I have had computer problems again. For the last three days my laptop has continually crashed. Finally I gave up and used my son-in-law’s desk-top (my old one now upgraded) to Google for a solution. The problem is that my laptop was getting too hot – not enough cooling air – and it has been very, very hot recently! The easiest and lowest cost solution was (is) to raise the back of the laptop a few centimetres off the surface of the desk to allow air to circulate – I am using a book. Problem solved. I have been fiddling around with it for a couple of hours now without a hitch.
If anyone else has this problem - allow cooling air under the laptop by raising the rear edge with a book. I now know that there are special fan driven coolers available but why pay for something when this works for free?
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
We are not smart rats
Did you know that approximately 20% (yes 1 in 5) people in Australia (similar figures apply to other Western countries) have a ‘mental health’ problem? This problem ranges from finding difficulty in sleeping to suicide and padded cell, straight jacket type stuff. This is an amazing statistic and leads one to ask the question, “Who or what is normal?”
I do not pretend to know the answer to this question but I can offer some suggestions as to why I think the figure is so high. To me one of the major factors causing this ‘mental health’ problem is the almost universal requirement for people to ‘conform’. To ‘conform’ to the wishes and commands of ‘them’, of someone else, the group, the firm or to suit the demands of socially perceived reality whether this suits the individual concerned, or not..
While we are young our parents require us to ‘conform’ to their values and their rules, which is fair enough, because we are still learning about life (though children do rebel!!). Then there is religion. We must conform to the dogma otherwise we are excommunicated or considered an apostate and shunned by others in the congregation – this applies to Christian, Muslim, Jew or whatever. People can always change religions I suppose, this is a choice, but doing so is difficult and stressful. Most are born into a religious belief so they had no choice about it at all.
Possibly the most insidious requirement to ‘conform’ is when peer pressure is involved. This pressure is usually associated with young people, still to reach maturity and unsure of their place in the world but it can and does apply to any age group. Peer pressure also takes the form of “keeping up with the Jones’” – they have a new car I must have a new car; they have a new kitchen fit out, we must have a new kitchen fit out; ‘Daaarling I simply can’t wear this dress again!’ etc.
When we start working or change jobs we are required to absorb the ‘culture’ of the firm or be considered ‘strange’ and not part of the team or one of the boys or one of the girls. There are always certain dos and don’ts in any grouping of people which is necessary for safety, for security and to maintain a certain degree of unity but this is often carried to extremes.
What I am suggesting is not a refusal to obey the law of the land – that would be a recipe for chaos but rather recognition of the needfulness for each person to grow and develop as a unique human being, within the law. More often than not it is expectations or obligations that are the problem. For instance parents expecting their son to continue working on the farm he will inherit; the perceived obligation of the a child to continue working in the same line of business or profession as the father; parents expecting their children to get high grades at school and attend university – something the parents may not have been able to do.
Forcing someone to conform, to fill a role they are not emotionally suited to or which offends their integrity, their sense of morality or their values is stressful and causes problems – worry, depression, reliance on alcohol or other substance abuse to ‘dull the pain’.
The reason behind my writing this is a news article a few weeks ago about the extraordinarily high suicide rate in Japan. More than 30,000 people kill themselves every year in Japan, giving the country one of the world's highest suicide rates.
Some 24 out of every 100,000 Japanese people killed themselves in 2006, higher than the global average of 16, according to the World Health Organisation.
One of the reasons given for this high rate is the Japanese society's strong pressure to conform. (Extracted from: AAP article by Tokyo correspondent 07/01/2009).
We are not just a bunch of smart rats in a laboratory that can be conditioned into or out of various types of behaviour to suit whoever is considered the leader of the group, the firm or society; we are thinking, feeling human beings, trying to be just that – human beings - not human doers. We live to express ourselves creatively and to grow and develop each in our own unique way. Anything which is a barrier to this creativity, growth and this development will certainly cause stress and this may affect the mental health of those caught up in the requirement to conform in ways that are uncomfortable for them and not necessarily of their own choosing.
