Passports

[j.sabourn]

Both are a Solemn Promise. Oath used in a court of law to swear on the Bible , most other religions swear on their own Holy Book.JS…..

[j.sabourn]

For those who don’t know , but think it has been on here before, there was and probably still is a process of the likes of a ship coming in from Australia with a cargo of grain , to NOTE PROTEST where the master would go before a Notary Public before breaking bulk on the cargo and swearing on the Bible that any damage due to the cargo was not the crews fault and was an act of God due to bad weather. This was for insurance claims if required. However one had to produce the deck log book which had weather conditions in every 4 hours on the passage. Usually anything over a force 6 could be flogged and shipping heavy seas was always mentioned if the winds were strong enough. As 2 mate the master sometimes sent me ashore to Note Protest especially in Holland so I used to go into the pub as soon as took my time in going back to ship and drowning my sorrows at having maybe perjured myself unknowingly , it was a good enough excuse for taking my time in any case.
JS

[Austin Carl Largan]

#100

Hello Happy Daze John,

It cheers me to hear your success story about your move to Oz. I used to pass through there on my way to Lyttleton N.Z. when I was based there on an ice breaker research vessel which worked the Antarctica continent.. My closest friend of all time Barry had moved to Oz many years previously so one time when passing through Australian Immigration I said to the officer, "I've got a good mate who lives here called Bazzer, do you know him?" Without missing a beat the officer replied "Yeah mate, everyone knows Bazzer". His simple repartee almost moved me to tears by the obvious friendship and camaraderie implicit in it. It left a lasting impression on me regarding the nature and character of the Australian people and their mind set. It gave me food for thought and I pondered what the response would have been had I asked a similar question of a British Immigration official.

Regarding your comment about the changing face of British society, the present United Kingdom bears absolutely no resemblance to the country I was born and raised in. The original population of my era, I was born in 1944, has been diluted through unrestricted immigration policies to the point that in a few short decades I envision my generation and their associated ethnicity will become the minority. I also foresee that a few short decades after that, the entire demographic of the country will change with an included change of the current national religion. Unless something happens to alter the course of this inevitable change the middle east will eventually expand across all Europe and turn the entire region into a Caliphate.

I have a little story to relate. One day in the mess room of the icebreaker I was on I was having a 7 bell breakfast with our ice pilot, who was a US based Russian national and we were listening to the conversation of some of the science community who were sitting alongside us at the same table. The scientists were discussing an incident at the Berlin Wall, which was still standing, whereby two people had tried to escape in a service engineer bucket which was strung on the overhead power line cables. One guy was shot and one got away. The topic of conversation revolved around the injustice of the incident, man's inhumanity to man, borders should be open, brutality of the regime and so on, just the sort of remarks one would expect to hear from a group of people who, although decent, well meaning and well educated, were totally removed from political reality. So as they continued on that topic my companion chuckled and said to me sotto voce, in that inimitable Russian/English accent, "Huh, borders have to be guarded.....is why you have ten million wetbacks in US". I remarked that never a truer word was said. The scientists collectively gave us a look of calculated distaste, as one would observe a dog turd on the sole of ones shoe, and gave us the cold shoulder. But I thought "He's so right, countries have to guard their borders if for nothing else than to protect the nationals of that country from overwhelming foreign influx and interference.

Food for thought.

Austin

[Austin Carl Largan]

#102

All in a good cause J.S.....all in a good cause.....

Autin

[Johnny Kieran]

[QUOTE=Austin Carl Largan;427530]#100

Hello Happy Daze John,

It cheers me to hear your success story about your move to Oz. I used to pass through there on my way to Lyttleton N.Z. when I was based there on an ice breaker research vessel which worked the Antarctica continent.. My closest friend of all time Barry had moved to Oz many years previously so one time when passing through Australian Immigration I said to the officer, "I've got a good mate who lives here called Bazzer, do you know him?" Without missing a beat the officer replied "Yeah mate, everyone knows Bazzer". His simple repartee almost moved me to tears by the obvious friendship and camaraderie implicit in it. It left a lasting impression on me regarding the nature and character of the Australian people and their mind set. It gave me food for thought and I pondered what the response would have been had I asked a similar question of a British Immigration official.

If you asked any UK official if he heard of a bloke called Mohamed, he would most likely say "Yes mate, everyone knows loadsa Mohamed's"

[Austin Carl Largan]

#105

I do believe I met just such a chap in British Immigration Johnny, his usual position is desk 3 at Manchester Migra. He was a benign, peaceful gentleman and had the appearance of one who was the recipient of many heartfelt blessings.

Austin

[Des Taff Jenkins]

I wonder if all this has anything to do with the fact that over 3 million people are learning to speak Welsh on the internet. No; I didn't believe it until either until my Granddaughter who is 32 and never seen the sky over Wales sang a song in Welsh at Xmas.
Des

[Austin Carl Largan]

#107

Hello Des,
was her song My hen vlad fn nadau? Does she know what "twlch du bob seis" means?? Gogledd Cymru am byth Taff
Austin

[Des Taff Jenkins]

Hi Austin.
No mate it was Sauspan Fach.
Des

[happy daze john in oz]

The deeper you go inland here in Oz the friendlier they get.
Go into a Bush pub, within seconds you will feel at home, every one is welcome.
Lost in a country town, no worries mate there will always be a local willing to help.
Unlike the big cities life is so laid back one has to wonder why they never fall over.
We take a lot of weekend breaks away any where up country, so refreshing and good for the mind.

Walking the streets of London I could hardly imagine myself asking for help, mainly because I only speak English.