Where the Hell is Heaven? Tell me and I’ll give away $1,000.

“Raise your gaze toward heaven, not a heaven of abstract ideas nor an imaginary heaven created in art, but the true reality of heaven which is God himself. God is heaven." [Pope Benedict XVI 15th August 2008]

Many cultures & religions believe in a concept called heaven (or similar post-death paradise)

Billions live their lives, believing when they die they will spend eternity existing in this place, also frequently called Samsara or Jannah.

So where is this abode of the righteous dead?

When asked, theists (including it appears, even The Pope as per the above quote) allude broadly in abstract, to somewhere up in the sky, the space above the earth. Holy books refer to God looking down from heaven upon the Earth, Jesus & Mohammad coming down from the heavens and then ascending.

It was God that apparently created ‘heavens and the earth’– so why did he render a significant part of this process invisible?

These-days mankind has knowledge of what is in the troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere and thermosphere. Science has allowed us to investigate, measure, analyse these regions surrounding earth. We are able to cognise in terms of matter & energy, what occupies our immediate surrounds – and there’s no evidence of a ‘mysterious area’ beyond our detection.

“I looked around and I didn't see God or angels or heaven” [Soviet Cosmonaut, Gherman Titov]

‘Believers’ reading this will submit that heaven is in a different, by definition ‘timeless’, dimension. One in which, God magically keeps cloaked from mortals ,especially it seems, scientists/physicists and the like, void even from laws of thermodynamics.

So where there is this dimension, the higher ‘time defying’ realm God and his angels etc call their home?

“And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament: and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail. (Revelation 11:19)” May be it’s me, but it’s puzzling that a man made object like The Arc of The Covenant, can also make ‘the transfer’ up to heaven, in one piece.

If you were to die in the next 60 seconds, and you believe heaven is not on terra firma, or up in the stratosphere etc - where is ‘this place’ in relation to where you are immediately residing? Does this mean, in effect some souls have further to travel than others? If the scriptures are your guide, logic dictates, you must believe that were you to die climbing Mount Everest, the journey for your soul would be some what shorter than if you plunged to your doom at the bottom of the Marianas Trench in a Russian nuclear submarine.

This being the case, surely it’s prudent for those whose soul needs to travel an extra distance, like Russian submariners & South African miners, to undertake extra religious training for the prolonged journey into the 4th dimension?

Bart Simpson: “Well if your souls real where is it?”

Milhouse: “It's kinda in here... and when you sneeze, that's your soul trying to escape. Saying god bless you crams it back in. And when you die, it squirms out and flies away!”

Bart: “What if you die in a submarine at the bottom of the ocean?”.

Milhouse: “Oh, it can swim, it's even got wheels, in case you die in the desert and have to drive to the cemetary”.

Explain how it is this ‘soul dematerialision/rematerialision’ process works between bodily death and eternal life and the small issue of how it is a soul is transported? Do souls have flippers or long appendages like flagella and ‘swim’ through space? Are they like salmon and automatically home-in on heaven? Do we simply all need to yell “beam me up God” or “Taxi” rather loudly?

And do souls sometimes turn-up at the wrong dimension of heaven? Are there times a Christian God has point an errant Muslim soul, around the corner to the red door “knock four times and ask for Allah”? For any ‘believers’ this is scenario can not be written off entirely. There is after-all no homogenized concept of a single God, so parallel heavens must be a distinct possibility, or a lot of believers are going to be very disappointed when they slip off this mortal coil and find “the bloody Jews were right all along”.

Now cutting to the chase here folks - is it possible for anyone reading this, to provide me evidence, substantiating a heaven or heavens?

Here’s the challenge: send me one measly piece of evidence that points to the location of heaven & I will donate NZ$1,000 to Medical Research.

There are literally billions of bipedal chimps that are adamant ‘heaven exists’ so I’m expecting I’ll be writing a cheque out to The Malaghan Institute, with-in minutes of posting this blog.

This is a genuine challenge, open to anyone who is registered on google, and comes with no time restraints (should, I make to the average age here in New Zealand you have a good 30 years to go, but I’m prepared to hedge the amount against inflation, $1,000 in 2050 isn’t going to buy you a round of beer, one suspects)

For the successful party I’ll post a copy of the receipt for this donation online, so you’ll know I’ve been as good as my word. Hey, even the godless can be trusted, now and again. Come-on who’d you rather have baby-sit your kids, me or the local Catholic Priest?

So ‘don’t be shy’, enter ‘The $1,000 Challenge’, tell me where I can locate heaven and do you bit for medical research.

Post your evidence in the comments section and let the world see what you have.

Footnote; You may also like to ponder what happens to a soul in the case of a brain transplant? More Here.

New Zealand’s Vitamin & Natural Health Products Hustle

"Because soils in New Zealand are low in selenium, the selenium content in our food is low, making New Zealand one of the countries with the lowest selenium status in the world"

A recent statement (6th December) from no lesser person than, Associate Professor Welma Stonehouse, from Massey Universities Institute of Food, Health and Human Nutrition.