I do not pretend to know the answer to this question but I can offer some suggestions as to why I think the figure is so high. To me one of the major factors causing this ‘mental health’ problem is the almost universal requirement for people to ‘conform’. To ‘conform’ to the wishes and commands of ‘them’, of someone else, the group, the firm or to suit the demands of socially perceived reality whether this suits the individual concerned, or not..
While we are young our parents require us to ‘conform’ to their values and their rules, which is fair enough, because we are still learning about life (though children do rebel!!). Then there is religion. We must conform to the dogma otherwise we are excommunicated or considered an apostate and shunned by others in the congregation – this applies to Christian, Muslim, Jew or whatever. People can always change religions I suppose, this is a choice, but doing so is difficult and stressful. Most are born into a religious belief so they had no choice about it at all.
Possibly the most insidious requirement to ‘conform’ is when peer pressure is involved. This pressure is usually associated with young people, still to reach maturity and unsure of their place in the world but it can and does apply to any age group. Peer pressure also takes the form of “keeping up with the Jones’” – they have a new car I must have a new car; they have a new kitchen fit out, we must have a new kitchen fit out; ‘Daaarling I simply can’t wear this dress again!’ etc.
When we start working or change jobs we are required to absorb the ‘culture’ of the firm or be considered ‘strange’ and not part of the team or one of the boys or one of the girls. There are always certain dos and don’ts in any grouping of people which is necessary for safety, for security and to maintain a certain degree of unity but this is often carried to extremes.
What I am suggesting is not a refusal to obey the law of the land – that would be a recipe for chaos but rather recognition of the needfulness for each person to grow and develop as a unique human being, within the law. More often than not it is expectations or obligations that are the problem. For instance parents expecting their son to continue working on the farm he will inherit; the perceived obligation of the a child to continue working in the same line of business or profession as the father; parents expecting their children to get high grades at school and attend university – something the parents may not have been able to do.
Forcing someone to conform, to fill a role they are not emotionally suited to or which offends their integrity, their sense of morality or their values is stressful and causes problems – worry, depression, reliance on alcohol or other substance abuse to ‘dull the pain’.
The reason behind my writing this is a news article a few weeks ago about the extraordinarily high suicide rate in Japan. More than 30,000 people kill themselves every year in Japan, giving the country one of the world's highest suicide rates.
Some 24 out of every 100,000 Japanese people killed themselves in 2006, higher than the global average of 16, according to the World Health Organisation.
One of the reasons given for this high rate is the Japanese society's strong pressure to conform. (Extracted from: AAP article by Tokyo correspondent 07/01/2009).
We are not just a bunch of smart rats in a laboratory that can be conditioned into or out of various types of behaviour to suit whoever is considered the leader of the group, the firm or society; we are thinking, feeling human beings, trying to be just that – human beings - not human doers. We live to express ourselves creatively and to grow and develop each in our own unique way. Anything which is a barrier to this creativity, growth and this development will certainly cause stress and this may affect the mental health of those caught up in the requirement to conform in ways that are uncomfortable for them and not necessarily of their own choosing.
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Being controlled by a bank
I have a dilemma which I need to resolve fairly quickly. My gut feeling is to go in boots and all and complain but there may be ramifications which, because of ‘controlling interests’ may linger for some time!!
I have an account with Bankwest, a local bank in Western Australia and in error I went $1.85 into credit – in other words because of a direct debit to pay my telephone account, my savings account was over-drawn by $1.85. For this very minor misdemeanour Bankwest charged me an “Honour fee” of $45.00! Honour fee in this instance means that they had ‘honoured’ the payment and not rejected it.
