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A new series is currently showing about dementia patients: Channel 4’s The Restaurant That Makes Mistakes, about the eponymous experimental restaurant in Bristol headed by Michelin-starred Josh Eggleton.
I missed the first episode about the dementia patients and their families but saw the second episode about the restaurant’s first few days when it opened to the public.
I thought this would be depressing, but it was most encouraging, not unlike the ‘train ride’ therapy I wrote about yesterday.
The patients — staff — of this Bristol establishment have early-onset dementia. Many of them had highly responsible jobs: company owner, mortgage adviser, legal representative, sole trader (plumber), to name but a few.
Seeing people my age and under suffering from dementia was shocking. They were shown being given tests by a doctor before going on the programme. They were unable to answer the most basic of questions.
Not surprisingly, they all felt worthless.
The wife and mother of five who is suffering knows that she has only a few years to live. She is correct. I saw a young Alzheimer’s patient for a few years when visiting a family member in assisted living. On my next visit, he was no longer there. He had gone to his eternal rest. The director of the home told me that younger dementia patients die sooner than older ones. I had not expected to hear that.
The idea for the programme came from Tokyo, as Television Business International reported on September 24, 2018, before filming began:
The Restaurant That Makes Mistakes is from Red Arrow’s CPL Productions, the makers of BAFTA-nominated Old People’s Home for 4 Year Olds and Motion Content Group, co-producers of C4’s Dementiaville. It is supported by The Alzheimer’s Society.
A group of Alzheimer’s sufferers will be trained to work in the restaurant for a five-week period, where they will be visited by a host of celebrity diners and members of the public.
With more than 40,000 people living with dementia and aged under 65 in the UK, only a fifth of them continue to work post-diagnosis. A team of experts will oversee the ambitious project to evaluate whether the experiment could potentially change how businesses recruit, employ and retain staff who find themselves living with dementia.
Inspired by a real-life Japanese pop-up restaurant that opened in Tokyo last year, the 5 x 60-minute series attempts to start a wider national conversation about how we think about people who live and work with the increasingly common condition.
I give Josh Eggleton bags of credit for participating and heading the restaurant:
He is correct in saying that this experiment restored the patients’ sense of self worth.
He has a chef trained in dementia who worked with the patients in the kitchen:
This short video shows Sue, the patient with vascular dementia who ran the bar. Josh Eggleton said the experience was nerve-wracking at first but ended up brilliantly. The young man in the film is Eggleton’s dementia-trained chef who has a high genetic probability of getting Pick’s Disease, another form of dementia. Both he and Sue ran together in the London Marathon for charity:
The more abled patients helped the others, such as the former business owner who helped the former legal adviser welcome diners at the front desk. She could not remember what to say and kept asking them if they wanted menus. Finally, she got there with regard to ‘Welcome to The Restaurant That Makes Mistakes. Do you have a reservation?’
The former mortgage advisor runs the till, because her mathematical acuity is still sharp. She just speaks rather slowly.
Here are a few other selected tweets from the second episode:
The doctor in the film explains dementia:
The third of four episodes is on Wednesday, June 26, 2019. If you live in the UK, please tune in!
By chance, I saw this tweet from France 3 television about one of their documentaries:
This clip shows a French patient who has Alzheimer’s. Rose is in assisted living (EHPAD), and her facility has implemented ‘train ride’ therapy.
The video shows a room with a mock SNCF (French railway network) departure board. Rose and her therapist go into another room which is set up as a train compartment. The window is a screen showing a film of the countryside just as one might see it from a train.
There seem to be a few choices of railway scenes for patients: countryside, the sea and so on.
This therapy is used for patients who become troubled or troublesome. In this case, Rose is often on the verge of tears.
Therapists say the ‘train ride’ calms the patients down. They ask the patients what they see as they are ‘travelling’, what they are reminded of and so forth. The experience generates a conversation about what patients remember from their past. Rose’s husband used to work for the SNCF, so she would have taken quite a few train journeys during her marriage.
This a brilliant idea. The therapists interviewed say it came from Italy, where it has been implemented on a larger scale. It is said to be in use not only for Alzheimer’s patients but also other mental diseases and traumas.
I like the creativity going on here, which really seems to work. I hope this brings out more interesting types of therapy for Alzheimer’s patients.
The three-year Lectionary that many Catholics and Protestants hear in public worship gives us a great variety of Holy Scripture.
Yet, it doesn’t tell the whole story.
My series Forbidden Bible Verses — ones the Lectionary editors and their clergy omit — examines the passages we do not hear in church. These missing verses are also Essential Bible Verses, ones we should study with care and attention. Often, we find that they carry difficult messages and warnings.
Today’s reading is from the English Standard Version with commentary by Matthew Henry and John MacArthur.
The Shipwreck
39 Now when it was day, they did not recognize the land, but they noticed a bay with a beach, on which they planned if possible to run the ship ashore. 40 So they cast off the anchors and left them in the sea, at the same time loosening the ropes that tied the rudders. Then hoisting the foresail to the wind they made for the beach. 41 But striking a reef,[a] they ran the vessel aground. The bow stuck and remained immovable, and the stern was being broken up by the surf. 42 The soldiers’ plan was to kill the prisoners, lest any should swim away and escape. 43 But the centurion, wishing to save Paul, kept them from carrying out their plan. He ordered those who could swim to jump overboard first and make for the land, 44 and the rest on planks or on pieces of the ship. And so it was that all were brought safely to land.
————————————————————————————————————————-
In last week’s entry, Paul brought the crew and prisoners together to share a meal — their first in a fortnight. Paul gave thanks to God in front of everyone.
Paul had been correct about every aspect about this horrific sea journey, therefore, the men trusted him, especially Julius the centurion.
So here they were nearing land. They had no idea where they were, only that there was a bay with a beach upon which they hoped to get the ship ashore (verse 39).
In order to get the boat ashore, they left the anchors in the sea and loosened the ropes around the rudders before raising the foresail to the wind, enabling them to reach the beach (verse 40). The weight they needed on sea was now unnecessary and, in fact, would inhibit them reaching shore had they kept everything intact.
