Archive for Creative Writing

Bishop’s letter to (the) Giboff

February 9, 2012 jonathanbishop No comments

My dear parents Christened my Jonathan, which means ‘God has given’ because they knew I was going to be special. They thought of calling my Thomas, after my grandmother’s maiden name, but that means ‘twin’ and they knew I was the one and only.

I heard something about someone came to them in a dream to tell them not to be afraid because conceiving me was fine as there would be some good news for them. They weren’t married at the time, and they didn’t want me to turn into a right bastard, so they made sure they got married before having me.

This guy came on to the maternity ward with his ewe and asked to see me. One of the male nurses said, “Dai, have you been stealing sheep from Celyn Farm again?”

There were these three weirdos who came to see me at East Glamorgan where I was born with gifts. They were wearing these silly party hat crowns. I later found out they were my step-brothers and sisters. They were worried. They told my parents that the Tafia were looking to kill me, because they knew my good news about the benefits of parental choice and the market and competition in education was not something they wanted to hear.

Then years went by, and in my thirties, I realised that I was not a naughty boy, I was a prophesy to warn the authorities that the children of this time, would be equally and individualistic and challenging of their authority. These children would not be willing to accept what their teacher said, when the great Jimbo Wales proclaimed otherwise. Nor would they accept the teacher was any better than them, and would expect to be seen as equals. What became clear was that my life, of a fight for the right to my voice, and respect for my own choices, and my desire to assert my identity due to my interactions with technology became the norm, and all those who saw my as a deviant full of self importance became nobodies of a forget past, where their desire for sameness and commonality and their resentment of anyone with individual achievement were as welcomed as Simon Cowell at a job interview, or the Queen at a Irish Republican Convention.

Creative Writing

The Fall and End of Man

September 26, 2011 jonathanbishop No comments

Original Sin, as it is called, says that the Fall of Man was when Adam and Eve Betrayed God. Go said to them, ‘the day that eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil you shall surely die’.

He was not speaking to Adam and Eve as individuals, but as Man and Woman, who are our evolutionary ancestors as humans that split us off from primates.

Humans will never stop growing until they know as much as God. The Fall of Man was a mere trip over a stone on the garden path, and to think otherwise is to not see the wood for trees. It is human’s pursuit of the truth about a reality we can’t access that drives us, and will lead to the End of Man.

Money can’t grow an economy, but machines, goods and knowledge can. The servant will not become a master by wearing his master’s shoes and walking his master’s path, nor talking and feeling like him. Only by a constant revolution of developing knowledge, goods and machines that will make his master redundant will things become better for him and fellow humans, and lead to humans finding the cure for poverty and privilege.

Man has never stopped trying to know as much as God. He built the tower of Babylon, a co-operative enterprise, to be as tall as God, another fall of Man, but he kept his flag flying, knowing he is not a hopeless case, being lifted up to new horizons by humans, in the hope his dreams would one day come true.

Every thought a human has is an embodiment of the nakedness of Adam and Eve. It is only through science and technology that humans can ever know as much as God. The medicines that cure, the instruments that give precision, are human’s root to knowing all God knows. If other humans cannot see one’s knowledge, then there is no way humans as a collective can know as much as God.

Judgement Day shall not be any date on any imaginary calendar where Man will be lifted from his shadows, but the day that Man will be out of luck. He will have been over the world, and will move nowhere, as he will know so much that he destroys himself and his fellow human beings. All things will fall apart, Man will be brought down to the start, and humans will have to start again to lift Man out of the shadows.

 

Creative Writing, Faith & Religion: Mixed - Anglican Solomonite and Gnostic Scientist

Privacy and God’s law

September 23, 2011 jonathanbishop No comments

The privacy of children who do not know the consequence of their actions and those whom they may trust is sacrament. It was not until Adam and Eve started human’s evolutionary journey towards knowing as much as God through eating the forbidden fruit that they realised the consequences of their actions [Genesis 3:7]. This loss of innocence due to the deception of the serpent should not be repeated. Anyone who so denies a child of their innocence will need to ask for the forgiveness of Christ on the Day of Judgment.

