was to right that wrong and restore the world order.
 Nato has no option but to move East, for the US to establish major bases in Poland and reignite the long postponed missile defence shield and Reagan's 'star wars' system. Pacifists will object, nuclear proliferation will once again become a part of our life, but in the end there is no alternative.
A major European power is once again marching into sovereign territory,  today Russia is holding major military exercises in The Mediterranean,  where's next, The Channel?

Propoganda Propoganda Propoganda

Press Freedom and Glasnost are long dead, welcome to Soviet Russia.

Putin Moves Against the Press http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/comment/2014/03/vladimir-putin-press-censorship-galina-timchenko.html

Co-op Group chief executive Euan Sutherland

Disgusting!  Apparently this wanker, sorry banker demanded to be paid £3.6m or he would walk! Don't just walk you cunting excuse for a human being, run, run, run and take the rest of your twatish robbing motherfucking friends with ya! You are not wanted, you are a despised sub species, and I hope your kind are hunted down and exposed for what you are, the scum on the top of a rotting pond of deceit and nepotism who are responsible collectively for the biggest recession for a hundred years.

http://www.bbc.com/news/business-26525590

Nothing at all

Ukraine; Choose peace not war

Ukraine , the Crimea stand at a dangerous crossroads, what happens now will affect millions. Naked Russian aggression and provacation  is undeniable. But military action is not necessarily inevitable.
The best policy may be to ignore the Russian action, thereby protecting the Ukranians, particularly children. War would be disastrous in the extreme. 
Of course every country must have a right to defend itself, but what must be remembered is that the Crimea was Russian until the time of Krushev and that its people are 60% ethnically Russian, so they may actually want to go back to Russia, although no one has asked them. 

That is why Russia's actions are inexcusable and will almost certainly lead to the  diplomatic wilderness, this so soon after the apparent showcasing of Russia's modernisation at the Sochi olympics.
Conflict must be avoided at all costs, nobody wants to see war torn cities and yet more refugees fleeing a war they didn't choose instigated by yet another tyrant.
Let the Russians come,  but expel them using political means. Give the Crimean region a choice, to stay with Ukraine, to join Russia or independence. 
The Ukraine government also needs to reassure the Russians that they can continue to use the port of Balaclava as a Naval base, their shared Soviet history is still intertwined with the present and certain exceptions must be made.
Choose Peace!

Propaganda and revolution

A Chinese general this week stated that the deadly smog enveloping Northern China was a great defense against US missiles, today there were reports that China was going to build the biggest smog tunnel in the world to work out how to deal with the smog, both of these stories are classic examples of the state using the media to take people's mind off the actual problem, sadly the Hong Kong media are now also stupid enough to swallow it.
The same is true for the rising Nationalism in China fuelled by the media regarding a few tiny islands and events that happened 60 years ago, heinous events, but the rest of the world also suffered many heinous acts too, but we moved on, we had to.
Yet China in 2014 is still obsessed. This is the state media whipping up sentiment to detract from the real tangible problems faced by the majority of the population; poverty, inflation, corruption, human rights, freedom of speech and democracy!

This of course has also caused almost laughably the Chinese to discriminate against each other, as in the protests here in Hong Kong against Mainland tourists and the 'locust' label! Sow the seed of superiority and pay the consequences, ask the Germans and Japanese!

In the west, we look on, and tut tut. We stand on our pedestal and give our opinions and tell them they must be like us. That's bullshit!
Our system is also broken. A man starved to death in England this week. He was starved by the indifference and apathy of his nation.
The media has been instrumental there too, in making people believe their poverty comes from the foreigners in their midst, or the weakest amongst them. This policy has been hugely successful and has resulted in a constant barrage of racist headlines and a stream of stories of those stealing from the state, the reality of course being that the foreigners add to the wealth of the nation and those stealing from the state equate to the tax avoided by a major company in a single day!
 And herein lies the truth, the banks alone are the reason for the misery and the recession, the cost of bailing them out will be felt for decades, they are not sorry, they see no reason to be, they don't care. They continue to get richer and they continue to be protected. The same applies to every major corporation albeit to differing degrees.

