China-Russia the New Empire

 

If there is anyone out there who is not aware of recent political, social and military developments in China and Russia then maybe they're eating their breakfast on another planet. Because this year in particular - 2021 - both these authoritarian countries have been ratcheting up tensions in their regions. With China, it is the perpetual tensions-creating posturing with Taiwan. I have lost count of the number of times Chinese military aircraft have penetrated Taiwan airspace this year. This is perpetuated by the constant bluster from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its leader, the tyrant that is Xi Jinping. He has made it perfectly clear that Taiwan belongs to China and will retake it sooner or later. I have in an earlier post covered Jinping's obnoxious hatred towards the Uighur communities in Xinjiang Province and the genocide of the Uighur peoples. And of course, the domination of the South China Seas is the next target of Xi Jinping. Oh, and Japan, better watch out!

Meanwhile, its next-door neighbour, Russia, is also ramping up border tensions, this time with Ukraine. The other dictator, Putin, maintains that his armed forces are there to possibly protect the 'Russian Ukrainians' who are being, according to Putin, persecuted and in some cases captured, jailed and tortured by the Ukrainian regime. Utter nonsense! Putin, is an ex-Soviet KGB spy, let us not forget, and I know that when the Berlin Wall fell, which led to the break-up and dissolution of the Soviet Union, Putin was devastated. With the break-up of the USSR, there followed economic and social stagnation. Of course, he invaded and took over Crimea and control of large areas of the Black Sea. And just recently there was the chaos caused by about 4,000 migrants on the Polish-Belarus border where many world leaders reckoned Putin gave that other dictator, the Belarus leader, Alexander Lukashenko, full authority to create chaos in Poland and beyond. And there are now fears that Estonia could be the next border tension option for Putin.

So during the last six months or so this thought has constantly infiltrated my brain cells. Yes, it's a bit far-fetched I know, maybe even crazy, but has Putin and Xi Jinping got some kind of global strategy to eventually kill off the United States and other Western countries and eventually create a New Empire? Has this strategy already been worked out in total, utter secrecy? I mean those two countries between them are militarily the strongest, most powerful union on the planet.

And when I look at the world in terms of military assets, and apart from the United States, Britain and Europe, this New Empire has nothing to worry about. I mean most African and South American nations haven't the power to face off a New Empire takeover. And the only big player left in the contest would be Israel, a nuclear power that certainly isn't friends of either Russia or China.

So there you have it. I shall leave this blog as is and maybe come back with another covering the New Empire cyber-hacking war that carries on in the background. 

My Favourite Life Philosophy?

 

The other day I received an e-mail from Professor Rebus. Who? What? Who is Professor Rebus I hear you ask? Well, he's not a 'professor'. No, he is the creator of the Pitcherwits puzzle, a mixture of formal cryptic crossword puzzle clues and image clues. In his e-mail he asks for those subscribers to write, in this case, an article about 'your life' philosophy. Here is what I wrote.

Well, mine is based on three key teachings of that man who lived about 2,500 years ago in Northern India: the Buddha. In his Three Marks of Existence teaching, he stated that our everyday lives are conditioned by impermanence (Pali: annica), suffering (Pali; dukkha) and non-self (Pali: annata). What does this actually mean in my life? If I separate myself from the actual teachings I begin to acknowledge a wider picture of me and everything around me. For instance, I decide to drive to my nearest supermarket for some groceries. I'm about halfway there and my car breaks down. I get out of the car, lift up the hood, and I find the engine's run out of oil. Damn! The effect on my emotions turn from frustration to anger. Why, oh why, oh why? Had I checked the oil level on that day, or the day before, or the previous week, then this wouldn't have happened. The car engine, like everything else in life, is subject to change.

This example of impermanence transforms into anguish, torment, in other words, suffering. It's the whole pain of something happening right out of the blue; the car breaking down, the mental trauma, in that moment when life is going along just well, driving my beautiful silver Chrysler 300 to the supermarket, listening to the sweet soul sounds on the radio - and then boom! If the Buddha had been walking past my car that day he might have stopped, looked at the car engine, and then me. I would have said, "Why, Buddha, why did this have to happen? I'm frustrated!" To which the enlightened being would have replied, "If you didn't own the car, you wouldn't have broken down in the first place - simple!" In other words our very belongings, our ownership of stuff, possessions, from the Chrysler to my Samsung mobile, from my Hugo Boss three-piece suit to my Rolex Submariner watch, they are all potential examples of change and suffering.

But, and lastly, what about the person who experiences all this pain: according to Gautama, the non-self (annata)? Over the years I have dug deep into the aspects of dukkha and annica and have a full understanding about the interaction of the two. Where there is change, there is suffering and vice-versa. But non-self? The Buddha basically stated, and based on a lifetime of meditation and teaching, the so-called self doesn’t exist. Yes, it’s a difficult one to get one’s head around. But I have to say that I eventually began to get it. If there is no ‘me’ then where will dukkha and annica attach to? Absolutely! Forget this thing we call ‘me’ and ‘I’ and life begins to get a bit easier, manageable, and uncomplicated. Because all of life’s suffering originates in you, whoever you think you are.

I rest my case . . .  

Just Where is Peng Shuai?

 

Just in case you've been living on another planet during the last 48 hours, you would have seen the news that is spreading all around the world, which is the disappearance of the Chinese tennis player, Peng Shuai. The thirty-five-year-old tennis player from Hunan Province is a Wimbledon and Tour Championships doubles champion who claimed that a Chinese former vice-premier, Zhang Gaoli, now 75, sexually assaulted her over a period of at least 10 years. She had written an e-mail about this on the 2nd November. The post with screenshots of the accusations was deleted from Weibo, China's Twitter-like social media platform, within 30 minutes of publication. Censors deleted any mention of her accusation online and her account was blocked from searchers. The post went viral nonetheless, and censors blocked keywords like ‘tennis’ and removed numerous references to Peng from China's internet.

