We are the world

What next? Yesterday's Religion Report reminded that nothing we do, eat, see or enjoy is without taint. (For traditional Christians this is nothing new!)

The focus...chocolate. British social activist, Steve Chalke reminded the listeners that in many places the production of chocolate is only made possible by  low cost labour  provided by children sold into slave-like conditions. This does not suprise us. 

Rather we choose to be ignorant, I guess. 

The same point has been made about coffee in times past, and it is now obvious and clear that we should look for the "fair trade" markings on almost anything.

Fair Trade is a new and necessary buzz word/concept. It applies to coffee, rice, clothing manufacture and anything else that we, the greedy West, demand that the poor make for us, to satisfy our insatiable greed.

Nothing we do, eat or use is morally neutral. Our response to that has usually (as I say) to just be plain dumb about it. 

If we are to be responsible we have to do a bit better than that.

It is popping up all around us though, isn't it?

The trafficking of people...worth more than the global illegal drugs industry.

The rebuilding of the devastated Iraq attracting the poorest of the Asian poor (here)

It is almost all we can do to worry about whether or not we can have drippers on our lawns.

We just simply have to do better!

Today, by the way, is the memoria of Vincent de Paul.  To whom we have generously given bags and bags of unwanted clothes in the last few weeks. The tribute to our own unending need to have stuff without end!

We are the world

Appointing successors

One of the (perhaps few) things I have learnt in my fifty odd years is to be cautious about appointing one's successor. [a lesson to be learnt in a neighbouring diocese]

Not, might I add, being cautious about who one might appoint. But to be careful to not enter into the process of influencing those whose responsibility it is to actually do the choosing.

This is advice I feel should be offered to Prime Minister Howard. In fact, should have  been offered long ago. It no doubt was, but it should have been adhered to.

Now forgive me, but we live in a democracy don't we? And a democracy does not require a line of succession, or nepotism, or even favouritism...it requires that those designated to elect should elect who they see fit.

So it has always been inappropriate for the Liberal Party to say that Peter Costello is the next leader, and if they are in government then the next PM. While this may (for some) have expressed a factional reality/deal/arrangement or whatsoe'er...ancient advice would suggest that you should not count your votes before they are cast.

So it is not surprising that the ambitious Mr Turnbull is coy about whether Costello will succeed, even if he is a little more reticent today (here). 

Personally were I Treasurer Pete I wouldn't trust anyone to guarantee the succession, least of all Malcolm, Tony or Alexander. Perhaps wee Johnny knew this all along and is chirruping in his glee

Bring it on!

There could be little doubt that the Opposition will be delighted with the narrowing of the polls (here). In the land of the underdog the last thing you want going in to an election is the sense that you are so far in front that it doesn't actually matter what will happen with my personal vote.

There is still a fight, and Mr Rudd will be keen to keep that awareness.

In the mean time, we are a bit cheesed that the election has not yet been formally called. While Mr Howard is no doubt keen to maximise his chances surely we need to get this over and done with. But as the silver fox said over the weekend "The Grand Final weekend is sacrosanct...so there will be no election called this weekend."

In the meantime let's have a moment's silence (pun intended) for the greatest mime artist ever

Checks and Balances

It is difficult to tell whether or not the Liberal Party's scaremongering about the Unions is working. Personally, I am at a loss to understand why it should.
I should declare a vested interest in that twice in my life I have belonged to a union, and also a couple of times in the last few years members of my immediate family have spoken to union officials in regard to conditions a their workplace.
It is these latter encounters that gives me pause to stop and think. If you are having trouble at work, if you need to talk t managment, if there is more than one of you in the same boat, why wouldn't you organise to try and do it together. Surely that, at its most primitive,is what a union does. It acts in common cause for those who might otherwise find it difficult to act for themselves.
Indeed it would seem a good balance and check in a complex industrial system.
When I was a board member of the Church's mission to industry ITIM. Managers, workers and unionists sat alongside each other in a most constructive way developing workplace support and chaplaincy programs. It was during this time that the role of unions began to diminish. They simply had (as the BCP says) "no power of themselves to help themselves". 

