The Queen's Diamond Jubilee: The Call To Wisdom, And St. Paul's Wisdom

OS sends greetings to HM and to all her subjects. In the past sixty years, this country has had as head of state Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush Sr., Clinton, Bush Jr., and HimselfTheWinnerOfTheNobelPeacePrize. Apart from the first two, arguably Ford and definitely Reagan, it has been a pretty disappointing cast of characters at the helm.

Ya'll have had the Queen, who has worked at looking after things in challenging times. She has dealt with some serious knucklehead Prime Ministers, especially in Blair, Brown and Cameron, but England is still doing better than that train wreck across the Channel, Europe. She's one of the main reasons why.

In the US, the live video feed of this morning's service was blocked, and the BBC Radio Coverage was shameful, with the self-impressed presenters chattering over the service and making certain to downplay any Christian content. Shame on them, and OS hopes his readers in the UK will take the matter up with the Beeb. Ya'll deserve better. You're paying these clowns to chatter over the great events of your history.

Still, bits of video were posted, and OS shares two of them with you.

The anthem for the day, based upon the Old Testament reading from Proverbs 8 was the newly-composed 'Call To Wisdom', sung by a choir dawn from across the UK.

Lord of wisdom, Lord of truth, Lord of justice, Lord of mercy;
Walk beside us down the years till we see you in your glory.
Striving to attain the heights, turning in a new direction,
Entering a lonely place, welcoming a friend or stranger. 

I am here, I am with you.
I have called; do you hear me? 

Silver is of passing worth, gold is not of constant value,
Jewels sparkle for a while: what you long for is not lasting.
Rulers govern under me with my insight and my wisdom.
Those who love me know my love; those who seek me find their answer. 

God the Father and the Son, Holy Spirit, co-eternal;
Glory be ascribed to you, now and to the end of ages.

Words: Michael Hampel (b.1967), based on Proverbs 8. 1-17
Music: Will Todd (b.1970)

The second video features David Cameron reading the New Testament lesson from Romans 12.

I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to
present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is
your spiritual worship. Do not be confor med to this world, but be transfor med
by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of
God – what is good and acceptable and perfect.

For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of
yourself more highly than you ought to think, but to think with sober
judgement, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. For
as in one body we have many members, and not all the members have the
same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually
we are members one of another.

We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us: prophecy, in proportion to faith; ministry, in ministering; the teacher, in teaching; the exhorter, in exhortation; the giver, in generosity; the
leader, in diligence; the compassionate, in cheerfulness.

Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; love one
another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honour. Do not
lag in zeal, be ardent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in
suffering, persevere in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints; extend
hospitality to strangers.

Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those
who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another;
do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly; do not claim to be wiser than
you are. Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble
in the sight of all. If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably
with all.

Romans 12. 1-18

How very appropriate to make the Prime Minister broadcast these words to the world. The inspiration, truth, poetry, aspiration and inherent optimism of St. Paul's vision for how society should run (in light of the the Gospel he so eloquently described in Romans 1-11) stand in dissonant contrast to how governance is practiced these days. These sorts of events are not for nothing--words have power, especially well-written words spoken in front of millions. OS hopes that the public presentation of these words will have some sort of restraining effect upon all in public life, on both sides of the pond.

As for Her Majesty: God bless you, and thank you for all the ways, great and small, you have looked after your part of the world. You have blessed us all.

Christopher Tappin Update

He was denied bail--surprise, surprise.

All that evidence the US Justice Department should have been required to disclose to a British judge in order to obtain a legal extradition was presented in court in El Paso, complete with much bluster from the prosecutor--who knows he damned well better win if he doesn't wish to spend the rest of his career defending DUI's in some county in New Mexico.

He is considered a dangerous man, a flight risk, an evil-doer. Therefore, he is in jail, being slowly broken down in the attempt to extort a guilty plea.

Really? Perhaps the US government does not want this man on the street because he has a story to relate about the behavior of the US government--the one that used him as an informant (a reliable, upstanding informant) in order to obtain a conviction in another case. 

So, boyz--which is it?  This from the Forbes article listed above:

Simultaneously, the U.S. government is citing Tappin for his valuable cooperation in a federal crime (Sky), while at the same time claiming that he is involved in activities of shipping military goods to Iran. So which is Tappin, friend or foe?...or both?

Again, OS won't judge one way or another regarding Mr. Tappin's guilt or innocence--who can say from this distance?

But we know this about the US federal government: It sold missile batteries to the Iranians, then later set up a dummy company to see if it couldn't entrap people supposedly aiming to sell electric batteries for the missiles it had sold the Iranians. (Following this so far?) It managed to entrap a UK citizen, and force him to roll over, which he did not do--likely because he may well be innocent. Remember the concept of 'innocent until proven guilty'? Then it decided to make him An Object Lesson, and trampled on both UK law, treaty law, and US law to haul him out retirement, stick his ass in a south Texas jail, where he had to request solitary confinement for his own safety. He's not allowed even a book, and the light never goes off. Once he becomes borderline suicidal, they'll offer him a 'deal'. Otherwise, they'll just let him die in jail, forever silenced.

OS does not care whether Mr. Tappin is guilty or innocent of the charges. He is no threat to our safety whatsoever, compared to a US government that has decided it is the law, and our lives are subject to being ground up in its maw at any moment.

