Toll road hero who came to the rescue when his council closed a vital route could lose his home if his gamble goes wrong. Daily Mail

  Mike Watts, 62, built his own road which bypassed a key local road in Kelston, Bath, which was closed for maintenance 

  He borrowed an adjoining field from a farmer friend and, at a cost of £150,000 to himself and his wife Wendy, 52, made the bypass

  Mike needs 1,000 cars a day at £2 per car, per journey for 150 days to break even 

Every minute or so a car rumbles past, churning up dust and small stones. Drivers and passengers wave and shout thank-yous through their open windows.

‘It’s a pleasure,’ Mike yells back, beaming from ear to ear. ‘Enjoy the view!’

They do indeed. But even they aren’t as happy as Mike, who’s had quite a week.

For, suddenly, he’s become a national hero. People have called for him to be knighted and (though I suspect this might be slightly tongue in cheek) honoured with a statue on the green in his home village of Kelston, near Bath.

And all because, when faced with the indefinite closure of a key local road while it is mended, forcing him to take a 14-mile diversion to work as a council repair team sorts it out at the speed of a glacier, Mike took matters into his own hands.

His solution was not a civilised ‘reopen our road, please’ campaign or angry letters to the Bath Chronicle newspaper, pointing out that nothing had been done since early February when a crack appeared in the A431 and the road was closed.

Read more here:

Further Reading:

Businessman sets up private toll road just 340 yards long charging motorists £2 a time to bypass closed section of main road

Acts 29 Dismisses Mark Driscoll so 'Name of Christ Will Not Continue to Be Dishonored'

Acts 29 Dismisses Mark Driscoll so 'Name of Christ Will Not Continue to Be Dishonored'

Despite recent public apologies, the Acts 29 Network is officially disassociating itself with its co-founder Mark Driscoll and Mars Hill Church.

"It is with deep sorrow that the Acts 29 Network announces its decision to remove Mark Driscoll and Mars Hill Church from membership in the network. Mark and the Elders of Mars Hill have been informed of the decision, along with the reasons for removal," reads a statement signed by the board of the Acts 29 Church Planting Network, which includes Matt Chandler, Darrin Patrick, Steve Timmis, Eric Mason, John Bryson, Bruce Wesley and Leonce Crump.

Surge in no vote after Alex Salmond TV flop: Major blow for SNP in wake of debate defeat Daily Mail

Viewers believe Alistair Darling crushed Alex Salmond in live televised debate

Poll reveals nearly quarter of viewers now more likely to reject independence

More than two-thirds of 1,010 Scots polled said First Minister needs 'plan B'

The shock Survation poll, carried out on Wednesday and Thursday, shows that opposition to separation has soared to 50 per cent for the first time since the firm began asking the question.

That is a remarkable four point increase in the space of a single week, with only 37 per cent now in favour of a Yes vote – down three points. When undecided voters are excluded, the No camp is on 57 per cent – a massive 14-point lead over Yes, compared to just a six-point lead last Sunday.

Mr Salmond's failure to answer questions about the currency of an independent Scotland is at the heart of the dramatic collapse.

More than two-thirds of the 1,010 Scots polled by Survation said the First Minister should produce a 'plan B' to his unrealistic bid to keep the pound before voters cast their ballots.

Asked to pick adjectives to describe the SNP leader's performance in the pivotal STV debate last Tuesday – which was watched by 1.7million people – the most popular choices were 'weak', 'uninformed' and 'dishonest'

.

His opponent, former Chancellor Mr Darling who is spearheading the Better Together campaign, was described as 'knowledgeable' and 'strong'.

Mr Salmond's leadership is now under unprecedented scrutiny, with senior SNP figures privately briefing against him throughout the week and some suggesting his deputy Nicola Sturgeon should replace him for a crunch TV debate on the BBC later this month. 

