B'H
I received a message the other day which I saw just yesterday. It was from a man calling himself Daniel Clancy on the 14th of November. It goes like this:
"You are a disgusting bigot, and I will be calling the Victorian department of Education to demand that you be sacked."
What is interesting is when you look at the definition of a bigot, I fit into some of it, but as for calling for hatred and intolerance of members of the Gay and Lesbian communities, I do not.
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bigot
I do say, that I am not a supporter of same sex marriage, I do say I am not in favour of lesbian or homosexual lifestyles being touted as 'normal' because I believe they are not. I do not advocate in any way violence, discrimination or hatred against homosexuals. I just do not. It is not in my nature to hate another person. I might dislike their lifestyle and their views but them personally, no. I can thankfully, separate the person from his or her views.
What Daniel Clancy wrote to me is mild compared to what Michael Barnett of Aleph has written about me, a lot of which is patently untrue or slanderous. Michael is so lucky I am penniless and cannot engage a decent lawyer because what he has written about me is vile and damaging to my reputation and person. I also get these anonymous crowd who have over the past year or so promised
1. to have me raped with instruments not normally used even by gynocologists to the point of death because such a wicked evil homophobic person as myself does not deserve to live'
2. to have my head smashed in
3. to have my son raped in front of me and that is low, because he is a child and it shows their level of depravity and hatred
4. Told that such a person as myself should never have had the nerve to teach in schools because I would damage countless numbers of gay children because I would discriminate against them and cause them to commit suicide. That one, just after promising to anally rape my child in front of me. The irony of that one was not lost on me.
Let me tell you that this sort of abuse constitutes what is pure and outright bully behaviour, whether it is done to a gay or straight person. I can disagree with a person's views, have them at my table, work with them and socialise to some degree with them. In fact, I had even invited an old associate of Michael Barnett's to my Shabbat table, but she never returned my call or even bothered to pick up a phone to say just hi. You see, I don't have a problem with gay or homosexual people. Some of them have the problem with me, because I am simply one of these people who refuses to be bullied into acquiesing to their view that two men or two women should be allowed to marry. I say 'No'. simply honestly and without hatred or malice. I just do not believe it is appropriate for two men or two women to get married. I believe it is rite of passage for a man and a woman who are going to create a family with Hashem's blessing and they will procreate and have children. If that means I am a religious bigot, then so I will wear the title gladly and with 'straight' pride.
Look I have been refused employment in quite a number of Christian Schools because I do not subscribe to a 'Christian World view'. I respect their right to choose who they want to employ in their schools. By the same token, they respect my right to never want to work in a Christian school even if I was starving and in dire need. I would rather die of starvation than subscribe to a Christian world view because it is contrary to my Jewish world view. That is me. I like my faith. I will not become a Christian, a Muslim or a Buddhist for any money or any sustanenance or whatever reason. We are told that it is better to face our Creator than to renounce our Jewish faith. And so it will be.
I have received more hate mail with regard to my view on this than I think is warranted, but I am glad that I can speak out, because anyone else who thinks what I say, is met with a barrage of hate from the gay and lesbian community that beggars belief. I don't hate anyone. I don't accept that it is right to hate people. However no bully, Gay or Straight will get me to change my views. They will stand and people do have a right to voice views that do not call for discrimination against a group, but simply supports the notion that a certain rite is not right for this group.
Do I want to go and pray five times a day and do a Haj despite not being a Muslim. Do I want a statue of Buddha in my house? Do I want to eat pork chops? No. I am a Jew and for me it is forbidden.
On this note, if you have the impression that my views are simply a mirror reflection of common views held in the Orthodox Jewish community, they are not. They are my views and my views alone. I take full responsibility for them. That is why I state that I am a convert and it is for this reason I do so, so the broader Jewish community is not tarred because of my views which are considered extreme by many. Yes, I am an extremist. I believe these times call for extremist views to separate between what is holy and right and what is profane and wrong. But while I may end up sacrificing my life for my beliefs and faith, I will not be instrumental in bringing harm to others. You see I respect life and people. I believe the creator created us all with infinite mercy and love. We are all here a purpose. In my life I have had a few accidents and suffered a bit of pain here and there, more than most people. I have the scars both emotional and physical to prove it. I thank Hashem for entrusting me with those scars and that pain. It has made me a stronger person. A person who is not weak in the face of hardship or pain.
Once when I was around 18 I went to someone who was a palm reader and tea cup reader. She read my palm and cried. I asked her why. She did not want to tell me. She said I would have an interesting life and had the possibility to have quite a few children (on that she was wrong) and she said I would not marry until I was in my late thirties or early forties, but could have at least six children. However she was right about other things that she told me. The only thing she did tell me with urging was that I would have a very ugly death, but that my death would save others. Interesting. I hope, only at the end to be able to recite clearly the Shema Israel prayer and then I know my purpose in this world is finished until ....
I am a religious bigot and I will wear the title with pride because it is better to have a belief system and to live by it truthfully than to live profanely in a corrupted world. The greatest evil is caused by those who stand by and watch wrong actions and harm caused to others and do nothing.
Monday, December 10, 2012
Sunday, December 9, 2012
BeyondBlue founder is Beyond TRUE
Just when I thought Jeff Kennett was mellowing, developing some maturity and compassion, he comes out with some ridiculous statement about not blaming these two 'fragile' wannabe radio personalities. They are blameless, apparently, for the suicide of a nurse in the UK after she was publicly humiliated by them on an international scale and held up to ridicule through their inane bad taste 'prank'. She probably felt that she had no where to turn and nowhere to hide. "Oh, there goes that idiot nurse! You know, the one those two dumb cluck Aussie radio announcers took the mickey out of." she could probably imagine them saying.