And what do there low-levels of Selenium, mean to the public at large?

Here’s what a number of web sites around the country had to say on the subject.

“Therefore, low levels of selenium have been implicated in most chronic disease states, to include cancer, premature aging, cataracts, AMD, cardiovascular disease, osteoarthritis and more” [Southstar Fertilizers]

“Selenium is a natural antioxidant and is one of the essential body substances that can be used in a preventive manner for many diseases including cancer, stroke, arteriosclerosis, cirrhosis, arthritis and emphysema” [www.healthy.co.nz]

“Considering selenium blood levels alone those persons in the lowest fifth of all blood selenium levels have twice the incidence of cancer as those in the highest fifth” [www.selenium.co.nz]

“As well as being associated with a reduced risk of cancer, selenium is also believed to reduce the risk of heart disease” (Otago Daily Times 5th December)

“It is possible that many degenerative diseases, including cancer may be related to Selenium deficiency and further protection against such ailments improves by increasing your selenium intake” [Janice Cleghorn.co.nz]

Boy this lack of Selenium must be taking a heavy toll on New Zealanders health?

Well, actually no.

Our rates of the diseases listed above, are virtually identical to similar countries overseas, who as it happens, have higher levels of selenium in their diets. The Government body Medsafe agree.

And what exactly benefits one by taking extra Selenium?

The results of the world’s largest trial just about to be published in The Journal of the American Medical Association – indicates exactly nothing!

The U.S based study of 35,000 men, show no benefits of all for someone taking selenium. Indeed the statistics were so conclusive the 3 year study was ended early, because there was no convincing efficacy.

The goal of this study run by Dr. Scott Lippman, a professor of medicine in the division of cancer medicine at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, was to examine whether selenium, vitamin E, or a combination of both supplements could safely prevent prostate cancer and other diseases in relatively healthy men.

"Selenium or vitamin E, alone or in combination at the doses and formulations used, did not prevent prostate cancer in this population of relatively healthy men," the study authors wrote in their summary

Vitamin E was equally ineffective, a result that mirrors what a similar large-scale (14,641 individuals) Harvard Physicians' Health Study II, encompassing Vitamin C, concluded only last month.

The American Cancer Society provided some objectivity in their summation on the Harvard Medical Schools Study into vitamins:

"Well-conducted clinical trials such as this are rapidly closing the door on the hope that common vitamin supplements may protect against cancer."

"The American Cancer Society recommends getting these and other nutrients by eating a mostly plant-based diet with a variety of vegetables, fruits and whole grains. A bonus is that this type of diet helps to prevent obesity, which increases the risk of several cancers."

Despite the results of these studies, the New Zealand marketers of vitamins tell a different story, one that flies in the face of all the latest evidence.

"As well as this, Vitamin C is essential for stimulating the immune system, enabling the body to resist disease, including cancer" [Healthy.co.nz ]

"Thompsons Vitamin E acts as an antioxidant and it has been seen to play a role in the prevention of cancer" [Pharmacy Direct]

But let’s give these marketers a break, call it the benefit of the doubt, may be they didn’t happen upon these studies, being so recent?.

Or are they simply ignoring the mounting adverse studies which indicate the ineffectiveness of vitamins and supplements for all, but those not eating a balanced diet?

Overwhelmingly the later appears to be the case.

You see, the above study from Harvard Medical Schools wasn’t the first they’ve done of late.

There was actually an earlier one this year, and the results from this were even more damning. One of the conclusions reached by
Dr. Harvey Simon was that vitamin E may increase respiratory infections, moderate doses of vitamin A may increase fractures, and beta-carotene may increase the risk of lung cancer in male smokers.

So where are the health warnings, on the products in question?

Not only did this clinical study prove Vitamins to be ineffective against a whole range of advertised benefits, this study also found other supplements were similarly ineffective included zinc (for colds); Echinacea (for colds); saw palmetto (enlarged prostate); ginseng (fatigue); ginkgo (mental alertness). Yohimbine (erectile dysfunction) and DHEA (anti-aging, memory loss)

“Both Echinacea and Olive have additional benefits for heart health” [some of the portrayed benefits one gets ingesting ‘Olive Leaf with Echinacea and Vitamin C’ Pills manufactured by Natures Way and sold through-out New Zealand]

Other studies into Echinacea [University of Virginia 2005, University of Washington 2003, University of Wisconsin 2002] – all say the herbal supplement made from purple coneflower failed to prevent or treat colds.

‘Flu Biotic’ is an Echinacea based anti bacterial formula that helps reduce the severity and duration of acute cold and flu symptoms according to it’s manufacturers Greenridge, Chemists & online stores selling the liquid form at NZD 40 per bottle. The Australian manufacturer Greenridge also boldly state in their publicity ‘Echinacea has the ability to raise the body's resistance to bacterial and viral infections’. So what study or research do they have to back-up their bold (or should that be cold) claims? Well try as I could, there was not one reference available in the sales pitch of any of the 100’s of outlets in Australasia selling this product, including Greenridge themselves. All of the sales-pitches included the same ‘cut & paste’ efficacy claims and nothing of substance, and most certainly not ‘a dicky-bird’ of any of the major studies I’ve mentioned and readily available to anyone with the internet.