Read more here:

Further Reading

Beyond the Scottish Independence Question, Looking at a Greater Devolution in The United Kingdom, A Perspective

BREAKING: 'Armed siege' at Meridian Tower, Swansea Marina | South Wales Evening Post

BREAKING: 'Armed siege' at Meridian Tower, Swansea Marina | South Wales Evening Post

Armed police have reportedly been called to an incident at the Meridian Tower in Swansea.

Diners in the building’s top floor restaurant said they were evacuated at around 4.30pm.

One of them, who did not want to be named, said: “We were in the restaurant and we were told to stay put by a waiter. I asked what was going on and they said there were reports of a man with a gun.

“A short while later we were ushered out of the restaurant, down the fire escape a couple of flights and in to a lift to the bottom. When we came out there were armed police there and they told us to move away.

Beyond the Scottish Independence Question, Looking at a Greater Devolution in The United Kingdom, A Perspective, Updated

Like many of you, I have been following the Scottish Independence Debate from various media sources,  and  I think we in the United Kingdom of Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales) and Northern Ireland need to ask ourselves and our political leaders some questions about the future shape of our country ?

Personally I feel that Alex Salmond is an astute politician, however his desperation for self promotion from the First Minister of Scotland to the President of Scotland,  (although he has stated that the Queen is the head of state,   I feel there is a possibility at her Majesty’s passing, some voices in the Scottish National Party will call for Scotland to be a republic.) Mr Salmond economic arguments for Scotland to be independent quite simply don’t add up,  for the last few years, the revenues from North Sea Oil have been decreasing year on year.   His latest interaction to say that Scotland will keep the pound and if they’re not allowed to keep the pound,  a newly independent Scotland will not pay it’s share of the UK National Debt  is more like the politics of the playground,  where Mr Salmond is telling everyone if I don’t get my own way,  I will throw my toys out of the pram.

Brian Wilson: Show us the money, Mr Salmond

He has now decided that Scotland will keep the pound, in the some sort of informal currency union, or dollaristion scheme (A sterling zone)  the Panama Option,  (Panama uses the US Dollar as it’s currency) many students  of history would know  what happened when Scotland last looked at a Panama Option,  they suffered economic turmoil and eventually bankruptcy because of a Ponzi scheme known as the Darien Colony.

Currently under the Barnett formula, the Scottish Government receives it’s income from the United Kingdom Treasury ,  and is generally allowed to spend this at it sees fit,  Mr Salmond’s dream of  creating a Nordic Model of a Free Market Economy with a Welfare State (Social Democracy)  is reliant on the UK Taxpayer,  if Scotland did vote for Independence  on the 18^th September 2014,  after any successful negotiation by Scottish and United Kingdom Governments,  Scotland even if it  decided to keep the Pound, it would either have to enter a time of austerity or drastically increase taxation,  the Nordic Model of Social Democracy does mean high taxation to pay for it’s welfare state,  on it’s current tax revenues and because it receives more back from Westminster that it pays to Westminster,  The Scottish Social Democracy model would not be sustainable  long term after 2016.

 An Independent Scotland of 2016 onwards will see falling tax revenue from North Sea Oil and Gas and other sources.  A large part of the Scottish Finance Sector would move  south of Hadrian’s Wall because a majority of it’s customers will be in the United Kingdom and  due to the  financial uncertainty caused by dollarization,  it would be extremely difficult or indeed impossible for Scotland to borrow money from International sources  at reasonable rates because Scotland would not have the standing of the United Kingdom,  although it’s possible that China and / or the Gulf States or indeed Russia  could lend money to Scotland, this of course would come with conditions such as access to Scottish Oil and Gas for Chinese Companies or the opening of Scottish Ports to Chinese Naval Vessels.

Read this important report to see why an Independent Scotland doesn't add up

Institute for Fiscal Studies , Fiscal sustainability of an independent Scotland

 Scotland also would have to negotiate to join international organisations such as International Monetary Fund,  The United Nations and The European Union,  although because of Spain facing issues with both the Basque Region and Catalonia wanting  independence,  the Spainish  Government could veto an newly independent  Scotland joining the EU Club.

