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Well, it’s that time of year again in the UK. All the school children are invited to wear a festive jumper – which is a little ironic for the Sikhs, Muslims, and Hindus that live amongst us. There might also be one or two reluctant Jews thrown into the mix. After all, most of these groups have already celebrate their equivalents of Xmas.
I was born in Oxford – but my parents moved to Tiverton (in East Devon) in 1970. I started school (Wilcombe) in 1972 (when 5-years old) – but changed to a school in Exeter in 1977. However, I have a memory of joining (after school) a group of classmates who “played” on a WWI Naval Gun situated on a public street (situated in Lime Kiln Road)! I have lived in Sutton (South-West Greater London) for over three-decades today – but recently – whilst picking-up my children from school in Cheam, I saw youths dressed in the uniforms of what is today termed the “Combined Cadet Force”, and the thought of myself once playing on a military gun (around 1977) bubbled-up in my mind (although publicly accessible – the gun in question was placed outside the Tiverton Sea Cadets Training Hall). In fact, after having experienced many interest things in my life (including four wonderful years based in Hereford during the 1980s), and having travelled around the world, I surprised myself with this memory and was not even sure it was real!
Due to the very good relations Mussolini had with the Pope – Catholic countries world-wide supported the fascist movement without necessarily becoming directly or formally involved in the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) or WWII (1939-1945). Tens of thousands of individual Catholics (encouraged by their Parish Priests) did travel from their home countries in Central and South America – as well as Eire – and joined the “Fascist” forces fighting in these conflicts. In Spain, for instance, thousands of Irish Catholics joined Franco’s troops (with an equal number also joining the “Socialist” forces armed by the USSR). Thousands more travelled to Italy and Nazi Germany to join the far-right forces fighting the West and the USSR. Poland is a Catholic country that elected a far-right government in 1930 – with Polish people taking to the streets when Hitler came to power in 1933! Goebbels paid a State visit to Poland in 1934 – and later that year – Poland opened the first “Concentration Camp” at Bereza in East Poland (designed to “process” all the ethnic Russians out the region).
In fact, there is one sublime and pristine observational comment made by Karl Marx which kills all theistic religion dead in the water – never to be re-born again. This is a very different situation than simply deciding to be an atheist or non-theist, etc. Anyone can place their mind anywhere on an arbitrary scale that measures “belief” and “disbelief”. Hitler, for instance, had so many contradictory beliefs that it is obvious his thought processes were all over the place and lacked a proper anchoring in existential logic and reason. He ordered 800,000 ethnic Germans to be publicly executed (many beheaded with an axe) for disagreeing with his flaky thinking. As Hitler possessed “no original thought” – he was unable to produce any truly “original thinking”. Hitler simply spent his time recycling old hatreds in new ways, believed scarecrows were ancient fertility gods, declared June 21st New Year’s Day, and made sure his maniacal soldiers received a steady supply of performance enhancing amphetamines – drugs that enabled the wounded to keep fighting and the usually placid to be full of rage and anger.
Many of these young men were recruited in Ukraine – but trained in Europe, UK and US. Whilst training in the UK with the British Army under the Tory government (the Court heard) – these Neo-Nazi recruits were asked to “cover-up” their Hitlerite tattoos when enjoying English society as “guests” – due to “certain members of the English community possibly taking offense!” Whilst staying in the UK, these Neo-Nazi recruits had all their expenses met by the British government whilst being given generous personal allowances greater than those granted to British people in need. With the UK so deeply involved with the Neo-Nazi take-over of Ukraine (the Court heard) – it is a wonder the country still bothers to celebrate its WWII victory over Adolf Hitler – even though the Soviet Red Army carried-out most of the fighting and dying!
Until this year, I was completely unaware that February 7th is “Rose Day” in the UK! This falls just before St Valentine’s Day (Fedrusty 14th). I think many people conflate these two rituals as roses are often given on the 14th. I suspect there is an involved explanation for all this – perhaps pre-Christian (Pagan) verses Christian, etc. Whatever the case, Shakespeare seems to have known both these dates. Both dates are designed to renew assertions of love and affection between men and women.
SANGHA KOMMUNE (SSR) 