So here we have yet another instance of the diabolical misbehaviour of the Chinese authorities. You don't need to be a Philadelphia lawyer to know that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is overseeing this whole sorry affair. I ask them here - where is Miss Peng Shuai? You must know because you control the everyday lifestyles of every single living Chinese man and woman in your country. But I'll tell you what, this isn't going to go away any time soon. I can mention the likes of Andy Murray, Naomi Osaka, Serena Williams, Billie Jean King, and Novak Djokovic who have voiced their concerns; and to this we can add requests from the Word Tennis Association (WTA), the Professional Tennis Players Association (PTPA) and right up to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for evidence that the girl is still alive. Just hours ago the question of Miss Shuai's disappearance was raised in the United Nations. And lastly, the White House Press secretary, Jen Psaki said, "We are deeply concerned by reports that Peng Shuai appears to be missing after accusing a former PRC (Peoples Republic of China) senior official of sexual assaults. We join in the calls for PRC authorities to provide independent and verifiable proof of her whereabouts and that she is safe."

Of course, various Chinese mouthpieces have declared that this is some fantasy and that the girl is safe and secure in the country. Okay, Chinkies, if that is the case, tell us where she is? Provide proof. Because as I have stated earlier, this story is not going to go away and I do believe something quite devastating is going to rear its ugly head . . . is this wonderful tennis player still alive? Has she been bumped off? Is it game, set and match for one Peng Shuai?

Only time will tell my friends. I shall follow up with another related post soon.

Qatar, the World Cup and Alcohol

Next year, in 2022, when it comes to football, history will be made. Why? Because the Middle East country, Qatar, will become the first Arab nation to hold the 92-year-old event. This selection happened in 2010 when the FIFA Executive Committee awarded the tournament to Qatar. Shortly after, the German newspaper, Bild, reported that there had been corrupt goings-on within FIFA and the rulers of Qatar. However, that is history. The fact is, Qatar will host the tournament next year.

Qatar, as you no doubt know, is an Islamic country and Sharia Law is the main source of legislation as per the constitution of the country. In other words, Islam more or less dominates all aspects of life. There are many things that are allowed in other parts of the world but are forbidden in Qatar; drinking alcohol is one of them - or is it? And I do have experience of this country, having worked there during 2007 - 2008.

According to Sharia Law alcohol is prohibited to be consumed while living in Qatar. It is considered a crime but I can tell you otherwise. Now if you are an Arab and caught drinking alcohol you would be arrested and, after having been found guilty in court, you'd be flogged and jailed. If you are an expat working in Qatar well it's different.

Qatar has, over the past twenty years or so, given some relaxation to foreigners allowing them to drink alcohol in Qatar. If you are an expat and a resident of the country you can buy alcohol from the Qatar Distribution Company. The Qatar Distribution Company has very strict conditions to be followed while selling alcohol in the country. Generally, they sell to only those who have the permit of residence. This means that one has to have a work contract in Qatar to buy alcohol.

But what about hotels? Well, I lived in the capital, Doha, and would get a chartered bus to my work place, the Ras Lafan ‘Industrial City’, a sprawling mass of gas plants and storage facilities about 20 miles north of Doha. Anyway, some of us expats would go out on a Saturday night for a drink. Our ‘local’ was the Sheraton Hotel. Note that there are no pubs in Qatar, only a handful of five-star hotels that are allowed to sell alcohol; only FIVE STAR!

Corruption does exist in Qatar and by corruption, I’ll say only this. Every Saturday night in Doha when we went for a drink in the Sheraton, at exactly nine o’clock, the bar upstairs where we enjoyed a pint, allowed a bunch of Filipino ‘ladies of the night’! Yes, prostitution did exist. They would come up to you if you were at the bar or to your table and basically would chat you up. No bullshit folks. In fact, we all learned that this was a controlled situation by the local police and government authorities.

As for the World Cup, well, I just don’t know how the authorities are going to cope. Yes, you can visit the five-star hotel bars and have a drink. But be warned that if, after you’ve had a heavy drink and walk to your apartment half-pissed and the cops see you, you’ll be arrested. So beware! And with maybe 100,000 football fans descending on the city next year, well, I can only see chaos. We’ll see!

Lukashenko, Poland and Beyond

 

I think we have all been a bit concerned about the growing chaos that is currently taking place on the Belarus and Poland borders. Here we have, according to some reports, more than 1,000 migrants who are now trying to cut down the barbed wire fences and, to be honest, don't look like migrants - no, more like terrorists! And the other report from the Polish Government was that there are between 3,000 - 4,000 migrants settled in an improvised camp on the border just across from its village of Kuźnica. And sat in the background possibly slurping on a large vodka is the Belarusian dictator, Alexander Lukashenko, egging them on, supporting their cause, hoping to create yet more migrant chaos not only in Poland but in Europe and beyond? Of course, he is.

Here is a dictator, not that different from the once most evil tyrant on the planet, Joseph Stalin. Lukashenko, back in May this year, had his air force intercept a flight from Greece to ‘capture’ Raman Protasevich, a Belarusian dissident living in exile in Lithuania.

As I understand, Mr Protasevich, is still under house arrest and no trial has yet has taken place. One can only wonder about the potential torture this man has undergone!! In fact, maybe the one-time blogger is dead. We might never find out.

But getting back to the Polish border. A spokesman for the European Commission stated yesterday, “This is part of the inhuman and really gangster-style approach of the Lukashenko regime that he is lying to people, he is misusing people, misleading them, and bringing them to Belarus under the false promise of having easy entry into the EU.” Lukashenko is using these so-called migrants as pawns against EU and American sanctions. It’s no secret amongst nearly all Western countries that this heinous mongrel poses a massive threat to the West. But it’s not so much as a leader but more that he has the full backing of Putin’s Russia. It was only five days ago when Putin made this statement: “We will together resist any attempts to interfere in the internal affairs of our sovereign states and Russia will, of course, continue to provide assistance to the brotherly Belarusian people – there is no doubt about that.” So there you have it, straight from the little horse’s mouth.

And to finish this blog, just this morning, Lithuania declared a state of emergency in its border regions in reaction to events on the Polish-Belarusian border where big groups of migrants have amassed. But Lithuania has already built a wall along the Belarusian border to prevent migrants from entering the country. Well done, Lithuania. But my last concern is this. Just how many more thousands of migrants are on their way? One doesn’t have to be a Philadelphia lawyer to assume that there are probably thousands. But don’t you worry immigrants from wherever you come from, Mr Lukashenko will welcome you with open arms!

Economic War - UK versus France

 

Once again the French, or should I say, the Froggies, are at it again with threats issuing from the French Government to block UK exports to their country. However, the British Government has vowed to retaliate if France carries out a threat to block British fishermen from its ports over the post-Brexit fishing row. This 'dispute' has been dragging on for serval months now. Yesterday a British Government spokesman said the French ultimatum to disrupt trade and block energy supplies would be hit with “an appropriate and calibrated response.”

