The suggestion that we should begin a carbon trading scheme in Australia in 2010 has set the voices of fear alight, once again proving the difficulty of conducting serious and mature political debate in this country. What is most disappointing is hearing the Victorian Premier, John Brumby, starting to forecast electricity shortages even before the complete debate about the scheme has got into first gear. The news report last night forecast shortages this coming summer, which is pure nonsense. How can a non-existent emissions trading scheme in the summer of 2008-2009 result in shortages of supply? I am unsure whether this fear-mongering is an interpretation placed by a reporter over the Premier's remarks, but it underlines the sense of disappointment in the moral fibre of our leadership when they start playing on short-term fears. It is the type of politics we hoped to have seen the last of for some time in the wake of the defeat of the Howard government, which was masterful in such politics.
While the science of global warming has much to both commend and question, there is no doubt that in terms of the health of the planet we are entering into uncharted waters. Instead of crying "Wolf!" or doing the Chicken Little act: "The Sky is Falling!" perhaps we would hope that our leadership might point to the opportunities for innovative and creative solutions to the identified problem of increased carbon emissions. Alas, it seems that we would rather play fear and avoid responsibilities.
In Australia it is hard to justify the absence of a serious effort at solar power and other forms of renewable energy. Instead of playing fear, we should be positioning our state and nation to be at the forefront of renewable energy. So we might have to let brown coal - in such abundant supply - remain in the ground for a longer period. What loss is there if we can develop new export industries which have a healthier contribution to the planet?
It remains to be seen whether the Federal Government has the guts to do the hard work. They'll be peppered with fear on all sides.
Posted by gary at 02:41 PM | Comments (0)
...poignant message from Amnesty International
With thanks to Stan for drawing my attention to it!
Posted by gary at 11:31 PM | Comments (0)
I posted this prayer yesterday on heardaboutthisone. I reproduce it here today alongside the text of the apology delivered yesterday by the Australian Government to the Stolen Generations. This prayer was written for Sorry Day, reflecting concern for the plight of Indigenous Australians.
Almighty and loving God, you who created ALL people in your image,
Lead us to seek your compassion as we listen to the stories of our past.
You gave your only Son, Jesus, who died and rose again so that sins will be forgiven.
We place before you the pain and anguish of dispossession of land, language, lore, culture and family kinship that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have experienced.
We live in faith that all people will rise from the depths of despair and hopelessness.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families have endured the pain and loss of loved ones, through the separation of children from their families.
We are sorry and ask God's forgiveness.
Touch the hearts of the broken, homeless and inflicted and heal their spirits.
In your mercy and compassion walk with us as we continue our journey of healing to create a future that is just and equitable.
Lord, you are our hope.
Amen.
Posted by gary at 07:10 AM | Comments (0)
This is the full text of the apology delivered in Parliament yesterday by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd:
Today we honour the Indigenous peoples of this land, the oldest continuing cultures in human history.
We reflect on their past mistreatment.
We reflect in particular on the mistreatment of those who were Stolen Generations - this blemished chapter in our nation's history.
The time has now come for the nation to turn a new page in Australia's history by righting the wrongs of the past and so moving forward with confidence to the future.
We apologise for the laws and policies of successive Parliaments and governments that have inflicted profound grief, suffering and loss on these our fellow Australians.
We apologise especially for the removal of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families, their communities and their country.
For the pain, suffering and hurt of these Stolen Generations, their descendants and for their families left behind, we say sorry.
To the mothers and the fathers, the brothers and the sisters, for the breaking up of families and communities, we say sorry.
And for the indignity and degradation thus inflicted on a proud people and a proud culture, we say sorry.
We the Parliament of Australia respectfully request that this apology be received in the spirit in which it is offered as part of the healing of the nation.
For the future we take heart; resolving that this new page in the history of our great continent can now be written.
We today take this first step by acknowledging the past and laying claim to a future that embraces all Australians.
A future where this Parliament resolves that the injustices of the past must never, never happen again.
A future where we harness the determination of all Australians, Indigenous and non-Indigenous, to close the gap that lies between us in life expectancy, educational achievement and economic opportunity.
A future where we embrace the possibility of new solutions to enduring problems where old approaches have failed.
A future based on mutual respect, mutual resolve and mutual responsibility.
A future where all Australians, whatever their origins, are truly equal partners, with equal opportunities and with an equal stake in shaping the next chapter in the history of this great country, Australia.
Let us pray that the apology will be received by all in the spirit in which it is intended. Let us pray that it will result in our Aboriginal brothers and sisters being able to experience a sense of the closing of a dark chapter of their history, and the healing and release of past hurts and memories. Pray that the apology will release in our nation a fresh spirit of hope and the ability to now look to a future as one people and to work together towards the removal on any injustices, real or perceived, that still exist, until equality is not only spoken of, but also evident in the practical realities of everyday life.
Posted by gary at 07:07 AM | Comments (0)
I found tears welling in my eyes this morning as I listened to the broadcast of proceedings from Parliament House in Canberra as the final preparations for the delivery of the apology from the Australian Government to the Stolen Generations was made. It was a moment of both relief and thankfulness that this well-overdue apology was made, and a platform laid for moving forward in a spirit of honesty and cooperation.
Indigenous Australia has suffered greatly from European Settlement, not just with the Stolen Generations but began with the creeping assumption of land from them, depriving them of livelihood, sacred sites and freedom of movement. The treatment meted out to Aboriginal peoples has been a scar on this nation’s history, one kept hidden for too long. The release of the “Bringing them Home” report in 1997 for the first time openly detailed the impact of policies which endured during my own schooling years, not to mention the continuing approach which comes at high cost to Indigenous Australia.
Today, some sense of pride was restored for me: pride in our political institutions and pride in our national character, a pride which will always be tinged with a sense of shame that it took so long to acknowledge what our country has done. I long to see the day when not only a mace sits in parliament – a symbolic reminder of the power of the speaker, but a symbol of the Indigenous heritage of our land sits alongside it, so that Parliament will never sit with its eyes unable to see the Indigenous people of this land.
Let me adapt a line from the second verse of the Australian National Anthem: “With courage let us NOW combine to Advance Australia fare”
Posted by gary at 01:50 PM | Comments (0)
Adams goes a long way to explaining the sense of relief which accompanied the election outcome for me in this blog post from The Australian.
SPARE me the sentimental tosh about John Howard. Here’s why his departure is a joyous occasion.
The scene: The Great Hall at the University of Sydney. The grand opening of a conference for the Centre for the Mind. Crowds have gathered to see Nelson Mandela cut the ribbon. As chairman of the advisory board it is my duty to welcome our patron, the Prime Minister. That long-time opponent of sanctions against apartheid South Africa will then welcome Mandela. When I complain bitterly about my chore, the vice-chancellor murmurs, “Protocol.”
A last-minute phone call from a protocol officer in the PM’s department.
“Do you really want to introduce the PM?” he asks.
“Of course I bloody well don’t!”
“Yes, it would be a bit hypocritical.”
“Not as hypocritical as the PM introducing Mandela.”
The resolution? The VC will introduce Howard. I’ll move the vote of thanks. When I explain the change, Mandela isn’t fussed but asks me: “How’s Paul Keating getting on?”
This backstage kerfuffle is nothing to Malcolm Fraser’s loud performance in front of the gathering dignitaries, including the PM. He tells of a crisis early in his prime ministership involving Vietnamese close to the Australian embassy. They are understandably desperate to be allowed into this country. Fraser phones Gough Whitlam, who agrees they should be welcomed. “So did my entire cabinet, except for one person. Guess who!” And he points the finger at Howard.
The scene: John Laws’s 2UE studio in 1988. Anticipating One Nation by many years, Howard warns the nation of the dangers of Asian immigration. So outraged is the response to his statement that Howard loses his job as Opposition leader a year later.
The scene: A new prime minister manipulates Hansonism in the mid to late 1990s. Forget dog-whistle politics. In a campaign as deafening as any air raid siren, Howard declares war on multiculturalism and political correctness. White Australia rises from its grave. Bigotry is unleashed via an epidemic of racist graffiti, schoolyard attacks and shock-jock broadcasting. Thanks to the main parties’ accommodation of One Nation, Australian racism is world news.
The scene: A few thousand refugees flee the Taliban and Saddam Hussein in 2001. Howard brands them queue jumpers, illegals and has cohorts hint that they’re terrorists. The Tampa sails into view and our detention of decent people in concentration camps becomes an international disgrace. Kim Beazley rolls over. The ALP is complicit in this political pornography, this immense stunt. Kids overboard. The Australian Navy is appalled by what it’s ordered to do. More than 350 die on the SievX. All this wins Howard another term.
The scene: 9/11. Howard jumps the queue to sign up for the misconceived war on terror and the horror story of the Iraq invasion. Immense numbers of Iraqis are killed. We are complicit in hundreds of thousands of deaths, in Abu Ghraib, in torture, in rendition. It isn’t democracy that blossoms in the Middle East. It’s terrorism. To this day Howard insists that the fiasco of Iraq is a success.
The scene: Guantanamo Bay. Howard permits the monstrous treatment of David Hicks.
The scene: The Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission prepares Bringing Them Home, the tragic account of the stolen generations. Before publication date in 1997, Howard’s bovver boys not only deride the document but slander Ronald Wilson. Historical revisionism kicks in. Reconciliation is rejected. The black-white divide deepens. Quadrant crows. Pauline Hanson is pleased.
The scene: The Kelly gang - the husbands of retiring member Jackie Kelly and her would-be replacement - are caught distributing a piece of crap designed to press the hot buttons on anti-Muslim bigotry. We’re told this attempt to throw fuel on the world’s most inflammatory issue is a prank. The PM promptly denies any knowledge of this dirtiest of dirty tricks, yet it sits within the culture of bigotry he has encouraged over many years.
