Thursday, 2 January 2014

Post No. 502 - New Year's Reading

G'day, hello, howdy, hi, zdravstvujtye (some of my work colleagues are Russian, including an absolutely invaluable administrator who has recently taken maternity leave - may she and young one and family be blest), guten tag (where I have connection owing to a recent past life), sveiki, czesc (I have friends, not just colleagues, at work who are Polish), bonjour (colleagues at a former workplace were French, and we practised and tried to extend my woeful and limited range of this language), selamat pagi (one of the best junior engineers I ever worked with was Malaysian, and she taught me a few words), annyeonghaseyo, pryvit, bitaem, como vai (a friend of mine a few years ago, although not Brazilian, had Portuguese ancestry), ¡Hola (a former work colleague and friend, a VERY talented artist - with a Mexican sensibility to her artwork, particularly around the Day of the Dead - used to teach me Mexican Spanish), Selamat pagi, ni hao (ah, my work trips to Asia, and the many wonderful, wonderful people I have met there - and some excellent work colleagues and friends here, as well), bongiorno (my current home city of Melbourne has lots of Greeks and Italians, who have made our culture far richer - and made us coffee snobs :) ), hoschakal, hejsan, ciao, no japolt kivanu, chào bà, chào ông, yiasou (from the city which has, I understand, the largest collection of Greek people outside of Greece), ceau, salam wa aleikum, sawas dee ka, dia duit, hoi. 

I'd like to begin this set of readings links with a thought about Bilbo Baggins and the ring he carried in Lord of the Rings. I had a conversation recently where we both agreed that, at times, it was frustrating watching Bilbo's struggles with the ring, and there was a tendency to want him to "just get a grip and get on with it". Well, the ring was a powerful, malevolent psychic influence (I find it difficult to comprehend that some people can be so stupid as to wear a replica): Bilbo's struggles with that, and our reactions to his apparent floundering, were a perfect example of the struggle people may have with depression, and lack of understanding and impatience of those around those people.
  • I quite like the longer perspective in this, and it is very appropriate for this time of year (I am working on a topic - suggested to me - for a belated new year's post, by the way, but I do most of the reviewing and resolving other people do at this time of year at my personal new year: my birthday): http://www.thorncoyle.com/blog/2013/12/30/setting-intentions/ (found via The Wild Hunt);

[1] BPLF = Balanced Positive (spiritual) Light Forces. See here and here for more on this.

[2] Please see here and my post "The Death of Wikipedia" for the reasons I now recommend caution when using Wikipedia. I'm also exploring use of h2g2, although that doesn't appear to be as extensive (h2g2 is intended - rather engagingly - to be the Earth edition of "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy"). 

Love, light, hugs and blessings


Gnwmythr 
(pronounced "new-MYTH-ear"; ... aka Bellatrix Lux? Morinehtar? Would-be drýicgan ... )

My "blogiography" (list of all posts - currently not up to date) is here.  

I started this blog to cover karmic regression-rescue (see here and here), and it grew ...  See here for my group mind project, here and here for my "pagans for peace" project (and join me at 9 PM on Sunday, wherever you are, to meditate for peace), and here for my bindrune kit-bag. I also strongly recommend learning how to flame, ground and shield, do alternate nostril breathing, work with colour - and see also here, and be flexible.
  • One size does NOT fit all. 
  • Gnwmythr's Stropping Strap: Occam's Razor only works if  the simplest solution is actually recognised as being the simplest, rather than the one that best fits one's bigotries being labelled 'simplest'.
  • May the world of commerce and business be recognised to be a servant, not a master, of the lives of people.
  • Ban the dream interpretation industry! 
  • A home is for living in, not feeling, becoming or being rich or a “better” class than others.
  • Housework is for ensuring a home is comfortable to live in, not competing to outdo or belittle others.
  • Like fire to the physical, emotions to the soul make a good servant, and a bad master. 
  • Expertise at intimacy and emotional happiness is generally not the same thing as spiritual growth.
  • "Following the crowd" is not "going with the flow".
  • Armageddon is alive and well and happening right now: it is a battle between the indolence of "I only ..." and/or "I just ..." and/or "Everyone knows ... " and/or "they can ..." and what Bruce Schneier [2] calls "security theatre" on one side, and perspicacity and the understanding that the means shape the end on the other. Indolence vs. perspicacity, and expediency vs. honour.
  • The means shape the end.  
  • As words can kill, the right to freedom of speech comes with a DUTY to be as well-informed, objective and balanced as you can be.
  • My favourite action movie of all time is "Gandhi", although I've recently come across "Invictus" and might put that one in to that category. However, I loathe the stereotypical action movie - and, for similar reasons, I loathe many dramas, which are often emotionally violent, more so in some cases than many war films. 
  • All of the above - and this blog - could be wrong, or subject to context, perspective, or state of spiritual evolution ... 
Do not pray for easy lives. Pray to be stronger [people]. JOHN F. KENNEDY (who was quoting 19th century Episcopal Bishop Phillips Brooks)
Jesus loves you.  Odin wants you to grow up. (Facebook meme, according to John Beckett)