 Anything else to add, Froggies? Yes! Paris warned that from Nov 2nd it would be ready to "block British fishermen from its ports and that its customs officials could implement a 'go slow' approach at its borders for incoming shipments from the UK". Some idiot standing in for Emmanuel Macron said the country will “not let Britain wipe its feet on the Brexit deal.” He also mentioned that sanctions could be announced on Thursday which is, as I write, today.

Once again the French Government warned of a so-called 'secondary range of measures' that could restrict energy supplies to Jersey, that would increase the energy price, and would implement even harsher customs controls on cross-Channel trade.

I'll quote what a British government spokesman said yesterday: “France’s threats are disappointing and disproportionate, and not what we would expect from a close ally and partner. The measures being threatened do not appear to be compatible with the Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) and wider international law, and, if carried through, will be met with an appropriate and calibrated response. We will be relaying our concerns to the EU Commission and French government."

You know what? For as far back as I care to remember - maybe it's got something to do with the six nations yearly rugby tournament when we play the Froggies either at Murrayfield in Edinburgh or at the Stade de France in Paris - that I so wanted us to beat the French. Don't ask me why but I did. I can go back to 1963 when the then French leader, Charles De Gaulle, blocked Britain's application to join what was then the EEC. There were other tensions over the years but when Britain left the EU in January last year (2020 Brexit) the French absolutely hated it - why? Because, I believe, that when we were part of the EU, the French deemed that they had a handle on British politics and economics. It's a lengthy story and shall leave it that for the meantime.

I would end this blog by saying that in recent weeks, a number of EU countries believe the French leader is using the row over fishing to attempt to secure more domestic support ahead of next April’s presidential elections. All I can say is that I wish the French vote out this arsehole, Macron, and maybe the UK and French nations will once again come together for diplomatic and economic prosperity!

As for Macron, Bon débarras aux mauvaises ordures (good riddance to bad rubbish)!

The Internet, Social Media and Social Disorder

 

The title of this blog is certainly paradoxical. If it wasn't for the Internet I would not be writing this today for people online to read. On the one hand, I just appreciate that the Internet has completely changed the way we humans go about our business and develop our careers and social life. On the other hand, it has provided, what would I call them, the cyber trolls, the Web fiends, in other words, those social dumbbells who love nothing more than to create havoc, expressing hate, racism and anger. This can be in so many spheres: sports competitions, love affairs (and beyond), education grievances, political and international politics, entertainment, all those so-called stars and celebrities - the list goes on, but . . .

The Internet as we know it goes back a long way. I still remember back in the day, years ago, when we wrote our letters on paper and posted them at the local post office/mailbox. When we wanted to talk to someone, we phoned them on a landline. We could send our messages via telegrams. Television and radio were our sources of entertainment. And yes, there were men’s magazines: Esquire, Penthouse, Playboy, etc. So how did we get from these 'old-fashioned' ways of life to the present?

Back in the 80s, the Internet was already established and personal computers were being sold worldwide. I bought my first PC in 1984, an Apple Macintosh. For me, as a writer, it was the greatest invention ever. And so we moved on and the World Wide Web (WWW) was moving fast, across the planet, there were e-mails and Usenet, from gophers o the WWW, search engines became the norm by the 90s, file sharing, hosting services and of course mobile phones were the norm - still are. It’s how all these developments were the causes of so many tragedies and social upheavals especially during the mid-noughties right through to this day. Much of this in recent years has been by the use of the following (in no particular order):

·         Facebook

·         YouTube

·         Instagram

·         TikTok

·         Whatsapp

·         Snapchat

·         Pinterest

·         Twitter

·         LinkedIn

 

It doesn’t matter whichever one of these you use, it will bring positive as well as negative responses. I could go on to Instagram and state how much I loved Boris Johnson as our Prime Minister. And I can tell you, within minutes, there’d be countless numbers of spiteful and hateful remarks. In other words, say one thing on any of the above social media and you’re sure to get the opposite/extremist response. But it’s when anger, hatred and greed get involved that things can lead to humiliation and even death. These days we call it cyberbullying which includes sending, posting, or sharing negative, harmful, false, or mean content about someone else. It can include sharing personal or private information about somebody - anybody causing embarrassment or humiliation. And much of this 20th-century mindset is a characteristic of the millennial/snowflake generation, those born between 1981 - 1994.

 

I'll end this blog by telling the awful story of SR (name withheld). This was a lovely 15-year-old girl who just loved helping others. She had dreams of joining the fire service and was passionate about drawing and spending time outside with her dogs. SR had overcome challenges before; her mum, a drug addict, abandoned her when she was little but in her final year of life, it was cyberbullying from her peers that would ultimately end in death. It was said that kids started making fun of her red hair and braces. And this went on for months. The bullying continued on social media and in school but it was the taunting on Facebook, Instagram, and other messaging platforms, where classmates would tell her to kill herself. Her parents contacted Instagram headquarters but they didn't do anything about it. Her mother eventually smashed her phone and broke it in half. Seemingly her phone and social media ruled her life and in June of this particular year the bullying had already taken its toll - SR hanged herself.

 

Is there any way out of this 20th-century Internet social media dilemma? I hate to say but I think not. Yes, the invention and subsequent expansion have many positive aspects but away in the background there is the dark, murky underworld which seems uncontrollable and I think can only get worse.

Chinese Whistleblower Exposes Horrific Treatment of Uighurs in Internment Camps

 

Yesterday I watched a Sky news item covering the treatment of Uighurs in the so-called internment camps in the Xinjiang region of northwest China. I first learned about the round-up of these Muslims back in 2019 and, as usual, the Chinese denied all reports of what could only be considered as human rights abuses. I saw hundreds of these innocent Moslem Uighurs - all men - kneeling on the ground, blindfolded, with hands cuffed behind their backs. The first time I saw this I just couldn't get my head around it. What was going on in China?

As I mentioned in a previous blog, China probably has conducted more demonic crimes against humanity than any country on the planet as I described in a previous blog about their bloodcurdling treatment of Tibetans during its invasion of that country back in the 50s. What is it with China and religion? Well, let's face it China, and by that I mean the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), just wants to stop ALL free religious belief systems and they have decided that Islam is an unwelcome example and should be extinguished. Because if you believe in a religious system whether it be Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Judaism, etc, then you are a target for mind control, separation and, with the Uighurs, detention in what I can only describe as Nazi-like concentration camps.