She, who by all accounts, was a dedicated and competent professional who in the course of her career had contributed to the well being of many in society, was psychologically destroyed by these two vicious, brazen dickheads who have contributed nothing, but a bit of sick humour to those dumbed down enough to listen to such trash. Their so called 'humour' had no purpose but to denigrate and destroy others. It is not even good satire. Andrew Bolt also joins the fray. 'Lets not be hypocritical', he brays like a donkey with a motorised voice box. Andrew with all due respect, you need to take a reality check and look at the facts.
However, lets read between the lines and see what the real issues are here. They are ethics, sensitive and empathetic behaviour, respecting the privacy of others and above all, what is good humour and good comedy. I heard the cackle of those two morons and frankly I have raised Isa Brown hens with more intelligence and humour than those two displayed in their short radio careers.
On the issue of ethical behaviour, you need to accept that as a public broadcaster you have a responsibility to the general public. What is that responsibility and what is not crossing the line? You think before you open the hole in the middle of your face and spout on with wheels spinning in the mental sand.
Can you imagine them making fun of say a Muslim head of state and one of his family commits suicide? Well, no they would not do that. Why NOT? Too many petro dollars involved and also nasty buggers, those guys. They will start to burn down embassies and riot. In fact, they would want to be hiding out for life, if they had dared had the gall to take on the Mohammedans. Sometimes, in the interests of good taste, we should be more proactive and perhaps we should not be so lay back and we should start putting definite guidelines down. Can they escape from what they have done? No and they should not. They should remember it and beware the rest of their lives. They will be better human beings for it.
I listened to the head of the here 2day and gone 2morrow it appears, Radio show, Rhys drowning in hubris and trying to make excuses for his radio station was pitiful. He did not want to take responsibility for any of the hurt caused by his presenters. Instead he tried to downplay the incident and defers blame onto the victim. Bad move, Rhys. The fact is that your radio station is a vile juvenile bad taste station that specialises in nasty jokes that humiliate and degrade others. Is this what good radio is about?
I am a fan of Andrew Denton. Now there is a good radio host with humour that is biting and satirical. He and Derryn Hinch, both very different, are what I call good radio presenters. Andrew is funny. He used to be on the breakfast show in Sydney in 2002. He and his female co-host used to brighten my mornings with real humour and their satire was funny. They poked fun at themselves, politicians and any who deserved it. They did not have to pick on the average hard working nurse or teacher or police officer or other public servant unless they were in parliament to ridicule.
The world should take note that these two are not 'normal' Australians, we would hope.
She, who by all accounts, was a dedicated and competent professional who in the course of her career had contributed to the well being of many in society, was psychologically destroyed by these two vicious, brazen dickheads who have contributed nothing, but a bit of sick humour to those dumbed down enough to listen to such trash. Their so called 'humour' had no purpose but to denigrate and destroy others. It is not even good satire. Andrew Bolt also joins the fray. 'Lets not be hypocritical', he brays like a donkey with a motorised voice box. Andrew with all due respect, you need to take a reality check and look at the facts.
However, lets read between the lines and see what the real issues are here. They are ethics, sensitive and empathetic behaviour, respecting the privacy of others and above all, what is good humour and good comedy. I heard the cackle of those two morons and frankly I have raised Isa Brown hens with more intelligence and humour than those two displayed in their short radio careers.
On the issue of ethical behaviour, you need to accept that as a public broadcaster you have a responsibility to the general public. What is that responsibility and what is not crossing the line? You think before you open the hole in the middle of your face and spout on with wheels spinning in the mental sand.
Can you imagine them making fun of say a Muslim head of state and one of his family commits suicide? Well, no they would not do that. Why NOT? Too many petro dollars involved and also nasty buggers, those guys. They will start to burn down embassies and riot. In fact, they would want to be hiding out for life, if they had dared had the gall to take on the Mohammedans. Sometimes, in the interests of good taste, we should be more proactive and perhaps we should not be so lay back and we should start putting definite guidelines down. Can they escape from what they have done? No and they should not. They should remember it and beware the rest of their lives. They will be better human beings for it.
I listened to the head of the here 2day and gone 2morrow it appears, Radio show, Rhys drowning in hubris and trying to make excuses for his radio station was pitiful. He did not want to take responsibility for any of the hurt caused by his presenters. Instead he tried to downplay the incident and defers blame onto the victim. Bad move, Rhys. The fact is that your radio station is a vile juvenile bad taste station that specialises in nasty jokes that humiliate and degrade others. Is this what good radio is about?
I am a fan of Andrew Denton. Now there is a good radio host with humour that is biting and satirical. He and Derryn Hinch, both very different, are what I call good radio presenters. Andrew is funny. He used to be on the breakfast show in Sydney in 2002. He and his female co-host used to brighten my mornings with real humour and their satire was funny. They poked fun at themselves, politicians and any who deserved it. They did not have to pick on the average hard working nurse or teacher or police officer or other public servant unless they were in parliament to ridicule.
The world should take note that these two are not 'normal' Australians, we would hope.
