The Return of the Wood Green "Banksy"

Wouldn't  it be  lovely  to return home  or  to wake up  one morning  , to  see that  your front wall has been adorned with a "Banksy " painting  like the ones below ?
What a pleasant surprise that would be for me.
 Very romantic , indeed !

   

   

         

  

Banksy  is the iconic  best  known  graffiti artist  not only in the  UK , but  world wide. 

 Many people would love  to wake up and find that  one of  their walls has been  adorned by a high-priced " Banksy ".

It  is the stuff  that dreams are made of ; and such  dreams  have come true  for  lots of  people  in London and other parts of the UK ; who have  been  blessed by a surprise visit from "Banksy" 

A large and popular  Banksy  art  on public or  private walls could be  worth  even  as much as the price of the building itself ; considering that such free Banksy graffiti  on their walls, if sold  could fetch the owners at least  £250,000.
Such fortunate  house owners  , usually would remove the wall with the Banksy  and sell it  to the  highest  bidder. 

As with all graffiti artists,  Banksy's  works are visible to all ; but Banksy 's real name and identity  have  remained a mystery  ; despite efforts by  many  to catch Banksy  in the act and to lift  the veil on his true ID.

He  is a recluse artist , nobody  has  had the  honour of seeing his face ; except  those who have caught a fleeting glimpse of  him ; they describe him as " a young , tall, slim- built , white male  in his mid or late  20s,  donning  a hoodie". 
Banksy  does his  stuff , wherever he is "led " to do it ;  he plasters  peoples' walls and he melts away.
 I think his ability  to remain anonymous  adds  to his pleasure of  doing what  Banksy  loves; and for this reason, Banksy's  art works  are  highly  sought after world-wide .

 But  some  aggrieved people do not find  Banksy's " unsolicited visitations" funny , at all . 
Like they view all graffiti  art , aggrieved persons see Banksy's  work  as "vandalism" which should not  be encouraged , at all .
They are  incensed that  Banksy  has  "defaced " their walls and have  vowed to sue him  for  wilful damage  to  property and for  causing a "public nuisance".

                                

But how can you sue someone whom  nobody  can identify and why  would anyone want  to sue a person who has  been generous  enough  to spend his time , efforts , talents  and money , painting walls with  valuable  art work worth  at least six-figure pounds sterling  per piece?

One man's meat........

Thousands of people  appreciate Banksy's  beautiful unique  stencil art ,  leading  to  the high price tag  for his paintings which  nowadays   fetch at  least £250, 000 each. 

Through  his agents , Banksy  has had very  successful exhibitions  raking  in  sales worth millions of  pounds sterling.

Before the Queen's Jubilee  celebrations  last  year summer , residents of Wood Green in North London one fine day , were  pleasantly  surprised to find a large "Banksy" adorning  the side  wall of one of the many shops in that area. 
Wood Green Shopping City is one of  London's biggest and busiest  shopping  malls. It is located in Wood Green High Street , which is one of London's  prime commercial  centres. 
This area of London  never sleeps; it is bustling with activities all day , all night , even till dawn; in some of  its  24 hour shops , bars , restaurants and night clubs, 
People wondered how and when Banksy managed to do his stuff in such a busy area? 
 Maybe Banksy did it during the evening rush hour when people were either rushing  home or rushing in and out  shops and bars ; too busy  to notice anything like that.

 Word soon spread that Banksy had indeed confirmed he did it and he had given the painting  named "Slave Labour" as a Jubilee gift to Wood Green community.
People were very  pleased to hear that Haringey  council which Wood Green  community belongs  to ,  was the only London council  to receive a Banksy  during the  Jubilee and this was considered as an  honour.
North London boasts of  being  home to  a high  number of world- famous celebrities. 
Being the top  choice residential area for the rich and famous in London , there were suspicions that Banksy  could indeed be  a resident of the community or he is living   in any of the areas in North London , not  far from Wood Green ?

Since its surprise arrival last year summer,  the beautiful art work  named "Slave Labour " had been pride to the Wood Green community as a tourist attraction .
The perspex- covered painting on the street wall  had attracted millions of people from all over the world. Their visits  to  the shops nearby , ended with viewing the "Slave Labour"on the wall.

