Welcome stranger

PEACE BE UNTO THEE, STRANGER by Ernest S Holmes 'The Science of Mind'

Peace be unto thee, stranger, enter and be not afraid.
I have left the gate open and thou art welcome to my home.
There is room in my house for all.
I have swept the hearth and lighted the fire.
The room is warm and cheerful and you will find comfort and rest within.
The table is laid and the fruits of Life are spread before thee.
The wine is here also, it sparkles in the light.
I have set a chair for you where the sunbeams dance through the shade.
Sit and rest and refresh your soul.
Eat of the fruit and drink the wine.
All, all is yours, and you are welcome.

Peter's Project will fix it!

 

Just as well I don't believe the letters to the editor in our local newspaper are truly representative, because if I did I'd think that the majority of the people in South West Victoria are climate change denying, refugee hating bigots, who are only interested in gambling, horse racing and jumping, football, sport, bringing back the death penalty, hunting, fishing, shooting (did I mention 'sport'?) and of course the issue embraced by everyone as virtuous and 'safe' by all sides of politics, Peter's Project.

Peter's Project is the campaign to build a cancer clinic and treatment centre in Warrnambool and its popularity is demonstrated by the number of photos in the paper of  the project's leader Vicky Jellie and also the many heart wrenching, feel good pictures supporting the campaign.  

I'm all for the cancer clinic. It has raised a lot of money and much awareness even though after 5 years, it hasn't yet reached its goal. The success of this campaign, at least as a media worthy topic, is of course due to the fact that cancer directly effects so many local people. No matter your colour, creed or political persuasion, everyone  is effected by this disease either personally or by association.

It is therefore a socially acceptable cause and consequently free of controversy. (I have met the odd naysayer but they are generally those who nay say about everything.) All politicians are quick to jump on board the 'Peter's Project' bandwagon (...despite the fact that neither side of politics have actually managed  to to make it happen. Get of yer soap box and actually do something I say!) with the most enthusiastic wagon jumper being the local newspaper.

The bottom line is, the non-threatening issue of Peter's Project... buys votes and sells newspapers. I know, I know...it's the way of the world but I do so wish we could extend the same awarenesses to the many other important issues, that are actually causing cancer and  threatening our existence and the existence of life on Earth itself.

People are not as immediately aware of the effect that the environment is having on their lives and their health. They are not aware of the staggering increase in the rate of cancer over the passed 50 years from 1 in 50 to 1 in 3 women and 1 in 2 men, nor the link between the increased usage of insecticides, herbicides and all chemicals and the increased incidence of cancer in this agricultural region.

http://hope.cancercouncil.com.au/?gclid=CL3Mlvec8bYCFYggpQodvTcA0g#the-facts

I digress. Back to the letters in the paper. If I believed that these letters truly represented the people of Warrnambool and environs, I would think the people of this region were actually contributing to, rather than helping to fix all the problems we face with the pollution of the Earth and resulting injustices to humanity. The letters reflect a degree of prejudice and selfishness that is shocking in the extreme. They actually demonstrate an attitude that I believe is...well...evil.

Last year, Matt Neal, a Standard journalist, posted a sensible opinion piece on the scientifically accepted issue of human induced climate change and said that for our common survival, we should have taken strong action on climate change years ago but have been stopped by corporate greed and its promotion of climate change denial, influencing many who really should know better. This article spawned a number of climate denial letters, some saying that human activity has had no effect on the climate whatsoever and that we should continue to pollute and exploit the earth; business as usual.

Sadly, many are beginning to believe the deniers. I think that this is partly due to laziness and the fact that if we could get away with it, we'd rather do nothing and carry on regardless. Hell, if I could, I'd rather do nothing and carry on regardless!

But, because of what I know and because I believe in risk management and because of the obvious increases in extreme weather events including bush fires, droughts, floods, hurricanes, fish kills and species extinction... I cannot ignore it.

I have life insurance and private health insurance not because I am sick but because I know that the likelihood is at some stage in my life, I will get sick and will need some financial help. I wear a seat belt because I know it will help me if I have an accident and I expect everyone else to do the same. That's why we legislated to make seat belts compulsory and I believe that's exactly what we need to do to deal with pollution and human induced climate change. If seat belts weren't compulsory with consequent fines, would people still use seat belts at all? The answer is, seat belts would probably only be used by the careful people among us and this is true too of climate change. Only the careful among us are actually trying to do something about it and most of them are also trying to have our legislation changed so that we can all try to do something about it.

The brutal fact is that if we don't go through the difficult process of changing our lives and legislation in order to fix climate change and stop polluting our world, our only home, it will kill us, our children and much of life on earth.

The more people who believe the deniers, the less action is taken to try to prevent the greatest threat to life on Earth: human induced climate change.

Where is the logic in taking no action when 98% of scientists tell us that if we don't, it will be very difficult for us to survive? Well? Anyone?

