Lenten Reflections - Part 2

Fruits of Mexico cheap labour, where vegetables are treated better than workers.

The 2006 Desert Southwest Annual Conference of United Methodists in the USA directed the Conference Board of Church and Society to provide a way to study the issues we face concerning immigration.

As part of this, they went to Mexico to explore, on a personal face-to-face level, what the issues were, what economic pressures the Mexicans faces, how Mexico and the USA were interlocked together, what effect trade deals had on Mexican farming, and all this comes out in their report. Below is the first part.

This was long before today’s troubled issues about immigration, but it opens up some good ethical questions with each section. I’m not giving my opinions; I’m leaving it for the reader to look and make up their own minds.

The Desert Southwest Conference Board of Church and Society
Borderlinks Trip Reflection - Part 1

As a theologian stated, “There is no such thing as a vicarious faith in God”, for we must all have and individual relationship and our own experiences with God if we are to know God personally in our lives.

The same is true for any experience we try to share with others. We can have a powerful impact when we share our experiences, and we can encourage others to risk seeking the experience for themselves.

Recently, several members of the Conference Board of Church and Society took a Borderlinks trip to Altar, Mexico. Altar was chosen because it is a major congregating point for migrants coming from southern Mexico and Central America to prepare for a trek across the desert into the United States.

We hope by reading this account that you will feel the challenge to have your own experience. One can share informational facts, but it is harder to share the deeper truths that come with the first hand experiences of talking with people, seeing their faces, and hearing the emotions of their voices. This, however, is what we will attempt to do in the sharing of our stories.

Altar is 60 miles south of the border town of Sasabe, which is the migrants’ point of departure into the desert to head north. We did not go to Sasabe as it was deemed too dangerous for us to travel there. Sasabe is now a major entry point for drug runners into the U.S. as well as the migrants. In fact, the gang members, who fight each other for control of drug trafficking, add another hardship to the plight of the migrants.

The gangs will round up the migrants by force, and require them to follow some of the more well known routes across the desert as a large group, hence attracting the attention of the Border Patrol. While the Border Patrol’s attention is focused upon the migrants, the drug runners will seize the opportunity to transport their drugs into the country via another route. This is just another example in the long series of ways in which people are manipulated and used in their quest to seek new life.

Our group was met by Poncho as we were welcomed into his home for lunch after a 5-hour drive from Tucson to Altar. Poncho became involved in migrant ministry after seeing so many people traveling through Altar as they journeyed toward the United States. At one point around the year 2001, Altar had 1200 migrants coming into the community daily. Today that figure has dropped to approximately 800.

Initially, Poncho got involved simply to meet the basic needs of the people he saw: water, the proper shoes and clothing to face the trek. What he and others also discovered was that many coming from the southern reaches of the country had no understanding as to what the desert was like. In response, Poncho and others began trying to help the migrants understand and prepare for what they were about to face in their journey

This commitment to the migrant actually transformed the economics of the community. Poncho shared that one of the leading reasons why immigration north increased so dramatically was because of the North American Free Trade Agreement, NAFTA. The Mexican government actually created some of the present economic hardships for their people through the NAFTA negotiation process.

For example, Mexico, which had been subsidizing farmers and agricultural products, ensuring a livable income, agreed that they would no longer do so. This meant that the Mexican farmers’ prices, including prices on goods grown for export, would have to increase for them to make a livable return. United States farmers, however, were not required to do the same. This meant that American agricultural interests, including the corporate farms, were able to send subsidized products into Mexico.

This policy made it impossible for the small Mexican farms to compete. One report noted that the Mexican farmer pre-NAFTA received $5 a bushel for corn, and after NAFTA subsidized American corn sold for $2.50 a bushel in Mexico, making it economically impossible for a Mexican farmer to survive.

Consequently, farmers needed to find work that would provide other sources of income. Many travelled to urban areas seeking employment in factories. Not everyone was able to find work, however, and for those who did, the wage of a factory worker in Mexico today is approximately $10-12 per day. Living at a subsistence level in Mexico costs $18 per day.

These conditions are found not only in Mexican owned factories, but also in U.S.-owned factories called Maquiladoras. These facilities are built in the border towns, such as Nogales, utilizing cheap labor while enjoying the free trade agreement which requires no tariffs or fees to import the goods.

This is obviously a good thing for the American consumer, as it allows us to receive cheaper products in our stores.

What does it mean that American policies and agreements create a lower standard of living for other people, and that these policies contribute to the present migration issue?

Is there an issue of ethics in this present scenario?

Is it ethical and moral for one group of people, or one nation to seek a higher standard of living at the expense of another group of people or another nation?

If we answer “No,” what, then, is our responsibility as Christians?

Seeing the real issue of drugs and gangs right at our border, does this not lend credence to the belief we must strengthen our borders and prevent crossings?

Does the focus on the migrant actually divert our attention from the real issues of border security and national security? Do our leaders keep our attention on this issue so we do not question their inaction on such issues as port security and airport security?

Crystal World

One from my unpublished "back catalogue" today, from January 2007. It's a rather mystical one.

Crystal World

The future held within one single sphere,

As the mists part, and time's great seal

Opened. Shades of hope brought so near

Within the darkness, glimmers that conceal

And need interpretation. Heisenberg's stern

Reminder that the viewer changes the view,

And that when we are looking, we also turn

What we see into our reflections made anew;

Discern the hopes and fears, shadows within

The self. Cross the barrier of imagined time,

And open the mysterious portal of the djinn,

Where thirteen strikes the clock each chime;

Peer into the crystal world, and come to see:

Everything that you might ever come to be.

Jersey Agriculture in 1981

Bernard Binnington

Today's blog is an extract on Jersey Agriculture from a report compiled by Nicholas Paines, covering the period June to December 1981. It is interesting that a Jersey-Beef mix which was suggested but resisted as an option is now permissible.

 Potato blight, mentioned in the article, is one of the worst disease problems for the potato grower. It can wipe out the plants almost overnight and, worse still, it can infect neighbouring potato crops both on an allotment and any nearby commercial crop if adequate precautions are not taken. The Jersey Royal is a blight susceptible variety.

1981 saw a disastrous outbreak of potato blight Jersey. The President of the Agricultural and Fisheries Committee, Bernard Binnington, told the States that “My Department has written to all registered growers of maincrop potatoes urging them to continue to apply routine treatments of anti-blight spray and offering advice on disease control measures."

Steve Luce

In 2016, Jersey's Environment Minister Steve Luce, said that farmers must change the way they grow Jersey Royal potatoes, in order to protect the Island’s reputation as a world-class food producer. Farmers currently use the century-old practice of growing Jersey Royal potatoes year after year in the same ground, but the discovery of the chemical oxadixyl in Jersey’s surface water supplies, 13 years after it was last used, means they need to rethink their practices. Oxadixyl was used up to 2003 to control potato blight.

Looking at the cattle story, and about the idea of interbred cattle. This eventually happened. In 2011, the first beef from the Jersey-Angus cattle went on sale. These have been bred since the importation of bull semen was allowed to strengthen the island herd. There are four cattle farmers based in Jersey who are producing mixed breeds, part Jersey cow, part Aberdeen Angus. The first batch came from La Caroline Farm in St Peter, run by farmer Richard Lee who said the meat was superb quality. It still feels strange to me to see these rather alien looking black cows on Jersey.