                  " Slave Labour " on the wall in Wood Green ,  before it was stolen.

                        

                                             Visitors at the site before it was stolen

A few weeks ago , the community  was alarmed to  discover that the Banksy had been removed , stolen !

It's spot where Banksy had placed it  was empty .
The public reaction was one of outrage and shock , leading to  public protests.
Details of the backlash emerged after a stencil of a rat holding a sign that reads 'Why?' appeared on the Haringey wall, next to the blank spot where 'Slave Labour' used to be.
Banksy did  not remove it , who did?

There was a swift  reaction from Banksy himself;  who came  to  paint  two new graffiti tagged "DANGER , THIEVES" and another one of  "RATTY ", Banksy's buddy , a giant rat holding a "WHY" poster;  on the blank spot where Banksy's  "Slave Labour" used to be. 
 It is thought the rat could be the reclusive graffiti artist's way of voicing his verdict on the row over his original piece.

  

                                Dear  old "Ratty".
Today , this  one metre square  " RATTY " art piece , with its "Why ?" poster ; has become  famous world wide and on it own ,  it is being valued at an estimated value of at least £100,000.00;  even before the return  of "Slave Labour" .
All  thanks  to the uproar created by  the  missing "Slave Labour" , 

The blank  spot on the wall soon attracted thousands of visitors, including myself  .

As at today , some artists  have decided  to  paint  their own work , showing  a  Banksy imitation Nun painting ?( looks like a real Banksy to  me)  , a Valentine heart  and orange colour graffiti  , painted on the blank spot ; thereby underlining  the painful reminder that  the original Banksy  painting  is no longer  there  .

 

Angry  protests  were organised to demand  for the return of the art  piece when news spread that  not only  had the  art been stolen , it  had surfaced about 4500 miles  away in the USA and that the  "Slave Boy" was about  to be sold to the highest bidder in a Florida auction !

Local residents, who had become attached to the  famous street  painting , were left furious that a piece of work given to the community for free could be sold for profit.

Outraged art fans had been bombarding the auction house with abusive calls and e-mails.

Frederic Thut, owner of Fine Art Auctions Miami, previously insisted the sale of the artwork is legitimate, but admitted he had been inundated with angry phone calls and e-mails from the UK.

 Many  people could agree with the idea that the owners of the building  have a legitimate  right  to sell the art in art auction  because Banksy  painting on THEIR  wall was unsolicited  and without their permission and so the piece of art is their property. 
But where was Banksy supposed to place  his anonymous gift painting to Wood Green? 
Hang it  on thin air ?
The good news here is that  the protest  about the auction of " Slave Labour " has paid off.
A few days  ago, the breaking  news was that the planned auction  of "Slave Labour " had been stopped and it  had been retrieved from the  Florida auction house, at the  last minute,  where a bid of $600,000 ( about £500,000) was already placed on it.

In the UK and worldwide, from public  places and peoples' homes,  many precious art works have been stolen to order ; and sold  , never to  be seen again because  most  stolen art are kept in secret vaults  by art collectors .
But this story of the Wood Green "Banksy " is different. It  has  been saved from a similar  fate because  its present location  and the faces of  those who tried  to sell it is now public knowledge . 
 Retrieving  AND  and replacing the " Slave Labour" back  to  its place  on the Wood Green wall, would go a long way to appease  the hurt  and anger caused by its disappearance in the  Wood Green community. 
I know this fact because I live in Hornsey Park ,also  in  North  London and  a few minutes drive  from Wood Green.
Some people could argue  that after it has been  retrieved , returning "Slave Labour" to its former spot  would be a fool-hardy  thing as this would attract even more  attention and attempts  from international professional art  thieves who would soon after prise it from the wall .
I don't think so  because Banksy's "Slave Labour " ( and "Ratty")  , because of the protests from the British public , both Banksy art pieces  are  now world famous.
 As such , they have  become " too hot  to handle "; too risky to be sold and too difficult  to find buyers for them.
Of course there are eccentric  art collectors who are willing  to pay a very  high price for stolen  famous art masterpieces which they would stash away  in their cellars underneath their mansions for their own private viewing only.
Where is their  pleasure then; what is the point of owning a "Banksy" , or any  other  art  masterpiece which  you  dare not show off  to your friends and to  the world?
As  the retrieved  "Slave Labour " is on its way  back  home , where it  belongs; it is time  for an exchange of back -patting   by the residents  of  Wood Green , for  a job well-done . 
Kudos  to  People Power !

