My New Week In Pictures. By Uncle Monty.

My New Week In Pictures.

Story By Uncle Monty.

Photos By Alex Albion.

...

Going to get my weekly stock of the latest edition of

The Big Issue at London’s Covent Garden, I quickly

noticed has I passed Fred Perry’s store the window

display of wooden figures (shown below) that I in-

stantly photographed for the start of my new week.

...
It was the 13th day of the month, which wasn’t lucky

for me as I then saw Big Issue staffer Tom Woolock

arrive with his usual sullen face and curt manner. I

think he was also late at the distribution spot that is

located, as usual, right outside next to Boots at St.

James Street. With his usual sneering and contemp-

tuous attitude, Tom hardly acknowledged me or any

of the other vendors with his typical surly demeanour.

...
Never expect a “good morning” or “thank you” or a
“please” from him because you won’t get such from

Tom, who is partnered with Sam. She's been with

The Big Issue for well over 10 years now after she

herself was homeless on the streets of London.

She also rough-sleeped with the late Dame Anita

Roddick, who wanted to experience first hand

the sights and sounds of homelessness herself

for at least a couple of nights. That she

did with hard-nosed Sam at her side.

...
Last time I saw Tom was about 10 days before

the 13th, has he then walked right by my Big Issue

pitch and uttered no a kind word of greetings or

anything. How cold? Instead, he just glared hard at

me and so mean at me as if I had done something

wrong has he continued to walk right by with his

6 or 7 year old son and 3 or 4 others with him only

feet away from me and my Long Acre pitch.

...

One of his buddies had a camera in his right hand.
After he'd passed me, Tom then made some re-

marks about me to his street companions and they

all turned around to look at me as they continued to

walk on towards Great Queen Street. Yes, I know
Tom and me don’t care much at all about one an-

other. When I give him my 35 quid for my maga-

zine stock, I can bet a $1.000 he’ll not trust me

like others do. He always insists on counting out

my money as if I’m going to cheat. Sam is also

the same. They trust none of the vendors even

though they are themselves Big Issue vendors,

too. The Big Issue, of course, wouldn’t give a

vendor a dime anyway. Nor would they ...

...
One redeeming grace that I particularly like

about Sam is her short pieces she ably writes in

The Big Issue from time to time. That's if she is

the same Sam I read under the name of "Sam"

at the magazine's Street Lights. Her piece on

"drawing the curtains at night," for instance,

was truly superb. I loved every word she

wrote and I was impressed at her writing

style and her savvy composition. I only

wish she and Tom were like others who are

so kind and nice to me because, among

other things, of my own unbending writings

on just about everything ... At The Big Issue

distribution spot, I might as well be dead for

all they care about me or anybody else who

may be a vendor or a victim of homelessness.

It's so sad, but so true from what I have seen.

So my starting day of Monday then had mixed

encounters of the good, the bad, and the in-

different for sure.

...

Fred Perry's Covent Garden store window display.

...

Then on Tuesday one of my truly favourite people

arrived called Bronwyn Curry of The Royal Ballet.

We only get to see each other for about five weeks

each year since Bronwyn literally travels the world

as a rare choreologist that she is to the world's ballet

companies from far and wide. She's just been at the

Salt Lake City's Utah Ballet doing her expert chore-

ology there and will no doubt soon be off to some-

where else in the world of classical ballet.

...

Don't confuse Bronwyn Curry (shown below) with

those folkz like the late noted choreographers Sir

Frederick Ashton and Gene Tetley, who Bronwyn

knew so well. Choreology and choregraphy are two

different aspects of ballet to those who know all

about the art and design of professional dance.

...

She herself was a ballet dancer of note in the

1970's and she now lives in Italy with paint artist

Franco Bennetti and with each other when they're

travelling around the world together. I am hoping

perhaps to stay with Bronwyn and Franco next year

when I plan to attend the 7th World Homeless Cup

at Italy's Milano in 2oo9 and after I travel in Novem-

ber of this year to Melbourne, Australia, to attend the

2oo8 Sixth World Homeless Cup that has been fully

underwritten by Contessa Maria for me to go to the

far side of the world. In the meantime, I am enjoy-

ing spending some time with Bronwyn and Franco

while they're still here in London for another three

weeks before they set sail to somewhere else. It is

really so nice to be treated so nicely by them as

opposed to when I'm "being served" so coldly

by Big Issue's Tom and Sam ...

...
World Choreologist Bronwyn Curry of The Royal Ballet.
...
On Wednesday another of my favourite people came

by that happens to be Pret's driver (shown below)

Nuno Sarmento of Mozambique's old Lourenco

Marques and that is now known by its relatively new

name of Maputo, the country's capital. I think Nuno,

who is Portuguese, Spanish and English speaking, sees

me as a kind of grandfatherly figure to him which is

just fine with me. Always warm and friendly to every-

body, Nuno is about 22 years old and undoubtedly

as plenty of nice girlfriends to occupy him. He loves to

joke and make wisecracks with me to share and throw

at each other both happily and avidly whenever we're

at my pitch. He's been at Pret's for around a couple of

years I guess. He regularly visits my pitch almost

daily and never fails to offer me Pret sandwiches

and fizzy drinkz. That's so good of him.

Thankz again, Nuno ...
....
Pret's electric van driver Nuno Sarmento at the wheel

...

Come then Thursday, I "visited" the mechanical

nurse (pictured below) at Guys Hospital after

undergoing my first "CatScanDoo," as I called it,

or more correctly my MRI scan to see what the

the heart doctors could detect that's wrong with

my old and weary heart. Not heard yet what the

results have been of the extraordinary scan, but

my great heart consultant Dr. Gerry Carr-White

seemed pleased that my heart condition hasn't

gotten any worse of late. Where there's life,

there's hope. Right?

...
The Mechanical Nurse at Guy's Hospital.
...

My "Girl Friday" is sexy Sophie McElligott,

(shown below) who seems to pop-up at my

pitch mostly on Fridays ... She always stops to

say "Hi" and from time to time she also buys

The Big Issue from me. She is with the London

Fashion Showrooms is Sophie. She always has

a broad smile on her pretty face and a lovely

kiss for me without failure. Bravo. When I

sent her a nice postcard from Casablanca last

time, she was thrilled. I, too, was thrilled that

she was thrilled after sending the card

to her from the wilds of Morocco.
...