Agriculture in 1981
Compiled by Nicholas Paines

The economic problems of several sectors of agriculture are still a major worry. In August the States adopted an Agriculture and Fishery Committee proposal to make a 6p per gallon heating oil subsidy to glasshouse growers.

Backdated to 1 January, the subsidy was expected to cost £210,000 for 1981. The reason for the subsidy, Senator Bernard Binnington explained, is that the Dutch Government are subsidising their growers in breach of EEC law. Consequently the UK Government were subsidising UK growers, which would put Jersey growers at a disadvantage unless the island followed suit. The subsidy has now been increased to 10.7p per gallon from 1 October and extended to 31 May 1982.

The States also approved an amendment to the existing agricultural loans regulations raising the amount which the Agricultural Committee can lend without the approval of the Finance Committee from £50,000 to £75,000 per loan and providing that loans could be given for the purpose of converting from oil to coal. In a later debate in October, a further amendment to the regulations made possible 100% loans for energy-saving improvements.

As was rapidly becoming clear when I wrote the last newsletter, the 1980/1 potato season was a disaster. After an encouraging May, the June export figures, affected by constant rain and an attack of blight, were £1 million lower than in June 1980.

The JFU asked the Finance Committee for £600,000 compensation to enable growers to plough in fields of diseased potatoes. The committee felt that the request was premature and told growers they must continue to export. JFU President Mr Stan Morel asked for vigilance to prevent diseased potatoes being exported and destroying consumers' confidence in the crop.

Fortunately, in July, Ag. & Fish. President Senator Bernard Binnington was able to tell the States that the maincrop was largely unaffected by blight. Nevertheless, the average return on maincrop over the season was £100 per verge lower than production costs.

The Jersey Maincrop Potato Marketing Board abandoned the statutory minimum pricing system because of the impossibility of enforcement. Farmer and Deputy Hendric Vandervliet criticised the legislation which permits the export only of the Jersey Royal strain of potato. Though an excellent potato, the Royal is not a true 'first early' potato, but rather a 'second early' or 'early maincrop', he claimed.

Furthermore, tests he had carried out showed the Royal to be substantially more prone to blight than the Marts Peer variety, which cropped four times as heavily despite late planting. "Unless other varieties are allowed into the island, then the Jersey new potato industry as we know it is doomed", he concluded. At present, island legislation bans the export of the Marts Peer before 1 August each year.

Deputy Vandervliet's paper came to the attention of a UK company manufacturing coleslaw and potato salad, who are looking for a reliable source of potatoes in June. An island grower has applied for permission to supply the company with a 'second early' potato other than the Royal from a trial crop of 12 vergees. The company warned that if permission were not given, they would move the project to France.

Deputy Vandervliet told me recently that permission had been granted, a development which he welcomed. He is not involved with the grower concerned, whose name remains a secret, but he promised that as a member of Ag. & Fish, he would continue to press for the introduction of new varieties, as well as continuing to experiment with them privately.

Not all farmers agree with Deputy Vandervliet. In a letter to the JEP, retired grower Mr E. Le Breton points out that the Royal commands prices nearly twice those of its competitors "not because it is the first early potato on the market, or indeed the most attractive, but solely because the Royal has a very special flavour all of its own, and it is for this the English housewife is prepared to pay. Should the Jersey grower abandon his Royal for the earliest of English varieties, he would have very few weeks to sell his crop before being caught up with the same variety grown and marketed at far less cost by his English counterpart."

Deputy Vandervliet counters by saying that if the Royal were the best early potato, it would be grown in England, whereas in fact the UK growing industry has a poor opinion of it, whatever the UK housewife may prefer.

How much better off would Jersey growers have been in a year like 1981, if they had grown a different variety? What would Jersey be without the Royal? The last word in this debate had certainly not been spoken. Watch this space.

A working party set up by the JFU to investigate improvements to the early potato crop criticised the current group marketing system and pooling of prices as leading to a lowering of standards. Replies to a questionnaire sent out by the working party indicated that up to a fifth of the crop could be picked and graded by hand next year.

A group of potato growers, committed to higher quality and traditional methods, has been formed. Supporting the scheme, produce merchant Mr John Le Sueur asked "how can an English housewife enjoy a Jersey Royal which has been lying in a muddy field, had a tractor tyre rolled over it, been rattled over a harvester chain, laid out to dry on a tarpaulin, tipped into a bulb net, tipped into a store grader, placed in a paper sack and eventually placed on a market stall a week later? .If our forefathers saw us handling potatoes as we do now, they would disown us", he added.

The suggestion (reported in the last newsletter) of crossing Jersey cattle with beef cattle to produce an island beef herd has been supported in a letter to the JEP from Dr H.G. Hudson, chairman of the Council of Fellows of the Royal Agricultural Societies. In the UK the crossing of Jersey cows with Limousin bulls has been very successful, he wrote.

Two Jersey cows worth £1000 each have been given to the Prince and Princess of Wales as a wedding gift from the island. The balance of the sum raised in the island's royal wedding appeal is to be distributed to charities chosen by the Prince and Princess. In a handwritten letter to the Governor, Prince Charles asked him to thank the people of Jersey for their "most generous and cream-filled gift".

The Princess, incidentally, is descended from Georgiana Carolina, daughter of John, Lord Carteret and Earl Granville.

Herald of Disaster

Herald of Disaster

6th March, 1987. Cross-channel ferry Herald of Free Enterprise left Zeebrugge for Dover with over 500 passengers and crew aboard. Within minutes, it capsized. Over 190 people lost their lives. Mixing evidence given at the subsequent inquest with the story of a fictional family of day trippers, Stephen Phelps' documentary drama asks whether this was a freak accident or a disaster waiting to happen.

Last Saturday, the drama-documentary play, “Herald of Disaster” was broadcast on BBC Radio 4:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08g2r99

The Herald of Free Enterprise was a roll-on roll-off ferry operating between Dover and Zeebrugge. That afternoon the vessel was at about 40% capacity, mostly carrying passengers from the UK. It set off without the bow doors being closed and became unstable.

Vehicles rolled from port to starboard and back. The ship capsized on to its port side on a sandbank, all its lights out, in just 90 seconds. There was not enough time to send an SOS signal, nor to lower the lifeboats or deploy life jackets.

In the formal inquiry that followed, blame was placed on assistant boatswain Mark Stanley for not closing the bow doors. First officer Leslie Sabel was also blamed for not making sure they were closed while the captain David Lewry was criticised for leaving port without checking the doors had been shut.

Part of the drama is taken verbatim from the inquiry that followed, with official evidence, and part centres on a fictional family and groups (like the truckers) among the passengers. It effectively shows the nightmare situation passengers and crew found themselves in when the stricken vessel was on its side. Stairs became vertical shafts. Doors were in what had become ceilings or floors. And there were no lights, but the influx water, cold, was swilling around the survivors, reducing their chances of survival as they struggled to escape from this trap.

