tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-131698382024-03-19T10:11:00.519+00:00Christian Hate?<p>
A Christian challenges Christian Aid over biased campaigning on Israel and Palestine, and speaks out against the demonization of Israel in the wider Church
</p>
<p>
<blockquote>
"For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us." (Ephesians 2:14)
</blockquote>
</p>
<p><b>Also featuring MR GRUMPY</b></p>
<p><blockquote>
"I can tolerate rot, but it must not be utter rot" (Bertie Wooster)
</blockquote></p>Cyrushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00512481025183200804noreply@blogger.comBlogger581125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13169838.post-14769274431300054762014-12-07T21:26:00.001+00:002014-12-07T21:26:17.004+00:00The Story<p dir="ltr">One of the reasons why my posting here has dried to barely a trickle is the debilitating sense of déjà vu, or déjà dit to be more accurate. Can there conceivably be anything new to say about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict?</p>
<p dir="ltr">That is why I want to direct you without further ado to a <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2014/11/how-the-media-makes-the-israel-story/383262/?utm_source=pocket&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=pockethits">piece</a> by a former AP man in Jerusalem. It puts flesh on the conjectures I've made throughout my blogging here by giving the inside story on the reporting of the conflict in a way that I find eminently sane and credible. Crucially, he portrays the dynamics of the symbiotic relationship between media and NGOs.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Cardinal Nichols "took time out" from a pilgrimage last month to visit the 150 remaining Catholics of  <a href="http://rcdow.org.uk/cardinal/news/cardinal-vincent-celebrates-mass-in-gaza/">Gaza</a>. While he was there he also found time to talk to ITV News and the Guardian. And so it goes on.</p>
<p dir="ltr">To the best of my knowledge the cardinal has never set foot in Iraq or Syria. Possibly he fears he would not be welcome. Did he stop to ask himself why that wasn't an issue in Gaza?</p>
<br/><a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.beanie.blog"><font size="2">Posted via Blogaway</font></a>Mr Grumpyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05317128956060393033noreply@blogger.com0Cambridge, United Kingdom52.2527250050234 0.111082407659703tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13169838.post-17096490681094084062014-01-31T11:16:00.000+00:002014-01-31T11:16:32.700+00:00Christians roasting on an open fire (but not at St James's, Piccadilly)Sorry, I really shouldn't try to upstage the sublime <a href="http://blogs.spectator.co.uk/edwest/2014/01/who-cares-about-israel-and-palestine/">Ed West</a>...<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
For Israelis and Palestinians the quest to find a peaceful settlement in this
tiny piece of land, only 1.2 Waleses in size, is a matter of life and death. For
foreigners active in the conflict on one side or the other it is an
obsession. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
I’ve always found it strange that people in the West are so fixated by the
subject, especially now that the rest of the Middle East is filled with daily
atrocities and injustices that dwarf anything in the Holy Land. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
In fact one of the few concrete benefits of the 2011 Arab uprisings is that
there has been a marked decline in the number of people offering an opinion on
Israel/Palestine. I know that 100,000 dead in Syria is a high price to pay for
that, but I suppose we should look at the upsides. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
There are still a few, such as those people at St James’s in Piccadilly who,
despite <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Silence-Our-Friends-West-ebook/dp/B00HDOF1DW/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1387348761&sr=8-2&keywords=The+Silence+of+our+friends">Christians
in the Middle East suffering one or two more pressing problems</a>, decided to
<a href="http://blogs.spectator.co.uk/douglas-murray/2014/01/absolute-moral-squalor-on-display-at-a-london-church/" vglnk_1391164513087="1">construct a replica wall to protest against Israel</a>.
Of course the Israeli barrier is a serious problem for the Christians in
Bethlehem, and people in Beit Jala now face losing their homes. But surely there
is an issue of perspective this year at least? How would they show their
solidarity with Egyptian Christians – by burning down the church?</blockquote>
Mr Grumpyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05317128956060393033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13169838.post-52836273626838648032013-07-27T19:15:00.000+01:002013-07-27T19:15:14.469+01:00Ocean of light, ocean of darkness: Quakers and Islamist anti-Semitism“I saw also that there was an ocean of darkness and death, but
an infinite ocean of light and love, which flowed over the ocean of
darkness.”<br />
<br />
- George Fox<br />
<br />
I heard the words above quoted last week at a Quaker funeral - my first, though I've been to ordinary Meetings for Worship. Beautiful words at a beautiful occasion - just the right send-off for a dear friend.<br />
<br />
Because of that experience I'm less inclined than I might at other times be to dismiss <a href="http://hurryupharry.org/2013/07/23/cageprisoners-rowntree-trust-and-%e2%80%9cjews-did-911%e2%80%9d/">this</a> with a shrug and a weary "same old same old". Asked to describe the Quakers I spoke to or listened to, I might suggest "gentle, compassionate, principled, sincere, intelligent". Not one of them could I picture in a brown shirt trashing a synagogue.<br />
<br />
So how has it come about that a respected Quaker charity has given six-figure funding to an organisation which harbours promoters not only of violent extremism but also of anti-Semitic conspiracy theories? What is it about Quakers and Islamism? What is it about Quakers and Israel?<br />
<br />
These are not rhetorical questions but express genuine perplexity. Here, though, is amore rhetorical one. When Quakers meet Jews in the course of the interfaith work to which they are strongly committed, do they say something like "Oh, just so you're aware, we've given a load of cash to some people who think you lot were behind 9/11. We're sure you'll understand."?<br />
<br />
I have three hypotheses, not mutually exclusive:-<br />
<br />
1. There is a campaign being waged by an activist minority not representative of Quakers at large.<br />
<br />
2. The steady drift away from Quakerism's Christian roots creates a creedal vacuum into which secular ideology rushes. I've noted before that the convictions of anti-Israel campaigners seem to resemble an ersatz religion in their own right.<br />
<br />
3. Perhaps there is some kind of attraction of opposites going on, giving herbivorous Quakers a perverse fascination with religion in its most violent and intolerant manifestation.<br />
<br />