She's so cute is Sophie and is my

own "Girl Friday," I like to think ...

...
Sophie McElligott of London Fashion Showrooms.
...
Saturday was filled with people I didn't person-

ally know among all the idiots lined up at The
New Connaught Rooms for open auditions for
the tacky "Britain's Got Talent" competition.

Except for my buddy Aussie Ryan Tucker with

pups Lulu and Poppy (shown below), I didn't like

much of what I saw of the long and loud queues of

"wanna-be" celebrities lined up like cattle on London's

Great Queen Street all day long on Saturday and also

earlier in the week with street security guards con-

trolling the growing and stupid crowds of people.
...
Freemasons Arms' Aussie Ryan Tucker and pups.

...
Here you'll see below one of the would-be "wanna be"

groups like the Latino dance group all competing

to be seen and heard above the other "artistic" folkz.

...

Streams of Afro-Masons came out of the Masonic Head-

quarters as they walked down the street in unison with

my cameras taking a few snapshots of them while they

then sidestepped the audition crowds blocking their

public passage. I saw dozens and dozens of black

masons that I never knew before existed in such

large numbers at the Masonic Lodge.

...
Some of London's Afro-Masons.

...
For Sunday, I was able to get away from London's
maddening crowds with dear Elizabeth Middleton
as we went to Chipping Onger for the day. So from
the start of my new week -- Monday 13th to
Sunday 19th of October, 2oo8 -- I had
encountered all manner of man and woman
with perhaps taking more than 60 various
photos to record my full week for you at
my ever-growing blog readership.
...
Quietly, England's Chipping Onger.
...
:: SIDEBAR ::

No big issue and no big fus(s). I’ve used abit of
distortion here below to make a point that I will

leave you with for all to figure out one way or an-

other. I didn’t add “FUS” to the car plate, but I did

add “NO BIG ISSUE” to the café sign for fun and the

two crosses of light blue and bright orange … Have

you now figured out the point of the photograph?

If you haven't then simply email me for an explan-

ation at thebiggerissue@k.st. There's no charge ...

...
Have yourself a good and kind day, Uncle Monty.
+Hills of the North Rejoice, 2oo8.
...

Just Who In The Hell Is He? U.S. Election Notes By Uncle Monty.

Just Who In The Hell Is He?

U.S. Election Notes

By Uncle Monty.
***

By Michael Conlon,

Reuter Religion Writer.
CHICAGO (Reuters) - These are uneasy times for

America's Muslims, caught in a backwash from a presidential

election campaign where the false notion that Barack Obama is

Muslim has been seized on by some who link Islam with terrorism.
The Democratic White House candidate, who would be the first

black U.S. president and whose middle name is Hussein, is a

Christian. Son of a Kenyan father and white American mother,

he spent part of his childhood in largely Muslim Indonesia.

***

The idea that Obama is a Muslim has circulated on the

internet for months, by some as a fact to reinforce the

position that Obama is not a suitable candidate for the

White House.

***

Not since the election of John Kennedy as the first Catholic

U.S. president in 1960 has the faith of a White House hopeful

generated so much distortion, said about 100 "concerned

scholars" and others who have signed an October 7

proclamation aimed at countering Islamophobia

they say is on the rise.

***

In recent weeks:
-- More than 20 million video disc copies of a film called

"Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West" were

included as advertising supplements in newspapers across

the country, many in battleground states where Obama

is in a close fight with Republican candidate John McCain.

The film, distributed by a private group unaffiliated with

the McCain campaign, features suicide bombers, children

being trained with guns, and a Christian church said to

have been defiled by Muslims.
-- A city council candidate in Irvine, California, who

is a Muslim convert, said he got a telephone call saying

"I want to cut your head off just like all the other Muslims

deserve," the Los Angeles Times reported.
-- A mosque in a suburb of Chicago, Obama's home city,

was vandalized four times in less than two months, with

anti-Islamic messages left on its outer walls, and windows

and doors broken.
-- An account of an Ohio rally for McCain running mate

Sarah Palin, filed by Al Jazeera and posted on YouTube,

shows a woman saying "he is not Christian, and this is a

Christian nation," and a second woman saying she opposes

Obama because of "the whole Muslim thing. A lot of

people have forgotten about 9/11 (the September 11,

2001, attacks). It's a little unnerving."

***

It is frightening to see at this point the label 'Arab'

or 'Muslim' being used de facto as an insult," said

Ahmed Rehab, executive director of the Chicago office

of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (C.A.I.R).
There is a feeling, he said, that hate crimes increase as

Islamophobia rises in public discourse, including that

going on peripherally in this election campaign.

***

Former Secretary of State Colin Powell, a Republican crossing

party lines to endorse Obama on Sunday, made a demand for

tolerance when he referred to Obama-is-a-Muslim rumors.
"Is there something wrong with being a Muslim in this

country?" he asked on NBC's "Meet the Press."
"The answer's no, that's not America. Is there something

wrong with some seven-year-old Muslim-American kid be-

lieving that he or she could be president? Yet I have heard

senior members of my own party drop the suggestion

'he's a Muslim and he might be associated with terrorists.'

This is not the way we should be doing it in America,"

Powell said, while making clear such sentiment was

not coming from McCain himself.

***

Muslims make up less than 1 percent of the U.S. population

of 305 million, according to the Pew Forum on Religion and

Public Life, though some believe that number is low. About a

third of the world's population is Christian, another 21 percent

Muslim. Daniel Varisco, anthropology chair at Hofstra

University, said he wrote the "statement of concerned

scholars" after seeing Islamophobia on the rise.

***

"The attempts to label Senator Obama a terrorist or

rhyme his name with Osama (bin Laden) or accent his middle

name (Hussein), as well as false claims about his being sworn

into (U.S. Senate) office on a Koran, demonstrate how near

to the surface anti-Islamic sentiment is in the United

States," he said. Circulating such falsehoods "avoids

playing the race card directly but at the expense

of Muslims," he said.