Government exists to make the rich richer, the poor poorer and the corruption in our society is at the top, a perfect system where the majority cannot see the rot above them.
There is no difference between China and the West, and sadly both seem destined to continue on their path as, as people we seem to have forgotten how to revolt,  how to begin a revolution, as that is what is  needed. We knew how to do it 300 years ago, 70 years ago, but now what chance of a 
REVOLUTION?

Shame shame shame

Remember this next time you say cut benefits or vote conservative. This kid was someone's son, he starved to death because his benefits were cut! This is the tip of the iceberg, the UK has gone back to Victorian times! What was the class struggle over the last 300  years for? Was it for the half a billion pound bonus set aside for RBS bankers, was it for the tax cuts given to the richest?
You can continue to blame the immigrants who put more into the economy than they take out or the benefit cheats who make up 0.01% of the welfare bill or you can open your fucking eyes and see what is really happening as the corporations dodge tax, the richest are given money, housing benefit is given to the royal landowners. I gave up years ago, because I see only greed and stupidity, and moved out, but this makes me ashamed of my country!

http://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/11043378.Man_starved_after_benefits_were_cut/

The Butterfly

“Just living is not enough," said the butterfly, "one must have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower.”

― Hans Christian Andersen, 

The Butterfly

by

Hans Christian Andersen

(1861)

HERE was once a butterfly who wished for a bride, and, as may be supposed, he wanted to choose a very pretty one from among the flowers.
He glanced, with a very critical eye, at all the flower-beds, and found that the flowers were seated quietly and demurely on their stalks, just as maidens should sit before they are engaged; but there was a great number of them, and it appeared as if his search would become very wearisome. The butterfly did not like to take too much trouble, so he flew off on a visit to the daisies. The French call this flower “Marguerite,” and they say that the little daisy can prophesy. Lovers pluck off the leaves, and as they pluck each leaf, they ask a question about their lovers; thus: “Does he or she love me?—Ardently? Distractedly? Very much? A little? Not at all?” and so on. Every one speaks these words in his own language. The butterfly came also to Marguerite to inquire, but he did not pluck off her leaves; he pressed a kiss on each of them, for he thought there was always more to be done by kindness.“Darling Marguerite daisy,” he said to her, “you are the wisest woman of all the flowers. Pray tell me which of the flowers I shall choose for my wife. Which will be my bride? When I know, I will fly directly to her, and propose.”But Marguerite did not answer him; she was offended that he should call her a woman when she was only a girl; and there is a great difference. He asked her a second time, and then a third; but she remained dumb, and answered not a word. Then he would wait no longer, but flew away, to commence his wooing at once. It was in the early spring, when the crocus and the snowdrop were in full bloom.“They are very pretty,” thought the butterfly; “charming little lasses; but they are rather formal.”Then, as the young lads often do, he looked out for the elder girls. He next flew to the anemones; these were rather sour to his taste. The violet, a little too sentimental. The lime-blossoms, too small, and besides, there was such a large family of them. The apple-blossoms, though they looked like roses, bloomed to-day, but might fall off to-morrow, with the first wind that blew; and he thought that a marriage with one of them might last too short a time. The pea-blossom pleased him most of all; she was white and red, graceful and slender, and belonged to those domestic maidens who have a pretty appearance, and can yet be useful in the kitchen. He was just about to make her an offer, when, close by the maiden, he saw a pod, with a withered flower hanging at the end.“Who is that?” he asked.“That is my sister,” replied the pea-blossom.“Oh, indeed; and you will be like her some day,” said he; and he flew away directly, for he felt quite shocked.A honeysuckle hung forth from the hedge, in full bloom; but there were so many girls like her, with long faces and sallow complexions. No; he did not like her. But which one did he like?Spring went by, and summer drew towards its close; autumn came; but he had not decided. The flowers now appeared in their most gorgeous robes, but all in vain; they had not the fresh, fragrant air of youth. For the heart asks for fragrance, even when it is no longer young; and there is very little of that to be found in the dahlias or the dry chrysanthemums; therefore the butterfly turned to the mint on the ground. You know, this plant has no blossom; but it is sweetness all over,—full of fragrance from head to foot, with the scent of a flower in every leaf.“I will take her,” said the butterfly; and he made her an offer. But the mint stood silent and stiff, as she listened to him. At last she said,—“Friendship, if you please; nothing more. I am old, and you are old, but we may live for each other just the same; as to marrying—no; don’t let us appear ridiculous at our age.”And so it happened that the butterfly got no wife at all. He had been too long choosing, which is always a bad plan. And the butterfly became what is called an old bachelor.It was late in the autumn, with rainy and cloudy weather. The cold wind blew over the bowed backs of the willows, so that they creaked again. It was not the weather for flying about in summer clothes; but fortunately the butterfly was not out in it. He had got a shelter by chance. It was in a room heated by a stove, and as warm as summer. He could exist here, he said, well enough.“But it is not enough merely to exist,” said he, “I need freedom, sunshine, and a little flower for a companion.”Then he flew against the window-pane, and was seen and admired by those in the room, who caught him, and stuck him on a pin, in a box of curiosities. They could not do more for him.“Now I am perched on a stalk, like the flowers,” said the butterfly. “It is not very pleasant, certainly; I should imagine it is something like being married; for here I am stuck fast.” And with this thought he consoled himself a little.“That seems very poor consolation,” said one of the plants in the room, that grew in a pot.“Ah,” thought the butterfly, “one can’t very well trust these plants in pots; they have too much to do with mankind"

