Early Monstaville Appendix II (2006/5) Removed from Book

Appendix II

Related articles, notes and other items: 2006-07

2006

“Simon Blake, spokesman for the Anti-Bullying Alliance, said: ‘There is sometimes a reluctance for people to acknowledge there is an issue of bullying. There isn’t a school in the country, as far as I know, that doesn’t have some sort of bullying at some time.’ He said the tendency of some schools to ignore evidence had its roots in the old attitude that bullying was ‘just a phase’ and would pass if a child ignored it or fought back. ‘We’ve still got that funny culture where we think it’s either character-building, or it’s a fact of life, or it will go away, or they are just teasing,’ he said. ‘But when you are 14, that’s a really big deal. What we’ve got to do is think about it from the children’s perspectives.’ Homophobic bullying, when children use ‘gay’ as a term of abuse, is causing problems even after the repeal of Clause 28, which banned promotion of homosexuality and made many schools reluctant to tackle the problem for fear of legal action. Mr Blake said: ‘It’s clear you can’t say racist things but you can get away with saying, ‘You are gay.’ People feel less confident about how they should be addressing it.’ The charity ChildLine took almost 33,000 calls about bullying over the last school year - up from 31,000 the previous year. More than half of victims said they had been physically attacked.” (Dominic Hayes, Education Correspondent, Evening Standard, 20 February 2006, p.20).

“A woman bullied at primary school is to get a £20,000 payout. Sophie Amor, 23, said her ordeal at St Peter’s Church in Wales School, in Blaenavon, Gwent, had ruined her life. Her family believe it is the first payout over school bullying in the UK. Ms Amor went to St Peter’s aged five to 11...The trauma was so bad she says she is now housebound.” (ibid, p.20).

“Sophie Amor, who left the school 12 years ago, said daily torment at the hands of playground bullies ruined her life. Describing her win, the 23-year-old said: ‘It’s not about the money, it’s about justice. I just don’t want any other kids to go through what I did...The abuse started as cruel remarks about her weight but led to spitting, hitting and teasing. She needed six stitches around her eye after being pushed to the ground. Miss Amor said: ‘I used to dread going I every day. I couldn’t walk down the school corridor without a snide comment being made, or being given a push to get me out of the way. An average day would be suffering panic attacks and palpitations in the neck.’ She tried to kill herself when she was nine by taking an overdose of epilepsy drugs. At 14, she was diagnosed with depression and taken out of mainstream school and has since relied on her family for everything. She said: ‘I wouldn’t call what I have a life. I just exist.’ The case was due to be heard in court but Miss Amor’s lawyers agreed the £20,000 out-of-court settlement with Torfaen county borough council shortly before the hearing.  The council said: ‘We have not accepted liability. The matter was dealt with by our insurers, who made a settlement to resolve the matter and to minimise costs.’” (Suzy Austin, Metro, 21 February 2006, p.15).

“A Police officer killed herself after being bullied in an elite firearms unit, an inquest was told yesterday. PC Paula Tomlinson, 35, was found hanged at the home she shared with her police officer husband Jim Collins I Birkdale, Merseyside, in 2004. Her family told a coroner she died after she was bullied by fellow firearms officers in Merseyside when she complained about them watching a porn film during a training session. Two inquiries failed to find any evidence of wrongdoing but now her relatives are trying to use European human rights laws to have details of the alleged bullying revealed at the inquest. Jeremy Baker QC, for the family, spoke of a ‘long-standing culture of discriminatory bullying’ in the firearms department.” (ibid, p.15).

‘People have no idea of the impact they have emotionally on others when they steal their pets - it’s heartbreaking.’ (Dr David Bull on The Wright Stuff, Channel 5, 22 February 2006).

If you wish any harm to animals whether domestic pets or living in the wild you are the enemy, the foe of society and you are therefore the one who must be defeated and prevented from hurting others.

Notes from ‘ChildLine: Someone You Can Talk To.’ (BBC1, 8 March 2006).

The charity ChildLine provides good support for children except when the police are called and children are taken home and the situation is made worse. They are punished as a result of trying to get out of it. The child is tortured when the family hear he or she has been talking to the authorities.

There is too much paedophilia. The media is for adults so it goes on about the importance of the family, the unity of the family. It is not dealing with, or acknowledging, the bad behaviour of adults, including that of parents towards children. If you say you will refer the child to the authorities the child will put the phone down.

What the child would have to go through during the process of conviction: is it for his or her benefit (justice/closure) or the counsellor’s? If there is a lot of hardship and little result, then this is more damaging. You have to work in the way the child needs you. You have to work with them.

There is much suspicion of the legal system. But the legal system has been changed in the last 20 years. It is easier to take action now. You have to treat children differently. They must be allowed to give evidence. This is taken seriously now. Previously, the legal system considered it dangerous to believe a small child giving evidence. The world is run by adults who have failed to protect them because in a family of abusers the children expect all adults to abuse them at some point. A child’s abusers had made him believe and expect this.

It is a grooming process by the parents, or just the father: a touch, a word, here, there, little and often. Finally, they will threaten to kill the child and tell him or her ‘No-one will believe you.’ They will go right into her face, saying, ‘You know I can kill you.’ In a child’s mind, her mother knew what was happening and let it happen. A child thinks things are normal. Only when you get older do you know it is not.

Do what you say you will to receive the child’s trust. It is important that adults believe the child. Most cases that go to ChildLine don’t reach the court. Society fails to deliver justice to the children who need it most. Prosecution is no good for children who have been subjected to bullying and intimidation. As in most other countries, a child shouldn’t need to appear in court. Children must be carefully interviewed close to the time.