***

The Clarion Fund, which distributed the film "Obsession,"

through a huge newspaper advertising buy, says it is an

independent education group focused "on the most urgent

threat of radical Islam" and that placing the film in the hands

of readers in battleground election states was an attempt

to grab attention. Spokesman Gregory Ross said, "we have

no political or religious affiliations to any group whatsoever."

***

The Islamic Circle of North America has meanwhile

opened an offensive of sorts -- a campaign promoting

Islam and seeking converts. It said it placed advertising

signs inside 1,000 cars in New York's subway network.
In Chicago the group had a number of city buses adorned

top to bottom with pro-Islam advertising, headlined

"Islam: The Way of Life of Noah, Abraham, Moses,

Jesus and Muhammad."

***
Rehab of the Chicago C.A.I.R. office said that kind of

approach may work to a limited degree, "but really the

crux of the issue is not learning about the details of a

religion but rather interacting with and understanding

that the average Muslim is no different than yourself."
(Reuter Editing by Andrew Stern and Frances Kerry)
***

U.S. Election Notes By Uncle Monty.
To me, there's something strangely wrong

when I see American Republican Colin Powell,

the former U.S. Secretary of State, coming out

to politically-back Obama. And then to see a

British Tory and Mayor of London like Boris

Johnson do the same, sounds to me like they're

gone bonkers about ultraliberal Obama. How

conservatives on either side of the pond can

unashamedly back any radical leftist like

Obama shows how politically unconservative

they really are. Yes, Obama is a charmer and

he's an handsome devil and very gifted, too.

But the caption cartoon above asks: Just Who

In The Hell Is He? Do you know? I really

don't, aside from all the media bowing and

swansong they're been giving Barack.

^^^

Obama's personal faith is his business and

I would not condemn him for whatever

faith or non-faith he may or may not hold.

As an avid Anglican, I believe strongly in

interfaith endeavours in order for us all to

be freer to practice whatever our faith or

creed may be. As for political Obama, my

concern is who is he really? Is he a political

wolf dressed like a lamb? And, I always

wonder, too, why no white man is elected

president in any majority black African

country? While an African-American black

can be elected to rule in basically a majority

white country like America, save for about

13% of her non-white population. Those who

may be opposed to Barack Obama on race

are dubbed 'racists.' But blacks in Africa

opposed to say a white candidate would

be viewed as politically correct by the

global news media and political pundits.

That's strange, too, to me.

^^^

With just a week and half to go before

the U.S. Presidential Election, all the

polls pretty well say Obama is already

the winner. But is he? I don't think so,

yet. Only after a very long Nov. 4th night,

will we then really know if Barack Obama

is the presidential winner that will rock

and impact America and the rest of the

world like nothing since America's 9/11.

^^^

That's if he should win. Talk of a landside

and/or an election tie between him and

John McCain has also been thrown about.

^^^

If there is a tie, then all bets are off that

Obama will win. Thousands of lawyers

have been hired by both candidates to

monitor the least little thing that may go

wrong on America's Election Day. Such was

also done at the 2000 and 2004 elections by

then candidates George Bush, Al Gore and

John Kerry. Bush won both times either by

fair or foul, depending on your own political

love for either candidates at that time.

^^^

What my fear is that the high expectations

that Obama will win could lead to street

violence or social unrest by leftist radicals,

Muslim believers, and/or street-wise

African-Americans if Obama should in

fact lose his race to become America's

first black president. Allegations of

election fraud, among other things, will

be rip raw and rife as the bloody streets

become the national arena for all

those disaffected voters of the

then loser Barack Obama.

***

And while he could well win

the popular vote, he could still lose to

to John McCain by electoral college votes.

That's what is the most important - not popular

votes per se, but rather those electoral votes

from key states - like California, Pennsylvannia,

Ohio, New York, Florida, etc -- that hold massive

electoral power on the night of the election. If

McCain can garnish more electoral votes than

Obama at the day's final reckoning, then John

McCain becomes the next President of the

United States. Obama will then be banished

as the would-be first African-American

President for at least the next four years

or until the next 2012 presidential race

in America.

^^^

My final 2oo8 election notes will come just

days before the actual votes take place. I will

also probably write a post-election story on

whoever wins after I've stayed up all night

on the internet to follow the results of the

2oo8 Presidential contest. It should be a

rivetting night for those who like Yankee

politics like I do ... After that, we'll ask again

"Just Who In The Hell Is He?" That's if he,

Barack Obama, should in fact win or lose.

I'm betting, however, that he won't win ...

Anxiously, Uncle Monty.

+Crispin and Crispinian, 2oo8.

^^^

The above caption poster of Obama is taken

from one of the many cartoons websites of him.

Many portray him rather negatively, I must say.

^^^

ABOUT TIME ... Immigration Notes By Uncle Monty.

ABOUT TIME ... But Still Too Little, Too Late.

Immigration Notes By Uncle Monty.

.=.
Britain to cut immigration due to weak economy: says minister.
LONDON (Reuters) - Britain plans to reduce immigration in the

face of a weakening economy and rising unemployment, the Times

newspaper quoted Immigration Minister Phil Woolas as saying Sat-

urday. "If people are being made unemployed, the question of

immigration becomes extremely thorny ... It's been too easy to

get into this country in the past and it's going to get harder,"

Woolas told the paper in an interview. "This government isn't

going to allow the population to go up to 70 million," Woolas said.

"There has to be a balance between the number of people coming in

and the number of people leaving." At a time of economic difficulties,

employers should put British people first or they will risk fuelling

racism, Woolas said. Immigration has been high under the Labor

government which came to power in 1997, and the Times said

net immigration is estimated to be more than 200,000 a year

until 2012.
Woolas also said he opposed an amnesty for people who came to

Britain illegally because it would encourage more illegal immigrants.

The government recently adopted a system under which would-be

migrants are awarded points depending on their value to the British

economy, designed to encourage skilled immigrants and reduce the

number of unskilled economic migrants. Britain's population is

around 61 million.
http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSTRE49H0L420081018
Sat Oct 18, 2008 2:32am EDT

.=.
Notes on New Labour's Floodgate Immigration.