Bushland ballads
Far in bushland, away from the loud light
Of street illuminations and the city night,
Under a dark blanket sprinkled with pinprick sparks
That blaze tiny glows deep into the outer reaches, stark
Of a universe without ending,
Only a continual beginning, a sound
That booms infinitely on
Into night to day that changes around
We are a grain held in sand cupped in a hand
Of the ancient Holy One, poured out and in again
Through the dimensions of space - place and time meeting.
The flames burst forth, a warm glow, rich and alive
On a solid menorah of metal bound, silver or gold,
The oil, fruit of a hardy tree, flares up from glass cups, their blaze strives
To bring light as truth shining into this long night of thievery and injustice.
So far removed from dead pines cut and transported on trucks,
To houses where they stand in crepe covered buckets, spun with tinsel strings
Plastic fairies or angels perched at their peaks,
Like the idols of old along with coloured balls that tend to break
Into dangerous shards able to tear tender flesh.
Children are told over and over
Of a white bearded fat man wearing a red suit
Come rain, hail, summer heat or sleet
Who travels in a sky sled around the world in one night,
Defining good and evil in each child
Through the parents’ sight
A metaphor for justice who gives
To the worthy; to those wanting, each in their measure
For you there is the cat’o’nine tails and you there is treasure
A cunning device built on a scale for ancient myths
To explain the unexplainable.
Under this dead symbol of living, are placed temporary tokens
Of esteem and good will just for the day
When families gather to gobble ham bone and roasts lashed with gravy, gluttony reigns
Beer and sherry abundant for adults, soft drink or shandies for children
Who compare gifts and judge the givers’ worth
On a family stock market
Where affection is measured on the scale of each dollar spent
And means a rise or fall in the affections bank.
To finish with wine trifle, size up the family members
Store away thoughtless remarks to stew angrily over the year
Berate your children that they do not become
like stinky older uncles who sit in offices all day.
‘you are just like him. You will never get married.
Don’t eat too much ice cream. See, you have a fat bottom already.
All he does is watch birds all day.
Here give him some deodorant soap and spray.
Wrap it well. Be sure to put “enjoy in good health”
Neatly inside the card. Your best writing now.’
Or uncles with corks attached to battered hats,
Who play real stock markets and guzzle beer
Married to an interesting aunt in tight leopard skin who slithers
Her thigh next to your father’s leg and looks up into his eyes
With an inviting look and loud laugh
That he does not see and only half hears,
Intent on discussing livestock markets with his older half brother,
He is busy with next year’s sheep and cattle prices
Besides he is already well married to your mother
In a contract so binding he would not look at another,
Thus she preens for another brother, Jezebel
With a ring that sparkles for naught.
The tree is thrown out and another cut next year.
Paper litters the carpet and is gathered and sorted,
The torn for the bin and the whole folded and kept for birthdays and another year.
The day is swept away for another twelve months.
However in another space,
The menorah is used for eight days, a flame that brings redemption
Is lit each day to increase, one by one until eight is reached.
Dreidels are played and gelt given, latkes fried in oil enjoyed,
Children laugh and sing in that warm glow.
Then after the eighth day, the menorah is cleaned and packed away.
The sight of the flame held within, a hope, a pinprick of light holds tight against the night,
That yearns for a better day to dawn, when all men will join together
To form a holy alliance of true peace
To recognize One as G-D of justice and truth
Then will they put aside the tinsel, plastic angels and cards
The yearly rite of a shallow generosity
To take on a whole creed that requires
Daily attendance and reckonings,
Not just annually.
Word Power
B"h
Words have enormous impact. They can wound and destroy people more quickly and more viciously than any physical battering will. Words can permanently (if allowed) impact the way a child or adult thinks and perceives themselves. There are some who like to destroy others through their use of words, slander and stories or just to have a bit of 'harmless fun' at the expense of someone else. Judaism takes the feelings of another person very seriously and through out the whole of Pekai Avot we are given more than subtle hints about how serious offending or wounding someone else is taken. A person who makes another's face white with shame, is likened to a murderer. A murderer murders more than just the person, but that person's whole line of descendants. They murder a world.
Just recently we have two irresponsible young people who directly or indirectly cause the death of another person by the flippant way they used their power as radio announcers and programmers to make a joke. It was no joke and to be honest, I personally thought it was pretty tacky and an invasion of the privacy of the young royals. So the Duchess of Cambridge has severe morning sickness that necessitated a visit to hospital. For goodness sake, leave her alone and Prince William. She is pregnant and let her and Wills enjoy this time together and have some privacy. It is actually disgusting that two members of the royal family cannot have a bit of peace and quiet at this time, without the press poking their noses into every corner of the Royals lives. Who would want to know all this personal stuff any how?
But if reporters go through the garbage of stars, then anything is possible.
However what appals me is the indecent obsession of mental health professionals with these two radio announcers and their 'fragility' because of the suicide of the nurse. It is almost as if they are blaming the nurse and trying to say that she was 'overly sensitive and had other issues'. To be honest, who really cares. So what if she did? The behaviour of these two radio personnel was utterly appalling and they obviously are not responsible enough to be on radio.
Now I do admire and always have admired Derryn Hinch. The guy is a person who uses and used his power as a public personality to effect good. He also named a paedophile on the radio and good on him. It is about time we stood up for our kids and the victims. Derryn went to jail to protect young people from a predator. We all need to take the protection of children against sex abuse or molestation extremely seriously. These sorts of people do not change. They have unnatural appetites that they may suppress but as they get older it is often harder for them to curb the desires. They do enormous damage to the psyche of those they abuse.