Here are just a  few  of  Banksy's  gifts  to the world ; which he painted on public and private  walls.

   

 
 

  

    

        

My favourite Banksy's  "RAT "  Art

 

                          

     

 

                                    

 

 

LOVE is in the Air !

Love reminds you that nothing else matters.

ONLINE SHOPPING : JOBS AT RISK

When compared  to High Street shopping , millions  of UK shoppers would  opt for  shopping on line.

Just for the fun of it and for the variety  of  shopping  deals , some would say.

 Many  people in the UK would say that  going  to the shops is old-fashioned  
( " ..... it  is for "dinosaurs" ?! ) , or that it should  be for certain purchases only.
 Some people also complain that shopping trips to the malls  could  be quite tedious , especially  in London and other large UK cities;  because of  the search for parking spaces, the huge crowds in the  shopping malls and  long queues at the check-out counters ; not only at weekends , but even every day  of the week.

 Agreed ,  online shopping  is convenient , especially  for  busy  people like me , who cannot be  bothered to spend their  scare time in  the shops ; except for the occasional shopping  trips for  selected items which need personal viewing. 

Like millions of  people ,  sometimes,  I love the choice ( and the laziness) of shopping  online, from  the  comfort of  my sofa  at home or  on my office desk.

In fact , throughout  last year , except for  fresh  foods , some fashion goods and perfumes ,  I did 90% of  my other shopping on line.

Online shopping  is fun  and it is easy ; as you get  to surf many similar  websites to compare quality  and price  and  to  hear comments from your family  and friends who are sitting by you and viewing  the sites with you  before you decide on  buying.

Convenient , fun-filled  and  straight  it may be ; but at what cost  and who loses out ?

This popular form of  shopping has affected  thousands  of lives , adversely..

With the dire news of   some High street shops closures  and the loss of  jobs for thousands of their staff,  I think it is time for a re-think about excessive,  large scale online shopping .

When people shop  on companies' websites , then the high street outlets of such companies would  record a slump in their sales figures , leading  to losses  for them and eventually a close down.

The latest  High street mega retail shops  to  bite the  dust  of  closure are  JESSOPS the cameras chain stores and  HMV , the UK's largest  popular music outlet.

The latest  job loses are  : 1,370  JESSOPS staff  and 190 HMV staff  have been  made redundant

Before these recent closures ,  Comet stores , UK giant electrical retailer  CLOSED putting 6,500 jobs at risk.

         

            

                                                                                                  

JESSOPS ? Why would a mega retailer like that  collapse? 

The shop was  renowned as one of  the  UK's biggest and best stocked  shops for the sales of  the latest  state-of-the-art cameras , video cameras and their accessories.

JESSOPS  shops were  very popular  as ONE-STOP shops with photographers , writers  and computer nerds ; so famous was JESSOPS that it was a common saying that , " Have you looked for it in JESSOPS ? " If   they don't stock  it, then it has not been manufactured "

I bought  my first digital cameras and video camera  from JESSOPS ; and since then for over 12 years , I have bought  my cameras and their accessories  in JESSOPS megastore on Tottenham Court Road in  central London . 

I shopped there  last  November . As usual , the place was well-stocked and bubbling with customers ; no signs of  impending closure;  so  it was quite alarming  for me ; incredulous , to hear early this January that JESSOPS  was about to  shut down .

 Even JESSOPS staff were shocked to hear the news .

I had  given two people JESSOPS  gift vouchers as Christmas presents , the value of which the stores have kindly refunded  to them as part of  JESSOPS  bankruptcy arrangements . 