Matthew Henry’s commentary sets the potentially perilous scene for us with no one on shore to help guide them onto land (emphases mine):
… here we are told, 1. That they knew not where they were; they could not tell what country it was they were now upon the coast of, whether it was Europe, Asia, or Africa, for each had shores washed by the Adriatic Sea. It is probable that these seamen had often sailed this way, and thought they knew every country they came near perfectly well, and yet here they were at a loss. Let not the wise man then glory in his wisdom, since it may perhaps fail him thus egregiously even in his own profession. 2. They observed a creek with a level shore, into which they hoped to thrust the ship, Acts 27:39. Though they knew not what country it was, nor whether the inhabitants were friends or foes, civil or barbarous, they determined to cast themselves upon their mercy; it was dry land, which would be very welcome to those that had been so long at sea. It was a pity but they had had some help from the shore, a pilot sent them, that knew the coast, who might steer their ship in, or another second ship, to take some of the men on board. Those who live on the sea-coast have often opportunity of succouring those who are in distress at sea, and of saving precious lives, and they ought to do their utmost in order to it, with all readiness and cheerfulness; for it is a great sin, and very provoking to God, to forbear to deliver those that are driven unto death, and are ready to be slain; and it will not serve for an excuse to say, Behold, we knew it not, when either we did, or might, and should, have known it, Proverbs 24:11,12.
They struck a reef — or a place between two bodies of water — and struck land. The bow could not be moved, and the surf broke up the stern (verse 41).
The place they landed is today known as St Paul’s Bay in Malta, as Wikipedia explains:
Saint Paul’s Bay (Maltese: San Pawl il-Baħar, Italian: Baia di San Paolo) is a town in the Northern Region of Malta, sixteen kilometres (9.9 miles) northwest of the capital Valletta. Saint Paul’s Bay is the largest town in the Northern Region and the seat of the Northern Regional Committee along with being the most populous town in Malta.
Its name refers to the shipwreck of Saint Paul as documented in the Acts of the Apostles on St. Paul’s Islands near St Paul’s Bay, on his voyage from Caesarea to Rome, which laid the foundations of Christianity on the island.
Burmarrad, Wardija, Qawra, Buġibba, Xemxija, and San Martin, as well as part of Bidnija and Mistra, form part of St. Paul’s Bay Local Council.[2] The area of the locality is 14.47 km2 (6 sq mi).
The population in 2018 was 23,112. This goes up to about 60,000 between June and September with Maltese residents and tourists lodging in hotels, especially in Buġibba and Qawra.
Heading north is Mistra Bay, its headland and St Paul’s Island. Going west and crossing the island towards Ġnejna Bay and Golden Bay is the scenic Wardija Ridge.
Afterwards, still in the days of the Roman Empire:
St. Paul’s Bay became an important harbour. Remains of a Roman road, baths and beehives, have been found at Xemxija, while Roman anchors were found on the seabed.
Oddly, St Paul is not the patron saint of the bay. Instead, the patron saints are Our Lady of Sorrows, the Sacred Heart of Mary and St Francis of Assisi.
Returning to Luke’s account of the shipwreck, the Roman soldiers were highly concerned about any prisoners escaping. This was because, under Roman law, a guard would be made to assume his escapee’s sentence. That could mean prison or death.
Therefore, the soldiers planned to kill the prisoners, thereby preventing any escape (verse 42).
However, Julius the centurion, their commanding officer, ordered them not to do that (verse 43). He wanted to save Paul, whom he liked from the time the Apostle was assigned to his ship to sail to Rome for trial.
Julius ordered those who could swim to do so and the rest could buoy themselves on planks or pieces of the ship.
In the end, everyone landed safely on Malta (verse 44).
John MacArthur elaborates on the concluding verses of Acts 27, which really describe a divine miracle, because the violent storm was still raging:
So they head in and they’re headed, supposedly, for a beachy area by a creek “and falling into a place where two seas met.”
That, friends, is a very difficult phrase. Dithalassos is the one word. The translation “two seas meet” may not even be an accurate translation. It probably means a shoal or a reef. They could have called it the dithalassos in this sense. In the middle of Saint Paul’s Bay, there is a small island called Salmanetta, and the waters from the west and the waters from the east meet behind this island. And it may have been that they assumed that the island was actually an extension of the mainland. And when they went into that area, they realized that there was water behind the island, and where those two seas met there had been the pushing together of sand that created sand bars. Whatever the significance of it is, they ran aground into the sand bars.
Verse 41 says, “Falling into a place where two seas met they ran the ship aground and the bow stuck fast and remained unmovable, but the stern was broken with the violence of the waves.” So here the bow is stuck in the sand bar, apparently a great distance from the shore and the waves, the tremendous hurricane waves are just smashing the stern of the ship and splintering it to pieces. And so there they are, stuck while the ship disintegrates.
That brings us to the fifth stage in this record, the safety. And here comes the great ending, verse 42. And notice, the soldiers were afraid of not only losing their own lives but of losing their prisoners, because when a Roman soldier lost his prisoner he had to take his prisoner’s sentence. Remember that? So he didn’t want to lose his prisoner. And so the soldiers panicked, verse 42, “The soldiers’ counsel was to kill the prisoners lest any of them should swim out and escape.”
So they were going to slaughter Paul and all the rest of the prisoners on the ship so they wouldn’t get away. But the centurion moves in and saves Paul’s life. And all the rest of the prisoners could thank Paul, too, for having their lives saved. Verse 43, “But the centurion, willing to save Paul,” – I mean he knew this. We – we’ve got to have this guy. Without him we have no chance. – “kept them from their purpose,” – He restrained the soldiers from killing the prisoners – “commanded that they who could swim should cast themselves first into the sea and get to land.”