Revelation says that on Judgment Day the forces of evil will be embodied in one man who shall go by the number of 666 [Revelation 13:18]. Therefore it is forbidden to number humans as if they were unsacred cows and by providing means to reveal their identity through the use of an identifying serial number in place of their real name, except on Judgment Day.

The privacy of public figures should be protected so as to protect those who worship them as idols against God’s law [Exodus 34:17], whom are not able to protect themselves from exploitation.

People should never forget that God is all seeing. Until the day that science has advanced to the stage that humans know as much as God then they shall use available scientific knowledge to ensure fellow humans know they are being watched over and protected.

Creative Writing, Faith & Religion: Mixed - Anglican Solomonite and Gnostic Scientist

A dash of autism in Irish rugby

September 18, 2011 jonathanbishop No comments

I follow Dara O’Briain on Twitter – he just said he’s about to watch the Ireland game. He’s a funny guy and here is a joke about Ireland -where he’s from – and autism, a condition I have.

Most people have heard of Gary McKinnon, the autistic computer hacker. People with autism like things to be in order. They eat the same food on the same day and wear the same style clothes week in week out.

Most of the Irish are autistic. They always do things in twos:

They have two religions;

For each of those religions they have two political parties;

And each of those political parties have two leaders.

Ireland would have two rugby teams – but with the trouble in Greece at the moment the EU will only pay for one rugby stadium.

 

 

 

An lonely on-looker's diary - The world through the eyes of an Aspie, Creative Writing

Another story about the implications of a Yes vote on March 3

February 6, 2011 jonathanbishop No comments

It is 2111 AD, Wales is reaching a new state of terror not seen since Owain Glyndwr’s campaign of pillaging villages. The Welsh Assembly had until one year earlier been peacefully using its legislative powers granted a century earlier. During the last 100 years it had restored the rights of the Freemen of Llantrisant and reopened the coal mines.

But the politics of Wales had changed. There was widespread anger about the rise of the supermarket corporation Ashcroft’s Food Stores Plc and their domination of the local economies. A year earlier the Conservative and Liberal Democrat Government at Westminster had put a referendum to the people about withdrawing from the EU and the European Convention and there was a resounding ‘yes’ vote. Within months of a new election the BNP gained control of the Assembly, based on a manifesto commitment of ending the suppression of Welsh people, who by Ashcroft’s squeezing the profits of farmers and predatory pricing which after the anti-Europe referendums was made legal.

They introduced legislation, using the powers granted in 2011, which mandated that any employee of Ashcroft’s had to pay for healthcare and education. There was no way of escaping. They had already fortified Offa’s Dyke with a Hadrian-like wall and closed off all the ferries to keep the immigrants out.

Towards the end of the Assembly’s term deformities in children at birth were common due to the lack of diversification of DNA. The Ashcroft’s employees were starting to die out.

The new female President of Turkey, Georjena Blajer, which was now part of the EU, decried the human rights abuses in Wales as abhorrent and called on the First Minister, Nick ap Kirsty to give up their power and all their weapons arsenal. The Emperor of China, Ton Bu, where coal supplies were all but exhausted convinced the United Nations to pass a resolution calling on Wales to give up its arsenal of weapons else there would be serious consequence.

The UN weapons inspector Dai Kenry, a former exile from Wales was allowed to enter and found no evidence of any weapons. Even so, secret spies, travelling in a taxi claimed the taxi driver told them that the Assembly could launch weapons in 45 minutes. Other evidence showed that ap Kirsty had tried to source uranium from Iran, now a peaceful county with nuclear weapons that hadn’t been used since they first got them 25 years earlier due to the election of its first every President, Margaret Merkle convincing the UN Security Council that they were necessary to make the chance of a nuclear holocaust less likely, because of the educated women’s influence on their husbands explaining to them about the theories they learned at university called ‘The Prisoner Dilemma’ and ‘Mutually Assured Destruction’.