So, getting back to the Sky report, this revolved around a Chinese ex-policeman's description of the treatment of Uighurs in these detention camps. And I must warn you the following are quite terrifying accounts by the man who went by the false name of Jiang who now lives in secret in Europe. In what appears to be the first eyewitness testimony by a Chinese official, the former policeman (later a detective) spoke wearing a face mask about the extreme abuse used to extract ‘confessions’ from around 2 million Uighurs rounded up by the Chinese State. This was all about obtaining confessions from the imprisoned Uighurs about their Islamic beliefs and accusations about street protests and them being so-called enemies of the State.

Of course, this is all bullshit. Jiang described how new detainees were beaten during their first interrogation to obtain a confession which, back in 2016, included men, women and children as young as 14. He said he and his colleagues would "kick them, beat them [until they're] bruised and swollen" and "until they dropped to the floor crying". He went on, "If you want people to confess, you use the electric baton with two sharp tips on top. We would tie two electrical wires on the tips and set the wires on their genitals while the person is tied up."

From what I gather, torture in police detention centres stopped only when the suspects ‘confessed’ at which time they were transported to one of hundreds of internment camps referred to as ‘vocational training’ centres by Beijing. No, Beijing, these were fucking concentration camps! Jiang declared, "Those rounded up were accused of terror offences." But Jiang believes 'none' of the hundreds of people he arrested had committed a crime. He said compassionately, "They are ordinary people."

He said one "very common measure" of torture and dehumanisation was for guards to order prisoners to rape and abuse the new male inmates, Jiang said. One detainee, Abduweli Ayup, a 48-year-old Uighur scholar from Xinjiang, said when police picked him up at the Uyghur kindergarten he had hoped to teach young children their native language. The cops then drove him to his nearby house, which he said was surrounded by police carrying rifles. On his first night in a police detention centre in the city of Kashgar, Ayup says he was gang-raped by more than a dozen Chinese inmates, who had been directed to do this by "three or four" prison guards who also witnessed the assault. He said, "The prison guards asked me to take off my underwear," before telling him to bend over. He said, "Don't do this, I cried. Please don't do this." Rape, the most horrific of crimes, pure and simple! He said he passed out during the attack and woke up the next day surrounded by his own vomit and urine.

So, this is a true and disturbing report of Chinese hellish atrocities towards a group of their own countrymen who are suffering human rights abuse. One reporter said it was genocide! I shall leave you to make up your own minds.

The Killing of Sarah Everard

 

Well, I have just seen the news; that evil bastard, Wayne Couzens, who kidnapped, raped, murdered and burned Sarah Everard's body in an old refrigerator before dumping her remains in a nearby pond, has been given a life tariff, in other words, a life sentence whereby he shall never be released - great news! I'll tell you what, I have read and seen media articles about all sorts of murderous crimes in my life, but this one did take the biscuit.

This afternoon I read once again with absolute horror about the tragic and fiendish death of Sarah about how this evil human being stalked his prey like a hyena in the wild. I am sure most people will feel absolute sorrow for Sarah's family especially her mum and dad who couldn't even see their daughter before she was horridly taken from them. As for this monstrous killer, I have tried and tried to fathom the depths of this bent predator, but have failed. He's the total embodiment of evil.

It would seem he had an abnormal obsession with pornography that was probably at the very root of his eventual killing of Sarah. And it just reinforces my belief that much of what we can access online these days can modify and transform our thinking, our emotions and habits. Of course, I do feel concern for all women these days, especially the younger ones, who must now be considering their future vis-a-vis their association with men. And I would just state further that this animal who took the life of Sarah is definitely in an absolute minority in our society. Of course, he shall spend the rest of his life in prison and some life that is going to be. I don't use the word karma very often as it is an over-used word not fully understood by most people who use it, but in his case, the demoniacal actions carried out on an innocent 33-year-old woman shall come back to haunt him for the rest of his life!

What does rile me and most people is this; this bastard was a Metropolitan Police employee who, according to some, had other sexual trinkets in his hold-all. One criminologist suggests that he was “Clearly interested in sadism and masochism and that his nickname at work was 'the rapist'.” And from his privileged police background, he probably thought he could literally get away with murder. My question is, did he carry out similar hideous attacks in the recent past. Because it's a matter that if you can get away with it once, why not do it again? We've just got to look back at the likes of the Moors Murderers, Ian Brady and Myra Hindley, then Fred and Rose West, Harold Shipman, Dennis Nilsen, etc.

There was quite a lot of debate on TalkRadio today about the Sara Everard murder and the question came up, should we bring back the death penalty? Well, I say no - why? Because, just think, this evil rat shall literally spend the rest of his life in solitary confinement. He'll be separated from all other prisoners. Just think, how would you feel? I'm sure this man will attempt suicide at some point. Hang him? Why never. Let the bastard go absolutely fucking crazy - every day shall be hell for him - good. Hanging him would let him off, literally, with murder! 

Why Does News Media Concentrate on Negativity?

 

Look, I'm a big fan of the news; always have been and always will be. However, in recent weeks I've been getting more and more concerned about this seeming obsession that the

likes of the BBC, ITV, Sky News, Fox, CNN - you name it - have with all things negativus (Latin for negative). I'm also a newspaper addict. I've been buying newspapers every single day for donkeys’ years! But unfortunately, the papers are going the same way as TV and online media.

So what's been a pain in the ass in recent weeks? Well, we can begin with forest fires. In Russia, they've experienced the worst forest fires ever recorded. Then there were the so-called Dixie Fire in California that has covered over 960,000 acres and, as I write, is still burning! Then the terrible bushfires in Australia. There have been terrible fires in India and throughout Europe covering Turkey, Greece, Italy and France. Then we get reports of earthquakes, floods, volcano eruptions. We're told that ice caps are melting which is a major cause of oceans and seas rising. And the news media just digest all this stuff and barrage us with it as a heavyweight boxer throws a knockout punch at his opponent.

And do you know what? It's going to get a whole lot worse: the pollution, earth's very structure and inner crust breaking, and many low-lying parts of the planet will be submerged with rising sea levels. The Maldives are already suffering from beach erosion and with only 1.27 metres above sea level, most of these islands will disappear within 20 years.