You know, “everybody in the pool” was the call. And if you can swim, hit it. “And the rest, some on boards and some on broken pieces of the ship.” I mean that thing was disintegrating right there and they were just grabbing onto whatever they could if they couldn’t swim. Well, you can imagine the 276 people diving into a hurricane water, grabbing boards and floating debris and trying to make it to shore. But you know something wonderful? Verse 44 ends this way. “And so it came to pass that they” – What? – “all escaped safely to the land.” That is incredible. Absolutely incredible; 276 people jumped in the water and 276 people met on the shore in a hurricane.
God was at work accomplishing His divine purpose.
MacArthur describes how He used Paul as His instrument for all those survivors:
The first thought those people must have had is, “You know, that God that Paul worships, He’s right. His word is true. He said this would happen. Look, it has happened.” You see how God not only credibly establishes His own veracity, but He establishes the veracity of His leader, Paul, doesn’t He? God keeps His word …
God’s word is reliable and God established that in this marvelous incident.
More will follow about Paul’s time in Malta en route for Rome.
Next time — Acts 28:1-6
The Church is now in what is known as the season ‘after Pentecost’, ‘after Trinity’ or ‘Ordinary Time’.
Green vestments are now worn until the First Sunday in Advent, when they change to purple.
The Church of England, my denomination, names these Sundays as being ‘after Trinity’.
What follows are the readings for the First Sunday after Trinity, June 23.
These are for Year C in the three-year Lectionary used in public worship.
There are two choices for the First Reading and Psalm. I have differentiated these by using blue in the heading for the second option.
Emphases below are mine.
First Reading — Option One
The people did not listen to Elijah, so he went into hiding, during which time God took care of him.
1 Kings 19:1-4, (5-7), 8-15a
19:1 Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword.
19:2 Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “So may the gods do to me, and more also, if I do not make your life like the life of one of them by this time tomorrow.”
19:3 Then he was afraid; he got up and fled for his life, and came to Beer-sheba, which belongs to Judah; he left his servant there.
19:4 But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a solitary broom tree. He asked that he might die: “It is enough; now, O LORD, take away my life, for I am no better than my ancestors.”
19:5 Then he lay down under the broom tree and fell asleep. Suddenly an angel touched him and said to him, “Get up and eat.”
19:6 He looked, and there at his head was a cake baked on hot stones, and a jar of water. He ate and drank, and lay down again.
19:7 The angel of the LORD came a second time, touched him, and said, “Get up and eat, otherwise the journey will be too much for you.”
19:8 He got up, and ate and drank; then he went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb the mount of God.
19:9 At that place he came to a cave, and spent the night there. Then the word of the LORD came to him, saying, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
19:10 He answered, “I have been very zealous for the LORD, the God of hosts; for the Israelites have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are seeking my life, to take it away.”
19:11 He said, “Go out and stand on the mountain before the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by.” Now there was a great wind, so strong that it was splitting mountains and breaking rocks in pieces before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake;
19:12 and after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of sheer silence.
19:13 When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. Then there came a voice to him that said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
19:14 He answered, “I have been very zealous for the LORD, the God of hosts; for the Israelites have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are seeking my life, to take it away.”
19:15a Then the LORD said to him, “Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus.
Psalm — Option One
We do not know for certain who wrote these Psalms, but many scholars believe David wrote it either when Saul was persecuting him or Absalom was in rebellion. At that point, only God could remedy the situation. The isolation from his people that David faced parallels Elijah’s experience in the accompanying reading above.
Psalm 42 and 43
42:1 As a deer longs for flowing streams, so my soul longs for you, O God.
42:2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and behold the face of God?
42:3 My tears have been my food day and night, while people say to me continually, “Where is your God?”
42:4 These things I remember, as I pour out my soul: how I went with the throng, and led them in procession to the house of God, with glad shouts and songs of thanksgiving, a multitude keeping festival.
42:5 Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my help
42:6 and my God. My soul is cast down within me; therefore I remember you from the land of Jordan and of Hermon, from Mount Mizar.
42:7 Deep calls to deep at the thunder of your cataracts; all your waves and your billows have gone over me.
42:8 By day the LORD commands his steadfast love, and at night his song is with me, a prayer to the God of my life.
42:9 I say to God, my rock, “Why have you forgotten me? Why must I walk about mournfully because the enemy oppresses me?”
42:10 As with a deadly wound in my body, my adversaries taunt me, while they say to me continually, “Where is your God?”
42:11 Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my help and my God.
43:1 Vindicate me, O God, and defend my cause against an ungodly people; from those who are deceitful and unjust deliver me!
43:2 For you are the God in whom I take refuge; why have you cast me off? Why must I walk about mournfully because of the oppression of the enemy?
43:3 O send out your light and your truth; let them lead me; let them bring me to your holy hill and to your dwelling.
43:4 Then I will go to the altar of God, to God my exceeding joy; and I will praise you with the harp, O God, my God.
43:5 Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my help and my God.
First reading — Option Two
This reading prophesies that Gentiles would be brought into the Church and that God’s chosen who rejected Christ would be brought to judgement.
Isaiah 65:1-9
65:1 I was ready to be sought out by those who did not ask, to be found by those who did not seek me. I said, “Here I am, here I am,” to a nation that did not call on my name.
65:2 I held out my hands all day long to a rebellious people, who walk in a way that is not good, following their own devices;
65:3 a people who provoke me to my face continually, sacrificing in gardens and offering incense on bricks;
65:4 who sit inside tombs, and spend the night in secret places; who eat swine’s flesh, with broth of abominable things in their vessels;
65:5 who say, “Keep to yourself, do not come near me, for I am too holy for you.” These are a smoke in my nostrils, a fire that burns all day long.
65:6 See, it is written before me: I will not keep silent, but I will repay; I will indeed repay into their laps
65:7 their iniquities and their ancestors’ iniquities together, says the LORD; because they offered incense on the mountains and reviled me on the hills, I will measure into their laps full payment for their actions.
65:8 Thus says the LORD: As the wine is found in the cluster, and they say, “Do not destroy it, for there is a blessing in it,” so I will do for my servants’ sake, and not destroy them all.
65:9 I will bring forth descendants from Jacob, and from Judah inheritors of my mountains; my chosen shall inherit it, and my servants shall settle there.