But it still doesn't really make sense. And would not George Fox want to ask those who follow in his footsteps why they choose darkness over light?Cyrushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00512481025183200804noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13169838.post-54860567667122468232013-02-05T17:23:00.000+00:002013-02-05T17:23:50.982+00:00BBC: Wyred for balanceRemember Wyre Davies and his matter-of-fact <a href="http://christianaidwatch.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/why-did-they-go.html">reporting</a> of the ethnic cleansing of 100,000 Tunisian Jews? Here's another little <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-21342192">gem</a> from him.<br />
<br />
What does it take to get recognised as a terrorist organisation? Planting a bomb on a tourist bus might seem to place the matter beyond reasonable doubt, but our Wyre has reservations. His analysis in full:-<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Long before this official report was released by the Bulgarian authorities, Israel had accused Hezbollah (and its principal sponsor, Iran) of being behind the Burgas attack.</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Since the July 2012 bombing, Israel and the US have pressed European Union states to designate Hezbollah as a terrorist organisation (denying it access to funding and other financial assets in Europe). <br />
<br />
While some, including Britain and the Netherlands, might support such a move, other countries, such as France, oppose it. France counters that Hezbollah is a political and social as well as a militant organisation. <br />
<br />
The French argue that proscribing it as an illegal terrorist organisation could destabilise Lebanon and its current coalition government, of which Hezbollah is part.<br />
</blockquote>
Just notice how the spineless British and Dutch do as they're told by America and Israel, whilst the bravely independent French have <em>arguments</em> for their position.Mr Grumpyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05317128956060393033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13169838.post-85935486163396520222013-02-05T17:09:00.000+00:002013-02-05T17:09:18.301+00:00And I'm a Jew too!Notwithstanding yesterday's rant on my other blog, I'm not giving up on this one. There's another admirable <a href="http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/ruthdudleyedwards/100201359/the-republic-of-ireland-and-the-irish-roman-catholic-church-subsidise-anti-semitism/">piece</a> from Ruth Dudley Edwards, who has gone on the radio to make the case against Ireland's Israel-bashing Catholic aid agency, Trocaire. Would that we had someone as feisty and articulate as her on this side of the Irish Sea to take on Christian Aid. Note the generous state funding Trocaire, like Christian Aid, enjoys on the premise that it's dedicated to helping the world's poorest. As ever, leftist axe-grinders are drawn to the scent of other people's cash like flies to, well, you know what. Like Ruth I take the view that this is not what I pay tax for.<br />
<br />
And again: either the Irish bishops are simply too punch-drunk to do their job properly and sort this mess out, or they actually approve of what's going on. Either way, scandalous.Mr Grumpyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05317128956060393033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13169838.post-51210122516387665712013-01-29T16:48:00.000+00:002013-01-29T16:48:59.622+00:00Irish Catholic aid agency blurring the distinction between anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism?I haven't blogged very much here since I became a Catholic in 2011, and one of the main reasons was the feeling that Christian Aid had become someone else's problem, since the Catholic Church is not a partner of Christian Aid but has its own aid charity in England and Wales, Cafod.<br />
<br />
If <a href="http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/ruthdudleyedwards/100200301/the-jews-crucified-our-lord-irish-antisemitism-and-the-complicity-of-the-catholic-bishops/">Ruth Dudley Edwards</a> is to be believed, however (and I see no reason why she shouldn't be) Christian Aidism is alive and well in the Irish Catholic Church and its aid agency, Trocaire.<br />
<br />
I'm not qualified to gauge how typical of Ireland such attitudes are. They do sound like an ugly mix of old and new, Right and Left. On the one hand the ancient strain of (pseudo-)theological Christian anti-Semitism which one would be less surprised to hear echoed by Richard Williamson and his followers. On the other hand, Christians me-tooing with a secular radical Left in which "anti-Zionism" is a badge of identity and extreme expressions of it have long since ceased to trigger unease.<br />
<br />
As Dudley Edwards suggests, the demoralisation of the Irish bishops probably contributes to a situation where the idealogues in Trocaire have free rein to steer the organisation in a direction congenial to themselves. My impression is that Cafod is on a tighter rein - at least as far as this issue is concerned. It all underlines the importance of upholding the letter and spirit of <em><a href="http://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_decl_19651028_nostra-aetate_en.html">Nostra Aetate</a>, </em>and we are very fortunate to have a Pope who is unequivocally committed to doing so.Mr Grumpyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05317128956060393033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13169838.post-58984119002053725792012-10-17T12:46:00.000+01:002012-10-17T12:46:07.061+01:00Protest against European Parliament delegation to IranDo it via the Austrian "Stop the Bomb" campaign <a href="http://at.stopthebomb.net/en/home.html">here</a>.Cyrushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00512481025183200804noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13169838.post-24530076029242983232012-02-01T17:56:00.000+00:002012-02-01T17:56:24.235+00:00Why did they go?How is Tunisia's now tiny Jewish community faring in the Arab Spring? The BBC's Wyre Davies has been <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-16803100">investigating</a>.<br />
<br />
It's an interesting piece, but there's no escaping the BBC <em>weltanschauung</em> in anything that touches on Israel. Here we are being invited to contrast an Israeli minister (hysterically Arabophobic) with Ennahda leader Rashid Ghannouchi (moderate, reassuring).<br />
<br />
Well, moderation is <a href="http://hurryupharry.org/2012/01/11/tunisias-jews-fearful-after-haniyeh-visit/">relative</a> in Mr Ghannouchi's case, however regularly the Beeb bestows the epithet on him. Let's hope that in this instance he means what he says. And that the "general outrage" at extremists baying for Jewish blood (several thousands of them actually, and with Mr Ghannouchi in attendance, greeting the head of the Jew-killers of Hamas) will produce action to safeguard the Jewish community.<br />
<br />
