Thursday, February 07, 2013
Tuesday, February 05, 2013
One of the best things about the Agonist a year or so ago were the Economic/Business forums mainly contributed to by Mauberly. With the change to Wordpress, Maub was not given any facility to continue his posts due to technical problems with buddypress. He started his own blog. In order to keep uptodate with his posts, and a RSS feed of comments from agonist I created this page, linking to it via my name at The Agonist. Times are currently precious at agonist.org and the link has been removed.
Maybe the RSS feed will be removed next....
Monday, February 04, 2013
Sunday, February 03, 2013
Friday, February 01, 2013
Thursday, January 31, 2013
Data, Fog, Apparitions....
I read with awe. APPARITIONS IN THE FOG. So much information to comprehend. We can read, but do we really understand?
Monday, January 28, 2013
I'm with Fr Peter
Great to see this in todays Canberra Times :
END COPY AND PASTE!
Mentally ill suffer from lack of love
'We have a middle-aged lady with severe clinical depression … she's got nowhere to go. Can you help?''
''We've a man in his late 30s with schizophrenia. He's been hospitalised these past few months. We've stabilised him, so he's ready to leave, but there's nowhere for him to go. Can you help?''
''We've a young woman …''
Every fortnight or so for the past 2½ years these and similar telephone pleas have been fielded by our office at HOME in Queanbeyan, a community-based initiative that provides a loving home for 19 men and women with mental illness who cannot live independently or are at risk of homelessness. Significantly, nine of our 19 residents are from Canberra.
HOME, which opened in July 2010, is a living example of a community providing national leadership in the vexed area of mental health. Indeed, HOME's approach is unique in that it provides 24/7 care without receiving any recurrent government funding - government did assist significantly with capital costs: federal ($2 million) and NSW ($750,000). Our survival, then, is totally reliant on the generosity of philanthropy, businesses, schools, mums and dads.
The ''problem'' with HOME, which is also its strength, is that residents are supported for the long term so there is virtually no turnover - not for the first time, there is no room at the inn. Hence those phone calls, most of which come from social workers or one of the mental health teams in Canberra.
Frankly, we have a crisis at our feet, one that continues to be left pitifully unaddressed by governments, churches and society at large. This is especially the case in regard to the provision of long-term supported accommodation.
Too much of the public (and policy) conversation is centred on clinical care. Thus, people become objectified as an illness to be treated, rather than a human being with an illness. And while getting the clinical-medication mix right is essential, there is another conversation we need to have - the one about love and friendship.
Bear with me.
In July 2009 I had the privilege of attending a talk by Jean Vanier, the founder of L'Arche, which provides live-in support and care for people with intellectual and physical disabilities in 40 countries. Jean recounted his first experience of visiting a psychiatric institution in France almost half a century ago.
''I approached the visit,'' he said, ''with great trepidation and fear, asking myself: 'What will I say to these people? How will I act? What will they say to me?' When I arrived at the asylum I was confronted by dozens of men walking aimlessly up and down a spacious room seemingly carrying the weight of deep anguish and loneliness.
''My stay lasted an hour and all I was asked over-and-over during that time were three questions: 'Do you love me? Will you come back? Will you be my friend?' ''
These questions are underpinned by what I call relational poverty - an entrenched isolation in which there is minimal and, often, no meaningful human contact. Among people with chronic mental ill health, for instance, this is an all too pervasive reality, one that leaves those who are very sick fending for themselves on the streets, in refuges, jails and public housing estates throughout the nation.
When people are overwhelmed by this kind of poverty, their capacity to engage, find work, get better and live with dignity is significantly diminished, sometimes even extinguished. And while there is a genuine desire by community, governments, NGOs and churches to address the plight of our most vulnerable, much of what we do is underpinned by impersonal charity - lots of giving and receiving of things, but little giving of ourselves. Within this milieu we tend towards addressing ''houselessness'' (physical needs) rather than homelessness (relational needs). Thus, nothing really changes for those who are lonely, isolated and very sick.
HOME in Queanbeyan recognises that friendship within a safe, secure and loving setting is the key to addressing the relational poverty experienced by people with chronic mental ill health. The so-called ''struggle-town'' that borders the nation's capital has done what no other community has - rallied together to say, ''Yes, you are valued,'' to its most vulnerable citizens.
But while HOME is transforming lives, there are still far too many people in Canberra and the region that are sick, unloved and homeless. HOME is a very small part of what needs to be a concerted, national response.