Psalm — Option Two
In this Psalm, whether he realised it or not, David wrote of the Messiah and his own ancestry with regard to Christ. David’s sufferings were great; his descendant’s would be even greater.
Psalm 22:19-28
22:19 But you, O LORD, do not be far away! O my help, come quickly to my aid!
22:20 Deliver my soul from the sword, my life from the power of the dog!
22:21 Save me from the mouth of the lion! From the horns of the wild oxen you have rescued me.
22:22 I will tell of your name to my brothers and sisters; in the midst of the congregation I will praise you:
22:23 You who fear the LORD, praise him! All you offspring of Jacob, glorify him; stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel!
22:24 For he did not despise or abhor the affliction of the afflicted; he did not hide his face from me, but heard when I cried to him.
22:25 From you comes my praise in the great congregation; my vows I will pay before those who fear him.
22:26 The poor shall eat and be satisfied; those who seek him shall praise the LORD. May your hearts live forever!
22:27 All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the LORD; and all the families of the nations shall worship before him.
22:28 For dominion belongs to the LORD, and he rules over the nations.
Epistle
Paul explains that Jesus Christ fulfilled Mosaic Law through His one, perfect and holy sacrifice on the Cross for our salvation.
Galatians 3:23-29
3:23 Now before faith came, we were imprisoned and guarded under the law until faith would be revealed.
3:24 Therefore the law was our disciplinarian until Christ came, so that we might be justified by faith.
3:25 But now that faith has come, we are no longer subject to a disciplinarian,
3:26 for in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith.
3:27 As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.
3:28 There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.
3:29 And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to the promise.
Gospel
This is Luke’s dramatic account of the Gadarene Swine, about which I wrote a few years ago:
The Gadarene swine served a purpose (Apologetics Corner)
The Gadarenes — what happened next (Apologetics Corner)
Luke 8:26-39
8:26 Then they arrived at the country of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee.
8:27 As he stepped out on land, a man of the city who had demons met him. For a long time he had worn no clothes, and he did not live in a house but in the tombs.
8:28 When he saw Jesus, he fell down before him and shouted at the top of his voice, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, do not torment me”–
8:29 for Jesus had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. (For many times it had seized him; he was kept under guard and bound with chains and shackles, but he would break the bonds and be driven by the demon into the wilds.)
8:30 Jesus then asked him, “What is your name?” He said, “Legion”; for many demons had entered him.
8:31 They begged him not to order them to go back into the abyss.
8:32 Now there on the hillside a large herd of swine was feeding; and the demons begged Jesus to let them enter these. So he gave them permission.
8:33 Then the demons came out of the man and entered the swine, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and was drowned.
8:34 When the swineherds saw what had happened, they ran off and told it in the city and in the country.
8:35 Then people came out to see what had happened, and when they came to Jesus, they found the man from whom the demons had gone sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind. And they were afraid.
8:36 Those who had seen it told them how the one who had been possessed by demons had been healed.
8:37 Then all the people of the surrounding country of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave them; for they were seized with great fear. So he got into the boat and returned.
8:38 The man from whom the demons had gone begged that he might be with him; but Jesus sent him away, saying,
8:39 “Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you.” So he went away, proclaiming throughout the city how much Jesus had done for him.
I do hope that clergy give a good sermon on this week’s Gospel. There is much to examine.
President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump were in England and Normandy for commemorations of the 75th anniversary of D-Day.
The night before, he hosted Prince Charles and Camilla the Duchess of Cornwall for dinner at the US ambassador’s residence in Regent’s Park, London. The guests at his table were also in Portsmouth the following morning. Theresa May is on the right in the photo:
On Wednesday, June 5, the Royal Family’s Twitter account summarised D-Day’s importance:
Also:
The Allied landings on the Normandy beaches marked the start of a long and costly campaign to liberate north-west Europe from German occupation. #DDay75
This was the scene in Portsmouth, on England’s south coast that day:
A short time later, veterans who had been involved 75 years ago began taking their seats:
The Queen, who served as a mechanic during the war, arrived:
This is a photograph for the history books:
Warm exchanges took place beforehand:
The Queen stood between Prince Charles and President Trump to watch the proceedings:
She addressed the crowd, referencing her father, George VI:
President Trump read then-President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s prayer for the troops:
D-Day veterans appeared on the dais to grateful applause.
Actress Celia Imrie (speaking in the next video) compered (emceed) the various performances:
The following ABC News video has the Portsmouth commemorations in their entirety:
The BBC has a set of photographs covering the day’s events.
Afterwards, the Queen, Prince Charles and the Trumps met with veterans who so bravely served in D-Day operations:
Trump also met with British veterans as well as US Navy personnel based in England:
The Queen then bade farewell to the Trumps, who were leaving for Ireland, where the president met with the prime minister there that afternoon:
The Trumps went to Normandy the following day for D-Day ceremonies before returning to Ireland, then onwards to the United States.