I personally think that industrial conditions became so laid back that paying $300-$500 a year or more for the privilege of belonging to a union when the government (Labor) was going to deliver any way encouraged many people to drop out.

When a less sympathetic government came the movement had been gutted of its members.

This is a simplistic analysis of course.

But what people seem to fear in Australia today is not the 'union bosses' (who are they for heaven's sake). But the fact is that when they have to argue the case there will be no one to do it. A valuable check has gone.

You tube test

To hell with the truth

And I use these words advisedly!
The real problem with elections is that there are winners and there are losers. And it is 'winner takes all' -this would not be the case with proper proportional representation but that is a story for another day-
So the trouble with the fact that there is only one prize, is that often the truth or the strict truth is a casualty.
So it was pretty inevitable what was going to happen when a truculent questioner tried to get at former Army Officer Mike Kelly over his participation in the Iraq war, which he now publicly condemns. "Why did you do it" said the questioner who was dressed like a lefty, "when you know the war was immoral, and unjustifiable".
I could see the road to Nuremberg opening up. The questioner, no doubt sensing the blood of victory, pushed when Kelly said .."I was an Australian soldier acting under authority"...as an arguer from way back I could see what the next logical step was. "Ohhhh rather like the guards of Belsen!"
Well you could hear the audience groan. He had gone too far. Whilst he had taken a logical leap, it was not entirely truthful. Certainly not fair. "So you use the Nuremberg defence" the little terrier continued, and did I hear him say that war was immoral and wrong!
So surprise, surprise when the terrier turned out to be not so nasty little lefty but the chief of staff of the sitting Liberal member(here).
Minister Nairn, has distanced himself from this attack on an army officer. He does nto appear to have commented on the fact that the staffer appeared to criticise Liberal Party policy. But I imagine by the time you read this (although it has not happened yet!) terrier Phelps will have been sacked!
All a lot of fun, not a lot of truth. And, I fear, more to come!

Not very pointy

Although other, non-Anglican, Churches often say of us that we are very 'hierarchical'. It's not really true. We have an hierarchy, but it's only got two or three levels. There is the Bishop, the clergy (and maybe one division within that group- the in and the out perhaps!) and the laity.

In a way this is far more frought with danger than a multi-levelled hierarchy like the army. Because it means, in reality, unless you are careful the top level can subsume almost everything it wants. It can take power unto itself, and even create authority lines that don't really exist.

This can work really well, and particularly in the country where resources are often slight, it can operate as a sort of benevolent dictatorship.

When it doesn't work well, like when the Bishop goes mad or begins to drink or starts to weaken under stress (all of which have happened in my living memory in different parts of this country) benevolent dictatorship rather breaks down.

So, it is sad to see the playing out of a fracas in our neighbouring Diocese of The Murray (here), where various people (clergy and lay) have gone to war with the Bishop and are seeking a Tribunal (here).

This process is clumsy, and is in the proces of being changed. It remains to be seen whether it can even be applied in this case. The Bishop in question doesn't think so, and the lay people who want it (I think) will find that it does not deliver what they want... the sacking of the Bishop.

There are and will be lots of lessons to learn from this. One of them will be that in a 'not so pointy' hierarchy, it does actually make a difference that you get the top right. 

In a multi-levelled structure there are always people at the next level who can be drawn up but that is not necessarily the case when the next level is fairly flat, and indeed many are the appointees of the leader concerned so may not achieve what 'removalists' want any way.

Poor old Diocese, poor old Bishop, but mainly I keep thinking poor old people of the Murray both churched and unchurched let down by hubris and infighting!

Intervention

Each day I try to listen to a daily meditation (see here for today) and today's urges us to pray for our rulers and leaders.