The one and only stroke of luck was that the ship was resting on a sandbank - which undoubtedly saved hundreds of lives.

The inquiry in the drama also brings out that these ferries were rushing back and forth across the Channel, and their captains were under intense pressure not to delay and check everything, but under management's directive that running late could lead to reprimands.

This also meant that there wasn’t even a proper  list of people on board  ("the manifest") because that counting people in cars would have taken too long , and delayed departure. Profit was the key: speedy turn-around, and cutting corners.

Charles Arthur (https://medium.com/@charlesarthur/the-herald-of-disaster-or-why-you-should-welcome-regulations-fbaaeaed17e5) sees this as part of the general social culture of the time:

"In March 1987, the UK was in the midst of the revolution triggered by Margaret Thatcher’s privatisation agenda; British Telecom, formerly nationally owned, had been sold off in 1984, as the first big and noticeable one; British Gas had gone towards the end of 1986. The national mood was one of watchfulness: how would privatisation (and “free enterprise”) change the way these businesses behaved?"

"As the calamity, and deaths, showed, there were limits to what free enterprise could do for you — and what it was prepared to do for you, which could amount to 'not much, if it involves effort and cost'."

BBC News also recounted the survivors stories:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-39116394

Gillian Lashbrooke was one of the first people to know something was wrong. She was 16 years old. Her mother, stepfather and uncle died in the accident while she and her three stepbrothers survived.

"I was outside on the deck when it started, I was looking over the rail into the water. The water was getting further away, at first I thought I was imagining it. The ship just tilted over and I was flung backwards and was knocked unconscious for a little while and - when I came round - I was lying on the seats. But they were in the wrong place because the ship had gone on its side - so the floor was now like a wall. I tried to climb up the seating like a ladder but I couldn't. All I wanted to do was get back inside to my mum."

Eventually she jumped into the sea.

"I was wearing long boots and a denim coat, they were so heavy they were dragging me down. I struggled to take off my boots and coat while I was still trying to swim. I thought I'd try to swim back to land. But it was so cold and the waves were so ferocious. I swam back to the boat and managed to hook my skirt on to a thing sticking out from the boat because the waves were dragging me down, and I needed to stay up."

"There was a woman near me, and she was holding a little girl above the water. Helicopters were overhead, but they couldn't see us. So I flung myself back into the sea and there was a fishing boat. The woman kept screaming 'don't leave me to die' and I shouted back I would tell rescuers where she was. I don't know what happened to the woman or the little girl. I tried to find out and I put out an appeal. I'm fairly sure they both died."

"People in a fishing boat rescued me. Then I was taken to land and an ambulance took me to hospital. That night I became an adult. I washed my clothes out in the sink and put them on a radiator to dry. I prayed for my mum, hoping I was praying for her and not speaking to her."

The following day Ms Lashbrooke and her stepbrothers were told their parents were dead. They were taken to a makeshift mortuary in a gym.

"I saw my dad as soon as I walked in. I saw children dead and laid out. They were children I'd seen alive the evening before. It didn't seem real they were dead. Then my brother found my mum. I couldn't believe I was looking at my mum. I loved her so much and she was dead in front of me. She wasn't just my mum, she was my best friend. The night before, she'd given me some money just before I went on deck and said 'get something to eat love, and I'll see you in a minute'. "That minute never came. That was the last time I saw her."

The ship's owner Townsend Thoresen was criticised for its "staggering complacency". New rules were brought into force, such as installing emergency lighting, CCTV to monitor critical areas of the ferry, and windows that could be broken using a hammer.

For Those in Peril on the Sea

Bill McCrea was chaplain to the Merchant Navy and National Sea Training College and officiated at four of the funerals. He said the disaster tested his ministry to the limit.

"It was an incredible shock to my system and I was very anxious. I have dealt with individual loss of life with seafarers' families over the years, but so many people lost their lives that night. I wanted to do the right things. Who can train you for that? You depend upon the grace of God."

"I knew some of the men who died very well, including a young fellow who was 17. It was his first posting as a seafarer. He'd only just finished his college course. I conducted his funeral service, comforting his family as I, too, struggled to come to terms with the devastating loss. As much as I ministered to his family, they ministered to me too."

One woman had to wait six weeks before they found her husband's body. I gave her all the support I could during that time.

"I also supported passengers who had survived. I met a woman on one of my hospital visits, she lost her husband that night. She told me the only reason she survived was that a truck driver helped keep her awake by pinching her. There were a lot of heroic acts that went on that night."

Memories of the 1980s: Space Invaders

Having a clear out at home, I chanced upon an old book of cartoons. This was Micro phobia: How to Survive Your Computer and the Technological Revolution (1982), drawn and written by Martin Honeysett, whom the Guardian described in its obituary in 2015 (when he died, aged 71) as " one of the greatest gag cartoonists Britain has produced and also one of its most brilliant artists".

What is really fascinating about this particular book is that it comes just at a time when the microcomputer was starting to reach out into the workplace, and even into the home.

Schools were gradually getting the BBC Micro (as did the home market) and in 1986 the BBC launched an ambitious project to record a snapshot of everyday life across the UK for future generations largely using the Micro to compile computerised and digitized Domesday book. A million volunteers took part across the British Isles, including Jersey. Here's one snippet:

"Jersey's 4,200 milking cows provide the Island's co-operative dairy with 45,000 pints of milk each day. This is collected from the 145 dairy farms on the Island. Once at the dairy (Jersey Milk Marketing Board) the milk is treated and fat separated. Seven different types of milk are produced and packaged in waxed cartons."

"Milk bottles were last used in 1966. These were stopped because they were expensive and unhygienic. Each week 21,000 cartons containing one third of a pint of milk are delivered to the island's Primary Schools. The cost of a 'Pinta' is 27p for all the different types except "Full Cream' which sells for 28p a pint. Unsold milk is recycled into animal foods."

Incidentally, 3,000 cows in the Island were recorded in 2015, a reduction of 4,200. School milk was stopped some years ago as part of a government cut back in 2010. The milk cut plan was put forward by Economic Development Minister, Alan Maclean.

But the 1980s was also the age when computer games invaded pubs and hotel lobbies, with computer tennis being the first. Two paddles and a moving square, extremely primitive, but quite addictive in its way, and a complete novelty. It would get faster and faster until you missed it with your paddle.

I remember they had it in the lounge at the Cheslea hotel in Gloucester Street, the one owned by the three Binnington brothers (Bernard became a Deputy and then a Senator) - that's now been demolished and replaced by flats. When he was running for Deputy for the first time, the Cheslea was his election HQ, and we played electronic tennis to pass the time.

But the big one was Space Invaders! That four tone beat of music as the aliens came at you was unmistakable, and the graphics (for its time) were way ahead of the tennis game.

There was at least one local company which bought (using finance leases) masses of different games, including Space Invaders, which was the mainstay, and were busy putting them in pubs as an attraction.

Electronic games seemed here to stay. This is what we see in the cartoons in this book. At its release in 1978, Space Invaders was a cultural and technological phenomenon, and everyone wanted to try it out. 