Comedian Ross Noble says he recently met a drug dealer in an alley way: “I thought of something funny to say and he was quite clearly a very dangerous man and, er, you know. But, I was torn, cause I was thinking, ‘this is hilarious’ (holds up his right hand) - ‘I might die’ (holds up his left hand), you know, and that’s a real...oh, you know. I think, if you think of something funny to say and you don’t say it for any particular reason, and you just think, ‘Oh, I better now say it,’ that’s the worst crime you can...other than murder, that’s probably a bit worse. I just think, I think doing that is a bit like having laser eyes, laser vision, and then only ever using it to heat soup. Do you know what I mean? It’s like a waste, you know. ‘There’s a child in trouble - quickly!! ‘Hang on a second’ (bends down and pretends t use his laser eyes) - ‘I’ve got some lovely lobster bisque on the go.” (‘Sonic Waffle,’ the last show of the tour, Channel 4, 12 March 2006).

“You get drunk, you hurt people and then you try and get them to hurt you back.” - So that it relieves the wallowing in guilt. (Grant Mitchell to his brother Phil in Eastenders, March 2006).

“Ofsted has reported improvements in classroom behaviour this year, but there should be no complacency about tackling bullying. All children must know right from wrong, and that there will be consequences for crossing the line. It is compulsory for schools to have policies to prevent and tackle bullying, and we have equipped them with proven strategies developed by major anti-bullying experts, as well as hard-hitting measures including parenting orders and permanent exclusion. Measures in the Education Bill, including a new legal right to discipline, weekend detentions, and fines for parents, will send a strong message to pupils and parents that bullying and failure to take responsibility for tackling it will not be tolerated.” (Jim Knight MP, Schools Minister, The Independent, 18 May 2006, p.2).

“Bullying complaints to the children’s charity ChildLine have risen to record levels. More than 37,000 young people rang about the problem in the 12 months to the end of March - up 12 per cent on the 32,500 calls the previous year. Almost a quarter of all calls were about bullying, while a further 4,000 children went on to mention bullying. Nearly 3,000 children a year called because they were victims of homophobic bullies.” (Metro, 29 August 2006, p.2).

“Thomas Noel told me you once saved him from being stabbed. ‘What nonsense. Some young fools went for us after we left a restaurant, and one of them had a knife. Just because a chap’s waving a knife at you doesn’t mean he’s going to use it. I disarmed him by grabbing the blade - a trick I learnt when I was detained by Her Majesty in Wandsworth. Grab the blade and the attacker can’t slash you. The mugger’s accomplices ran off into the darkness and I gave the chap a good dusting. It was probably frightening for Thomas because he’s not used to that sort of thing. I don’t suppose the Duke of Norfolk would run at him with a knife.’” (Telegraph Magazine, 24 June 2006, p.29).

2007

The Wright Stuff (Channel 5, 18 May 2007). ‘Women are more likely to lose their tempers than men (well, in Britain, at least). The ‘fairer sex’ is also the angrier sex. Women are more likely to feel angry and persistently frustrated (perhaps because our culture seems to demand the expression of more masculine energy which is more alien and harder to control for men, let alone women, but perhaps easier for them to suppress it...which then leads to explosive behaviour).

You lose the argument the minute you shout, using volume as a battering ram. It is childish, weak and intimidatory - regressive and selfish, trying to frighten the other person to back down. When an enemy is angry they make mistakes - so you’ve won if you make them angry. Tantrums are for children. It is a kind of bullying - idiotic. Once you show how riled you are, you look silly. They’ve got you under the skin and can pull you in. Once you lose control, you lose control of your argument.

The answer lies not in shutting down your emotions but controlling them. People who are cool, calm and collected won’t rise to the bait.

People are stressed and angry owing to pressure at work. So, they are losing it and their kids become angry people.’

‘A real Rocky Horror at the hands of thug’: “A thug is facing jail after launching a violent attack on a raunchily-dressed group heading to the Rocky Horror Picture Show. Kelvin Stevens lashed out after hurling homophobic abuse at a group of men and women who were dressed in fishnet tights, suspenders and high heels for the cult cross-dressing show [which has become traditional dress for performances of the show]. The burly electrician called the group ‘a load of fags’ before head-butting and punching Barry Giles [he ‘landed several heavy blows’ on him], who was at a distinct disadvantage as he was tottering on stiletto heels...The fight in the centre of Cambridge was caught on CCTV and Stevens, who works in the city but lives in Basildon, Essex, was traced and arrested a short while later at a nightclub...The attack, which happened on May 21, was not officially classified as a homophobic assault because the Rocky Horror fans were only dressed up as transvestites.” Both attacker and victim are 23 years old. But a spokesman for gay rights group Stonewall praised police for arresting the culprit after he hurled anti-gay abuse. He said: ‘It’s encouraging that the police are taking this seriously.’” (Anne Campbell, Metro, 30 May 2007, p.21).

Family secrets. ‘The violent bully who drove me to the edge. My first husband abused me physically and emotionally, but our children will never know, says an anonymous reader.’ (The last half of the article). “Why did I not leave? They seem such silly reasons now. I had nowhere to go. I one tried to escape with the children to my mother’s but he came after us, banging on the doors and windows like a madman. I took the children home on his promise that he wouldn’t attack me, and it all started again. Secondly, I thought that there was still a person that I loved inside the monster I lived with, and that if I could just act how he wanted me to, everything would be all right. Thirdly, I didn’t feel I was a ‘proper person.’ Every single bit of self-belief or self-esteem was gone. I was worse than a drudge or a doormat. Physical and sexual abuse goes on and on. There is degradation and humiliation all the time but, deep inside, you always feel that it’s your own fault, that you must have wanted it in some unknown way or that you colluded in it - because you allowed it to happen. Therefore you are guilty. I found my strength after driving our car in the pouring rain one thundery night, with the aim of smashing it t speed into a wall and killing myself. I couldn’t do it because of my children. My heart broke that night. But it was to be my epiphany. The next day, when he arrived home from work, in the usual rage, I stood up straight and I heard words coming out of my mouth. ‘I’m not playing this game any longer.’ Once it had been said, there was no way of going back. He was stunned. Those words were really all it took. Now, years later, happily settled in a loving second marriage, and a grandmother several times over, I still hide this secret. I couldn’t bear my children to learn the truth of all that went on between me and their father, the father they still see. Nor could I bear to share it with my loving husband. When I see stories in the paper of girls driven to do dreadful things by the men in their lives, I understand the place they are in completely. And I know exactly why they can’t get out.” (Times 2, The Times, 5 September 2007, p.6).