The herbal remedy saw palmetto is no more effective than a placebo at treating symptoms related to enlargement of the prostate gland, according to a 2006 study published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Strange then we still have web sites like ‘Health Chemist’ (www.healthchemist.co.nz) which give Saw Palmetto three stars out of possible three stars for ‘reliable and relatively consistent scientific data showing a substantial health benefit’ along with a list of numerous studies for it’s benefits - all but one of which, were small scale & published in the 1990’s.

US$36.5 million was spent by disease researchers from the University of Pittsburgh to see if ginkgo biloba could help stave off dementia, the answer they got, published last month, was those using ginkgo tablets actually had an even greater likelihood of developing Alzheimer's!

Is that the impression one would have, when looking at this product, on the Chemist/Supermarket shelf?

Were you oblivious to the ruinous results of the world largest most comprehensive study run by The University of Pittsburg into Ginkgo & Memory, and in the market-place to purchase Ginkgo for say an ailing elderly member of the family here in New Zealand, you would be told by The New Zealand Health Information Network (check-out www.nzealth.net.nz) “While there is no known cure for Alzheimer’s disease, studies have shown ginkgo can slow the onset of the disease and reduce the severity of the symptoms” And that “a dosage of 2 teaspoons of tincture or 2 capsules three times daily will improve the patient’s condition in a matter of weeks”. So what are these studies they allude to in their product brief, there at The New Zealand Health Information Network? Clearly they must supersede & counter the eight year, US$36.5 million, 3,069 person study, researchers undertook at the University of Pittsburg? Well they don’t actually publish them, so we’ll never know.

"For healthy adults I can say with a good deal of confidence that they're not effective,”

Another who has done vitamin research recently had this to say "These things are ineffective, and in high doses they can cause harm,". Dr. Edgar R. Miller, a professor of medicine and epidemiology at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore followed this up by saying. "People are unhappy with their diets, they're stressed out, and they think it will help. It's just wishful thinking."

In 2004 the results for two studies into Folic Acid & Vitamin B and Heart Attack prevention had this conclusion “The evidence is clear that this type of vitamin therapy is really not effective in reversing or benefiting advanced vascular disease,"

Evidently, Titan ,the New Zealand marketers of a product called ‘Factor 1:Bio-Immunizer’ have a diametrically differing opinion on Folic Acid: “A recent study has found that folic acid and vitamin B6 significantly lowered the risk of coronary heart disease and, in fact, folic acid deficiencies could trigger 30 to 40 percent of the heart attacks and strokes suffered by Americans each year” . The ‘recent’ study they quote was one done in Canada in and published in The Journal of the American Medical Association, June 26, 1996. This 12 year old report is available on the internet and is entitled ‘Is Folic Acid the Answer?’ (notice, the rather obvious question mark in the title) In the Canadian report conclusions the authors state “more than ever we need to be patient and wait for the results from ongoing trials” and “the fact is that the evidence is conflicting and, except for neural tube defects, the beneficial effect of improved folate status remains to be established”. Hardly great endorsement,one feels.

In June this year the results were published for the seven year, 36,282 post-menopausal women study into whether vitamin D and calcium could reduce reduced the risk of developing breast cancer – the results for the supplements were the same as the placebo. As best I can tell, no New Zealand media outlet covered this, so both products are still on sale in New Zealand with accompanying claims to be effective -in effect giving suffers false hope.

The popular supplements glucosamine and chondroitin were also no better than a placebo at preventing cartilage loss in knees of people with the form of arthritis caused by wear and tear, a Utah School of Medicine study found in September.

“Glucosamine may help reduce joint inflammation, decreasing swelling and increasing joint mobility, and provide temporary relief from the pain of osteoarthritis. Glucosamine may also assist through its direct action in repairing damaged cartilage and therefore promoting improved joint function” [ publicity blurb for Blackmore Glucosamine Capsules, at least at this level they hedged their bets, with the open-ended ‘may’]

But one look at their bottle, tells a different story to any prospective consumer:

Nutra-Life market a combined glucosamine/chondrotin formula they’ve dubbed ‘Joint Food’ which comes with a veritable ‘shopping-list’ of attributes, including “helping maintain joint, ligament and cartilage health associated with age and injury deterioration”. This potential benefit flies in the face of what The Utah School of Medicine found in September, and that study concurs with a Dutch study published in February, looking at hips.

To quote the report from The Erasmus Medical Centre in Rotterdam “Given the lack of clinically important effects on pain, function, and stiffness over 24 months, our results suggest that glucosamine sulphate is not an effective therapy for patients with hip osteoarthritis,"

Earlier, as part of a Federal Study, The University of Utah also looked into the effectiveness of Glucosamine & Chondrotin for treating arthritis in 2004 – and produced an identical ‘no better than placebo’ result.