I felt this ‘honour fee’ was grossly excessive and phoned to complain. The girl who answered my call (unfortunately I did not write down her name) was not rude but very abrasive in that she did not really listen, had all the answers and told me that there had been a similar episode in November 2007 when I, to use her phrase, ‘had been educated’ about the bank’s policies. She made ‘been educated’ sound as if, as a felon, I had been subjected to some North Korean type re-education programme and should therefore know better than to complain! When I asked her if she would like to pay this amount for such a small error, she came right back with the smart comment, "Of course not. But I would never let this happen. I would keep better control of my money."
After some discussion she asked if I wished her to speak to her supervisor – I said yes. After sometime she came back and said that she was prepared to reduce the ‘honour fee’ by half – to give me back $20.00. When I said that half was $22.50 and not $20.00 she corrected herself and said it was $20.00. I thought about it and said Ok and thank you.
My dilemma is this: I still think even the revised figure of $25.00 ‘honour fee’ is grossly excessive, especially as from my previous history with the bank, going back about 4 years, they would have known that my pay would be deposited the following day. So do I write and complain, pointing out the abrasiveness of the girl; her inference about the ‘education’ programme which was rather unnecessary and somewhat threatening; the fact that even $25.00 is grossly excessive for a $1.85 ‘misdemeanour’; the obvious fact that I have never deliberately set out to spend more than I earn – this was a real error on my part? When the girl came back from speaking to her supervisor and said a reduction of half and then corrected herself, I had a mental picture of the supervisor saying “Ok it is a small amount, but try to give him back no more than half.” She came back to me said half and then corrected herself, thinking “I am going to teach this bloke a lesson and help my employer at the same time – I am going to save them $2.50 – and make him pay more.” The feeling I had was that if I had really pushed it I could have got more, by negotiation.
All this is recorded against my account. Do I write to the bank, risking a black mark of ‘trouble maker’ against this account (and God knows whether the banks pass around this sort of comment, one to the other, when people swap banks, particularly as Bankwest is now owned by the Commonwealth Bank). Do I write exercising my right to freedom of speech – to complain when I feel something is wrong – risking any possible black marks and lack of co-operation from the bank in the future? Or do I just roll over and say, “Big Brother you control everything and have won – I am grateful for any crumbs that come my way?”
As I said before, my gut feeling is to write and complain and damn the consequences. Has anyone else has a similar experience and if so what advice would you give me?
I have an account with Bankwest, a local bank in Western Australia and in error I went $1.85 into credit – in other words because of a direct debit to pay my telephone account, my savings account was over-drawn by $1.85. For this very minor misdemeanour Bankwest charged me an “Honour fee” of $45.00! Honour fee in this instance means that they had ‘honoured’ the payment and not rejected it.
I felt this ‘honour fee’ was grossly excessive and phoned to complain. The girl who answered my call (unfortunately I did not write down her name) was not rude but very abrasive in that she did not really listen, had all the answers and told me that there had been a similar episode in November 2007 when I, to use her phrase, ‘had been educated’ about the bank’s policies. She made ‘been educated’ sound as if, as a felon, I had been subjected to some North Korean type re-education programme and should therefore know better than to complain! When I asked her if she would like to pay this amount for such a small error, she came right back with the smart comment, "Of course not. But I would never let this happen. I would keep better control of my money."
After some discussion she asked if I wished her to speak to her supervisor – I said yes. After sometime she came back and said that she was prepared to reduce the ‘honour fee’ by half – to give me back $20.00. When I said that half was $22.50 and not $20.00 she corrected herself and said it was $20.00. I thought about it and said Ok and thank you.