In Touch with Raynor C. Johnson by Sheila Gwillam (Light Publishing, London, UK, 1996).

People projecting their negativity on to other people.

p.185. “This is what we humans tend to do to one another. It is much easier to look at someone else’s failings and concentrate on them rather than look at one’s own, because someone else’s failings always look much worse; because you know a little bit more about why you did something, but we very rarely know the whole reason why another person does something.”

p.185. Discussing the murder of the Bulger child Johnson says the attackers probably “had some shadow figures urging them on and the boys followed impulses without fully realising. You know how things escalate and once you get two or three in a group, they follow. It’s as though their energies collect together and with the others being around them, they seem to follow the impulses more; they follow their sudden thoughts. Their backgrounds were not very stable, they are not stable and the families were not stable, therefore they follow. Their minds are like butterflies.”

[Two ten-year-old boys killed Jamie Bulger on 12 February 1993 when he was just about to turn three. They had taken him from a shopping centre in Liverpool whilst truanting from school. Their brutal torture of the child during a two-and-a-half mile walk prior to killing him was grotesque].

p.173. “These are beings who are still caught up in negative vibrations and cannot see the reason for moving away and they tend to hover around the earth planet. They are rather locked in on the thought-forms, if you like, and they try to draw satisfaction in a rather nebulous fashion from people who are still in the physical body. They draw close and can become lodged in your auras if you are not aware.”

Question: “What is Kryon's explanation for all these young girls being kidnapped and killed as of late?”

Answer: “It is intuitive of you to ask this. Many would assume that because there are simply more people being placed on earth, that the odds of having unbalanced Humans present themselves is larger. This is actually true, but the real reason is what we have told you before: There is the beginning of a battle of light and dark…of old vs. new. It will represent itself often in outrageous behavior, crimes against the innocent, suicide, and abuse to animals. It is a way of saying that the fence-sitting is over. Those who have these tendencies will find them following them…giving their power to their inner thoughts. It is also so with the LightWorker - creating spiritual light for the planet which only the masters have been able to do before. So, what you are seeing is proof that the pendulum has begun to swing and solidify the dark and the light within the Human soul. Do not fear this, for you are in control! Light transforms and transcends the darkness. Stand in the light!” - Kryon (www.kryon.com/inspiritmag/archives/Q-A%20archives/2002-Q&A/Q&A-11-1.html, Updated on 1 November 2002).

Early Monstaville Appendix I (2005) Removed from Book

These early appendices from the first part of Monstaville (book 1) were removed as the work matured and dumped by the side of the road. Subsequently, they were maimed, then put out of their misery. Then hauled back to the kitchen at the ranch, cooked in the oven for a couple of hours and are hereby served on a plate to you, the reader, with peas and chips and some cheap plonk. (Oh, don't worry if you're a veggie like me. Analogies neither look nor taste like chicken unless you want them to!).

Julie Cullen, an interviewer for BBC Radio (6Music), mentioned that Lynval [Golding] told her it was weird for The Specials to get back together when there was a recession on and loads of knife crime as well. “Does it almost feel in a way like not that much has changed?” she asked Terry Hall. Hall replied, “I think that these underlying problems are always there. They were there before we even formed a band. And I think it’s sort of a horrible coincidence really but when isn’t there knife crime? There’s always been knife crime here. And there’s always a recession. It’s just sometimes it’s highlighted.”

“Each time a violent crime occurs ‘we get a step further away from what it is to be civilised,’ David Cameron said yesterday. The Tory leader pointed to the recent killing of a young man at rush hour in Victoria station in London as an example of ‘broken Britain’ during a talk in south-east London. ‘There’s a danger that we as a society can slowly become almost immune to unbelievable events like this,’ he said. ‘Each time the shock is a little bit slighter, a little bit quicker to pass. And as our sensitivity gets coarsened, we get a step further away from what it is to be civilised. There has always been violence. There has always been evil. But there is something about the frequency and depravity of these crimes that betrays a fundamental problem in Britain today.’ Joining Mr Cameron was former EastEnders star Brooke Kinsella, whose brother Ben was stabbed to death in 2008. ‘This year, nine teenagers in this city alone have been murdered – and that is nine families going through the worst grief,’ she said.” (Metro, 28 April 2010, p.5. Some might point out that Britain was broken, or divided, by a Conservative government in the first place!).

Appendix I

Subsequent newspaper articles, notes and other items collected since abandoning my journals: 2005

“Our friends show us what we can do. Our enemies teach us what we must do.” - Goethe.

I cut out various articles reporting incidents of bullying and knife crime from the free papers I picked up in town and kept the in my journal as extreme examples of injustice, representative of the national problem. Of course, violent crime in the capital is now rampant and people are too frightened to confront young thugs because they could be carrying knives. We still read about caring individuals stepping in to stand up for victims or trying to help resolve arguments and ending up getting stabbed themselves.

