Thursday 26 August 2010

Lawful Rebellion

A couple of years ago I got interested in the work of John Harris at TPUC.org and a movement that has branched out exponentially. I'm sure John isn't even the originator but the myriad of websites and direct action collectives that have spread across the world can be loosely grouped under the title 'Lawful Rebellion'. It should be pointed out that this movement is directly concerned with fighting for freedom against Parliament and statute law as it exists in Britain. 

Heres a brief intro from the Freedom Rebels website:

In the year 1215 the first of our constitutional rights were set down on paper, it was called the Magna Carta, this was basically an oath from the crown (King or Queen) to uphold the rights of the people set down in it and to look after the peoples best interests, in return for the crowns promise to the people they agreed to be ruled by the crown, so it was a contract between crown and people basically, and it became the law.


The crown had to uphold the rights and common law as did the people, not to cause death, harm, or loss to another, or be fraudulent in your contracts (in other words be honest and true).

In 1689 the bill of rights was set down on paper, this basically sealed all the rights given in the Magna Carta plus a few more, both documents contain our UK common law written down and formed our law.

These two documents are the main fundamental parts of our UK constitution, yes we do actually have one, many claim that the UK has no written constitution, this is not true. We have the most respected constitution in the world, it is the basis of the constitutions of the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and India.

Rather than being one written document we have several that make up the UK constitution, the primary of which is the Magna Carta and the 1689 bill of rights. (the freeman movement in Canada seems to be gaining respect from some Canadian policemen) Part of both the Magna Carta and the 1689 bill of rights states that they cannot be repealed because they are such well made laws and rights!
“”Lord Justice Laws on 18th February 2002: "The special status of constitutional statutes follows the special status of constitutional rights. Examples are the Magna Carta, the Bill of Rights 1689…Ordinary statutes may be impliedly repealed. Constitutional statutes may not…." “

Now our ancestors were not daft, they knew there could be a problem one day if the crown became unjust, or turned into some sort of dictatorship, or parliament was acting against the people, or was full of corruption, or was not allowing the crown to keep its oath.

So in article 61 of the Magna Carta it was written that if this ever happened you could petition the crown to sort out the crowns problem (or parliaments if it was them), the crown had 40 days to fix it or dissolve parliament.

If in the 40 days nothing was fixed the petitioner could go into rebellion against the crown and parliament lawfully until the problem was resolved.

Because this was lawful and the petitioner had a right to do it he would go into “lawful rebellion”, he would no longer have allegiance to the crown or parliament because they had become corrupt etc, he would be a hindrance and a rebel, and fight to end the corruption or injustice within the system, it was law that he could do this, and he was actually obeying the law by doing it, because it is the peoples duty to fight corruption and uphold the law.

So that’s the basics of it.

Because our constitution cannot be repealed it is still valid law.

Now, to do this today you first send an affidavit (a sworn oath of truth, the most powerful lawful and legal document you can get) to our Queen, stating that the crown or in this case our government acting for the crown and its MPs are breaking the constitutional contract (and they really are breaking it), and ask for it to be fixed within 40 days, this is witnessed and counter signed and sealed by a credible witness (I used a solicitor).

I did not make my oath lightly, I took an oath to defend the crown when I joined the army, I was now withdrawing my oath of allegiance, it may sound strange to some but I had a lump in my throat doing it, it was made in good faith.

It is then sent to the queen, then if in 40 days the problem is not fixed a second affidavit is then sent to the Queen, this time saying that the problem is not fixed and therefore the crown or government acting for the crown has broken the contract with the people, and you are therefore no longer going to obey or be ruled by a corrupt crown or government, you are now in lawful rebellion.

Tuesday 17 August 2010

Aliens in my eggs !

No aliens in my eggs recently.

There was a period when I was getting them all the time.





Very curious....



unexplained ......





and a bit freaky...



But they havent materialised in my breakfast recently...so thats a relief.


Plus, im poaching my eggs now anyway...no more frying...its healthier...and clearly doesn't open up some kind of portal !

Monday 16 August 2010

The Tempest

Birthday treat tonight. Catching Sam Mendes's The Tempest at The Old Vic.
Its my favourite Shakespeare. Prospero is one of the greatest characters. He's not in it too much tho. Keep em keen. The Tempest is just packed with some of the best and most memorable lines. This is where we first hear the saying ''vanished into thin air'' .

Which reminds me, I didnt hear any news on how the recent Bristol International hot air balloon festival went. There were strong winds threatening to ruin it early on last week. But as soon as I saw pictures of corporate sponsored balloons lifting off, I lost interest. Im not a fan of all this (and this is coming from someone who loves Bristol and tries to support everything they do). But I draw the line at this kind of thing. Tesco balloons. Just a load of advertising flying about in the sky. Children waving at the insipid blue Barclays bank balloon as it passes by.