Now I see a heap of articles blaming the nurse for her suicide.
http://www.theage.com.au/national/time-to-do-more-than-just-talk-about-radio-standards-20121209-2b3nk.html#poll
And of course Jeff Kennett the great supporter and patron of BeyondBlue
http://media.theage.com.au/news/national-news/radio-hosts-deserve-our-support-3875883.html
calls this 'prank' harmless. It was anything but 'harmless' and it is disgusting that he is meant to be a patron of this body and comes out downplaying their actions. No, Jeff Kennett, real honest to goodness maturity means facing up to what has been done and knowing the difference between tasteless joking and harmful jokes as opposed to jokes in good fun. It is a good idea to get the permission of the persons on these tapes before they publicly humiliate them by airing a conversation that makes said member of the public look ridiculoous and shows them up to be 'incompetent and unprofessional' despite a previous history of caring and diligence.
Yes, this incident may have been the last straw. Who knows and does it really matter? She sounds as though she was a very kind and diligent person. She was in a healing profession and genuinely cared for people. That is something we cannot get two shallow, spur of the moment idiots who yabber, yabber on about anything radio show, to understand. They were too busy trying (being the operative word) to be funny, because they were too egocentric and too busy concerned about how they would look to others. They did not care about other people and still don't probably. Selfish idiots. Let them eat the dirt and stones they created for themselves.
DO THEY DESERVE ONE MINUTE OF OUR TIME AND SYMPATHY?????
NO, NO, NO!!
I am saving it for the family of the nurse and the two children left without a mother. Let these other two selfish gits do some volunteer work and community service in hospitals until they can understand what it means to really care about others.
Words have enormous impact. They can wound and destroy people more quickly and more viciously than any physical battering will. Words can permanently (if allowed) impact the way a child or adult thinks and perceives themselves. There are some who like to destroy others through their use of words, slander and stories or just to have a bit of 'harmless fun' at the expense of someone else. Judaism takes the feelings of another person very seriously and through out the whole of Pekai Avot we are given more than subtle hints about how serious offending or wounding someone else is taken. A person who makes another's face white with shame, is likened to a murderer. A murderer murders more than just the person, but that person's whole line of descendants. They murder a world.
Just recently we have two irresponsible young people who directly or indirectly cause the death of another person by the flippant way they used their power as radio announcers and programmers to make a joke. It was no joke and to be honest, I personally thought it was pretty tacky and an invasion of the privacy of the young royals. So the Duchess of Cambridge has severe morning sickness that necessitated a visit to hospital. For goodness sake, leave her alone and Prince William. She is pregnant and let her and Wills enjoy this time together and have some privacy. It is actually disgusting that two members of the royal family cannot have a bit of peace and quiet at this time, without the press poking their noses into every corner of the Royals lives. Who would want to know all this personal stuff any how?
But if reporters go through the garbage of stars, then anything is possible.
However what appals me is the indecent obsession of mental health professionals with these two radio announcers and their 'fragility' because of the suicide of the nurse. It is almost as if they are blaming the nurse and trying to say that she was 'overly sensitive and had other issues'. To be honest, who really cares. So what if she did? The behaviour of these two radio personnel was utterly appalling and they obviously are not responsible enough to be on radio.
Now I do admire and always have admired Derryn Hinch. The guy is a person who uses and used his power as a public personality to effect good. He also named a paedophile on the radio and good on him. It is about time we stood up for our kids and the victims. Derryn went to jail to protect young people from a predator. We all need to take the protection of children against sex abuse or molestation extremely seriously. These sorts of people do not change. They have unnatural appetites that they may suppress but as they get older it is often harder for them to curb the desires. They do enormous damage to the psyche of those they abuse.
Now I see a heap of articles blaming the nurse for her suicide.
http://www.theage.com.au/national/time-to-do-more-than-just-talk-about-radio-standards-20121209-2b3nk.html#poll
And of course Jeff Kennett the great supporter and patron of BeyondBlue
http://media.theage.com.au/news/national-news/radio-hosts-deserve-our-support-3875883.html
calls this 'prank' harmless. It was anything but 'harmless' and it is disgusting that he is meant to be a patron of this body and comes out downplaying their actions. No, Jeff Kennett, real honest to goodness maturity means facing up to what has been done and knowing the difference between tasteless joking and harmful jokes as opposed to jokes in good fun. It is a good idea to get the permission of the persons on these tapes before they publicly humiliate them by airing a conversation that makes said member of the public look ridiculoous and shows them up to be 'incompetent and unprofessional' despite a previous history of caring and diligence.
Yes, this incident may have been the last straw. Who knows and does it really matter? She sounds as though she was a very kind and diligent person. She was in a healing profession and genuinely cared for people. That is something we cannot get two shallow, spur of the moment idiots who yabber, yabber on about anything radio show, to understand. They were too busy trying (being the operative word) to be funny, because they were too egocentric and too busy concerned about how they would look to others. They did not care about other people and still don't probably. Selfish idiots. Let them eat the dirt and stones they created for themselves.
DO THEY DESERVE ONE MINUTE OF OUR TIME AND SYMPATHY?????
NO, NO, NO!!
I am saving it for the family of the nurse and the two children left without a mother. Let these other two selfish gits do some volunteer work and community service in hospitals until they can understand what it means to really care about others.