I know someone who popped out to his local off licence in Brixton and was asked by a young black youth to buy him some drink. My friend made a joke of it and then, after making his purchase, was bottled in the eye in the street. He had two black eyes and his face needed several stitches (around one eye), so he was very lucky not to have been blinded. I told him ‘bullies and alcoholics have no sense of humour.’ It surprises me that he and a few other people I have known who live in the area deny that there is a problem with street crime there. It’s no wonder this is such a taboo subject. When the police came round for a casual survey about crime in my area I explained that I had seen more crime here since black people had flooded into the area from East London in a short space of time. That was the reason for the increase in crime as far as I could tell, having lived here for a decade. I was told, simply, they could not enter my reply on the form!

The only English people remaining in this part of London are generally druggies, thugs and vulnerable people who are stuck here and can’t afford to move. Prior to this rapid decline and ghettoisation, there was a fairly healthy balance between white English and Asian residents and the area felt quite safe. Some English people have told me they had felt obliged to move away because certain Pakistani families had become too ‘militant’ to cope with. I get on just fine with many people from all backgrounds, black, white and Asian, but even the Bengalis I have known have often told me they are extremely wary of many black and Pakistani people because there is a higher proportion of hard, aggressive or vicious individuals with those cultural backgrounds. They are particularly concerned about Somalians who, of course, are dangerous because the environment they come from offers some pretty horrific experiences, from genocide to starvation. We should never be afraid of the truth. In my view that will only make matters worse. I should point out that I have known many good people from Pakistan and got on very well with them. I just feel that, when they’re bad, they’re very bad.

The number of police has risen enough to reduce the problem but I found it interesting that the signs they put up requesting information relating to murders never used to mention the colour of the suspects or victims. Then, even Tony Blair announced that we should not be frightened of adding this information. While we do not, of course, wish to discriminate against entire groups of people in broad terms such as ‘black’ and ‘Asian,’ I feel, personally, that it is important to exercise more caution towards specific groups that include a higher proportion of aggressors. I would also extend that premiss to the fact that I feel generally safer and more trusting when I know someone is ‘European’ (or from parts of Asia other than Pakistan) than I do if they are English, and white (and a Londoner!). It is simply a feeling and response borne of personal experience over the years since I moved to London.

I have just selected a few of the articles to include here.

The number of victims of street robbery aged between 10 and 17 increased by 47 per cent between 2003 and 2005, the Evening Standard reports. “Met Commissioner Sir Ian Blair blamed the increase on a culture of bullying and petty robbery among children under 17.” (Evening Standard, 13 April 2005, p.4).

“Two young women are behind bars today after attacking a teenage model so brutally that she later took her own life. Lisa Burgess was slashed with a kitchen knife and beaten with iron bars and broken bottles. She was so badly injured that doctors twice had to bring her back from the brink of death. Surgeons had to remove a damaged kidney. Mary Seymour, 19, and Christine Anderson, 18, were part of a gang of four who subjected Miss Burgess to the savage beating the day after she told friends Seymour’s boyfriend had raped her. Their attack left the 19-year-old part-time model suffering severe flashbacks and nightmares and, three months later, she took an overdose of painkillers. Her parents Mary and Chris branded the gang ‘evil animals’ [She also ‘thought they were coming back for her’]...After being accused of rape, Colin Rose - who had had a relationship with Miss Burgess years earlier - co-ordinated a campaign of intimidation against her. Hours before the assault last May, Seymour was heard shouting on her mobile phone: ‘We are coming round to your house and you are dead’...All four had been drinking. Miss Burgess was so terrified she armed herself with a knife. When she answered the door Mary Seymour grabbed the knife and sliced the top of her head before the others attacked. Seymour was jailed for six years and Anderson for three and a half years at Reading Crown Court. Rose, 25, was sentenced to nine years in jail and Victor Seymour, 22, was given a six-year sentence...Judge Jonathan Playford told them: ‘Three months after these events, Lisa Burgess committed suicide - 19 years of age, scarred and disabled by your savagery. Their ‘wickedness,’ he said, was yet another example to come before this court of drink-fuelled violence that plagues even prosperous little towns.’ Miss Burgess took her life after learning the Crown Prosecution Service had dropped the rape charge against Rose [who had also ‘bragged about the attack’]. A coroner recorded an open verdict. Mrs Burgess said her daughter had been devoted to her brother Sam, 15, and had dreamt of helping children in Africa.” (Bo Wilson, Evening Standard, 5 May 2005, p.5).

“A 15-year-old girl killed herself after being picked on by school bullies for eight months, her mother said today. Anna Marie Averill, who was studying for her GCSEs, was found hanging in her bedroom. Her mother Annette, 42, of Quinton, Birmingham, said today she had been targeted by three girls who hurled insults at her and had tried to push her head through iron-railed gates.” (ibid, p.5).

Why some men wolf-whistle at women: “It’s not because they think they can actually score with the ladies - it’s to get a reaction. Every time you tense up, throw dirty looks or react negatively, they have succeeded in getting what they want.

            If you want it to stop, don’t let it bother you and don’t respond. If everyone ignores these men and if no-one responds in any way, it will stop being fun and they will stop doing it.” (A reader’s letter in Metro, 20 August 2006, p.18).

“Never pick a fight with an ugly-faced person - they have nothing to lose.” - Victor Lewis-Smith (Evening Standard, 31 August 2005, p.25).

‘60 Second Interview’ with former SAS soldier (and author) Chris Ryan (two of the questions):

Q. “What are the best tips for survival in general?”

A. “To me, it’s second nature because of my surveillance training in the SAS, but awareness of what’s going on around you is extremely important. Take notice of people who are in your immediate area. If it seems anyone is interested in you, then nine times out of ten, they will be up to no good and will probably be about to mug you...”

Q. “Is running around and screaming ever a useful tactic?”

A. “Yes you can dominate people by shouting at them. Screaming at someone to go away or stop what they’re doing can be effective. We did this on camera. I walked into a room and bawled my head off at two girl. They were glued to the floor, they didn’t know what to do and they practically crapped themselves. You go into sensory overload, your brain cuts off and fear takes over - that’s the whole point about the management of fear. It’s good to br frightened because it raises your adrenaline but you have to keep your brain working and use the fight or flight reaction. It’s no good just to look at your assailant and wet yourself like these girls did.” (Metro, 25 August 2005, p.10).