Space Invaders is one of the earliest shooting games and the aim is to defeat waves of aliens with a laser cannon to earn as many points as possible. Looking in part for inspiration at Star Wars (1977), it build on the same kind of idea as space shoot out scenario at the end of the movie, when the bad guys keep on coming, and the goodies need to zap them.

I remember the student coffee bar at St Luke's Exeter had two Space Invaders consoles, and they were forever in use. While the boom lasted, they must have made a fortune. But they were quite large, bulky consoles, so they were not the kind of games people could buy for home use, and the capital outlay was also fairly expensive.

The pubs were full of the beeping noises as the players attempted to get high scores in each round of the game. But by the end of the 1980s, the technology had advanced and home operated consoles, which could be fitted to your television set, were becoming the vogue, and were cheaper as well. The pubs began to lose their electronic games machines, and now they are almost completely gone, part of a lost world.

Jersey Zoo: The Stationary Ark

In the 1995 Obituary of Gerald Durrell, the Independent wrote:

“Familiar to millions as a maker and presenter of zoological television programmes and as the author of entertaining and best-selling books on his life with animals, Gerald Durrell made an important contribution to his science in spotting and exploiting the role that zoos can play in active conservation.”

“The zoo world still sees itself largely as a living museum. Many zoos carry out fieldwork, but it remains a secondary part of their operations. But the zoo which Durrell founded on Jersey in 1959, dedicated to saving endangered animal species by breedingthem in captivity, has been one of the very few that have successfully mixed displaying animals to the public in a sensible and humane way with effective involvement in field conservation.”

After Gerald Durrell’s death, the Zoo was renamed Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust in 1999. This was ostensibly in memory of its founder, but it always had a subtext that might have been construed as a rebranding activity by the executives in charge.

The Lemur News, 1999, Vol 4, noted that: “In honour of Gerald Durrell the Jersey Wildlife Preservation Trust has been renamed to Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust. The name ‘Jersey Zoo’ will not be changed.”

And yet despite that statement, the marketing men went to work with a will, and the name Jersey Zoo was changed and became Durrell, and the word “Zoo” eradicated from the signs. Part of this may have been negative connotations of the word "Zoo", but I think that is too simplistic.

It is difficult to track down the history of that change. I know that Dr Mark Stanley-Price became Chief Executive of the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust in Jersey in 2001, and that seems to have been when the local site lost the name "Jersey Zoo". Stanley-Price wanted to launch "an updated image to help communicate the vision to a broader audience." There is no indication at this time in the news that I have read that it was because of negative image of the word "Zoo".

He said that: "As part of the strategic roll out, the previously named Jersey Zoo is realigning its brand to the international brand of Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust, the only international charity based in Jersey."

The next CEO, Paul Masterman, who joined in 2003, seemed very much in favour of that name change. When asked "Do you think people still perceive Durrell as being Jersey Zoo?", he replied:

"Yes, but I don't get upset by this as long as we can create the understanding that Durrell is so much more – and that, at our core, we are a conservation charity. Having a visitor attraction is very important to us as it helps educate people about the pressures the natural world is under, and it is a significant income generator for us. But, fundamentally, Durrell isn't here to be a visitor attraction, it is here because of our conservation mission."

Now , however, a change has taken place. Dr Lesley Dickie, Chief Executive Officer, Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust has written a letter to members as follows:

I am writing to inform you that from 3rd April 2017 Durrell Wildlife Park will be changing its name to Jersey Zoo.

When Gerald Durrell founded Jersey Zoo in 1959, he was a pioneer in his belief that good zoos could do great things in conservation. Today Durrell continues that mission and we believe that we set an exemplary example of best in class zoo practice across animal husbandry, education, science and conservation.

At Durrell we are proud to be a zoo and the work we do both here in Jersey and in the wild all follows the same mission – to save species from extinction. Zoos are now the fourth largest funders of conservation in the world and we are pleased to be able to make a significant contribution. We are also proud that Jersey is our home and this name change re-affirms that.

Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust will not be affected by this change which only refers to the zoo.

The primary objective of the name change is making the zoo more visible to visitors to the island as well as staying true to the wishes of our founder.

Lee Durrell is very much in support of this change and comments:

Putting ‘zoo’ back into Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust is something I welcome, for it reinforces what Gerald Durrell had been working towards all his life - to ensure that zoos are genuine and powerful instruments for conservation. Ten years ago, we made a conscious decision to avoid the word ‘zoo’, because of its perceived negative connotations.

Today we embrace “it, because modern zoos have made great progress in the service of conservation, both in the zoo setting and in the wild, through innovative research, professional training, inspirational public education and improvements in animal wellbeing. Gerry and his early team had pioneered much of this, and Durrell will continue its ground-breaking work through Jersey Zoo”.

It is worth, perhaps, finishing with some words about Gerald Durrell and Jersey Zoo that I found from a speech by David Attenborough at Gerald Durrell's memorial. In it he said:

"As a one man pressure group he was years ahead of anti-zoo propagandists and the international zoo community alike. In one of his last television interviews he was asked if he was pleased that more zoos were putting conservation first on the agenda, "I think its marvellous, wonderful", he said, paused, and then, sadly, "But why did it take so bloody long?".

And finally, from the letter that was placed by Gerald Durrell in a Time Capsule, a copy of which was read out by the Princess Royal at his memorial:

Many of us, though not all in this year of 1988, recognise the following things:

1. All political and religious differences that at present slow down, entangle and strangle progress in the world will have to be solved in a civilised manner.

2. All other life forms have as much right to exist as we have and that indeed without the bulk of them we would perish.

3. Overpopulation is a menace that must be addressed by all countries; if allowed to continue it is a Gadarene syndrome which will cause nothing but our doom.

4. Ecosystems are intricate and vulnerable; once misused, disfigured or greedily exploited they vanish to our detriment. Used wisely they provide boundless treasure. Used unwisely they create misery, starvation and death to the human race and to a myriad other lifeforms.

5. It is stupid to destroy things such as rainforests before we know how they function and what is in them, especially because in these great webs of life may be embedded secrets of incalculable value to the human race.

6. The world is to us what the Garden of Eden was supposed to be to Adam and Eve. Adam and Eve were banished, but we are banishing ourselves from our Eden. The difference is that Adam and Eve had somewhere else to go. We have nowhere else to go.

We hope that by the time you read this you will have at least partially curtailed our reckless greed and stupidity. If we have not, at least some of us have tried...

All we can say is learn from what we have achieved, but above all learn from our mistakes, do not go on endlessly like a squirrel in a wheel committing the same errors hour by hour day by day year after year century after century as we have done up to now.

We hope that there will be fireflies and glow-worms at night to guide you and butterflies in hedges and forests to greet you.

We hope that your dawns will have an orchestra of bird song and that the sound of their wings and the opalescence of their colouring will dazzle you.

We hope that there will still be the extraordinary varieties of creatures sharing the land of the planet with you to enchant you and enrich your lives as they have done for us

We hope that you will be grateful for having been born into such a magical world.

