THE VIEW FROM HEIMBU

As we enter the new millennium (even if most people think that was last year) I am starting to wonder why we bother with the human race. Reading the papers or (horror) watching the news on the telly is not exactly uplifting. One of the main purposes of Stav is to develop a competent man (or woman). This would seem to be cause for suspicition within the  political establishment which prefer dependency. They seem to be succeding.

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What brought this on is the fact that I was given a few braces of pheasant the other day. Trying to be a good neighbour I decided to spread a little Yule cheer and offered to share. No way. No-one had a clue what to do with them; some thought it was terrible to shoot the cute little pheasant (though they don¹t seem to have any problem with the Christmas turkey, but of course you buy it at the supermarket so that's OK then). I ended up plucking and gutting and eating them all by myself and very good they tasted, too.

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Yule this year has been rather exciting. Daughter Aki came down from Edinburgh on the 18:20 train into York. Incredibly it was on time and also more or less empty, and we all sat down to a traditional Norwegian Yule supper at 8 o'clock. Later the presents were opened; all in all a nice day.

We drove her back up to Scotland next morning as she has livestock that must be fed; an 11 hours drive back and forth through snow and fog, but the traffic was light.

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  I just bought a bag of mixed nuts at the market the otherday. On it's back was written in large letters:

                                     WARNING: THIS BAG CONTAINS NUTS.

Quite.

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Son Erling managed to total his new Landrover Freelander on Boxing day. On

the way home from visiting a friend he hit a spot of ice on the road, lost

control and wrapped the car round a tree. It is a complete write-off, but he

walked away without any injury at all. Seeing the car that is a complete

miracle.

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"Fear of death will not prevent dying - but it may prevent living."

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"Lord, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to hide the bodies of those people I had to kill because they pissed me off."

Poster observed in America

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"All of us who are concerned for peace, reason and justice must be keenly aware how small influence reason and honest goodwill exert upon events in the political field."

Albert Einstein

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I¹ve just been reading in the local paper about this chap with 28 convictions for assault and burglery which threathened a neighbour with a shotgun. The constabulary was informed and in due course approached the chap to have a word. He made a run for it and a police dog was loosened and caught him in the bum and held him until he was formally arrested. He then sued the police force for having gone through the mental trauma of having been bitten by a dog, a case which he quite properly lost even if the police had to foot a legal bill in excess of £10,000.-. He was of course given legal aid. One wonders what the criteria is as one hears that it is almost impossible these days the get legal aid; probably one needs several convictions.

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We have had today the first full day in 3 months without rain. It felt rather nice.

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I notice watching the the news on the telly that just about anyone interviewed is a victim; floodvictim, car accident victim, barking dog victim and what have you. I think I would rather resent being introduced as a victim, but most people don¹t seem to mind.

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Many of you reading this (if any) will know that my old Harris hawk Haabrok died of cancer this autumn. My eagle owl Arthur is about the nicest bird of prey one can possibly meet, but he is rather anti field sport; he would much rather hug a bunny than kill it. Consequently I have started training Bronwen, a 4 year old redtail hawk. So far she has footed me twice in the hand and once in the face; I presume I could start to regard myself as a hawk attack victim.

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The old definition of a free man is one who is permitted to carry arms which mean freedom does no longer exist in the UK. Self-defence is still theoretically permitted as long as you don¹t  hurt your attacker or upset him in any way.

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"Because the state can no longer protect us from crime, it wants to take away from us the means of protecting ourselves. This is the logic of gun control."

Rather well put whoever said it.

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"Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do children of humans as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure or nothing."

Helen Keller

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"What the government wants to develop is a population which sees itself as a victim of violent crime, economic injustice, racial and sexual prejudice, and helpless to correct these wrongs without government assistance. People who see themselves as victims look to rescuers, look to those who will help, for a victim is one who is demonstrably incapable of doing things for himself. He wouldn't be a victim otherwise. And under no circumstances must a victim take action on his own to remedy the evil he suffers from. Never. He should call the government to help."

Howard McCord

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"I think it would be very wrong indeed to do anything to fit a boy for the modern world."

John Mortimore, in the Spectator

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"The principal function of computers is to make life impossible without them."

J. Dalrymple

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"A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largesse from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy, always followed by a dictatorship."

"The average age of the world's greatest civilizations has been 200 years. These nations have progressed through this sequence:

*    From bondage to spiritual faith

*    From spiritual faith to great courage

*    From courage to liberty

*    From liberty to abundance

*    From abundance to complacency

*    From complacency to apathy

*    From apathy to dependence

*    From dependence back again into bondage."

Professor Alexander Tyler,

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"The reason I am smiling is because I haven't any idea of what's going on."

American poster.

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"Corruptisima republica plurimae leges."

Tacitus, Anals III 27

(The more corrupt the state, the more numerous the laws.)

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Rome fell to the barbarians when the populace was given bread and circus. Now we are given social security and television.

Hmm.??

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"There is nothing more odious than the majority; for it consists of a few powerful leaders, a certain number of accommodating scoundrels and subservient weaklings, and a mass of men who trudge after them without in the least knowing their own minds."

Goethe

"Saving is a very fine thing, especially when your parents have done it for you."

Winston Churchill

"Intellect without will is useless, whereas will without intellect is dangerous."

Carl von Seekt

A happy New Year to you all.