“A man who hit a burglar with a spade was given a £100 reward by a judge who told him: ‘I only wish you had hit him harder.’ Terry Bearpark whacked Heath Randall around the head after he saw his neighbour being attacked in her own home. Randall, 39, and an unidentified accomplice hit Frances Falshaw on the head with a hammer while trying to steal her handbag...Judge Guy Whitburn QC told Mr Bearpark, from Grangetown, near Middlesborough: ‘What you did was absolutely right.’” (Metro, 12 September 2005, p.28).

The Guardian profile: Mordechai Vanunu. “Nearly 18 years ago, a young Israeli nuclear technician went to London to reveal the secrets of his country's atomic weapons programme to the world. Then, lured to Italy by an Israeli secret service agent, he was drugged, gagged, bound and returned to Israel, where he was convicted of treason and espionage and sentenced to 18 years' imprisonment. Next week, after serving most of that sentence in solitary confinement, he will finally be released. Mordechai Vanunu is 49 and has become a symbol for the international peace movement. He has been nominated for a Nobel peace prize, and a long-running campaign has sought his release...Over the years, pleas for his release or for a less harsh jail regime met with little response. The Israeli government position was made clear in 1997 when President Ezer Weizman said at a press conference in London: ‘He was a spy who gave away secrets, and the fact that he did so for conviction rather than for money makes no difference. He was a traitor to his country.’ In one of the hundreds of letters that Vanunu wrote in prison, he said he saw himself as a free man. ‘I'll stay free, to prove that I was right to reveal the madness of the Israeli nuclear secrets. I am not a spy, but a man who helped all the world to end the madness of the nuclear race’...Vanunu on impending release: ‘I'll be free, I won. The gates and the locks will be opened. They didn't succeed in breaking me or driving me crazy.’ (www.guardian.co.uk/world/2004/apr/16/israel).

Interviewed by Metro, Mordechai says, “I went to the Old City of East Jerusalem last week and one woman started to call me a bastard and a traitor. I ignore then but I also find myself quite lucky not to have faced that much aggression since my release. My way is not to be afraid and to behave like normal. Those are tricks I learnt while in prison.” (Metro, 19 September 2005, p.10).

‘Short Sermon’: “The Sermon on the Mount in brief: Much of Jesus’ teaching was brought together when seated on a hillside. The Jewish Law taught that retaliation should be proportionate to the harm done - an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth - but Jesus taught that we should love our enemies and that we should return good for evil, turning the other cheek when others attack us.” (Metro, 22 September 2005, p.33).

On the previous day it was reported that the head of a children’s charity was mugged by a gang of youths: Michele Elliott, 55, “whose charity works to protect children from abuse and bullying, has called for a ban on the wearing of hoods in public buildings...Dr Elliott, a psychologist, saw the gang harassing a mother and baby. After she told the she was calling security, they surrounded her, pushing, hitting, tripping her up and trying to steal her mobile phone. She said: ‘I was so angry I chased after them but they scattered. They were aged as young as eight. The oldest was maybe 13. With badly bruised knees, Dr Elliott approached a security guard who, she says, took no action...CCTV cameras had not been working.” (Evening Standard, 28 September 2005, p.4).

The odds are rarely fair when it comes to bullying: “A man is still in intensive care after he and a friend were stabbed and beaten up by a gang in south east London. The victims, both 23, were attacked by up to 20 black youths in Crystal Palace Parade at about 1.10am on Sunday. A local shop owner protected the more severely injured victim from the mob.” (Evening Standard, 29 September 2005, p.5).

“At the end of the day, you get picked on if you’re too skinny, you get picked on if you’re too big. So you can’t win either way. You get picked on if you’ve got too bigger ears, if you’re a funny shape, if you’re a funny size, if you say something funny, if you’ve got a funny accent: it doesn’t matter who you are you’re going to get picked on one way or another and I think it depends on how you handle it.” (My Secret Body, Channel 5, 14 October 2005).

‘Stand up for yourself and defy bullies’: A Metro reader writes that being very tall “is like living your life in a goldfish bowl - everybody can see you. It’s not so easy to blend into the background and you can become a target. Anti-bullying week is coming up in November and I think it’s cruel that people are not highlighting this more.” A father writes: “my heart went out to Callum Brooks, the boy being bullied because he is 6ft 5in. My son is 6ft 7in and has heard every silly and hurtful comment there is and not just from youngsters but from people old enough to know better. He, too, hated violence and always believed you could talk your way out of anything but unfortunately that is not always the case. Sometimes the only way bullies can be taught a lesson is by being on the receiving end. Once my son retaliated he was OK. Callum’s parents should stop protecting the bullies and start protecting their son by letting him stand up for himself.” (Metro, 17 October 2005, p.18).

One horrific murder stands out partly because the victim, barman David Morley, 37, survived the Soho nail bomb attack on the Admiral Duncan pub in Old Compton Street where he was working at the time (on 18 April 1999). Six youths from Kennington, aged 20 and younger “were looking for ‘violence for its own sake’” when they set upon him on Hungerford Bridge on 30 October 2004. A girl aged 14 kicked Mr Morley’s head ‘like a football’ as he lay on the ground after the beating. The group then “carried on their random attacks, setting upon eight people in five separate incidents along the South Bank of the Thames. The girl even filmed the last on a mobile phone...” Another victim that night said: “‘It was random, indiscriminate violence for what can only have been pleasure. The desire to rob was always secondary to the desire to inflict harm.’” (Daily Mail, 21 October 2005, p.15).