As for HMV 's collapse  ,  it is the general opinion that their fate was inevitable because the company failed to move with the  times and keep up with the speed of the digital music demands of their customers.

Since where and how  to shop  is a personal choice , we could be considerate of others whose livelihood is tied to the amount of sales  at the tills of High Street shops.

Either way , when a company shuts down , it is the workers who are left holding the can . 

The more shops  invest more  money on their online shopping sites , the more jobs are lost in their high street shops.

Members of the public could do something  to  keep the high street shops  alive and  to save the jobs of their workers.

In the case of  high street shops who have  suffered  declines because they also  sell on the internet  , for the sake of their staff, people could assist to  stop , 

 avert or delay the collapse of  such  stores, by keeping away from shopping on their  websites

  .

You and I should keep  our fingers off the keyboards , pocket our credit  cards and debit cards and hit the shops , more frequently  than we are doing now. 

More so when we consider the following statistics :

•  * £78bn - estimated value of the UK online retail market in 2012

•  *300% - growth of mobile-commerce in 2012

• 42.6% of UK consumers buy something online at least once a week, and the average online spend per shopper is £71 per month
• • Over the past 11 years Britons have spent an estimated total of £300bn shopping on the internet
• • Global ecommerce sales should reach $1,4 trillion by 2015
• • Price was the most important factor in choosing to shop online for 60% of respondents, followed by convenience of having items delivered (51%).
• • Recommendations from friends or family is the single most important factor in the choice of website to buy from, with 71% giving this reason. 46% said knowledge of the retailer from their high street presence was a key factor.
• Britain is the biggest online shopping nation in the developed world, with almost two-thirds of adults using the internet to buy goods or services.

However it was not  an all- gloomy  picture for high street retailers as a result of  their customers  shopping  on the companies' websites .

Many companies in the UK benefited from  huge increases in  their internet sales. 

A burst of retail winners have provided hope for the high street after a week of gloom that has seen the collapse of three of retail's biggest names - Comet , JESSOPS and HMV.

Primark and Asos revealed soaring fashion sales despite the economic downturn, while Dixons and Argos revealed strong sales, albeit helped by the demise of the electricals store Comet.

 Soaring sales of tablet computers helped Dixons, the owner of Currys and PC World, and Home Retail Group, the owner of Argos, to a better-than-expected festive season.

Dixons, the last major electricals chain on UK high streets, said it sold more than 1m tablets, such as iPads and Google's Nexus, in the three months to January – three times more than in the same period of 2011. 

James pointed to a 25% leap in online sales which helped Dixons' UK business achieve a better-than-expected 8% rise in underlying sales in the quarter.

The popularity of internet shopping was also clear at the online fashion store Asos, which recorded sales up 34% in the UK compared with the same month a year earlier, while international sales jumped 47%. It smashed City expectations with a 41% rise in Christmas sales.

Nick Robertson, great-grandson of tailor Austin Reed and the founder of Asos in 2000, put the success down to cutting the prices of its own brand clothing, which accounts for 50% of total sales.  Black-and-white themed outfits, bomber jackets, 90s caps and retro trainers were among the biggest sellers. 

Asos delivers to 160 countries and is continuing international expansion, with new Russian and Chinese language websites planned for this year.

The high street fashion chain Primark is also expanding overseas. It is looking to France this year after moving into Austria and beefing up its Spanish chain last year. 

Primark has no plans  to resort  to online sales in the near future.

• Source  of statistics: IMRSmart: Global e-Commerce Intelligence
• IMRSmart: Global e-Commerce Intelligence
• IMRSmart is a new authoritative, up-to-date source of global e-commerce data, intelligence and insight supported by an alliance of e-commerce industry associations right across the world
• IMRG (Interactive Media in Retail Group) is the UK’s industry association for e-retail.

And the world did not end today.