Females, get over 'cute'. Get competent. Get trained. Get capable. Get over 'cute'. And those of you who are called Patty and Debby and Suzy, get over that. Because we use those names to infantalise females – we keep females in their 'little girl' state by the names we use for them. Get over it. If you want to be taken seriously, get serious. JANE ELLIOTT 

The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good [people] to do nothing. (based on writing by) EDMUND BURKE

"The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them." EINSTEIN

We didn't inherit the Earth from our ancestors, we only borrowed it from our children ANTOINE DE SAINT-EXUPÉRY

Like an unchecked cancer, hate corrodes the personality and eats away its vital unity. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.

True compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar; it is not haphazard and superficial. It comes to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.

Those whom we cannot stand are usually those who we cannot understand P.K.SHAW

Few men are willing to brave the disapproval of their fellows, the censure of their colleagues, and the wrath of their society. Moral courage is a rarer commodity than bravery in battle or great intelligence. Yet it is the one essential, vital quality for those who seek to change a world which yields most painfully to change." SENATOR ROBERT F. KENNEDY (US Attorney General 1966 Speech) 
Too much and too long, we seem to have surrendered community excellence and community values in the mere accumulation of material things. Our gross national product ... if we should judge America by that -- counts air pollution and cigarette advertising, and ambulances to clear our highways of carnage. ... Yet the gross national product does not allow for the health of our children, the quality of their education, or the joy of their play. It does not include the beauty of our poetry or the strength of our marriages; the intelligence of our public debate or the integrity of our public officials. It measures neither our wit nor our courage; neither our wisdom nor our learning; neither our compassion nor our devotion to our country; it measures everything, in short, except that which makes life worthwhile." ROBERT F. KENNEDY 1968
Tags: attitudes, depression, disability, discrimination, gender, greed, inspiration, materialism, peace, religion, rituals, seasons, sexism, understanding, values,

First published: Thorsdagr, 2nd January, 2014

Last edited: Thursday, 2nd January, 2014
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Sunday, 29 December 2013

Post No. 501 - Being organised

When I was a kid, I catalogued my books the way my primary school library did, and then tried to charge my friends 20 cents to borrow them - mercenary intentions, I know (I wanted money to buy more books), but I was too soft a touch and don't think I got any money from anyone :) What was more to the point, though, in the context of this post, is that it was the beginning of my attempts at being organised.

I've run several cataloguing systems with my books, and the old card index system I had was probably, in many ways, the best, but I do have to admit the advent of affordable personal computers (not the ones that initially came out, costing around $5k a pop) has made life easier - mainly because of the search function. All I have had to do is get to grips with what search functions won't do, and develop a minimalist system to cater for that.

This also applies to my day job, where it is often more important to know where to get information, than to try to become a walking, sitting and coffee guzzling encyclopaedia of knowledge ... and just managing (up to a score or so, for me) work assignments can be an issue in itself, and I've tried whiteboards on my desk, formal calendar systems, etc, before finding that entries into the spreadsheet I use to record my hours so I can enter my timesheet each week probably the most effective.

