Friends like Wilson

Poor old Malcolm! With friends like Wilson who needs.......well, enemies. Though perhaps Wilson acts like an enema and gives the good Mr Turnbull the s*%$#s

The world of fantasy

Tomorrow is St Mary Magdalene's Day. For some reason she seems to fascinate people. Dan Brown based much of his "Da Vinci Code" around the myth of this Mary. And the story is (it seems to me) largely mythical...it is the fantasy of knights and medieval Europe and the misplaced romanticism of the 19th century.
In that story Mary Magdalene marries Jesus (who according to the myth did not die on the Cross but was taken down and went on to live happily ever after with Mary who bore their children). Their offspring become the secret descendants of a miraculous ruling dynasty, which has continued to this day...but yet is unknown to all but a few initiates.
Brown wrote a work of fiction around it, and it's a good romp.
But, like much romanticism, it rather sacrifices the depth of a relationship for the sake of a good romp. Never let the truth get in the way of a good story.
We don't know a lot about anyone in the New Testament, and often it is jumbled.
To Mary Magdalene accrued all sorts of things, it seemed that almost everything that happened to a woman (other than Jesus's mother) in the Gospels attached itself to Mary of Magdala.
So she is sometimes thought to be the Mary of 'Mary and Martha' fame, she is the woman caught in adultery to whom Jesus says "go and sin no more", she is the woman out of whom Jesus cast secen demons. She is said to be a reformed prostitute. Why she should be all of these things I don't know.
But the most telling story, and undoubtedly most authentic one because she is mentioned quite explicitly and in a developed way, is her involvement with Jesus at the Cross and at the tomb. Mary is the first to encounter the risen Jesus, a fact that male centred religion often overlooks, she is the first person to whom the Jesus speaks. This delightful picture by Richard Stodart shows her holding an egg, the symbol of the resurrection.
To me, what is important about Mary is nott he Davinci Code nonsense, it is that the risen Jesus calls her by name. Mary. And that personal dealing with her reminds us that God speaks our name and gives us life.
What ever may accrete to her, this resurrection symbolism, that the risen Jesus speaks our name and brings us new life is the important stuff

First Food

Many of you will not know that the first food consumed on the moon was the Holy Communion. Buzz Aldrin took with him the bread and wine to share in Holy Communion. To those non-Christians this will seem fanciful perhaps, to those of us who week by week encounter God really close to us in that sacrament it has a powerful and rich meaning. Of our common humanity, and our common God..
There's a link here on Bosco's site http://www.liturgy.co.nz/blog/communion-moon-anniversary/1210

Post-Lodge (or as we say in Magyar...Fodge Lodge)

Can't help but think that if we are reliant upon the appeal to eccentricity (Catholics are basically barmy but harmless) or that we need to do better than the Prots (evangelicals are wily) or that we should appeal to the past (remember the saints lived long ago and they were fantastic) then we are STUFFED with a capital 'S"

Go Poh

Masterchef has captured the current imagination (see a local blogger here for example). I like everyone else was pleased to see Chris lose last night (perhaps unfairly?), but look forward to the great challenge between South Aussie Poh and her contender the lovely homely Julie.
Both creative and imaginative, but Poh's artistic flair must surely give her the edge.

Off to Lodge!

Some people will be surprised to find that some Anglicans think of themselves as Catholic rather than Protestant. In a world that alleges tolerance of everything I have always been aware that those of us who think of ourselves that way have been regarded suspiciously by others, and often treated intolerantly...in the name of tolerance you are not allowed to be partisan.
This afternoon some of us are gathering together to talk about this. I am not a great "joiner" these days and will not join something which is going to serve no useful purpose other than to soak up a lot of time. We shgall see how this new 'lodge' looks...The Society of Catholic Priests

Isobel Redmond

I would not be new SA Liberal Leader, Isabel Redmond, for quids. It is clear that the local media is determined to not show her any fear or favour. I suspect this is justified on the basis that if she is a woman who wants to be treated equally then she should be treated roughly.
Also if she is inexperienced then she should not be shown any preference. The media hacks just can't help themselves. I personally thought that Matt and Dave almost wet themselves at the thought of hoeing into a new political target. Ian Henschke on Stateline bordered on the rude, and concluded his gruelling with .,.."Isobel the honeymoon is over!"
It is indeed!.
I hope she continues to demonstrate that she is well able to cope with the "steep learning curve"; that she is not distracted by the establishment in-fighting that has so bedevilled the Liberal Party for the last 40 years; that she is image-wise but not seduced by the image makers and that she continues to rebuke the shallowness of reporters who will only care what colour blouse she was wearing with what colour suit.
Let's hope for something better.