The Westminster Government and the Opposition,(  The Conservatives, The Liberal Democrats and the Labour Party) have recently offered that if the people of Scotland  if they vote to remain part of the United Kingdom this is known as the Devo Max option, that Scotland would be more responsible for its income and expenditure , this would see a decrease in the money from the Barnett Formula and the Scottish Government would see either Tax raising or Tax varying powers,  if  the people of Scotland are given the option, it’s my opinion  that both the Welsh Assembly Government and the Northern Ireland Assembly Government  should also be given the option of having their own equilvalent versions of Devo Max  depending on their needs and requirements, for example the Welsh Assembly Government could use some of it’s income and perhaps borrow on the international finance markets or from the European Union or the Westminster Government  for capital projects such as improving North – South Wales transport and infrastructure links.

 Before the 19^th Century many of the United Kingdom’s largest cities such as Leeds, Manchester and Newcastle were virtual city states it was due to the rise of  Railway Networks that a fragmented country came together,  if the people of Scotland,   Northern Ireland and Wales are given their own versions or types of  fiscal federalism,   the people of  the English Regions should also be given fiscal federalism .

 The United Kingdom needs to move away from a  centralised London and South East of England  system of Government  and Economic Management and the people of the English Regions,  Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales should be given greater autonomy,  and responsibility to run their own affairs although agree with a centralised government for larger picture issues s such as defense, legal issues, foreign relations and currency.

I also believe that the British Overseas Territories such as the Falkland Islands and Gibraltar should be represented  in a more United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Further Reading:

Scottish independence: Ed Miliband calls on SNP to 'come clean' on currency

Banks ‘could quit’ if dollarisation used post-Yes

Ed Miliband Says The Poorest Would Suffer If Scotland Went Independent

Salmond's Scottish Independence Plans Could Harm Businesses, Warn MPs

The Yes Scotland and the SNP’s Plan B for Currency Union, Plan B will not work

Independence Would Be 'Disastrous' For Scotland's Banks, Says Report

Blair Humphreys

8^th August 2014

Southport, Merseyside, England

Black and white flag similar to ones used by jihadis is hoisted outside east London housing estate Daily Mail

Anti-extremism campaigners condemn 'provocative' act in Tower Hamlets

Flag contains script used by all Muslims but design often used by jihadists

Emblem has caused offence and the local council intervened to remove it

Local campaigners had already pulled it down but Palestinian flag remains

A controversial black and white flag similar to one championed by Muslim extremists has been hoisted over an east London estate.

The emblem was hung alongside the Palestinian flag in Poplar, Tower Hamlets - often referred to as an 'Islamic Republic' in the capital. 

Anti-extremist campaigners said today the raising of the black flag was a 'provocative' act and undermined legitimate anger about the crisis in Gaza. 

One man who objected to it says he was confronted by a gang of youths who asked him: 'Are you a Jew?'.

When he said: 'Would it make a difference?' they responded: 'Yes it f****** would', according to the Guardian.

The black and white flag has the Shahadatayn - the declaration of faith that all Muslims say - written on it, which translates as 'There is no god but God, Muhammad is the messenger of God'.

But in recent years versions has been hijacked by extremist supporters of the Taliban, Hamas, al-Shabaab, Al Qaeda and ISIS.

It is not clear who raised the flag on the Will Crooks Estate - named after the local MP and noted Victorian-era anti-poverty campaigner - but it has caused offence.

Read more here:

Alex Salmond on the ropes: Bookies say he’s 4/1 to stand down as First Minister, Daily Express, updated

EMBATTLED Alex Salmond was ­fighting on two fronts last night to quell growing SNP rage over his disastrous TV debate and save his currency plans.

Questions were raised about the First Minister’s future after senior lieutenants started briefing against him following his defeat to Alistair Darling in the live showdown.

Last night, bookmakers William Hill offered odds of 4/1 that Mr Salmond would stand down before the next Holyrood elections in 2016.