In terms of my spiritual life, remembering things like Sabbats and Esbats is easy enough, but finding the time and energy to actually do something about them is more of an issue ...

As far as this post goes, what I wanted to cover was how I keep myself organised in terms of lighting a fortnightly cycle of candles (on the nshrine site). As for that, I basically have a Word document where I have headings for each day in the fortnightly cycle (e.g. first Monday, Second Wednesday, etc), and then under each day heading I create sub-headings for the purpose or destination of candles, and then under each of those I write the text I wish to use and a hyperlink to the shrines I wish to paste that into.

So, for example, the index looks like this:


and a particular entry may look like this (without the actual words, which range from personal and/or sensitive through confidential to sacred):


I used to have entries for each goal, but that wound up having far too many candles to be lit, so I collated them under the candles I would light for each rune, for instance, which helped enormously, and them more recently added the hyperlinks which made another major improvement in reducing the time required to do this.

This is all fairly trite, but it is worth thinking about how to organise one's practice to be efficient and effective, I suggest.


[1] BPLF = Balanced Positive (spiritual) Light Forces. See here and here for more on this.

[2] Please see here and my post "The Death of Wikipedia" for the reasons I now recommend caution when using Wikipedia. I'm also exploring use of h2g2, although that doesn't appear to be as extensive (h2g2 is intended - rather engagingly - to be the Earth edition of "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy"). 

Love, light, hugs and blessings


Gnwmythr 
(pronounced "new-MYTH-ear"; ... aka Bellatrix Lux? Morinehtar? Would-be drýicgan ... )

My "blogiography" (list of all posts - currently not up to date) is here.  

I started this blog to cover karmic regression-rescue (see here and here), and it grew ...  See here for my group mind project, here and here for my "pagans for peace" project (and join me at 9 PM on Sunday, wherever you are, to meditate for peace), and here for my bindrune kit-bag.
  • One size does NOT fit all. 
  • Gnwmythr's Stropping Strap: Occam's Razor only works if  the simplest solution is actually recognised as being the simplest, rather than the one that best fits one's bigotries being labelled 'simplest'.
  • May the world of commerce and business be recognised to be a servant, not a master, of the lives of people.
  • Ban the dream interpretation industry! 
  • A home is for living in, not feeling, becoming or being rich or a “better” class than others.
  • Housework is for ensuring a home is comfortable to live in, not competing to outdo or belittle others.
  • Like fire to the physical, emotions to the soul make a good servant, and a bad master. 
  • Expertise at intimacy and emotional happiness is generally not the same thing as spiritual growth.
  • "Following the crowd" is not "going with the flow".
  • Armageddon is alive and well and happening right now: it is a battle between the indolence of "I only ..." and/or "I just ..." and/or "Everyone knows ... " and/or "they can ..." and what Bruce Schneier [2] calls "security theatre" on one side, and perspicacity and the understanding that the means shape the end on the other. Indolence vs. perspicacity, and expediency vs. honour.
  • The means shape the end.  
  • As words can kill, the right to freedom of speech comes with a DUTY to be as well-informed, objective and balanced as you can be.
  • My favourite action movie of all time is "Gandhi", although I've recently come across "Invictus" and might put that one in to that category. However, I loathe the stereotypical action movie - and, for similar reasons, I loathe many dramas, which are often emotionally violent, more so in some cases than many war films. 
  • All of the above - and this blog - could be wrong, or subject to context, perspective, or state of spiritual evolution ... 
Do not pray for easy lives. Pray to be stronger [people]. JOHN F. KENNEDY (who was quoting 19th century Episcopal Bishop Phillips Brooks)
Jesus loves you.  Odin wants you to grow up. (Facebook meme, according to John Beckett)

Females, get over 'cute'. Get competent. Get trained. Get capable. Get over 'cute'. And those of you who are called Patty and Debby and Suzy, get over that. Because we use those names to infantalise females – we keep females in their 'little girl' state by the names we use for them. Get over it. If you want to be taken seriously, get serious. JANE ELLIOTT 

The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good [people] to do nothing. (based on writing by) EDMUND BURKE

"The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them." EINSTEIN

We didn't inherit the Earth from our ancestors, we only borrowed it from our children ANTOINE DE SAINT-EXUPÉRY

Like an unchecked cancer, hate corrodes the personality and eats away its vital unity. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.

True compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar; it is not haphazard and superficial. It comes to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.

Those whom we cannot stand are usually those who we cannot understand P.K.SHAW

Few men are willing to brave the disapproval of their fellows, the censure of their colleagues, and the wrath of their society. Moral courage is a rarer commodity than bravery in battle or great intelligence. Yet it is the one essential, vital quality for those who seek to change a world which yields most painfully to change." SENATOR ROBERT F. KENNEDY (US Attorney General 1966 Speech) 
Too much and too long, we seem to have surrendered community excellence and community values in the mere accumulation of material things. Our gross national product ... if we should judge America by that -- counts air pollution and cigarette advertising, and ambulances to clear our highways of carnage. ... Yet the gross national product does not allow for the health of our children, the quality of their education, or the joy of their play. It does not include the beauty of our poetry or the strength of our marriages; the intelligence of our public debate or the integrity of our public officials. It measures neither our wit nor our courage; neither our wisdom nor our learning; neither our compassion nor our devotion to our country; it measures everything, in short, except that which makes life worthwhile." ROBERT F. KENNEDY 1968
Tags: about me, professionalism,

First published: Sunnudagr, 29th December, 2013

Last edited: Sunday, 29th December, 2013 
Posted by at
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Saturday, 28 December 2013

Post No. 500 - Perspectives

I have enjoyed not having to go to work this last couple of weeks, and have spent most of the time sleeping and resting in other ways (except for, according to the family joke, stirring every hour, on the hour, on the 25th to go out to the front lawn, say "Bah! Humbug!" to the world, and then stamp grumpily back into my cave :) ). One of those ways of recovering has been by watching movies, one of which has been "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part One" [2].

In that movie there is a scene where Severus Snape, who has not yet been revealed to be working for the 'good' people (there are some interesting shades of grey coming out at this stage of the cycle of films), arrives at the location of the antagonist, Voldemort, and sees a minor character, Charity Burbage, being tortured. Shortly after Snape arrives, Charity is killed - at which point I started wondering about a Christian saying to the effect "he who saves one soul, it is as if they have saved the world" (which I came across in Marion Zimmer Bradley's "Heartlight").

Snape could have saved Charity, but at considerable risk to himself, and definitely his mission would have been ended and the chances of Voldemort winning increased very significantly. So, in that - fictional - context, saving one life would NOT "save the Universe".

On the other hand, I recall reading of a story (which was itself mentioned in another work of fiction, so 'twas fiction within fiction) about a world where everyone can have a perfect life at the expense of one person who suffers incredibly for the whole world. In that context, saving that one person would have saved the whole world, as it would have forced everyone to take responsibility and act as adults.

Both of these are fictional examples. In the real world, most people live in situations where they do not have the opportunity to do work that will impact on large numbers of other people, and in that context, treating every person with dignity is the equivalent of "saving a person", and does, in a sense "save the world" as that person is central to the world that they influence - a theme which was explored by Jim Butcher in the Dresden Files short story "The Warrior" (mentioned because I have just re-read it; it is in the collection "Side Jobs").

There are grey areas around this. As an example, I had a discussion recently about helping the homeless, and my perspective was based on my experience of meeting an occasional homeless person, but not seeing the same person day after day after day, as the young woman I had been speaking to had, and thus we had slightly different perspectives on this (I was OK with giving money directly to the homeless, in addition to donations to charitable organisations, whereas the young woman I was speaking to favoured the charitable organisations as money given directly to the homeless people she was seeing day after day - in a different country, but one considered to be an advanced society/economy - had not, in her experience, changed their lives ... and both of us were very aware, by the way, of issues such as underfunded mental health services and escape from situations of abuse).