The scene: As the election gains pace, Howard’s immigration minister Kevin Andrews targets the alleged criminality of Sudanese refugees and immigrants. Deja vu all over again.
The scene: A few days before the election, Howard is asked to list his proudest achievements. Right up front he says the destruction of - yes - political correctness.
Is Howard a bigot? His support of apartheid South Africa, his long-term indifference to the issues of Aboriginal Australia, his exploitation of the refugee issue and his on-the-record hostility to Asian immigration would suggest so. Or is he a main-chancer, a cunning manipulator of other people’s fears and racism? If the latter, isn’t that morally worse? That’s why I’m not shedding tears at Howard’s departure. Because his fondness for the Menzies era involved the revival of too many aspects of White Australia. No other modern PM on either side of politics would have touched it with a barge pole.
Posted by gary at 11:41 AM | Comments (0)
British charity Age Concern, which promotes the interests of elderly people, polled more than 100,000 of its customers and found that being buried with their pet's ashes was the most common funeral rite request. However, some of the other requests represent an interesting fear.
The top eight requests were:
1. To be cremated with their pet's ashes;
2. To have a mobile phone in the coffin;
3. To ensure they are dead;
4. For a mirror to be held over the face to check for signs of breathing;
5. To be cremated naked;
6. To be buried in their own garden;
7. To be buried with their teeth in;
8. To be buried with all their savings.
Number eight suggests that there are still those who want to argue that you can take it with you.
Me? Do what you want with my body when I'm gone, as I'm not going to have much use for it!!
Posted by gary at 12:23 PM | Comments (0)
The latest news is not encouraging: http://dawnrowandocuments.blogspot.com/
Posted by gary at 04:35 PM | Comments (0)
Burma's generals have brought their brutal iron hand down on peaceful monks and protesters -- but in response, a massive global outcry is gathering pace. The roar of global public opinion is being heard in hundreds of protests outside Chinese and Burmese embassies, people round the world wearing the monks' color red, and on the internet - where our petition has exploded to over 200,000 signers in just 72 hours.
People power can win this. Burma's powerful sponsor China can halt the crackdown, if it believes that its international reputation and the 2008 Olympics in Beijing depend on it. To convince the Chinese government and other key countries, Avaaz is launching a major global and Asian ad campaign on Wednesday, including full page ads in the Financial Times and other newspapers, that will deliver our message and the number of signers. We need 1 million voices to be the global roar that will get China's attention. If every one of us forwards this email to just 20 friends, we'll reach our target in the next 72 hours. Please sign the petition at the link below - if you haven't already - and forward this message to everyone you care about:
http://www.avaaz.org/en/stand_with_burma/t.php
The pressure is working - already, there are signs of splits in the Burmese Army, as some soldiers refuse to attack their own people. The brutal top General, Than Shwe, has reportedly moved his family out of the country – he must fear his rule may crumble.
The Burmese people are showing incredible courage in the face of horror. We're broadcasting updates on our effort over the radio into Burma itself – telling the people that growing numbers of us stand with them. Let's do everything we can to help them – we have hours, not days, to do it. Please sign the petition and forward this email to at least 20 friends right now. Scroll down our petition page for details of times and events to join in the massive wave of demonstrations happening around the world at Burmese and Chinese embassies.
A support rally is planned for this Saturday at noon in Melbourne (Federation Square). I will be conducting a wedding at that time, otherwise I would be there.
Posted by gary at 12:32 PM | Comments (0)
This story might be regarded as bad news for those chocaholics among us...
originally published in The Age, September 18, 2007
Chocolate is regarded as a treat, a sweet luxury often given as a gift. But that is only part of its story. The rest is more sinister. Two hundred years after the British Empire abolished the slave trade, nearly half the world's chocolate is made from cocoa grown in Ivory Coast, West Africa, where tens of thousands of children are forced to work on plantations as slaves.
A 2002 study estimated that at least 284,000 children were trapped in forced labour in the West African cocoa industry, the majority of these — some 200,000 — were to be found in Ivory Coast. Even the most conservative estimates, including those by the chocolate companies themselves, concede that the number of chocolate slaves is at least 12,000.
These children are forced to apply pesticides without protective clothing and to work for up to 12 hours a day on the plantations for little or no pay. Their toil helps the giant chocolate makers produce the chocolate we find on the shelves of our stores.
Parliamentarian and social justice crusader William Wilberforce, whose life-long crusade resulted in the abolition of the slave trade — which then formed a critical part of the economic foundations of the British Empire — would be horrified. A recent feature film, Amazing Grace, heralds Wilberforce's crusade to free the slaves, yet the tragedy is that more people are ensnared in slavery today than in the entire 400 years of the trans-Atlantic slave trade.
Human trafficking generates $A37 billion annually and enslaves at least 12 million around the globe. Some estimates even put the number of people enslaved as high as 27 million. And the epicentre of today's slave trade is in Australia's backyard — South-East Asia.
The tragic nature of this industry is evident when you realise that the average age of a girl locked in sexual slavery in South-East Asia is 12 or 13.
However complex this trade in people, it is inescapable that there is a strong and foundational link between poverty and modern-day slavery. People who are poor are more vulnerable. We can't fight slavery without fighting poverty.
Overseas aid is critical to developing better public justice systems but it is also important in providing livelihoods for emancipated slaves.
According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, people trafficking is the world's fastest-growing crime, already bigger than the international drug trade and second only to the illegal buying and selling of arms.
But action is being taken. Stop The Traffik, the organisation I founded three years ago, now has more than 600 member organisations in 60 countries around the globe determined to raise awareness of the problem and to demand action at all levels to bring it to an end. One of the most powerful tools we have at our disposal is as consumers. In 2000, the chief executives of the major chocolate makers were hauled before the US Senate and a bill was proposed that would require the chocolate industry to certify all their chocolate as "slave-free".
The cocoa industry successfully lobbied against this, arguing that the supply chain for cocoa was complex, with middlemen buying the beans and mixing them before selling them on to conglomerate buyers.
But such major companies control the market and they can determine under what conditions they buy their cocoa beans. Unless the industry can guarantee that our chocolate is not made from beans picked by trafficked children, then we will never make progress. Industry must be able to tell people which farms beans are from and must guarantee no trafficked labour.
Consumers for their part should buy chocolate only from those companies that give this guarantee. It is a practical way we can all contribute to today's crusade to end modern-day slavery.
Human trafficking is a global problem that requires a global response. At the end of his life William Wilberforce referred to the battle against slavery as "unfinished business". Today, working together, we can complete the task.
Steve Chalke is founder of the global Stop The Traffik campaign.
Posted by gary at 04:05 PM | Comments (0)
A World of Hope (by Jim Wallis)
Last week I had the great blessing of participating in World Vision’s Triennial Council held in Singapore. It drew together almost 500 people—World Vision’s country directors and many staff, board chairs, and members from every region of the world, as well as the international board of directors who will guide and govern what has become the largest relief and development organization in the world. World Vision has grown enormously, especially in the last several years, and is seeking to determine its future direction. The organization serves 100 million people in almost 100 countries, with 23,000 staff members and an annual budget of $2 billion. It was indeed a privilege to deliver the opening and closing addresses and to have many opportunities to interact with this extraordinary and significant group of people each day of the conference.
I saw an organization in the dynamic process of moving from alleviation to transformation. I felt the passion of an international community of humanitarian faith-based workers who care deeply about the poorest children of the world, and who clearly yearn to embrace a God of justice, not merely a God of charity. That was the call they responded to in Singapore. The response was especially powerful from those from the global South, where the churches are growing dramatically and the conditions of life for so many have forced the people of God to address the issues of global justice.
The response of World Vision to the Asian tsunami was especially impressive, along with so many other places where natural disasters and human conflicts have caused so much suffering over the last three years. But we talked about how the greatest “disaster” in the world today is the very structure of the global order itself, and how disasters such as the Asian tsunami and Hurricane Katrina only serve to reveal these underlying injustices. If we are to be faithful to the biblical vision, we must judge those global structures to be unjust.
Organizations such as World Vision have the choice of merely being the beneficiaries of the guilt of the developed world in serving the victims of an unjust global order, or they can serve the poor in a way that shines a spotlight on global injustice and the moral imperative for transformation. It is more and more clear that World Vision desires to make the second choice. Many from the global South told me they had never heard an American speak this way, but the Americans at Singapore were also clearly in sync with the need for World Vision’s prophetic vocation.
We must be Christians first, the World Vision delegates strongly affirmed, and citizens of nations and members of tribes second. Today, globalization seems to have an inevitable logic, but no comparable ethic. But international bodies such as World Vision, which know no geopolitical boundaries, could help create the ethics and values that globalization now lacks.
World Vision now has three organizational pillars: relief, development, and advocacy. Advocacy is the newest and most controversial pillar, but the imperative to deal with the root causes of human suffering, with the injustice that leads to disaster for so many, and with the policies of nations and international organizations that obstruct real solutions to poverty, has developed a real momentum within the organization. And rather than just becoming another lobby group, their deepest response was to the vocation of “changing the wind” of international politics and priorities.
“World Vision changed this week,” many people said to me as I departed. We could all feel it. It seemed that what has been growing within the organization for some time took a great leap forward during those days in Singapore, and there is no turning back. World Vision will not just be a collector of a guilty, affluent world’s donations to sponsor poor children, but rather a catalyst to help build a global movement for spiritual and social transformation. World Vision’s size, influence, and credibility positions the organization very well to be a prophetic leader in that movement for justice on the global stage that speaks truth to power—not just as a service provider when disaster strikes.
On the last day we spoke about a biblical theology of hope in a world of pain, and how hope, backed by faith, was the key to bringing about the global sea changes we desperately need. The choice today is less between belief and secularism, but between hope and cynicism. The theme of the final day was “A World of Hope,” and what I saw and felt at World Vision’s Singapore Triennial Council made me very hopeful indeed.