Gerald Durrell

Warning about Scammers

Monday's post is information from the police about scammers. I have this advice to offer:

If a friend endorses someone on Facebook, double check with them outside of Facebook by speaking to them in person to find how they know the person in question. 

Be on guard. Be especially cautious with people you only know through online messages and phone calls. If possible, try Skype or video chat. Many scammers use fake photos to lure their victims but video messaging is much harder to fake.

Be cautious if someone claims to be local but happens to be out of the country.

Be your own detective. Use search engines to research the person’s name and background. Look up their phone number to see if it’s listed in the region they claim to be from.

Don’t send anyone money.     

Please read and also see this link - it is a video by Jersey police.

https://www.facebook.com/StatesofJerseyPolice/videos/1192839277501168

Police Advice

NEVER give out your personal passwords or information even to your friends and family, personal information is for you only.

Things they may ask for:

• Friendship/relationship getting you to trust them and then they take your details.

• Passwords.

• Bank details.

• Personal information about you or your family.

• They may say they are in trouble and need money quickly NEVER send it.

If someone you don’t know asks you strange questions about your money, account, life, family or asking you to do things that you feel uncomfortable with, please contact the Police, they will be able to help.

http://www.channel103.com/islander-loses-money-in-facebook-scam/

Islanders are being warned about a Facebook scam after a resident lost a large amount of money after accepting a friend request from a stranger.

A fraudster contacted the islander on the social media site claiming to have purchased them a winning lottery ticket.

They then hacked into a Facebook account belonging to a friend of the victim, posing as the friend to verify that the deal was real.

Crime Prevention Officers PC Chris Ingham says the scammer said they needed money put into a bank account to cover tax and postal charges:

”They’re asking for money to cover the cost of sending the money and that Customs had got involved and they needed more money.

”The scammer will keep making excuses as to why they need more money.

"The victim is devastated. Their confidence has really been hit by this.”

He says people should not speak to anyone they don’t know on Facebook:

”If you get any requests from anyone that you don’t know, then we recommend that you just delete it.

”If you get a second party that you do know telling you that the other person is alright, then you should consider carefully before adding them.

”When it comes to the lottery and anyone telling you that you’ve won money that you haven’t bought a ticket for, then if it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is.”

http://www.bailiwickexpress.com/jsy/news/islander-loses-large-amount-money-facebook-scam/#.WLtQsW-LTow

Jersey Police are warning Islanders about a Facebook lottery scam.

The move follows an incident in which a victim reported losing a ‘large amount of money’.

It’s believed the scammer contacted the victim through a Facebook friend request which seemed to be endorsed by an existing friend.

The Police say what the victim didn’t realise was the existing friend's Facebook account had been hacked and it was the scammer who was recommending himself to the victim.

The scammer then told the victim they’d won a big lottery prize, and asked them to send some money to cover the tax. They then asked for more money to cover shipping costs and so on.

Crime Reduction Officer PC Chris Ingham said: “we would like to remind the public to be very cautious with any friend request you receive on Facebook and as a general rule you should delete any friend request from anyone you don’t personally know. Please also bear in mind that if an offer looks too good to be true, then it probably is. If you are concerned at any time you can call the force on 612612.”

http://www.itv.com/news/channel/2017-02-22/jersey-police-warning-after-islander-scammed-out-of-large-amount-of-money/

Police are urging people to delete friend requests from strangers

A Jersey resident has been scammed out of 'a large amount of money,' prompting a warning from police.

It is understood that the scammer made initial contact with the victim through a friend request on Facebook, which appeared to be endorsed by an existing friend of the victim.

The victim had been unaware that the existing friend's Facebook account had been hacked, and it was in fact the scammer who was recommending themself.

Once the friendship on Facebook had been established, the scammer told the victim that he had bought some lottery tickets for them and as a result of that, the victim had won a large amount of money. The scammer then asked for an amount of money to be sent to him to cover the tax. This would then be followed by another request for money to cover shipping charges and so on.

The requests for money would continue, with a different reason given each time.

We would like to remind the public to be very cautious with any friend request you receive on Facebook and, as a general rule, you should delete any friend request from anyone you don’t personally know. Please also bear in mind that if an offer looks to be good to be true then it probably is. If you are concerned at any time please call us on 612612.

– CRIME REDUCTION OFFICER, PC CHRIS INGHAM

JERSEY POLICE contact details:

Mr Chris Ingham
07797 – 865683
c.ingham@jersey.pnn.police.uk

Lenten Reflections - Part 1

The 2006 Desert Southwest Annual Conference of United Methodists in the USA directed the Conference Board of Church and Society to provide a way to study the issues we face concerning immigration. It opened their study with these passages and these questions. A revised version was issued in 2008.

This was long before the issues of migration and refugees became so high on the political agenda as they have today. They dominate the USA, dominate the Brexit plans, and dominate similar trends throughout Europe.

But I thought that in these troubled times, this would be a good opening for Lent reflections on the issue of migration, of the status of EU immigrants post-Brexit, of the laws directed against migration executed by the American President. When one considers that this was not pieced together today, but nearly ten years ago, it is extraordinary how directly it confronts us now. It could have been written yesterday.

Human beings

“All are created in the image of God”. (Genesis 1:26)

“God made us ‘a little less than God’.” (Psalm 8:3-5)

Are there any distinctions being made as to race or ethnic background, or nationality?

“Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.” (Mark 3:31-35)

“Just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.” (Matthew 25:31)

So what do all of these passages say to us about who is important to God?

What do they say about who is important to us?

What does this say to us about how we place borders of separation between ourselves and others?

Character of God

“I will be who I will be; I will cause to be what I will cause to be”. (Exodus 3:13-14)

What does this tell us about trying to define who God is and what God does too narrowly?

“I have observed the misery of my people … and I have come down to deliver them…” (Exodus 3:7-8)

What is it that motivates God into action?

Psalm 136 is “a litany of celebration about God’s steadfast love”. God “brought Israel out” from Egypt. (Psalm 136:11)

How do you respond to some of what the Psalmist is thankful for?

“Those who love God must love their brothers and sisters also.” (I John 4:21)

“Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.” (Luke 6:36)

Another legitimate translation of Luke is “be compassionate as God is compassionate”. To be compassionate biblically is to literally feel another person’s feelings in your guts. It is to enter into another person’s life so fully and completely that you understand it from their perspective.

How does being compassionate transform how we see another person?

How does it confront labels like “illegal immigrant?”

Strangers, Sojourners, and Foreigners

A sojourner occupies a place between that of a native-born and a foreigner. His or her status and privilege come from the bond of hospitality.

“You shall not oppress a resident alien; you know the heart of an alien, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt.” (Exodus 23:9)

God “…loves the strangers, providing them with food and clothing. You shall also love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.” (Deuteronomy 10:18-20)

“Let mutual love continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it.” (Hebrews 13:1-2)

Read the parable of Good Samaritan. (Luke 10:25-37)

How do we deal with passages where God calls Israel to wipe out entire nations, to not let there be intermarriages, and to keep a sense of purity in their faith and in their culture? (Ezra 10:6-17)
Are these some of the same concerns in today’s discussions? Do you believe that many people are afraid of simply losing what is familiar and safe as we see our ethnic and cultural diversity grow in our country?