There are also exceptions to this. There are people who can and sometimes - not always - do influence the lives of large numbers of people, and thus possibly have to undertake the sort of weighing up that is the idea I am exploring. Such people include the obvious, such as politicians, media magnates, writers such as J.K Rowling, Gandhi (I've watched my "favourite action movie" as part of my recuperation), some of the famous, and so forth. But it also includes less obvious people - people who know how to do the clearing I have been writing about since these two very early posts on this blog (here and here), for instance, or people with strong psychic and/or spiritual influence.

I've written about such people previously -for instance, when I reviewed Dion Fortune's book "The Magical Battle of Britain" (my copy pub. Skylight Press, 2012, ISBN 978-1-908011-45-9, see here). Others have talked about this as well - for example, Sri Aurobindo apparently claimed that he had strengthened the defenders at Stalingrad by his powers of meditation (see "Briefing for the Landing on Planet Earth" by Stuart Holroyd).

In the case of less famous, but still competent practitioners, there is still a balancing act required - for instance, between participation in the social expectations of this time of year in order to preserve one's social networks and help others to enjoy themselves (or, at least, stay out of the way as much as possible) vs. addressing issues such as the civil war in South Sudan, the ongoing troubles in the Middle East, the Central African Republic crisis, the ongoing risk of a MAJOR war over the Senkaku / Diaoyu / Tiaoyutai islands, the worrying behaviour of some nation's leaders (e.g. Putin, and the appalling treatment of LGBTIQ people by Russia), and the continuing crises/crimes against humanity of poverty, hunger and thirst. People do not stop dying or suffering for Christmas ...

When I look at those issues, it helps me to put the festivities of this time of year into context, to not forget the privilege I have had by being born into middle class Australia, and to try and make sure I do what I can, whenever and wherever I can, for those who are less fortunate.

What will you do - right now, in the next few days or weeks, and over your life?



[1] BPLF = Balanced Positive (spiritual) Light Forces. See here and here for more on this.

[2] Please see here and my post "The Death of Wikipedia" for the reasons I now recommend caution when using Wikipedia. I'm also exploring use of h2g2, although that doesn't appear to be as extensive (h2g2 is intended - rather engagingly - to be the Earth edition of "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy"). 

Love, light, hugs and blessings



Gnwmythr 
(pronounced "new-MYTH-ear"; ... aka Bellatrix Lux? Morinehtar? Would-be drýicgan ... )

My "blogiography" (list of all posts - currently not up to date) is here.  

I started this blog to cover karmic regression-rescue (see here and here), and it grew ...  See here for my group mind project, here and here for my "pagans for peace" project (and join me at 9 PM on Sunday, wherever you are, to meditate for peace), and here for my bindrune kit-bag.
  • One size does NOT fit all. 
  • Gnwmythr's Stropping Strap: Occam's Razor only works if  the simplest solution is actually recognised as being the simplest, rather than the one that best fits one's bigotries being labelled 'simplest'.
  • May the world of commerce and business be recognised to be a servant, not a master, of the lives of people.
  • Ban the dream interpretation industry! 
  • A home is for living in, not feeling, becoming or being rich or a “better” class than others.
  • Housework is for ensuring a home is comfortable to live in, not competing to outdo or belittle others.
  • Like fire to the physical, emotions to the soul make a good servant, and a bad master. 
  • Expertise at intimacy and emotional happiness is generally not the same thing as spiritual growth.
  • "Following the crowd" is not "going with the flow".
  • Armageddon is alive and well and happening right now: it is a battle between the indolence of "I only ..." and/or "I just ..." and/or "Everyone knows ... " and/or "they can ..." and what Bruce Schneier [2] calls "security theatre" on one side, and perspicacity and the understanding that the means shape the end on the other. Indolence vs. perspicacity, and expediency vs. honour.
  • The means shape the end.  
  • As words can kill, the right to freedom of speech comes with a DUTY to be as well-informed, objective and balanced as you can be.
  • My favourite action movie of all time is "Gandhi", although I've recently come across "Invictus" and might put that one in to that category. However, I loathe the stereotypical action movie - and, for similar reasons, I loathe many dramas, which are often emotionally violent, more so in some cases than many war films. 
  • All of the above - and this blog - could be wrong, or subject to context, perspective, or state of spiritual evolution ... 
Do not pray for easy lives. Pray to be stronger [people]. JOHN F. KENNEDY (who was quoting 19th century Episcopal Bishop Phillips Brooks)
Jesus loves you.  Odin wants you to grow up. (Facebook meme, according to John Beckett)