Posted by gary at 07:58 AM | Comments (0)
This commentator has obviously never seen an AFL (Aussie Rules) game! Watch how Rocca just brushes it off as inconsequential...
Posted by gary at 12:02 AM | Comments (0)
Posted by gary at 06:28 PM | Comments (0)
The Australian Government continues to pursue Dawn Rowan to bankruptcy, not responding to any pleas made on Dawn Rowan's behalf. Minister Mal Brough, who has responsibility for the case, is stonewalling in the face of thousands of submissions. Today Tonight in Adelaide included an update on August 23, the night before Dawn's most recent court appearance. This is the first video.
The second video is an updated report from Adelaide's Today Tonight on August 24, detailing the surprising response from Dawn in court.
Visit http://dawnrowansaga.blogspot.com/ for regular updates. Write to Minister Brough to make your submission on Dawn's behalf.
Posted by gary at 05:15 PM | Comments (0)
Sorry - rant coming...
The recent changes to laws relating to Indigenous communities has been a hotly debated issue, as the Federal Government has moved to quell what it claims is an epidemic of child abuse. The government has assumed control of all Indigenous communities in the Northern Territory, including the removal of land rights and the scrapping of the permit system which allowed Indigenous communities to control who had access to their land. Whilst acknowledging the existence of problems in many (not all) Indigenous communities, one has to be suspicious of a return to the paternalistic policies of bygone eras. Surely we can trust Indigenous people to work through the issues, properly supported by the government, rather than simply told what to do.
But the real agenda was released today when the PM declared that the only way forward for Indigenous people was assimilation:
"We have a simple aim and that is whilst respecting the special place of Indigenous people in the history and the life of this country, their future can only be as part of the mainstream of the Australian community," he said, reported in an ABC news item. This is simply appalling - a declared return to the type of cultural imperialism which has left a series of messes around the world, not least of all most recently in Iraq. Whilst the Western way of life offers many positives, there are serious downsides (which unsurprisingly our PM refuses to acknowledge: climate and environmental issues amongst the prime)
It's time we recognised that cultures are not morally neutral. There are good and bad elements in every culture. Pretending that our Western culture is perfect - or better in every way - exhibits a blindness of fatal proportions. Unfortunately the cost will fall most heavily on our Indigenous peoples and the lands they (now) own.
Indigenous Australians have survived in this land far longer than we, who would not ourselves have survived but for the wisdom of the Indigenous people. We've created many of these problems, let's help and support these communities in resolving the issues in their own ways - in ways which give proper respect to their culture.
Posted by gary at 07:55 PM | Comments (0)
Let me encourage you to act in support of Dawn Rowan, whose full story can be found here. Dawn is subject to bankruptcy proceedings by the Federal Government arising from an action to (successfully) defend herself against baseless claims made in a government report. Dawn is the pioneer of the Women's Shelter movement in South Australia.
An update from a supporter reads:
Thanks everyone for the email/postcard/letter/personal campaigns you
have waged to contact Federal parliamentarians on Dawn's behalf. Let's keep those contacts happening.
The ball is now apparently in the court of Senator Nick Minchin. Here's his email address: why not contact him as soon as you've read this?
Philip Ruddock has replied with form-letters to those who sent letters or postcards. I don't think anyone's yet heard from Mal Brough, or the PM, or Peter Costello. Parliament sits again in a week's time, so hopefully there'll be some personal lobbying happening then. [Parliament is now sitting]
One or two have mentioned a rumour going around Adelaide about Dawn's
alleged refusal to negotiate a settlement with the Commonwealth. See her Blog for an answer to that falsehood:
Last week in the South Australian Upper House Greens senator Mark
Parnell asked the SA Attorney-General a question about Dawn's case. It's here: and I've put it on to Dawn's Blog.
Dawn goes to Adelaide for her next bankruptcy hearing on 24th August.
Can Adelaide friends be there to support her? Thanks.
Posted by gary at 05:12 PM | Comments (0)
I found myself asking this question when reading the following news report:
A New Zealand couple is looking to call their newborn son Superman - but only because their chosen name of 4Real has been rejected by the government registry. The couple originally decided on the name because when they saw the ultrasound they decided that their son was "for real". I only wish that the boy's parents were. I'm sure he's going to thank them profusely when he hits the playground, whatever his parents finally settle on.... "Superman!!! Are you for real?!"
I have some friends who adopted an overseas child, and received a certificate to prove that they were competent parents before the adoption went through. This NZ couple is putting forward a good argument for spreading the net wider. Just because a couple can procreate doesn't make them sane, sensible and reasonable people!
Posted by gary at 08:15 PM | Comments (0)
There is a deal of concern expressed about the dangers of countries getting hold of nuclear weapons. Coupled with increasing interest in nuclear energy in Australia - widely regarded as a safer and carbon-reducing form of power generation (itself a point subject to intense debate), news of the death of an Iranian Nuclear Scientist ought to give us all pause for thought. The scientist died from poisoning with uranium hexafluoride gas at a uranium conversion facility. Such accidents raise concerns about the possibilities of another Chernobyl.
It could well be argued that there are few redeeming features for nuclear fuel, and all of them are outweighed by the potential downside. While we continue to invest energy, resources, money, and time into nuclear and oil-based energies, the renewable energy option continues to suffer - along with the entire planet - from neglect.
Posted by gary at 05:28 PM | Comments (0)
A local Catholic school has relented after initially refusing to enrol a student in their prep class whose surname was Hell. The school was (apparently) concerned the boy would be teased. Hell could not ultimately be vanquished and now inhabits its hallowed halls!
Posted by gary at 04:12 PM | Comments (0)
I wrote of Dawn's story recently. Here is the news story presenting a more detailed account. It is split into two parts:
Part 1:
Part 2:
It is a remarkable story of the woman who pioneered the women's shelter movement, yet who has found that fighting domestic violence comes at a high cost - from unexpected places.
To find out more: http://dawnrowansaga.blogspot.com/
Posted by gary at 11:00 AM | Comments (2)
The Australian Government has just spent $500,000 to bring David Hicks home from Guantanamo Bay after a trial which itself was a travesty of justice. But this is 'peanuts' compared to the millions of taxpayers' money wasted on prosecuting an innocent woman, Dawn Rowan. See http://dawnrowansaga.blogspot.com/.
She won a long-running case against the SA and Commonwealth Governments - and now they're pursuing her for costs, which will bankrupt her - and not only has she been declared innocent all through 21 years, she has been found to be the victim of some rather questionable actions by the state!
For a more detailed telling of the story, see the report from Channel 7's Today Tonight program by going to the front page of
http://jmm.aaa.net.au.
Rowland Croucher of John Mark Ministries is prepared to answer any questions you mightahave about this sorry saga and misuse of government power. Feel free to contact him:
(rccroucher
Posted by gary at 09:00 PM | Comments (0)
This beggars belief... from the ABC
He can barely walk or talk, but 11-month-old "Bubba" Ludwig is already a fully paid up member of America's firearms fraternity, with a 12-gauge Beretta shotgun and a gun permit to his name.
The shotgun was a gift from his grandfather who bought it as an heirloom for his grandson when the infant was just two-weeks-old.
The gun permit came courtesy of the Illinois state authorities last month.
Even in a country with fervent gun advocates, news of an infant owning a gun has made headlines in US newspapers.
The toddler's father, also named Howard Ludwig, applied for a Firearm Owner's Identification Card (FOID) for his son, never imagining that he would actually get one.
"I filled in the form, saying he was two feet, three inches, 20 pounds, and I included a photo of him," said Mr Ludwig, who is a columnist for the Daily Southtown, a suburban Chicago newspaper.
The 30-year-old also had his son "sign" the application form, by putting a pen in his hand and letting him write a squiggle on the paper.
"I was expecting to get a letter back telling me I was an idiot. So when I got his FOID card (permit) back I was shocked. I couldn't believe it."
In Illinois, all firearms owners must apply for a permit, or FOID, in order to legally own a firearm or ammunition but there are no age restrictions on applicants, although anyone under 21 has to get the written consent of a parent or legal guardian, according to the Illinois State Police website.
For now, the shotgun is under lock and key at the home of Howard Ludwig senior.
Grandpa Ludwig plans to keep the shotgun under wraps until "Bubba" or Howard David Ludwig gets to be a teenager, at which point he plans to take the boy out trap hunting, family members said.
- AFP
Posted by gary at 12:12 PM | Comments (2)
There are so many "givens" which in recent years have become negotiables that we are continually forced to rethink our assumptions. Does today's reporting of LG's production of a 'thin and bendable viewing panel' signal the beginning of the end for paper as we know it? Maybe the paperless office is finally on the way!
It does, however, pose a challenge for writing the shopping list and sticking it in your back pocket!
Posted by gary at 04:57 PM | Comments (0)
This study concludes that clergy are the happiest and most satisfied workers in the USA. I'm not sure how this tallies with statistics on clergy burnout, and with the number of ex-clergy now in other professions. Christian ministry can be the most difficult and frustrating of all callings... at the end of the day, how does one measure or evaluate one's work? At the same time, it can also be the most fulfilling of all callings.
Posted by gary at 12:03 AM | Comments (0)
Top speed around 200 km/h, and doesn't use any petrol. "Tank' capacity of 400 km, and looks pretty good too. The future is breaking in upon us...
Posted by gary at 08:23 AM | Comments (0)
Over at Paleo-Future, there is a record an excerpt of the 1901 predicitions of 14-year-old Arthur Palm about what life would look like in the year 2001. The full predictions are recorded in a book: Yesterday's Future: The Twentieth Century Begins (Voices of the Wisconsin Past).