My dilemma is this: I still think even the revised figure of $25.00 ‘honour fee’ is grossly excessive, especially as from my previous history with the bank, going back about 4 years, they would have known that my pay would be deposited the following day. So do I write and complain, pointing out the abrasiveness of the girl; her inference about the ‘education’ programme which was rather unnecessary and somewhat threatening; the fact that even $25.00 is grossly excessive for a $1.85 ‘misdemeanour’; the obvious fact that I have never deliberately set out to spend more than I earn – this was a real error on my part? When the girl came back from speaking to her supervisor and said a reduction of half and then corrected herself, I had a mental picture of the supervisor saying “Ok it is a small amount, but try to give him back no more than half.” She came back to me said half and then corrected herself, thinking “I am going to teach this bloke a lesson and help my employer at the same time – I am going to save them $2.50 – and make him pay more.” The feeling I had was that if I had really pushed it I could have got more, by negotiation.
All this is recorded against my account. Do I write to the bank, risking a black mark of ‘trouble maker’ against this account (and God knows whether the banks pass around this sort of comment, one to the other, when people swap banks, particularly as Bankwest is now owned by the Commonwealth Bank). Do I write exercising my right to freedom of speech – to complain when I feel something is wrong – risking any possible black marks and lack of co-operation from the bank in the future? Or do I just roll over and say, “Big Brother you control everything and have won – I am grateful for any crumbs that come my way?”
As I said before, my gut feeling is to write and complain and damn the consequences. Has anyone else has a similar experience and if so what advice would you give me?
Thursday, January 22, 2009
BHP is morally bankrupt
When companies forget that business is for people and not the other way around, problems arise. When they start believing that people are there for the company to exploit, then problems arise. When the ‘Company’ or the ‘Shareholders’ become more important than the people employed, then problems arise.
It must never be forgotten that all organisations, repeat all, are at their core just service providers. BHP, for example, digs stuff out of the ground to sell (provide) to others who then process it and resell (provide) to others as they see fit. The entire process is orientated around human beings; the people who dig the stuff up, wash it, ship it, process it and resell it – only humans can do this (with the help of machinery of course) and BHP executives, managers and head office staff are also people and humans (I hope).
For a company the size of BHP – reputedly the world’s largest mining company – to suddenly close its Ravensthorpe nickel mine in Western Australia, with the loss of 1800 jobs is just not on. Particularly as until a few days ago BHP was encouraging its workers to move to the Ravensthorpe and Hopetown areas to buy or build houses there. BHP’s actions fail the two critical ethical questions: “Are you treating these people as you would like to be treated?” And: “If EVERYONE did as you (BHP) have just done would the world be a better place?” The answer would be a resounding NO! for both questions. BHP’s actions are unethical and unconscionable.
I am certain that BHP’s board of directors first thought was for the shareholders - must maintain share value and dividends to satisfy investors; nothing about the spin off effects that such a knee jerk and precipitate action will have on thousands of others innocent people. Can BHP or anyone put a dollar value on a person’s life? And it is a no-brainer to ask whether the senior executives of BHP are going to take a pay cut!! This is the really unpleasant face of Capitalism (with a capital C). Money comes first and we are now seeing in unforgiving detail what the big Australian is really made of – greed, hard-nosed businessmen (and women) following a plan to the letter, without compassion, without care, without the spirit of human kindness, just with eyes fixed firmly on the short term ‘bottom line’. Such a policy is morally sterile and bankrupt.
The impact that such a closure will have on the two small towns of Ravensthorpe and Hopetown will be devastating. Think also of the other treads that have been woven into the fabric of the area. The banks will have lent money to builders, home buyers, small business owners to grow in expectation, in line with BHP’s statements about the mine, for a prosperous future. Firms will have sold produce on credit in the belief that BHP can be trusted. To lead people on, in line with these expectations, only to suddenly dash their hopes, is not only unfair but, as I say, unethical.
If people come first BHP should certainly have played their cards differently. They could have sent everyone on leave, or they could have offered voluntary redundancy and kept the mine running at reduced capacity until some alternative strategy could be worked out. Unravel a thread in one area of life and there is no telling what the pattern will end up by being. BHP will certainly benefit financially, in the short term, by their actions but they are big enough to take a much broader, long term view of how the world will recover from its present financial malaise. This would at least give the ‘former’ employees some breathing space and some hope for the future.