Tuesday, December 4, 2012
Children and choices - who makes them?
B"H
Last night I was doing a training course from 7pm to 10 pm. It has been very hard to find someone to help me look after my son while I do this TAE course which involves around 8 sessions of study face to face between 7 pm and 10 pm. Not one person is willing to help me except a very obliging person who did help me out last night. A very nice person, but some one who does not have children and has no idea how to handle them.
I came in to pick my son up at 10 pm and there were two half empty cans of Coca Cola on the table. One was bad enough, but two and apart from the fact it is the first time my son has had this vile concoction that passes for fluid that some people see fit to abuse their bodies by drinking it. I was furious, but I kept my cool because this person does not have children. My son was eating chips and the well meaning person had bought him some smoked salmon in a packet. He likes smoked salmon, my son. Rather expensive tastes I know.
When I asked him 'Why is he eating chips? How come he has not one, but two cans of cola? That is something my son never has.' As far as I am concerned Coke Cola is treif and I will argue that with the heads of Kosher Australia themselves. It damages teeth, health and is full of additives. Look at those people who drink Cola every day. Watch them closely and you will find there is something insidiously irrational about them. It's not them. It's what they eat and drink.
Anyway the answer was,'he wanted it.'
'AHAH,' I thought to myself as light bulbs flashed. 'You are so stupid Ilana. You expected this person without children to know what to feed a child.' The fault was mine. I was not specific enough and should have, when I gave the money to this person specified exactly what to buy him for dinner. A hamburger with salad and NO soft drinks. No soft drinks ever. The Fanta and Coke companies probably hate my guts for this. They would be out of business if every one was like me.
And coming to the next point, you never ask a kid what do you want to eat? You are the parent. Your role is to guide and form that child in the right directions. You can give choices like the following for example, 'Ok, you can have a hamburger and salad or a schnitzel and salad in a roll.'
'But Mummy there's chips. I want chips.'
'No chips. They are off the menu.'
'I want chips. I want chips.'
'Chips are off the menu. Hamburger or schnitzel or nothing. Understood. Good, you will have schnitzel. Wise choice.' You have very appropriately and kindly broadened the choices for the child and one day he or she will thank you for it. If they choose nothing, so be it. They will not die of starvation in even two days. Yes, I am a bitch, but you have to be raising kids sometimes. You can't always be nice and kind.
You need as a parent to make the decisions for your child in his or her best interests. Do not load your child with the responsibilities that you as a parent need to address. They are children. Some decision making processes are good and appropriate. However you as the parent need to guide your child or children in healthy eating habits, sane and appropriate behaviour (that is the difficult one for many years) and appropriate dress and manners.
Last night I was doing a training course from 7pm to 10 pm. It has been very hard to find someone to help me look after my son while I do this TAE course which involves around 8 sessions of study face to face between 7 pm and 10 pm. Not one person is willing to help me except a very obliging person who did help me out last night. A very nice person, but some one who does not have children and has no idea how to handle them.
I came in to pick my son up at 10 pm and there were two half empty cans of Coca Cola on the table. One was bad enough, but two and apart from the fact it is the first time my son has had this vile concoction that passes for fluid that some people see fit to abuse their bodies by drinking it. I was furious, but I kept my cool because this person does not have children. My son was eating chips and the well meaning person had bought him some smoked salmon in a packet. He likes smoked salmon, my son. Rather expensive tastes I know.
When I asked him 'Why is he eating chips? How come he has not one, but two cans of cola? That is something my son never has.' As far as I am concerned Coke Cola is treif and I will argue that with the heads of Kosher Australia themselves. It damages teeth, health and is full of additives. Look at those people who drink Cola every day. Watch them closely and you will find there is something insidiously irrational about them. It's not them. It's what they eat and drink.
Anyway the answer was,'he wanted it.'
'AHAH,' I thought to myself as light bulbs flashed. 'You are so stupid Ilana. You expected this person without children to know what to feed a child.' The fault was mine. I was not specific enough and should have, when I gave the money to this person specified exactly what to buy him for dinner. A hamburger with salad and NO soft drinks. No soft drinks ever. The Fanta and Coke companies probably hate my guts for this. They would be out of business if every one was like me.
And coming to the next point, you never ask a kid what do you want to eat? You are the parent. Your role is to guide and form that child in the right directions. You can give choices like the following for example, 'Ok, you can have a hamburger and salad or a schnitzel and salad in a roll.'
'But Mummy there's chips. I want chips.'
'No chips. They are off the menu.'
'I want chips. I want chips.'
'Chips are off the menu. Hamburger or schnitzel or nothing. Understood. Good, you will have schnitzel. Wise choice.' You have very appropriately and kindly broadened the choices for the child and one day he or she will thank you for it. If they choose nothing, so be it. They will not die of starvation in even two days. Yes, I am a bitch, but you have to be raising kids sometimes. You can't always be nice and kind.
You need as a parent to make the decisions for your child in his or her best interests. Do not load your child with the responsibilities that you as a parent need to address. They are children. Some decision making processes are good and appropriate. However you as the parent need to guide your child or children in healthy eating habits, sane and appropriate behaviour (that is the difficult one for many years) and appropriate dress and manners.
Sunday, December 2, 2012
Do People Choose Homelessness?