Why continue to pollute the Earth until the rate of cancer in humans is 100%? Anyone? No no...I understand. We must have horse jumping and better roads and no wind farms because wind farms are evil and we must be able to shoot every duck and kill every fish. Our fun is far more important than the survival of life on Earth. Absolutely...not!

Anyway, if the issue doesn't sell newspapers or win votes, especially in this country, then forget about it!

Asylum seekers: Deter or Save?

Just had a message from someone saying that they think the Greens should vote for the asylum seeker Bill in parliament because something is better than nothing. This idea is so wrong. Sometimes something is much worse than what we already have.

Voting for asylum seekers, found in Australian waters, to be processed in countries who have not signed the refugee convention or any other country, might deter them from trying to get to Australia but it will only increase the suffering and push it further down the line.

The problems in the countries that asylum seekers are fleeing will not be fixed anytime soon, so by making it harder for them to get on leaky boats we are simply changing the geography, not the danger or the loss of life through botched attempts to escape. Just because the numbers of people dying in Australian waters is reduced it doesn't mean they won't die anyway in other tragic circumstances; possibly suffocating in containers or trucks or cargo holds. Use your imaginations.

What would you do if you were being persecuted and threatened with being buried alive, or buried up to your neck and then stoned or cut up into little pieces or gaoled for the rest of your life? Would you take your chances on a leaky boat or a container or an airless truck? What we need to do is increase our humanitarian quota and process asylum seekers here in the land of the just and the free and  ALSO the world community needs to work in cooperation to stop global persecution and suffering.

Comprend? So don';t suggest the Greens should vote for a cruel Bill just so that politicians won't feel responsible for refugee deaths in Australian waters. This is just a bandaid to make them feel better and look better in the eyes of the voting public. Howard said that he stopped the boats. Check the facts and figures...The only thing that reduced the number of boats during Howard's terrible and terrifying reign was that circumstances changed in the countries people were fleeing from. Full stop.

Someone else said that blocking the Bill in the Senate is undemocratic. What do they think the Senate is there for? To act as an automatic rubber stamp for every Bill passed by the House of Reps? How rediculous. And, with an asylum seeker policy that promised to stop offshore processing Labor was voted into minority Govt with the help of the Greens and the Independents. They changed their policy. the Greens have stood by their policy to end mandatory detention and to process all asylum seekers onshore and to increase our humanitarian intake. I am very proud of the Greens and their ethical stance on this issue.

Support the Greens in our fight for universal human rights. Don't expect us to compromise our ideals. If we thought that this Bill would save even one human life, we'd vote for it immediately!!!

Suddenly Reincarnation!

When I was in my twenties I suddenly became aware of the theory of reincarnation. I felt quite rattled by the notion that we could have lived other, forgotten lives. How amazing is that thought. How incredible are humans to have even imagined such things.

So being a very curious person in more ways than one, I decided to go to Melbourne to have a ‘past life reading’. I was scared witless at the idea of someone actually looking back into my previous lifetimes. After all who knew what they might find and, well, it was all a bit spooky really.

 I was also embarrassed about actually having a ‘reading’ as ‘readings’ were not something that regular people participated in, especially catholic people like me. So I took the very early morning train to Melbourne hoping I wouldn’t be seen by anyone I knew.

I had asked a sceptical Melbourne friend, who was studying psychology, to come along with me and if necessary to pick up the pieces if everything went pear shaped.  “ Look, it’s all bullshit anyway." she kept saying to me. “Bullshit, bullshit, bullshit and crap. Just keep the word bullshit in your mind and repeat it over and over. Bullshit, bullshit, bullshit and you’ll be fine....”. That was quite grounding until I found myself in a monastical building, in a room with a very priestly man and a group of very official looking assistants. It felt as though I was in the midst of a strange offshoot cult of the catholic Church, with fallen priests and satanic rituals. I’ve since discovered that this was the cult that Bob Hawke’s wife, Blanche, belonged to at the time.

Anyway, I can’t remember the reading in its entirety but the story was along the lines of ... my father in this life was my brother in the last life and my brother was my father and I had died in the country from which I adopted my children in this lifetime... None of it was particularly interesting or helpful or insightful or spooky for that matter and I came out of the room muttering ‘bullshit, bullshit, bullshit’ under my breath. Still, I was left with the impression that such an encounter could possibly have a powerful effect on some and my experience did have a profound effect on one other person.

Many moons have passed since that furtive early morning train ride to Melbourne and over the years I have lost touch with Shirley of the sensible bullshit advice. Of course, I am respectful of the fact that reincarnation is important to millions of people around the world and that there could very well be some truth in it but in the end it made little difference to me. I think I simply noted the experience and moved on.

However, last time I spoke to logical, intelligent, analytical psychologist Shirley of the sensible ‘bullshit’ advice, she told me that she was a practioner of 'past life regression therapy'. Can you believe that? Past life regression therapy!