I'm particularly struck by Mr Davies' delicate tiptoeing round awkward historical facts. From 100,000 Jews in the 1930s to 2,000 now - why?<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">As in the rest of the Arab world, Tunisia's Jewish population crashed dramatically after the creation of Israel and subsequent Arab-Israeli wars - thousands emigrating to France or to Israel itself. </blockquote><br />
And that's your lot. Calls for a bit of explanation, doesn't it? What did Israel's wars have to do with Jews living at the other end of the Mediterranean?<br />
<br />
It's no good asking Wikipedia, it's been Got At. When consulted today the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Jews_in_Tunisia">"History of the Jews in Tunisia"</a> was skipping seamlessly from the Holocaust to the Arab Spring. Fortunately there are other sources, <a href="http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/anti-semitism/tunisjews.html">one of them</a> yielding this:-<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">After Tunisia gained independence in 1956, a series of anti-Jewish government decrees were promulgated. In 1958, Tunisia's Jewish Community Council was abolished by the government and ancient synagogues, cemeteries and Jewish quarters were destroyed for “urban renewal.”</blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">The increasingly unstable situation caused more than 40,000 Tunisian Jews to immigrate to Israel. By 1967, the country's Jewish population had shrunk to 20,000.</blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">During the Six-Day War, Jews were attacked by rioting Arab mobs, and synagogues and shops were burned. The government denounced the violence, and President Habib Bourguiba apologized to the Chief Rabbi. The government appealed to the Jewish population to stay, but did not bar them from leaving. Subsequently, 7,000 Jews immigrated to France. </blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">In 1982, there were attacks on Jews in the towns of Zarzis and Ben Guardane. According to the State Department, the Tunisian government “acted decisively to provide protection to the Jewish community.”</blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">In 1985, a Tunisian guard opened fire on worshipers in a synagogue in Djerba, killing five people, four of them Jewish. Since then, the government has sought to prevent further tragedy by giving Tunisian Jews heavy protection when necessary. Following Israel's October 1, 1985, bombing of the PLO headquarters near Tunis, “the government took extraordinary measures to protect the Jewish community.” After the Temple Mount tragedy in October 1990, “the government placed heavy security around the main synagogue in Tunis.”</blockquote>If you feel my source is excessively biased I am open to comments providing alternative accounts.<br />
<br />
So I leave you with this thought: Jews hounded out of their country as scapegoats for Israel's wars - for the BBC's Wyre Davies, apparently not a case of scandalous anti-Semitism but a fact of life requiring no elaboration or comment. After all, it's not anti-Semitic to criticise Israel, is it?Mr Grumpyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05317128956060393033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13169838.post-36080847396477223242011-10-18T16:23:00.000+01:002011-10-18T16:23:49.874+01:00Solidarity with Egypt's Christians: a little bit of actionI've just signed a petition <a href="http://e-activist.com/ea-campaign/clientcampaign.do?ea.client.id=88&ea.campaign.id=9295">here</a>. Only takes a minute. (<a href="http://thatthebonesyouhavecrushedmaythrill.blogspot.com/2011/10/petition-in-support-of-egypts-coptic.html">hat tip</a>)Mr Grumpyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05317128956060393033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13169838.post-68642964647877591892011-10-12T13:21:00.001+01:002011-10-12T13:22:24.682+01:00Those sectarian tensions in fullFollowing clashes between Christians protesting about the burning of a church (not such a very big deal surely - if it had been we'd have reported it) and the army, 25 people are dead. Not much we can tell you about who killed who, but we may be able to give you more details once the army have carried out their independent investigation. The Christians claim they were attacked, but they would say that, wouldn't they? Let's face it, there are usually faults on both sides when you get these sectarian tensions.<br />
<br />
<br />
Thus, in substance, the BBC on Egypt's latest Bloody Sunday. The BBC can do better than this when it wants to. Where the Copts are concerned it apparently doesn't want to - and consistently hasn't wanted to in the face of all the outrages they have suffered over the last few years. Why not?Mr Grumpyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05317128956060393033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13169838.post-89624241479345094942011-09-08T18:48:00.000+01:002011-09-08T18:48:00.368+01:00Anti-Zionism at the Proms: the Big LieDid you know that Max Bruch's Violin Concerto is a fiendishly cunning piece of Zionist propaganda? That anyone listening to it live is at severe risk of going home convinced that you can't do better than be beastly to Palestinians?<br />
<br />
You'd better believe it, since to doubt this is to doubt that there was any justification whatsoever for the <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-14756736">disruption</a> of Thursday night's Prom by Palestine Solidarity Campaign protesters.<br />
<br />
There are the usual objections to these people's perceptions and priorities to be made. One may strongly suspect, for example, that the Khartoum Philharmonic Orchestra, if such a thing exists, could have performed at the Albert Hall every summer for the past 30 years without moving them to take action. The state which has occupied Tibet since 1959 sends its circus on tour round Britain without fear of disruption.<br />
<br />
But there is more. Let us allow, for the sake of argument, that Israel is indeed the Most Evil State On Earth. What is then to be said about disrupting a violin concerto as a means of protest?<br />
<br />
It is asserted that the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra is a tool of the Zionist propaganda machine. that (in the PSC's words) it shows "complicity in whitewashing Israel's persistent violations of international law and human rights".<br />
<br />
Now please follow me closely at this point. The PSC is right to this extent: having an orchestra good enough to play at the Proms does indeed make Israel look better than it otherwise would. <strong><em>but</em></strong> the reason why this is the case is that the existence of such an orchestra <strong><em>is in fact</em></strong> a good thing, and being a good thing makes the country it belongs to <strong><em>really</em></strong> a better country than it would otherwise be. It is therefore <strong><em>not propaganda</em></strong>.<br />
<br />