“A girl who was bullied for being too pretty is being taught at home - while her bullies can stay at school...But Calli-Jo fears the teenage thugs will find a new target unless they are dealt with a punished. She said the bullying, at the school on the Isle of Dogs, in Docklands, East London, went on for three years but grew much worse this term. Girls told her she would be cut up, killed and thrown into the Thames because she was too pretty. Police have issued two suspects with harassment orders.” (Metro, 28 October 2005, p.5).

“A motivational speaker [from America], known as ‘Scary Guy’...has been hired by schools in the [Greater Manchester] area, at a cost of £50,000, to help pupils battle bullies.” (Metro, 18 November 2005, p.4).

“Give schools the power to stop bullying’: “I was not in the least bit surprised to read that schools are facing a bullying epidemic...With our persistent attempts to be PC and to protect our kids, we have legislated against the schools and taken away their ability to discipline our children. We are so scared of the tiny minority of school staff who could harm our children that we legislate against the vast majority - not even allowing them to touch pupils. Discipline doesn’t mean physical pain. How sad is the irony that legislation is unlikely to stop the minority from whom we are trying to protect our children. Even more concerning is that, in banning effective disciplinary powers in schools, we are producing young adults with no respect for authority, others, or indeed themselves. These people will become our yobs of the future, unable to conform with civilised society; angry, and unprepared to bring up their own children with the skills to fit in. I for one will support any school my children attend when it comes to discipline - we must all take responsibility for the sake of our young. Clearly teaching discipline is not only confined to schools.” (Metro, 15 November 2005, p.18). Aiden Radnedge writes, on the same page, “Meanwhile, the Secondary Heads Association yesterday warned that bullying in school has shifted from physical attacks to psychological cruelty. A spokesman said: ‘Now there are more cases of verbal or psychological bullying.’” (ibid, p.18).

‘School bullies did this to me’: “A star pupil was battered by a gang of girl bullies hours after she was awarded two school prizes. Danielle Price was attacked in the playground and her face was cut and bruised so badly she needed hospital treatment,” writes Aidan Radnedge.” The 15-year-old was “lured over by a group of older girls” during the morning break at the school in Glamorgan. She was battered in the face and spent the rest of the day in hospital. Her mother explained that, “‘The girl punched lumps out of her face. She was wearing rings on her fingers so Danielle ended up with all these cuts and bruises. It can only have been caused by jealousy because Danielle won the awards.’” Only a day earlier, reports Radnedge, another 15-year-old girl was stabbed with a pair of scissors at a school in Surrey. (Metro, 14 November 2005, p.13).

‘Violence ‘is now the norm’‘: “Schools are facing a bullying epidemic, the Government’s commissioner has claimed. Prof Al Aynsley-Green said nearly every pupil was affected by the problem. He added: ‘Children are brought up in a society where violence is the norm in many ways.’ The so-called ‘children’s tsar’ wants Education Secretary Ruth Kelly to force all schools to present pupils with a questionnaire each term about the issue. He said: ‘There is a lot of denial about the existence, severity and effect of bullying.’ Last week, bullied teenager Tommy Kimpton, who beat his best friend Ben Williams to death with a pool cue, was found not guilty of his murder. The jury cleared Kimpton after hearing 21-year-old Williams had teased him about his weight, thick glasses and big ears.” (ibid, p.13).

“More than 200 people across London were arrested today in raids on the homes of suspects ranging from domestic violence to racist crimes...The high-profile raids are aimed at boosting the reporting of ‘hate crimes’ such as domestic violence. In one case a man was arrested over an alleged rape and in another a man was held o suspicion of stalking and terrorising the family of his ex-girlfriend...Last year the Met dealt with 110,000 incidents of domestic violence with a detection rate of 16 per cent. Recent figures show a campaign against domestic violence led to a 50 per cent increase in cases reported.” (Evening Standard, 30 November 2005).

“Alcoholism isn’t a spectator sport. Eventually, the whole family gets to play.” - Joyce Rebeta-Burditt. (Jane Moore’s column in The Sun, 30 November 2005, p.11).

‘Why we leave it to others to be heroes’: “The worse the attack, the more likely you are to step in, researchers say,” writes John Higginson. Maximilian University in Munich carried out an “experiment in which actors pretended to be in a fight on a train. It revealed that half of bystanders would help diffuse the situation if they were on their own. Yet only six per cent would intervene if there were others who could help. The outcome was different in a highly dangerous situation. In this case, 44 per cent of observers tried to help when alone but so did 40 per cent of people in the crowd. The perception that someone was at serious risk of being hurt appeared to overcome the so-called bystander effect, in which a crowd of people stand back and ignore the plight of a person in trouble.” (Metro, 5 December 2005, p.24). Yeah, but would these figures apply to similar experiments carried out in multi-cultural London or other parts of ‘Great’ Britain?

“Mylene Klass was ‘very shaken up’ yesterday after she became a victim of the happy slapping attack craze. The musician, TV presenter and anti-bullying campaigner had chips thrown over her head before being pushed to the ground outside a shop near her home. A group of teenagers - three girls and two boys - tried to take pictures of the former Hear’Say singer on their mobile phones as she ran away. Her ordeal began when a gang of youths spotted her at a newsagent’s and began singing her hit, ‘Pure and Simple’ - adding the lyrics ‘I am going to kill you.’ The 27-year-old was then pushed to the ground as the gang stood around laughing. One shouted: ‘Shall I bitch slap her?’ - a reference to taking pictures with mobile phones after attacking someone...Earlier this year, Klass helped launch the anti-bullying website www.stop-textbully.com for children’s charity NCH. Her spokesman, Simon Jones, said she was back at work yesterday. ‘She is OK but very shaken up,’ he added. ‘The whole point of the anti-bullying campaign was to say, ‘look, speak out about this.’ She wants to get the message across about how important it is to report this kind of incident to the police.’ NCH spokesman John Carr said the ‘cowardly attack’ must have been terrifying. ‘It’s ironic that this mirrors some of the experiences she has been helping us raise awareness of,’ he added.” (Metro, 8 December 2005, p.7). According to www.stoptextbully.com, which offers “support to pupils who have been bullied through their mobile or PC,” “one in five young people has been a victim.” (Metro, ‘Klass war on txt bullies). Another national anti-bullying organisation is www.beatbullying.org.