Now BHP has set in motion a course of action with no means of knowing the final outcome. The law of cause and effect has not been revoked. It will follow its inevitable and implacable (and just) course to the end. It will not be stopped or impeded. BHP might not like the effect.
It must never be forgotten that all organisations, repeat all, are at their core just service providers. BHP, for example, digs stuff out of the ground to sell (provide) to others who then process it and resell (provide) to others as they see fit. The entire process is orientated around human beings; the people who dig the stuff up, wash it, ship it, process it and resell it – only humans can do this (with the help of machinery of course) and BHP executives, managers and head office staff are also people and humans (I hope).
For a company the size of BHP – reputedly the world’s largest mining company – to suddenly close its Ravensthorpe nickel mine in Western Australia, with the loss of 1800 jobs is just not on. Particularly as until a few days ago BHP was encouraging its workers to move to the Ravensthorpe and Hopetown areas to buy or build houses there. BHP’s actions fail the two critical ethical questions: “Are you treating these people as you would like to be treated?” And: “If EVERYONE did as you (BHP) have just done would the world be a better place?” The answer would be a resounding NO! for both questions. BHP’s actions are unethical and unconscionable.
I am certain that BHP’s board of directors first thought was for the shareholders - must maintain share value and dividends to satisfy investors; nothing about the spin off effects that such a knee jerk and precipitate action will have on thousands of others innocent people. Can BHP or anyone put a dollar value on a person’s life? And it is a no-brainer to ask whether the senior executives of BHP are going to take a pay cut!! This is the really unpleasant face of Capitalism (with a capital C). Money comes first and we are now seeing in unforgiving detail what the big Australian is really made of – greed, hard-nosed businessmen (and women) following a plan to the letter, without compassion, without care, without the spirit of human kindness, just with eyes fixed firmly on the short term ‘bottom line’. Such a policy is morally sterile and bankrupt.
The impact that such a closure will have on the two small towns of Ravensthorpe and Hopetown will be devastating. Think also of the other treads that have been woven into the fabric of the area. The banks will have lent money to builders, home buyers, small business owners to grow in expectation, in line with BHP’s statements about the mine, for a prosperous future. Firms will have sold produce on credit in the belief that BHP can be trusted. To lead people on, in line with these expectations, only to suddenly dash their hopes, is not only unfair but, as I say, unethical.
If people come first BHP should certainly have played their cards differently. They could have sent everyone on leave, or they could have offered voluntary redundancy and kept the mine running at reduced capacity until some alternative strategy could be worked out. Unravel a thread in one area of life and there is no telling what the pattern will end up by being. BHP will certainly benefit financially, in the short term, by their actions but they are big enough to take a much broader, long term view of how the world will recover from its present financial malaise. This would at least give the ‘former’ employees some breathing space and some hope for the future.
Now BHP has set in motion a course of action with no means of knowing the final outcome. The law of cause and effect has not been revoked. It will follow its inevitable and implacable (and just) course to the end. It will not be stopped or impeded. BHP might not like the effect.
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
New President new hope
We need the contrasts in life. They give us a focus point. Without the ups and downs, the good and the bad, the hot and the cold, the black and the white, life would be bland and uninteresting. That is the difference between Presidents Bush and Obama. I never felt confident that Bush would be a successful leader. Not after the manner of his election and the downright fraud and corruption that took place with the votes in Florida which enabled Bush to squeak in. I felt so strongly about it that I wrote a letter to the American Consulate in Canberra. I never received a reply of course.
This time there was a palpable, collective, sigh of relief the moment Barack Obama took the Oath of Office and was sworn in as President of the USA. Good on him. No matter what he does he has to be better than bumbling Bush. My wife and I stayed up late to watch the inauguration on the ABC and could sense the emotion, the good will and the trust that the Americans, in fact the World, have placed on the shoulders of this extraordinary man Obama.