The man who tells you that a beautiful piece of orchestral music is a lie has not only failed to understand what beauty is. He has failed to understand what truth is. He is a philistine and, being a philistine, a liar too. If he is not conscious of lying, that is because he has drunk so deeply from the well of politics that he no longer recognises the distinction between a lie and a politically unhelpful truth. He has decided that there are so many bad things about Israel that it must not be permitted for there to be any good things about it. The IPO is a bad thing <em>because</em> it is a good thing.<br />
<br />
The principle applies without exception - to the Berlin Philharmonic under Hitler, to the Leningrad Philharmonic under Stalin. I need hardly say that propaganda was integral to Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union. They shared a need to convince their citizens and the outside world of things which were not true. But the orchestras made music which was really and not just propagandistically beautiful and, I repeat, that was a good thing.<br />
<br />
Of course I am not suggesting that the arts cannot be instrumentalised and manipulated by oppressive regimes (or indeed by comparatively benign ones). They can be given propagandist content - but come on... Bruch's Violin Concerto? They can also be used to try to establish "innocence by association". But the remedy for that is simply for the audience to decline to be manipulated. It really isn't difficult. In my time I've been to concerts given by Soviet, Iranian and Sudanese musicians. In each case I enjoyed the music, but did I come away with an enhanced regard for the regimes of those countries? What kind of fool do you take me for?<br />
<br />
"The kind of fool who would go to the IPO Prom" must evidently be the PSC protesters' reply. So make that not just philistinism and dishonesty but arrogance as well. Ludicrous arrogance, given the demographic characteristics of your average Proms audience, and the audience's reaction on Thursday night suggests that the point was not lost on them. "We must control what music you are allowed hear because otherwise we cannot trust you to think the right thoughts about it": the thought is the one which invariably underlies totalitarinism, and anyone thinking it is unfit to be trusted with a seat on a Parish Council.<br />
<br />
So much for the moral status of the protest. There remains the related but separate question of what crime protesters of this sort ought to be charged with. And specifically whether whatever it is should be considered as "racially aggravated". We have been here before, and the outcome was a depressing <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/edinburgh_and_east/8609737.stm">own goal</a>.<br />
<br />
I find Sheriff James Scott's remarks irritatingly bumptious in tone but he has surely judged rightly. I hope the doomed attempt at establishimg "racial aggravation" will not be played out again in a court in London and end up giving the PSC further cause for celebration.<br />
<br />
The sustained campaign to portray the state created by Jews as uniquely oppressive and murderous is (since this portrayal is false) is racist in its effect and, whilst it is not necessarily racist in its motivation, almost inevitably leads to a blurring of the line between non-racist and racist motives and reasonings. But the attempt to pin a "racist" label on a single act of protest against the actions of a state is futile.<br />
<br />
Imagine that there was a well-organised and vocal campaign to hold the People's Republic of China to account for its occupation of Tibet and oppression of the Tibetan people. Who knows, perhaps one day some members of the PSC will start one. Would we really want to see its supporters in the dock, facing charges of anti-Chinese racism on the grounds that they had unfairly singled the Chinese state out for criticism?<br />
<br />
The "racial aggravation" charge here makes as much of an ass of the law as the proposition that, when a drunken oaf lurches towards a football manager with the alleged intention of assaulting him, the gravity of his offence should hinge on the question whether he called the target of his ire a "Fenian bastard" or merely a "f***ing w***er" (since apparently, in the eyes of Scotland's once highly regarded legal system, the latter lacks the potential to render the offence one <a href="http://www.spectator.co.uk/alexmassie/7207480/annals-of-legal-affairs-not-proven-edition.thtml">"aggravated by religious prejudice"</a>).<br />
<br />
I would respectfully urge Jews who believe good can come of recourse to such illiberal legislation to think it possible they may be mistaken. It forfeits the moral high ground and is pragmatically counter-productive to boot. It alienates those with a healthy distrust of restrictions on free speech. It closes down all possibility of dialogue with anti-Zionists who are genuinely innocent of racial motivation. As for the hope that some successful prosecutions will shame the hard Left into applying the canons of political correctness consistently, it is a vain one. When did they ever feel the need to be consistent? The clue is in the fisrt word of that phrase "political correctness".<br />
<br />
No, let the Prom protesters' guilt be "aggravated" not by racism but by philistinism, barbarism, preening totalitarian arrogance and, last but not least, blasphemy against the God who has made beauty true and truth beautiful.Mr Grumpyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05317128956060393033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13169838.post-226964188565172172011-08-16T16:53:00.000+01:002011-08-16T16:53:48.853+01:00Reorganisation timeI've been bothered for some time about the mismatch between this blog's title and url on the one hand, and the contents of most of my recent posting on the other. That's why (as the politicians say) I've decided to create a new blog for all posts not strictly related to this one's original theme. It'll be at <a href="http://mrgrumpysplace.blogspot.com/">mrgrumpysplace.blogspot.com</a>.<br />
<br />
"Christian Hate?" was about taking the charity Christian Aid to task for indirectly promoting hatred of Jews through its demonisation of Israel. Regular readers will hopefully appreciate that it's not about encouraging Christians to hate Muslims, the Guardian or even the Archbishop of Canterbury. However, a casual visitor might, on seeing the title, get the wrong end of the stick and jump to the conclusion that I'm Anders Behring Breivik's sock puppet. On the Web first impressions are everything.<br />
<br />
I blog about what I feel strongly about and of late that hasn't included Christian Aid, not least because becoming a Catholic has meant that I no longer have any corporate connection with it. I'm proud of what I've written about Christian Aid, I stand by nearly all of it, and I'm not saying I'll never re-enter the fray in the future. With that in mind, rather than change this blog's title I'm taking my other wares elsewhere.Mr Grumpyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05317128956060393033noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13169838.post-5257529509777243862011-08-11T19:50:00.002+01:002011-08-11T19:53:48.413+01:00Bishops and the riotsI can't make up my mind. What has been the most helpful reaction to this week's events from the Church of England?<br />