By now you can see a similarity to all these studies, into vitamins & a string of natural health products touted as curing anything from tinnitus to cancer.

Per head New Zealanders are amongst the world’s larger consumers of vitamins and natural health products.

So why is there not more consumer protection in New Zealand, relating to vitamins and natural products?

If her quote in The Sunday Star Times(28/12/08) is any indication, the Commerce Commission chair Paula Rebstock is fully aware of the situation. “Consumers simply have no way of knowing what is in a pill they buy, other than relying on the claims made for it in adevertising and on the packet”.

Talk about running-up the white flag and admitting “this is too big for us to handle”.

Why is it, a humble layman like myself, can find these reports so readily, when Ms Rebestock and her minions at The Commerce Commission, the so-called consumer watch-dogs, are either unable or unwilling to do replicate this process?

It appears millions of dollars is being wasted on products which simply do not do what they purport to do, and more-ever medical studies ignored?

Just try and find any of these studies linked to a New Zealand site – I hope you’ll have more luck than I did.

Natural Products appear exempt the rigours applied to all other consumer products, even claims to be able to cure cancer escape prosecution and media chastisement.

This ability of manufacturers/importers/retailers to make claims without publicising ALL the known studies allows them to sell ‘false hope’ – the cruellest & most exploitive of all marketing ploys.

Looking at 6 popular supplements available at 12 New Zealand online sellers (multivitamin, vitamin c, vitamin b, Echinacea, Glucosamine) references/studies validating the products effectiveness were only provided on four of the twelve sites.

In the minority (1 in 4) of the cases where references were supplied by on-line retailers the average age of those studies was 1997.

Some of the references given were also dubious at best. The sole supporting reference for one was a was a book called ‘Vitamin C - The Future is Now’ and in another virtually identical case, a publication called ‘The Complete Family Guide to Homeopathy’.Both books came out 13 years ago.

And why are these robust adverse studies into these widely touted ‘health’ products simply ignored by New Zealand media and politician’s alike?

Anyone can google these reports with ease.

Give it a try yourself.

Type in your supplement of your choice, then followed by the word ‘ineffective’ and see what you turn-up?

My bet, is your google search will turn-up more UP-TO-DATE FACTS than you can ever hope to get from the retailers, results which are mysteriously cloaked with some sort of ‘invisibility’ when staff at The Commerce Commission, use the same search engine.

Finally, what further indictment do you need to cease wasting money on products – which for those with healthy diets, make little more than coloured urine?

Footnote: I have sent a copy of this article, to Simon Power (Minister of Commerce) Rodney Hide (Associate Minister of Commerce) and Paula Rebstock (Commerce Commission Chair)

Boobs Prove # 1 with Canterbury Men

Take a bow, the blokes of Canterbury.

Forget natural disasters, global financial meltdowns and psychopaths running amok – there’s one subject, and only one, that tops the list of what readers, of the online version of The Christchurch Press Newspaper want to view.

It’s breasts, of the female kind.

The top two viewed articles for 2008 were……..

1.) ALT T.V’s Topless newsreader, celebrity streaker, Lisa Lewis (pictured above)

2.) A topless women’s football team in Austria (below)

Coming in at number 4 was an article on Angela Jolie, again focusing on her chest area, & at 8 a competition to rank the sexiest female Olympian.

This fine indictment provides ample evidence men in Canterbury have what it takes, where it counts, comes the same week as Kiwi Porn King, Steve Crow announced he’s been forced to cancel further Boobs on Bikes & Sexpo’s up in Wellington.

It appears the pussy whipped males in ‘the capital’, can’t go to the fish n’ chip shop without a letter from their wives, let alone perv at siliconly enhanced females.

Crow needed 10,000 to break-even at this years ‘Erotica Lifestyle Expo’ in Wellington, but the grey shoes & brown-suited Wellingtonians, could only muster a paltry 6,000 – the first time a New Zealand show of this kind has lost money.

Rumour also has it, part of the problem is Wellington mums purchase love-toys, first for their educational value.

The pitiful crowd at the Wellington Sexpo was even 2,000 fewer than in Palmerston North – further evidence of the prudish nature of Wellingtonians and one of the many sociological down-sides of having too many public servants in such close proximity (lack of sporting prowess is another)

Wellington councillors suggest the miserable turn-out was because many couples we at a Le Leche Conference, held in the city the same weekend.

So hold you heads up high Canterbury men ( the plural head’s is not a spelling mistake either, you’ll need to be little creative when interpreting it)

Come share The Archbishop of Canterbury’s Delusion

David Berg (aka Moses David),Guru of the Children of God

Pat Robinson, T.V Evangelist

Joseph Smith, founder of Mormonism

Elizabeth Clare Prophet, leader of the Church Universal & Triumphant

Jehovah's Witnesses

Lee Jang Rim, leader of the Korean cult Mission for the Coming Days

Maria Devi Khrystos, leader of the Russian cult Great White Brotherhood

David Koresh, Branch Davidian

Heavens Gate Cult

John Wesley, Methodist Church founder

This eclectic bunch, shared one common belief.