Peter Garrett- a bit sad

I guess there will be many who will note the irony of Peter Garrett approving the latest SA uranium mine.
Wednesday's editorial in The Advertiser patronisingly suggests that he has grown up!
It still begs all sorts of questions. (which I have suggested in various blog entries ever since he succumbed to political ambition).
I don't really think that we have had proper debate about nuclear energy in this country.
We sidestep the question of whether we can sell our uranium to almost all comers whilst claiming some sort of moral high ground in not looking seriously at whether or not we should be moving in that direction ourselves.
This is not to say that we do not have a similar dilemma with coal. Victims, like everyone else, of global warming ourselves we don't seem to be able to extricate ourselves from our exploitation of coal. Either for export or our own use. These things of course are not straightforward, and can't be done overnight.
I am open to being convinced that safe nuclear energy might be the way to go. But to be convinced we need to have robust and very public discussion. I don't think we are having or have had it.
People like Garrett who have capitulated looks as though they have given in to political expediency (and maybe for good reason). This only makes them look foolish because the reasoning does not seem to have been aired. I suspect Garrett has done better than that, but he is havign trouble getting the message out.

I'll be there... but hopefully for the last time

By the time you read this we will just be about to see the next Harry Potter movie. To be sure some people just don't get it, but those of you who do will know what the hype is all about.
In our house various ones of us have been watching all the previous moview, and I must admit I have started re-reading the book. I don't know whether I will finish it in time. (When I saw Catch22 way back in the 70s I was still carrying the book into the cinema with me and finished the last page as the lights dimmed!) I have already read The Half Blood Prince so it is only a question of refreshing.
They are, I suggest, eminently forgettable. Light entertainment, and there is nothing wrong with that.
There is still one more moviw to make, and then enough will enough. By that time Dan and Rupert will probably be in their early 30s.....they seem to have grown up a lot since the Prisoner of Azkaban.
I hope you all enjoy it. I am sure I will

Polls, polls and damned statistics. Or The demise of Malcolm Turnbull

I still remain committed to the idea that Malcolm Turnbull will tire of the political game playing. In reality it takes too much energy to master the polls and the statistics and this constantly detracts from the important stuff. Yesterday's polls in The Australian (see full article here) show only slight improvement in his standing as preferred Prime Minister. Coming off a very low base it would be hard to get any worse.
What is perhaps more disconcerting is that Peter Costello is still seen by more Liberals as a preferable leader despite the fact that he has disqualified himself and is on the way out. Similarly laughing Joe Hockey, who also says he is not in the running. The desperate cries (or perhaps "sighs") of the Abbots and the Pynes become less and less convincing; they two are very ambitious people and I swear I will scream if I hear Pyne say yet one more time "All I want to do is to serve the electorate of Sturt"
I guess Malcolm is a big boy and will know when enough is enough. Till then it is all a bit sad.

Andrew Southcott-blah! blah!

What passes for federal Opposition these days seems to be talking down anything that the Government days. Trucking magnate, Lindsay Fox, is looking to repeat a trick he did in the days of 'the recession we had to have' (see here) which is to try and encourage relctant employers to defeat the unemployment temptation. This is not only economics but is also about confidence and reassurance, which Fox has in abundance. Basically the roadshow, former union boss Bill Kelty, Fox and others will try to talk this up.

As far as I can tell, this laudable suggestion (remarkably successful in former times) is surely worth ago. At least Fox thinks so.

The Opposition's response? Surprise! Surprise! Only criticism and political nay-saying from Opposition Participation spokesperson Andrew Southcott.

It is not a good look. Better by far to throw yourself in and make the program better than to whine and flap about like a wet fish, saying "This will never work!"

As I say, this is as much about confidence as anything. Less of the gameplaying, more of the statesmanship, leadreship and initiative.

Mr Money

Anthony Keane,the erudite Money Editor both local and
national for the Murdoch Press wrote yesterday reflecting on advice given to him
when he was about to be married fifteen years ago.
He was a bit dismissive about marriage preparation courses I thought.I wrote to the Advertiser:

Your Money Editor, Anthony Keane, while discussing competing investment strategies presented to him when he was preparing to get married in 1995, seems to bemoan that one such strategy was that the priest "ordered" him to undertake a marriage preparation course.
I note that that advice seems to have worked since by his own admission he is well
and prosperouslymarried.
Perhaps he could use his prodigious talent to write one of his excellent articles illuminating the fact that not all "investments" are about money or property.
And I deny that I "ordered" him
to do anything.

(And indeed note the wedding ring on his finger in this photo!!)