Which raises the question about what we expect this sort of prayer to do. The other day at lunch (see the post here) with some of my colleagues from the district, we were talking about (well 'talking' is a rather lame word to describe what wasreally going on as we laughed, screamed and joked with each other)...we were noting what different theological positions we had on a whole range of things. One of which was whether God actually 'intervenes' in our lives, as a result of our prayers or, indeed, at all.

The new bright young thing (who is pretty theologically advanced) made the observation that as soon as we bring God into the equation at all then there had been intervention. We then discussed what we meant by 'intervention' you see it was just a hilarious conversation!

What I am pretty sure of is that there is a strong view of God that sees him as a sort of slot machine. If you put the right coins in and say the right words, pull the handle then God will deliver. Indeed, prospperity theology (which I despise) would say that God is just waiting to give us the jackpot.

As nice as a 'jackpot' might be, it is not my experience of how God intervenes at all. It is almost always never the answer.

I would generally agree with the idea that as soon as you bring God in then everything changes; God won't always move to fix things. Indeed God doesn't seem to fix the stuff that we should fix up ourselves.

God does (it seems to me) make us aware of what needs to be done, and how we might do it. Usually by leading us along, sometimes fast and sometimesslow, so that we deal with the complexity of life rather than pretending it is as simple as right formulas, right coins and pulling the handle.

And, for the sake of anonymity, a person who I shall refer to as W...did warn the participants in last week's lunch that what they say would be taken down in evidence!

For your amusement

Water

The rain seems to have been significant and yet when you scratch your garden you don't go very deep to get to the dry.

I still think the 'desalination' plan that is being promoted by our (SA) government is a sop to the electorate. Some interesting analyses on radio and in the press are saying tings like. The billion or so that would be needed could be better and more locally distributed. If, for example, you ensured every dwelling had rainwater and/or recycled grey water then if there are 400,000 dwellings they could be well subsidised and probably to better effect. It would be relatively quick to come online unlike the fabled desalination whichy looks like one of those things that will inevitable 'blow out'.

Our Port Elliott House totally recycles all the septic water, and that's a modest little dwelling  in a tin pot little town. Surely such simple slutions sould not be overlooked in the bid to apease the electorate!

Untenable

The PM is now saying that he will not remain as leader for the whole of the next term of the Parliament. It is difficult to imagine him sitting on the backbench. So, presumably, he will resign mid-term.

This begs the question about whether you should stand for a 3 year term if you have no intention of serving it out. At the very least there is a significant cost involved in having a by-election.

I do however have some sympathy with a correspondent to the Advertiser yesterday who said it was good that Howard was not going to hand over the leadership now, as the electorate needed to be able to exercise its right to kick him out. One wonders how long he will last after the election if he is not PM. Not long I imagine.

I still stand by my prediction of earlier in the week that he will go before the election!

What end blogging?

Pursuant to a conversation during which my neighbour (who I shall refer to as Dr W for the sake of anonymity)harangued us because his hearing aid didn't appear to be working properly...or was it because I was at the other end of the table (either way W it was like the good old days) we were told that we should be careful lest our lunchtime conversation appear on my blog.
This is not unreasonable, though I would always remove personal comment if asked.
It does raise the question about the way information is now being transmitted, but I shall leave you to think about that.
But I did think the cartoon below was rather fun!

More than moon-faced

While Premier Beatty steadfastly says that the timing of his retirement as Premier of Queensland has nothing to do with exposing the fact that Prime Minister Howard is not doing the same, nevertheless, it does rather expose the same.
Good on him, and Premier Bracks before him for realising that there is more to life than politics. But maybe for the PM there is not!

The problem(s) for Howard

Now that APEC is over the real problem for wee Johnny begins. So let me divulge the answer before I properly state the question so that those of you who have to go work can do so.

My prediction is that Howard will go before the election.

My prediction is that he will call the election this week.

The first problem our beloved leader faces is that if APEC was to be seen to be the bolster he needed to swing the electorate then it didn't work. While it is being hailed as a success, the trouble is that the sort of 'success' that it represents is not the success that the voter understands or is emotionally  concerned about.