<br />
On the one hand, there's this from the Archbishop of Canterbury:-<br />
<br />
<br />
(hat tip: <a href="http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/damianthompson/100100159/london-riots-why-the-silence-from-the-archbishop-of-canterbury-and-the-archbishop-of-westminster/">Damian Thompson</a>)<br />
<br />
On the other hand there's this from the Rt Revd Christopher Chessun, who is not merely Bishop of Southwark but Bishop for Urban Life and Faith:-<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">"The images of violence and destruction on our screens do not represent the strong, hopeful and vibrant communities I know so well. I want to appeal to those responsible for the disturbances to stop.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">"Today, as many in our Diocese count the cost of the disturbances, I am deeply saddened to see the images of destruction in familiar places. I will in the days ahead visit those communities that have been at the centre of trouble and I continue to promise my support for, and solidarity with, all who seek to build positive and constructive engagement. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">"The Christian message is one of hope, love and peace and I know that the churches of Southwark Diocese stand ready to play their part in bringing healing and hope to the places they serve. I am asking them to offer special prayers for the healing and peace of our cities when they gather for worship this Sunday and week by week, remembering especially those who have been personally affected and have lost homes and livelihoods. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">"Southwark Cathedral, along with many other churches in the Diocese, remains open as a place of prayer and reflection."</span><br />
<br />
Much as he knows and loves those strong, hopeful and vibrant communities, they'll have to wait a day or two for that positive and constructive engagement, then... <br />
<br />
This is an institution which, at its higher levels, can hardly be bothered any more to even pretend it is relevant. Dr Chessun, one assumes, is well aware that out on those vibrant streets right now "I'm your local bishop" means less than nothing. Rowan Williams occupies the highest post next to the Queen in the Established Church: it is a civic role, not just a spiritual one. He has at length spoken - on Day Five. Not to the nation, but to the House of Lords. As usual, he sounds as if he was delivering an academic paper. <br />
<br />
I don't want to be scoring sectarian points here, and goodness knows there are some wishy washy Catholic bishops, but in this company <a href="http://www.indcatholicnews.com/news.php?viewStory=18749">Vincent Nichols</a>, Archbishop of Westminster, sounds like Jeremiah. I would have liked him to offer explicit support to the police. But, where most of the Bishop of Southwark's statement sounds as if he was reacting to a natural disaster, Archbishop Nichols speaks plainly of wrongdoing and its consequences, in language which stands some chance of touching the hearts of those in the thick of it - anxious parents, kids tempted to go along with their mates. His appeal for prayer is, of course, one that should be heeded. <br />
<br />
If good can come out of this mess it will be through the application of some very tough love at all levels of society. There are many in the Church of England crying out for leadership. A country with good reasons for cynicism about the worlds of politics and media desperately needs a lead from its Established Church. But the Church's leadership is not fit for purpose.Mr Grumpyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05317128956060393033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13169838.post-85600340352282507952011-08-01T14:37:00.000+01:002011-08-01T14:37:21.264+01:00Libya: Mr Grumpy in "over-optimism" shockBack in March I wrote a <a href="http://christianaidwatch.blogspot.com/2011/03/libya-just-war.html">post</a> on Libya in which I suggested six possible outcomes of Western military intervention, five of which were likely to be worse than the outcome of leaving Gaddafi to get on with it. It was a pessimistic piece - but not pessimistic enough. I covered the scenario where the rebels are at each others' throats as soon as they have toppled Gaddafi, also the one where the rebellion helps Islamists into power, and also the danger of a prolonged stand-off between government and rebel forces. What I failed to suggest was that a blend of all three scenarios would see Islamist rebels begin <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-14352662">disposing of</a> their non-Islamist rivals long before there is any sign of Gaddafi deciding he has a plane to catch.<br />
<br />
It's an absolute fiasco, rendered perfect by the fact that General Younes was murdered just two days after the UK recognised the rebels as the government of Libya. So was that the turncoat Gaddafist General Younes we thought we were recognising - doh! - or was it the doughty champions of freedom and democracy in the Obaida Ibn Jarrah Brigade? The truth is that we haven't a clue.<br />
<br />
One consequence of this farce is very clear. We might send a plane or two to Syria once we're <em>very</em> sure we know who's going to win, but that will be it. We condemn, we sympathize, we pray, but we keep out. Call it humanitarian non-intervention. It will require us to have strong stomachs, but it's the way it has to be.<br />
<br />
Or am I, even now, underestimating the obdurate sentimentality and vanity of the politicians who think it is their mission to jolly well make the rest of the world behave itself?Mr Grumpyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05317128956060393033noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13169838.post-91526781979514965182011-07-23T17:54:00.000+01:002011-07-23T17:54:34.435+01:00Goose and gander: a somethingveryspecificist strikesThis should not be a day for point-scoring, but inevitably the point-scoring is in full swing. And I really was pulled up short when I realised what my <a href="http://christianaidwatch.blogspot.com/2011/07/extreme-varieties-of.html">last post</a> had been.<br />
<br />
For today neither the BBC nor anyone else in the left-liberal universe has the slightest difficulty in naming the beliefs held by a man who has slaughtered 90 innocent victims.<br />
<br />
Even though there is, as I write, no evidence that any other person - let alone an organisation - sharing those beliefs helped or encouraged him to commit mass murder. Even though his action seems utterly irrational even considered as a means to the ends which are assumed to have motivated it. Even though the outrage would appear at this point to have at least as much in common with the classic spree killing as with the kind of organized religio-political mass murder campaign with which we are familiar.<br />