By Uncle Monty.
.=.
As soon as I read the above Reuter news report, I said to myself
“ABOUT TIME …” But then moments later I also said to myself,
"it’s too little, too late." And it is as far as the numbers already

swelling New Labour’s free-for-all immigration policy that

has placed the very essence of England as a nation in mortal

peril by the sheer numbers of useless Third World immigrants

that have been allowed to come like a tidal wave to our shores

under mindless New Labour. Every day, there seems to be

still more and more all over the place and there seems no end

in sight to the continuing onslaught of so many immigrants -

despite the clear fact and reality of all too many of them

here already.

.-.

The turndown of the economy will be exasperated even

further with the millions of demanding Third Worlders

now in the UK. They expect nothing less than that they be

taken care of, even if they once lived in shantytowns with

little or nothing to call their own before they came and bas-

ically took over the place with their fancy native dress,

their ever present cellphones, their rights greater than

those of us who aren't immigrants or foreigners in our

own country, their overwhelming intrusion at every

level of British society, and their fertility rate that is

part and parcel of their desire to stay put in the UK

because with each baby they get more free money

from free New Labour. We wouldn't have the curse

of mass immigration and all its social and economic

fallout, if New Labour itself had not first created it.

Which, of course, it did beginning more than a de-

cade ago and it just keeps getting worse and worse.

.=.

I suspect, too, that many of the immigrants who

are now employed as council traffic wardens, security

guards, and bus drivers, are illegal in the UK no matter

what. While I welcome some first tiny steps by the

recently-picked new British Immigration Minister Phil

Woolas to curb the excess, the immigrant population

in the country is already so totally imbalanced that

only a complete and fast moratorium on admitting

any further non-EU immigrants for the next decade

would help perhaps to restore some kind of balance.

And, the aggressive expansion of deportation and

the strict curtailment of so-called "asylum seekers,"

needs also to be enforced without any further ado

by New Labour.

.=.

If not, not only will the Tories see their political

future and fortune continue to increase, but

also those political entities like the British

National Party (BNP) that tap into the real deep

anger about New Labour's mindless immigration

policy that has decimated the inner core of many

London and urban boroughs beyond repair and

recognition. Such has added to the negative

realism that is today's "Broken New Britian."

It may be too late politically for Labour to

now survive since its immigration fiasco,

among other things, comes home to roost.

.=.

The tragedy is that the nation is now stuck

forever and day with New Labour's floodgate

of those already admitted as immigrants even

if British Labour is never re-elected for decades

and decades to come. Those masses of immigrants

with their masses of new babies will undoubtedly

vote New Labour whenever they are eligable to do

so. And that's one reason I believe why Labour

has deliberately flooded the country with so

many useless Third World immigrants so that

it can draw in future upon such masses of new

Third World-born voters to vote them back

into office above and beyond their numbers.

.=.

Beyond that, whatever Phil Woolas does is

essentially only political window dressing to help

placate the growing anger and dismay of what

New Labour has so recklessly wrought on this

once wonderful country that now looks and

feels more and more like The Darkest Africa.

.=.

Truly, Uncle Monty.

+Eve of the 23rd Sunday after Trintiy, 2oo8.
.=.

:: UPDATE ::

By the time Frank Field, M.P. and I had again

exchanged some friendly email between us on the

bigger issue of immigration and Phil Woolas' sudden

"tough stand" on future immigration under New

Labour, Phil had then changed his tune somewhat

by back pedalling on what he had said or proposed

just a day or so before. Typical always of New

Labour, they do u-turns like jumping monkeys

almost every day. Now Immigration Minister

Phil Woolas says we need to be "kinder" to

new immigrants. What? Kinder? Why should

I be kinder when I see they're taking over my

country like an invading army at the behest of

this hideous government that is so completely

mindless in its unbending aim to make Broken

Britain even more broke by its refusal to stop

the continuing onslaught of mass Third World

immigration to the UK. Who gave Blair/Brown

the right to rob us of our own country? That's

what they've already done and they seem

to be totally out of control on killing Britain

with their political agenda of mindless mass

immigration at the expense of our nationhood.

Please, stop them by voting them totally out of

office no matter who you vote for, but never

again vote for New Labour. Just "Stop The

Bastards" for good ... I say.

Angry, Uncle Monty.

+King Alfred The Great, 2oo8.

=-=

Folkstone's "Dickens Room." By Uncle Monty.

Folkstone's "Dickens Room."

Story By Uncle Monty.

Photos By Alex Albion.

Part 2 of 2.

~~~

Over 550 years-old, The British Lion pub first opened

at Folkstone in the year of 1460. Outside at The Bayle

it looked like the place was quiet and deserted until I

openly ventured inside to find it packed and busy with
loads of locals enjoying a drink or two with plenty of
companionship and serving platefuls of good home
British cooking. Nick and Dee Gill from West Yorkshire
were the hosts and Dee did all the cooking that for me
was worth several encores. The menu was about as
British as they come with the usual Steak and Kid-
ney pie, Yorkshire pud, and spotted dick, among
other classic English food dishes to choose from.
~~~

My Trout.

~~~

But for me, I wanted their local catch of large

Folkstone fresh broiled Trout with lemon, green

peas, boiled new spuds, four vegs, and light fish

gravy. Plus, a hotpot of English tea along with a

nice bowl of deep green mint ice cream with thick

dark chocolate sauce to round off my mid-day

lunch at The British Lion’s own tiny "Dickens

Room." Adored with momentoes of Charles

Dickens himself on the walls, the dining room

was snug and warm and held only four or

five dining patrons at any one time.

~~~
Eight and half quid for the delicious trout.
A quid and twenty pence for my hotpot of

boiling tea. And, three and half quid for the

mint ice cream saw me spend less than 14

quid in all for my good lunch at the "Dickens

Room." The meal was big enough and healthy

enough for me not to worry about going back

later for evening dinner. I was full and my

English belly told me so: "Please, don't stuff

me anymore," it said. Okay ... The same lunch

at Folkstone's British Lion would have cost

me probably 25 to 35 quid in London or

New York or Paris for sure.
~~~
My Trout Gone ...

~~~

Other lunch patrons included four elderly and abit

snooty ballroom dancers who had come to Folkstone

from nearby Drellingore to spend the weekend ball-

room dancing to their old heart’s content. I was told

when I asked that they did not dress up in fancy

evening dress when they danced as non-professionals.