There is nothing for us that makes the world a safer place.

There is nothing that will improve immediately the quality of of the environment.

There is the perception that the rich got what they wanted, and that we collude with that because we want to be rich.

Now, I am not convinced that these perceptions are accurate, but perceptions don't have to be.

And that is the second problem for Mr Howard.

The wall cast around APEC is perceived by the electorate to be what Howard's style of government is like. 

We are to be kept out of it, told what is good for us and shut up and accept it.

And the electorate doesn't like that!

Bo, we don't like that at all.

The third problem, and perhaps the most serious one for him. Now the question has been asked he is gone. And someone has dared to suggest that he should resign.

The wall around the Coalition has been breached. And  he has said that he is leader at the will of his party. That is (and I'll do the voice) "I will remain as leader as long as my party wants me".

Yesterday he said "I intend to lead my party to the next election"...now those two statements don't necessarily marry. If it is not  the will of the party, then on his own terms he has to go.

I'm not saying he'll go without a fight.

I'm not saying he won't try to persuade the party that he is the best man for the job.

I'm not saying he doesn't really think Costello will pull it off.

....any way I told you my conclusion at the beginning!

Tournament Champ

The youngest SC was victorious again in her section of Tournament of Minds and is now part of the South Australian State Team going to Canberra for the National Finals next month. So she got over her tummy wobbles, and followed up on last year's success (see here and here)

Desalination

If you did elementary Chemistry, Science or Physics...or indeed if you have boiled water for pasta...then the science of desalination is probably familiar to you.
Salty water is boiled. When it boils, the steam is actually free of salt, so if you can collect the steam and then reconstitute it to water (by cooling it back down) that water is salt free...and indeed there is a salt residue. Often in the science lab that is what you do to collect a soluble slat.
On the face of it the science is attractive in our present water crisis, if it were not for one small thing. And that is the big orange block at the bottom of the schematic diagram marked HEAT
Heat of course is costly to produce, and there has to be a weighing up of the relative benefits. (a relatively good discussion of issues involved here)..
The major way to defeat the cost issue is to build big rather than small, of course the trouble is that in election times where each side is calling the other chicken there is a tendency to tokenism, in order to be seen to be doing something.
Tokenism usually means the making of a gesture which looks like the real thing, but in reality is designed to give the impression of activity rather than actually embracing the difficulty. ( a related but different issues about the relative cost of 'organic produce' is here . The question becomes at what point does the activity actually become a reality or are we content that it might be some sort of chimera.(some sort of fanciful mental illusion or fabrication.) .... maybe more coming

Happy Birthday

We all wish Mary a Happy Birthday today. The sun is shining and it will be a great day for the show. Although you've had a hard life you've done well. (here)

Let's get a life

My feeling is that Chaser is a very dangerous political phenomenon ....for politicians that is... you can't live with them and you can't live without them.
Apart form the obvious 'moral' of the tale...how could they breach two security points in the biggest lockdown in our history?...it crystallises for me something about being Australian that I have been trying to put my finger on.
See a hole...and you must try and go through it!
See a restriction... and you must try and get round it
In the process of this, see an hypocrisy...and you must try and expose it.
Forget all the moralising about an ill-defined 'mateship' and a 'fair go', it is about the bravery to be reckless and throwing caution to the wind ...which so often produces startling results.
Apart from the danger that the Chasettes, no doubt, exposed themselves to (what if a trigger happy sniper had been spooked and let fire? .....I wonder if the good people of Sydney were aware that unless they were on their very best behaviour they were in danger of being shot by snipers...)
Any way 9/10 for Downer for laughing it off, 1/10 for Rudd for being po-faced and serious.
20/10 for Licciardello, Morrow, Reucastel et al.
As I say, I suspect the electorate will side with the prank rather than the security debacle.

