How I stopped a rapist

What a beautiful story this is. I was moved to tears, but not of sorrow but of joy. The solution to problems of violence is not more violence, in the form of anger, hate, shame and fear, but one of strength. Only by confronting reality, and taking control of our lives can we really conquer evil such as the rape that this lady describes.

It is truly beautiful.

George Pell and the Stem Cell Debate

The sad thing about this whole issue is that the debate has become one about the church telling politicians how to vote, rather than the church expressing its position on an important issue.

Almost no-one would have learned anything about why the church holds the position it does from the debate, as expressed in the mainstream media.

I hope it wasn't Pell's intention to create a power struggle. I really believe that he has though

We have lived through a month of chaos during April as we put in a new kitchen. You can see some of the before, during and after shots here.

I think the timing of my haircut is ideal for this experiment. I desperately need a haircut and I expect my hair is going to get uncomfortable, so the shorter the better. Off I go at lunchtime to get it cut.

A friend was telling me the other day how he hadn't used shampoo or any hair care product for four years and that he had discovered that once your body gets over the initial shock (about six weeks) it goes really well. He just washes it with water and that is all. He is very image conscious and looks great. Anyway, I thought about trying it but chickened out. Then yesterday, I stumbled across this from Richard Glover. I have now decided that I am going to give this a go. Now that it is getting cooler, it might be bearable trying it out. I will update progress here.

What is the value of a human life?

We never actually say it, but our actions make it clear that it depends on where they live, what colour they are, what their religion or sex are.


While I agree that we need to cut down on our energy use, I find it amusing and sad that there is a build up of concern in the world for climate change, when it refers to some possible (perhaps even probable) issues in the future, when we are ignoring the fact that every day, the equivalent of ten 911s are occurring in our world and we don't even think about it.

Actually, an Elephant in the Room for most environmentalists is that as the Third World becomes more affluent then the impact on Climate Change will be even greater. You don't hear many environmentalists suggest that we lower our living standards, only that we reduce our wastage.

Like it or not, for there to be real justice in the world, we will need to halve our living standards.

I still believe that as parents, unless you have plenty of money and no job, it is just not possible to spread yourself around and have lots of kids. The kids just don't get all the attention they need.

I have felt it even with our four kids. This is one of the main reasons why I think the church is just plain wrong with their teachings on contraception.

When it comes to abortion and abortive agents, I am a lot closer to the church, but to ban condoms, vasectomies and other preventative means of avoiding conception is not (in my opinion) wrong. I can see some reasons why it might be. Especially if the reason is to sustain a materialistic lifestyle, but even in families that are non-materialistic, it is just not possible to spend the time needed to mould loving adults (without hangups) when there are so many
of them. That isn't to say that we can't work through our issues and live great lives, but for the church to put that added pressure on marriages of not being able to safely have sex without fear of conception is just totally wrong. I have no question whatsoever about the IMMORALITY of the teaching on contraception.

I have very mixed feelings about this sort of weapon. In one context it seems like a good thing, because it should minimise permanent damage. However, I am concerned that with weapons like this, military or civil forces will be tempted to use them far more readily than previously. The potential for total domination by a totalitarian regime are enormous.

Active Denial Ray Gun

Town troubles spelt in black and white - National - smh.com.au

Obviously, this whole incident is tragic. On top of that though is the hypocrisy of the reactions. The newspapers are being very careful not to explicitly mention that the attackers were aboriginal. I found the same thing when listening to talk back radio yesterday. People seem to be talking in a code that says, "nudge, nudge, wink wink." It does nothing to improve the issues of racism, because people are not talking openly, but it also shows how people continue to use labels like "aboriginal", "moslem", "do-gooder", "feminist" as an excuse to stop thinking of the person behind the label, to stereotype them and to assume that they will behave in a certain way. As the article indicates, most aboriginal people in Griffith are decent, law abiding, people who are just as concerned about the violence as everyone else in the community. That is what racism really is all about isn't it. Making assumptions about a group of people, just because other people who have one physical characteristic in common with them exhibit a particular behaviour.

This article in the SMH on how easily the rich (that includes you and me) can end world poverty makes it clear that the Make Poverty History is not a fruitless goal. The hard part isn't ending poverty, it is making people care enough to even bother.

TJ's First Birthday

Oct 7, 2006 - 50 Photos

We had a great day today with Craig and Jenny. Craig is Donna's nephew and it is their son TJ's first birthday today.

Reclaim control of blacks' destiny - National - smh.com.au

A very difficult issue this! I can certainly see the point. Current policies have not worked. Clearly, something different is needed. However, if this is a good policy, shouldn't it also be applied to other welfare recipients. What about people who are a drain on our health system by smoking, overeating or taking drugs. The questions becomes where do you draw the line?

Read more at www.smh.com.au/news/nat...

I have just finished reading Jane Fonda’s autobiography My Life so far. I am finding it hard to remember what my impressions of her were before I read the book I have seen some of her movies, but I don’t think I ever really gave her much thought. I had heard her speaking on the radio (Life Matters) about her book and found what she had to say sufficiently intriguing to buy the book (not something I do very often).