B'H
I looked at this photo the other day and while it was nice what the policeman did and shows an all too rare burst of kindness in this world, I wonder how he ended up in this state. I do not believe for one moment that the family really cared for him. If they did, he would not be where he is now. Simply he has been through hell of some sort and he is bankrupt. Being bankrupt does not mean you should be on the streets barefoot, homeless and bleeding. Something broke his spirit and I would guess it has a lot to do with his family. If he was really welcome there, he would be there. I feel the statement of his so called niece has shockingly hollow overtones. 'He chose this lifestyle.' she pontificates like some well worn mantra. Who is she to say this and who knows what went on between these three brothers. I do not believe for one moment that man chose homelessness.
Someone or some people beat him down into the gutter by their insensitive and uncaring attitudes and their inability to empathise with him. It is very hard not to project and many people do. I read this article and felt sick when I thought about what may have led this man down to where he is now.
Believe me, people do not choose to be homeless.
http://www.theage.com.au/world/all-but-lost-barefoot-jeffrey-would-be-welcome-home-20121203-2apuc.html
I talked to a man called Simon once. He was on the steps of a building near the Windsor Hotel across from the Victorian parliament. He was adopted and later his adoptive parents had a biological son as sometimes happens. When his adoptive parents passed on his 'brother', and I use the term loosely, had him disinherited and he being a proud person and having his own profession as an electrician walked away from the situation and made his own life. Well to cut a long story short, he injured his back and was unable to do the work demanded of him in his profession and had dealings with the notorious Workcover. This organisation does little to help the injured and he is a good example of how he was thrust into the gutter literally.
he was sitting on the steps with his dog in his lap and he told me that it was very difficult to get into some of the shelters because he has a dog. He was told to get rid of his dog. His dog has been his only mate and friend in the lonely and painful years of the homeless experience that he has endured.
He seemed a very decent young fellow and for this type of person you can can weep and say why? There are plenty of unfeeling nasty bastards / bitches out there and these are the people who do so well. They don't care for others and if they can get to the top on someone else's head they do and who cares? They care for themselves and are able to cover up their loss of compassion as they work the system oh so well.
We should have accommodation in the country and city for single men who are down on their luck and we should be setting up education facilities to assist them back into employment of some sort. There are plenty of professions out there that this guy could be supported and trained into. It is lack of work and lack of purpose that drives a person into homelessness.
My own situation could be like this man's if it was not for the intervention of my friends in Melbourne who are closer than family. I could have been on the streets with my son and then it is a never ending spiral downwards and you are considered unemployable. The latter is the most demeaning and insulting of attitudes. You are robbed of your humanity and worth as a human being and told that you are of no use to anyone, not even as a companion.
I often think about the irony of this poor bloke with his dog on the steps of the building across from the parliament house where these politicians vote themselves massive pay rises and they are feeding like pigs in a trough on tax payers' money and decent blokes like this guy who have been injured at work are on the streets.
While we are about it, I am sick of money spent on glossy brochures and pamphlets about what a 'good job' this or that government is doing. Deeds speak for themselves. Those who trumpet about what they are doing, are usually doing nothing of worth. They want it to appear as though they are doing stuff.
I would like to see government accommodation set up in country and outer city areas for homeless men, women and children. You do need separate accommodation for men and women and you need sometimes family accommodation.
I could envisage a village type affair with a no drink or smoking or drugs policy in place and people are given a room and required to cook in a communal kitchen with one hot meal at night. There is a shower and toilet en suite in each room. Families have two rooms with bunk beds for children in one room and a small kitchenette area. There is a minimum of two people to a room and a maximum of four to a room. That is in the case of single men and single women without children. There should be rooms for single parents with children and there must be a shower and toilet for each room.
People would be given life skills in looking after their houses through what would be expected of them in their rooms. They would be expected to keep it clean and tidy. They would be expected to serve duty in the kitchens of each hostel and to do work in the vegetable gardens and hothouses as well as learn to look after chooks and mow lawns and do general maintenance and up keep. Also the hostel would require all tenants to take a course in basic living skills and healthy eating habits. There would be art therapy and creative courses in a number of skills dealing with forgotten skills like care of themselves, cooking, music and literacy.
There would be a common room with tea, coffee and cocoa and biscuits. All tenants would be expected to clean their own cups and to keep the area tidy and the tenants would be expected to do duties with regard to the grounds and the inside of buildings. They would pay some of their money towards the upkeep of the accommodation. For example if they received $500 a fortnight in New start or a pension $400 would go towards the accommodation and food and of that $400 they would get a maximum of $100 working credits which they would be able to save towards their accommodation privately when they leave. They would have a required number of hours to do like 15 hours a week and then if they did up to another 10 hours of work they could receive say $3,000 plus interest at the end of a 30 week stay in the hostel.
People deteriorate when they are lying about and doing nothing. Each hostel would have a fish tank and some sort of animal for residents to care for. People would need to sign a contract when they entered that would be a commitment to living a more fulfilling life and to honour that contract or leave. Smokers would not be able to smoke within 30 metres of buildings and need to dispose of their butts in specially designed bins.
Children of homeless people would need to be put into a school staffed by regular teachers and older volunteers who would assist them with their numeracy and literacy skills. They would be at school from 8am to 4pm a day but they would have other activities incorporated into the curriculum that would be learning but not in the conventional sense. There would be a NO MOBILE policy through out the school, any school I created. Students should be handing mobiles into an administration office and picking them up after school.They are a bloody nuisance and a distraction to learning.
