A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort.
- Herm Albright
Never face facts; if you do, you'll never get up in the morning.
- Marlo Thomas
The average man, who does not know what to do with his life, wants another one which will last forever.
- Anatole France
There he had built his stolen shack.
It had to be a stolen shack
Because of the fears of fire and logs
That trouble the sleep of lumber folk:
Visions of half the world burned black
And the sun shrunken yellow in smoke.
We know who when they come to town
Bring berries under the wagon seat,
Or a basket of eggs between their feet;
What this man brought in a cotton sack
Was gum, the gum of the mountain spruce.
He showed me lumps of the scented stuff
Like uncut jewels, dull and rough
It comes to market golden brown;
But turns to pink between the teeth.
I told him this is a pleasant life
To set your breast to the bark of trees
That all your days are dim beneath,
And reaching up with a little knife,
To loose the resin and take it down
And bring it to market when you please.
The Gum Gatherer. Robert Frost.
Fearful, faithful, lost in the shadows, neglected by the others, there was nonetheless hope, as he crinched himself forward. We weren't sorry about what had happened. We weren't even truly aware of the commitments we had made. He was prepared to deal with a brighter future, but kept destroying opportunities as they approached. He was uncertain of his whereabouts. Every put down by the wide wide world cut him to the quick. He saw the house of his forebears. It was significantly over rated, this life. He looked at ordinary people with astonishment. He didn't understand how they held themselves together, everything was motivated. He couldn't understand why they weren't on the side walks, screaming.
Thieves huddled on street corners, planning what to do with the proceeds of their morning efforts. He had lost heart, lost love. They wouldn't be riding around the corner, soldiers, saviours. He couldn't believe he was suddenly old. Where had it all gone, life vanished? You hear the oddest conversations around here, beloved Redfern. He was walking past a ragged group near the methadone clinic. A large aboriginal woman was talking: "My 15-month-old son was breast feeding when I dropped him. The c... died in my lap." He looked back, deciphering the sentences. What did that woman say? The c... died in my lap. Lovely. They're so dysfunctional; and have no idea. Everyone around them is the same.
We were in shadows, shadowed; and he was uncertain; and not just of his whereabouts. There was always boasting and competition. I suppose you're property hasn't gone up in value at all? he asked, sneering. And he explained how it might have increased in value by about $20,000, judging from other prices being asked in the village. What was this shadows, this confusion. The c... died in my lap. Piss off dickwad, a woman shouts, as a hopeless looking bloke mucks around, pretending to make a grab for her bag. He could hear the shouted arrangements for them to meet afterwards. After she had scored. He couldn't do it because he had already robbed alleged dealer, something like that. These streets. This hopelessness. It was everywhere.
And amongst the welfare dependent, it was virtually encouraged by the government. None of them had to get up and go to work. None of them were just living quietly on the pension. Everyone is concerned that the welfare dependent are outstripping the people who are working. How can the nation afford this? They were settled into their neat despair. Houses were locked down. Police cruised the streets. These appalling stories were just grist to the mill. He saw the difference between public housing and the private dwellings. They breed like rabbits, a rich man said dismissively. And there's just so many of them.
A kid at foot and a kid behind, one in the belly and one on the hip. They breed like rabbits that's for sure, as the welfare dollars pile in. As the boyfriend sneaks off to work. As everyone is engaged in feeling sorry for the country's most vulnerable, a massive industry built around them. Once he had wanted to make life better for the poor and disenchanted. But the government had taken over all the philanthropic roles, dishing out money and counselling and guidance, until there was nothing left for the churches and the voluntary organisations to do. The left had distorted all the normal functioning. The right had joined in the free for all, buying votes. ZHis conscience was free, but bewildered.
Everything he had ever believed in had turned out to be false. Shadows flickered across the screen. Dickwad, she turned around and shouted again. He was just laughing, they were always laughing off insults and failures, particularly when it came to their women folk. There weren't any shadows, just over lit glare from a harsh sky. Bright boxes. Empty rooms. The c... died in my lap. Did she look upset, scarred by this terrible experience of watching her toddler son die after she had dropped him. Must have been quite a drop. On the head. She was probably off her lolly. They always were when these sort of things happened. Make way for the hero, he thought, as he flickered by. Nothing will be resolved. None of you will be saved. All is negligence and chaos; and in these lives you have created for yourselves nothing but absolution in moments of oblivion, wiping clean their conscience.
THE BIGGER STORY:
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5ilTtTsbBw_Uh91fH-Mcdj_EgneRg
BEIJING (AFP) — World leaders have vowed to overhaul the global financial system in the face of recession fears, but US President George W. Bush urged nations to "recommit" to free markets despite economic turmoil.
After a week of growing economic gloom and plunging stock markets, Asian and European leaders meeting in Beijing promised Saturday wide-ranging reforms while UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon also called for quick change.
"Leaders pledged to undertake effective and comprehensive reform of the international monetary and financial systems," the 40-member Asia Europe Meeting (ASEM) said in a statement released late Friday.
"They agreed to take quickly appropriate initiatives in this respect, in consultation with all stakeholders and the relevant international financial institutions."
China's Premier Wen Jiabao called for more regulation of the world's financial system , saying after the summit "we need to draw lessons from this crisis."