The wife of one of them looked like she was almost a

hospital case from the way she hobbled along. How

she could ballroom dance I don’t know unless she

was held up like a rag doll with her shaky legs and

ghost-like face that I wouldn't want to meet in

some dark Folkstone alleyway late at night. Talk

about Halloween, she was the part if you asked me.

Her skin looked like she’d spent days in a full

lavatory bucket of white bleach for she looked

whiter than the White Cliffs of Dover. And, when

she spoke she sounded like death warmed up …

Pooooooor woman. She also trembled like a leaf.

So much for glamorous ballroom dancing, I said

to myself as she left The British Lion moments

before me … I was glad I wasn’t going to the

ballroom dance after seeing her and after my

delightful British lunch at the "Dickens Room."
~~~
Folkstone's Sacred Grounds Since 630AD at St. Eanswythe.

~~~
At Folkstone’s St. Eanswythe (shown above),
Christian worship has taken place since the beginning

of the first religious nuns there in 360AD. Only an

heathen or an idiot wouldn’t recognise such sacred

burial grounds upon seeing such like I did. The anc-

ient design of the oval, oblong, graves was something

unusual to me. I cannot recall seeing the same style

and shape of such graves any where else other

than for the first at St. Eanswythe's.
~~~
Folkstone's Own "Guitar Man."

~~~
He was doing well as I tossed in a quid coin
for his guitar playing near Folkstone’s Parade
Steps. I immediately dubbed him as the sea-
side town’s own “Guitar Man.” His guitar

case was pretty full of tossed coins as he

stopped for a moment to be photographed,

as shown above, with my own black and white

graphic of him based on the image I originally

took of him in full pure colour. I then used my

Corel paint to add my dimension to the

original image of the "Guitar Man."
~~~
Preaching The Word Was He.

~~~

Here’s a fellow who is one of Folkstone’s

own seaside folks (shown above) preaching
the good word. His name is Eric, he told me.
With all the zeal of an American televangelist with
just myself and another one or two onlookers more

curious about him than of the word he spoke. He’s been
doing his preaching for years. One of his “followers”

– an elderly lady – told me she’d been bedridden for

20 years and thru the power of prayer she was

suddenly made whole again. How true her story

is I do not know, but I hope it wasn’t a figment

of her emotional imagination or perhaps of her
old age senility. Whatever, we did pray together
holding hands in a circle, while Eric-The-Preacher

earnestly invoked the fine name of our good Lord

just for me. Whoopi ... It was nice of him, I think …
As for the ex-bedridden lady, she begged not to

be photographed when I asked her if I could have

her stand posed next to Eric. Her false teeth

then came out like fangs at me. I think she'd

be better off bedridden, again, if I dare say.
~~~
A glorious view of Folkstone's waterfront.

~~~
The kidz had just made a "big" catch - one small crab.
~~~
Folkstone's Own "Blues Band" ready to play for charity.
~~~
Folkstone's Modern Grand Burstin.
~~~
Two young weekend beach surfers at Folkstone.
~~~
I've written snippets here, if you will, of my first visit to
British Folkstone having spent a long and an enjoyable
weekend there at what is its October tourist off-season.
"Folkstone's Seaside Folks" I've also written about in
my earlier short piece and again here in my more
detailed story with several more photos that I think
helps illustrate the variety I found as I ventured all
over the seaside and fishing town of Old Folkstone.
I do hope you've enjoyed my story as much as I
have enjoyed telling you about it ...
~~~
Kudos everybody, Uncle Monty.
+John Henry Newman, 2oo8.
~~~

Folkstone's Seaside Folks. By Uncle Monty.

Folkstone's Seaside Folks.

Story By Uncle Monty.

Photos By Alex Albion.

Part 1 of 2.
~~~

Off-season was the October atmosphere at

England’s centuries-old seaport and fishing town

of Folkstone that lies just about 10 miles west of

the famous White Cliffs of Dover. It’s also where

the British summertime tourists flock to spend

their fortnightly seaside holidays with family and

friends of usually factory and blue-collar progeny

and social class. Folkstone isn’t really for fancy

and swanky toff folkz, although the seaside

atmosphere is so decidedly All-British, too.

~~~

Harbour View of England's Folkstone.

~~~

Not found are all those masses of black immigrants and
huddles of foreigners so typical of England thesedays.
Folkstone thankfully seems pretty free of such dreadful
inroads of Third Worlders and foreigners polluting more
and more of our country it seemed to me. Thus, its remains
and retains what is quintessentially English in its character

and atmosphere with sure thanks to our gracious god …
~~~
The Parade at England's Folkstone.

~~~
I’m enroute back to my homebase from Folkstone
via Canterbury, at where I shall attend Sunday
Service of Holy Communion at the cathedral, and I
shall then write my complete story and present more
photographs about my first and happy visit to Eng-
land’s Folkstone once I hit my homebase ‘umpter
keyboard sometime very much later on today or at
first thing come tomorrow's Monday morning …

Part 2 of 2: Folkstone's "Dickens Room."
Greetings to everyone, Uncle Monty.
+21st Sunday after Trinity, 2oo8.
~~~

Menacing Muslims. By Arlene Johnson.

Menacing Muslims.
By Arlene Johnson.
Notes and Editing
By Uncle Monty.
...
Forearmed is forewarned however.
You have not had the advantage that I have of meeting
a Moslem and being engaged to be married to him. This
is why I don't have to fear these people unlike you who
may. I actually have Islamics in the UK in my address
book. Needless to say, this is not going to them.
They are my friends and would never hurt you.
...
Some Menacing Muslims Protesting Against Freedom.
...
It is my opinion that a certain religious denomination
has used these people to instigate chaos. You know
who I'm talking about I think, especially if you have
read my previous work.
...
Makes you wonder doesn't it ... can you imagine
having a Christian demonstration against Islam in
downtown Baghdad. View the pictures above
and below and decide how you really feel about the
future of the Western World. These pictures are of
Muslims marching through the street of London
during their 'Religion of Peace Demonstration.'
...
Publisher/Author Arlene Johnson
http://www.truedemocracy.net/
To access my work, click on the
icon that says Magazine.