The world, according to one widely debunked theory, is slated to end today , Dec. 21, 2012. 
Around the world the paranoid have been readying themselves for Doomsday, a date they believe is predicted in an ancient Mayan prophesy.  
The Mayan calendar moves in cycles with the last cycle ending in December 2012. This is often interpreted as "the world will end on 21 December 2012, at 11:11 UTC".
There’s just one problem: no one seems to know at just what time we’re all supposed to meet our "fiery end" 
                           
                                Mayan Apocalypse : December  21st , 2012

One theory suggests a galactic alignment which would create chaos on Earth because of the gravitational effect between the Sun and the Black hole called Sagittarius A, which is located at the center of our galaxy. Another theory involves a 'polar shift', which means a reversal of the north and south magnetic poles.
Scientists believe that the Earth is overdue for a geomagnetic reversal. However, this can take up to 5,000 years to complete and does not start on any particular date.

Some  people actually believed this Mayan Doomsday prediction that the world  would end to day; to the extent that  they have encamped around a mountain in Bugarach , a tiny French mountain town in the Pyrenees . This mountain we are told , is the bunker for "rescue UFOs, with aliens on board " which have been on standby for  ages , ready to emerge today from the depths of this mountain in Bugarach,  to whisk away  the lucky few who have encamped around the mountain base for over a week now.  
    And thousands of people believed all that.

                   
 Campers waiting for  " rescue  UFOs" from mountain in Bugarach , France.   

Well, well ! What a laugh! Wonders and fables shall never end.

 If the Mayans were so good and authoritative enough to predict the "end of the world" , why couldn't they predict  the end of their own world and their own civilisation before it happened to them?

So much for Doomsday Predictions. 
Of course , this world and all its systems  and its contents will end some day. The end will surely come but  it will be according  to prophecies which are found in the Holy Bible , spoken by  the  Lord  Jesus Christ Himself. Matthew 24:1- 51
 He is THE more authoritative and reliable source of prophesies than the Mayan Calendar   or any  such doomsday prophecies..

Before the End comes , there will be a sequence  of events which will be evident  for every eye to see. One of such events will be the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Let no man or group of people  and  their  apocalyptic  prophesies  or calendars deceive you.  
The exact date and time for the fulfilment of the Biblical prophecies about the End  has not and will not be revealed to any  man , woman or child.  Matthew 24:36

Watch , pray and expect it ; for it will surely happen .

            

At closing time yesterday , my colleagues and  I  joked  about this "doomsday " saga and were like;  "  Oh yeah, maybe this is the last time we will see . How about a big  hug and a huge smacker, to say "Goodbye"? 

 Of course we knew it would not happen and it has not happened .

 Here in London and in other parts of the world , our  world has not ended.

The only "world" that has ended for me and millions of  folks  today is the  " Work World  2012".

Apart for  essential services workers , today is the last working day in 2012 for all civil servants in the UK , and I suppose, in  other parts of the world  . 

So we in our office, like many other workers, are celebrating later tonight at our Office Christmas party.

The celebrations  is massive;  this is the Festive Season  countdown to the C- Day; and the atmosphere of Joy  and Celebration  here is so thick that you can cut it with a knife.
It's the last weekend before the glorious Christmas Day;  and as usual that means a last-minute  frenzied assault by Shoppers on every thing buy-able  in the shops and on line.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       

  Before Christmas, if your  own "UFOs and aliens  on board " will be jet planes  and their lovely crew to whisk you off to a well-deserved  Christmas and New Year  holiday destinations , do have an unforgettable Christmas. 
Home or abroad , wherever you are,  be sober , be  vigilant , be safe;  for our Adversary , the Devil seeks  whom " to steal , to kill and to destroy ".

For some people , all around London and other UK cities, at the end of each day' s celebrations, the "UFOs and aliens aboard "  they will see coming to their  rescue to take them home are the  "Booze- Bus"  ambulances and their ever -helpful and long-suffering crew.   
                        
                                                     Down and out                                                                                                         

                                       

                   A  drunken kiss for  Booze bus rescue crew.                                                         
 Every  day , as usual ,  these ambulances will be standing by at their Bases , waiting  for calls from all over London; for them to go pick up  and  take home binge-drinkers who at the end of their night out , can barely stand up on their feet.