Okay, as for negative news media, I have in front of me today's (Sept 23) Daily Mail and Daily Mirror newspapers. So I was flicking through them and here's some items I picked out.

The Daily Mail:

·         'It Was Murder' - Mum insists NHS killed cancer patient . . .

·         Power Firms Fall Like Dominoes - Millions facing fuel bill shock . . .

·         New Assisted Dying Plans May Lead to Euthanasia - Denied dignity by healthcare system . . .

·         Ocean Levels See Record Rises as Ice Melts Faster - Ice hits a new low . . .

·         Girl of 15 Kills Herself - She was on drugs linked to suicides . . .

The Daily Mirror:

·         Xmas Trees Shortfall and Meat Prices Will Rocket - Problems with price increases and supply chains . . .

·         Boyfriend in Court over Murder of Mum and Kids - Heartfelt tributes to tragic victims . . .

·         200,000 Kids Are Asking for Help - Pandemic mental health crisis . . .

·         Suddenly Anna Stopped Moving - Lover strangled Brit in hotel . . .

·         Knife Thug's Sick Boasts in Prison - Killer gloats online over victim . . .

You will notice by reading to this point that there is one thing that I have left out. Yes, you guessed, Covid-19. I don't know about you guys but I have had my fill of the relentless coverage of this virus. Yes, I am well aware, as everybody else is, of how this horrendous pandemic has created suffering and chaos in every aspect of our lives and lifestyles. But again, the news media, daily, keep ramming down our throats the statistics like an alcoholic opening his second bottle of whisky within 12 hours!

So how do we handle this barrow load of negativism on a day-to-day basis? Simple. You turn off your television or radio as soon as the news comes on. You avoid all forms of newspapers and magazines again on a daily basis. You avoid Internet news items many of which you’d see on Yahoo, etc. So how would I go about it? Go and make a cup of coffee, have a beer or a large glass of veeno! But I need my newspapers - my only addiction😀😁😀!!

China Still Not Owning Up to Covid-19 Outbreak

 

As I write this blog, currently, there are nearly 230 million cases of the virus worldwide with a figure of 4,715,000 deaths. This awful pandemic has brought additional suffering to millions of people around the world. It has led to businesses collapsing and travel restrictions the likes of which we've never known before. It has ended up causing havoc in the sports, education, business and entertainment industries. Yes, we have vaccines but in many cases they are ineffective! Forgive me for banging on about it but this virus is here to stay and there could be more even dangerous variants in the near future.

It is approximately 20 months since we first learned that this horrible virus existed and seemingly emerging from the city of Wuhan, Xinjiang Province, in China. This is a fact! Since the outbreak it's fair to say that China, under the dictatorship of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), has covered up the actual origins, initially stating that it sprung from bats and then from live animals in the so-called ‘wet markets’ in the city. It’s now known that the Institute of Virology labs in Wuhan were experimenting with what has been seen as ‘bio-weapons’, biological toxins or infectious agents such as bacteria, viruses, insects, and fungi with the intent to kill. If one were to put two and two together one would assume that the virus escaped from these labs. But the CCP refute such allegations.

A recent report issued this month (September) by an exhaustive American Republican investigation more or less proves that the virus originated in one of the labs of the virology institute but how it escaped is still a bit of a mystery. If we say it leaked then the report would suggest a laboratory technician ‘caught’ the virus unknowingly and would be ‘patient zero’. Well, here’s my take on things. I suggest that the various lab machinery was maybe not 100% safe and that a technician contracted the virus and possibly went to the ‘wet market’ to buy food, etc. So he walks around the market touching counters, foodstuffs, handling other bits and pieces and just coming into contact with hundreds of people that day, transmitted the virus to dozens. They in turn within a 24-hour period would have transmitted the virus to family and friends. From here it spread like wildfire. So researchers reckon this outbreak would have taken place as far back as November 2019. The rest is history.

I would end this blog by stating that there are conspiracy theorists who are suggesting that when the outbreak happened, the CCP intentionally covered it up. Why? Because by February 12, 2020, we had the Chinese New Year, a time when thousands upon thousands of Chinese go on holiday not just to other parts of China but to destinations all over the planet. So there you have it, take it or leave it, but one thing is for certain, the Chinese government intentionally kept the outbreak a secret for weeks before ultimately admitting the virus was a deadly reality! To be honest I don’t think we shall ever find out the truth about what was eventually named the ‘kung-fu virus’!

The Year I Was Born

 

It's a fact of life that the older you get the more you tend to look back on previous years, times and events. I decided to have a look back at what was going on in the year I was born: 1952. Before that, I can tell you I was born on a Tuesday, it was the Year of the Dragon, my zodiac sign was/is Pisces and it's now been, as of today, 25,404 days on this planet! Oh and I am seemingly a 'baby boomer', a little guy who was born between 1946 - 1964; something to do with a spike in sexual activities by married couples (and others) after WWII.

 

So I thought I'd take a look back in history and check out the major topics, events and other stuff that was going on when Ian Oliver entered this world. I shall limit these historical examples to the UK.

 

Firstly, Princess Elizabeth became Queen Elizabeth II following the death of her father King George VI. Britain created and detonated its first atom bomb as part of Operation Hurricane. The first pop music charts were produced by NME showing the American singer, Al Martino, at Number 1 with Here in My Heart. A one-shilling charge (£0/1/0) was introduced for prescription drugs dispensed under the National Health Service. Sooty, Harry Corbett's glove puppet bear, first appeared on BBC Television (loved that little guy). Tea rationing ended, after 13 years, as announced by the Government mostly due to the end of WWII. Agatha Christie's play The Mousetrap started its run at the New Ambassadors Theatre in London; went to see this great play years ago!

 

Sooty, Harry Corbett's glove puppet bear, first appeared on BBC Television. British troops remained in Korea, where they have spent the last eighteen months, after a breakdown of talks that were aimed at ending the Korean War. Tea rationing ended, after thirteen years, as announced by the Government two days earlier. Agatha Christie's play The Mousetrap started its run at the New Ambassadors Theatre in London. It would still be running in London as of 2021, having transferred next door to St Martin's Theatre in 1974.