So what is it, that links David Koresh to Joseph Smith?

It’s a delusional belief in a cataclysmic ‘end of times’ apocalypse.

And you can now add another name to this illustrious list……

Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury.

For centuries the Catholic Church have been wheeling-out ‘more dead than alive’ dementia ridden, pontiffs - by the pope-mobile load.

It looks as if The Church of England is now challenging this dubious distinction, with it’s current head-honcho showing all the signs of early Alzheimer’s.

Here are some excerpts from yesterday’s rambling Christmas ‘dooms-day’ sermon from Rowan Williams………

“On the other side, after the end of the Cold War, some scholars were writing about the 'end of history', and an American President spoke of a 'new world order'.

“we've seen some of Barack Obama's advisers and colleagues warning about the level of messianic expectation loaded on to the President-elect”

“The gospel tells us something hard to hear - that there is not going to be a single charismatic leader or a dedicated political campaign or a war to end all wars that will bring the golden age; it tells us that history will end when God decides”

“It is not the restoring of a golden age, not even a return to the Garden of Eden; it is more – a new creation, a new horizon for us all”

“He is the indestructible divine life, and the illumination he gives cannot be shrouded or defeated by the darkness of human failure”

“Isaiah looked towards the day when the guards on the deserted city's wall would see the return of the Lord 'face to face”

God will decide History’s End!

A new horizon!

What the f*ck!

I can imagine Jim Jones giving a similar ‘peep-talk’ to the followers, just before he broke-out the kool-aid.

Speciousness of this kind would be hard to beat, even if The Archbishop had replaced God with ‘aliens from the extended spiral arm in the fourth quadrant’.

At least we know there IS an extended arm in the fourth quadrant, and chances are there are aliens.

Why didn’t he simply don a chicken-suit & jump around the stage screaming “the sky is falling” whilst making loud clucking noises?

Then at least we’d all think he was taking the piss.

The sad thing for the 75 million Anglicans was - he was serious, even managing to trump The Pope’s ‘ecology of man’(gay bashing)speech two days ago, a mission in itself.

The Pope: Hangs Around in Women’s Clothing

You are wandering around town on a boy’s night out, when you venture in to a seedy bar, not the sort you’d normally frequent were you in a more sober state or on your lonesome. (we’ve all been there, so I know you will be sticking with me on this one)

However by this time, you’ve had a gut full of beer and are at that ‘past caring’ stage.

Despite your less than lucid condition, the first thing that strikes you upon arriving - is that weird old dude with ‘bags under his eyes’, leaning against the bar.

He’s wearing this strange red hat.

Aren’t those 'Wizard of Oz' women’s shoes, as well?


Then there’s the matter of the dress, and the over-sized

jewelry that would be the envy of any rap-music star.


And he’s adorning this ensemble proudly!

Here are the likely heterosexual ‘thought process’s’, in sequence (or should that be sequins given the subject matter in question?)

a.) This is a gay bar
b.) This guy is a raving queen
c.) I’m skulling this beer quickly, then I’m off

Given the same scenario here’s the likely homosexual ‘thought process’s’…..

a.) This classy old ‘big bear’ knows how to dress.
b.) He’s strangely familiar? Wasn’t he the producer of ‘Queer Eye for the Straight Guy’?
c.) Yum, I wonder if he’s alone tonight?

Irrespective of your sexual orientation, no one would pick him as the world’s biggest homophobe, eh?

The Scandal of Mother Teresa's Sainthood

In 2003 close to 300,000 people crowded into St. Peter's Square and it’s surrounds, to celebrate Pope John Paul II's beatification of Mother Teresa, known as the ‘Saint of the Gutters’.

Pope John Paul, himself on his last legs told the gathered crowd in a weakened voice “In her, we perceive the urgency to put oneself in a state of service, especially for the poorest and most forgotten,the last of the last”

Some 450 doe-eyed nuns from Mother Teresa's Missionaries of Charity flew-in from Calcutta to witness the three hour ceremony.

Like everyone there that day, the Nuns witnessed a sham on a grand scale, as did a fellow Indian mother of four, there in Rome as a special attendee.

The fast-tracking of Mother Teresa’s sainthood, is widely known, less so the fact the posthumous miracle she is credited with - simply did not happen and is little more than a crudely constructed fabrication.

Fabrication, that became the last crucial pieces in the Catholic Churches beatification ‘jig-saw’ of the Albanian nun, orchestrated by a frail and dementia ridden pontiff who wept aside the set 17th century red tape, and began making Teresa a saint in record time. Rather than decades, even centuries - the process would take just years.

The final part of the jig-saw was evidence of a miracle following the candidate’s demise.

On Sept. 5, 1998, the first anniversary of the nun's death, Monica Besra (above) left her family to seek help from the Missionaries of Charity in Kolkata, India. Suffering abdominal pain caused, she believed, by a tumor.