We are living in an age where people are increasing forgetting how to be people. Fast food takes away a lot from the feeling of community and it dehumanises people. I hate fast food places. Even when I did not keep kosher I did not go to them. I am proud to say that I have never ever eaten a MacDonald's hamburger. Even in Israel. I had a friend who was an Art Teacher many years ago from Sydney. Rick was so amazed that I had never eaten under the golden arches. He begged, pleaded and cajoled me into going to the MacDonalds in Elstenwick in 1982 and bought me fish and chips. The fish I would not eat. I was a strict vegetarian. I asked the people at the counter if the chips had touched meat. They showed me how the chips came in bags precut and they were cooked in oil that was vegetable oil with no meat lard. Anyway I tried one of the chips and promptly spat it out. I told him it tasted like thin salted cardboard sticks fried in something that smells like meat lard oil.
He could not understand how I could not like the chips and he ate them himself. I was amazed that anyone could such vile stuff. It is not even a meal.
I must confess that I am a cafe cult person. I love to sit in coffee shops and write or read and observe others at their business. In a past life I probably lived in France in Paris on the Left Bank. Maybe I worked in a library, but I have read since I was five or six years of age and I love to read and learn. I must read each day something and write something. It is my sanity that is at stake when I am unable to read or write or do something connected to an intellectual activity or learning.
I think education is our saviour and we must put into practise what we learn, otherwise what is the point?
I looked at this photo the other day and while it was nice what the policeman did and shows an all too rare burst of kindness in this world, I wonder how he ended up in this state. I do not believe for one moment that the family really cared for him. If they did, he would not be where he is now. Simply he has been through hell of some sort and he is bankrupt. Being bankrupt does not mean you should be on the streets barefoot, homeless and bleeding. Something broke his spirit and I would guess it has a lot to do with his family. If he was really welcome there, he would be there. I feel the statement of his so called niece has shockingly hollow overtones. 'He chose this lifestyle.' she pontificates like some well worn mantra. Who is she to say this and who knows what went on between these three brothers. I do not believe for one moment that man chose homelessness.
Someone or some people beat him down into the gutter by their insensitive and uncaring attitudes and their inability to empathise with him. It is very hard not to project and many people do. I read this article and felt sick when I thought about what may have led this man down to where he is now.
Believe me, people do not choose to be homeless.
http://www.theage.com.au/world/all-but-lost-barefoot-jeffrey-would-be-welcome-home-20121203-2apuc.html
I talked to a man called Simon once. He was on the steps of a building near the Windsor Hotel across from the Victorian parliament. He was adopted and later his adoptive parents had a biological son as sometimes happens. When his adoptive parents passed on his 'brother', and I use the term loosely, had him disinherited and he being a proud person and having his own profession as an electrician walked away from the situation and made his own life. Well to cut a long story short, he injured his back and was unable to do the work demanded of him in his profession and had dealings with the notorious Workcover. This organisation does little to help the injured and he is a good example of how he was thrust into the gutter literally.
he was sitting on the steps with his dog in his lap and he told me that it was very difficult to get into some of the shelters because he has a dog. He was told to get rid of his dog. His dog has been his only mate and friend in the lonely and painful years of the homeless experience that he has endured.
He seemed a very decent young fellow and for this type of person you can can weep and say why? There are plenty of unfeeling nasty bastards / bitches out there and these are the people who do so well. They don't care for others and if they can get to the top on someone else's head they do and who cares? They care for themselves and are able to cover up their loss of compassion as they work the system oh so well.
We should have accommodation in the country and city for single men who are down on their luck and we should be setting up education facilities to assist them back into employment of some sort. There are plenty of professions out there that this guy could be supported and trained into. It is lack of work and lack of purpose that drives a person into homelessness.
My own situation could be like this man's if it was not for the intervention of my friends in Melbourne who are closer than family. I could have been on the streets with my son and then it is a never ending spiral downwards and you are considered unemployable. The latter is the most demeaning and insulting of attitudes. You are robbed of your humanity and worth as a human being and told that you are of no use to anyone, not even as a companion.
I often think about the irony of this poor bloke with his dog on the steps of the building across from the parliament house where these politicians vote themselves massive pay rises and they are feeding like pigs in a trough on tax payers' money and decent blokes like this guy who have been injured at work are on the streets.
While we are about it, I am sick of money spent on glossy brochures and pamphlets about what a 'good job' this or that government is doing. Deeds speak for themselves. Those who trumpet about what they are doing, are usually doing nothing of worth. They want it to appear as though they are doing stuff.
I would like to see government accommodation set up in country and outer city areas for homeless men, women and children. You do need separate accommodation for men and women and you need sometimes family accommodation.
I could envisage a village type affair with a no drink or smoking or drugs policy in place and people are given a room and required to cook in a communal kitchen with one hot meal at night. There is a shower and toilet en suite in each room. Families have two rooms with bunk beds for children in one room and a small kitchenette area. There is a minimum of two people to a room and a maximum of four to a room. That is in the case of single men and single women without children. There should be rooms for single parents with children and there must be a shower and toilet for each room.
People would be given life skills in looking after their houses through what would be expected of them in their rooms. They would be expected to keep it clean and tidy. They would be expected to serve duty in the kitchens of each hostel and to do work in the vegetable gardens and hothouses as well as learn to look after chooks and mow lawns and do general maintenance and up keep. Also the hostel would require all tenants to take a course in basic living skills and healthy eating habits. There would be art therapy and creative courses in a number of skills dealing with forgotten skills like care of themselves, cooking, music and literacy.