The Q Tree has the Trumps’ schedule after Portsmouth for the rest of June 5 (emphasis in the original):
2:50pm BST / 9:50am EST THE PRESIDENT and THE FIRST LADY depart Southsea Commons en route to Southsea Castle Landing Zone, Portsmouth, United Kingdom
2:55pm BST / 9:55am EST THE PRESIDENT and THE FIRST LADY arrive at Southsea Castle Landing Zone, Portsmouth, United Kingdom
3:05pm BST / 10:05am EST THE PRESIDENT and THE FIRST LADY depart Portsmouth, United Kingdom, en route to Southampton Airport, Southampton, United Kingdom, Portsmouth, United Kingdom
3:25pm BST / 10:25am EST THE PRESIDENT and THE FIRST LADY arrive at Southampton Airport, Southampton, United Kingdom
3:35pm BST / 10:35am EST THE PRESIDENT and THE FIRST LADY depart Southampton Airport en route Shannon Airport, Shannon, Ireland, Southampton, United Kingdom
~ U.K State Visit Concludes ~
4:50pm IST / 11:50am EST THE PRESIDENT and THE FIRST LADY arrive at Shannon Airport, Shannon, Ireland
5:00pm IST / 12:00pm EST THE PRESIDENT and THE FIRST LADY depart Shannon Airport en route to Shannon Airport Terminal, Shannon, Ireland
5:05pm IST / 12:05pm EST THE PRESIDENT and THE FIRST LADY arrive at Shannon Airport Terminal, Shannon, Ireland
5:15pm IST / 12:15pm EST THE PRESIDENT participates in a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Taoiseach Leo Varadkar of Ireland, Shannon, Ireland
5:20pm IST / 12:20pm EST THE PRESIDENT participates in an expanded bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Taoiseach Leo Varadkar of Ireland, Shannon, Ireland
6:00PM IST / 1:00pm EST THE PRESIDENT and THE FIRST LADY depart Shannon Airport Terminal en route to Shannon Airport, Shannon, Ireland
6:05pm IST / 1:05PM EST THE PRESIDENT and THE FIRST LADY arrive at Shannon Airport, Shannon, Ireland
6:15pm IST / 1:15pm EST THE PRESIDENT and THE FIRST LADY depart Shannon, Airport, en route to Trump International Doonbeg Landing Zone, Doonbeg, Ireland, Shannon, Ireland
6:35pm IST / 1:35pm EST THE PRESIDENT and THE FIRST LADY arrive at Trump International Doonbeg Landing Zone, Doonbeg, Ireland
The Clare Champion featured their arrival:
At the end of Tuesday, Trump tweeted:
He and his entourage would fly from Ireland to Colleville-sur-Mer in the département of Calvados of Normandy the following morning.
Speaking of Normandy, two British veterans were preparing to re-enact their jumps from 1944. Here is one of them undergoing a refresher course:
This is what happened on Wednesday, June 6:
This is what the Trumps saw as they landed in France that morning:
The following is an excerpt of President Trump’s speech on Omaha Beach:
The Q Tree has his speech in full on Omaha Beach, excerpted below (emphases mine). More than 60 surviving American D-Day veterans flew to France for this important anniversary. Many more Second World War military survivors also attended:
President Macron, Mrs. Macron, and the people of France; to the First Lady of the United States and members of the United States Congress; to distinguished guests, veterans, and my fellow Americans:
We are gathered here on Freedom’s Altar. On these shores, on these bluffs, on this day 75 years ago, 10,000 men shed their blood, and thousands sacrificed their lives, for their brothers, for their countries, and for the survival of liberty.
Today, we remember those who fell, and we honor all who fought right here in Normandy. They won back this ground for civilization.
To more than 170 veterans of the Second World War who join us today: You are among the very greatest Americans who will ever live. You’re the pride of our nation. You are the glory of our republic. And we thank you from the bottom of our hearts.
Here with you are over 60 veterans who landed on D-Day. Our debt to you is everlasting. Today, we express our undying gratitude.
When you were young, these men enlisted their lives in a Great Crusade — one of the greatest of all times. Their mission is the story of an epic battle and the ferocious, eternal struggle between good and evil.
On the 6th of June, 1944, they joined a liberation force of awesome power and breathtaking scale. After months of planning, the Allies had chosen this ancient coastline to mount their campaign to vanquish the wicked tyranny of the Nazi empire from the face of the Earth.
The battle began in the skies above us. In those first tense midnight hours, 1,000 aircraft roared overhead with 17,000 Allied airborne troops preparing to leap into the darkness beyond these trees.
Then came dawn. The enemy who had occupied these heights saw the largest naval armada in the history of the world. Just a few miles offshore were 7,000 vessels bearing 130,000 warriors. They were the citizens of free and independent nations, united by their duty to their compatriots and to millions yet unborn.
There were the British, whose nobility and fortitude saw them through the worst of Dunkirk and the London Blitz. The full violence of Nazi fury was no match for the full grandeur of British pride.
There were the Canadians, whose robust sense of honor and loyalty compelled them to take up arms alongside Britain from the very, very beginning.
There were the fighting Poles, the tough Norwegians, and the intrepid Aussies. There were the gallant French commandos, soon to be met by thousands of their brave countrymen ready to write a new chapter in the long history of French valor.
And, finally, there were the Americans. They came from the farms of a vast heartland, the streets of glowing cities, and the forges of mighty industrial towns. Before the war, many had never ventured beyond their own community. Now they had come to offer their lives half a world from home.
This beach, codenamed Omaha, was defended by the Nazis with monstrous firepower, thousands and thousands of mines and spikes driven into the sand, so deeply. It was here that tens of thousands of the Americans came …
One of those men in [Colonel George] Taylor’s 16th Regiment was Army medic Ray Lambert. Ray was only 23, but he had already earned three Purple Hearts and two Silver Stars fighting in North Africa and Sicily, where he and his brother Bill, no longer with us, served side by side.
In the early morning hours, the two brothers stood together on the deck of the USS Henrico, before boarding two separate Higgins landing craft. “If I don’t make it,” Bill said, “please, please take care of my family.” Ray asked his brother to do the same.
Of the 31 men on Ray’s landing craft, only Ray and 6 others made it to the beach. There were only a few of them left. They came to the sector right here below us. “Easy Red” it was called. Again and again, Ray ran back into the water. He dragged out one man after another. He was shot through the arm. His leg was ripped open by shrapnel. His back was broken. He nearly drowned.
He had been on the beach for hours, bleeding and saving lives, when he finally lost consciousness. He woke up the next day on a cot beside another badly wounded soldier. He looked over and saw his brother Bill. They made it. They made it. They made it.
At 98 years old, Ray is here with us today, with his fourth Purple Heart and his third Silver Star from Omaha. Ray, the free world salutes you. Thank you, Ray.
Trump related a few more real life stories about what is known as the Longest Day, unimaginably harrowing. God was with the Allied troops.
Trump concluded:
The men behind me will tell you that they are just the lucky ones. As one of them recently put it, “All the heroes are buried here.” But we know what these men did. We knew how brave they were. They came here and saved freedom, and then, they went home and showed us all what freedom is all about.