But the purported tumor vanished when nuns from the mission placed Teresa’s picture & an accompanying locket, on her abdomen, the site of her pain.

In August 2001, Monica's post-death miracle was supplied to the Vatican as part of the fast-tracking of Mother Teresa's canonisation.

None of this happened the way the Church portrayed it.

Before all of this allegedly happened, Monica Besra was suffering from tubercular meningitis and from an ovarian tumor, which was discovered during an ultra-sound investigation. This came about after was admitted to the government hospital in Balurghat, suffering similar severe pain. She was subsequently treated by Dr.Tarun Kumar Biwas and the gynaecologist Dr. Ranjan Mustafi. After she left the hospital, the treatment was continued in the North Bengal Medical College and Hospital and ended successfully in March 1999. A final ultra-sound investigation showed that the tumor had disappeared.

The Hospitals superintendent supplied Sister Betta from the Missionaries of Charity with Monica's medical records containing sonograms, prescriptions and physicians' notes etc that provided ample evidence it was medical treatment that cured her, and not a magical photo through which a dead nun emanated curative properties from beyond the grave.

But, rather conveniently the ‘good’ nun Sister Betta, lost those official medical records shortly after receiving them.

Despite openly admitting at one stage they had solicited Monica Besra’s hospital records, abruptly The Missionaries for Charity then changed their story, and ignoring a mountain of evidence to the contrary, including statements from their own mission, they now claim they never received the official medical records in the first place.

What they did ‘discover’ in their place amongst the 34,000 pages of meticulously accrued miracle documentation, are claims that several doctors had certified that the healing was ‘scientifically inexplicable’.

One ‘small’ problem with this transcript, is the Balurghat Hospital who treated Monica Besra has no records of these doctors and further, none of these anonymous witnesses could be traced.

Balurghat Hospital Doctors are adamant in the validity and robustness of their diagnosis and statements from officials from the same hospital back this up, with claims the Catholic order has been pressuring them to say Monica's cure was miraculous.

Remarkably, amongst all those 34,000 pages of ‘official evidence’ for Teresa’s miracle cure from beyond the grave, there was not a solitary sentence from anyone who was actually involved with Monica Besra’s medical treatment.

"This miracle is a hoax."

Monica's husband Seiku, has had enough of all the publicity concerning his wife’s so-called miracle and freely speaks out against the hysteria, which still sees devotees flocking to his door-step expecting a similar instant cure.

“My wife did feel less pain one night when she used the locket, but her pain had been coming and going. Then she went to the doctors, and they cured her."

"My wife was cured by the doctors and not by any miracle." he forth-rightly tells anyone who will listen, not that the Catholic Church has to this day ever spoken to crucial witness like him.

Monica Besra is a 38-year-old tribal woman from Dulidnapur village, a mother of four.

She is illiterate and speaks her tribal mother tongue only, a few words of broken Bengali & English.



The official statement she purportedly supplied to the Papal chief investigator Brian Kolodiejchuk (via one of the sisters at the mission) happens to be written in fluent English and shows familiarity with details of Catholic doctrine she was, or never could to this day, be privy to.

Until recently Monica had been cashing-in on her new found fame, but it appears her flame has dimmed, and the devoted & often desperate miracle-seekers beating a track to her house, had reduced to a trickle.

Last year Monica turned her attention to a far richer source than the often poor & now infrequent miracle seekers, when she began making public murmurings that she was not in-fact the benefactor of a miracle cure and that she was used by the Catholic Church for their own selfish purposes, then callously abandoned to a life of penury.

Her threats to ‘spill the beans’ had the required effect.

Fearing her admissions would expose the stage-managed nature of the deceit, The Vatican arranged for ‘hush money’ to be paid to her via, of all entities, the local Mother Teresa Charitable Welfare Society.

When this pay-off was exposed in the Indian media the Society was forced to comment saying simply it was ‘a donation’.

A substantial one, and as 'icing on the cake' , places for the Besra children at a private Catholic School.

Monica Besra, then went back believing in the miracle.

So what does The Vatican & the Indian missionaries behind this scandal , have to say about the controversy still surrounding Monica Besra’s miracle? The missing files? Failure to speak to key witnesses? The role of medical science etc.

Well they no longer comment on the subject, so the final say is fittingly left to Monica herself:

"I took the medicines they gave me, but those who love Mother will believe”


Footnote: For more on Mother Teresa you may be interested in my previous blog entitled ‘The Loathsome Cult of Mother Teresa’

The New Zealand Church of Odin (1980-1983) ‘The White Man's Religion’

For over three decades, the name Kerry Bolton (born 1956) has been synonymous, with far right politics in New Zealand.

Dr Paul Spoonley, author of ‘The Politics of Nostalgia‘, suggests Bolton was involved with the N.Z National Socialist Party at the tender age of 14.

Bolton's political CV is extensive, to say the least: secretary of the New Zealand Democratic Nationalist Party which was formed in 1975, founded New Force along with with Cantabrian David Crawford (1981)which then became Nationalist Workers Party in 1983, secretary for the New Zealand Fascist Union in 1997, 1999 saw him involved with New Zealand Workers Front, and last heard of was the secretary of the New Zealand National Front.