The plotting came amid renewed splits in the Yes camp with nationalist figureheads Jim Sillars and Dennis Canavan demanding a Scottish currency.

However, their guns may well have been spiked as Mr Salmond sparked a fresh battle for an independent Scotland to retain sterling, declaring: “It’s our pound and we’re keeping it.”

The SNP leader give his clearest hint yet this could mean using the pound without a formal currency union with the rest of the UK – an option known as dollarisation or the Panama option. He also repeated his threat that a breakaway country would refuse to accept its share of the UK’s national debt unless a deal was made.

But there was more embarrassment for Mr Salmond when it emerged that his own blueprint for secession contained a serious error in dealing with the currency for a go-it-alone Scotland.

Read more here:

Banks ‘could quit’ if dollarisation used post-Yes

Comment:

It is interesting that Mr Salmond keeps insisting that a break away Scotland will keep the Pound ,  this is known as dollarization or the Panama option,  (Panama uses the US Dollar as it’s currency) this would be known as de-facto or unofficial currency substitution,  The main UK parties have already said that there will be no sterling zone or currency union between England, Wales and Northern Ireland and a break away Scotland, despite this Mr Salmond insists that Scotland will keep the Pound and if he isn’t allowed to use the Pound,  an independent Scotland will not pay it’s fair share of the UK national debt,  a majority of international financial organisations including  France’s  Societe Generale  have stated  that any official or  unofficial currency union would affect Scotland greatly and if Scotland’s defaults on it’s international debts, Scotland would face  economic  hardship, Alex’s Salmond’s plans are economically incoherent, and Scotland with  the rest of the UK  forming a Sterling Zone isn’t an option. It’s interesting that using the Pound in an un-official currency union is known as the Panama option,  any student of Scottish History or British History will know  the results of what  happened the last time Scotland took a Panama option see The Darien Colony.

Brazil’s ‘Billionaire Bishop’ Builds $300M Solomon’s Temple Replica

Brazil’s ‘Billionaire Bishop’ Builds $300M Solomon’s Temple Replica

A 10,000-seat rendition of Solomon's Temple was inaugurated last week in São Paulo, Brazil, owned by the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God.

The large 11-story complex has a helicopter landing pad, allowing Universal Church founder and Brazil's "billionaire bishop," Edir Macedo, to drop in for sermons. It also features an oasis of olive trees similar to the garden of Gethsemane near Jerusalem and more than 30 towering columns.

"The Universal Church spared no expense," Rogério Araújo told The New York Times. "We sought to build a colossus, something that would make people stop and gaze, and that's what we deliver/

10 Reasons God Needs You to Show Courage in the Pulpit - Ministry Today

The Lord is for me; I will not fear. What can man do to me?" (Psalm 118:6. See also Heb. 13:5-6)

I read that scripture-–especially the Hebrews 13:5-6 incarnation-–and smile.  Asking "what can man do to me?" is kind of like asking for it, isn't it? Daring them to "bring it on."

The answer of course is that man can do a great deal to you. But the bottom line—and the point of the scripture—is that ultimately, with God being "for me," it does not matter.

Nothing matters so much as our being one with the heavenly Father.

Can we talk about courage? This is as rare as plutonium these days, particularly among the very people who should demonstrate it most readily, followers of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Only two people in the church need courage: the one in the pulpit and the one in the pew.

The messenger of God in the pulpit needs courage for a thousand reasons. Here are 10:

1. To preach the whole counsel of God no matter who may disapprove—and to sweeten that preaching when his flesh is involved and wants to "lower the boom" on certain people. Graciousness takes courage also.

Read more here:

Further Reading:

Church Leadership, The Load Bearing Walls of the Church

Some thoughts on Christian Leadership/Church Leadership

Blackpool Rocks, What I learned on a trip to Blackpool, a perspective on Pastoral Ministry

Elders & Deacons in the Church

Tom Holland on our island story: what England and Scotland share politically and morally, New Statesman

Magna Carta and the Declaration of Arbroath, Boswell and Johnson, Walter Scott and Disraeli, Robert Owen and Keir Hardie – Scotland and England have long mirrored each other in many ways, says Tom Holland.