The American sons and daughters who saw us to victory were no less extraordinary in peace. They built families. They built industries. They built a national culture that inspired the entire world. In the decades that followed, America defeated communism, secured civil rights, revolutionized science, launched a man to the moon, and then kept on pushing to new frontiers. And, today, America is stronger than ever before.
Seven decades ago, the warriors of D-Day fought a sinister enemy who spoke of a thousand-year empire. In defeating that evil, they left a legacy that will last not only for a thousand years, but for all time — for as long as the soul knows of duty and honor; for as long as freedom keeps its hold on the human heart.
To the men who sit behind me, and to the boys who rest in the field before me, your example will never, ever grow old. Your legend will never tire. Your spirit — brave, unyielding, and true — will never die.
The blood that they spilled, the tears that they shed, the lives that they gave, the sacrifice that they made, did not just win a battle. It did not just win a war. Those who fought here won a future for our nation. They won the survival of our civilization. And they showed us the way to love, cherish, and defend our way of life for many centuries to come.
Today, as we stand together upon this sacred Earth, we pledge that our nations will forever be strong and united. We will forever be together. Our people will forever be bold. Our hearts will forever be loyal. And our children, and their children, will forever and always be free.
May God bless our great veterans. May God bless our Allies. May God bless the heroes of D-Day. And may God bless America.
The Q Tree has full coverage, including this 90-minute video of the day’s commemorations:
This is NBC’s video, which begins with an analysis of D-Day:
French president Emmanuel Macron also addressed the American veterans. I was in France at the time and watched part of his speech on BFMTV. It was highly evocative and really captured the idea of Americana. Whoever wrote it should get a pay rise. I was very moved by it. He spoke, as did Trump, of young soldiers from farms in the Midwest mixing with their comrades from Manhattan and New Jersey, writing their girlfriends farewell letters.
Afterwards, Macron shook hands with all the veterans and spoke with each individually. I’m not a Macron fan at all, but I have to give him credit for that.
Trump tweeted a short video recapping his day in Normandy:
This is the view of the Trumps’ departure, returning to Ireland before flying back to Washington:
Reflecting on D-Day, someone online posted this excellent graphic from Gab:
We should be so grateful for everything that God has given us — especially peace and freedom in the Western world.
However, it would also be prudent to look at how we have squandered the opportunities for our young people in peacetime. The safe space generation is not equipped to deal with the horrors of life such as it is.
May the good Lord grant us the wisdom to get us out of a navel-gazing attitude towards one of genuine progress and ingenuity, such as that of the post-war years.
In closing, let us give thanks to the Greatest Generation for their immense courage and bravery.
On Monday, June 3, 2019, President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump arrived in London for a three-day State Visit:
The Daily Mail has a full itinerary of the trip.
The president’s adult children accompanied them, along with Cabinet members and senior staff.
America’s first couple stayed at the US ambassador’s residence in Regent’s Park, Winfield House. The Trump offspring stayed at the Corinthia Hotel in central London.
Monday was packed with events for the Trumps. This video recaps the day, which began by landing at Winfield House, meeting the Queen for lunch at Buckingham Palace, taking tea as guests of Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall at Clarence House and being the guests of honour at a State Dinner at the palace:
I was out of the country at the time and wanted to have a record of his trip by posting about it here. I am not sure how much made the media outlets and how it was reported.
One thing that did surprise me — and my better half, who is English — was that the president spoke with the honour guard as he was inspecting them. Both of us were shocked. This is a no-no. Then, Prince Charles did the same. See a brief glimpse at 11:40:
France’s BFMTV showed much more of Trump’s talking to the honour guard. The French commentators were equally surprised.
Meanwhile, the Queen, her daughter-in-law Camilla Duchess of Cornwall and Mrs Trump enjoyed a light moment:
Afterwards, the Queen hosted a private lunch and showed the Trumps various items and documents from the Royal Collection pertaining to the United States.
Then it was time to go to Westminster Abbey. The Duke of York — Prince Andrew — accompanied the Trumps, who received a tour of the Abbey from clergy and placed a wreath at the tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Despite its title, the video below does not include tea with Prince Charles but does have extensive coverage from the visit to Westminster Abbey:
The State Banquet took place that evening:
Protests took place outside the palace, but guests were undisturbed:
As one would imagine, much preparation went into this dinner:
This is what the ballroom looked like as the Queen’s guests filed in:
Sarah Sanders, who also accompanied the Trumps on their 2018 visit to Windsor Castle, will have another lovely memory of her time as press secretary:
At the State Banquet, the president remembered the events of D-Day and those who bravely fought for freedom:
He also made another faux pas. Like Michelle Obama, he touched the Queen. Unlike Michelle Obama, he did it twice. The Daily Mail reported (emphases mine):
The Special Relationship between Britain and the United States was reaffirmed last night with moving toasts in the Buckingham Palace ballroom as Donald Trump clinked glasses with the Queen and patted her shoulder having called her a ‘great, great woman’.
Amid the splendour and ceremony of a state banquet for 170 dignitaries and guests, the US President thanked the monarch for her ‘gracious hospitality’ and ‘nearly seven decades’ of personal friendship with the United States.
He spoke of the Blitz and the bombing of Buckingham Palace, saying that ‘in their dark hour the people of this nation showed the world what it means to be British’.
He praised the Queen a ‘great, great woman’ recalling her service on the Home Front during the war, and said ‘the bond between our nations was forever sealed in that great crusade’.
He said the Queen embodied ‘the spirit of dignity, duty, and patriotism that beats proudly in every British heart’.
Raising his glass the 45th President of the United States said: ‘On behalf of all Americans, I offer a toast to the eternal friendship of our people, the vitality of our nations and to the long cherished and truly remarkable reign of Her Majesty, the Queen.’
Shortly before retaking his seat Mr Trump appeared briefly to breach royal protocol by placing his hand on the Queen’s back in a gesture of personal thanks. By tradition the Queen should not be touched, but the President’s host seemed unperturbed following his warm personal toast.