Females, get over 'cute'. Get competent. Get trained. Get capable. Get over 'cute'. And those of you who are called Patty and Debby and Suzy, get over that. Because we use those names to infantalise females – we keep females in their 'little girl' state by the names we use for them. Get over it. If you want to be taken seriously, get serious. JANE ELLIOTT 

The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good [people] to do nothing. (based on writing by) EDMUND BURKE

"The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them." EINSTEIN

We didn't inherit the Earth from our ancestors, we only borrowed it from our children ANTOINE DE SAINT-EXUPÉRY

Like an unchecked cancer, hate corrodes the personality and eats away its vital unity. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.

True compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar; it is not haphazard and superficial. It comes to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.

Those whom we cannot stand are usually those who we cannot understand P.K.SHAW

Few men are willing to brave the disapproval of their fellows, the censure of their colleagues, and the wrath of their society. Moral courage is a rarer commodity than bravery in battle or great intelligence. Yet it is the one essential, vital quality for those who seek to change a world which yields most painfully to change." SENATOR ROBERT F. KENNEDY (US Attorney General 1966 Speech) 
Too much and too long, we seem to have surrendered community excellence and community values in the mere accumulation of material things. Our gross national product ... if we should judge America by that -- counts air pollution and cigarette advertising, and ambulances to clear our highways of carnage. ... Yet the gross national product does not allow for the health of our children, the quality of their education, or the joy of their play. It does not include the beauty of our poetry or the strength of our marriages; the intelligence of our public debate or the integrity of our public officials. It measures neither our wit nor our courage; neither our wisdom nor our learning; neither our compassion nor our devotion to our country; it measures everything, in short, except that which makes life worthwhile." ROBERT F. KENNEDY 1968
Tags: about me, Dion Fortune, Dresden Files, Harry Potter, nonviolence, peace, perspective, Stuart Holroyd, violence, war,

First published: Laugardagr, 28th December, 2013

Last edited: Saturday, 28th December, 2013  
Posted by at
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Sunday, 22 December 2013

Post No. 499 - Blessed Litha

Blessed Litha to all in the temperate and arctic Southern Hemisphere, Yule to those in the Northern, and as may be appropriate for those in the tropics.

I have written a ritual for the temperate and arctic zones, which can be found here.

(I am also celebrating having completed my cycle of full moon rituals - see here.)
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Thursday, 19 December 2013

Post No. 498 - Reading and random thoughts

Last night (well, it was last night when I started this post :) ) my partner and I watched a DVD with a Dixie Chicks [2] concert on it, An Evening with the Dixie Chicks. We enjoyed the music - especially what the yanks would probably call the "sassiness" of their songs (the pro-strong and independent women stance, in other words), but it struck me that the audience - or perhaps the camera angles chosen for the DVD showed the audience as if it was - was exclusively white, and largely female and stereotypically 'pretty' ... There were a few men in the audience who were shown (and a lovely shot of a hetero couple dancing together to one of the songs ... along with at least one man looking a tiny little bit uneasy about his partner singing Goodbye Earl so enthusiastically :) ), but I was genuinely surprised at the whiteness of the audience given the general progressiveness of the band [3]. I'm also surprised and disappointed at the continuing whiteness of sailing clubs (saw a segment on NITV about some indigenous kids being given a sail, so maybe things will change.) Racism will be a bit of a theme in this post ...

Anyway, moving on.

