Friday, 8 June 2012

Post No. 387 - Reading

This week I'm just going to post reading links - life hasn't been too kind of late, and this is about all I can manage. 


















  • This is good, I consider, if it increases transparency (and measures of accountability have to match the levels of power people have, and police have massibe power): "Trial of cameras on uniforms irks union", 8th June, 2012: http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/trial-of-cameras-on-uniforms-irks-union-20120607-1zz2f.html (actually, on police, why was there a police officer at an intersection near work, a major intersection, during peak hour, which had no lights, who was just sitting in his car and not making any effort to direct traffic?);













  • Now, when I started in engineering, we had the approach that you didn't put all your eggs in one basket, and thus, for instance, you built two storages rather than one, in case of natural disasters (see here): after the economic rationalists stuffed things up in the 80s, we - as a society - now build one storage and say "the chances of a natural disaster or a terrorist attack are so low we cannot justify the extra (20% higher costs) money for splitting the storage into two", and blithely ignore what will happen when - not if, in the case of natural disasters! - that does happen; this article shows that, maybe, common sense is starting to claw its way back into the picture: "Long-haul food could deliver a national crisis", 4th June, 2012: http://www.theage.com.au/national/longhaul-food-could-deliver-a-national-crisis-20120603-1zq4j.html;







  • This report illustrates why I consider alcohol, in many ways, to be a worse problem than drugs - I can understand the mothers concerns about leaving her kids with the drunk men, but the consequences suggest her forethought should have been to not get in that situation in the first place (maybe not drink herself, for instance? i know of someone who broke her arm in similar circumstances, and couldn't get to hospital until the next day because everyone was too drunk to drive; the woman this story is about has been jailed for a few months, by the way): " 'Children all over the place': drunk mum flips car on takeaway run with 10 kids inside", 7th June, 2012: http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/children-all-over-the-place-drunk-mum-flips-car-on-takeaway-run-with-10-kids-inside-20120607-1zxv1.html;



And now, an interesting quote from a philosopher named Mozi, in the 5th century BC:
"What is the purpose of houses? It is to protect us from the wind and cold of winter, the heat and rain of summer, and to keep out robbers and thieves. Once these ends have been secured, that is all. Whatever does not contribute to these ends should be eliminated."
A very useful reminder from quite a long time ago ...

Love, light, hugs and blessings

Gnwmythr  
(pronounced "new-MYTH-ear")
May the world of commerce & business be recognised to be a servant, not a master, of the lives of people.

Tags: attitudes, discrimination, energy work, health, paganism, society,

First published: Frysdagr, 8th June, 2012

Last edited: Friday, 8th June, 2012