There would be a common room with tea, coffee and cocoa and biscuits. All tenants would be expected to clean their own cups and to keep the area tidy and the tenants would be expected to do duties with regard to the grounds and the inside of buildings. They would pay some of their money towards the upkeep of the accommodation. For example if they received $500 a fortnight in New start or a pension $400 would go towards the accommodation and food and of that $400 they would get a maximum of $100 working credits which they would be able to save towards their accommodation privately when they leave. They would have a required number of hours to do like 15 hours a week and then if they did up to another 10 hours of work they could receive say $3,000 plus interest at the end of a 30 week stay in the hostel.
People deteriorate when they are lying about and doing nothing. Each hostel would have a fish tank and some sort of animal for residents to care for. People would need to sign a contract when they entered that would be a commitment to living a more fulfilling life and to honour that contract or leave. Smokers would not be able to smoke within 30 metres of buildings and need to dispose of their butts in specially designed bins.
Children of homeless people would need to be put into a school staffed by regular teachers and older volunteers who would assist them with their numeracy and literacy skills. They would be at school from 8am to 4pm a day but they would have other activities incorporated into the curriculum that would be learning but not in the conventional sense. There would be a NO MOBILE policy through out the school, any school I created. Students should be handing mobiles into an administration office and picking them up after school.They are a bloody nuisance and a distraction to learning.
We are living in an age where people are increasing forgetting how to be people. Fast food takes away a lot from the feeling of community and it dehumanises people. I hate fast food places. Even when I did not keep kosher I did not go to them. I am proud to say that I have never ever eaten a MacDonald's hamburger. Even in Israel. I had a friend who was an Art Teacher many years ago from Sydney. Rick was so amazed that I had never eaten under the golden arches. He begged, pleaded and cajoled me into going to the MacDonalds in Elstenwick in 1982 and bought me fish and chips. The fish I would not eat. I was a strict vegetarian. I asked the people at the counter if the chips had touched meat. They showed me how the chips came in bags precut and they were cooked in oil that was vegetable oil with no meat lard. Anyway I tried one of the chips and promptly spat it out. I told him it tasted like thin salted cardboard sticks fried in something that smells like meat lard oil.
He could not understand how I could not like the chips and he ate them himself. I was amazed that anyone could such vile stuff. It is not even a meal.
I must confess that I am a cafe cult person. I love to sit in coffee shops and write or read and observe others at their business. In a past life I probably lived in France in Paris on the Left Bank. Maybe I worked in a library, but I have read since I was five or six years of age and I love to read and learn. I must read each day something and write something. It is my sanity that is at stake when I am unable to read or write or do something connected to an intellectual activity or learning.
I think education is our saviour and we must put into practise what we learn, otherwise what is the point?
Saturday, December 1, 2012
Tired of Dirty Political tactics or the Coverups?
How long do we suffer the media whitewash of Julia Gillard and her ALP cronies?
The papers are full of it. Article after article criticising Abbott and calling his and Julie Bishop's efforts to call Ms Gillard to account for her shady dealings or her dealings with shady characters,(I could not care to differentiate at this late stage) around 20 years ago when she was a lawyer at Slater and Gordon.
Frankly I find myself at a loss to understand why there is not an inquiry into Julia Gillard's previous dealings as a lawyer.
It is a great pity that our first female prime minister had to be someone of her dubious ethical and moral standards. She has no respect for the office of prime minister and she shows this with her contemptuous 'So what?' When the questioning goes too close to home for comfort.
She shows her contempt for the office of Prime Minister by defending another union philanderer Craig Thompson and he is still in Parliament.
She shows her contempt for the moral values of a person in a high public office by living with her boyfriend and sets a bad example for the youth of our country.
She is an arrogant twit with poor judgement and frankly I would call her a very dysfunctional human being.
Here are some of The Age articles.
http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/politics/gillard-winged-but-still-flying-20121129-2aimg.html
Michelle Grattan is beginning to show poor judgement and has lost a sharp analytical edge in her political articles. She has oversimplified the situation. She has brushed aside the charges of corruption and mismanagement. A pattern is begging to emerge here that shows Michelle Grattan as so pro ALP as to be blind to events and the consequences of those events for us all.
Julia Gillard needs to go. Will the ALP party caucus continue to back her as PM or are her days numbered? She did turn on one of her previous 'mates' and spewed forth an abusive tirade about Ralph Blewitt that was far worse and a tad more unbalanced than anything the Bishop and Abbott team came up with. They were quite rational in their efforts to get her to explain events more fully. You have to be a total moron not to notice that Gillard never answered any of their questions directly. She sidestepped. She used to position as PM to justify her credibility against a 'self-confessed fraudster' whose word, I might add is starting to look more plausible than Gillard's in that he was honest about who and what he is. She just looks like a very clever liar.
The papers like The Age have a very clever spin on this that is irrationally pro-Labor. In doing so, they lose their journalistic integrity.
Here are some more articles choosing to sidestep the really relevant issues and to further the whitewash of the ALP.
We need to wake up to the national dis-ease of lack of real investigative journalism and lack of cutting edge political analysis these days.
http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/editorial/namecalling-gives-politics-a-bad-name-20121130-2amx2.html
http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/editorial/the-slush-fund-the-thief-and-the-prime-minister-20121130-2amdv.html
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