<br />
So there's an absolutely blatant double standard here. Branding everyone in Norway or anywhere else who is worried about Muslim immigration as a potential mass murderer is out of order unless it's OK to do the same to Muslims every time an Islamist bomb goes off. So far from doing that, the BBC fights shy of even applying the label "Islamist" to terrorists, for fear of implicating Islam as such. No such fear of implying guilt by association is <a href="http://the%20bbc's%20richard%20galpin,%20near%20the%20island%20which%20is%20currently%20cordoned%20off%20by%20police,%20says%20that%20norway%20has%20had%20problems%20with%20neo-nazi%20groups%20in%20the%20past%20but%20the%20assumption%20was%20that%20such%20groups%20had%20been%20largely%20eliminated%20and%20did%20not%20pose%20a%20significant%20threat./">restraining</a> it today, though:-<br />
<br />
<span style="color: red;">'The BBC's Richard Galpin, near the island which is currently cordoned off by police, says that Norway has had problems with neo-Nazi groups in the past but the assumption was that such groups had been largely eliminated and did not pose a significant threat.'</span><br />
<br />
Once again: this is before we have a shred of evidence that any group was involved.<br />
<br />
We ought to be getting some consistency and it ought to be a consistent moderate Somethingveryspecificism rather than any variety of Nothinginparticularism. By all means let's put the far Right under the spotlight, though without imputing bogus guilt by association: it remains true that the EDL hasn't organised any spree killings and Geert Wilders hasn't planted any bombs. But let's also insist that the BBC must boldly go into the journalistic no-go area it has created around the relationship of terrorism to Islamism and Islamism to Islam. Not because we should want to demonise Muslims but because when lives are at stake we need and are entitled to understand what the problem is.Mr Grumpyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05317128956060393033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13169838.post-19620332756238028972011-07-14T13:17:00.000+01:002011-07-14T13:17:38.547+01:00Extreme varieties of nothinginparticularismEdwin Greenwood notes that, whilst British media types have complied meekly with Indian officialdom's belated two-fingered gesture towards the Raj of turning Bombay into Mumbai, the locals are <a href="http://dogwash48.blogspot.com/2011/07/bombay-duck-by-any-other-name-is-still.html">less enthusiastic</a>.<br />
<br />
I feel sure that they are also less reticent than the BBC about naming the cause which has claimed a further 18 lives in the city. I was originally going to link the previous sentence to <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-14142291">this</a> item. But now, on reading the Beeb's <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-14148908">account</a> of the latest Bombay bloodbath, I find that it makes my point just as well. Just as the estimable young Jordanian is tackling "extremism" with his computer games, so we have speculation as to whether the blasts were the work of "home-grown militant outfits like the Indian Mujahideen (IM)", or, as in 2008, of "Pakistani-based militants".<br />
<br />
Extremism has to be an extreme form of something. You can't be a militant without something to be militant about. Pardon me for repeating myself, but it's one thing (and bad enough) for government to adopt this mealy-mouthedness as a matter of policy; for the organization we pay willy-nilly to bring us the news to follow suit is unconscionable.Mr Grumpyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05317128956060393033noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13169838.post-7339492708433467352011-07-07T12:45:00.002+01:002011-07-07T12:56:22.557+01:00Understatement of the monthFrom the <a href="http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/news/2011/07/06/order-accuses-fr-corapi-of-sexual-and-financial-wrongdoing/">findings of the investigation</a> into the American Catholic TV presenter Fr John Corapi by his religious order:-<br /><br /><span style="color:#ff0000;">“Holds legal title to over $1 million in real estate, numerous luxury vehicles, motorcycles, an ATV, a boat dock and several motor boats, which is a serious violation of his promise of poverty as a perpetually professed member of this society.”<br /></span>Cyrushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00512481025183200804noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13169838.post-47599787939983880482011-07-07T12:30:00.001+01:002011-07-07T12:34:52.583+01:00101 Uses for Other People's MoneyNo. 53: set up a website that <strong><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-14059157">nobody ever visits</a></strong>.Cyrushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00512481025183200804noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13169838.post-36350004726339614282011-06-17T13:27:00.001+01:002011-06-17T13:27:41.859+01:00Headline of the week<a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-13798122"><strong>Virgin warns infected customers</strong></a><br />
<br />
And courts risk of being sued under the Trades Descriptions Act?<br />
<br />
Sorry, couldn't resist it.Mr Grumpyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05317128956060393033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13169838.post-50039713101158445542011-06-15T13:07:00.002+01:002011-06-15T13:20:35.600+01:00Raising awareness of the stakeholders in the room<a href="http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2011/06/14/the-banned-list-top-100/">John Rentoul</a> reaches out to us to share his concerns and issues around clichés. What's not to like? Though I do hope I won't be named and shamed. And I fear Mr Rentoul himself may be teetering on the edge with his opening "I have an article". Pots, kettles.<br />
<br />
I must admit I haven't yet come across "toilet" as a verb. Is it transitive or intransitive?<br />
<br />
(Hat tip - is that on the list, or already old hat? - to <a href="http://the-hermeneutic-of-continuity.blogspot.com/2011/06/war-on-cliches-raising-awareness-for.html">Fr Tim</a>)Mr Grumpyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05317128956060393033noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13169838.post-75809104115168418372011-06-13T13:16:00.000+01:002011-06-13T13:16:18.868+01:00Have I got this right?'This is not helped by a quiet resurgence of the seductive language of "deserving" and "undeserving" poor, nor by the steady pressure to increase what look like punitive responses to alleged abuses of the system.'<br />
<br />
- <a href="http://www.archbishopofcanterbury.org/articles.php/2066/new-statesman-leader">Ed Miliband</a><br />
<br />
'those at the top and the bottom who were not showing responsibility and were shirking their duty to each other [...] some of those on benefits who were abusing the system because they could work - but didn't.<br />
<br />