 

Born in 1952:  Sharon Osbourne, Tim Healey, Douglas Adams, Alan Wells, Liam Neeson, Alexi Sayle, Joe Strummer, Mel Smith, Clive Anderson, Jenny Agutter . . .

Died in 1952: King George VI, Sir Stafford Cripps, Gertrude Lawrence, Waldorf Astor, etc.

 

And lastly, there was the Great Smog of London. The toxic mix of smoke and fog that descended on 5 December, 1952 was unlike anything the city had seen before and killed over 4,000 people. So, a horrific example of how hellish the weather was in some instances 69 years ago. That kind of toxic atmosphere is just a bit like the hellish pollution being emitted from 250-odd coal-fired power stations in China!

Is Karma Fact or Fiction?

 

Looking back over the years this word, karma, has been misrepresented by so many people. I've lost count of the number of times so-called entertainment celebrities have spat out the word and who probably haven't a clue as to its real meaning. You get the likes of Madonna, Kim Kardashian, Brad Pitt, Gary Oldman, Liam Neeson and other narcissists - you know what I mean? It follows on from these other celebrity-chat catchwords of recent years: awesome, chilling out, bodacious, dude, OMG (oh my god), etc, etc.

But the word karma; what exactly does it mean? I came across this word many moons ago when I got interested in it, initially in Hinduism, and then Buddhism. In the West, back in the day, the word karma was translated as cause and effect. You have a cause - something happens - and then you have an outcome to the cause - the effect. If only it was as simple as that.

The word 'karma' comes from the ancient Indian languages of Sanskrit and Pali that goes back over 3,000 years ago. In this blog, I shall try to describe karma from the Buddhist perspective. Basically, karma is action with intention. When you think about it all our actions have some kind of intention. In one case we want ‘this’ to happen but in another case, we ‘don’t want’ this to happen.

Here's a real-life example of karma. A friend of mines back in 2019 was pulled up in his car by traffic police; it was in a supermarket car park. He was told to get out of the car by the two policemen. One started asking about his car insurance, road tax and MOT whilst the other walked around the car checking the tyres, etc. To cut a long story short, the police had carried out an Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) device check and discovered he had no car insurance or road tax and no MOT. He was fined £300.00 for the offence(s). He explained to me that losing his job a year earlier had caused him to try and save money which resulted in this sorry tale. But, this was karma 'in action'. Had he maintained his car insurance and road tax payments, and ensured his car had an MOT, then this would have not happened. It was his actions that resulted in bad karma coming back to haunt him. Lessons learned, as they say.

I’m sure that most of you can look back in your lives and recall similar instances of personal karma. With karma, and by our actions, we cannot so much control our lives but remove the possibilities of bad karma. Of course we shall always look for the good karma in ourselves: helping the ill and the sick, helping an old-age pensioner (OAP) cross the road, also give up your seat on a packed bus or train to an OAP, feed the birds or rescue a lost dog in the street, give some money to those with little or none.

So are we talking fact or fiction? Well, it certainly is not the latter. Karma does not necessarily mean past actions. It embraces both past and present deeds. Buddhism, of course, has reincarnation or rebirth as a central doctrine. As your present state of mindfulness and understanding animate and condition your current thoughts, words, and deeds, so your current actions are moderating the effects of past thoughts, words, and deeds. This is why I cannot emphasize enough to try and live a clean, honest life because what you do in this life will determine one’s future incarnation.

I shall end this blog with a quote from the Tibetan Buddhist teacher, Traleg Kyabgon (now deceased) from his excellent book, Karma - What It Is and What It Isn’t and Why it Matters: ‘Our actions are dependent on our perceptions of things, what we think about them, and the types of emotions we consequently experience and this brings us back around again to the sort of actions we perform. How we deal with these multiple layers of experience determines, in the end, whether we become a noble or an ignoble person.’

Extinction Rebellion - Hopefully Extinct Soon!

 

I must confess there are not many organisations in this world that I dislike - I could even use the word - hate! But these arseholes, Extinction Rebellion (XR for short), that describes themselves as an international 'non-violent civil disobedience movement’ is one for sure. This is woke madness! They have this crazy idea that says life on Earth is in crisis and facing a mass extinction. It wants governments, not just here in the UK but around the world, to declare a 'climate and ecological emergency'. Tell you what, plonkers, take yourselves off to Beijing and see how far you get with your demonstrations. You'd bloody well end up in one of those 'concentration' camps where the Uighurs are caged. The report I read the other day said that XR had stated that 'it now has groups willing to take action in dozens of countries.' Which ones? Maybe Russia, North Korea, China, Iran Afghanistan, Belarus, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Vietnam, Libya, Nigeria? You people really are living in a delusory universe.

On the 16th January last year I was driving past Shell UK's headquarters here in Aberdeen when I saw these pricks blocking the entrance to the site. I stopped for a minute and was aghast that the security guards seemed to do nothing. It was then that I decided to look into these morons. This insane gang was formed in 2018 and has carried out demonstrations mainly in London, and in places such as Manchester, Sheffield, Edinburgh, Portsmouth, Bristol, Leeds and on it goes. In 2019, a whole bunch of these pricks went on a hunger strike - unbelievable but true - supposedly to highlight issues of hunger in many of the poorer nations in the world. Look, jerks, instead of going on hunger strike, why not get a job, contribute to the economy and donate money to charity?

My overarching memory of this bunch of thickos was in September last year when they targeted and blocked news printer presses at Broxbourne in Hertfordshire, Knowsley in Merseyside, and near Motherwell, North Lanarkshire. Eighty of these scabs were arrested. I mean this was an attempt to strangle free speech and targeting the printing of The Times, the Daily Mail, the Daily Telegraph, The Financial Times and the Sun. Of course, these are ' right-wing' newspapers. Why not block the printing presses of the Daily Mirror, the Morning Star, the Guardian or the Daily Star? No, because these are all your left-wing fruitcake newspapers.

And just last week several of these boneheads ganged up on a Barclays bank and the JP Morgan's headquarters in London and had glued themselves to plant pots and some had also glued their hands to fellow protesters. And, wait for it, some had stripped themselves naked. Is this the actions of fair-minded, intelligent people? Well, what do you think? Look, we are all, every single one of us, contributing to climate change: car and motorbike owners, rail and underground passengers, the use of plastic bags, etc. As for the XR screwballs, I wonder how many own a car, a motorbike, a scooter, who take these to their local petrol stations and get them topped up. And the ones with jobs, but who don’t have a car or motorbike or scooter, do they take the bus, the tram, the train or the underground tube to get to work?