"How it may appear a hundred years hence, when modern inventions have been carried to their highest point of development that even Edison would feel jealous of the great inventions in the year 2001. In the year 2001 you will see sky-scrapers sticking far above the clouds over 200 stories high. On the streets there will not be any room for street cars, so they will build lines way up in the air, and there will be landings fastened to the high skyscrapers, where the people will wait for the cars. The carlines will have different kinds of names and you will see the name "Manhattan Air Line" many hundreds of feet above the ground. You see air-ships and carriages fastened to balloons for the transportation of the people through the air, and you will often see collisions in the clouds. In one of the sky-scrapers on the 119 story you will see a sign, 'Old People Restored to Youth by Electricity, While You Wait.'"
The fact that people then believed in electricity as a panacea stands in contrast to the tenor of discussions about the cost to the planet of electricty generation today.
Posted by gary at 03:35 PM | Comments (0)
The 'back door' of the church is well-travelled, with increasing numbers turning their back on the church, but not on Jesus. Barney Zwartz reflects on this phenomenon.
Posted by gary at 03:15 PM | Comments (0)
Two very different Americans are arriving in Australia this week. The reception each will receive, and the messages they have for Australia, could not be more different, says Justin Whelan.
Posted by gary at 01:41 PM | Comments (0)
Friday 23 February marks the 200th anniversary of the abolition of slavery in the British Empire. Every time we sing that well-known hymn Amazing Grace, we encapsulate this struggle. John Newton, its author, was once himself a slave trader who made a remarkable conversion to Christ. The struggle against slavery has been presented on film in a soon-to-be-released movie “Amazing Grace” which tells the story of William Wilberforce and his determination, even at the risk of life and reputation, and even with multiple attempts over a number of years, to push forward in the British Parliament the abolition, the end of slavery, no matter the cost. Despite Wilberforce’s victory so long ago, there are still over 27 million people in slavery around the world. Take a look at the movie’s web site.
And to read more of the present-day situation in relation to slavery, read Jim Wallis.
Posted by gary at 05:47 PM | Comments (0)
This little foray into advertising has created much discussion... The weekly newsletter "Soundings" from the Centre for Christian Ethics, offered the following helpful response.
Does Jesus love evangelical poster art?
by Kristine Morrison
As signs proclaiming that Jesus loves Osama adorned mainstream protestant churches this week, the deluge of media interest appeared to require some explanation. Baptist spokesperson and Director of the Centre for Christian Ethics, Rod Benson, fleshed out some or the detail in Soundings no. 45 (1 February), assuring enquirers that Jesus did in fact love Osama bin Laden and many other evildoers of our planet and our time.
It appears that it wasn't such a serious question after all. The answer was so simple. There is a seamless and uncontroversial Christian approach that claims that any human being, no matter how reprobate, has claims upon the love of God.
What then was the point of the question? I'm a sufficiently conversant participant in evangelical culture to be very clear on the point of the question. The point was to assure non-believers - the unchurched, those who are "not-yet-Christian" - that in their reflective moments they ought to banish any thoughts that they are beyond the reach of God's love because, if God can love Osama, then God can love them.
Did the poster succeed in conveying that message of unconditional love?
Well, yes, the poster was technically correct but it fell well short of answering some important human questions.
I'm glad for several reasons that the infamous poster was not displayed on the front wall of the local church I attend. First, because the question betrays an ignorance of the kinds of questions that non-believers ask themselves. Current evangelical practice relies on persuading people that they are sinners.
It is true that many modern people possess an inner anxiety. The anxiety, however, is not so much about the magnitude of evil they have committed. Society could not function if it were populated with multiple Osamas. People's consciences are much more likely to be troubled by the way they do things rather than what they do. They wake in the night not because they didn't pay their bus fare but because they were impatient or dismissive of the bus driver. They didn't necessarily do anything bad; rather, they could have done better.
Most people do not consider themselves anywhere near as bad as Osama bin Laden. This is not to say that they cannot appreciate the fact that they fall short of ideal human behaviour. The common everyday experience of human failure lies more in the realm of character than actions. The Osama question does not arise for most people, and it is therefore not an effective evangelistic approach.
The second reason I am glad this poster did not appear on our church wall is that it pays far too much attention to the perpetrator of evil and fails to appreciate the hurt of the victim. It is a pastoral faux pas on an all too public scale. When people who have been victims of abuse witness the church proclaiming happy days for the perpetrators of evil it is as though they are wounded again.
The question most likely to be occupying the minds of passers-by is, "Does Jesus love the victims of Osama?" Human suffering, whether personal or that which we see in others, is a profound stumbling block to the acceptance of Christianity. Christianity offers serious answers to the problem of human suffering but there were no pointers to these answers in this poster. The poster raised the problem of human suffering but provided no answer and gave the impression of being more interested in reconciling with the perpetrators of injustice than supporting the victims.
Third, perhaps the answer to the question of God's love for Osama is more ambiguous than it seems. We may agree that all humans are loved by God but is it possible to engage in such widespread and systematic practices of evil that a person can disqualify him or herself from being human?
Can we degrade ourselves so completely that we are no longer recognisable as humans? If a person is no longer human then is that person outside the orbit of God's love? In ordinary conversation behaviour that is good, generous and kind is described as humane, while practices that are deliberately and systematically cruel are described as beastly, animalistic or inhuman.
A modern rendition of the animalistic human is the human as machine. We describe people as machines when they appear to have lost any human feeling and they have become totally functionary beings. The idea that human beings can lose their humanity is not a totally foreign one and therefore makes the issue of God's love for bin Laden less of an open and shut case than has perhaps been demonstrated.
Poster Christianity is perilous witness. Simple truths, simply stated can be less than helpful to those with whom we desire to communicate, notwithstanding the goodwill of those who develop these posters. We can be encouraged, within our churches, that people do read our advertising signs. But we can also be challenged to consider the pastoral implication and the wisdom of using some of our available promotional material.
Not all publicity is good publicity.
Kristine Morrison is a midwife at Sydney's Royal Prince Alfred Hospital and a member of the Social Issues Committee of the Baptist Churches of NSW and ACT.
Posted by gary at 07:03 AM | Comments (0)
Now here's a statement to get the blood pressure up... or at least it seems so. Part of a media campaign designed by Outreach Media, Sydney Central Baptist Church placed the sign for passing traffic to read. Its impact reached Melbourne through media shock jocks in Sydney, and ultimately Andrew Bolt in Melbourne, all expressing indignation at this truth, which is at the heart of Jesus' teaching: "But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you." (Matthew 5:38-44)
You can read the exchange on Bolt's blog, where he raises such questions as "who is hell for?" (Why do we always want to condemn others to hell, and forgive ourselves so freely?)
Questions raised include:
* the relationship between love of a person and our response to their actions
* the scandalous forgiveness at the heart of the gospel
* our desire for "justice" (or is that "judgment"?)
* the impact of those who have suffered by the reported actions of bin Laden.
It does, however, underline the way in which we see love in our society... as something which must be earned.
Posted by gary at 04:48 PM | Comments (0)
I always get a little nervous about programs like this: Woolworths (Safeway in Victoria) is offering to turn its profits for a whole day into drought relief. One would guess that Woolworths will simply offer the average daily profit to the cause, rather than go to the expense of calculating its profit for that particular day, so that any increase in patronage really goes to increasing the bottom line rather than to drought relief, but then again, maybe I'm too much of a cynic.
If you want to read about it directly from the Woolworths CEO, go here. I think I'll be staying at home. It sounds a little too much like the call to shop after September 11.
Now, here's a late thought. Instead of going to the Supermarket for that day, why not simply donate what you would have spent directly yourself. Then you can gain the tax deduction yourself, instead of Woolworths!
You will, of course, notice that I haven't designated the day.
Posted by gary at 01:10 PM | Comments (1)
Another creative way of fighting the consumerist culture in which we find ourselves immersed: this coming from San Francisco - a group calling themselves "The Compact" who decided to give up shopping for a year. Ten people, over a dinner conversation, decided to give up new clothes, gadgets, computers, car parts, mobile phones, books or music for 12 months, and captured the imagination of thousands, who have now linked up through an online discussion group.
They found some unusual responses, being called "unAmerican", and "economic terrorists". Perhaps consumerism is more of an addiction than we are prepared to admit!
Final comment belongs to one of the group members: "The real revelation is that it isn't that hard," he said. "We all have so much stuff, we could probably live for years without replacing anything. It makes you change the way you look at and appreciate the things you have. We're definitely going to continue."
Anyone game?
Posted by gary at 09:09 AM | Comments (0)
Australians purchased more new bicycles in 2006 than cars and trucks combined, it was reported today. Seems the combination of high petrol prices, concerns about global warming, and need to get a little fitter (and of course, one can't rule out the 'better weather' which comes with a ten-year drought), sent people purchasing a new two-wheeler. I didn't read any news about what folks might be doing with the extra garage space! Of course, with a bicycle, you don't need to worry about the person in the passenger seat picking at your driving...
Posted by gary at 11:37 PM | Comments (0)
If you ever wondered about the rate at which events take place, head on over to view some real-time world statistics. The site uses your computer's internal clock to demonstrate the rate at which events unfold. Watching the number of births and deaths rise so quickly is one of many confronting ways to view our world.
Posted by gary at 08:26 PM | Comments (2)
Stephen Colbert at the Whitehouse Correspondents' Association dinner.
part 1
part 2
part 3
Posted by gary at 09:57 AM | Comments (0)
I've had a few problems with the comments feature over recent days. This has now been fixed... (thanks Matt!) You need a typekey registration (or follow the links in the comments section to register). This has been an unfortunate but necessary switch because of spam levels. Thanks for your patience.