Justice

How do we think of justice today? As you read the following Scriptures, do today’s definitions of justice seem to fit the biblical understandings of justice?

“Seek justice, love kindness and walk humbly with God.” (Micah 6:8)

“Seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan, plead for the widow.” (Isaiah 1:16-17)

“But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.” (Amos 5:24)

How does the biblical understanding of justice compare with our present day understandings?

We are a nation of laws, and laws are important. Without them, we would live in a state of anarchy.

So how do we look at immigration as people who seek to live within the laws that guide us?

What is the purpose of our laws?

How does the biblical understanding of justice form the discussion about immigration for us as people of faith?

Righteousness

Righteousness pertains to God’s character and human conduct. A righteous person characteristically invests in the community, showing special attentiveness to the poor and needy.

Those who are faithful to God “…are gracious, merciful and righteous. It is well with those who deal generously and lend, who conduct their affairs with justice … They have distributed freely, they have given to the poor…” (Psalm 112:4-9)

What does Psalm 112 say to us about the quality of our character and how it calls us to act?

For those who were not faithful to God “did not have pity on their young people or compassion on their orphans and widows…” (Isaiah 9:17)

What does this tell us about what the earth will look like when God is fully in charge?

Rabbi Abraham Heschel states that God’s righteousness, God’s character, always supersedes God’s justice.

Walter Brueggemann says that “If righteousness represents the principle of benevolence, the will to act beneficently toward another person, then justice involves the norm of distributing such good intentions toward many in the society, not just a few.”

Torah, which is usually defined as “The Law,” is actually the first five books of the Bible. A better translation of the word is, “Teachings,” and the word literally suggests someone pointing his or her finger and saying, “Go this way.” Torah is seen as a gift from God to the Hebrew people, which shows them how to live in “shalom”.

Shalom is a word that we define as “peace,” but has a much deeper meaning. It is a call not only to live in the absence of conflict, but to do all we can to bring the fullness of life to one another. To live in shalom is to bring wholeness (holiness), harmony, economic security, and well-being to all. The case can be made that it is a synonym for our understanding of “salvation.”

What does this say to us about our human conduct as people of righteousness?

In Exodus 32, we read how Moses comes down from Mount Sinai with the tablets containing the Ten Commandments.

As he approaches the camp, he sees the people worshipping the Golden Calf, and destroys the tablets, losing the commandments as a guide for how the people should live their lives. Moses may have destroyed the tablets because he realized that the people were not ready to receive them. Perhaps Moses was afraid that the people would misuse the Commandments in their faith walk.

Can our laws become idols that we follow? Can our laws become the ultimate power while we lose the ability to understand that they are expressions of solutions designed by a group of people?
Is this why God’s righteous character remains the bottom line for understanding our living of life? Is it ultimately God that is the ultimate authority to living our faith, and does God respond in the most loving way in each situation?

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” (Luke 4:16-21)

“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.” (John 15:12)

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.” (Matthew 5:9)

Perspectives in a Dark World

This poem was inspired by Caitlin Matthews where she said recently:

"Rather than giving hatred a draught and fanning its flame, we can instead return to the ever living spirit of the land in which we live and give it honour: the land and its administrators are not the same thing. When we are one with the ancestors and with the land on which we live (which may not be the same land as our ancestors) a different equation can work out. It is down to each of us to make those connections and maintain them, whatever else others are doing. This has always been the way. "

Here my a cosmic look at our world, but also in the scale of things, that what we can do here and now is still important, and can shape our future.

Perspectives in a Dark World

The world will come to an end
In its due time, thus entropy’s trend
Moves towards the dying sun;
Expansion of gases, outwards run,
Consuming Mercury, Venus, Earth:
Odin in Valhalla laughs in mirth,
At this Ragnarok, the end of days;
Fire or ice: for firstly solar blaze,
Then cold, ice will have domain:
Shrunken red dwarf sun will reign;
But sufficient for the day, the evil
That humans do, making upheavals
In weather patterns, climate dance
Proceeding as within a trance
Towards doom; gnawing the land
Deep cut, deep hurt, by greedy hand,
Seeing little worth in the stranger,
Migrant, despised, dog in manger:
Let them eat dust, but dust we are,
Dust of the earth, dust of a star;
To dust we return, in little while,
Futility confounds, and does beguile:
There seems so little we can do,
Makes a difference, makes anew,
This fragile, broken world of ours:
The clock is ticking down the hours;
But this is our art: to do what we can,
Weak, small, feeble, in our own lifespan;
Darwin’s wisdom: so many tiny acts
Can heal the land, mend the cracks;
Repair the fabric where it wears thin,
For ourselves, and all our living kin,
That lives on this planet, in the strife,
That we can bring the light of life;
Open Pandora’s box, let out the hope
For all of us, to aid, to heal, to cope:
Into the darkness, bear a candle flame,
For all so wrong, for all our shame:
And mend the threads, bind together,
Sailing on through stormy weather,
Hoping for glance of promised land,
To make there harbour on its sand;
We will not see it, nor our children,
For this is the evolutionary amen:
Time’s delight: small acts of kindness,
Overcoming humanity’s blindness;
These perspectives in a dark world
Shape the way, our lives unfurled;
Bright the vision: hope not despair,
Still long before the sun’s great flare;
And so we strive, and must not cease:
Time enough for rest, time for peace,
The lion will lie down with the sheep,
The promises made, we will keep.

St Brelade's Church in 1978

From "The Pilot", 1978, comes these two Parish notes for January and February from the Rector, Michael Halliwell (Rector: 1971-1996), a time when quite a lot of changes were underway.

ST BRELADE

As the New Year begins it may be of interest to our parishioners to give a report of some of the activities of the Church Council during the past months. As far as the church building is concerned, we have been engaged in a tidying-up operation following on the new lighting scheme. 

With Mr David Ling's help we have now completed a new set of signs and notices for the bookstall, the intercession book, the porch and the church exterior. The external notice board has been repainted and now includes reference to our ecumenical area, and information in French and German for the many foreign visitors. Mr Alan Young has completed the manuscript for a new guide book, and we are making a selection from some excellent colour photographs for inclusion.

The vestry is still something of a junk room, and is not properly furnished. There is a need for a wash basin, and a supply of water to top up the heating system. 

It is also important that when the new vestments arrive to complete what we already have, they shall be properly stored. They are being made by Messrs Louis Grosse, of London, and the Green set, adorned with the "Three-Fish" symbol, was in use at the end of the year, the White set followed at Christmas, and the Purple and Red sets will be ready for Lent and Pentecost respectively. Thus, by the first half of this year, our church will be provided with a complete set of vestments worthy of such a fine building, and they will last for many years to come. A cope, for use at weddings, funerals and other similar occasions, will be put in hand later. 

The churchyard gates, which have been missing for some months, are in process of being remade, and we are hoping to find a wood other than oak which is durable, and less costly. The metal gates have not been attended to for some ten years, and will need attention at the same time. Some people have commented on the state of the churchyard, and it seems that the time has come for the reseeding of the new, North Cemetery, and of parts of the rest of the old Churchyard, as time goes on.