...
"Behead Those Who Insult Islam" he says.
...
:: Postscriptum ::
Notes By Uncle Monty.
...
British New Labour’s mass immigration policy is
squarely to blame for the growing 1.8 million Muslims
now living in the UK. For from a so-called "quaint
belief," Islam as a religion is also a severe ideology
and a pathological lifestyle that essentially cannot live
fully without undermining or overthrowing Christianity
or other religions for it to control every aspect of life
under its religious oligarchy and political stranglehold.
...
British Muslims are afflicted with some radical
elements in their religious midst and who they
cannot control or censure or remove through fear
of retaliation against them by such radical and
off-the-wall seething members.
...
The simple answer is to automatically deport all
those who seek to inflict mayhem and menace in the
name of Allah and Islam to their own country of origin.
Those who now hold British Passports under Anthony
Blair’s outrageous numbers of issuing over 800.000
passports to immigrants and foreigners under his
then tenure of ten years at 10 Downing Street,
should have their passports made null and void, if
they're instrumental in creating attacks against
our British non-Muslim nation and her people.
...
What Anthony Bair and his New Labour has
done is to crucify the future of England as a
nation by opening the floodgate of aliens to the
UK that was once free of them and is now be-
devilled with all their cultural baggage, social
problems, religious hatred, and potential
violence from their warped minds and attitudes.
Oftentimes, their cultures and beliefs are not
remotely British in any way, but are in fact
totally inimical to the future of Britain as a
nominally-free and democratic nation.
...
Some menacing Muslims openly threaten us, gleefully.
...
No country on earth would tolerate the presence
of such foreign-born religious and political fanatics,
except in England that has now brought the seed of
Islam upon itself by first allowing such fanatics and
adherents to settle at our shores under the gross and
dangerous immigration policies of New Labour.
We shall suffers from such fanatics from now on as
many Muslims hate everything -- expect, of course,
our government free hands -- that is British and that
is historically Christian. That has it may be, so why
would they want to stay if they hate the country and
her British people so? The reason is nobody else
wants them - period. Or, will take them ...
...
And, so we’re stuck with them and they’re stuck
with us due entirely to the ilk of Anthony Blair and
his detestable New Labour Party that has now
saddled my country with hundreds of thousands
of Islamic immigrants that should never have been
allowed the privilege of setting foot in the first place in
what was once England’s "green and pleasant land.”
...
I have no doubt, too, the pictures that Arlene Johnson
included in her piece “Menacing Muslims” are pretty
mild compared to what is to come, if the British people
and government don’t act quickly to stem the growth
and spread of Radical Islam in these British Isles.
***
Menacing Muslims are now everywhere
and the Christian people seem to be at a loss
at what to do because the secular and govern-
mental powers have created the problem in the
first place by bringing all the scum of the world
to live in that was once a decent country to
live in. But, no more ... We're a nation under
siege by the very people we've freely let in to
now turn on us as we almost mildly and
apologetically let them curse and hate us
without fear of them being stopped.
...
The Muslim ever-wrenching capacity to express their
outrage at anything and everything that they view
as even slightly insulting to Islam, is in sharp con-
trast to the utter passivity of Christians to express
any sort of offense or outrage at attacks or insulting
insults against their faith. We're told it's "political in-
correct" to counter such from those who belong to
a minority faith, race, and/or nationality. In the
meantime, the "minority" control the majority by
being allowed to dictate whatever they want.
...
The Christian of today has been brainwashed not
to stand up for what he or she believes since they
seem to not even believe in their own true faith
anymore. While Islam thrives, Christianity dies.

...

Just curious, do you know any of the faces shown in

the above photos? If you do, then let us know your

own thoughts on the bigger issue of

"Menacing Muslims."
Truly, Uncle Monty.
+Ethelburga, 2oo8.
...
US Judge orders Chinese Muslims

at Guantanamo freed.
By James Vicini
http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSTRE49672L20081007

...

US Appeals Court blocks Uighurs' release from Guantanamo

By James Vicini
http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSTRE497C0Z20081009

Above: The front gate of Camp Delta is shown at the Guantanamo
Bay Naval Station in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. September 4, 2007.
REUTERS/Joe Skipper
...

Their Convictions For Obama. By Uncle Monty.

Their Convictions For Obama.

U.S. Election Notes By Uncle Monty.

***

Convicted criminals or felons in America cannot vote under
long held anti-convict federal, state, and county laws. Such
laws prevent ex-jail birds or ex-cons from casting their votes in
national, state and local elections due to the legal loss of their voting
rights based on their criminal conviction(s) for such things from
murder to drug pushing to sex crimes to armed robbery

and so on and so forth.

***

A disproportionate number of African-Americans and
poor whites (called “white trash” or “pofolk” in the states)

are imprisoned and convicted annually by the millions

for felonious crimes. They, therefore, are the ones who
also lose their right to vote year in and year out. They’re

the ones for the most part who also cannot legally vote in

this year’s 2oo8 U.S. Presidential Election for either
Democrat Barack Obama and/or Republican John McCain,
except in states that provide relief to such inmates and
former inmates to lawfully cast their ballots.

***

It was The Associated Press news reports by Dionne
Walker and Mike Baker on the issue of denied voting rights
to convicts and ex-convicts that caught my eye to include such
here in my U.S. Election Notes with only 28 days now left before
America decides who will be her next president after vile George

W. Bush leaves his vulgar presidency in January, 2oo9.

***

The news copy by AP news reporters Walker and Baker

is therefore given below for U.S. election watchers, like

me, to read their feature story on the issue of such denial

of fundermental voting rights to millions under America’s

anti-felon laws to this present day:

***

Chain Gang Inmate Under Penal Punishment

Push to register felons to vote could aid Obama
By Dionne Walker and Mike Baker,
Associated Press writers.
RICHMOND, Va. -- Undaunted by the heat, James Bailey

spent his late-summer afternoons walking Virginia's bleakest

neighborhoods on the hunt for ex-cons - each a potential voter

who might cast the decisive ballot in this hotly contested state.
Finding them isn't the hard part. It's getting them to admit

that a past mistake has kept them from the ballot box.
"People are really, really reluctant to say, 'I lost my rights

to vote,'" Bailey said of his quest, which continued in the

run-up to Monday's registration deadline in Virginia for
the November election.
Nationally, there are roughly 4 million released felons whose

convictions have cost them the right to vote at least temporarily,

if not permanently. To return to the ballot box, felons must

negotiate suffrage laws that vary from state to state, in many

cases working with election officials who can be both unfamiliar

with the law and hostile to former convicts seeking to register.