Posted by gary at 08:13 AM | Comments (0)
Posted by gary at 10:43 PM | Comments (0)
Sesame Street has decided that Cookie monster is gay... well, no they haven't. It's even more bizarre than that. Rather Cookie Monster has repented and is no longer a glutton for cookies. Instead, in an effort to combat over-eating, Cookie Monster has been transformed into just a blue puppet that likes cookies. His trademark song has change from "C is for cookie" to "Cookies are a sometime food"!!! Can you believe it? I mean, they've totally gutted his personality! Taken away his raison d'etre!!
Let's be rational here... do we really think that children overeat simply because of Cookie Monster's obsession? Or that they will suddenly no longer desire them because of this change? My kids used to laugh at Cookie Monster, seeing him as a caricature. They never took him seriously, or sought to emulate his behaviour. I suspect that this act only shows the poverty of adult thinking, rather than the gullibility of children.
And in case you think this is a hoax, check it here.
Posted by gary at 10:53 PM | Comments (1)
and for the denominational questions... original link
The time has come for some kind of crib sheet for the confused and frightened, a handy, easy-to-use reference guide for identifying some of the key denominations, terms, and concepts in Christianity.
This is intended a simple "cheat sheet" for those confused and worried about the place of Christianity in America and, to a lesser extent, the contemporary world. It's not intended to be a comprehensive guide, only to help my secular friends as they navigate the confused waters of the world's largest religion.
Let's start with some of the terms that got Goldberg confused:
Premillenialism
This is the belief among some Christians that, ever since Jan. 1, 2000, it has no longer been possible, in the words of the Prince song, "to party like it's 1999." Postmillenialists are those Christians who believe that it will always be possible to do so, while Amillenialists believe that in this context, "1999" cannot be understood literally, but must be read as an allegorical term roughly meaning "a time at which it is especially appropriate to party."
Rapture
This was a #1 hit in 1980 for Blondie (#5 in the UK), from the otherwise underwhelming "Autoamerican" album. Many Christians now concede that the then-pioneering use of rap in the song sounds a little lame in retrospect. In their best-selling series of books about the song, "Left Behind (Parallel Lines)," Jerry Jenkins and Tim LaHaye defend the rap verse's hip references to Grandmaster Flash and Fab Five Freddy, and maintain that when Jesus returns, all believers will be united in accepting that Blondie's cover of "The Tide Is High" is better than the original.
The Pope
The Pope is the President of Christianity. He is elected every four years by the Congress of Cardinals, which is divided into the Senate and the Holy House of Representatives. As president, the pope can veto important pieces of legislation, which he tends to do. The pope is also magical, and cannot be seen with the naked eye except for one hour on Christmas Eve every year.
The Bible
The Bible was written by God as a merchandising tie-in to His blockbuster film "The Ten Commandments." Each book of the Bible is named after a person who features prominently in it, for example, the Book of Numbers, which is named after Herschel Numbers, who invented numerals. The Bible was so successful that God wrote a sequel, "Bible II: On to Rome," now generally called "The New Testament." Protestants believe the Bible is literal and exactly true in every detail except the description of the Eucharist, while Catholics are not allowed to read the Bible.
Catholics
Catholics are the New York Yankees of Christianity. They are the biggest and wealthiest team, and their owner is intensely controversial (this makes St. Francis of Assisi the Derek Jeter of Catholicism: discuss). Catholics all wear matching uniforms, and are divided into "parishes," or "squadrons," to make choosing softball teams easier. Catholics are rigidly controlled by a hidebound hierarchy that starts with priests and ends with priests' housekeepers. Catholics are not allowed to read the Bible, eat meat, or refrain from worshipping statues.
Orthodox
For many years, American scholars believed the Orthodox were, like leprechauns, unicorns, and Eskimos, purely the product of the fanciful imaginations of medieval writers. Recent evidence leads us to tentatively conclude, however, that Eastern Orthodoxy may have somewhere in the neighborhood of 250 million adherents. Protestants tend to see the Orthodox as "Catholics with beards," while Catholics confess to a haunting sense that they are simply "Orthodox without beards."
The Protestant Reformation
This is the name historians give to a major labor dispute that erupted in Germany in 1517 when a group of monks hammered a proposed union contract to the door of the pope's house, requesting a 95 percent pay raise. The pope refused to negotiate with the monks union until it agreed to pay to have the door fixed, and the result was the world's longest-running strike. For nearly 500 years, a huge portion of Christians have been on strike from being Catholic, saying they are "justified" in their work stoppage because the pope won't expand the number of indulgences they get per year. Currently, the matter is in arbitration.
Calvinism
This theory was worked out by the French theologian and fashion designer John Calvin Klein, who argued that some people are predestined to be glamorous while others are doomed to be plain. America was founded by Calvinists, who sought to establish a country where they could pursue their belief that buckled hats were fashionable.
Fundamentalism
The belief that basic elements of play - like passing, ball handling, and defense - are the essential building blocks of a winning basketball team is generally referred to as "fundamentalism." The fundamentalists formulated their doctrine in the 1980s against the showy, heretical play of Magic Johnson's Los Angeles Lakers. Leading fundamentalist institutions include Bob Jones University and Syracuse. Larry Brown's failure to get the Knicks into the playoffs has been seen as a major setback for the cause of fundamentalism.
Baptism
Baptists are Christians who believe God can only be accessed by means of a swimming pool or, in some cases, a shallow outdoor stream. The first Baptist was John the Baptist, who was said to eat locusts and honey, although contemporary Baptists generally prefer barbecue. "Baptism" is also the term used to describe a key Christian ceremony, in which prospective members of the church are either initiated actually (Catholics, Orthodox, confused Protestants) or symbolically (Protestants, confused Catholics, religious studies professors). Catholics believe that anyone can perform a valid baptism, Orthodox believe that any Christian can, while Baptists, paradoxically, believe that only they can.
The Emerging Church
This is a term that refers to churches attended exclusively by white people in their 20s and 30s who have at least one tattoo or body piercing. Their distinguishing characteristics are a refreshing, "up to date" interpretation of Christianity, and a reluctance to directly answer questions.
The Nicene Creed
This statement of faith is the Christian Pledge of Allegiance, recited every Sunday in squadron meetings by Christians all over the globe. Adopted in the 4th century at the behest of Emperor Constantinople, it was designed to counter the influence of the Aryans, who argued that Jesus was German.
Touchdown Jesus
When professional athletes thank Jesus for helping them win a game, this is the Jesus they're referring to.
The Trinity
This is the Christian expression of God, who Christians say is personified by the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Not all Christians accept this: Unitarians, Jehovah's Witnesses, and some Pentecostals reject trinitarianism, as do Muslims. Interestingly, while this does not mean Pentecostals are Muslim, it does mean that Muslims are Jehovah's Witnesses. St. Augustine famously summed up the difficulty of comprehending the Trinity when he recounted a dream in which a small boy told him he would need a bigger bucket if he wanted to bail out the ocean.
Sex
Christians are not permitted to have sex. This unpopular doctrine was formulated by Pope Lactose LX at the Council of Disney in 1439. Despite this restriction, Christians have managed to increase their ranks to the point where there are roughly 2 billion of them. Scholars attribute this to the competitive health benefits and generous "flex time" arrangements offered by Christianity.
Heaven
Heaven is a term referring to the ultimate destiny of a certain number of souls. Depending on who you listen to, heaven is either: where all of us will end up (Origen); where many of us will end up (St. Gregory of Nyssa); where some of us will end up (John Calvin); where a small portion of us have, in some sense, already ended up (John of Leyden); where precisely 144,000 of us will end up (Charles Taze Russell); or where Jack Chick will end up (Jack Chick). Theologian Belinda Carlisle once posited that "Ooh, baby, heaven is a place on earth," but explorers combing the globe have yet to confirm this.
The Devil
Although the Devil - also known as Satan, Lucifer, the Father of Lies, and, to his friends, "Hef" - is mentioned numerous times in Bible II, most Christians today are uncomfortable with belief in a literal, personal demonic entity. Instead, they prefer to think of the Devil primarily as the potential for wickedness that exists within all human beings or, in some cases, as an especially unreasonable landlord.
I hope this helps clear up some easily-made misconceptions about Christianity. If there are any questions about other doctrines or concepts, please don't hesitate to ask.
Posted by gary at 07:25 AM | Comments (0)
One story has dominated news in Australia for the past two weeks: the collapsed mine shaft in Beaconsfield Tasmania which killed one miner and left two trapped nearly a kilometre underground on ANZAC Day (April 25). These two miners walked free this morning after 14 days trapped in a tiny and confined space. The scenes of jubilation in the town reverberated around the country. Broad smiles, tears flowing, hugging and cheering greeted these two men - Todd Russell and Brant Webb, who walked from the mine entrance and were ushered away by ambulance - doors opened wide for all to see and greet. They were in remarkable health and spirits for such an ordeal.
One barely-noticed aspect of their release was their first act after acknowledging the crowd with raised arms: they did what every miner does after leaving the mine shaft - take their name tag and put it back in place to indicate that they were no longer in the mine. It seems a rather trivial act. After all, there is little doubt that they were free. Hardly a soul near some form of media outlet would not know that they were no longer below surface. So why would they attend to such a mundane act?
I imagine that it was this act which helped sustain them through some of the darkest moments. The symbolism of this act carries a unique power - it declares their freedom, and the end of their captivity. It also places their ordeal within the framework of the ordinary, declaring some sense of power over it. They left the mine not as those rescued from disaster, but as men who had completed a set task. They had even taken time to shower before reaching the surface, as I imagine they would ordinarily do at the end of a shift.
When our third child was hospitalised, his life held on a slender thread, our feelings were encapsulated in two simple images. When it was all over, were we going to celebrate his birth with a funeral or a dedication service? These two symbols declared two different futures, and depicted both our hopes and our fears in the midst of deep inner turmoil in the face of our son's fragility. The struggle would end, we imagined, with one or the other. Life or death. When I watched the two men perform this simple routine, it was this memory which came to mind.
