Have you got round to reading this great novel

This is sometimes said to be both a Chinese curse or a blessing.. may you live in Interesting Times.. personally I am inclined to think it is better to live in interesting times.
It was an interesting week earlier in the year.
A funeral of a friend who died quite quickly. 
I was called to bless a dog that was going to be put down.
Australia is besotted by the centenary of ANZAC at Gallipoli.
The Dr told me my "blood" was OK but I have a B12 deficiency (reading the Wiki entry it seems to describe me to a T)
I read The Narrow Road to the Deep North  an amazing read for Australians intent  on misunderstanding the involvement we had in WW1 & WW2 :Thom Keneally's review here)
I attended one of the many Parish Nomination Committee meetings [I have become  a "professional Diocesan nominator"...and the level of vacancy makes it rather taxing... I take this role very seriously, and I am glad that His Grace seem to do so also] The church is changing, morphing, declining, growing....those things may seem contradictory...but church is rather like that

Interesting times!
In the meantime...I live with an interesting person (my daughter!....lest you forget!) , I married my niece. I visited a jail. And greatest of joys...I went to fix my daughter's shower....and was able to hold the most precious member of our family in my arms. I like that better than anything else (even better than the sound of my own voice!)

Interesting times! Interesting times?
A curse, but most likely,
a blessing

Military Spending

I have been trying to think of something to say about the recent announcement of massive increase in spending for the military. It is difficult to be dispassionate about this, few people are prepared to argue against big military budgets.

But I was reflecting  that it took a while for people to begin to question whether the "stimulus strategy" was the appropriate way to deal with the current economic dilemma. ie. is giving people more money to spend and encouragement to spend it an appropriate strategy to solve a problem that is allegedly brought about   by people overspending!

Is spending more money on military might the best  strategy to end the warring madness of the world?

The dogma that "The price of peace is eternal vigilance" is so unquestioned that it stands more as a testament to our paranoia than our political astuteness.

We think that unless we have a big gun to frighten (probably) the Chinese that they will be down upon us. 

But I would wish to note that I don't see the Chinese queuing up to rape New Zealand, which has adopted a much less strident military policy than our own.

My great sadness is the inordinate amount of money that military equipment, (everything now measured in millions and billions) is glossed over so easily. Yet when we talk about education, health, refugees, third world aid and so on every single drop has to be squeezed out.

(POST 995)