The Tarbat Peninsula, a spit of land sticking out from the northernmost Scottish Highlands, seems an unlikely spot for a revolution. At its tip stands a lighthouse, built by Robert Louis Stevenson’s uncle back in 1830 after a deadly storm in the adjacent Moray Firth; a few miles south lies the tiny fishing village of Portmahomack. Most visitors there today are tourists, attracted by its picturesque harbour and sandy beach; but back in the mid-6th century it was the scene of a momentous experiment.

A band of ascetics, wandering enthusiasts for an exotic new religion named Christianity, arrived at the court of a local king. Simultaneously intrigued and suspicious, he granted them some unwanted land on which to found a community. “The Haven of Saint Colmóc” – “Port Mo Chalmaig” – was the first ever monastery on the coast of Easter Ross. For 250 years, until it was destroyed by a terrible fire at the beginning of the 9th century, Portmahomack was one of the most celebrated places in Britain.

That it is impossible to be certain who either the king or “Saint Colmóc” was reminds us just how dark the Dark Ages can be. Various shocking details were reported of the people among whom Portmahomack was founded. It was said that they had come from Scythia; that they fought naked; that they were ruled by women who kept whole troupes of husbands. Most notoriously of all, they were reported to tattoo themselves: a barbarous habit that had led them to being nicknamed “Picti”, or “painted people”. A people more hostile to the norms of southern lands it would have been hard to imagine. Even the Romans had given up trying to tame them. Yet where the legions had failed, a hardy band of monks had succeeded. An outpost of Mediterranean culture had been successfully planted in the farthest north.

The coming of Christianity to Pictland was part of a much broader process that ultimately united the whole of Great Britain in a common religious culture. Pagan rulers, when they submitted to baptism, were rarely signing up to the poverty and pacifism preached by monks. What appealed instead was the awesome potency of the Christian God. Membership of the Church attracted those with broad horizons and a taste for self-enrichment.

Yet conversion to Christianity was never a one-way street. At Portmahomack, the missionaries were influenced by native customs, as well as vice versa. The tradition of holy men possessed of a privileged relationship to the supernatural was not unknown to the Picts. Even the tonsure worn by the monks derived from the Druids. The very stonework of the monastery was incised with patterns already ancient when the Romans had first arrived in Britain. The decision to become Christian did not, for the peoples of Pictland, imply surrender to an alien power. Rather, it reflected a creative engagement with the world beyond their various kingdoms.

Read more here:

Further Reading:

Give us your Plan B, Alex': After TV debate humiliation, Salmond urged to come clean about his alternative to keeping the pound.

Successful partnerships or unions depend on give and take. Political unions provide for this. Money raised from taxpayers can then be transferred to wherever in the union needs it: in bad times and good, and over time. Our Union, as the UK including Scotland, has worked like that pretty well over the past 300 years.

Mr Salmond and his colleagues in the SNP are using the people not only of Scotland but the people of  the rest of the United Kingdom to serve their grandiose egos., 

“The best way to keep the pound would be through a currency union like today,” said Sir Martin Jacomb, former chairman of Prudential, and Sir Andrew Large, former deputy governor of the Bank of England. This is not compatible with Scotland being politically independent, and is therefore not on offer,”

Eric Pickles's appointment as Faith Minister is bad news for secularists, The New Statesman, The appointment of Eric Pickles to Faith Minister causes a right pickle for atheists

The Communities Secretary is a fierce defender of religious privilege. 

Earlier today, as Westminster reacted to Boris Johnson's announcement that he will stand for parliament in 2015, David Cameron carried out the mini-reshuffle necessitated by Baroness Warsi's resignation. Baroness Anelay, previously Lords Chief Whip, has replaced the Tory peer as Minister of State at the Foreign Office (attending cabinet), and Lord Taylor has taken Anelay's old post. Lord Bates has replaced Taylor as Under Secretary of State at the Home Office.