"It was only a symbol," some might say. Yet its power can be easily understated. It is these things which sustain us in our darkest moments: dreaming of a hug and kiss from the wife; playing football on the weekend; a nice cold beer at the pub. These were some of the images to which the miners referred in their struggles underground. It was not so much the act itself, but what it represented that was important: life, freedom, release.
The footage of their first moments was played at least four times on every news service tonight. The miners made their own statements in the symbols they chose, as we all do in our own different ways.
Posted by gary at 07:55 PM | Comments (0)
Lifeway magazine has just completed release of results of its on-line survey into the Top Ten Issues Facing today's family. The results are an interesting reflection on priorities:
10. Materialism: "The placing in high regard of ownership and consumption as a family priority."
9. Balance of Work and Family: "The rising pressure to invest more of one's energy in work at the expense of family."
8. Negative Media Influences: "The growing influx of destructive images and messages into the home."
7. Lack of Communication: "The increasing abbreviation or near elimination of meaningful family member interaction."
6. Financial Pressures: "The chronic misuse of debt and/or mismanagement of financial resources."
5. Lack of Discipline: "The death of respectful behavior as a norm in our schools, churches, and families."
4. Lack of a Father Figure: "The absence of a father in the home or lack of strong participation in the family."
3. Busyness: "The participation in numerous activities crowding out quality family fellowship."
2. Divorce: "The ongoing wave of broken marriages and families both within the church and without."
1. Anti-Christian Culture: "The stripping away of Christian heritage and traditional values."
The results reflect a very insular and self-absorbed culture, inasmuch as it demonstrates Western priorities.
I wonder, however, whether the order reflects something of our misguided priorities. We think that the challenge is to be addressed first by changing the culture of the wider community, when the reality is (as reflected in issues 10 and 9) that we have - by our own choice - absorbed and owned that culture to our detriment. There is a deep interrelatedness to these articulated concerns, the solution to which can be found within the choices that we make at first. Instead we too often find the church and christians buying in (literally) to the rat-race consumptive lifestyle at the neglect of our own humanity, let alone our own faith. The coincidence of christian wellbeing with material success has disempowered us so much that we are at the mercy of advertisers who are constantly telling us that we are inadequate as a catalyst for purchasing their product. The end result is that we discover that the product does not deliver, our financial strain is worse, and we are still without a deep sense of our identity and value. We need to be able to articulate and evidence the alternative which reflects the values of Jesus and the kingdomg of God. We are too busy rendering to Caesar, it seems.
When touring the Space Needle in Seattle last week, I was stunned to hear the elevator operator (who called herself our "shuttle commander" - which made me decidedly nervous) suggesting that we visit their gift shop before leaving, whereupon she promised that "you will find the most wondrous gifts and souvenirs that you will ever find in your entire life..." and that "every gift you buy is going to bring you joy. And we're talking about joy that you can't put a price on... but we do..." Funnily enough noone else in the elevator blinked or blanched at the thought.
I wonder if we were to globalise this "top ten" and look at it from the inside out, what we might put at the top of the list?
Posted by gary at 07:08 PM | Comments (0)
Read last weekend that Bill Gates lost $3 billion(US!) in one day, as a result of the collapse in Microsoft's share price. Microsoft lost something like $32 billion in one day when investors marked down its share price. The reason? Because Microsoft indicated that it was prepared to take some short term pain for long term gain. All the while forecasting an increase in sales performance of over 10%! I wonder what that says about our expectations for wealth and its ability to satisfy?
The fact that Gates is worth more than something like the 30 poorest countries in the world highlights something of the challenge facing the world in terms of income distribution and access to basic life requisites. Bill and Melinda Gates have taken a substantial personal interest in health problems in the poorest countries and are making a substantial investment in addressing the challenge of Malaria, a disease for which there is no money to be made by pharmaceutical corporations, largely because the main sufferers are from these poorest nations. Over 3 million people are infected each year, of which about 500,000 die. When the Gates gave an initial donation of $30 million, the researchers were agog - it would multiply the amount of money available to researching the disease. Apparently the Gates give more money to foreign aid than the US government.
So, how does losing $3 billion in one day affect a guy like this? Well, apart from the fact that it was only a "paper" loss, it would diminish his wealth by about 2%. But then, with still over $40 billion up his sleeve, I don't think he'll have to change what he eats for breakfast - or where he decides to eat it.
Posted by gary at 10:58 AM | Comments (0)
It seems that a lot of research is going in to prove there are benefits to sex. I wonder what the motivation is for these? In January I noted research that demonstrated benefits for those engaged in public speaking. Today's newspaper reports that sexual intercourse can also offer protection from depression, colds, heart disease and even cancer, but its benefits are only relevant for heterosexual activity.
Of course, this begs a second question... who offers to be subjects of such research, and how honest are people about reporting?
But that's another question.
Posted by gary at 10:24 PM | Comments (0)
British Finance Minister and Prime-Minister-in-Waiting has warmly endorsed Jim Wallis' book God's Politics, in a bold statement which challenges the presuppositions on which much of the religious right's agenda in national politics. Jim Wallis is launching the book in Melbourne on Sunday at Melbourne Town Hall - an event I will be attending.
I don't have a problem with religious issues entering our national political agenda - goodness knows that they are writ large all over the international stage at the moment... but let's ensure that it is not used to merely prop up a narrow ideology which marginalises the poor, demonises the stranger, and diminishes our commitment to compassion, justice and truth.
Some of the great atrocities of history have been committed by well-meaning religious people, who have lost grounding in the full message of the Bible. I'm looking forward to hearing Wallis speak, and this broader conversation entering the Australian public dialogue.
Posted by gary at 03:51 PM | Comments (0)
Here's an interesting quote which will make you skeptical about anything you hear on the nightly television news:
"This is an industry, it's a business. We exist to make money. We exist to put commercials on the air. The programming that is put on between those commercials is simply the bait we put in the mousetrap" - Ted Koppel, retiring news anchor of USAmerica's ABC network, speaking about advertising in the news business.
Posted by gary at 11:24 AM | Comments (0)
Funeral directors (we don't seem to call them undertakers any more!) have reported a rather strange trend developing: family placing mobile phones in the casket with their loved one at the time of burial. Now this could spark a plethora of comments to do with battery life, reception, and call charges, but I'll resist. It is clear that mobile phone companies are charging too little for the handsets!
But what does this say about the valued memories of a loved one: we could never talk to them because they were always on the phone? The only decent conversation we could have with them was on the phone, but never in person?
Ahh, I should have read the fine print at the bottom of the article in this morning's Age newspaper. Apparently the line has to be dead (good thing. Imagine one of these intelligent phones making its own call: "Help! I've been buried alive!" Or what recorded message would be stored on Messagebank: "You have called the casket/phone of Fred Bloggs. Fred can't take your call right now because he's dead. Leave a message after the tone and St Peter will get back to you..." Also the battery has to be removed - don't want to turn the cremation into a fireworks display - there's no-one alive to appreciate the pyrotechnics). However one has to question the IQ of the funeral director whose comments are recorded: "We don't allow the battery to remain... And we don't allow the phone to be turned on..." HELLO! NO BATTERY? HOW CAN YOU TURN ON A PHONE WHICH HAS NO BATTERY? Really!
Which brings me to the best story I've heard about additions to the casket... A very rich man died, his will leaving instructions that all his wealth was to be buried with him. When questioned about this, the son indicated he had no problems with the request. Upon further interrogation, the son indicated that he had put all his father's wealth into the casket: he had written out his personal cheque for the full amount!
Posted by gary at 08:28 AM | Comments (0)
Security intelligence outfit iDefense Labs is offering a $10,000 reward to any hacker who finds a worm hole in Microsoft's products... Microsoft isn't all that happy about it, although the resonating open source/closed source philosophical debate may well be at the root of it all.
Yet one might pause to ask whether companies would do this in other areas, particularly in relation to another corporation's property. They may well do, but without the fanfare. Does it send the wrong message (closed source argument) or does it subject it to the most rigorous testing regime (open source argument)?
Posted by gary at 09:39 AM | Comments (0)
Michael Leunig has never been far from controversy since the war on Iraq began. His heartache over the whole affair has been evident through many cartoons. But this controversy reached another level when a four-year-old cartoon, rejected by The Age at the time, appeared in an Iranian competition related to the Holocaust. Leunig's position is that the cartoon is anti-war, not anti-semitic. Age editor of the time, himself jewish, did not see it that way. Here is the offending cartoon (thanks to revhead).
The cartoon was submitted to the competition as a hoax, the offender explaining himself immediately the controversy erupted. Leunig initially suspected sinister motives, later reflecting on the whole affair. Age editor Michael Gawenda plays the racism card in his analysis of the affair.
What to make of it all? Leunig is something of a Melbourne institution, and many of his cartoons carry a strong prophetic edge, inasmuch as he is prepared to expose, critique and challenge popular culture.
The problem with this cartoon, as with those of Mohammad published by the Danish newspaper, is that many people look at them objectively, which takes the passion - and the life reality - out of it. When one names a demon, expect a reaction.
Posted by gary at 12:02 PM | Comments (0)
The not inconsiderable reaction to the publication of cartoons depicting Mohammed has raised significant and conflicting questions, not the least of which is the contest between freedom of speech and respect for the beliefs of others. The report that most of the cartoons were ‘innocuous’ is true only from the standpoint of Western perspective. The reality is that any depiction of Mohammed us regarded as blasphemous in Islam, which makes them anything but innocuous to our Islamic friends.
Others have been quick to point out that such depictions of Jesus do not draw the same ire from the Christian community. Such has not been the case throughout history. The Reformation period is littered with stories of Christians killing others for criticising their position, or of holding a position of difference. The tolerance we trumpet so freely from the Christian perspective has not always been evident from within the walls of the church, or the West in general.