adore

Valentine

End slavery in Hong Kong

Apology

So will Hong Kong chief Executive CY Leung apologise to abused maid and all Indonesian people for criminal act of one individual, which is the fault of no govt enforcement  of labour laws and police inaction, as they expect from Phillipines over hostage deaths, and continue to bully them with the threat of sanctions?

Can't see the wood for the trees

No shit Sherlock!
The answer is often the simplest one, staring you right in the face, so obvious yet the least expected.
How do Western nations, especially the UK and the US rid themselves of their crippling debt?
Austerity is right, but for who?
Herein lies the answer, why take the money from those that have the least, which by definition is doomed to failure?
Take from those with the most, with a broad synchronized swoop. At times of war, this was done, why not today? The world's richest companies and the vast majority of the earth's wealth is still in these countries. A concerted skimming off the top to repay the debt is actually the only feasible and logical answer. Shareholders would suffer, but that's life, better that than the malnutrition that stalks the low earners in our society.
Nationalisation of all utilities,communication, transportation, and other corporations deemed big and rich enough.
All those above multi-millionaire status would see taxes on their savings and assets go through the roof...how much does one person, their family and their children need in reality to ensure a 'comfortable'  future?
Restrictions would immediately kick in on immigration and residency; those that move their wealth out would no longer be able to either live or do business in that country, and punitive taxes would be made to those transferring liquid assets out of the country. 
If all the G7/20 nations agreed to these measures in tandem, then there would be nowhere for the rich to go, and nowhere for them to trade. Anywhere outside of this area would also introduce 'guest' taxes and the like.
These measures would not affect the aspiring entrepreneur,  nor affect the vast majority of the working and middle classes.
This is true austerity.
The money would then be used first to provide healthcare and housing for all, with heating costs controlled, transport run for the people, and communication seen as a human right. The national debts would dissappear, which although appearing insurmountable right now are not, look at Germany and Japan post-war.

Slavery and abuse in Hong Kong

This poor woman is someone's daughter, sister, mother! Hong Kong is incapable of protecting these women and obviously doesn't care. Nearly all domestic helpers pay exorbitant fees to agencies with the full knowledge of the Hong Kong government,  Indonesians pay up to 6 months salary and work 7 days a week for years. This is modern day slavery, Hong Kong doesn't care, The Indoesian and Phillipine people and governments should.

It's time for the Indonesian and Phillipine governments to put Hong Kong on a black list and stop sending helpers to Hong Kong. I hope this news gets massive coverage in Indonesia and their government takes a very strong stance.