Ton Bu, elected only a few months earlier told his cabinet that they needed to secure the supplies of coal, but he thought he could convince the public to accept it if he convinced Georjena Blajer to end her mantra on human rights, as he knew that meant they would have to defend the ‘˜slippery slope’ argument about why they aren’t taking action in North Korbabwe.

Ton Bu phoned Georjena Blajer and told her that they needed to remove Nick ap Kirsty from power, by declaring war on Wales, but he would have to give up his human rights argument. ‘But our Attorney General says that if we use the human rights doctrine, then the war will be completely legal’, said Georjena Blajer. ‘That doesn’t matter’, said Ton Bu, ‘If we pretend that Wales actually does have weapons of mass destruction, then we’ll be able to remove ap Kirsty from power, and ensure the coal doesn’t fall into the wrong hands, what do you reckon?’ ‘But wouldn’t it be better to get a Second UN Resolution’ said Georjena Blajer. ‘I DON’T CARE ABOUT THE LAW BLAJER ‘“ I’M GOING IN WHETHER YOU’RE WITH ME OR WITHOUT ME!’ said Ton Bu. ‘Okay, okay’, said Georjena Blajer, ‘I’ll see what I can do’

Months later, Wales was in Chinese control, after a bloody war, which the rest of the international community decried. The first thing Ton Bu did was to re-introduce the death penalty, which was possible without the Human Rights Act. Within days ap Kirsty had been sentenced for war crimes, and the democratic processes that had served Wales well for over 100 years fell into disarray. Druids, were now regularly abused by the police, who were being trained by the Chinese armed forces, committed even worse than the suffering under ap Kirsty.

Meanwhile, the Llantrisant Government who maintained their rights to self-governance even during the ap Kirsty met do discussed how they could remove the First Minister imposed by the Chinese and Turkish rule, Ben Ali Gadtaffi. They came up with the idea of bringing into force ‘˜Operation Valley Boy’, which was set up by ap Kirsty to protect himself in the event of a coup.

Armed with only a longbow as  all the other weapons had been seized, but archery had been reintroduced as a mandatory sport on Sundays, they Councillor Protector of the Llantrisant Government, Rhodri Jones, took off to the Assembly to present one of its Bills to the Assembly.

The Senedd, once a beacon of what can be achieved in a democracy of consensus, resembled nothing like it did 100 years, no one would be able to see any of the proceedings in progress.

In searching for a possibility to launch he met a fairly educate and communicable woman, known as Maid Dafyddson. He asked her some details about herself. She said, ‘I used to be the Assembly Member for Pontypandy, things have surely changed around here, and not for the better’. ‘Why don’t you do something about it?’ ‘That would be a conflict of interest’, Maid Dafyddson said, ‘I can’t do that’. ‘But what about the Druids, surely we should do something for them?’, ‘They already have Stonehenge back in West Wales; we can’t do anything else for them, that would be doubling up on the benefits of the State they can enjoy’.

Knowing he wasn’t going to get anywhere, Rhodri Jones looked around for some way to get into the debating chamber where Ben Ali Gadtaffi had his war room. After gaining access to the chamber through bribing the guard, Neil Chaytor. He saw next to Gadtaffi someone called Cher Clickton, and was shocked and thought ‘How is she still here? I thought they had overthrown the previous rulers.’ After recovering it all became clear. He remembered reading in the Western Observer about her always taking the Assembly to court doing the human rights abused, always winning and getting big payouts. He also remembered reading about Clickton’s powers of seduction to gain control over any political leader’s mind in order to get what she wanted: Her chance of being leader. It then clicked, it was her that was responsible of all the human rights abuses of Nick ap Kirsty, and the influence over Ben Ali Gadtaffi to introduce the death penalty – the more cases he fought the more money she got and more credibility to get elected. ‘She has to be stopped’.