It is a fact of life that a country gets the leaders they deserve – the Americans voted Bush in – twice! They have obviously now seen the light and done the ‘right’ thing. They need it and we need it, the change I mean.
We can only hope and pray that the new President will live up to the expectations that his election has created, difficult though that will be.
PS. It will be a relief for all concerned when Gitmo is closed and the stain on the American character has been cleansed!
This time there was a palpable, collective, sigh of relief the moment Barack Obama took the Oath of Office and was sworn in as President of the USA. Good on him. No matter what he does he has to be better than bumbling Bush. My wife and I stayed up late to watch the inauguration on the ABC and could sense the emotion, the good will and the trust that the Americans, in fact the World, have placed on the shoulders of this extraordinary man Obama.
It is a fact of life that a country gets the leaders they deserve – the Americans voted Bush in – twice! They have obviously now seen the light and done the ‘right’ thing. They need it and we need it, the change I mean.
We can only hope and pray that the new President will live up to the expectations that his election has created, difficult though that will be.
PS. It will be a relief for all concerned when Gitmo is closed and the stain on the American character has been cleansed!
Monday, January 19, 2009
Trees
There is a recurring daydream I have – on a warm lazy afternoon to be resting on a grassy bank of a stream or brook, in the shade of a willow tree. It somehow appeals to me.
Regarding trees, have you ever thought how useful and beautiful trees actually are? They have been around for a very long time indeed and have adapted to grow virtually everywhere there is water in liquid form. The trouble is forested areas are now decreasing at an alarming rate because of human activity. If you have recently tried to buy some dressed timber for shelving or something similar you will know how expensive it can be and is often of poor quality. It is almost as if wood should now be considered a semi-precious material!
Having used timber for various projects in the past I learned to deeply appreciate its innate beauty; the silky feel of newly planed wood and also, for me, the lovely nostalgic resin smell of newly cut pine wood. This is just the sensory appeal. Just think of a few of the uses we have for trees generally and for timber:
• Trees provide shelter and shade. Anyone who has ever walked in the shade of trees, on a hot day, will appreciate the coolness their shade provides. It is a more satisfying coolness than concrete, corrugated iron or shade cloth.
• Trees are beautiful – the overall shape pleases the eye. The colour of the leaves, particularly those which change with the seasons, is a sight for sore eyes. Those fortunate enough to have camped out and slept under a tree will know the beauty of the tracery of the leaves, like fine lace, set against the firmament. Delicate patterns of black against the deep blue back drop of the night sky, lit by the stars - that is beauty indeed.
• Anyone who is foot sore and weak after a long walk will know the feeling of renewed energy they get if they rest with their back against the trunk of a largish tree. I have no idea what it is that is ‘transmitted’ by the tree – life energy or something – but it works. After about 15 to 20 minutes of such rest I am ready for more activity. And it is not ‘just’ the resting that helps, there is something more that I, for one, cannot adequately explain.
• Trees provide wood to craft things of beauty – furniture, carvings, inlaid boxes for jewellery, toys and many other such artefacts.
• Wooden chopping boards are more hygienic than those made from plastic and do not dull knife blades as quickly as other materials.
• The timber from trees provides structural materials for protection against the elements and against those of a less than generous disposition; for houses, bridges and as props in mine shafts.
• Trees provide fruit, food and medicines (e.g. Aspirin and many other pharmaceutical products).
• Wood floats and for millennia all water born travel was made in wooden ships. All the great voyages of discovery by the Phoenicians, Greeks, Vikings, Arabs, Portuguese, Dutch and British were all made in wooden ships. A wooden boat is a thing of beauty.
• Trees are a major ‘carbon sink’ and as every school child knows – they take in carbon dioxide and give off oxygen.
These are just some of the more common uses. Of course wood burns and this is a problem in itself even though burning wood does keep us warm in winter. The trouble is that people ‘waste’ timber by burning large tracts of forests in the Amazon Basin, the Congo Basin and in South East Asia, to clear land for cash crops.