I’ll finish this blog by telling these people, instead of blocking streets and buildings and creating mayhem, go to the Government, chat with Boris Johnson, and work out together a more orderly way of going about your business. Because to continue the way you are going you might just find an anti-XR group who will clash with you and Hell knows what will happen next!

United States Wars - Afghan Lessons Learnt?

 

As a young boy whilst attending primary and secondary schools in Central Scotland back in the 60s, we were taught and learned much about the United States of America. It was the richest country in the world, made great films, music, had worldwide sports stars and was the Land of the Free. When in our teens we would go to McDonalds, ate hamburgers and French fries and drank Coca-Cola. Americanisation had arrived in Britain. I was a great lover of music. There were the likes of Elvis Presley, the Four Tops, Roy Orbison, Stevie Wonder, the Three Degrees, Bob Dylan; I could go on. Yes, we all thought America, a great country, marvellous, the origin of such greatness in the world . . . the land of liberalisation and free speech.

If only things were really like that. Why? Because there was another side to this great country - military interests - and in this blog I will explain as best as I can why recent events (August 31 - September 1) in Afghanistan finally resulted in American military failure. But, you know, America has gotten involved in so many armed conflicts resulting in death and destruction that it makes me wonder why?

Let's take a look at recent escapades (wars). Forget the Second World War. Between 1950 and 1974/1975 there was the involvement in Indochina, firstly, the Korean War with the so-called enemies of China, Russia and of course North Korea. Two years later it was America's Vietnam War and its disastrous exit from Saigon. One would think that America had learned its lessons after nearly 25 years fighting in Indochina but no! Between 1966 and 1969 the Americans found themselves back in Korea this time to do with the Demilitarized Zone; this resulted in three years spent fighting with no territorial changes. From 1982 - 1990 America was involved in conflicts in Lebanon, Grenada and Panama. All of these conflicts came under the heading of the Cold War but it was in August 1990 and Operation Desert Shield, that would see the United States waging war against Iraq in The Middle East and the so-called Iraqi No-Fly Zone Enforcement Operations that would last 12 years.

In Europe after the breakup of the Soviet Union, America got involved in ridiculous conflicts in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Kosovo War in Serbia between 1992 and 1999. But then Afghanistan happened. And yet another Iraq War that had American involvement between 2003 - 2011 which led to the overthrow of Saddam Hussein's government and his eventual capture and death. And remember this is all going on during the war in Afghanistan. And lastly, we had American intervention in Operation Ocean Shield (against Somali pirates), the Libyan Crisis and first civil war and the disastrous involvement in Syria.

Phew, it sounds like a mad nightmare. And the costs? Well having done quite a bit of research on the subject it would seem that the United States, from 1950 to the present day, would have spent at least $5 trillion on all these wars and conflicts. Deaths? This is difficult to clarify but I would suggest that from this same time period America lost at least, and I’d say at a minimum, 102,000 lives.

And then we had Joe ‘the Stooge’ Biden who said evacuating all Americans from Afghanistan was a victory. Sorry, mate, it was no victory but a loss. And then he stated that he vowed to defend the US against evolving threats from terrorist groups, such as ISIS, without getting the US involved in another ground war. “The U.S. must now confront challenges from powerful adversaries such as Russia and China as well.”

Look, there’s never winners in war, only losers followed by hurt and suffering. 

Chinese Hypocrisy and Worse! Here We Go Again!

 

Sorry about having to return to the subject of China again but I couldn't get my head around the Yahoo news item about the latest attack on the US and its allies by the communist state. The heading: 'China says the US and its allies must be held accountable for human rights violations in Afghanistan.' Deary, deary, dear. Harebrained, kooky!

Here were the three main points garbled by the Chinese Ambassador to the UN, Chen Xu, who said that the US and its allies would be held accountable for human rights violations in the war in Afghanistan. And, that these countries have caused 'great suffering' while 'under the banner of democracy and human rights.' Oh, really? And whilst these words were being used, within the past seven days, China has been establishing friendly relations with the Taliban after the Islamist group's takeover of the country. Chen continued but did not specify what the alleged violations were, but said the US and other countries caused "great suffering" with their military intervention in sovereign countries "under the banner of democracy and human rights." 

Look, I am British, and proud of my nationality but back in 2001 Tony Blair, by following in the dark shadow of George W. Bush like a sheep, got us involved in a war in Afghanistan which I deplored from Day 1. I detested our involvement and as time went by, more and more British dead bodies came home in coffins. Anyway, this blog is about the Chinese mentality and its human rights abuses.  

In that previous blog, I described the horrors of the Chinese atrocities in Tibet. And, as usual, history keeps repeating itself. Today, and for the past 18 months or so, the largest mass detention of people since the Holocaust is happening right now in 2021. More than 3 million people identifying as Uighur or other Muslim ethnic minorities in China have been held against their will in internment camps in Xinjiang province. The threats against the Uighurs go all the way back to the 40s and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has always seen these Muslims as a threat to the communist way of life - surprise, surprise! The reality of these internment (concentration) camps is horrendous. Information about what is going on inside these camps comes from former prisoners or friends of prisoners. We do know that over three million people, Uighurs and other Muslim ethnic minorities, have been detained in these camps. There are reports of political indoctrination, torture, sexual assault, forced sterilisation, and involuntary labour. Hitler would have applauded the CCP. Hundreds of mosques have been destroyed in Xinjiang. The Uighur people are not allowed to practice their religion where praying, fasting, Islamic weddings, Eid celebrations, Islamic greetings, and halal food are all banned. Mr. Chen, THESE are human rights violations!

But of course, the Chinese regime under dictator Xi Jinping, would NOT call these human rights violations? Nope! This is what I would term human rights extermination! 

Meanwhile, China is now banging on about the US and its allies for the chaos that has ensued after the Taliban took Kabul. And here we have China as one of a few of the world's first nations to recognise the Islamic Taliban terrorist state of Afghanistan. Hypocrisy is the word. Oh, and Beijing has been widely speculated to be checking a possible $1 trillion takeover of Afghanistan's vast mineral deposits there. And then we have Chen's lovely statement: "We will continue developing a good neighbourly, friendly, and co-operative relationship with Afghanistan and continue our constructive role in its process of peace and reconstruction," 

This is the deceiving and fraudulent government of China today, folks! 