Gaining access to the chamber without being seen he went to position himself for the execution. Looking around him he could see only men, except Cher Clikton. The once beacon of gender equality had become a workingmen’s club, for the demagogues imposed on the people of Wales. Angered he prepared and launched his arrow at her. Straight through the heart, she died instantly. There was a sudden cheer of relief. Years of threats and blackmail were over. The assembled men lifted up their fingers in a V-sign and gestured it toward Clickton. Within months, Turkish and Chinese had rule had ended. Elections were held and the public elected their politicians. Sir Tom Jones, was appointed First Minister, and Baroness Morgan of Ely the Speaker. Within days the Dangerous Demagogues Act was passed which meant that Wales would never be subject to oppressive rule again. The Act contained the following paragraphs:

Politicians bred for bullying

(1)This section applies to-

(a)any politician of the type known as the pit bull roberts;

(b)any politician of the type known as the Trallwn tosa; and

(c)any politician of any type designated for the purposes of this section by an order of the First Minister, being a type appearing to him to be bred for bullying or to have the characteristics of a type bred for that purpose, or one which refuses to abide by the Nolan Principles.

(2)No person shall-

(a)breed, or breed from, a politician to which this section applies;

(b)sell or exchange such a politician or offer, advertise or expose such a politican for sale or exchange;

(c)make or offer to make a gift of such a politician or advertise or expose such a politican as a gift;

(d)allow such a politician of which he is the owner or of which he is for the time being in charge to be in a public place without being muzzled and kept on a lead; or

(e) abandon such a politician of which he is the owner or, being the owner or for the time being in charge of such a politician, allow it to stray.

(3) Any politician or other natural person not falling within section (1) shall be required when standing for election under the Misrepresentation of the People’s Act 2010 to provide the following information:

(a) disclose their most recent opinions on the answers to the Citizenship test set by the First Minister and make it available in a means that it can be easily accessed by the public.

(a) disclose whether they have any of the following protected characteristics: age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion and belief, sex, sexual orientation.

(4) If there is any politician who either does not fulfill the requirements of (3) or falls within (1), the First Minister, on application of 10 percent of the members of the public in that politician’s constituency shall call a by-election. That politician will have the right to stand in that election, provided that they have not reached the threshold of disqualification set by the standards committee of the National Assembly for Wales.

The next ten years transformed the democratic process in Wales. Only those with the honesty and integrity and willingness not to abuse their power were kept in office. The once deprived Rhondda Valleys were returned to their past glory. People were aspirational once again, as only the politicians who were willing to put their constituents before themselves and their party got elected and stayed in power.

 

Creative Writing, Uncategorized

A science fiction story about the Welsh Assembly Referendum in 2011

February 2, 2011 jonathanbishop 2 comments

It is April 1 2011. Just under a month ago, the Welsh Assembly was awarded primary legislative powers, in an overwhelming victory for the Yes campaign.

After having read a letter in the South Wales Evening Post a few months earlier, Sean Connery pours his millions into hiring the best lawyers to fulfil his independence dreams. The Supreme Court, considering UK and European constitutional law rules that because Wales and Scotland are unicameral nations, needing only permission of the Queen to make a law, they should be considered sovereign nations and therefore independent.

Panic strikes Downing Street. Depty Prime Minister Nick Clegg frantically calls his Prime Minister David Cameron: ‘Dave, Dave, we’ve lost control of Wales and Scotland – the Courts said we can’t control them anymore, what can we do?’. “Calm down Nick, calm Nick, I’m sure there’s something” – “You could be right Dave – YES THERE IS! I remember learning at my exclusive school in Westminster that when people elect a Parliament it can do whatever it wants, and overrule the Courts’, ‘So Nick, we can put a Bill through Parliament and reverse the decision? But won’t the public hate us?”, “Don’t you worry yourself Dave, I’m fully prepare for this – I did a degree in Social Anthropology at the elite Cambridge University, there is nothing about manipulating the people I don’t know about”, “Ok, but what about Churchill, he sent in the troops, I don’t want to be as hated as he is”, “He was both Conservative and Liberal Dave, only hated in his time – the silly sops voted him their greatest Briton recently, so they’ll forgive us”

Days later, emergency legislation is in Parliament. The news hits Cardiff – The Plaid/Labour administration goes into disarray. There are mass protests on the streets. Government buildings are trashed, police are hospitalised as they lose control, refuse goes uncollected for weeks, sewer systems burst, filling the streets with sewerage, there are sounds of children crying, dogs howling, and police sirens wailing.