For some years the Verger's cottage has been giving the Council serious concern. Four years ago we carried out an extensive programme of refurbishing the interior, but it became clear that it was. structurally, an inadequate building to offer to an employee of the Parish Church. 

After careful consideration, the council felt that the only solution was to add a second floor, and demolish the wooden lean-to which was serving as a bathroom and toilet. The work was put in hand, in faith, and in the knowledge that about half the cost could he met from the funds of the Balleine Trust. and should be completed by the end of the month.

However, the biggest task still remains ahead of us, namely the provision of an adequate car park for the needs of a growing parish. We only need to have a large service of some kind for the surrounding roads to be blocked. Recently, at a funeral. I had to appeal to one of the mourners to leave the church and remove a car which was blocking the public highway. It was not his fault, as there was clearly nowhere he could leave his car.

Some of these projects can rightly he met from parish funds while others will fall on the congregation. Either way we cannot delay them any longer, and I hope that, with the support of all our congregation, the Church Council and I will be able to look back on 1978 as another year in which, with God's help, we have achieved what we set out to do.

HOLY BAPTISM. Matthew -John Fiott; Carli Suzanne Bisson.

BURIALS. Wilfred Francis Ross. 64: Monica Augusta McArthur, 86; Anthony Boss, 38; Elizabeth .Jones Mauger,43; Annie Adelaide Evans, 87: William Stafford Vaughan,88.

Michael Halliwell

Rector

ST BRELADE

We concluded the Christmas cycle of festivals with an Epiphany Service at St Bernadette's. Don Farm. This is the first occasion on which the three member congregations of our group have combined with the Roman Catholics of St Bernadette's for a joint act of worship. The singing was led by the choir of St Bernadette's, under Mr Bernard Le Cocq, and the St Brelade's Parish Church choir and group, under Mrs Jane Horsfall. United Christian witness and service is the natural consequence of united Christian worship, and it is much to be hoped that this will soon become a reality.

It is sad to say goodbye, at least temporarily, to Jane Horsfall as organist at the parish church. Since she joined us on the death of Mr Goodyear, she has given her best, and the occasional joint and special services have been her special care and concern. The choir and the singing group have flourished under her leadership, and the quality of our worship has been enhanced by her perceptive under-standing of its principles and by her personal devotion. In partnership with her husband James, who deputed on many occasions, they have probably done more for St Brelade's than most of us realize.

Last month I wrote about some of the projects which we were being called on to undertake. The most demanding of all is probably the restoration of the Fishermen's Chapel. When my illustrious predecessor, John A. Balleine, finished his booklet on the church and chapel he expressed the hope that whilst for the time being it was necessary to leave the building "in situ", he hoped that in due course science would enable us to preserve the wall paintings for posterity in a manner which would prevent their further deterioration. 

As I mentioned in these notes some time ago, emergency repairs have already been carried out to prevent this deterioration. However, we must obviously go much further and rehabilitate the chapel as a worthy place of worship.

Some preliminary thoughts have been given to this by the Rev. David Bishop, ARIBA. of the Church of England Council on Places of Worship. He suggests that, whereas the parish church is a series of "rooms" divided by thick columns, the chapel is one little cell and ought to be treated as such. He feels that this would involve bringing the altar forward to a line on the axis of the two small windows. The floor could be lowered to a single level, which is most likely how it originally was, and paved either with wood block or stone flooring. 

And he points out that there is no need for a step before the altar because it is not two rooms. Just as in the Parish Church the whole of the floor slopes down, so, too, here the floor slopes a few inches, and therefore it is unlikely that any-one would be able to see the altar placed thus for a week-day celebration.

There are great problems of damp and ventilation. particularly caused by the proximity to the sea, and it looks likely that we shall need, as recommended by Mr Clive Rouse, FSA, to create a system of through ventilation and a system of thermostat heating which will ensure a constant, even temperature of 55 F to 60F. .

The death in December of Claude Russell marks the end of an era at St Aubin's Church. He was one of those faithful Christians who works unobtrusively in the service of the kingdom, who sticks firmly yet gently to his principles, who is not moved by the whims of passing fashion and whose loyalty is to his Saviour before any church, congregation or minister. To him it was the most natural consequence of Christian commitment that a churchwarden should visit his parishioners, and he did it in season and out of season, quietly sustaining and encouraging the flock at St Aubin's in good times and in bad.

Lent begins this year on Wednesday, February 8, and Holy Communion will be celebrated in the Communicare chapel at 7.30 pm, followed by a meeting in connection with Methodist Home Missions. It is hoped that all our communicants will begin Lent, as is fitting, at the altar, and may be able to stay on for the meeting. There will be two Lent study courses - on Tuesdays at the Vicarage, St Aubin, and on Thursdays at the Manse, Route des Quennevais. Full details will be announced.

At the morning services during Lent we shall be hearing a course of addresses on the problems and challenges of being a Christian in today's world. I shall be sharing this course with Terry Hampton, Gerald Stoddern, Arthur Stievenard, Vicar of St Matthew's, Barry Giles, Rector of St Peter, the Rev. John Gravelle, of the Clinical Theology Association, and Mr Francis Corbett, Headmaster of Mont Nicolle School, a licensed Reader in the Church.

The preachers will be putting much thought into their address, so please give them your full support. Full details of each Sunday's theme are enclosed.

HOLY BAPTISM. Alexandra Catherine Elizabeth Blake.

BURIALS. Claude Holland Russell, 81; Zilda Bollanger Le Rossignol, 85.

MICHAEL HALLIWELL

Rector

Beauty and Blunders

Epic Blunder

My own Oscar’s joke:

I see Price Waterhouse (PwC) messed up the Oscars. Anyone going to audit what went wrong?

USA today had this comment on what is being known as #Envelopegate:

For a company of accountants who prize themselves on their commitment to accuracy, an event that typically burnishes their credibility quickly devolved into a global crisis.

Accounting is a "credence good," which means "customers don't know to evaluate" it unless something goes wrong, University of Michigan business professor Erik Gordon said.

"You trust in the name. If you understood accounting, you wouldn't need PwC or KPMG or any of them," University of Michigan business professor Erik Gordon said. "This is the most public goof up an accounting firm could make. Accounting firms are in the background."

Time to Give it a Miss?

Towards the end of 2015 during the Miss Universe pageant, the event’s MC, comedian Steve Harvey misread the winner card, and announced the wrong winner of the pageant. Harvey stated that Miss Colombia had won the crown, which was then placed ontop of her head, only to have it removed moments later when Harvey clarified that it was really Miss Philippines who had triumphed in the pageant.

Sounds familiar?

But looking at beauty pageants brings me to my second story. An official notice has now gone out looking for someone to represent St Helier and St Brelade at the 2017 Battle of Flowers parades in August and act as ambassadors for their parish for the year ahead.