"We need financial innovation to serve the economy better, however we need even more financial regulation to ensure financial safety."
Wen confirmed China's participation in a crucial summit in the United States on November 15 aimed at tackling the financial meltdown, without specifying which Chinese leader would attend the meeting of 20 industrialised and emerging powers.
The economic turmoil has led to growing criticism of US-style free market capitalism, with French President Nicolas Sarkozy earlier this week saying "the ideology of the dictatorship of the market... is dead."
But Bush on Saturday, moving to set an agenda for the upcoming international economic summit, said its participants must "recommit" to the principles of free enterprise and free trade.
"As we focus on responses to our short-term challenges, our nations must also recommit to the fundamentals of long-term economic growth -- free markets, free enterprise, and free trade," Bush said in his weekly radio address.
The US president, who leaves office in January, added that "open market policies have lifted standards of living and helped millions of people around the world escape the grip of poverty."
http://www.climatechangefraud.com/content/view/2580/252/
Most people almost instinctually try their best to be responsible stewards of this earth’s valuable natural resources. But the abrasive approach and militant tactics of many who fill the ranks of the environmentally conscious have led me to believe that the movement has gradually devolved into a kind of Religion. In fact, if we look closely at some of the social initiatives and assorted orbiting causes that are championed by the so called “green movement”, one may discern some eerie similarities with some less well organized religions.
I received confirmation of my suspicions that this Religion had become a widespread phenomenon only a few days ago, when I witnessed what surely must have been one of its disciples indignantly refusing a plastic bag from a grocer who kindly offered to bag her purchases. The customer seemed horrified that this clueless shop owner had not been duly briefed on how plastic bags are a known contributor to the destruction of our fragile planet. This was followed by an even sterner reprimand to the callous philistine for being so blissfully out of touch with the widely accepted new creed.
Upon closer examination, I realized that - like any other self respecting Religion - the necessary building blocks and quasi-spiritual tenets that ensure its survival are also present in this well entrenched belief system.
There is, for example, Mother Earth, the Religion’s primary object of devotion, sometimes also referred to as Mother Nature. According to garden variety environmentalists, this God must be worshiped and respected. The more hard core adherents believe that it should also be feared, for it is a rather unpredictable deity which indiscriminately indulges its thirst for wholesale revenge; ergo the standard compulsory tithes (or sacrifices) to appease its rather capricious wrath.
These tithes usually take the form of carbon offsets, veiled pecuniary fines for the unrepentant souls who insist on purchasing SUV’s and don’t follow the prescribed emission standards, the purchase of energy efficient light fixtures, and even compulsory dietary regulations for the newly initiated, to name a few. On occasion one finds followers like Dave Chameides - what one may call a true believer, presently residing in Los Angeles - whose devotion extends to storing garbage in his house to protect the eco-system.
This Religion also boasts of a collectively agreed upon narrative that those claiming fidelity are encouraged to learn and propagate. This narrative speaks of a hope of man’s future atonement for the sin of pollution against mother earth, and contains specific doctrines which, when properly followed, offer a return to the pristine form nature once possessed prior to humanity’s entry into the scene. Conversely if these doctrines are ignored, the narrative renders its respective vision of apocalypse, should remedial action and repentance not be soon forthcoming. The evils of famine, Global Warming, wars and rumors of wars, are but mere preemptory signs pointing to this final judgment.
Naturally, this Religion is not bereft of a divine mission to indoctrinate the unwashed masses. Albeit pursued by different denominations, they all share an equal affinity for a common worldview that essentially brands humanity as the enemy.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/free-icecream-on-the-day-hotel-addressed-the-stink/2008/10/26/1224955853325.html
ON THE day the Coogee Bay Hotel stood accused of serving gelato contaminated with human faeces, it made a novel offer to its patrons yesterday: free ice-cream.
It may have won the Australian Hotels Association's hotel of the year award in 2005 and 2006, but yesterday the sprawling beachside pub - in the suburb local Aborigines knew as Koojah, meaning "stinking place" - was fighting for its reputation.
Stephen and Jessica Whyte and their sons had been at the hotel more than three weeks ago to watch the NRL grand final. After complaining about several issues to management, staff offered them a complimentary bowl of ice-cream as a conciliatory gesture.
Mrs Whyte says that when she took a spoonful and put it to her lips, she knew she was getting more than gelato and became violently ill. She spat the contents into a napkin her family later sent to the National Measurements Institute, which found it had "properties similar to human excreta".
"It doesn't take much to join the dots," said the family's lawyer, Steven Lewis, who yesterday said the family contacted him on Friday after giving up trying to deal with the hotel.
After extensive stories about the incident appeared in both Sunday papers, the hotel called a media conference, in which its general manager, Tony Williams, read a statement but would not answer questions because it was "a serious legal issue".
"If indeed this allegation is proved to have occurred, we believe it must have been some form of sabotage," he said.
Whether yesterday's ice-cream was an attempt to calm a horrified public or was a regular practice was unclear, as the hotel would not answer questions.
The statement said that when the claim was first made, the hotel "immediately stopped service of the product, quarantined the product and began conducting an internal review to assess whether there was any further evidence of contamination, such as that claimed by the Whytes. There was not.
"We also tried to maintain open lines of communication with the Whytes. However, our discussions ultimately broke down … if we did not pay them up to $1 million."
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