Obituary: Jack Colvin (Jack McGee in The Incredible Hulk): “...the actor originally had doubts about playing McGee, saying, ‘When they told me the title, I laughed. But then they gave me two scripts to read and I knew the series would go. People identify tremendously with the frustration, the rage and the anger that breaks out in a man.’” (The Independent, 10 December 2005, p.47).

What is about to occur is of a stunningly momentous nature

By Saul

Channelled through John Smallman,1 April 2012

A lot has happened since I last spoke to you, as you all work to complete the final preparations that will enable you to awaken into Reality. It is an event that will soon come to pass. I know you dislike that word, but there truly is no satisfactory replacement for it, so “soon” is the word we have to use.

The Light you all carry and display continues to brighten as you discard old and unloving attitudes and behaviors. All across the world that Light is having a miraculous effect as it ripples outwards and blends with the energy of all who are working steadily and determinedly to bring about the changes necessary to move humanity forward into the long- awaited and enthusiastically anticipated new age.

As you well know God’s Love embraces all of life because He created it. Life is an eternal gift from Him, offering an infinite selection of experiences from which you can choose in order to learn about Him and understand how much He loves you. In the illusion, as you live life as a human, the pain and suffering you see and experience might well lead you to think that this could not be the case. However, the illusion is illusory and so are your experiences within it.

Nevertheless, it does present you with lessons that will lead you out of it and home to Reality if you will release yourselves from the myriad inflexible beliefs in which it appears to entangle you. More and more of you are doing this as you become increasingly aware that egoic, separatist agendas and behaviors only lead to further conflict and suffering. For life to be enjoyable all must cooperate to create a harmonious and integrated environment, while accepting and respecting the individuality that each one of you has chosen to experience.

For eons, despite the gargantuan efforts of a few enlightened beings, humans have chosen to engage in distrust, disharmony, and conflict as a way to protect themselves from the dangers with which others apparently threaten them. The destructive results of this conduct have become increasingly disastrous as your technical abilities have advanced and brought you ever more efficient weapons with which to threaten and kill one another.

As the forces of technology at your disposal have become more effective, your fear has increased exponentially, and it now seems to many of you that in order to survive you must strike your enemies preemptively before they attempt to destroy you. The fear that so many of you now embrace so massively and enthusiastically makes it very difficult for you to think clearly – or even to think at all!

However, the illusory bubble in which all this fear and suffering is enclosed is enveloped in the infinite divine Love field which is about to dissolve it. The insanity of your situation is dawning on everyone, and consequently, an ever-increasing majority of you are looking for better ways to resolve your differences and conflicts. The power of Love to change everything, as it enables you to see with new eyes and from new perspectives, is becoming recognized.

Love shows you that you all want the same outcome – peace, safety, and abundance – and that that outcome is available when you operate from love instead of from fear. Ever greater numbers of you are letting go of your fear-filled, unloving attitudes and discovering the joy and confidence it brings to you in your daily lives.

You are truly blessed as humans to be on Earth at this moment in her evolution, because what is about to occur is of a stunningly momentous nature – way beyond the power of words to describe, or of your restricted minds to imagine. Just rest assured that all will occur precisely as God intends, and that your joy when it does so will be beyond anything you have ever imagined or experienced.

All in the spiritual realms are constantly strengthening the flow of love that each of you is sharing and extending in your daily lives as you work continuously towards the moment of humanity’s awakening. You are never alone; you are constantly watched over and supported. So open your hearts in joyful acceptance of the love and assistance that is offered to you in every moment, and let go of any remaining doubts you may be nurturing about the truth and validity of the divine plan for you all.

You are heading forwards to your awakening with the Power of Heaven beside you, and nothing can prevent the glory of that moment from enveloping you in pure and abundant ecstasy.

With so very much love, Saul.

Expressing Your Soul’s Light

By Jesus/Jeshua

Channelled through Pamela Kribbe, 21 March 2012

Dear friends,

I am here, I am among you, I am Jeshua. You know me, I am your friend and your brother.

I know what it is like to be human, I am very close to you at heart. And you all are close to each other, for all of you present here or reading this are souls who have come to earth time and again, inspired by the Light, by the desire to change consciousness on earth.

Deep in your heart, you love Earth so much. Of course a part of you has become very disappointed. You have experienced rejection in your lives on Earth. This has caused pain in your heart, but you have returned, time and again, and at this time of history something is happening. You can feel it in yourself, in your own body. There is a movement in your soul; your soul feels drawn to really expressing all of its light. Consciousness on Earth is now ready for a change, and I know that all of you want to express your soul, this lifetime on earth. I praise your courage. There’s both a dark and a light part to you. In the dark part you can feel very disempowered; you can feel discouraged, and you want to return home. But I tell you: now is the time to truly show the world who you are. Don’t be too much impressed by the fear and aggression in this world. You are needed, right now!

How do you connect with your soul and express your soul’s light? You all have feelings, inspirations, desires: they are the language of your soul. As a child, many of you had dreams and visions of another kind of reality. During your upbringing, you may have been told that you shouldn’t be naïve, that you should be realistic; you were discouraged to be different, to follow an alternative way. That’s why it’s difficult now to trust the dreams and visions you have in your heart. Yet it is time to connect again to the calling of your heart. Your soul gives you messages all the time. These messages come to you through your emotions and through your body.