                               
Bristol does however have a long history of balloons and ballooning. During the Georgian period it was the stomping ground of many an aspiring aeronautical inventor. The crowds at the fairs such as Bristol's St James and Lansdown would be wowed by the newest flying balloon powered by the latest deadly gas. Around the 1780's there was stiff competition between Bristol and Paris. There were numerous tethered flights at country fairs on both sides of the channel but the French eventually succeeded in recording the first 'free' flight with human passengers in 1783.

Other more rarified airs have been connected with old Bristol down the ages....The posh Clifton area (on the hill leading to the suspension Bridge) was home to many early scientists around 200 years ago. Most notably the likes of Dr Beddoes and Humphrey Davey who set up labs in order to play around with various gases and fumes. Nitrous Oxide or 'Laughing Gas' was just one of the discoveries. In later years the Victorian gentry would gather at friends houses for laughing gas parties, where they'd litterally piss themselves all night.

Late Georgian Bristol was also a drifting area for the new poets of Romanticism such as Coleridge and Southey.

Coleridge was a frequent vistor to Beddoes's laboratory in order to try out new and potentially dangerous gases. All part of the young poet's search for higher states of consciousness.

Dr Beddoes (who was operating at a time when leeches were a luxury treatment for dizzy ladies) believed that gases could be a miracle cure for all sorts of complaints. They had very silly names. One discovery that made the good scientist very excited was something he named 'Phlogisticated air' !!!! It was quite important but I cant remember now whether it was eventually used to fly poets or balloons?

                                                 Ariel  'I drink the air before me and return'
                                                                                            

Sunday 15 August 2010

Slaves

It's my birthday. Time for sober reflection.
Next exploration to Bristol is September 11th, to coincide with the 'Bristol Anarchist Book Fair' and 'Open Doors.' Open Doors is a long running annual event where all the old historic buildings are opened up for the punters. I'm looking forward to seeing inside some of the old churches. Bristol was known as the city of spires back in Georgian times.
Im not especially interested in 'current' or 'working' churches but 'lost' or 'ruined' ones are very exciting. Yes, thats right, if its not there, it's of interest. Psychogeography is all about the exploration of relics, ruins and lost pathways.  What's significant is not the fact that something isnt there anymore as much as the fact that it once was. Everything that existed once is still there on some level...somewhere. St John on the Wall is top of my list. Its an incredibly slim disused old church that was part of the city wall and still has the fresh water conduit fountain used since the middle ages (now a convenient stopping off street urinal) and the original and only survivng 'gate' to the city. That's a curious thought...in olden days the major towns situated within castle walls were locked and bolted at night!



My recent research and interest in the work of John Harris at TPUC.org along with the whole 'Lawful Rebellion' movement has certainly got me thinking about the notion that we are all still slaves. Looking out of my window in grimy Croydon the view that greets me is a jumble of concrete and glass and metals of various sorts. Apartments crambed on top of each other...we think these are our 'homes' but really when you view them from the outside they are just boxes.....prisons. To the right of the view is the huge edifice known as 'Wickes's dick'. A huge soaring blue mirrorglass skyscraper of 'luxury' apartments. It is only half built. The credit crunch's icey breath covered the entire site some months ago...freezing it completely.... and now the whole construction scene is like an urban Marie Celeste. Cranes are stuck in time way up in the sky. Theres no roof. Half the windows are missing. Its a perfect metaphor for Bliar and Brown's broken Britain. Broken Promises. The whole, an incomplete thought.
This monstrosity blights the landscape...throws a shadow over the ground and will forever be synonymous with the feckless war mongering Bliar-supporting Labour MP Malcolm Wickes (the pride of Croydon) who recently consolidated his place in history (or at least his ego's history) with another huge majority at the general election.  His fourth term !
Never mind the fact that his beloved New Labour Government messed things up so bad that the embarrassing shower called the 'Conservative Party' were able to stroll into Power without any kind of qualifying factor other than a voting anomaly. People didnt vote enough for anybody, so they got just that...the Condem government. A void filled by a bunch of useless semi-aristrocratic buffoons...with not a clue in the world.

None of this effects Malcolm Wickes Labour MP for North Croydon , of course, despite the fact that he supported war and the subsequent cover up....his Croydon base still love him and duly swept him back into Parliament.

When Gordon Brown was dumped from his throne within seconds of not winning the election (I draw short of saying 'losing the election') Malcolm Wickes was one of the first to appeal for 'a new face' for Labour. The irony here runs too deep....


                                                     A slave to his public

Saturday 14 August 2010

''The beginning is always today'' - Mary Wollstencraft

"Day by day and almost minute by minute the past was brought up to date. In this way every prediction made by the Party could be shown by documentary evidence to have been correct; nor was any item of news, or any expression of opinion, which conflicted with the needs of the moment, ever allowed to remain on record. All history was a palimpsest, scraped clean and reinscribed exactly as often as was necessary."                     ---  George Orwell, 1984