Hate Crime and What to Do About It

 

The other day one of the subjects discussed on TalkRadio was the apparent increase in hate crime in the UK. Well, to be honest, this is not anything new although I am aware that, with the emergence of social media, this abominable behaviour is becoming more and more prevalent in our society. In a recent blog I covered the hatred that exists between both sets of supporters of Glasgow Rangers and Glasgow Celtic football clubs. In fact, in many team sports hatred is displayed not only by the fans but by the actual teams.

Unfortunately, hatred is an inherent trait of all humans. I am sure all of us, in every nation on the planet, experiences hate from the behaviour of that bloody next-door neighbour to speeding drivers on the M25 motorway. The hatred of people, however, goes back to time immemorial. All the major empires, some of which were the Roman, Persian, Russian, Mongol, the Ottoman and of course the British Empire, ruled countries and civilisations all of which had enemies. And it seems to me that it is the very basic human trait of hatred that starts all wars. We have Muslim against Jew, the poor against the rich, the Tory against the Labourite, various forms of racism and on it goes.

So what exactly is hate crime? It's been said that, legally, a hate crime 'is an act of prejudice or hostility towards any aspect of a person's identity'. Of course these days these crimes are also found on the likes of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Reddit, etc. I mean I'm old enough and ugly enough to remember those years when the Internet was in its infancy and before mobile phones even existed. Fast forward to today, and it seems, especially younger people, are actually addicted to their mobiles and, to a certain extent, social media.

And then we have trolls and trolling. Again, looking back to the past, these two words were unheard of - never used. It was only with the coming of the Internet, especially back in the 80s, that we see the first evidence of this. These days the word 'troll' is internet slang describing a person (I would call them nutcases) who post inflammatory, abusive, obnoxious messages on an online community (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, etc). This can also include newsgroups, forums, chat rooms or blogs, with the intent of provoking readers into displaying emotional responses or manipulating others' perceptions. I know, it's hellish. Nowadays it's homophobic and transphobic crimes that are appearing almost daily.

How do we handle it? I'm gonna take a Buddhist viewpoint. For me hate crime and trolling are mental disorders, not of the brain, but of the mind. In Buddhism, we have what the Buddha called the Three Poisons: Greed (lobha), Hatred (dosa) and Delusion (moha). For me, people who are tied up in hate crime basically suffer, especially from greed and hatred. And of course, in today's societies greed plays a major part that leads in many cases to hatred. These are thwarted minds that have grown within social media circles and follow the sheep habit: ‘oh, you’re doing it - I’ll follow you’. How would the Buddha handle this social problem? He would probably ask people to show more compassion to their fellow man. Create peace, not war. Put other people before you not behind you. Show grace and empathy for your fellow humans.

That’s my take on hate crime. Unfortunately, it ain’t going away any time soon.

Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda

 

Probably the majority of people on this planet will never have heard of this great, enlightened Indian yogi, guru and teacher, Paramahansa Yogananda. It was by pure accident if I can call it that, when I discovered him and his wonderful autobiography that changed my thinking right up until the present day. It would have been back in 1973 - 1974 when I was a drummer in a rock band called Triad. Of course, we were not professionals - the three of us in the band had full-time jobs. It was one weekend when we were practicing new songs in a village hall that our roadie had turned up with this book: Autobiography of a Yogi. I asked him what it was about and he just said it was the most incredible book he'd ever read. He handed it to me and I checked the contents page. At that very moment, something happened. I still cannot put my finger on it; something away deep down in one's being, one's spirit. Anyway, he lent me the book and that night, whilst tucked up in bed, I started to read it. I can't remember what time it was but I read the whole 391 pages.

 

So the following weekend I went through to Edinburgh to buy the book from the same bookshop as our roadie. He gave me directions on how to get to the shop. And there it was, on the shelf, Autobiography of a Yogi. It cost me £3.25p. Today you can buy it on Amazon for between £13.00 and £15.00! Back then I reckon I read this book about a dozen times over an 18-month period. So in the book, Yoganda (born: January 5, 1893 - died: March 7, 1952) describes his upbringing in India and his encounters with spiritual figures of both the Eastern and the Western world. The book begins with his childhood family life and follows to his finding his guru, to becoming a monk and establishing his teachings of Kriya Yoga meditation. The book continues in 1920 when Yogananda accepts an invitation to speak in a religious congress in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. He then travels across America lecturing and establishing his teachings in Los Angeles, California. In 1935, he returned to India for a year-long visit. When he returned to America, he continued to establish his teachings, including writing this book.

 

The thing that caught my imagination on first reading it was that he died on March the 7th, 1952 which was exactly seven days after I was born. Of course, during that time the hippie era was coming to a close. This was an age when many of us took to smoking dope, dropping acid (LSD) and practicing meditation. I gave up on the drugs and began practicing meditation every morning before going out to work. And so my interest in Hinduism evolved especially the subject of reincarnation. Why was it that, me a born Christian, suddenly found myself embracing Hinduism?  However, to cut a very long story short, I eventually got involved in Buddhism from my Hindu studies and became a practicing Buddhist in 1975.

 

Obviously, I am not going to go into all the details of the book. You can purchase it online via Amazon, eBay, etc and I am telling you, you shall be amazed!

So I shall just finish with the death of this wonderful yogi. As mentioned above he died on the 7th March 1952. The Mortuary Director of the Forest-Lawn Memorial park, where Yogananda's body was temporarily placed, gave an account of the body. Here is a part extract of his account.

"The body of the blessed master, Paramhansa Yogananda, was laid down on his bed three days after his passing.  The phenomenal state of immutability that manifested itself at his death appears to be God’s dramatic way of calling mankind’s attention to the soul-revealing science of yoga. The absence of any visual signs of decay in the dead body of Paramhansa Yogananda offers the most extraordinary case in our experience . . . no physical disintegration was visible in Yogananda’s body even twenty days after death.  The body was under daily observation at the mortuary from March 11, 1952, the day of the last public rites, until March 27, 1952, when the bronze casket was sealed by fire.  During this period no indication of mould was visible on Yogananda’s skin, and no visible desiccation (drying up) took place in the bodily tissues.  This state of perfect preservation of a body is, so far as we know from mortuary annals, an unparalleled one."