It is time to change the public conversation about our mental health crisis: Let's talk about love. It is also time to talk about another HOME, a HOME in Canberra.
Over to you.
Father Peter Day, a Catholic priest, is co-chair and a proud resident of HOME in Queanbeyan.
Sunday, January 20, 2013
Six more Syrian months
Goroka is a long way from Syria. But even a village leader with three wives, twelve children and two dozen pigs, keeps on top of the news. This painting by Simon Gende is over six months old, but as usual nothing ever changes.
As Simon notes "Most of my paintings are about big new stories in the world because most of people like to buy them because they want to keep the stories of what they heard over the news. It’s something like keeping history on the painting.
Hope you get me clear.”
Saturday, January 12, 2013
Anniversaries piling on at the moment, a little overwhelming.
Personally I worry about Mauberly, missing in blogging and Days Heads. Mauberly awakened my interest in Wittgenstein over 8 years ago, I think. I learnt about slabs. His last comment in November, 2012:
"If Wittgenstein were the brick layer, 'block' and 'slab' would have caused him to stumble."Somewhat prescient - in a wibbly wobbly time travel sort of way. I sent out some feelers a while back but no news came back, except that others are concerned also. I hope you are alright mate, wherever you are.
Meanwhile a picture they say tells a thousand words. But sometimes a picture cannot convey the moment. Bushfires are ravaging Australia. The smell, the crackling, the heat, the explosions, the voracity of flames consuming things instantly, the fireballs, the choking smoke and the speed of the fire cannot be conveyed by photos, it is a lived experience.
I am living a full on upside down, shaken all about, confused time at the moment. I am not the man I was, and need your prayers gentle reader.
I have an opportunity to begin something that could be good for me. But oh, the uncertainty. I hope I do not stumble, and fall:
Edited. Mauberly has surfaced. Great news!
Saturday, January 05, 2013
Tasmanian Bushfires and Kmart
Shame Kmart Shame
I cannot independently verify this, and if I am wrong I will apologise:
The Tas Fire Service have been running low on bottled water for their men and women in the field and have asked for donations to be delivered to the Hobart fire station. K Mart Newtown was asked if they have stock and they said they had 500 bottles available for the public to BUY then donate! Wtf Kmart?? You cant donate the water to these hardworking people who are your customers?? Now I read that a group of women have BOUGHT all their water and donated it! Once again, the people who can least afford it come forward while the corporates grab the money. You should be ashamed of yourself Kmart Tasmania and I hope people vote with their feet! Please, if you care, share this with as many people as you can!via Facebook. Googling returns another facebook entry on the Woolworths page: https://www.facebook.com/woolworths/posts/430718727000264
Monday, December 17, 2012
Saturday, December 15, 2012
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
They want to ██████ the Internet
via email from the Avaaz team.
Right now at a UN meeting in Dubai, authoritarian regimes are pushing for full governmental control of the Internet in a binding global treaty -- if they succeed, the internet could become less open, more costly and much slower. We have only 2 days to stop them.
The Internet has been an amazing example of people power -- allowing us to connect, speak out and pressure leaders like never before. That's largely because it's been governed to date by users and non-profits and not governments. But now countries like Russia, China and United Arab Emirates are trying to rewrite a major telecom treaty called the ITR to bring the Internet under its control -- the web would then be shaped by government interests and not by us, the users. Tim Berners Lee, one of the "fathers of the Internet," has warned that this could increase censorship online and invade our privacy. But if we object with a massive people-powered petition, we can strengthen the hand of countries fighting this power grab.
We have stopped attacks like this before and can do it again before the treaty text is locked this week. A wave of opposition to a new ITR is already building -- sign the petition to tell governments hands off our Internet! and then forward this email to everyone you know -- when we hit 1 million signers, it'll be delivered straight to the delegates at this cozy meeting:
http://www.avaaz.org/en/hands_
The meeting to update the ITR (International Telecommunication Regulations) is being convened by a UN body called the International Telecommunications Union (ITU). Normally, it wouldn't merit much attention, but Russia, China, Saudi Arabia and others are trying to use the meeting to increase government control of the Internet through proposals that would allow for access to be cut off more easily, threaten privacy, legitimize monitoring and traffic-blocking, and introduce new fees to access content online.
At the moment, our Internet has no central regulatory body, but various non-profit organisations work together to manage different technological, commercial and political interests to allow the Internet to run. The current model is certainly not without its flaws. US dominance and corporate influence highlight the need for reform, but changes should not be dictated from an opaque governments-only treaty body. They should emerge from an open and transparent, people-powered process -- putting the interests of us users in the center.