Indonesian helper, 23, in critical condition after alleged beatings by Hong Kong employers

Monday, 13 January, 2014, 6:52pmNews›Hong KongDOMESTIC HELPERSJoanna ChiuHong Kong police have refused to pursue an investigation into the case of an Indonesian domestic helper who has been left in a critical condition after she was allegedly abused and beaten by her Hong Kong employers.Erwiana Sulistyaningsih is currently undergoing treatment at an Indonesian hospital after leaving Hong Kong following eight months of alleged abuse, said the Hong Kong branch of the Association of Indonesian Migrant Workers.A police spokeswoman said the case has not been turned over to an investigation officer. She said, “The helper’s employment agency made a report to police on January 12 but the agency did not provide evidence to confirm where her injuries came from. We can just hope to get more details." This has drawn shock and disappointment from the city’s lawmakers and human rights advocates.“Anytime someone is physically harmed there is no reason why police should not investigate,” lawmaker Charles Peter Mok said today.Fernando Cheung Chiu-hung, of the Labour Party, said: “If a person is killed and no one reports the murder, I wouldn’t think police would want to wait for someone to turn up to provide evidence before starting an investigation.”Sulistyaningsih had arrived in Hong Kong on May 13, 2013 to work for employers in Tseung Kwan O in the New Territories. She returned to Indonesia on the evening of January 10, requiring assistance from a friend to walk through Hong Kong airport because much of her body, including legs and feet, were covered in cuts and burns, according to Sringatin, spokeswoman for the Association of Indonesian Migrant Workers.Her employer had given her HK$100 and a t-shirt and asked her not to speak with any Indonesians before boarding the plane, said Sringatin. Sulistyaningsih had not sought help from airport customs officers, according to the Immigration Department. The 23-year-old is currently in a “critical condition” in Amal Sehat Islamic Hospital in the city of Sragen, Central Java Province of Indonesia, and it is unknown when she will be released from hospital, said Sam Aryadi, Vice Consul for Public Affairs for the Indonesian Consulate General of Hong Kong. Aryadi said the consulate is currently preparing a formal report for police.But advocates are calling on Hong Kong police to investigate the case immediately.“In such an extreme case of violent abuse, it would strike me as the police’s responsibility to investigate and gather evidence, not agencies to find evidence prior to the police making an investigation,” said Robert Godden, Asia-Pacific Campaign Coordinator at Amnesty International.Godden said there are elements in Sulistyaningsih’s case, such as the alleged HK$18,000 fees that she was required to pay to her employment agency, which should raise alarm about the possibility that her situation constituted a case of human trafficking. Human trafficking is defined by the United Nations as “use of force or other forms of coercion…for the purpose of exploitation.” Hong Kong should coordinate with Indonesian authorities to investigate more details of the case, said Godden.Sulistyaningsih’s employment agency, Chan’s Asia Recruitment Centre, which is based in Causeway Bay, did not respond to South China Morning Post’s requests for comment. Hong Kong law stipulates that agencies can charge helpers no more than HK$401, but Godden said it is common for agencies to charge as much as HK$21,000 and some would withhold helpers’ passports, employment contracts and bank cards until the debt has been repaid.Leo Tang Kin-wa, organizing secretary at the Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions, raised concerns that Sulistyaningsih was scared to file a report to police because of Hong Kong’s mandatory “live-in” policy for domestic helpers.“Why did this case just come to public attention after the helper returned to Indonesia? It is because Hong Kong has failed to provide a safe environment for workers. She was forced to live with her employers, and there were no public-funded crisis shelters for helpers that she could have escaped to. It is very hard for helpers in Hong Kong to seek help.”Mok said that the government should “revisit” mandatory live-in rules to assess whether abolishing the rule would reduce the occurrences of abuse cases, and Cheung said the government should also consider removing the “two-week” rule.“If helpers want to quit abusive environments they would have to press charges within two weeks and afterward cannot work and have no ways to sustain themselves in Hong Kong,” Cheung said. "Many choose to return instead to their home countries, saddled with agency fee debt." Last September, the employers of Indonesian helper Kartika Puspitasari, described by the presiding judge as “cruel” and “vicious”, were found guilty of systematic abuse over the span of two years.Topics: Domestic HelpersSource URL (retrieved on Jan 14th 2014, 9:58am):http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1404697/indonesian-helper-23-critical-condition-after-alleged-beatings-hong