'Labour - a party founded by hard-working people for hard-working people - was seen by some, however unfairly, as the party of those ripping off our society.'<br />
<br />
- <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-13745118">The Archbshop of Canterbury</a><br />
<br />
No, wait...Mr Grumpyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05317128956060393033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13169838.post-29808272618349893902011-06-08T13:28:00.001+01:002011-06-08T13:30:49.470+01:00SchadenfreuderealpolitikbeansproutthingWarning: this post contains tasteless schadenfreude*.<br />
<br />
OK, I know the new E. coli outbreak is no laughing matter. But you would need a heart of stone not to crease up at the news that, after initially fingering organic cucumbers, the German authorities are now closing in on an <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-13665785"><em>organic bean sprout</em> farm</a>. Yes, this is an epidemic tailor made for culling health food junkies. I mean, what normal human being, on being told that their next meal is going to be their last one, would order <em>bean sprouts</em>?<br />
<br />
And, as one who has himself patronised German health food shops in his time (Frau G made me do it), I strongly suspect, despite the Beeb's reservations, that we already have the solution to the <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-13608396">mystery of the sexist bug</a>.<br />
<br />
The German government should urgently consider launching a health campaign aimed at middle-class women in their thirties, to encourage them to switch to healthier options such as beer and sausages.<br />
<br />
*Foootnote: since like so many bloggers I dream of breaking into the big time in the manner of Oliver Kamm, I follow the rules of the hack's profession and take care to use this word, or its synonym <em>realpolitik</em>, when writing anything about Germany. For the benefit of those who didn't get an edukayshun, it means "I am cultured and cosmopolitan, a veritable Renaissance man". On the other hand, I am emphatically not going to <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/germany/8546608/Why-Germany-said-no-to-nuclear-power.html">mention the Nazis</a>. Oh, bother, I just did.Mr Grumpyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05317128956060393033noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13169838.post-84952197744895787622011-05-05T13:35:00.000+01:002011-05-05T13:35:35.076+01:00Londoners, don't vote for Ken! (reason no. 953)Very much a last minute job, this. Blame moving house, changing my religion etc. Plus I really thought that someone in the MSM would have a long enough memory to pick up on this one. In fact someone had done, only three years ago and thus before Colonel Gaddafi declared war on the Libyan people. It's a much. much more pertinent story today, so here it is for the record.<br />
<br />
Once upon a time there was an exceptionally repellent totalitarian sect called the Workers Revolutionary Party. Being not only exceptionally repellent but also unusually well-funded, it was able to put out a daily paper, the <em>Newsline</em>. Party members were expected to devote 25 hours a day to selling this product. On a good day they would come across somebody prepared to part with money for it.<br />
<br />
In the early Eighties it evidently dawned on the WRP that the <em>Newsline </em>was not reaching the masses, so they decided to try to broaden their influence by launching a "Labour" paper. And so the <em>Labour Herald </em>was born, a classic front organization. As well as having "Labour" in its name, it was to be fronted by a Labour editor - and no less a figure than the Leader of the Greater London Council was waiting in the wings.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.workersliberty.org/files/begincartoon.jpg">Here</a>'s a sample of the paper's content. Anti-Semitic? I'm sure Ken would no more think so now than he did then.<br />
<br />
And now I'll let <a href="http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard-mayor/article-23478856-anti-semitism---and-a-timely-question-for-ken.do">Keith Dovkants</a> of the Eve Stennit tell the rest of the story:-<br />
<br />
<span style="color: red;">'The paper was printed by a firm based in Runcorn, Cheshire, which also printed News Line and publications sponsored by the Libyan government.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: red;">'When Private Eye ran a piece claiming Ken Livingstone, then leader of the GLC, was editing a paper financed by the Libyans he successfully sued for libel. It has to be remembered that at that time Gaddafi was encouraging the assassination of his political opponents abroad and wiping them out at home. In 1984 his thugs fired on demonstrators outside the Libyan embassy in St James's Square, killing WPC Yvonne Fletcher.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: red;">'Although no one doubts Gaddafi was subsidising News Line and Labour Herald there is absolutely no evidence Ken knew about it. But he did support the WRP when it published an extraordinary anti-Jewish rant in News Line.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: red;">'On 20 March 1983, BBC2 ran an investigation on its Money Programme. Its central thesis was that <strong>the WRP's newspaper, Ken's Labour Herald and other publications were being funded by Gaddafi</strong>. Looking at the transcript today one sees a thorough, rather measured, piece of journalism. The response was quite different.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: red;">'Under the heading The Zionist Connection, News Line published an editorial denouncing the Money Programme's investigation. It blamed a "powerful Zionist connection" that ran through the Labour Left, Mrs Thatcher's government, to the BBC. It cited the placing of Stuart Young, a director of the Jewish Chronicle, as chairman of the corporation and the appointment of his brother, David Young, to head the Manpower Services Commission. The Jewish Chronicle, the editorial noted, gave "support and advance publicity" to the Money Programme.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: red;">'On the day of its hysterical editorial News Line ran a piece in which <strong>Ken suggested the Money Programme report was indeed the work of Zionists.</strong> In the same piece he blamed "smears" against him on agents working for Israeli prime minister Menachem Begin's government.'</span><br />
<br />
So when confronted with the facts Ken preferred to endorse the WRP's theory that the Money Programme was in the grip of a Zionist conspiracy (we all know how much Zionists like their money, don't we?) rather than acknowledge that he had unwittingly taken a bloodstained tyrant's money.<br />
<br />