The Prime Minister declares a State of Emergency, but continues to push his legislation through. The House of Lords does everything in its  power to stop it, from making amendment after amendment, debate after debate, but each time the old Etonian and Westminster boys send it back. They make no changes, after the third attempt it goes through and becomes law. Wales is now under full control of the Secretary of State for Wales.

The Government send in the Army, for many people it is like the Tonypandy riots and miners strikes rolled into one, but with greater intensity. The UN gets involved and issues a resolution against the United Kingdom. David Cameron, using every trick he learned on the playing fields of Eton clings to power. Peace keepers enter the UK, trying to restore order.

The UK is in disarray, the whole world is watching. Iran place sanctions on all UK arms imports. China dismisses the repressive nature of United Kingdom politics as the most abhorrent in history. All Northern Ireland parties issue a statement calling on the people of Wales and Scotland to cease their violence and engage in peaceful negotiation.

In the mists of what might be Wales and the UK’s darkest hour since the Second World War, two businessmen, from modest backgrounds consider the implications. One of them, Lord Alan Sugar, upset and disgusted about how powerless he was to stop the law going through Parliament, because of a centuries old Act of Parliament that didn’t even go through the Lords before getting Royal Assent. Feeling in a state of guilt, he looks through all the news to see what started it all, and whether there was anything that could have been done different. He comes across a report of how Sean Connery used the Supreme Court to change things, and thought that he could try to do the same.

He contacts his friend, Michael Moritz, fellow state-school educated entrepreneur and millionaire. They hire the same lawyers, who worked on Sean Connery’s case. Some of them were graduates from former polytechnics, only getting as far as they could because Labour introduced tuition fees so their university was able to provide more places on their law courses. Some of them had only got as far as they did, because they went to school when the Assisted Places scheme was in place, so even though their parents were poor, they could have access to private education, which made it easier for them to get into Oxford, without the snobbery that they went to a state school that others experience.

Months later, after argument after argue, legal case citation after legal citation, the Supreme Court rules that for the reason that one House of Parliament has no greater supremacy than the other and in considering the balance been conflict case law and precedent, that the decision that manifestos carry ‘no legitimate expectations’ should be reversed, and the rule that one House cannot obstruct the other if there is a manifesto commitment should be interpreted to mean that an Act of Parliament should not be passed unless it is part of a manifesto commitment.

As both Houses are now equal, the Queen calls upon Baroness Thatcher and asks her if she wants to form a government – she agrees. Both Chambers quickly agree a Constitutional Reform Act. A referendum is held in Great Britain and Northern Ireland, on whether the House of Lords and Commons should be merged and called the ‘House of Representatives’, which consider of citizen’s appointed on the basis of the national parliament’s individual criteria for recognising the people who have made the greatest contribution and sacrifices for society. Parliaments are proposed in England, Scotland, and Wales, and their Bills have to be pass both the national legislative and Westminister’s House of Representatives, with Northern Ireland staying unchanged. It also proposes that ultimate sovereignty should reside in the Supreme Court, not in the national legislatures, House of Representatives, nor or the newly created directly elected Executive, who can’t transfer any power to Europe or any other international body, without the treaties first being scrutinised by the House of Representatives, and only then after an resolution being passed in each of the legislatures in Northern Ireland, Wales, Scotland and England.

There is a resounding ‘Yes’ vote. UN peace keepers leave, and early elections are held, for the first ever directly elected Prime Minister, the first cabinet appointed by proportional representation, and elections to legislative bodies. For the first time in history, power is given to the judiciary over politicians, control to the British nations and Northern Ireland who are affected by the decisions is consider by the European Court of Human Rights as the level at which margins of appreciation are assessed. The public are granted protection from each legislature’s politicians and the Prime Minister and his Executive, through all laws having to be agreed by the ordinary people at the House of Representatives in Westminster and subject to interpretation of  the Supreme Court in Middlesex Guildhall on London’s Parliament Square, under the principle of ‘proportionality’.

Creative Writing