Well, it is the Stupid Season again - already I've seen drunks walking against don't walk signs and staring down oncoming traffic (which is why I have 'upgraded' the term from Silly Season to Stupid Season). I wish I could go somewhere quiet, away from the bloody city - and take the dog over New Years, as the poor critter is terrified of fireworks, but such isn't to be. One thing you, Dear Reader, should keep in mind is that you do NOT have to be part of family events if your family is, for instance, abusive, discriminatory (I know and know of many more LGBTIQ children who have effectively been driven out by their family's bigotry), or just very different (you may want to stay quiet and sober, rather than become drunk or noisy - or vice versa). If you do go to such events, some suggestions are made at http://zenhabits.net/dojo/. Personally, I would flame-ground-shield CONTINUOUSLY, but even better, pre-clear links you have to people and places (see the 2nd and 3rd posts I ever did on this blog).

Now, my thought for this post (I only have one thought per readings post - didn't you know? :) ) is that the assumption of economists and politicians that we all have to be working flat out reflects the bias of someone who is young, maybe in the 30s or early 40s at most, and discriminates against those who simply aren't capable of working at that level of intensity - e.g., perhaps they're like me, getting on in years, suffering from increasing health problems, and thinking of retirement. On that, see http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2013/dec/14/change-your-life-blame-lazy - in which I particularly like the basis for planning a fair society. On economics, I find it absurd and offensive that Pope Francis has had to defend himself against accusations of Marxism (see http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/dec/15/pope-francis-defends-criticism-of-capitalism-not-marxist) because he criticised trickle down economic theory (and it IS just a theory - one not well matched by reality at all!), and that some moron criticised Mandela because he was socialist. That is totalitarian bull, the sort of stuff that is supposed to be associated with the old USSR ... although, mind you, the USA in the Cold War, especially during the heights of McCarthyism, was quite totalitarian and thus anti-freedom - not as bad as the USSR, but still nowhere near good enough to be trying to claim any sort of mantle of world leader, or exemplar for freedom or democracy. (This actually brings to mind a debate I had with a friend in high school, who didn't understand that Fascism was actually far more akin to capitalism than communism as practised in the USSR and China. From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economics_of_fascism consider the following: "The fascists opposed both international socialism and liberal capitalism, arguing that their views represented a third way. They claimed to provide a realistic economic alternative that was neither laissez-faire capitalism nor communism. They favoured corporatism and class collaboration, believing that the existence of inequality and separate social classes was beneficial (contrary to the views of socialists). Fascists argued that the state had a role in mediating relations between these classes (contrary to the views of liberal capitalists)." Food for thought ... )

Now, on to the (other) links :)
"G'day, hello, howdy, hi, zdravstvujtye (some of my work colleagues are Russian, including an absolutely invaluable administrator who has recently taken maternity leave - may she and young one and family be blest), guten tag (where I have connection owing to a recent past life), sveiki, czesc (I have friends, not just colleagues, at work who are Polish), bonjour (colleagues at a former workplace were French, and we practised and tried to extend my woeful and limited range of this language), selamat pagi (one of the best junior engineers I ever worked with was Malaysian, and she taught me a few words), annyeonghaseyo, pryvit, bitaem, como vai (a friend of mine a few years ago, although not Brazilian, had Portuguese ancestry), ¡Hola (a former work colleague and friend, a VERY talented artist - with a Mexican sensibility to her artwork, particularly around the Day of the Dead - used to teach me Mexican Spanish), Selamat pagi, ni hao (ah, my work trips to Asia, and the many wonderful, wonderful people I have met there - and some excellent work colleagues and friends here, as well), bongiorno (my current home city of Melbourne has lots of Greeks and Italians, who have made our culture far richer - and made us coffee snobs :) ), hoschakal, hejsan, ciao, no japolt kivanu, chào bà, chào ông, yiasou (from the city which has, I understand, the largest collection of Greek people outside of Greece), ceau."