But the most eye-catching change is the transfer of Warsi's faith brief (which she hung onto after her demotion in 2012) to Eric Pickles. The Communities Secretary has regularly used his platform to attack secularists, declaring earlier this year that Britain is a "Christian nation" and that "militant atheists" should "get over it". That outburst was prompted by a legal bid by the National Secular Society to prevent local councils including prayers as part of their official agenda. He said:

I’ve stopped an attempt by militant atheists to ban councils having prayers at the start of meetings if they wish. Heaven forbid. We’re a Christian nation. We have an established church. Get over it. And don’t impose your politically correct intolerance on others.

Read more here:

New faith minister worries secularists

New faith minister worries secularists







Communities Secretary Eric Pickles has been handed the responsibilities of Faith Minister in a move criticised by a secularist campaigner.

David Cameron announced the change following the departure of Baroness Warsi earlier this week.

In April this year, Pickles sparked debate by saying that militant atheists should “get over” Britain being a “Christian nation.”

Controversial

He has previously taken a strong stance on matters involving religious liberty.

While addressing the Conservative Spring Forum, the Government minister called on atheists to stop imposing their “politically correct intolerance on others”.

And in a speech last year, he warned that traditional religious freedoms were being threatened by secularists.

'State funeral' for King Richard III who will be reburied at Leicester Cathedral, Daily Express

The  body of King Richard III will be reburied at Leicester Cathedral next March.

A reinterment service will take place at the cathedral on March 26 following a week of events in Leicestershire to honour the monarch.

The remains will be transferred into a lead-lined coffin at Leicester University on March 22 and will travel by hearse to Bosworth for a day of events marking the king's final movements.

The journey will see the hearse travel through villages that were significant to the monarch's final days ahead of a service in Bosworth.

The king, who reigned from 1483, was killed at the Battle of Bosworth in August 1485.

The coffin will then return to Leicester Cathedral in the early evening where a service of reception will be attended by guests invited by David Monteith, the Dean of Leicester.

The monarch's remains will then lie in repose, his coffin covered with a commissioned pall, for three days to allow for members of the public to pay their respects

Read more here:

Further Reading here:

My kingdom for the Force! Richard III model blasted for looking like a STORMTROOPER,

Heir Ambulance: Prince William to take job as 999 helicopter pilot on £40,000-a-year and will give it all to charity Daily Mail

Prince William will start new job in East Anglia next year after six months of training

·        He is the first senior royal to sign a job contract and pay income tax and NI

·        William will work shifts starting at 7am and 4.30pm in 999 call out team

·        He will be responding to major car crashes and medical emergencies         Cambridges will be spending more time at Anmer Hall in Sandringham .   New job means he will not be a 'frontline' royal until at least the age of 35

Prince William will next month begin training for a new job as an air ambulance pilot, Kensington Palace formally confirmed today.

The future king will fly emergency helicopters for the East Anglian Air Ambulance for at least two years from next spring following a six month conversion course.

In doing so he will be the first direct heir to the throne to become an ordinary PAYE company employee, it can be revealed.

A spokesman for William – who quit his previous role as an RAF Search and Rescue pilot last September - described his new role as a ‘one of the finest forms of public service’.

‘He is hugely motivated by the idea of being able to help people in difficult and challenging situations. The air ambulance service does truly outstanding work and the Duke of Cambridge wants to make his own contribution to it,’ he said.

But William’s decision to once again put off full-time public duties in favour of a new role – one to which he has committed for more than two and a half years - means that he will not become a frontline royal until at least the age of 35.

With the Queen and Prince Philip aged 88 and 93 respectively, some royal-watchers believe there is a pressing need for William and Kate to step up to the plate and shoulder their fair share of royal engagements.

Read more here:

Further Reading:

An extraordinary person' Prince William takes to skies again as air ambulance pilot