For instance, in the area of work, or in the area of relationships, you often sense that you cannot truly express yourself or that your energy is not truly appreciated. You are very able to sense, to feel, if your energy is received well or not. Be honest about it to yourself. The emotions you feel, which may have turned into physical complaints, are messages from your soul that you are not truly honoring yourself. You have fear of letting go of the old, the familiar. However, your soul often wants to guide you beyond the familiar, into the new.

I now ask you to imagine with me that there is an open space in your heart. You can visualise it as a bowl or a vase, and in it there is still water. Imagine this place in your heart, and see how flowers are falling into this vase or bowl, and look at the flowers, feel their energy…..this is your soul’s energy. Remember what it was like to be a child and feel completely free, free to dream and envisage any future you wanted. Now marvel at the beauty of this flower…..and perhaps you receive a message from it, telling you about where life wants to guide you to. Let this flower speak to you, and it doesn’t need to be in words; you can simply sense its energy.

Now it is one thing to feel the energy of your soul, like you just did, and another thing to put it out into the world. To do so, you have to receive the energy of your soul not just in your heart and in your mind, but also deeper within, in your belly. What often happens to you is that you feel inspiration in your heart, and you start thinking and worrying about it: “How am I going to put this out into the world?”, or “How can I make a living out of it?” Your mind starts racing, but the art of receiving your soul’s messages is to receive them fully, which means way down into your belly. Why is this important? The belly holds your deepest emotions. To ground your soul’s inspiration, you have to let the light of your soul shine on the darkest emotions that are part of you. The area of your belly holds old fears, the remnants of deep emotional pain and sadness, and you have to address these in order to be able to express your light. It is only when your soul’s light is allowed to shine on the darkest corner of yourself, that inner transformation and liberation takes place.

This kind of inner transformation is the key to attracting – on the outer level - the work and the relationships that resonate with you. So to express your soul’s light in this world, you need to merge fully with your soul, which means you allow your soul’s energy to go all the way down into your belly. This is really the hard work. It is one thing to feel the inspiration in your heart, a clear memory of oneness and light, but it is another step to reach out from that place of oneness to the parts of you who feel very alone and discouraged. When that happens, you arrive at Christ-consciousness, and you feel deep peace within. Christ-consciousness reaches out to both light and dark. It understands darkness from within. There is no judgement, no struggle between light and dark, from the perspective of Christ-awareness. There is deep acceptance of life as it is.

To connect with the darkest parts of yourself, see them as children who need help. From the soul level, you are their guide and their parent, and it is by embracing your lost inner children that you become whole. That is how your soul becomes fully grounded and present on earth. The way of the lightworker is not to preach about a better world; it is not so much about doing anything anyway. It is about turning inward, on all levels, and truly loving and understanding yourself. When you receive the gift of love, you will automatically give it to others. You have become a light worker even if you don’t do anything specifically with it. You will bring change into the world, simply by being yourself.

I invite you to make a connection between the lightest part and the darkest, most traumatized part of you. Don’t think about it, just feel it. See yourself as an angel, radiant with light and unconditional love. That is who you truly are! Now see a small child approaching this angel. This child feels desolate and alone. Can you receive her or him in your arms? The child is a part of you and wants to come home to you. This is what light work is truly about. Once you make peace with that child, and embrace it, you can feel it in your belly: the child will give you passion and life energy, and you will become a human angel. Your soul’s light will be expressed easily in the outside world and without thinking too much, you will attract what resonates with you in the area of work and relationships. All things on the outer level will fall into place. Expressing your soul’s light begins within, and from this inner work all else will follow effortlessly.

This channeling is also available as audiofile. The transcript has been slightly edited for purposes of readability.

Copyright © Pamela Kribbe - Permission is granted to copy and redistribute this article on the condition that the URL www.jeshua.net is included as the resource and that it is distributed freely. E-mail: aurelia@jeshua.net

'There is nothing to fear but fear itself'

Excerpt from 'The Awakening Christ'

By Jeshua ben Joseph

Channelled through Judith Coates, 1 February 2012

Fear is something you have created in order to adventure, to have the rush of adrenaline. There is nothing outside of you and there is nothing that you need defend yourself against…

As one wise person said, “There is nothing to fear but fear itself.” And once you come to the realization that there is nothing to fear—and there is not—you are free. You do not have to worry about the body letting you down. You do not have to worry about friends, co-workers, employers letting you down. You do not have to worry about the leaders and the government letting you down. You can let them go off and play their own games, because your belief system, your consciousness knows that you are okay and will always be okay.

You do not need the employment, someone else giving you directions so that you can earn the golden coins. If you were not in that employment, you would be serving somewhere else, because that is what life is for: to love, serve, and remember. So if you were not where you are, you would be somewhere else serving and loving, and there would be an exchange of energy because there has to be. There is never a vacuum. There is always an exchange of energy.

Now, I am not saying for you to go in on the morrow or the next and say to your employer, “Hey, I don’t really need you any longer. Jeshua says I am free to make my own choices, so I think I’ll just leave.” I am not saying that at all. I am saying to appreciate where you are and to understand and know that you serve willingly. And yes, there has to be an exchange of energy. Nature, the true being of you, does not allow for a vacuum. There has to be an exchange of energy. So anywhere that you go, anywhere that you serve, there is going to be an exchange of energy. It may be in the form of the golden coins or it may be in another way, but always there is an exchange.

Your responsibility is to be aware that there is an exchange and, even though it may not look like the golden coins, there will be an exchange; there has to be an exchange. Nothing is ever done in a vacuum. And then you begin to realize that the ways that you are being paid, the exchange of energy, can be as varied as the grains of sand on the beach—many, many different ways it can come back to you, and will.

You will never be without. Sometimes it may look a little bit tight, but never will you be without. Always you will be taken care of because you have ordained that you will be taken care of.

www.oakbridge.org