In her address, the Queen welcomed the Trumps, celebrated the Special Relationship between the UK and the US, and while Brexit was not mentioned she highlighted how the two countries faced ‘new challenges of the 21st century’.
The article includes a brilliant set of photos, by the way.
Here is another terrific photograph:
The Queen’s remarks followed:
Mr President,
I am delighted to welcome you and Mrs Trump to Buckingham Palace this evening, just twelve months after our first meeting at Windsor Castle. Visits by American Presidents always remind us of the close and longstanding friendship between the United Kingdom and the United States, and I am so glad that we have another opportunity to demonstrate the immense importance that both our countries attach to our relationship.
In the coming days, you will see some of our most treasured historical buildings, speak to the business leaders whose expertise and innovation drive our economies, and meet members of our Armed Services, past and present. You will also travel to Portsmouth and Normandy to commemorate the 75th Anniversary of D-Day.
On that day – and on many occasions since – the Armed Forces of both our countries fought side-by-side to defend our cherished values of liberty and democracy. Mr President, in your State of the Union Address this year, you paid tribute to some of the American heroes who risked their lives, and we owe an immeasurable debt to the British, American and Allied soldiers who began the liberation of Europe on 6th June 1944.
I paid my first State Visit to your country at the invitation of President Eisenhower. As Supreme Allied Commander, he had ultimate responsibility for the execution of the Normandy landings. In his headquarters in St James’s Square – not far from Buckingham Palace – British and American officers worked closely together to plan the freedom of a continent, and it would be no exaggeration to say that millions of lives depended on their common endeavour.
As we face the new challenges of the Twenty First Century, the anniversary of D-Day reminds us of all that our countries have achieved together. After the shared sacrifices of the Second World War, Britain and the United States worked with other allies to build an assembly of international institutions, to ensure that the horrors of conflict would never be repeated. While the world has changed, we are forever mindful of the original purpose of these structures: nations working together to safeguard a hard won peace …
Mr President, as we look to the future, I am confident that our common values and shared interests will continue to unite us. Tonight we celebrate an alliance that has helped to ensure the safety and prosperity of both our peoples for decades, and which I believe will endure for many years to come …
The Queen then proposed a toast:
At the end of the day, Trump tweeted:
Protests did take place around the country, but a crowd of well wishers was on hand in front of Buckingham Palace to greet him.
Events on Tuesday, June 4 involved talks about trade:
More protests took place in London:
Interestingly, Prime Minister Theresa May and President Trump did not shake hands when he and his wife arrived:
The Trumps received a tour of No. 10:
Mrs Trump was with Mr May during the meeting between the president and our outgoing Prime Minister:
Here are clips from the May-Trump press conference:
Meanwhile, a British woman burst the Trump baby balloon. Great news, even if she was arrested:
The Gateway Pundit reported:
“I’m going in..I’m going,” the woman says as she walked up to the baby Trump blimp.
The woman then stabbed the blimp with a pen and a small popping sound is heard followed by gasps from onlookers.
The woman screamed “It’s a national a disgrace! The President of the United States is the best President ever! Shame on you!” after she popped the balloon.
Police quickly moved in for the arrest as the woman walked away.
“It’s going down baby,” the woman said as police approached her and cuffed her.
The woman, whose hand was bleeding, had a fiery exchange with the police and pleaded for them to stop manhandling her.
That evening, the Trumps hosted a dinner for Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall at Winfield House:
The Daily Caller has more photos.
It should be noted that the Trumps did not experience all the trappings of a full State Visit, which includes staying at a royal residence and addressing either house of Parliament.
The Washington Examiner explained:
… royal watchers said the Trumps will be missing out on many of the trappings of a state visit, such as staying at Buckingham Palace. “Not being invited to speak before Parliament is testament to the fact they know he is going to be rude and there’s going to be massive protests,” said Marlene Koenig, an author and expert on British and European royalty.
“They are doing the bare minimum of what they would do for a state visit of a major ally.”
…
Several honors afforded visiting American presidents or other heads of state will be missing.
He will not get the usual welcome in Horse Guards Parade, the grand parade ground in central London where visiting heads of state are usually invited to inspect the honor guard with the queen before a carriage procession to Buckingham Palace.
Instead, he will follow the example of President George W. Bush, who was given his royal welcome in the garden of Buckingham Palace in 2003 because of fears protesters would line the route through London …
Trump will not get to stay at Buckingham Palace with the Queen. Both Bush and Obama, the only two American presidents to have been granted official state visits, stayed at the royal residence, but Trump has been told that renovations to the east wing of the palace meant its guest rooms were out of service …
The run-up to this visit featured speculation about whether Trump would be invited to address the British Parliament.
In the end, the speaker — the figure who presides over the House of Commons and who had previously said Trump’s attendance would run counter to Parliament’s longstanding opposition to sexism and racism — said he had not been asked by British officials to host the president. Presidents Obama, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, and Bill Clinton all addressed Parliament.
A U.K. official said Trump had not requested to address Parliament. “The president not asking to do that is the norm,” he said. On both sides of the Atlantic, a mutually-convenient cover story of Trump not being asked to be invited in order to avoid being told he will not be invited appears to have been adopted …
Previous visits have sometimes reflected the warm relations between individual leaders.
In 1982 the queen invited Ronald Reagan to stay with her at Windsor Castle and took him horse riding. A decade late, Bill and Hillary Clinton were treated to a night aboard the royal yacht Britannia.
And in 2011, Obama grilled sausages with David Cameron in the garden of Number 10 during an event for British and American service personnel.
That said, in summing up his stay in the UK, Trump tweeted:
I will cover the president’s attendance at D-Day commemorations in Portsmouth and in Normandy in tomorrow’s post.
Hello, everyone.
This is just to let you know that comments are back on for posts from June 1 to the present.
Thank you for continuing to read and like posts in my absence.
I will be covering President Trump’s historic state visit to the UK and the commemorations for the 75th anniversary of D-Day.
Stay tuned.
President Trump had a busy schedule at the end of May 2019, which included a return trip to Japan.
This time it was a State Visit.
