Wednesday, 6 August 2014

Militant Spanish mayor plans invasion of Gibraltar in anti-British protest, Daily Express

A MILITANT Spanish mayor has announced plans to occupy Gibraltar with thousands of supporters in a one-day protest to claim the disputed territory for Spain.

Communist Juan Manuel Sanchez Gordillo made headlines two years ago after organising Robin Hood-style raids on supermarkets and handouts of the stolen food to poor families.

Now the left-wing union he leads is preparing for a mass invasion of the Rock on August 29.

Gordillo, mayor of the town of Marinaleda near Seville as well as head of the Andalucian Workers Union, has claimed they will cross the border peacefully.

But he has insisted on keeping secret the details on how he and his supporters will get into Gibraltar, hinting union members could cross by foot and car as well as arriving by plane and boat before staging their headline-grabbing protest.

Around 2,000 people are expected to take part although the union has 20,000 members and is hoping for support on the day from Spaniards who work on the Rock or are visiting as tourists.

Mr Sanchez, who boasts of running his town like a communist utopia, told a Spanish paper: "We will enter Gibraltar from different points and then see what we do. "It will be a peaceful demonstration but a very revindicative one."We have to take advantage of the surprise factor to be able to achieve our aims."

Britain's first armed police on routine patrol, BBC, Why on Earth, do we need armed police ?

In a little-noticed move, a small number of police officers are now routinely carrying sidearms while on patrol in much of Scotland - the first in the UK outside Northern Ireland to do so. How did this come about, and does it alter the relationship between the constabulary and the public?

Saturday night in Inverness. Outside a McDonald's restaurant, a scuffle between two men breaks out. Three police officers arrive to intervene. So far, so mundane.

Except that strapped around the hips of each of the policemen approaching the brawl is a holstered Glock 17 semi-automatic pistol.

It's a sight that once would have been unthinkable. In this corner of the Scottish Highlands - an area with one of the lowest crime rates in the UK - the officers showing up to a relatively workaday disturbance are armed.

Although every police force has a firearms unit, for decades it has been an article of faith that in the mainland UK, almost uniquely among major industrialised nations, the police do not carry guns as a matter of course.

But with little fanfare at first, a policy of routinely allowing specialist officers to wear sidearms as they walk the streets of Scotland has come into being.

COMMENT: Bookmakers were wrong to tip gambler Alex Salmond in independence TV debate, Scottish Daily Express

alex salmond, alistair darling, independence, referendum, hopeless, crushed dream, ducking question, currency, Scotland, Scottish, debate

The bookies obviously reflect the mood of their punters, who do not as a rule enjoy taking too many risks with their hard-earned cash.

But sometimes bookies, and their punters, can be wrong, and last night they were.

Almost everyone has at least a grudging admiration for the swashbuckling, everconfident manner of Mr Salmond - which is why he was the bookies' favourite - but with little more than a month before the referendum, most people were watching from the comfort and safety of their own homes.

And they will have been looking for reassurance and stability.

Now that we are virtually on the last lap of this seemingly interminable campaign, the thought of taking the kinds of risks that Alex Salmond and his Nationalist supporters propose is distinctly unappealing.

Mr Salmond, as lubricious as ever, did not fail his admirers.

But most of last night's viewers, I suspect, would not wish to follow this man - and his wonky financial nous - into the dense thicket of uncertainty he proposes.

That is why, in the absence of any immediate verdict by STV's 350-strong audience, last night's winner - out there in the real world - was Alistair Darling.

He was never going to set the studio in Glasgow's Royal Conservatoire alight with his booming oratory, but his calm, incisive delivery, and his ability to unravel the untold consequences of Mr Salmond's reckless venture, will surely have told on the electorate.

Scotland’s accountants demand answers from nationalists | Better Together

Scotland’s accountants have picked apart the nationalists’ plans for a tax system in a separate Scotland in a crushing new report. In “Scotland’s Tax Future” ICAS, the body representing Scotland’s accountants, criticises the SNP’s lack of detail saying the nationalists are “virtually silent” on the matter in their plans to break up the UK.

The report clearly shows Scotland’s fiscal position is better off as part of the UK. With public spending £1300 higher than the UK average, we get a good deal out of the UK. If we were to separate this extra spending would be lost. It is clear that in the UK we have the best of both worlds; the ability to make the decisions that matter most to Scots here, backed up by the strength, stability and security of the UK.

The report, which is highly critical of several areas in the SNP’s manifesto for separation, says:

• The lack of numbers in the SNP’s plans “leaves a gap”, especially regarding the impact of oil and gas revenues on Scotland’s spending capacity.