She regresses people through hypnosis to their past lives, in order to help them overcome the problems they are experiencing in their present lives!! So who was that reading really meant for I wonder? Not me, that’s for sure!

Ain’t life grand? Now everyone repeat after me ' It's all bullshit, bullshit, bullshit....'

And here's what the Cheshire Cat had to say.

https://www.facebook.com/#!/photo.php?fbid=406424656063694&set=a.406038126102347.90495.405973856108774&type=1&theater

It is easy being Green!

Hands up if you love Bob Brown. I do!! For those who don't know him, until recently he was the leader of the Australian Greens political party and is still a human rights and environmental activist extraordinaire.

Bob has had a wealth of experience in environmental activism being one of the big players who helped to save the Franklin River in Tasmania and some of the oldest forests in the world. He has lead the way for the formation of the political party the Australian Greens and has mentored the Green political movement worldwide.

At different times, Bob has both agreed and disagreed with Kermit the frog on being Green. Sometimes he says it is easy being Green and at other times, not so so easy.

Bob has known his share of persecution. As a young gay man studying medicine in Sydney he was harrassed and abused by yobbo bullies and most of his life he has been an advocate for gay rights and marriage equality. What a great role model he has been for us all. He has never lost his cool in public, as far as I know and has always treated everyone with patience and respect, no matter how rediculous, prejudiced, ignorant, agressive, greedy, corrupt, ill informed or even dangerous they may be.

Sometimes I think he might even be too good for his own good. In his farewell letter to us he wrote that he intends to escort an exiled African Green parliamentarian back to his political seat, in pain of death. Please don't Bob. We need you alive and well and living in Australia!

Bob has shown us that it is possible to create change for the better even when the odds are stacked against you. He has shown us that we can be strong in the face of overwhelming odds and that we must never, ever give up.

Together we can lessen the impact of climate change. Together we can save our forests, our oceans and rivers, our wilderness areas and our fertile food producing lands. Great strides are being made in Tasmania and the Australian Government has announced plans to create the largest marine sanctuary in the world in the waters around Australia. This is what we are fighting for and it IS happening. Perhaps not when we want it to or quite how we envisioned but it IS happening.

We must believe it is possible to save life on planet earth and we will do it. It is easy being Green. You just have to say yes.
http://us2.campaign-archive1.com/?u=6927d3e0e362818c9fb02cfa8&id=5d2624a68b&e=672374d3f4
Farewell and many blessings to our esteemed leader. We love you Bob!
https://www.facebook.com/#!/photo.php?fbid=464604463569476&set=a.346585712038019.94133.283033748393216&type=1&theater

And a very messy weekend was had by all...

 Had a great weekend celebrating World Environment Day, which is this Tuesday, June 5th .
Our little enviro group held two stalls. On Saturday we set up in the hall at the Emmanuel Sustainability Festival and on Sunday we made an awful mess outside Safeway.

We arraneged a very, very messy stall. It was most unappealing and very unattractive. Penny had spent weeks collecting used cans and drink containers from smelly pubs...ppeewww...so that she could pile them all up around her CAR with signs about how the Baillieu Govt refuses to support a 10c container deposit levy (introduced by the Greens and passed in the upper house). We had petitions laid on, a raffle of enviro cleaning aids, and Colleen Hartland's gorgeous postcards (like the John and Betty readers) trying to persuade Ted Baillieu to pass the scheme. (Good luck with that Colleen!)




Our fry up attracted some rather reluctant attendees and the Tin Shed Singers serenaded shoppers with environmental songs such as 'Drunken Sailor' but with better words...A one and a two and a three ' What shall we do with empty bottle, What shall we do with the empty bottle, What shall we do with the empty bottle Earlye in the morning? Back to the vendors- they won't take it, Back to the vendors they won't take it Back to the vendors they won't take it Earlye In the morning...Chorus....Verse " Throw it with the others on the Princes H'way, Throw it with the others on the Princes H'way, Throw it with the others on the princes H'way Earlye In the morning!"."In a street bin then to landfill, In a street bin then to landfill, In a street bin then to landfill earlye in the morning!" "Save them for the scouts. Oh that's now history, Save them for the scouts. Oh, that's now history, Save them for the Scouts. Oh that's now history, Earlye in the morning." " Take them home and fill the yellow bin, Take them home and fill the ..." " Refund over on South Australia, Refund over in South Australia...."  " What shall we do with the empty bottle....etc" Hurray for the Tin Shed singers. Just wish there'd been a few more there to hear it!!!!!!
Anway congratulations again to us and especially to Penny for a stirling and enjoyable result!!!! Drat....didn't get that book read...heading off to a warm bed now.

I'm not alone!

Here is an interesting, intelligent appraisal of the current state of the Catholic Church. Good to read that others have similar views to my own!

http://blog.practicalethics.ox.ac.uk/2012/05/crisis-in-the-catholic-church/