---

A seemingly good success story is ex-con Uchendi Nwani.

---
Such challenges matter little to Bailey and others trying to
return former criminals to voter rolls, an effort they consider
crucial in light of the results of the past two presidential elections:
A shift of a few hundred votes in Florida in 2000 would have
changed the outcome of the presidential race, and the results
in 2004 came down to a margin of 119,000 votes in Ohio.
The nonprofit groups and individual activists making the push
on felons' behalf agree the effort is broader this year than in
previous elections, even if they aren't necessarily making a
coordinated push. They expect that effort to benefit Barack
Obama more than John McCain, given that the population
of former felons is disproportionately black.
---
Obama has co-sponsored a Senate measure that would allow
all ex-felons to vote, but his campaign isn't directly targeting
ex-felons for registration. His campaign does include relevant
info on its Web site and educates volunteers so they can explain
state laws to those who may not realize they have the right to
vote, said spokesman Kevin Griffis."All we're trying to do is
make sure that, if someone is eligible, that they know their
rights and that if they want to vote, they can take part,"
Griffis said Tuesday. "I think there's a lot of misinformation
out there. Even people who may have been guilty of a mis-
demeanor feel like the felony laws apply to them and say
they can't vote."
---
McCain has said states should decide whether felons have
voting rights. But he personally believes ex-felons should
forfeit certain rights when they commit a serious crime
and that the right to vote should be restored only on a
case-by-case basis - much like Virginia's process.
---
Roughly 13 percent of black men nationwide have lost the right to vote, according to the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University's School of Law, which advocates the reform of felon voting rights. Black ministers, civic leaders and activists believe they are a rich source of votes for Obama. "Of course I would go with Barack," said Deshawn Tatem, a dreadlocked drug dealer-turned-activist from Chesapeake, Va. But he's never cast a ballot. "Right at 18, I caught the felony." Tatem has never made the time to fill out an application to restore his voter rights, aarequest that would have to be approved by the governor. That means there's no way
He’ll be able to vote in (the) November 4th (Presidential Election).
In Florida, where a new rule means more than 115,000 former felons who completed their sentences are now able to vote, civil rights attorney Reggie Mitchell said he's nonpartisan when he calls felons at home to give them information about registering to vote. But he also acknowledges the obvious. Blacks represent "about 40 percent of the people who've gotten their rights lost and restored," Mitchell said. "With an African-American running, and such a critical mass, this could have a tremendous impact." Kenneth Glasgow served 14 years on robbery and drug charges in Alabama. Now a pastor, Glasgow launched a voter registration drive inside the prisons in Alabama, where state law allows voting by felons convicted of lesser crimes such as possession of small amounts of drugs, battery or attempted burglary - even while still serving a sentence.

---
The Bushes With Elizabeth II and Philip

Glasgow, a Democrat, estimates as many as 70,000 felons in Alabama might be eligible to vote but haven't registered. Bringing them to the polls, he said, has the potential to alter the state's political landscape. "It's not a black-white thing," Glasgow said. "It's that people will see Republicans standing against having people's rights restored while the Democrats aren't."
The state Department of Corrections halted Glasgow's registration drive after two days because of complaints from the chairman of the Alabama Republican Party that registering inmates without adequate monitoring could lead to voter fraud. Fewer than 80 inmates filled out registration forms. The NAACP Legal Defense Fund has filed suit challenging the prison commissioner's decision to stop the registration drive.

---
Only two states - Maine and Vermont - place no limits on voting due to a criminal conviction; even prison inmates can cast a ballot. Kentucky and Virginia are the only two states that permanently bar felons from voting, although the governors of those states can restore voting rights to individuals. (Mike Baker reported from Durham, North Carolina. Associated Press writer Jay Reeves in Birmingham, Alabama., contributed to this report)

Back now to my own thoughts: Four million of anything is pretty big, I think most would agree. Be it people or dollars, and/or votes. That’s alot of anything, too. So to find that four million American ex-cons are denied the right to vote due to their legal loss of such a right and privilege is enough to make any politican looking for those “few” extra votes (yea, just a "few" million mind you) to send them scurrying quickly for those with such votes like the ex-jailbirds hiding in the woodwork all over the Unites States. Obama or McCain could well win the 2oo8
presidency with just having a mere one percent of those presently criminally-convicted and disenfranchised voters voting for them. It’s natural that most of them, the ex-felons, would probably vote for Obama as the wannabe first U.S. black president.

It is automatically assumed that by being black, you’re like most blacks wanting to vote for Barack Obama. Republicans are already shafted, but if more blacks like do Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and notable Colin Powell vote Republican instead of invariably Democratic then they may indeed better the country’s future and their own. The Democratic Party takes for granted the black vote. It also nurtures a sense of victimhood that blacks and other minorities incessantly feed on, much, I think, to their ultimate detriment and aspirations. Wallowing by constantly nursing a sense of injustice and prejudice will not bring about change per se, except Democratic political window dressing to ensure African-Americans and other minorities still continue to blindly vote, has they did for the ilk of Bill Clinton in the past, for their current “saviour” and fellow black Obama. He's otherwise called the "Black Kennedy" or "Black Abe Lincoln" of today. Barack Obama is no more a Kennedy or a Lincoln than I am a Yankee buying pre-cooked American Apple Pie at my local Wal Mart or known as ASDA in the UK. They, “the oppressed,” may all be in for a very rude awaking on Election Day, 2oo8, to find John McCain and Sarah Palin – “Mr. And Mrs. America” – swapping places with George and Dick at the Oval Office. The Democrats won’t know what hit them for sure and then Barack and Joe will wither away to wonder what the hell really happened to them. They’ll feel like those disenfranchised convicts all over America living in the so-called “Land of Milk and Honey.” Yea, the milk is now so sour for so many and the honey is so dried up its hard to swallow in their own walloping wallow. Thus, for millions of Americans they’re at a loss to really think their own country is still “America the Beautiful” for them. For the majority of black and pofolk convicts, it seems, America the beautiful is already truly dead for most of them as the billion dollar U.S. prison industry grinds and degrades them bit by bit each day without any mercy or justice. Can you expect them, otherwise, to love America? I think not …

Now for the very lastest from America with Reuter’s news
reports on the current status of the presidential race:
“John McCain's path to the White House has become
perilously narrow as Barack Obama gains momentum
in crucial battleground states,” states the world news
agency on it’s official website at http://reuters.com just
moments ago. Plus, there's talk now of even a possible
presidential election tie between Obama and McCain.
Woooooooooooooooow ... let's hope not ...