Words for The Wise, From Basics to a Better Way, Hebrews 6 NASB

Hebrews 6 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

The Peril of Falling Away

6 Therefore leaving the [a]elementary teaching about the [b]Christ, let us press on to [c]maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, 2 of instruction about washings and laying on of hands, and the resurrection of the dead and eternal judgment. 3 And this we will do, if God permits. 4 For in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, 5 and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, 6 and then have fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, [d]since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame. 7 For ground that drinks the rain which often [e]falls on it and brings forth vegetation useful to those for whose sake it is also tilled, receives a blessing from God; 8 but if it yields thorns and thistles, it is worthless and close [f]to being cursed, and [g]it ends up being burned.

Better Things for You

9 But, beloved, we are convinced of better things concerning you, and things that [h]accompany salvation, though we are speaking in this way. 10 For God is not unjust so as to forget your work and the love which you have shown toward His name, in having ministered and in still ministering to the [i]saints. 11 And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence [j]so as to realize the full assurance of hope until the end, 12 so that you will not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.

13 For when God made the promise to Abraham, since He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself, 14 saying, “I will surely bless you and I will surely multiply you.” 15 And so, having patiently waited, he obtained the promise. 16 For men swear by [k]one greater than themselves, and with them an oath given as confirmation is an end of every dispute. 17 [l]In the same way God, desiring even more to show to the heirs of the promise the unchangeableness of His purpose, [m]interposed with an oath, 18 so that by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have [n]taken refuge would have strong encouragement to take hold of the hope set before us. 19 [o]This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters [p]within the veil, 20 where Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us, having become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.

The Bible Panorama

Hebrews 6

V 1–3: PROGRESS The readers are urged to progress from the foundational truths of the gospel in order to get to know God better. They are not told to abandon those truths, but to go on from them, as a boat would leave the harbour. It still needs that harbour!

V 4–6: PARTAKERS There are those who come to the very edge of faith in Christ and even partake of some of the Holy Spirit’s blessings (partake literally means ‘to go along with’) without ever having turned to Christ. Their hearts have become hardened by tasting God’s Word without taking it in, and by skirmishing around the border instead of entering into the blessing.

V 7–8: PARABLE The parable used here, of thorns and brambles coming up from the ground, reminds us that our fruit will show whether we are truly saved or not.

V 9–12: PERSUADED The writer, however, tells his readers that he is confident that they are saved and that there are things that accompany their salvation that he has noticed. This includes labouring in love for other Christians. He urges them to be diligent to walk with God day by day, through faith and patience, inheriting God’s promises.

V 13–18: PURPOSE Just as God confirmed His word and intentions through Abraham, He has confirmed it through His promise and His oath, fulfilled in Jesus Christ.

V 19–20: PRESENCE The Christian’s sure hope is anchored, as is his soul, in the presence of Jesus Christ in heaven. Like an anchor securing a boat, Jesus is there to ensure that those who trust in Him will be there with Him.

Dictionary of Bible Themes

6745 sanctification, nature and basis of

The process of renewal and consecration by which believers are made holy through the work of the Holy Spirit. Sanctification is the consequence of justification and is dependent upon a person being in a right relationship with God.

Sanctification is grounded in the holiness of God

God is holy Eze 39:7 See also Lev 22:32; Jos 24:19; Ps 30:4; Hos 11:9; Isa 6:3; Rev 6:10

God demands that his people should reflect his holiness Lev 19:2 See also Lev 11:44-45; Lev 20:7-8; Heb 2:11; 1Pe 1:15-16

Sanctification is the will of God for his people 1Th 4:3 See also Eph 1:4; Eph 2:10; 2Th 2:13; 1Pe 1:1-2

The basis for sanctification

God’s election of his people 1Co 1:2; Eph 1:4-11; 1Th 5:9

The atoning death of Jesus Christ Heb 13:12 See also Ro 6:11; Ro 7:4; Ro 8:2; 1Co 1:30; 1Co 6:11; Eph 5:25-27; Heb 10:10-14; 1Pe 2:5

The grace of God Lk 1:69-75; Php 2:13; 2Ti 1:9; Heb 12:10

The work of the Holy Spirit Ro 15:16; 2Th 2:13; 1Pe 1:2

The word of God Jn 17:17; Eph 5:25-26; 2Ti 3:16

The need for sanctification

The universal sinfulness of humanity Isa 64:6 See also Job 15:14-15; Ps 51:5; Ro 5:12-19; Eph 2:3