The ITU does extremely important work -- expanding affordable access for poor countries and securing networks -- but it's not the right place to make changes to how the Internet operates. Let's ensure that our Internet stays free and governed by the public and show the ITU and the world that we won’t stay silent in the face of this Internet attack. Click below to sign and then share this email widely:
http://www.avaaz.org/en/hands_
Avaaz members have come together before to save the free web -- and won. More than 3 million of us demanded the US kill a bill that would have given the government the right to shut down any website, helping push the White House to drop its support. In the EU, the European Parliament responded after 2.8 million of us called on them to drop ACTA, another threat to the free net. Together, now we can do it again.
With hope,
Pascal, Ian, Paul, Luca, Caroline, Ricken, Kya and the rest of the Avaaz team
SOURCES
Cerf and Berners Lee Criticize ITU Conference (IT Pro Portal):
http://www.itproportal.com/
ITU and Google face off at Dubai conference over future of the internet (Guardian):
http://www.guardian.co.uk/
Keep the Internet Open (New York Times):
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/
Proposal for global regulation of web (Financial Times):
http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/
Who controls the Internet? (Guardian):
http://www.guardian.co.uk/
Right now at a UN meeting in Dubai, authoritarian regimes are pushing for full governmental control of the Internet in a binding global treaty -- if they succeed, the internet could become less open, more costly and much slower. We have only 2 days to stop them.
The Internet has been an amazing example of people power -- allowing us to connect, speak out and pressure leaders like never before. That's largely because it's been governed to date by users and non-profits and not governments. But now countries like Russia, China and United Arab Emirates are trying to rewrite a major telecom treaty called the ITR to bring the Internet under its control -- the web would then be shaped by government interests and not by us, the users. Tim Berners Lee, one of the "fathers of the Internet," has warned that this could increase censorship online and invade our privacy. But if we object with a massive people-powered petition, we can strengthen the hand of countries fighting this power grab.
We have stopped attacks like this before and can do it again before the treaty text is locked this week. A wave of opposition to a new ITR is already building -- sign the petition to tell governments hands off our Internet! and then forward this email to everyone you know -- when we hit 1 million signers, it'll be delivered straight to the delegates at this cozy meeting:
http://www.avaaz.org/en/hands_
The meeting to update the ITR (International Telecommunication Regulations) is being convened by a UN body called the International Telecommunications Union (ITU). Normally, it wouldn't merit much attention, but Russia, China, Saudi Arabia and others are trying to use the meeting to increase government control of the Internet through proposals that would allow for access to be cut off more easily, threaten privacy, legitimize monitoring and traffic-blocking, and introduce new fees to access content online.
At the moment, our Internet has no central regulatory body, but various non-profit organisations work together to manage different technological, commercial and political interests to allow the Internet to run. The current model is certainly not without its flaws. US dominance and corporate influence highlight the need for reform, but changes should not be dictated from an opaque governments-only treaty body. They should emerge from an open and transparent, people-powered process -- putting the interests of us users in the center.
The ITU does extremely important work -- expanding affordable access for poor countries and securing networks -- but it's not the right place to make changes to how the Internet operates. Let's ensure that our Internet stays free and governed by the public and show the ITU and the world that we won’t stay silent in the face of this Internet attack. Click below to sign and then share this email widely:
http://www.avaaz.org/en/hands_
Avaaz members have come together before to save the free web -- and won. More than 3 million of us demanded the US kill a bill that would have given the government the right to shut down any website, helping push the White House to drop its support. In the EU, the European Parliament responded after 2.8 million of us called on them to drop ACTA, another threat to the free net. Together, now we can do it again.
With hope,
Pascal, Ian, Paul, Luca, Caroline, Ricken, Kya and the rest of the Avaaz team
SOURCES
Cerf and Berners Lee Criticize ITU Conference (IT Pro Portal):
http://www.itproportal.com/
ITU and Google face off at Dubai conference over future of the internet (Guardian):
http://www.guardian.co.uk/
Keep the Internet Open (New York Times):
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/
Proposal for global regulation of web (Financial Times):
http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/
Who controls the Internet? (Guardian):
http://www.guardian.co.uk/
Sunday, October 28, 2012
A former work colleague posted this on my latest facebook rambling. Well worth the read.
