Bring in the Clowns

Today I watched a little of the presidential debate which led to some discussion with my son, Keaghan (who has been interested in politics and justice since about the time he could walk.)

I wondered how the republicans could have ever thought Trump was a good candidate and Keaghan thought that Trump did well in the polls and therefore the party thought he was a  good idea, not thinking of what kind of person he is.

My next thought was about the way that some people are more confident feeding their babies by bottle than by breast because bottle feeding gives us numbers, measurable intake.

Yes, it is an odd association to make but brilliance is demonstrated in the ability to make connections, or at least that's my story.

Anyways, it all lead me to the idea that maybe the world is obsessed with numbers, measurability, stats and performance indicators at the expense of trust, instinct, character and other more abstract qualities.

Comments?

Let me spin your eccentricities

My buddy Nick is over there at "Nick here and Now" asking about where to find the divide between "eccentric" and "normal" and apart from saying that normal is a cycle on a washing machine i thought i might analyse some of the things Nick and/or I might do that are viewed as eccentric:

• coloured socks are flamboyant
• unusual clothes are expressive
• leanings to socialism show compassion and a sense of justice
• vegetarianism is environmentally responsible and compassionate
• feminism is the only way
• disinterest in sport is a minor variation
• unusual musical choices just say a person is an independent thinker
• naturally greying hair is honest
• interest in natural therapies is taking advantage of all the options

as far as i am concerned, displaying my eccentric or even lunatic side just gives other people permission to explore theirs. we are all be happier and healthier if we just relax about who we are.

i tell my kids i can spin anything, go on, tell me your eccentricities and i'll see what i can do?

More Election Chat

I was pleased with the election result. A friend suggested that John Howard lost as opposed to Kevin Rudd winning and I suspect that is a fair assessment. Some politician said something along the lines of "The Australian people have chosen hope over fear...." There was more but I can't remember it.
Anyway, that pretty much sums it up for me. I'm so tired of scare-mongering. I notice it especially in politics and tabloid current affairs TV.
It's the work of the devil, we invite it in and give it the fatted calf. Stupid.

I was ecstatic that my baby girl, normally so laid back as to be horizontal, was dead keen to see the results. She watched the statistics (how many seats won and lost) avidly and demanded to be woken to see Howard concede. She informed me that John Howard is a cruel man and when I asked how she knew that she told me she learned it from watching the news. Little Bolshie. I love it.

OOLF: Black nail polish is my look for the week....I'm getting lots of attention for looking goth. Cool.

Thoughts at Election Time

Some of my favourite quotes from Sunday's Compass episode:
(click for full transcript)
Rabbi David Freedman "....the really key issue about any election or about any political activity has to be the answer to the question, what effect does this have upon a human person."

Rabbi David Freedman "The standard issues that are in this election, and to be fair in all the previous elections that I can remember, they are all fundamentally of a religious nature if you investigate them. Let’s take for example AWA’s and employment. The work ethic is a fundamental ethic in Judaeo-Christianity. To give a human being the dignity of being constructive, of being able to make a contribution to society through that employment with a certain security."

Rabbi David Freedman "Well I would like them to think that the party that they’re voting for will improve Australia over the next three years or so, and will leave them and their families and their company and their industry just a little bit richer in the broadest sense of the term than we are at the moment"

Jim Wallace- Australian Christian Lobby "What I want to see is all people of Christian faith thinking about who they’re voting for from their Christian perspective......I don’t want them to be a part of that community that goes in and just votes for the way mum did or what’s in the hip pocket. I think we’ve got to be more discerning than that."

Geraldine Doogue "What are some of these human values that we’re moving away from?"
Imam Afroz Ali "Our family values, that actually there is so much pressure on the families and individuals about work, about economy, that a lot of our definitions, a lot of our standards are based on money and fiscal policies rather than the essence that actually makes us human beings… we have reduced families, and definitely women for example to an economic factor. And this is not going to be helpful nor productive in bringing about the social positive changes that actually we are hoping for."

Archbishop Peter Jensen " Well the bible first of all says to work six days and rest the seventh. That’s not a bad prescription I think for us all. It doesn’t say work five, it says work six. But it does say to work six days and rest the seventh. I think that’s very valuable and very important, in order to keep your relationships intact."

Imam Afroz Ali "....we are becoming slaves to the economy. We are becoming influenced by other nations when Australia is fully capable of making its own decisions for its own people for its own good. We have an indigenous population that needs to be looked after, that needs to be learnt from, and we have an environmental problem in our own country....."