Has Ken ever retracted this position? His <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_Livingstone">Wikipedia</a> entry passes over this strand of his career in silence. It wouldn't be the only case where "Sorry" has been the hardest word for him. Employing Lee Jasper still isn't a cause for regret, <a href="http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/andrewgilligan/100084975/ken-livingstone-and-lee-jasper-a-friendship-reborn/">it</a> <a href="http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/andrewgilligan/100085484/ken-livingstone-and-lee-jasper-latest-news-from-the-power-couple/">seems</a>. Sorry, but Ken's not fit to be Mayor.Mr Grumpyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05317128956060393033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13169838.post-85747890714390313392011-05-03T14:02:00.003+01:002011-05-03T16:45:03.526+01:00Christians rejoice?I was going to start this post by observing that I do not expect to read a more inane reaction to the killing of Osama bin Laden than Cristina Odone's attempt to construct a (im-)moral equivalence between Americans celebrating the demise of the bearded one and the "Arab street" rejoicing over 9/11. That, however, was before Rowan Williams's PR man <a href="http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/georgepitcher/100086071/celebrating-osama-bin-ladens-killing-is-wrong/">George Pitcher</a> popped up singing from the same hymnbook*. My cup runneth over, and I think it is Mr Pitcher who must be awarded the palm, if only for his inspired use of the term "rednecks".<br />
<br />
Well, George Pitcher is in the deepest and truest sense not my problem any more. As for Cristina Odone, however, I am emboldened to suggest that after less than a fortnight as a Catholic I already have a better grasp of Catholic moral theology than she has.<br />
<br />
It is right to celebrate the success of a just endeavour and wrong to celebrate the success of an unjust endeavour. As simple as that. And when I say "right" I don't mean just "permissible". We <em>ought</em> to be thankful that Osama has been put out of the way of masterminding the taking of innocent lives, thankful to those whose professionalism, doggedness and courage has brought about this end. Why, Ms Odone, should anyone risk their neck for the sake of your freedom if the most you can manage when they triumph is a "yes, Osama bin Laden’s death is a good thing" from between gritted teeth?<br />
<br />
But surely, you may now be saying, our Cristina has the Vatican on her side? Thus <a href="http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/news/2011/05/02/christians-should-not-rejoice-at-death-of-osama-bin-laden-says-vatican-spokesman">Fr Federico Lombardi</a>:-<br />
<br />
<span style="color: red;">“Osama bin Laden – as we all know – was gravely responsible for promoting division and hatred between peoples, causing the end of countless innocent lives, and of exploiting religions to this end.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: red;">“Faced with the death of a man, a Christian never rejoices, but reflects on the serious responsibility of each and every one of us before God and before man, and hopes and commits himself so that no event be an opportunity for further growth of hatred, but for peace.”</span><br />
<br />
And quite right, too. Note, for one thing, the first of these two sentences, and see if you can find its equivalent in either GP's or CO's posts; compare the forthright attribution of guilt with George Pitcher's portrayal of Osama as a man denied a fair trial. Note also the absence of direct condemnation of anyone other than Osama himself, and again compare and contrast. Note next that the Vatican can never forget the exigencies of diplomacy when it chooses its words. Fr Lombardi will have been keenly aware that there are Christians in Pakistan.<br />
<br />
And note above all a crucial distinction. It is the termination of the man's evil deeds which is just cause for rejoicing, not the termination of his life. However just, the fighting of a war is a poor substitute for the repentance of the aggressor. That's a distinction which, I dare say, many patriotic Americans are failing to draw today, but the faux pacifist liberals sitting in judgment over them in North London aren't doing any better. Two sides of the same coin, in fact.<br />
<br />
*That will, of course, be the one from which which the inappropriately militaristic "Onward Christian soldiers" has been expunged in favour of "Onward Christian pilgrims".Mr Grumpyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05317128956060393033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13169838.post-15332658265905553212011-04-14T12:48:00.009+01:002011-04-15T12:54:12.817+01:00Men are a waste of space, and the BBC has the stats to prove it<p>Two BBC stories from the same day, unconnected but offering an instructive contrast. </p><p>From the <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-13058300">first</a>:- <span style="color:#ff0000;">'Almost 100 women are killed by partners or ex-partners each year, figures show. 'And 21 men died from domestic abuse in England and Wales last year.'</span> </p><p>Now, though the mention of male victims may strike you as something of an afterthought, I say the author deserves considerable credit for thinking of them at all. There's a lot of ideological capital invested in the perception of domestic violence as Exhibit A in the case against the patriarchy, and far too much media coverage has endorsed this view by presenting it without qualification as a male-on-female crime. </p><p>So three cheers for a Beeb reporter who has acknowledged that more than one case in six adds up to too many exceptions to the rule to be brushed under the carpet. Nevertheless the rule does get stated. The gender/sex breakdown is there to remind us, just in case we had any doubt, that most victims are female and most perpetrators male. </p><p>Now compare what we find in <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-13058758">another</a> story from the same day:- </p><p><span style="color:#ff0000;">'Since operations began in Afghanistan in 2001, 363 UK servicemen and women have died.'</span> </p><p>The double plural actually makes this sentence misleading. For, as is revealed by following a <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-10629358">couple</a> of <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-10634102">links</a>, the gender/sex breakdown here is in fact 362 to 1. To make the comparison crystal clear, if we surveyed 363 domestic abuse fatalities we would expect to find over 60 male victims. </p><p>So a breakdown is de rigueur when it suggests that murdering your partner is very much a man thing, but to be avoided where it might give the impression that getting killed for your country is even more of a man thing. I'm sure there's no deliberate indoctrination going on here. That happened a long way up the line. At this point it's just the working out of an unconscious worldview, the fruits of the coming true of Gramsci's dream of cultural hegemony. I wouldn't be at all surprised to learn that both pieces were written by men. </p><p>No definitive evidence for a correlation between gender and nitpicking blogging was available at the time of going to press. </p>Mr Grumpyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05317128956060393033noreply@blogger.com0