(My facebook post: "Our brains are hard-wired to revere. In this post modern era an apple with a bite out of it unites both the ancient and modern. This article and a long long list of comments makes sense: ) And from last year .
(My facebook post: "Our brains are hard-wired to revere. In this post modern era an apple with a bite out of it unites both the ancient and modern. This article and a long long list of comments makes sense: ) And from last year .
Saturday, October 20, 2012
Getting around.
The agonist is bedding down in its wordpress clothes.
Permissions for comments, contributors and newswire items are being figured out.
There is the front page and the newswire. No diaries yet. And forums are still a work in progress.
I've set up a wordpress test site to experiment with some ideas.
Content will appear and disappear according to whimsy.
However I am happy with this particular page which provides a list of recent comments from the agonist, and also a list of posts from Mauberley of headlines that interest him.
So there you go.
Permissions for comments, contributors and newswire items are being figured out.
There is the front page and the newswire. No diaries yet. And forums are still a work in progress.
I've set up a wordpress test site to experiment with some ideas.
Content will appear and disappear according to whimsy.
However I am happy with this particular page which provides a list of recent comments from the agonist, and also a list of posts from Mauberley of headlines that interest him.
So there you go.
Friday, October 19, 2012
Boots on the other foot, hey Alan
Hey Alan, shame Alan (Mr the trucks are all stopped at the border) Jones.
Funny how it feels when it's directed at you. Hey Alan.
Reminds me of the story of the bully who knocked the new kid over in the playground .
New kid had lived on a farm and dealt with rams and bulls. He picked himself up and punched the bully in the nose.
Bully with blood running down his face, ran to the teacher and said
"but all I did was push him over". :)
Funny how it feels when it's directed at you. Hey Alan.
Reminds me of the story of the bully who knocked the new kid over in the playground .
New kid had lived on a farm and dealt with rams and bulls. He picked himself up and punched the bully in the nose.
Bully with blood running down his face, ran to the teacher and said
"but all I did was push him over". :)
Friday, September 09, 2011
Monday, September 05, 2011
Gosh, the last month of winter flew by, and I neglected the muse...
Canberra is glorious, awash in blossoms and daffodils and jonquils and many other lovely flowers.
A feast to soothe the eyes and satisfy the desire for the beautiful.
Life continues to be a mix of sorrow, confusion and trust.
Managed to catch a few hours at explo '11, thanks to invites from B and P. Too many clients to attend the actual healing services. But the music and enthusiasm was fantastic.
Fathers day came and went, and my sorrow deepened and I felt depressed - exacerbated by the news that a dear friend has major visa problems :(
This is the song I have been praying / singing for her :
I Know The Lord
Ngiyazinkosi
Izolungisindlela yam'
Uma ngihamba ngobungcwele
Ngenz’ okuhle njalo njalo
Ngiyaz’ inkosi
Izolung’ isindlela yam'
I know the Lord will make a way for me (I sing her )
If I live a holy life shun the wrong and do the right
I know the Lord Will make a way for me
Do, do, do, do, do, do, do
If I live a holy life shun the wrong and do the right
I know the Lord will make a way for me
______________________________________________________
God Bless all who seek to walk in the way of the Almighty!
Finally another friend is blogging about her life - see the link lower left, Ability and Rights. Her passion is strong!
Canberra is glorious, awash in blossoms and daffodils and jonquils and many other lovely flowers.
A feast to soothe the eyes and satisfy the desire for the beautiful.
Life continues to be a mix of sorrow, confusion and trust.
Managed to catch a few hours at explo '11, thanks to invites from B and P. Too many clients to attend the actual healing services. But the music and enthusiasm was fantastic.
Fathers day came and went, and my sorrow deepened and I felt depressed - exacerbated by the news that a dear friend has major visa problems :(
This is the song I have been praying / singing for her :
I Know The Lord
Ngiyazinkosi
Izolungisindlela yam'
Uma ngihamba ngobungcwele
Ngenz’ okuhle njalo njalo
Ngiyaz’ inkosi
Izolung’ isindlela yam'
I know the Lord will make a way for me (I sing her )
If I live a holy life shun the wrong and do the right
I know the Lord Will make a way for me
Do, do, do, do, do, do, do
If I live a holy life shun the wrong and do the right
I know the Lord will make a way for me
______________________________________________________
God Bless all who seek to walk in the way of the Almighty!
Finally another friend is blogging about her life - see the link lower left, Ability and Rights. Her passion is strong!
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