Bolton (who sometimes calls himself Dr K.R Bolton or Wulf Grimwald) is a prolific author - a couple of his more interesting publications being ‘Animal Welfare in The Third Reich’ and ‘Jung and the Volkisch Movement’.

In addition to Bolton’s veritable ‘shopping-list’ of political parties, he also holds another (dubious?) similar distinction – the creator of several ‘do it yourself’ religions.

Recently Bolton was the subject of a Waikato University thesis by Roel van Leeuwen , which looked at one of these creations ‘The Order of the Left Hand Path’, an organisation started by Bolton in Wellington, during the 1990s , which van Lewuwan wrote ‘synthesised Satanism with neo-Nazism’.

Bolton considered the thesis to be a ‘smear’ on his reputation and Waikato University was forced to censor sections. This ‘bun-fight’ is still going-on as at publication of this blog.

Around the time Bolton was formed the New Force Party, he also began his long intrigue with what would popularly be called ‘fringe’ religious beliefs.

The weekend after a New Force Conference in December of 1980, he helped form ‘The Church of Odin’.

A Church dedicated to the Norse God Odin, was not unique to just New Zealand.

The oldest modern church worshipping Odin, was started across the Tasman by lawyer Alexander Rud Mills (1885-1964) Melbournite, Rud Mills, formulated his ideas after travelling to Europe in the early 30’s & at one stage was involved with the British ‘Imperialist Fascist League’ (a right wing version of Sir Oswald Mosleys ‘British union of Fascists) In 1933 he journeyed to Germany where he garnished a personal audience with Adolf Hitler. Upon his return to Australia in 1934 Mills started The First Anglecyn Church of Odin, along with a number of short-lived newspapers, like ‘National Socialist’. During WW2 Mills was interned by The Australian Government as a possible Nazi sympathiser.

Trying to summerise Mills brand of Odinism is an exercise in itself, and worthy of a separate dissertation. Articles on Mills point to his desire to replace Australia's traditional Anglo-Saxon Christian institutions with his own brand of racially based mixture of mysticism & socialism. On one hand he drew up a Decalogue that is a blatant copy of The Anglican Church, the word Anglecynn being the ancient version for Church of England, then in the next breath Mills stated he abhorred Jesus Christ. Add into this ‘Norse melting-pot’ elements from the Masons & Rosicrucian's. His unique brand of worship remarkably still has its followers, even today (minus the now unfashionable bits about Hitler, anti-semitism etc)


"Today, Odinism is thriving as never before, and a new generation of Australians and New Zealanders is discovering that its ancient truths are as relevant today as they were in the springtime of our people. If you dare to "peer into the dark abyss", if your mind is open to future possibilities, if you can seriously consider the idea that were it not for Christianity we would be far more advanced and secure than we are today, then you are already on the path to Odinism[Above modern-day Aussie followers at Mills grave in Melbourne]

Now to the United States. In 1971, shortly after the death of her husband Alex, Else Christensen (1913-2005) formed the Odinist Fellowship from her caravan in Florida. Later Christensen would move her trailer north to Vancouver, her first stop in North America after fleeing post war Europe from Denmark. Amongst the Christensen’s circle of friends was James Warner a leading organisor in The American Nazi Party, who was a follower of the writings of Francis Yockley. Warner, himself an ordained minister and Grand Dragon of The KKK, had the idea of starting a church by the same name, but failed in his attempts, and he passed the baton to his close friends (including a veritable library of material he had gathered). Unquestionably Else Christensens initial interest in racial radicalism via Odinism, came as a result her of interactions with Warner and her & her husbands enamoration with Mills works. Christensen’s (also called ‘Folk Mother’ by her followers) brand of Odinism involved communal, socialist communities all operating independently and a North America minus big-business and heavy-industry. Else saw prisons as a great source of membership, creating her own Odinist prison ‘outreach’ programme, the effectiveness she got to test personally, after she received a 35 month stretch for drug trafficking – at age 79!



Like it’s Anitipodean and North American name-sakes, the New Zealand Church of Odin adopted this heady combination of National Socialism, and Viking mystique – but little of their substance.

Boltons co-founder in New Zealand, David Crawford, indicated Florida was the world-headquarters in November, 1981 along with accompanying statements that alluded to “tens of thousands of [worldwide] members” and added to his attempts at credibility “the church has been going about 15 years”.

Crawford was seemingly wide of the mark on all fronts here.

The origins of modern Odinism, firmly steamed from Alexander Mills ‘across the ditch’, rather than his devote Else Christensen, and by 1981 her humble caravan, had only acted as the North American ‘head-office’ for a decade.

In the same article Crawford, heckles raised, attempted to further bolster the Church of Odins (NZCO) global stature by claiming “it is strong enough to fund its own research projects into its beginnings in Europe”. I guess what Crawford was alluding to here was the Warners wealth of paperwork, inherited by the Christensens, then edited and mail-ordered in it’s abridged form to New Forces post office box in Paraparaumu.