Perhaps we need to remember that our Western understanding of history is not universal. The era known in the West as ‘the enlightenment’ - in which the understanding of authority shifted from the church and social hierarchy into knowledge and logic and individual expression - was a painful one for many in the West during the time of transition. Many Islamic countries still hold to pre-enlightenment positions of authority and truth.
With the shift to a more global culture, it remains to be seen how Islam is able to accommodate to the cultural shift from the faith perspective. With authority as they have known it no longer available to them in many parts of the world, creative leadership is required. But that cannot be the only answer.
It is too easy from the standpoint of the West to adopt a position of superiority: “we are enlightened” is the logical consequence of our history. Yet we are facing the crumbling of many of our own “enlightenment” precepts: The breaking down of national borders through revolutions in international travel and migration together with the advent of communication technologies have challenged our cultural blind spots and invited us to see that there are diverse ways of seeing an issue. Emerging postmodern philosophical frameworks are now deconstructing many truths once held dear. Enlightenment’s dark spots are being exposed. While it remains to be seen where this might lead us, it still is easier to see the deficiencies in the cultures of those different. Islam has much to offer – both as a culture and as a worldview – in the conversation which our increasingly globalised world is entering. If there is an apparent fault of our commitment to ‘freedom of expression’ it is in the lack of appreciation of and respect for the value of some truths to different groups. It risks being a conversation where everything is cheap.
And we dare not avoid the economic issues behind the reaction to the Danish cartoons. Muslims in Europe are not equal in the economic stakes – their situation trails the rest, meaning that the cartoons risk being received as the bully kicking sand in the face of the downtrodden. Inasmuch as this is true, they are not to be regarded as freedom of expression but as an act of oppression.
There is considerable anger being expressed amongst Muslims and others. We need to be wary of letting our perceptions of this anger reinforce inappropriate stereotypes. For inasmuch as the Islamic world is unused to engagement in conversation with the West, so is the West equally inexperienced. We need to season this conversation with grace, respect and a grasping for understanding.
We cannot escape this increasingly multi-cultural world. As we engage with it, we need to be more than tolerant. We need to be people who seek an understanding and an appreciation of the diverse viewpoints which make up this rich tapestry which is humanity. In so doing, we will engage in conversation rather than open warfare.
Posted by gary at 05:18 PM | Comments (0)
I know I posted the whole text yesterday, but this speech has to be considered for its content, and its courage... Consider this little excerpt (remembering that he is addressing the President)...
Look, whatever thoughts you have about God, who He is or if He exists, most will agree that if there is a God, He has a special place for the poor. In fact, the poor are where God lives.
Check Judaism. Check Islam. Check pretty much anyone.
I mean, God may well be with us in our mansions on the hill. I hope so. He may well be with us as in all manner of controversial stuff. Maybe, maybe not. But the one thing we can all agree, all faiths and ideologies, is that God is with the vulnerable and poor.
God is in the slums, in the cardboard boxes where the poor play house. God is in the silence of a mother who has infected her child with a virus that will end both their lives. God is in the cries heard under the rubble of war. God is in the debris of wasted opportunity and lives, and God is with us if we are with them. "If you remove the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger and speaking wickedness, and if you give yourself to the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then your light will rise in darkness and your gloom with become like midday and the Lord will continually guide you and satisfy your desire in scorched places."
... and that's not the only confronting aspect of the speech.
If you'd rather listen to it, it's available in mp3 and wmv format here. There's a power in the delivery not fully evident in the text.
Posted by gary at 12:51 PM | Comments (0)
This is a bold and challenging address. Given an opportunity to address the US President, what would you say? Would you be as bold as Bono?
If you're wondering what I'm doing here, at a prayer breakfast, well, so am I. I'm certainly not here as a man of the cloth, unless that cloth is leather. It's certainly not because I'm a rock star. Which leaves one possible explanation: I'm here because I've got a messianic complex.
Yes, it's true. And for anyone who knows me, it's hardly a revelation.
Well, I'm the first to admit that there's something unnatural...something unseemly...about rock stars mounting the pulpit and preaching at presidents, and then disappearing to their villas in the south of France. Talk about a fish out of water. It was weird enough when Jesse Helms showed up at a U2 concert...but this is really weird, isn't it?
You know, one of the things I love about this country is its separation of church and state. Although I have to say: in inviting me here, both church and state have been separated from something else completely: their mind.
Mr. President, are you sure about this?
It's very humbling and I will try to keep my homily brief. But be warned - I'm Irish.
I'd like to talk about the laws of man, here in this city where those laws are written. And I'd like to talk about higher laws. It would be great to assume that the one serves the other; that the laws of man serve these higher laws...but of course, they don't always. And I presume that, in a sense, is why you're here.
I presume the reason for this gathering is that all of us here - Muslims, Jews, Christians - all are searching our souls for how to better serve our family, our community, our nation, our God.
I know I am. Searching, I mean. And that, I suppose, is what led me here, too.
Yes, it's odd, having a rock star here - but maybe it's odder for me than for you. You see, I avoided religious people most of my life. Maybe it had something to do with having a father who was Protestant and a mother who was Catholic in a country where the line between the two was, quite literally, a battle line. Where the line between church and state was...well, a little blurry, and hard to see.
I remember how my mother would bring us to chapel on Sundays... and my father used to wait outside. One of the things that I picked up from my father and my mother was the sense that religion often gets in the way of God.
For me, at least, it got in the way. Seeing what religious people, in the name of God, did to my native land...and in this country, seeing God's second-hand car salesmen on the cable TV channels, offering indulgences for cash...in fact, all over the world, seeing the self-righteousness roll down like a mighty stream from certain corners of the religious establishment...
I must confess, I changed the channel. I wanted my MTV.
Even though I was a believer.
Perhaps because I was a believer.
I was cynical...not about God, but about God's politics. (There you are, Jim.)
Then, in 1997, a couple of eccentric, septuagenarian British Christians went and ruined my shtick - my reproachfulness. They did it by describing the millennium, the year 2000, as a Jubilee year, as an opportunity to cancel the chronic debts of the world's poorest people. They had the audacity to renew the Lord's call - and were joined by Pope John Paul II, who, from an Irish half-Catholic's point of view, may have had a more direct line to the Almighty.
'Jubilee' - why 'Jubilee'?
What was this year of Jubilee, this year of our Lord's favor?
I'd always read the scriptures, even the obscure stuff. There it was in Leviticus (25:35)...
'If your brother becomes poor,' the scriptures say, 'and cannot maintain himself...you shall maintain him.... You shall not lend him your money at interest, not give him your food for profit.'
It is such an important idea, Jubilee, that Jesus begins his ministry with this. Jesus is a young man, he's met with the rabbis, impressed everyone, people are talking. The elders say, he's a clever guy, this Jesus, but he hasn't done much...yet. He hasn't spoken in public before...
When he does, is first words are from Isaiah: 'The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,' he says, 'because He has anointed me to preach good news to the poor.' And Jesus proclaims the year of the Lord's favour, the year of Jubilee (Luke 4:18).
What he was really talking about was an era of grace - and we're still in it.
So fast-forward 2,000 years. That same thought, grace, was made incarnate - in a movement of all kinds of people. It wasn't a bless-me club... it wasn't a holy huddle. These religious guys were willing to get out in the streets, get their boots dirty, wave the placards, follow their convictions with actions...making it really hard for people like me to keep their distance. It was amazing. I almost started to like these church people.
But then my cynicism got another helping hand.
It was what Colin Powell, a five-star general, called the greatest W.M.D. of them all: a tiny little virus called AIDS. And the religious community, in large part, missed it. The ones that didn't miss it could only see it as divine retribution for bad behaviour. Even on children...even [though the] fastest growing group of HIV infections were married, faithful women.
Aha, there they go again! I thought to myself judgmentalism is back!
But in truth, I was wrong again. The church was slow but the church got busy on this the leprosy of our age.
Love was on the move.
Mercy was on the move.
God was on the move.
Moving people of all kinds to work with others they had never met, never would have cared to meet...conservative church groups hanging out with spokesmen for the gay community, all singing off the same hymn sheet on AIDS...soccer moms and quarterbacks...hip-hop stars and country stars. This is what happens when God gets on the move: crazy stuff happens!
Popes were seen wearing sunglasses!
Jesse Helms was seen with a ghetto blaster!
Crazy stuff. Evidence of the spirit.
It was breathtaking. Literally. It stopped the world in its tracks.
When churches started demonstrating on debt, governments listened - and acted. When churches starting organising, petitioning, and even - that most unholy of acts today, God forbid, lobbying...on AIDS and global health, governments listened - and acted.
I'm here today in all humility to say: you changed minds; you changed policy; you changed the world.
Look, whatever thoughts you have about God, who He is or if He exists, most will agree that if there is a God, He has a special place for the poor. In fact, the poor are where God lives.
Check Judaism. Check Islam. Check pretty much anyone.
I mean, God may well be with us in our mansions on the hill. I hope so. He may well be with us as in all manner of controversial stuff. Maybe, maybe not. But the one thing we can all agree, all faiths and ideologies, is that God is with the vulnerable and poor.
God is in the slums, in the cardboard boxes where the poor play house. God is in the silence of a mother who has infected her child with a virus that will end both their lives. God is in the cries heard under the rubble of war. God is in the debris of wasted opportunity and lives, and God is with us if we are with them. "If you remove the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger and speaking wickedness, and if you give yourself to the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then your light will rise in darkness and your gloom with become like midday and the Lord will continually guide you and satisfy your desire in scorched places."
It's not a coincidence that in the scriptures, poverty is mentioned more than 2,100 times. It's not an accident. That's a lot of air time, 2,100 mentions. (You know, the only time Christ is judgmental is on the subject of the poor.) 'As you have done it unto the least of these my brethren, you have done it unto me' (Matthew 25:40). As I say, good news to the poor.