 Depending on the degree of  drunkenness, the  destination  for these "Booze Buses" is either St. Thomas Hospital in London or the home of the drunkards; that is if they can  remember their  home addresses.                                     

This is not  in  the spirit of the Season of Christmas.     

Have a wonderful and glorious Christmas holiday.  
                                          

 Ending the day or  night  on  the  "Booze  Bus" : Not the  glorious  way to celebrate the Season.    

             

                        

              

                

The Perfect Christmas Gifts List .

The annual shopping  spree for Christmas gifts for ourselves and others , is usually a pleasurable pastime. 

By now, most people have drawn up their Gift List for this Christmas
 and  New Year celebrations.  Some people have even bought and wrapped their presents already.

Maybe your List is not yet "perfect", just a tentative one , to be made "perfect "by more additions and subtraction , even at the last  minute before Christmas.                    

For most  people , it takes a lot of time and soul-searching  for them to decide who they  will include on their Gift list  and who gets which gifts.

 

Each giver has the prerogative and the power to choose recipients of  his or her presents. 
A typical Christmas gift list would contain  names and gift items for family and friends, for church ministers and members , neighbours , bosses, colleagues , acquaintances and the poor and needy.
Economic considerations and "politics " do come into play in peoples' minds as they begin  to ponder on the " hows, what , ifs , who is who and the whys " of giving.gifts.   
There is indeed an element of "politics" in gift giving.because the deciding factors for giving  gifts  to others ; not only at Christmas , are as numerous as our preferences are different .
So , for reasons best known to the giver, some people who were not on our list last Christmas , will be there this time around and some who were on our Lists  last  year  will not be there this year .

 ^" The liberal soul shall be made fat: and he that watereth shall be watered also himself ".Proverbs 11:25 .

Love , passion , friendship,  reward , goodwill , forgiveness, gratitude , compassion  are some of the driving forces which would aid us in making up our Gifts Lists.

Also malice, hate , anger , unforgiveness,  tit-for-tat , indifference and thoughts of  "why should I give this person anything?" ; would be the deciding factors leading to not having any qualms whatsoever about leaving out some names from our "perfect " gift lists.
For some givers , who gets what would depend on their emotions and on the value they  place on their recipients .
It is a fact that  men and women would go out of their ways  to ensure that the women and men dearest  to their hearts get  the best  and the most expensive gifts , not only at Christmas , but always.
 Parents would try  to hide their feelings , but it is a fact  that their favourite children or  best-behaved children , do get the best gifts .

Ironically , those who have it all already ; people of high standing in the society who do not need gifts from anyone are the ones who get the greatest  number of  very expensive gifts and greeting cards .
Why? Rather than give to the poor and the NOT important persons , people prefer to give gifts to persons of high status and great influence in the society because they believe that  retaining the "useful friendship" of  such persons and sucking up to them , is the best PR necessary  for their own .success .

Giving is an art which is made perfect by Grace.

As such , the Perfect Gift List should not  be based on selfish criteria or ladder-climbing desires 
"It is more blessed to give than to receive ".

In the area of our emotions , we should ask for grace to overcome the politics and carnality of  drawing up our Perfect Gift List , which is not in line with the desires of the Holy Spirit..

Therefore, in addition to the names of our loved ones and "useful " members of our social / business circles , our Gift List should contain names of  needy persons who we know are  unable , either in cash or kind,  to reciprocate our kind gestures.

The poor and needy have an Advocate and that is the Holy Spirit who lays it upon the hearts of  mankind to reach out and bless the less privileged , at all times , especially at Christmas .

The other side of the coin of giving is that we should give wisely.
Even more grace is needed  to guide us not  to sow to the wind by giving to everybody, anyhow.

Giving to the wrong  persons , wrong places and wrong Causes would bring serious problems and regrets into human lives.
Wisdom in the Word of God  and from hindsight  would prevent us from repeating  the foolishness, and regret of our misplaced generosity in the past .

It takes the grace of  God for a human being to rise above emotional and other considerations to give without expecting any thing in return ; and  one would need even more grace  to give anything  to persons who from hindsight , one would , rightly, categorise as " users and wicked ingrates".