How many people enter these competitions? Only two entered Miss St Brelade in 2016, and most of the Parishes are rather shy at giving any numbers. Grouville has this:

“Earlier this month we held another very successful Miss Grouville competition at the Royal Jersey Golf Club and our thanks go to Lynne Salisbury and her team for organ-ising the event, as well as to the judges and our compère for giving up their time. Our worthy winner will be an excellent representative for Grouville and will be seen at many events over the upcoming year. Our thanks also go to the judges and our compère for their time”

St Helier had about 4 contestants, and listed them, but they are the largest Parish, and that’s what one might expect.

Nothing available on how many stood for Miss St Mary, Miss St Saviour or Miss St Peter.

I think you could count numbers on the fingers of one hand!

In 2015, the Daily Telegraph reported that:

Just one girl enters a regional heat to become Miss Great Britain, leading a former winner to warned that the halcyon days are coming to an end: "Hundreds of girls used to enter these competitions. I think the lack of entries is just a sign of the times. It's really sad."

In 2012, a Wiltshire community called time on the ancient custom due to a distinct lack of interest after receiving just one entry to become Devizes carnival queen for two consecutive years. And in 2013, the Dorset town of Verwood became the latest to ditch the annual "uncool" carnival queen procession, ending a tradition dating back more than 80 years.

The same decline has been seen in America, where the Illinois Daily Herald reports:

“The volunteer-run organization that hosts the Miss Illinois pageant, which feeds into the coveted Miss America pageant, has seen participation steadily decline in the past five years. And the same is true for pageants across the country.”

“For instance, in Texas, the pageant capital of the world, the state pageant saw a 33 percent decline in participation this year with 44 contestants, as opposed to 66 last year.”

“And locally, it gets worse. There was no Miss DuPage County pageant this year because there weren't enough contestants, among other things.”

The Chicago Tribune highlights the decline and collapse of the institution. For months in 1992, organizers promoted the Miss Grayslake contest with zeal. They hung posters at local businesses, published notices in the town newspaper and gave recruiting pep talks at Grayslake Community High. After all that, and a weeklong extension of the entry deadline, three women requested applications. But only two filled them out.

As the Tribune noted:

“Linda Wegge Slipke, an accountant who was the pageant`s co-director, said she couldn`t very well put on a pageant that could be decided by a coin toss. So it was canceled.”

Why is there such a decline? I think it is partly because the beauty pageant originally served a very different function in the cultural mores of society. In its beginnings, it was simply a contest which pitted women against one another and judging them primarily based on their looks, which is by today’s standards, very unsettling.

This is why attempts have been made to add other qualities to that seen in a successful winner. It’s origins lie back in the past, such as when the first Miss America contest was held on September 6, 1921 (though it didn’t come to be known by that name until 1941) with seven “bathing beauties.” It was created by a group of Atlantic City businessmen as a “bathing beauty revue".

The additions have been to judged competitors on their talent, their performances and interviews in addition to their physical appearance. Even the swimsuit has been dropped in an attempt to make the contest appear less a magnet for lecherous men.

But that’s a gloss to hide the fact that the foundation stone still lies in a patriarchal worldview which looked upon women as objects rather than people, and which presents them as if they were consumer goods, commodified female bodies.

As Holly Grout notes: “Contests... linked beauty and commerce, elevated appearance over substance, and promoted an idealized model of womanhood that was itself premised on the notion that identity was both performative and purchasable.”

Australian Historian Caroline Dale says that part of the reason for the decline is that people are not comfortable with the idea of women vying to be the prettiest, no matter how many world-peace questions are thrown in. Moreoever, other opportunities in the spotlight exist for celebrity, or for those just want to gain confidence, in which beauty does not play such a significant role.

And from India, where there is also a notable decline, as Santosh Desai comments:

"Beauty pageants are a relic of an earlier era when patriarchy had a firmer hold on society, when the concept of beauty was static and fixed. These norms are changing fast today. Young women too don't want to be fixed in that plastic image”

Why ‘Lent’ and ‘Ash’ Wednesday?

From "The Pilot", 1968 comes this:

Some Church Customs Explained
By S.G. Thicknesse

Why ‘Lent’ and ‘Ash’ Wednesday?

‘Lent,’ which to Church people means forty days of fasting before the feast of Easter, once meant no more than ‘spring’. The old English word ‘Lencten’ probably came from the same old Teutonic root as did the word ‘long’, and meant simply ‘the lengthening days’.

It was not until the seventh century that the ‘lenten fast’ became fixed as a forty-day fast in the Western Church. Before that, custom had greatly varied. As late as the second century St. Irenaeus had written telling the Pope how: ‘some think they ought to fast for one day, others for two days and others even for several, while others reckon forty hours both of day and night for their fast’.

This variety of custom seems mainly to have been due to the fact that the special annual observance of Easter only came gradually. The early Church celebrated the Resurrection every Sunday, and kept a strict fast from Friday to Saturday night, ‘the days on which the bridegroom was taken away. But as Easter gradually also became the great annual feast, the fast before the chosen Sunday became formalized and prolonged.

It was a natural piety which finally ruled that this great fast should continue for forty days to commemorate the forty days of fasting which Jesus - and, before him, Moses and Elijah- spent in the wilderness.

Perhaps the number forty had besides a special flavour as being the number of hours which Jesus spent in the grave. Forty days, too, as an early commentator noted, also formed roughly a tenth of the year, and therefore could be seen as a Christian’s tithing of his time to God.

Since the seventh century, therefore, the Lenten fast has started on a Wednesday; Sundays were feast days, so to set a fast of forty days before Easter meant beginning the fast in the middle of the seventh week before Easter.

The marking of so solemn a day as that Wednesday became in time a generally recognized necessity. Because the Wednesday was thought of as a day of special penitence, old customs of public penance and mourning for sin were adapted to it - customs which went back through the New to the Old Testament.

Christians reminded themselves that they were as nought, and cried with Abraham, ‘I am but dust and ashes’. Like the penitent Jews, they sprinkled themselves with ashes, and by the eleventh century the Western Church had prescribed a service for the blessing of ashes and the marking with ash of priests and people.

This custom-—-the origin of the name ‘Ash’ Wednesday —not forbidden by the English Reformers, had fallen into disuse here by the seventeenth century, though it continued elsewhere, and was recently revived in some Anglican churches.

The ashes of branches blessed on the preceding Palm Sunday are blessed with four ancient prayers, then mingled with holy water and censed with incense. Priests and people are then marked with an ashen cross on their foreheads with the words, ‘Remember, O man, that dust thou art and unto dust shalt thou return’.

The fast so begun was strictly kept in the early centuries. Pope Gregory the Great gave St. Augustine the ruling which became the common law of Church and State: in the one daily meal allowed during the fast, ‘we abstain from flesh, meat, and from all things that come from flesh, as milk, cheese and eggs’.

By a later concession, in Germany known as ‘butter briefe’, people could eat milk-products if, in return, they gave alms to some good work. These alms are said to have built or partly built many churches. They are said to have paid for the ornate south-west tower of Rouen Cathedral called the ‘Butter Tower’.

It was because abstinence from eggs generally continued, that the last day before Lent became marked, in England, by the orgy of egg-breaking involved in making good pancakes, and Easter Day became marked by the offering and blessing of a hoard of Easter eggs.