Trees have been with us through the whole journey of mankind. We should all take greater care of those trees we have. I resist chopping down trees whenever I can because they are such beautiful and useful things and because I love them.
Regarding trees, have you ever thought how useful and beautiful trees actually are? They have been around for a very long time indeed and have adapted to grow virtually everywhere there is water in liquid form. The trouble is forested areas are now decreasing at an alarming rate because of human activity. If you have recently tried to buy some dressed timber for shelving or something similar you will know how expensive it can be and is often of poor quality. It is almost as if wood should now be considered a semi-precious material!
Having used timber for various projects in the past I learned to deeply appreciate its innate beauty; the silky feel of newly planed wood and also, for me, the lovely nostalgic resin smell of newly cut pine wood. This is just the sensory appeal. Just think of a few of the uses we have for trees generally and for timber:
• Trees provide shelter and shade. Anyone who has ever walked in the shade of trees, on a hot day, will appreciate the coolness their shade provides. It is a more satisfying coolness than concrete, corrugated iron or shade cloth.
• Trees are beautiful – the overall shape pleases the eye. The colour of the leaves, particularly those which change with the seasons, is a sight for sore eyes. Those fortunate enough to have camped out and slept under a tree will know the beauty of the tracery of the leaves, like fine lace, set against the firmament. Delicate patterns of black against the deep blue back drop of the night sky, lit by the stars - that is beauty indeed.
• Anyone who is foot sore and weak after a long walk will know the feeling of renewed energy they get if they rest with their back against the trunk of a largish tree. I have no idea what it is that is ‘transmitted’ by the tree – life energy or something – but it works. After about 15 to 20 minutes of such rest I am ready for more activity. And it is not ‘just’ the resting that helps, there is something more that I, for one, cannot adequately explain.
• Trees provide wood to craft things of beauty – furniture, carvings, inlaid boxes for jewellery, toys and many other such artefacts.
• Wooden chopping boards are more hygienic than those made from plastic and do not dull knife blades as quickly as other materials.
• The timber from trees provides structural materials for protection against the elements and against those of a less than generous disposition; for houses, bridges and as props in mine shafts.
• Trees provide fruit, food and medicines (e.g. Aspirin and many other pharmaceutical products).
• Wood floats and for millennia all water born travel was made in wooden ships. All the great voyages of discovery by the Phoenicians, Greeks, Vikings, Arabs, Portuguese, Dutch and British were all made in wooden ships. A wooden boat is a thing of beauty.
• Trees are a major ‘carbon sink’ and as every school child knows – they take in carbon dioxide and give off oxygen.
These are just some of the more common uses. Of course wood burns and this is a problem in itself even though burning wood does keep us warm in winter. The trouble is that people ‘waste’ timber by burning large tracts of forests in the Amazon Basin, the Congo Basin and in South East Asia, to clear land for cash crops.
Trees have been with us through the whole journey of mankind. We should all take greater care of those trees we have. I resist chopping down trees whenever I can because they are such beautiful and useful things and because I love them.
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Israel's staggering presumption
So now Israel has agreed to a cease fire, of sorts and we are told that it has ‘exceeded its objectives’ in Gaza. Big deal. Over 1200 dead and many thousands injured. What for? If the Israelis think that bombs, rockets and assassinations will destroy a dream, will destroy the emotional fervour of the Palestinians (however disunited their various factions are) then they have learned nothing from their own history. Have the many and various anti-Jewish activities that have happened over the centuries ever sapped the Jewish dreams; ever broken their morale? Of course not! So what makes them think that doing what they have done, during the last 22 days of their offensive will bring ‘peace’ any closer.
The Israeli have destroyed the infrastructure of Gaza (for sure they will not pay for the repairs!); they killed, injured and maimed thousands of people after 22 days of brutal activity to arrive back at the point they started from! As I say what was all the death and destruction for?