:: News Update ::

Kenya to deport U.S. author of critical Obama book.
By Wangui Kanina and Humphrey Malalo.
http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSTRE4963SF20081007
Tue Oct 7, 2008 9:04am EDT
***

Guess Who’ll Win The White House?
Such will be my final U.S. Election Notes for 2oo8.
My story will be posted a few short days before Nov. 4th.

Truly, Uncle Monty. +20th Sunday after Trinity, 2oo8.

:: Lead Caption Photo: Rare Image, c. 1930's, of American Chain Gang ::

Point-Blank Inquest After Point-Blank Killing. By Uncle Monty.

Point-Blank Inquest After Point-Blank Killing.

Story By Uncle Monty.

Graphics By Alex Albion.

-_-
Herds and herds of herding immigrant and foreign-born
schools kidz herded right past me on their way to their

morning academies as I stood patiently outside the re-

nowned Oval Cricket Gound at about 8:00am. I was there

to obtain a day pass to attend Her Majesty's Coroner Court,

held at The Oval’s Sir John Major Conference Centre, into the

brutal British police slaughter of Jean Charles de Menezes

27, of Brazil, by New Scotland Yard’s anti-terror squad

more than three summers ago inside London’s

Stockwell Underground Tube Station.
-_-
By 10 o’clock, I was inside the courtroom itself now
sitting on the front row of some thirty reserved media

seats with my pencil and paper at hand to record my

first full day inside the coroner court, which was presided

over by Sir Michael Wright, 76, who was a superb and affable

royal judge. Some sixty other seats were reserved for lead-
ing barristers, other legal counsel, and inquest witnesses.
While only perhaps eighteen or so seats were assigned for
members of the public that I saw numbered only about

seven people on what was the seventh day of The de

Menezes Inquest. It will conclude with a jury verdict

sometime before Christmas, 2oo8.
_-_
I've just gotten back from the jury hearing
after dinner with dear Paula Grey. So I have
had little time to write my full story of today's
court proceedings that saw only one inquest witness
of the day - Scotland Yard Detective Chief Inspector
Jon Boutcher - who was grilled under oath for more
than 6½ hours by such leading counsel as Michael
Mansfield, Q.C. for the de Menezes Family.

_-_
I will returned shortly to present my full impressions

of what I saw and heard inside The de Menezes Inquest.

In the meantime, I'll just give you here a brief sense of

my own take on the witness Jon Boutcher and the mec-

hanical composition of jury, who impressed me not.

_-_

-_-
Living in his own world of high-ranking cops and
big-time robbers, Jon Boutcher seems to have lost
the de Menezes plot somewhere along the deadly

winding road much like his own boss, the American

police-educated Sir Ian Blair, who heads Scotland Yard
by virtue of his government position as Commissioner
of the increasingly politicized and armed Metropolitan

Police under the power-crazy hacks of New Labour.

_-_
If the inquest jury rules that Jean Charles de Menezes

was "unlawfully killed" by The Met police then the

story goes that he, Ian Blair, will be finally booted

from out of Scotland Yard (“Hurray,” did I hear?),

with presumably, a nice fat payoff and a huge police

pension running into hundreds of thousands of

pounds. So, we'll see you later pal …
_-_
As for the racial and ethnic composition of the

sitting jury, that is to sit through the ongoing projected
12 week-long de Menezes Inquest, they looked alot like
those herds of immigrant and foreign-born schoolkidz
I saw going to school earlier this morning as I stood

outside The Oval. The majority of the jury are black

and/or ethnic men and women with only a token white

face or two or three to roundout the empanelled inquest

jury. I almost then sensed The Met was already doomed

by the sheer makeup of the jury by its racial and ethnic

combo. It’s a well-known fact that the majority of

immigrants and foreigners are not fond of what they

see as the British police intense tactics of stops and

searches of them on the city streets and at train

stations and at London underground entrances and
exists. All such is done, so we are told, to prevent
terrorists and knife-wielding young punkz. Ah,

well … The boyz in blue sure know the answerz

and curez, don’t they?
-_-
While in sharp contrast to the jury mix at the de

Menezes Inquest, almost every British barrister at

the inquest was lily white and male with a sprinkling

of white female legal assistants. Just one black female

lawyer did I see. Why have more, anyway? Aside from
whatever comes out of the de Menezes jury verdict,
it is clear the wickedly-expensive Inns of Court
barristers will clean up very nicely, thank you very
much, with their top exorbitant legal fees and

ever-fancy expenses from the inquest running

into the millions of pounds sterling. "The Legal

Brethren" love things like high-profile inquests, like

those of Diana and de Menezes, for they bring huddles
of big-bank cash for them despite the global credit
crunch and failing institutional banks here, there,

and everwhere, thesedays. And, while others

almost starve. Do they care? Well, hell no ...

_-_

I may return to present more of my impressions of

what else I saw and heard inside The de Menezes

Inquest. But if I don't, it will be due to other pressing

issues and my ever-busy life that seems to get busier

as I get more like a crouchy old toad not always

sure at where I should toad off to ... next. There's

nothing worse than a crouchy old toad and that I

should know being one myself. So true, you see?

_-_

:: News Update ::

METROPOLITAN POLICE COMMISSIONER

SIR IAN BLAIR HAS SUDDENLY QUIT AT THE

11TH HOUR. GOOD RIDDANCE TO HIM ...

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24439617-12335,00.html

Oct, 2nd, 2oo8.

_-_
Dedication Painting to Charles de Menezes at
www.allisoncarmichael.com/Menezes.html
“Jean Charles de Menezes Murdered by the

British Police on 22 July 2005. A man of

peace gunned down in the name of war.”

_-_

With regards, Uncle Monty.

**After Rosh Hashanah, 2oo8**

_-_