David Cameron's complicity with the US government is tragically shameful. Words fail to describe a man who happily scarfs down hot dogs at a basketball game in Ohio (which event, by the way, set the taxpayers back several million borrowed dollars) and lets his countryman rot in a Texas jail. By the way, Obama still plans to throw the people of the Falklands to the Argentine wolves. Enjoy that hot dog, Dave--that picture will circulate and circulate and circulate at your next election.

People such as this are capable of anything.

Meanwhile, Back In The South Atlantic

The UK is dispatching one of the world's most sophisticated air-defense frigates, just to dissuade the Argentinians from attempting new mischief against the Falkland Islands.

For this, David Cameron has Barry and Hillary to thank, as they have actively encouraged Argentina (along with Chavez, who is cheering them along) to saber-rattle.

The world has enough woes without this. And the world is safer with the sea-lanes of the South Atlantic protected by HM Navy at harbor in the Falklands than, say, any of Chavez's friends.

One would think that this simple sort of stuff would seem obvious to Barry, as brilliant as he claims to be.
Perhaps it does. Perhaps he desires more chaos in the Southern Hemisphere...perhaps his hatred of all things British trumps sober judgment.

Or, perhaps, he is simply that careless and thoughtless. Ya takes yer' choice, in the end.

OldSouth Is Speechless, So He'll Let Peter Hitchens Speak

Words fail. OS keeps attempting to string some words together to relate what he is thinking and feeling about recent events. He just splutters and stutters and begins to curse, and his writing is bad enough as it is...

People like OS are why God created real writers, like Peter Hitchens.

Our British cousins have the same problem we have--a chief executive who decided to start a war without consulting Parliament, just because he concluded that the Libyan dictator is a VeryBadMan (which indeed, he is), and the UN sez it's ok.

Hitchens has it nailed for us all, on both sides of the pond.

Here's just a bit of it:

My test is this: If you are so keen to set Libya to rights, establish an International Brigade of like-minded persons, all so truly concerned about that country's fate, and so sure of which side is in the right, that you are prepared to be maimed or rendered limbless and disfigured in that cause, Off you go. Fly to Egypt, slip across the border and offer your services to the heroes of Benghazi.

I won't stop you. But I pay for armed forces to defend me, not to go off on righteous adventures, and soldiers likewise sign up to defend their own country, not mess around with other people's.

My case is that 'democracies' whatever they are, have enough to do at home keeping the weak from being robbed and attacked by the strong. And that war is so wicked that the only real justification for it is to defend yourself against those who would destroy, rob or subjugate you.

In the meantime, OS gets some face-time tomorrow night with his House member. He hopes he'll have his thoughts in order by that time, so he can calmly take it up with the one person locally who can actually do something about this tragic blow to Constitutional government.

The US is making war on Libya. Obama is making war on the Constitution.

The Barack And David Show: 'Special Relationship, Special Relationship, Special Relationship'

OS grinned broadly over his lunch sandwich, watching The Winner of the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize diffidently read copy to open the joint press conference with David Cameron this afternoon.

The copy had obviously been prepared for him, and he read it with all the passion of a hen-pecked husband reciting the 'HoneyDo' list that would occupy the Saturday he had planned for a fishing trip.

Within the first twenty seconds, we hear the words 'Special Relationship' (C'mon Barry, sell it! Sell it! Aw, jeez, why won't He sell it?) Followed closely by mention of common language, history, sacrifice, interests, values, etc. Ending paragraph contained the magic phrase 'Special Relationship'.

(OK, Barry--sell that beer thing, at least pretend to be hospitable! Aw, jeez, no!)

It was David and Barack referring to one another by first name, in addition.

Cameron came off much better than Himself, much more at ease, with a much better command of clear, unequivocal, English. He took pains to pin the decision to free the Lockerbie Bomber on the Scots, and he took pains to be friendly without being obsequious.

Obama looked like he wanted to slip out back for a smoke, could not wait for the event to end.

At least there's a moral to the tale. Amoral types like Obama do respond to one kind of stimulus, that being the prospect of public humiliation. A lot of people were watching, and no doubt The One had been thoroughly beaten about his ears and endlessly coached about HowToAct. Especially in the presence of the one man who can make one phone call, and pull his troops out of Afghanistan by next week, make another phone call and deny the US Navy access to British ports; make a few more, and make life miserable for American interests in many parts of the world.

The UK is a small island that casts a long long shadow, still. Somebody must have had a Come-To-Jesus with The One about that simple fact, 'cuz he's too ignorant and arrogant to figure out that not all the world is a Chicago ward.

Unlike Barry, David has a Rolodex, and knows how to use it. He also has more class on his worst day ever than Himself will muster in a lifetime. And, given the shabby treatment shown his country by the present occupant of the White House, no one on his side of the pond would begrudge him placing a few phone calls.

'There's No Money Left': The UK Public Sector Faces Its Shortfalls In Its Own Droll Way

JDA always tells the tale best:

Arriving for work at the U.K. Treasury last week, the incoming chief secretary, David Laws, found a note from his predecessor, Liam Byrne, offering advice on the job.

“Dear Chief Secretary, I’m afraid to tell you there’s no money left,” Laws cited it as saying.

Had OS received the note, he would have had it framed.

It will be useful later.

Pass the sherry, please.

And, From The UK Election Campaign, Just For Laughs('Cuz We All Need To Laugh)

Strangers In The Night, a brilliant little spoof by Gerald Warner at The Telegraph.

It's reminiscent of the work of the late, great Art Buchwald, who kept us laughing at the political idiocy of the '60s and '70s.

Well done, well done!