Evidently New Zealanders were slow to adopt Odin.

Crawford put the number that had attended their last ‘invitee only’ service in Christchurch at “ten or eleven”.

This is probably understandable, when it became clear to prospective members, exactly what this ‘church’ was all about.

For most that process of deduction, happening very shortly after learning the churches catch-cry "Odinism: The White Man's Religion".

This catch-cry not only narrowed its scope of membership & alienated large tracts within the general populous (much like ‘New Force’ I might add).

Interestingly it must have also prevented Bolton’s own son, a part Maori, from its already thin ranks.

“We don’t support anything that undermines the unity of the white race”.

“The Church of Odin is exclusively for whites”

All quotes from Crawford.

The worship of Odin and his fellow Norse Gods within the NZCO, seemed to be very liberally applied & enforced.

The N.Z Church boasted there were no ceremonies, but there were feasts, the major one coinciding with The Northern Hemisphere’s Summer Solstice.

The credibility of NZCO is tested on this issue of a Summer Solstice Feast observance & you would have to question the amount of literature Bolton/Crawford & Co were working-off via the ‘folk mother’ in Florida, using this gross error alone.

Yule is the old name for the pagan festival held at northern Winter Solstice, or December 21, celebrating the sun and the power of the gods, Odin in particular. Yule is actually another name for Odin, and what we know as Santa, is a modern-day creation using legends & customs that owe much of their origins to Nordic traditions.

The Summer Solstice Feast in-fact, celebrated Baldr (Odin’s son)

Still why let the facts get in the way of a good story, and besides, I’d imagine it didn’t take much of an excuse with this lot, for a spit-roast & a piss-up!

The internal liberalism, bordering on anarchism, within NZCO circles extended to the extent members, could opt into believing in the principal Gods, Odin & Thor.

Looking back & trying to nail-down exactly what the NZCO ‘believed in’ as a religious entity is hard to establish.

They had the same name as overseas branches they often referred to, the same racist rhetoric, but little to none of the codes followed by their name-sakes in Australia, U.S.A or Canada,

One of its selling points according to Crawford was actually its lack of mainstream religious restraints & hierarchies.

“We don’t want the control of men’s minds via religion” (Christchurch Star, 7th November 1981)

Over a decade after the N.Z Church ceased to exist, Kerry Bolton mentions Odinsim in an article he wrote on Dualism (full text of which is available here) in which he states;

“Even many (most?) of the harder-line "Odinists", have a cosmology that is essentially Christian. They have dualised the Aesir & the Jotuns into contending moral forces of "good vs. evil" - ODIN (OR BALDER) IS THEIR JESUS. LOKI IS THEIR SATAN. RAGNAROK IS THEIR ARMAGEDDON. The whole significance of Indo-European cyclic cosmology has been rendered null and void”

Try ‘picking the bones’ out of that!

The NZCO also adopted the structure of operating ‘separate cells’ from its parent New Force – so different cities developed different interpretations & practices.

"It became obvious that the Odinists were merely going to be a cult without any relevance to New Zealand politics” (abridged letter to the editor,K.R Bolton, Herald, 26/6/1983)

In this inauspicious letter to the N.Z Hearld Newspaper, Bolton publicly signalled his association with the NZCO was at an end – the equivalent of a death sentence given his heavy involvement.

At this time Boltons/Crawfords political aspirations under the banner New Force were over & the umbilical cord with it’s ‘marketing tool’ NZCO was similarly it appears, cut at the same time.
Bolton immediately branched off to form the more adventurous & mysterious sounding ‘Order of The Left Hand’ and its successor ‘The Black Order’.

The numbers involved with the NZCO (1980-83) is impossible to ascertain with any certainty, but probably best reflected by the number of votes the New Force’s sole candidate, and Party President, Mr B.W Zandbergen, attracted in the Western Hutt Electorate in the 1981 General Election.

30.

Kerry Bolton’s frequent ‘metamorphosis of faith’ still continue, to this day.

Rumour has it, currently he’s now a Christian.

Now that’s scary!

Footnote: Time restraints caused by my involvement in the ‘real world’ and my need to put food on the families table, permitted me to merely scrape the surface on this fascinating subject, and the complexities of Kerry Bolton and the first of many Churches he’s been associated with. I suggest one day a more able journalist with a far broader scope than I have, will do far more justice to his intriguing life. There’s certainly enough material to script and produce a Sundance Movie. ‘The Order of The Left Hand’ seems a fitting title (more of which you can read about in ‘the unedited’ version of Roel van Leeuwen’s thesis) For what ever reason the ‘black & white images’ of Ed Wood, kept reoccurring in my research on this subject & those of you familiar with the movie by the same name, may see the similar parallels in this analogy as well. Perhaps we can line Johnny Depp up to play the star role as Kerry Bolton? If you can add to this article, correct my account, please do so in the comments section. That mean’s you too Kerry! Cheers. Paul.