They may kill thousands and destroy houses and buildings but they will never kill the Human Spirit. They should know that. So what makes them think that they are so special that what never had any affect on them will affect Palestinians any differently? We are all human beings on this world together. For whatever reason we are all here, now, with our differences in skin colour, beliefs and creeds, daily practises of living, our loves, our dreams, our hopes and aspirations – we are all in this together. So for one group of people (the Israelis) to try to subjugate another group (the Palestinians); to attempt to control how they should think and act towards the first (dominant? group) shows breathtaking arrogance, unbelievable hubris and staggering presumption.
The presumption is that Israel knows best. Do they? Have they addressed the root of the problem – a landless, disenfranchised population? That they are an occupying nation that was ‘given’ Palestine in 1946 because the world wanted to give the traumatised survivors of the Nazi death camps some place for them to recover and call home? What about the Palestinians? Without so much as a by your leave they were made landless and moved.
As the English poet and sermonist John Dunne wrote in the 1600s, “No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main; if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as if a manor of thy friends or of thine own were; any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind; and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.”
The Israelis have been diminished by their actions – therefore they have lost. They may have ‘exceeded their objectives’ in Gaza but as I said, in the long run they have lost.
This is a defining moment in Israel’s short history. As a people the Jews in Israel are morally bankrupt. Their only recourse is to arms, to fight. That is not the way civilised people act. Whatever the shortcomings of Hamas and other hard line Palestinians, and there are many, by lowering themselves to ‘Hamas levels’ of activity the Israeli have diminished themselves – and they know it.
Why can’t the Israelis show moral leadership and lift the whole region to a new level of consciousness? Isn’t this what Jewishness; the Kabbalah and their spiritual practices are supposed to bring about? They should not just talk about it. They should walk the walk, not just talk the talk!!
The Israeli have destroyed the infrastructure of Gaza (for sure they will not pay for the repairs!); they killed, injured and maimed thousands of people after 22 days of brutal activity to arrive back at the point they started from! As I say what was all the death and destruction for?
They may kill thousands and destroy houses and buildings but they will never kill the Human Spirit. They should know that. So what makes them think that they are so special that what never had any affect on them will affect Palestinians any differently? We are all human beings on this world together. For whatever reason we are all here, now, with our differences in skin colour, beliefs and creeds, daily practises of living, our loves, our dreams, our hopes and aspirations – we are all in this together. So for one group of people (the Israelis) to try to subjugate another group (the Palestinians); to attempt to control how they should think and act towards the first (dominant? group) shows breathtaking arrogance, unbelievable hubris and staggering presumption.
The presumption is that Israel knows best. Do they? Have they addressed the root of the problem – a landless, disenfranchised population? That they are an occupying nation that was ‘given’ Palestine in 1946 because the world wanted to give the traumatised survivors of the Nazi death camps some place for them to recover and call home? What about the Palestinians? Without so much as a by your leave they were made landless and moved.
As the English poet and sermonist John Dunne wrote in the 1600s, “No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main; if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as if a manor of thy friends or of thine own were; any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind; and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.”
The Israelis have been diminished by their actions – therefore they have lost. They may have ‘exceeded their objectives’ in Gaza but as I said, in the long run they have lost.
This is a defining moment in Israel’s short history. As a people the Jews in Israel are morally bankrupt. Their only recourse is to arms, to fight. That is not the way civilised people act. Whatever the shortcomings of Hamas and other hard line Palestinians, and there are many, by lowering themselves to ‘Hamas levels’ of activity the Israeli have diminished themselves – and they know it.
Why can’t the Israelis show moral leadership and lift the whole region to a new level of consciousness? Isn’t this what Jewishness; the Kabbalah and their spiritual practices are supposed to bring about? They should not just talk about it. They should walk the walk, not just talk the talk!!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)