Enslavement to evil can only be broken through the death of Jesus Christ Jn 8:34-36 See also Ro 6:16-18; Ro 8:5-7; Eph 4:17-24

The need for renewal and growth 2Pe 3:18 See also Ro 12:1-2; Col 1:10; 1Th 4:3-6; Heb 6:1-3

The nature of sanctification

A process which has already been initiated 1Co 1:2; 1Co 6:11

A process of growth in holiness Ro 12:1-3; 2Co 3:18; Eph 4:15; 1Th 4:3-7; Heb 12:14; 1Pe 2:1-3; 2Pe 3:18

Consecration to God Ex 32:29; 1Ch 29:5; Pr 23:26; Ro 12:1

TODAY'S WORD FOR TODAY Prepare for Challenges ‘A sensible man watches for problems ahead and prepares to meet them.’ UCB

TODAY'S WORD FOR TODAY

Prepare for Challenges

‘A sensible man watches for problems ahead and prepares to meet them.’

Proverbs 27:12

The UCB Word for Today - 5 Aug 2014

The path to your God-given destiny will have different challenges, so you must expect them. Indeed you must prepare yourself to face them. Solomon wrote, ‘A sensible man watches for problems ahead and prepares to meet them.’ Wouldn’t you rather look ahead and prepare, instead of looking back with regret? Why does the Bible record the failures of great men like Abraham, Moses, Elijah and Peter? To give you hope; to let you know that nobody performs flawlessly; to help you believe if they can do it, by God’s grace you can too. The road to success has many potholes. You’ll fall into some—and they’re messy. Not only will you have to climb back out, you’ll have to dust yourself off, refocus, recommit, and keep going. Since failure is inevitable, why not make it your friend by examining each experience and growing stronger through it? Once you learn to do that, you won’t keep repeating the same mistakes, and you’ll become more emotionally and spiritually stable. Timelines change, resources dry up, assumptions prove false, plans and people fail. As comedian Bill Cosby quipped, ‘Nothing fits in a pigeonhole but a pigeon.’ As you walk the pathway to your God-given dream, remember the old Italian proverb: ‘Between saying and doing, many a pair of shoes is worn out’. No problem; you can get another pair of shoes! Just make sure you don’t wear out and give up. Here’s God’s promise to you: ‘Keep travelling steadily along His pathway and in due season He will honour you with every blessing’ (Psalms 37:34 TLB).

Read it here:

Independence referendum debate: Alistair Darling wins round one in televised clash with Alex Salmond, Daily Record, Updated

ALISTAIR DARLING won a shock victory  in the first referendum TV debate  last night as Alex Salmond came unstuck on the pound. The Better Together leader, an underdog before the start, hammered the First Minister relentlessly on the future of Scotland’s currency.

And when it was all over, 56 per cent of viewers surveyed in a snap ICM exit poll named Darling as the winner.The former Labour Chancellor had been widely expected to fall victim to Salmond’s feared debating skills.

But he put his SNP rival on the  rack with strong attacks over whether Scotland would keep the pound after a Yes vote.The bruising encounter early in the two-hour battle seemed to unsettle the First Minister, who went into the debate behind in the polls and knowing he needed a convincing victory.

Salmond rallied later to score strong points over Con-Dem welfare cuts, Trident and the Bedroom Tax.Darling also looked uncomfortable as the First Minister repeatedly challenged him to admit Scotland could be a “successful independent country”.

But the future of the pound – seen by many as the key issue in the race to September 18 – was Salmond’s downfall.

Yes Scotland ridiculed after issuing a guide telling supporters what to say on social media during TV debate

“The Scottish Government’s own figures show a separate Scotland’s finances would be in a weaker position than the UK’s 2016/17 thanks to declining North Sea oil revenues. But the guide told supporters in bold type that “we will be in a stronger financial position in the first years of independence than we are today.”

Alex Salmond accused of a 'huge deception' over his plans for a currency union after a Yes vote

"Alex Salmond claims that nothing much will change, that threats otherwise are a bluff and that Scotland would keep the pound sterling - but although Scotland could keep using the pound, to promise 'no change' is a huge deception: the consequences would be enormous."

Alex Salmond And Alistair Darling Clash Over Currency In First Scottish Independence Debate. PA/Huffington Post UK

Scottish independence TV debate: First blood to Alistair Darling as he clashes over currency with Alex Salmond in televised Yes/No debate

FMQs: Alex Salmond defends independence pound plan