Two tenors left

Perhaps the best known face in opera today is no more. The world is a poorer and a sadder place for the loss of the magnificent voice of Luciano Pavarotti.
We have been blessed in the age of the CD and digital recording to get such faithful and powerful recordings of the work of such people.
I grew up in the wake of the death of Mario Lanza, who in turn immortalised for millions one Enrico Caruso, whose voices both captivated the ears and hearts of many.
Pavarotti has likewise captivated hearts, and one would have to say with a finer voice than either Caruso or Lanza, who were amateurs by comparison.
Although we see Ten Tenors and Il Divo, with fine voices indeed, but also the attempt to create opera superstars. In the end you have to have the force of personality, which indeed Pavarotti had.
Didn't seem to be able to act for nuts, until he sang. We will indeed be poorer.
I remember the first time I heard the Verdi Requiem almost bizarre in its floridity, quite unliturgical. And Yes, Pavarotti was singing. Somehow that is being sung for him now. May he indeed rest peacefully and in harmony.

What do you eat?

Summoned to school the other day to pick up S who was (again) suffering stomach pains, I arrived at the sick room to find it full! The nurse concerned about the nasty gastric bug that is going round was keen to get them home. S was keen to go to school yesterday, because they have the great Tournament on the weekend (click here and go to SA)and yesterday was the day they had to work getting it together.
At one stage during the day she (nearly 6 foot) said to me "What can I have to eat?" I suggested "Nothing"...she seemed to think that she would in that case die of starvation. So a few bland things, rice and bread were consumed.
She became more adventurous (or foolish) however you choose to look at it and during the night was up with agonising pains.
So today it is "Nothing!" unless you can advise what to give a giant with an upset tummy

The smallness of our lives

It is certainly interesting to have to get up at 6 a.m. and traipse round to a neighbours to shower. We are having to do this at the moment because we are having our bathroom renovated. It certainly exposes how dependent we are on such things.
In the scheme of things it is small bacon, but it certainly adds a degree of stress.
These things are inordinately slow, there is a degree of coordination about it that is beyond me to fully appreciate, thought it begins with
"Well we think we have tracked down the right size bath" and "We have to do ti before next week because the plumber will be in Kangaroo Island" and "We have to make sure we have the tiler booked...more or less"
And all in all this takes us to the end of September and into October.
Roll on Christmas!

He's arriving soon

Yes, I am sure that you are all aware that he is arriving from the States soon, and Sydney will never be the same.
No, I am not talking about Dubbya (here)who is most certainly on his way here, with an entourage that Rolf Harris would be able to justifiably add to the court of King Caractacus....on the first day of Apec my true love sent to me a George Bush and entourage....750 security, $150K of photographs, a personal chef or three..it all sound like one of the Louis de France
But, no in our house it is the arrival of Zac Efron, sweet faced star of High School Musical 1 & 2 and hit of the new movie Hairspray that will be heralded today.
What must (and does) really frighten political leaders is that in the end young voters will take more notice of Efron than of Howard or Rudd, or even Garrett.
But so far he keeps mum!

Yet to be convinced

I don't get all this stuff about the horse racing industry. {Which incidentally I am not against.}
I don't understand why it is so huge. Personally I only know a handful of people who ever go to the races...even once a year. Maybe two or three handfuls actually bet.
I don't really see how betting (any way) can generate income and produce jobs in antyhing like the way the pokies do.
Racing doesn't seem to me to be anywhere near as big as football or cricket, it doesn't seem to have anything like the popular appeal of music or theatre.
So why are we talking about it (with this equine flu) as though it is one of the major employers, as though it is the backbone of the economy?
Don't get me wrong, I am not saying it shouldn't be dealt with properly. I just want someone to explain. I am (as the title says). Yet to be convinced!

Putting together the broken kite

In the way that you (I) do I had a strange dream last night about trying to put together a broken kite. It was in the midst of a meeting in which I was telling everyone how to solve their problems! These people came to get their kite fixed, but I couldn't even work out how it was supposed to go together, whether we had enough parts; and all the time it was soaking up more and more time from my precious meeting!
Seems pretty straightforward to me!