^"Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet,and turn again and rend you. Matthew 7: 6.

All sorts of specially printed "begging/asking" Christmas letters and envelopes have been received by millions world-wide, already. People would say anything to get donations at Christmas because they know it is the season for joy , for giving and for goodwill and as such  many  people are willing  to give now.
Some nations and individuals have given huge amounts to charitable organisations at Christmas period because they were told such donations would be used " to do the work of God by preaching the Gospel, or to alleviate the sufferings of victims of poverty, hunger, diseases and epidemics like Cancer and HIV-AIDS;and natural disasters like drought, floods ,tsunami, earthquakes , fire......" 
 Only for the generous donors to discover, later on, that the largest chunk of their generous  donations have been diverted to the personal bank accounts of terrorists organisations, corrupt government and charity officials and selfish Church ministers. 
 "For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple ".
Romans 16:18.

Ungrateful and discourteous persons.who could not even show the least courtesy of saying  the simple words "thank you " , for the time , efforts and gifts they have been given are "fire extinguishers" . Some ingrates have taken the art of their ingratitude from the level of  not even bothering  to say, "thank you " , to the highest  level of wickedness ; even to the extent of  harbouring envy , ill-will and plotting the downfall of their benefactors.
In order to cause problems for their helpers, because of envy , some ingrates have, secretly, spread lies and sent malicious reports against their helpers to the friends , bosses and associates of  their  helpers who have made their lives better and sweeter .

Such are the mind-frame and rantings of ingrates: "Just imagine! Who do they think they are? Even before we ask them for money, those people in that family are very arrogant ; always showing off by giving us huge sums of money and other gifts , even more than we were expecting ! They want  to show everybody that they have money , that they are better than all of us. They have too much money isn't  it ? O.K.! 
They will see .By the time we finish dealing with them,  the very source where they are  getting  their "show-off money" will dry up. Then let's see how they can  insult us with their useless gifts!".

 God is merciful and gracious , forgiving iniquity  but He  remembers  and  He hates ingratitude.    
"So Jesus answered and said, “Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine? Were there not any found who returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?” Luke 17:15-18.
God says ungrateful persons are "tempters" who deserve His wrath and destruction . Exodus 32:9,10 and Jeremiah 15:1-3.

God says "Vengeance is mine ; I'll repay".
 He does avenge , adequately , against all liars and  ingrates.
God will avenge but the giver's  part is to be discerning , to watch and pray, in order to avoid the devices and snares of the Devil and his agents .
If the Almighty and Merciful God could feel so strongly about ingratitude , how  much more mere mortals?
 "To err is human , to forgive is Divine" , if you don't forgive , you will not be forgiven. Remember you are a Christian! You people say you go to Church!"
These are fine words indeed which could fall on deaf ears in most cases, due to the extent of ingratitude .
Sometimes, no amount of preaching or begging  for forgiveness or appealing  to the "Christianity " of persons who have been wronged , repaid evil for good would pacify them When a human being has given  selflessly and generously  to  people on numerous occasions and then those same  people turn round  to repay the giver evil  for good , it would be an uphill task for  those same persons  to receive anything from that giver , ever again.

Discouragement from past  mistakes of giving to ungrateful, dishonest  and corrupt persons  should not  make us  hardened against  the cries of ALL  the poor and needy. 

"Do not be weary in well -doing " Galatians 6 : 9-10.

Deciding on a blanket ban against giving anything to anybody  again would be unfair  to those who are genuinely deserving of our help .

Identify the guilty and channel your giving  to those who deserve it.

This is the Season when we celebrate the Peace and Goodwill that God brought  to the earth through the birth of the Jesus Christ , our Lord and Saviour..
The Unconditional Giver has given us reason  to rejoice , to give  and receive wisely and abundantly.
Against all odds and discouragement , we must not  be weary  in doing good.
Do not give up on human beings. We must continue to give liberally , but wisely.
May the grace of God enable us to continue to give generously  and to order our lives along the paths of wisdom and peace during this glorious season . Amen

Merry Christmas and a glorious New Year.