the 2 mile exclusion zone started at 1800hrs, i now have to have id or a utility bill as proof of address if i want to visit anyone near Cofton Park

thinking about a cheeky stealth ride after dark to put the security guards to the test (they were asleep on the grass when i went past at 3pm)

what anti-ballistic body armour for Pope visit cheeky trails?

A chastity belt?

at least everyone knows the state of their drains as the fibre optic crew have checked them all for explosive devices 🙄

Don't know, but wear one of these :

http://www.mr-benn.co.uk/latex/htm/lat18.htm

Dress as a choir boy, youll get through with an escort no problem.

mankini?

RD – do you know if they have blocked off all entrances into the forest in Barnt Green? Was going to have a ride up tomorrow and see how far up i could get…. 😈

just from the Barnt green rd side i should think, however a howitzer by the flag pole would reach the park easily so you never know!

So if i head out of Barnt Green towards the Cricket Club, i could, in theory, turn left halfway down the hill into the woods…? 😉

yea, but cofton church lane Barnt Green Inn side will be cordened off, you should be ok for grub, the ammount of burger vans that have sprung up by the BMW garage…even a hog roast as i passed earlier!

rOcKeTdOg – Member
…what anti-ballistic body armour for Pope visit cheeky trails?

An umbrella – it's the holy water you've got to watch for.

project – Member
Dress as a choir boy, youll get through with an escort no problem

Surely you meant AS AN ESCORT?

Is that a papal decree or are you just pleased to see me?

All good fun, I actually live on Lickey Road so am tempted to do a night ride recce. Although, the powers that be would probably use 'reasonable force' to stop such fun!

I may try some long exposure shots of the 65,000+ people walking up the road during the night 😆

Well go on then.

Should have headed out to the Beer festival @ Belbroughton

*Hic*

it's even harder to get in Belbroughton, i don't earn enough, i'm only allowed in when the scarecrow festival is on

That'll be nect week then 🙂

mmm beer! I have a few cool ones to help see me through the chaos 😉

IT's a bit loud!, shame about the drizzle, the burgers smell nice though

Im 200yds from Oscott College. Its like Fort Knox around here, metal barriers everwhere….

Baffles me how anyone can idolise a 'man' who was an active member of the Hitler Youth. Not forced to join but signed up through free choice.

People seem to have very short memories.

Short memories?,,, it was 70 years ago!!

Especially as the last one was a Polish freedom fighter.One extreme to the other!!

Baffles me how anyone can idolise a ‘man’ who was an active member of the Hitler Youth. Not forced to join but signed up through free choice.

The Pope was forced to join HJ, as every child in Germany was after 1939.Or perhaps you know better? Feel free to share insight with me as I may have to change what I teach my Advanced Higher pupils.The irony is that he manned an anti-aircraft battery about the time the Allies were testing firebombs on civilians.

duckman

Very true.

Perhaps we better stick to his culpability in the deaths of thousands in Africa because of his Church’s attitude towards condoms there, his role in the suppression of “liberation theology” in South America, and his role (mainly before he became pope) in keeping Child Abuse from being investigated properly?

Perhaps we better stick to his culpability in the deaths of thousands in Africa because of his Church’s attitude towards condoms there

Oh not again!!!!

Oh for…

Haven’t we done this?? 🙄

s’ok, we have the park back in 2 minutes, popped out and did some trail maintenance whilst the roads were shut and just back from riding them, so the pope’s visit improved my trails!

There you go. Catholicism works after all! 😀

Everyone’s a winner!

The Pope was forced to join HJ, as every child in Germany was after 1939.

Actually it was in 1941 that I believe membership of Hitler Youth became compulsory, and when Ratzinger became a ‘member’. And as I understand it, you didn’t have to ‘physically’ join HY, schools automatically registered all their pupils as being members.

There is no evidence that Ratzinger was actually active in the HY. The photograph which is often shown of him in uniform, shows him wearing the Luftwaffenhelfer uniform from his days with an anti-aircraft battery. I have never seen a photo of him wearing the tradition HY uniform with the scout scarf and woggle.

On 1943 the Nazis started compulsive conscription of 15 and 16 year olds, and that’s when Ratzinger joined the anti-aircraft forces as a Luftwaffenhelfer. He was latter sent with regular German forces to Hungary but deserted in 1944, a full year before the end of hostilities with Germany.

Furthermore, Ratzinger’s family were anti-Nazi devote Catholics. His cousin of the same age was murdered by the Nazis in their eugenics programme because he had Down syndrome. It’s hard to imagine anything more at odds with the Catholic Church’s teachings, and it’s claim of “sanctity of life”, than the Nazi belief in killing those with disabilities.

But even if it was actually true and as claimed above Ratzinger was, quote : “an active member of the Hitler Youth. Not forced to join but signed up through free choice” it takes a special kind of muppet to denounce the political position taken by a 14 year old child. Especially when that position is line with the political position overwhelmingly prevalent in that society.

.

the last one was a Polish freedom fighter.One extreme to the other!!

Freedom fighter my arse.

John Paul II was chosen by the cardinals precisely because he was conservative and anti-progressive.

Before his papacy for example, the Vatican had a fairly ambivalent attitude towards birth control – although generally frowning it. Some priests actually argued that not using birth control could be sinful if it caused poverty and suffering.

John Paul II soon put a stop to that and came out very strongly against birth control, despite the horrendous suffering it has caused in third world countries in terms of poverty, hunger, child prostitution, etc, etc. Nothing very “liberating” about that.

The Vatican’s opposition to birth control will eventually one day I have no doubt, go down as a shameful period in it’s history. In much the same way as other shameful periods….eg the Inquisition and the slaughter of the indigenous peoples of the New World, etc.

Also before John Paul’s papacy, the Vatican was surprisingly tolerant of Liberation Theology. The movement in Latin America in which for example, “worker priests” lived amongst the poor, the destitute, and the powerless (in much the same way as Christ is claimed to have) and speaking out wherever possible on their behalf – something which they often paid for at the hands of the Death Squads with their lives.

John Paul II soon put a stop to that, forbidding any priests from engaging in Liberation Theology. Nothing very “liberating” about that.

He did towards the end of his life become quite critical of capitalism, and even went so far as giving some credit to Marx’s critique of it :

Later, on his 1993 visit to Latvia, John Paul proclaimed that there was “a kernal of truth in Marxism” which recognized the “exploitation to which an inhuman capitalism had subjected the proletariat since the beginning of industrial society.”[/b]

This however, was imo, too little and too late.

I cycled up there from Bromsgrove today to see what all the fuss was about. Couldn’t believe that they put up 12ft metal sheeting to stop anybody peering in. Seemed a bit OTT. The choirs were good though.

Earnie; 1936 all other youth organisations outlawed,1939 compulsory membership/registration,with fines for non-shows at meetings.

1939 compulsory membership/registration

OK fair enough, 1939 it is then.

So basically what we are are saying is that all Germans between the ages of approximately 85 and 91 are “guilty” of having been members of the Hitler Youth, and therefore of also being Nazis.

Ratzinger should be ashamed of himself 😐

anti-aircraft forces as a Luftwaffenhelfer. He was latter sent with regular German forces to Hungary but deserted in 1944, a full year before the end of hostilities with Germany.

It’s a shame he wasn’t shot for deserting then

12ft metal sheeting to stop anybody peering in. Seemed a bit OTT. The choirs were good though

Well the clergy would not want you to see what they do with the choir would they?