England

England was the most comfortable country for me to visit in Europe, undoubtably because the language and culture were familiar to me.

For some bizarre reason I don't have many photos from England... And the ones I do have are an eclectic mix. But here they are...

While walking in Hyde Park I came to "Speaker's Corner" where people get up on soap boxes and speak to whoever comes to listen.

Most of them are wackos: religious nuts, and zealots. Some of them had interesting things to say.

Here we have one of the most interesting presentations from some speakers from the neo-fascist group The Nation of Islam.

The semi-circle of men in front are guards for the speakers at the podium behind them. Their speech was so incitefull of vitriol that (had there been listeners that were sufficiently foolhardy) there might easily have been fisticuffs.

Their speech was filled with racial bigotry, hatred, and vitriol. The speakers essentially claimed that:

• people, such as themselves, whose ancestors evolved in climates with more sun (and therefore had more mellatonin pigment in their skin) were better people than people whose ancestors evolved in climates with less sun (and therefore naturally had less mellatonin pigment in their skin)
• people, such as themselves, whose ancestors evolved in climates with more sun (and therefore had more mellatonin pigment in their skin) should band together and conquer the other people

Though they used more rascist words than I have.

You're basic bigotted-rascist fascism.

What I found most interesting was the obvious hierarchy of 'soldiers' in the Nation of Islam presentation. There were obvious 'soldiers', and 'officers', and 'generals' (for lack of a better word). There was even one older man who seemed to be the 'political officer' (or SS).

The 'generals' arrived in a stretch limosine and were dressed in expensives business suits and had gold bracelets, gold rings, and large gold necklaces. The 'officers' told the 'soldiers' what to do. And the soldiers were the lowest rank and did what they were told.

I could see the obvious benefits of working your way up such a hierarchy. The generals certainly have it in their best interest to keep such an organization growing and flourishing, it keeps them wealthy and gives them power over others.

I wondered if the common supporter of this group realized how they were being used by the leaders for the leaders personal benefit?

This is part of the river and city of Bath. An ancient Roman town founded around thermal baths. It is considered one of the most beautiful towns in England.

This is a drag show in the city of Blackpool, a working class sea-side vacation town.