Once I started reading it I could barely put it down. I finished it in just over a week. One of the reviewers had said that it is more a journey than a story, and I think that is a good summary of it.

Interestingly, I found that I was very able to relate to her and it seemed like many of her issues resonated with me. If you read it you would find that amusing, because one of her kids described her as a chameleon, changing her colours to suit the man she was with. I hadn’t thought much of this, but I certainly find that when I read a story, or an essay I get so involved with the author’s thinking that it is very difficult for me to separate their opinions from my own. I am really struggling as I read this to remember a single book where I felt it difficult to relate to the narrator. Possibly, this could be that I don’t choose or continue to read books that mismatch. I have read a couple of Hannibal Lecter books so surely I didn’t relate well to him, but still I must have been able to empathise at some level

One of the ways that I particularly felt an affinity with her was that I find it very difficult to assert myself and my own needs around Donna (and the kids). I find that I don’t even bother trying to set an agenda for our lives and just go along with the flow. This isn’t totally true, because I do sometimes choose something different, but it seems pretty rare to me. Donna tells me that I am too self absorbed. My own feeling is that even if I am, I tend to be self forgetting and don’t look after myself enough. I wouldn’t say that I am selfless, but rather that I have always seen my needs as less important than others. This is at one level. However, at another I think I recognise that I am entitled to look after myself, but rather than do something about it, I am just resentful of the people who seem to take first claim on my time. Unfortunately this can often mean that I shutdown. Effectively this means that while I am not making myself available to others, I am also not doing anything useful or comforting for myself. Seems very passive aggressive.

It feels as though this condition is effectively paralysing me. I am not sure how to break out of it. It seems that breaking out of this pattern requires a more radical change than I am willing to undertake. However, it is driving me crazy.

The other (and perhaps related) issue that the book brought out for me is the burning desire/feeling that I have been placed on earth for a very specific purpose and that I am doing almost nothing to bring it about. If I look back I can score myself well on my life so far, but it doesn't feel as though I created it. More than anything I think I have persisted and haven't walked away from my responsibilities. But, as I mentioned above, this hasn't always been active.

I will continue to think (about this and perhaps comment here).

I went this morning with Lauren and Rochelle to the Blacktown City Festival. They were marching with their school in the parade. I really had a good time. The girls were supposed to arrive about an hour before the parade so I had the chance to look around for quite a while before the parade started. I really enhoyed looking around at all the various cultural groups mixing together and making Blacktown into a great community. I started the morning by eating a Thai sate stick with peanut sauce and moved on to having a chat with a kurdish woman from Turkey and buying a baclava from her.

During the parade there were cultural groups from Uruguay, Philippines, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Holland and China as well as all the service clubs, some church groups and so many other groups. The actual parade lasted for just over an our and there were about 70 different groups in the parade.

After the parade, of course we had to go and get lunch. Rochelle and I split a Gozleme made with mince, fetta and spinach, and Lauren had an indian chicken curry.

I left with a really positive feeling about our community.

Rifle baffles terrorist - World - smh.com.au

'The Americans hope to isolate religious extremists from insurgents they believe are more likely to cut a deal to end thewar.'

What a pity they didn't try this strategy three years ago. They might have saved a lot of deaths.

Read more at www.smh.com.au/news/wor...

Softly, softly, jihadists are lured into peace - World - smh.com.au

Now this sounds like a promising alternative. I hope we hear more about it in the future.

Read more at www.smh.com.au/news/wor...

Navy may force Papuan boats back: ministers - National - smh.com.au

If you believe, like me, that Australia taking this sort of action is unjust, let Alexander Downer know. Send him an email at A.Downer.MP@aph.gov.au indicating your position.

Read more at smh.com.au/news/nationa...

Iraqi opposition against Jaafari grows

It seems that as far as the US is concerned, democracy should only go so far, and no further.

I can't believe the US people continue to finance this debacle that has achieved none of its original stated aims and is costing trillions of dollars a year.

Read more at news.ft.com/cms/s/0f72c...

Doubt at the Opera House

Adam had to see a play for drama so Donna and I decided to make the most of it by seeing something significant. This sounded good and all we had read about it was good but it exceeded my expectations completely.

Only four actors, but very powerfully performed. The scenes were simple but effective. I won't spoil it by going into detail but it was tense, hilarious, and disturbing. All of the characterisations were really well done and it was easy to take on the conflicts going on in their minds.

Read more at www.sydneytheatre.com.a...

Australia wins Winter gold - Sport - smh.com.au

How wierd is this thing called Nationalism. Yesterday, noone in Australia had ever heard of Dale Begg-Smith. He wasn't born in Australia, and being an freestyle mogul champion, he probably spends most of his life outside Australia. Yet, we all well up with pride and congratulate ourselves on having our first winter gold medal. Does anyone else find this funny?

Read more at www.smh.com.au/articles...