Here's some good news for the president. After 9/11 we were told America would have no time for the world's poor. America would be taken up with its own problems of safety. And it's true these are dangerous times, but America has not drawn the blinds and double-locked the doors.
In fact, you have doubled aid to Africa. You have tripled funding for global health. Mr. President, your emergency plan for AIDS relief and support for the Global Fund - you and Congress - have put 700,000 people onto life-saving anti-retroviral drugs and provided 8 million bed nets to protect children from malaria.
Outstanding human achievements. Counterintuitive. Historic. Be very, very proud.
But here's the bad news. From charity to justice, the good news is yet to come. There is much more to do. There's a gigantic chasm between the scale of the emergency and the scale of the response.
And finally, it's not about charity after all, is it? It's about justice.
Let me repeat that: It's not about charity, it's about justice.
And that's too bad.
Because you're good at charity. Americans, like the Irish, are good at it. We like to give, and we give a lot, even those who can't afford it.
But justice is a higher standard. Africa makes a fool of our idea of justice; it makes a farce of our idea of equality. It mocks our pieties, it doubts our concern, it questions our commitment.
Sixty-five hundred Africans are still dying every day of a preventable, treatable disease, for lack of drugs we can buy at any drug store. This is not about charity, this is about justice and equality.
Because there's no way we can look at what's happening in Africa and, if we're honest, conclude that deep down, we really accept that Africans are equal to us. Anywhere else in the world, we wouldn't accept it. Look at what happened in South East Asia with the tsunami. 150,000 lives lost to that misnomer of all misnomers, "mother nature." In Africa, 150,000 lives are lost every month. A tsunami every month. And it's a completely avoidable catastrophe.
It's annoying but justice and equality are mates. Aren't they? Justice always wants to hang out with equality. And equality is a real pain.
You know, think of those Jewish sheep-herders going to meet the Pharaoh, mud on their shoes, and the Pharaoh says, "Equal?" A preposterous idea: rich and poor are equal? And they say, "Yeah, 'equal,' that's what it says here in this book. We're all made in the image of God."
And eventually the Pharaoh says, "OK, I can accept that. I can accept the Jews - but not the blacks."
"Not the women. Not the gays. Not the Irish. No way, man."
So on we go with our journey of equality.
On we go in the pursuit of justice.
We hear that call in the ONE Campaign, a growing movement of more than 2 million Americans...Left and Right together... united in the belief that where you live should no longer determine whether you live.
We hear that call even more powerfully today, as we mourn the loss of Coretta Scott King - mother of a movement for equality, one that changed the world but is only just getting started. These issues are as alive as they ever were; they just change shape and cross the seas.
Preventing the poorest of the poor from selling their products while we sing the virtues of the free market...that's a justice issue. Holding children to ransom for the debts of their grandparents...that's a justice issue. Withholding life-saving medicines out of deference to the Office of Patents...that's a justice issue.
And while the law is what we say it is, God is not silent on the subject.
That's why I say there's the law of the land¿. And then there is a higher standard. There's the law of the land, and we can hire experts to write them so they benefit us, so the laws say it's OK to protect our agriculture but it's not OK for African farmers to do the same, to earn a living?
As the laws of man are written, that's what they say.
God will not accept that.
Mine won't, at least. Will yours?
[ pause]
I close this morning on...very...thin...ice.
This is a dangerous idea I've put on the table: my God vs. your God, their God vs. our God...vs. no God. It is very easy, in these times, to see religion as a force for division rather than unity.
And this is a town - Washington - that knows something of division.
But the reason I am here, and the reason I keep coming back to Washington, is because this is a town that is proving it can come together on behalf of what the scriptures call the least of these.
This is not a Republican idea. It is not a Democratic idea. It is not even, with all due respect, an American idea. Nor it is unique to any one faith.
'Do to others as you would have them do to you' (Luke 6:30). Jesus says that.
'Righteousness is this: that one should...give away wealth out of love for him to the near of kin and the orphans and the needy and the wayfarer and the beggars and for the emancipation of the captives.' The Koran says that (2.177).
Thus sayeth the Lord: 'Bring the homeless poor into the house, when you see the naked, cover him, then your light will break out like the dawn and your recovery will speedily spring fourth, then your Lord will be your rear guard.' The Jewish scripture says that. Isaiah 58 again.
That is a powerful incentive: 'The Lord will watch your back.' Sounds like a good deal to me, right now.
A number of years ago, I met a wise man who changed my life. In countless ways, large and small, I was always seeking the Lord's blessing. I was saying, you know, I have a new song, look after it¿. I have a family, please look after them¿. I have this crazy idea...
And this wise man said: stop.
He said, stop asking God to bless what you're doing.
Get involved in what God is doing - because it's already blessed.
Well, God, as I said, is with the poor. That, I believe, is what God is doing.
And that is what he's calling us to do.
I was amazed when I first got to this country and I learned how much some churchgoers tithe. Up to 10% of the family budget. Well, how does that compare with the federal budget, the budget for the entire American family? How much of that goes to the poorest people in the world? Less than 1%.
Mr. President, Congress, people of faith, people of America:
I want to suggest to you today that you see the flow of effective foreign assistance as tithing.... Which, to be truly meaningful, will mean an additional 1% of the federal budget tithed to the poor.
What is 1%?
1% is not merely a number on a balance sheet.
1% is the girl in Africa who gets to go to school, thanks to you. 1% is the AIDS patient who gets her medicine, thanks to you. 1% is the African entrepreneur who can start a small family business thanks to you. 1% is not redecorating presidential palaces or money flowing down a rat hole. This 1% is digging waterholes to provide clean water.
1% is a new partnership with Africa, not paternalism toward Africa, where increased assistance flows toward improved governance and initiatives with proven track records and away from boondoggles and white elephants of every description.
America gives less than 1% now. We're asking for an extra 1% to change the world. to transform millions of lives - but not just that and I say this to the military men now - to transform the way that they see us.
1% is national security, enlightened economic self-interest, and a better, safer world rolled into one. Sounds to me that in this town of deals and compromises, 1% is the best bargain around.
These goals - clean water for all; school for every child; medicine for the afflicted, an end to extreme and senseless poverty - these are not just any goals; they are the Millennium Development goals, which this country supports. And they are more than that. They are the Beatitudes for a globalised world.
Now, I'm very lucky. I don't have to sit on any budget committees. And I certainly don't have to sit where you do, Mr. President. I don't have to make the tough choices.
But I can tell you this:
To give 1% more is right. It's smart. And it's blessed.
There is a continent - Africa - being consumed by flames.
I truly believe that when the history books are written, our age will be remembered for three things: the war on terror, the digital revolution, and what we did - or did not to - to put the fire out in Africa.
History, like God, is watching what we do.
Thank you. Thank you, America, and God bless you all.
Posted by gary at 06:36 PM | Comments (0)
If you are looking for real-life stories of how dumb people can really be, check out the Bozo criminal report. It's a wonderful reminder of human creativity (to be shared alongside the Darwin Awards), although in the sense of our ability to get ourselves into trouble.
Posted by gary at 03:26 PM | Comments (0)
It had to happen! It might cost an arm and a leg to replace the battery when it wears out, but you might not need to anyway... Report from ABC news today:
iPod user sues for hearing damage
A music-lover claiming to suffer from 'iPod ear' has filed suit in a US court against Apple Computer, charging that the market-leading MP3 music player damages users' hearing.
John Patterson of Louisiana filed a federal lawsuit against Apple in the Silicon Valley city of San Jose on behalf of all iPod users and demanded a civil trial, according to court documents online.
IPods have a maximum possible volume of 115 decibels, and listening at that level for just 28 seconds daily can cause hearing damage, the lawsuit charged.
The noise from a typical chain saw is reported to register 110 decibels and a jack hammer about 120 decibels.
Apple iPods are "inherently defective in design" and do not bear adequate warnings about possible hearing damage, the suit charged.
IPod packaging bears a warning about potential hearing loss if music is listened to at high volume.
However, the "ear bud" earphones sold with the iPods do not properly disperse the sound, according to the suit.
The Cupertino, California company has declined to comment, citing a policy of not discussing pending litigation.
Apple was forced to pull iPods from stores in France and upgrade them with software limiting sound output to 100 decibels, something it has not done in the United States, the lawsuit contended.
-AFP
Posted by gary at 03:27 PM | Comments (3)
Nasty little animals, those haggis. And now it seems that eating them is hazardous to your health. According to this morning's paper:
Scotland's national dish has been ranked alongside junk food by health officials fighting childhood obesity. They recommend children eat haggis only once a week because of its fat and salt content.
From today's Odd Spot from The Age.
Posted by gary at 09:48 PM | Comments (0)
I'm not sure that this has a place in preaching courses... Seems to me it has been the cause of more problems than solutions through time... though there is a scientific basis.
Posted by gary at 09:10 PM | Comments (1)
There is an old G K Chesterton chestnut which goes along the lines of those who refuse to believe in God will believe in almost anything. Aside from the fact that the exact quote seems to be a conflation of other things he has written, Madeleine Bunting seems to have a go at renowned atheist Richard Dawkins for such a stance, partly due to the fact that there is a belief that rational atheism should have won by now.
But you are better off reading her article.
Posted by gary at 09:31 PM | Comments (1)
From the "you've got to be joking" category: paranoia at its height!
An Aluminum Foil Deflector Beanie (AFDB) is a type of headwear that can shield your brain from most electromagnetic psychotronic mind control carriers. AFDBs are inexpensive (even free if you don't mind scrounging for thrown-out aluminium foil) and can be constructed by anyone with at least the dexterity of a chimp (maybe bonobo). This cheap and unobtrusive form of mind control protection offers real secur