As he and First Lady Melania would be out of the country on Memorial Day weekend, they visited Arlington Cemetery before their departure:
On May 25, the first day of the State Visit to Japan, Trump met with that nation’s business leaders, too many to list here:
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his wife Akie hosted the Trumps for dinner that night. Abe had not forgotten his guest’s favourite dessert:
Abe was delighted to welcome back his friend:
The next day, the two world leaders played golf:
Their wives toured the Mori Building Digital Art Museum:
The QTree explained the significance of the following day’s welcome by the new Emperor and Empress of Japan — a first for both couples:
… our President and FLOTUS become the first guests of Japanese Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako at the Imperial Palace.
There are three components to the state visit: (1) The guest arrival and formal greeting by the Emperor and Empress. (2) The ceremonial anthems of both nations and the presentation of the imperial guard. (3) A “state call” or discussion of diplomatic matters between the Emperor, Empress and their honored guests.
During the official state call component there is an exchange of gifts.
1) Formal greeting by the Emperor and Empress …
2) The ceremonial anthems of both nations and the presentation of the imperial guard.
The ‘inside palace’ greeting and introduction was not covered by international media. However, due to the significance of the visit (first of imperial era of Reiwa) it was broadcast on local Japanese media (below).
Body language and facial expressions can’t be faked. They are all VERY PLEASED AND HONORED to meet one another. Such a proud moment for both nations.
(3) A “state call” or discussion of diplomatic matters between the Emperor, Empress and their honored guests in video below.
Then, there was the customary exchange of gifts. The Japanese emperor is an accomplished violin and viola player, as evidenced below in this video from 2007:
The accompanying press pool report states (emphases mine):
The President presented the Emperor an American-made viola in a custom case and a signed photo of American composer Aaron Copland. This vintage 1938 viola was handmade in Charleston, West Virginia. The President also presented the Emperor with a signed and framed photo of the President.
The First Lady presented the Empress with a custom White House desk set featuring a pen made of Harvard tree wood. The Empress herself studied Economics at Harvard. This fountain pen was handcrafted from a red oak tree that still stands in Old Harvard Yard. The First Lady also presented the Empress with a signed and framed photo of the First Lady.
The Emperor presented the President with a traditional Japanese pottery and porcelain bowl as well as a signed and framed photo of His Majesty the Emperor.
The Empress presented the First Lady with an ornamental Japanese lacquer box with traditional design as well as a framed and signed photo of Her Majesty the Empress.
Note: It is long-standing custom of the Imperial Palace that their Majesties the Emperor and Empress exchange signed, framed photographs with their guests on the occasion of a State Visit.
Afterwards, Trump and Abe held discussions on trade and security:
Their wives attended a cultural presentation:
Upon his return, Trump tweeted:
While the Trumps were in Japan, on May 25, actor Jon Voight tweeted:
The president faces the same threats as Lincoln did. He is in danger every day from people who desperately want to remove him from office, either by death or by impeachment. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi says Trump belongs in prison.
The Mueller Report left the door open to more scheming by Democrats.
The coup is not yet over.
Therefore, on May 30, the Revd Franklin Graham issued a national appeal for prayer for the president on Sunday, June 2:
That day, another friend of the president’s explained to Fox News that this appeal had nothing to do with politics but the real fight of good versus evil:
Other pastors on social media had to remind their detractors that they had prayed for past presidents, too:
On Friday, May 31, a mass shooting took place in Virginia Beach. After golfing on Sunday, June 2, the president visited the Revd David Platt’s McLean Bible Church in Virginia, where he joined congregants in praying silently for the victims of the shooting.
The New York Post reported:
While he did not talk during the service, Trump stood behind pastor David Platt as he offered a prayer for the 12 killed in Friday’s mass shooting.
The president was there to “visit with the Pastor and pray for the victims and community of Virginia Beach,” said Judd Deere, the White House’s deputy press secretary.
Trump arrived at about 2:20 p.m. and his motorcade left a little over 15 minutes later.
DeWayne Craddock, 40, slaughtered 12 at Virginia Beach’s municipal building Friday — just hours after quitting his job as a civil engineer.
In turn, Platt prayed for the president:
I do not know where Platt stands on his stance of private redistribution of wealth he was promoting back in 2012, but I am grateful that he prayed for President Trump.
Considering the prayers, the threats that the president endures daily and Jon Voight’s comparison of him with Lincoln, it was amazing that he and the first lady went to Ford’s Theatre that night for an awards presentation. Ford’s Theatre was the site of Lincoln’s assassination:
I am very glad I was out of the country at the time. Otherwise I would have been worried about his safety.
Yet, thankfully, God continues to watch over President Trump, who flew to London that night with the first lady and his family (apart from Barron).
More on that trip tomorrow.
In the coming days, I hope to have time to post on President Trump’s recent trips to Japan, the United Kingdom, Ireland and France.
For now, here is an interesting conversation wherein British Trump supporters talk about the Left and media manipulation:
In case the tweet gets censored, this is what the black supporter says:
The left say I shouldn’t exist, if you’re a particular person you should vote a particular way. That’s why they’re going to lose again to Trump in 2020.
Good man. The other men seem to be from Northern Ireland. They all understand what is going on.
Having been out of the country at the time, I was heartened to see that a great crowd of supporters, like these gentlemen, welcomed the American president to London. They were along The Mall, which leads to Buckingham Palace, and in front of the palace itself:
I would love to hear what these good people have to say about Brexit!
Comments are now back on, including for the past fortnight’s posts.
Below is a photo of an aborted nine-week old human.
You’ll have to click ‘Show Media’ to see it. Note the string of hideous comments that follow. I’ve included one of them:
Paul Joseph Watson saw it and retweeted it:
Agreed.
Someone replied to Watson with this moving photograph …
… which garnered these replies:
It seems we have not seen enough photographs of aborted babies at various times of their development.
If we had, various countries would have limited the time period for legal abortion.
Pray with me, please, that women will stop using abortion as a means of birth control. If a woman can afford nail jobs, she can afford birth control.
