Money's a funny thing... or is it?

I think many, if not most, of us are suspicious of banks and other financial institutions.  If we're not, in my view, we definitely should be.  Certainly those involved in all the "Occupy..." movements are not just suspicious; they know the top 1% (or whatever percentage it turns out to be) are crooks and evil to boot.  I make no secret of my own feelings on this, having preached that the world is run by 6 or 8 people my whole life - which is an allegory for the very small number of people with real and total power, to whom the rest of us are virtually lower forms of life to be manipulated with carrots and sticks.  So, no, money isn't funny, nor is it what we think it is.  Like shares, it is illusory.  For the real powers that be, the trick is to have many people having at least enough to survive so they won't be on the bottom and will always be able to aspire to upward mobility, no matter how likely or unlikely that might be.  Those on the bottom will be so busy surviving they won't be able to do much to change things.  If revolution happens it will usually be replacing one dictator with another and going nowhere near my '6 at the top'.  For an interesting view, have a look at this article in The Guardian: The truth is out: money is just an IOU, and the banks are rolling in it

Happy St Patrick's Day

I have to declare my complete indifference to St Patrick the person - not even sure how real he was, especially his rep for ridding Ireland of snakes, considering how many seem to remain to this day - however I am a great fan of celebrating St Patrick's Day, the day he died, which I think of as Ireland Day.

When I was a young Catholic girl, attending a Catholic school in a poor neighbourhood in the Western Suburbs of Melbourne, St Pat's was a big deal.  There was preparation and rehearsal to march in the parade in the city.  In those days (way back in the fifties) poor kids didn't get into the city routinely.  Nor did many qualify for being in the marching group for our school group.  The nuns who taught us were "Sacred Heart" and they were used to finer things, so many had a tendency to be snobs.  The kids whose parents could afford new uniforms every year, blazers, berets, etc., and who contributed to the school funds, were the most likely to be chosen.  To be fair, marching in step wasn't really my 'thing' and I was inclined to deliberately double step and try to get others out of step too but I sure wasn't the only little devil who mucked about.  St Patrick's day was much more fun watching from the sidelines.

My real interest in St Pat's Day came when I became more political and realised the pride of having Irish ancestors on one side and French on the other, so I have been able to boast that I come from long lines of revolutionaries on both sides.  I named my son Erin after the Isle of Ireland so we always remember justice is always worth fighting for.

Happy St Patrick's Day....  Justice for Ireland!

Leave Tasmanian Forests Alone!

The Abbott led coalition government appears to have a slash & burn attitude to Tasmanian forests.  This state, with vast areas still in pristine condition despite generations of effort at destruction, seems to be a challenge to conservative thinkers and actors.  They seemingly cannot bear that there is land not ploughed, mined, logged or otherwise exploited for profit.  Mind you, non-monetary profit doesn't count, nor does profit from gentle tourism.  Government ownership (i.e., ownership by the people) is abhorrent when there are big-business profiteers being deprived of opportunity, especially attractive is overseas or global businesses profiting from our resources.  It hardly makes any sense but then, I've never found sense in a lot of conservative thinking. A very good article: Why Does The Coalition Want To 'Unlock' The Forests?

HAPPY LABOUR DAY VICTORIA & TASMANIA.

I know there are lots of people who have never been able to join a union because they live in countries where they don't exist, however, people do join unions in countries where they can be arrested, tortured and even killed - not to mention 'disappeared' so their families lose even the certainty of their death and a body.  Why would these people take these risks?  They take them to achieve even a small portion of what we take for granted in Australia.  Not only should we be celebrating what we've achieved through unionism (and joining if we haven't) we should be prepared to hold our ground against the regular attacks on our hard won rights; we should also be fully prepared to get at least our words of support, petitions and any means we're able behind the countries where they fight to have unions.

Follow the link to get some idea of what unionism can be blamed for:  

Working Life - On Labour Day, an apology of sorts

Happy International Women's Day

International Women's Day brings back memories of marching through Melbourne's streets, singing, chanting, encouraging by-standers to join in and sharing the joy of action with each other, including my sister and our brothers.  It was genuinely wonderful and I wish I could do it still, however, there are many younger and fitter able to take the place of those who can't do the physical protesting any more.

Sexism in different forms and at different levels is obviously flourishing in Australia.  We have had ample proof of this in all arenas from political through social to political over the past 12 months, previous to that and, unfortunately, we anticipate continuation.

Even if we achieve total success at home, the world offers such challengers for women that we won't be resting in my lifetime, nor in that of my son I fear.  That is another reason why it is so important to focus on ALL women, not just ourselves.  While standing up at home, we must remember to stand up for women across the globe.

https://unwomen.org.au/about-us/un-women
http://www.dvrcv.org.au/support-services/national-services
http://www.african-women.org/about.php
http://www.cawinfo.org/

Heaps of sites around to inform oneself of the situations faced by women around the world.

Why do "Most Australians think Schapelle Corby guilty."?

 According to the Sydney Morning Herald:  Most Australians think Schapell Corby guilty

There has been NO case proven against Schapelle Corby and she did not receive a fair trial.  These are indisputable facts in my view and the view of many experts.  Whether one likes her or not (although, again, how one could know her well enough to like or dislike her with only media sensationalism to go by, I don't know) has nothing to do with whether she is guilty.  It is a prosecution's task to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt in our system and I assume in Indonesia as well.  This was clearly not done, hence she is innocent.  If she was guilty it would be a sign of mental deficiency because there is no point or profit in smuggling marijuana INTO Bali!!!!

Did people learn nothing from the Chamberlain case?  At least read some non-mainstream reporting  before deciding someone's guilty.


For example, the series by Gerry Georgatos (WLP)

"Optic Nerve" surveillence program spying on ordinary people: DemocracyNow Report

"The latest top-secret documents leaked by Edward Snowden reveal the National Security Agency and its British counterpart, the the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) may have peered into the lives of millions of Internet users who were not suspected of wrongdoing. The surveillance program codenamed "Optic Nerve" compiled still images of Yahoo webcam chats in bulk and stored them in the GCHQ’s databases with help from the NSA. In one six-month period in 2008 alone, the agency reportedly amassed webcam images from more than 1.8 million Yahoo user accounts worldwide. According to the documents, between 3 and 11 percent of the Yahoo webcam images contained what the GCHQ called "undesirable nudity." The program was reportedly also used for experiments in "automated facial recognition" as well as to monitor terrorism suspects. We speak with James Ball, one of the reporters who broke the story. He is the special projects editor for Guardian US."