  • I'll begin with an article which illustrates the importance of maintaining an awareness of the economic, political and social forces that drive the economy and affect job security (note that almost all financial/economic comment is utterly useless, as it is addressed almost solely to power brokers and the rich with a view to directing their investments to enable getting richer, rather than considering the fate of the workers who make that getting richer possible [4] ): http://www.theage.com.au/national/auto-industry-layoffs-an-assembly-line-of-redundancy-hardship-20131214-2zeaq.html;
  • from The Wild Hunt: http://dizerega.com/my-books/, which may be OK, although it will have a USA focus by the sound of it;
  • notwithstanding the advice given in the post I am about to give you the link to, sometimes the 9 to 5 job IS how you serve humanity - e.g., perhaps as a wastewater treatment engineer ... or as the financial supporter of a bunch of kids and a partner or two ... AND keep in mind that one day you will age, and need some security and the chance to slow down: http://zenhabits.net/uncareer/;
  • someone has formalised a version of something I have been proposing for years: see here from "The Conversation";
Further to that and my recent post wherein I was - in part - mourning the state of democracy in Australia, here are a few links showing events of concern:
... and some general links on these topics:
Oh, and I have to point out that I think those who consider abusing asylum seekers to be necessary to protect borders to be akin to a householder who sets traps that kill a child who trespasses: no real threat, yet a disproportionate, extreme and maliciously harmful response has been enacted by the paranoid or fearful.
Now, with all of these links, keep in mind that they are both a test, and an opportunity: what are you going to do? Hmm?

Food for thought - and may your coming month, whether it is "the festive season" or not, be safe, enjoyable, prosperous and fulfilling.



[3] Apart from the band's criticism of Bush (which I support - and I have concerns about the knee jerk nature of some of the response to that - which I put to yet more politics of fear ... at least it led, it seems to me, to growth of the band and the women in it, especially when one looks at "Not Ready to Make Nice"), as examples of this attitude note the following comments from Wikipedia [2]:
"In addition, the text of the opening track and first single, "Long Time Gone", was a pointed criticism of contemporary country music radio, accusing it of ignoring the soul of the genre as exemplified by Merle Haggard, Johnny Cash, and Hank Williams." 
"Although Maguire and Robison often appear quiet and demure compared to their animated bandmate Natalie Maines, the trio have stood united on controversial subjects since they banded together to play in 1995, even when their opinions have had the potential to serve them more harm than good. In 2006, Maguire said, "I'd rather have a smaller following of really cool people who get it, who will grow with us as we grow and are fans for life, than people that have us in their five-disc changer with Reba McEntire and Toby Keith. We don't want those kinds of fans. They limit what you can do". " 
"In an interview, Maines commented about Sony worrying about the reference to "mattress dancing" in "Sin Wagon", refusing to discuss it in interviews. She said, "Our manager jokes, 'You can't say mattress dancing, but they love the song about premeditated first degree murder'! She continues, " ... so it's funny to us that "mattress dancing" is out and murder is in!" " 
"A few months after Maines' comment about Bush, Dixie Chicks performed and donated $10,000 for Rock the Vote, a website designed to encourage young adults to register to vote. Maines said, "We always felt like we were searching for ways to make an impact outside of music ... I believe everything that's happened in the last few months happened for a reason. A lot of positive things have come from it, and this is just one of them. We're very dedicated and motivated about this now." " 
There are also criticisms of the band, which you can find on Wikipedia.

 [4] There are a number of assumptions in economic circles that should be challenged.

 The first is that someone who loses a job can find another job, possibly in another industry, relatively easily, or at such little pain that it is worth society's while to force that to happen. Bull. This view shows a complete lack of understanding of people, many of whom can not make such a change - in fact, if it is so easy, let's see an economist or two give up economic advisory work and spend the rest of their working career as, say, a carpenter, or a sewage worker ... or an agricultural worker. What utter, complete nonsense! Let's also see such a person given depression and then forced to move away from their support network - or perhaps move away from their family and fiends! No, changing jobs at someone else's will is stressful, and quite possibly does MORE damage to society (do these people ever add up to costs of suicides, family stress, health problems, etc from this enforced so-called 'greater efficiency"???) than the costs of a slight reduction in so-called "efficiency". This will likely continue until someone in politics starts taking responsibility for jobs and unemployment, which is AT LEAST as important as managing inflation.

 Oh, and re the assumption that supporting the profit making of companies lead to a better quality of life that capitalists promote, how about MEASURING that by DIRECTLY asking questions about people's emotional wellbeing, number of jobs actually created, etc. Don't just ASSUME that more money in the economy necessarily means ANYTHING.


[1] BPLF = Balanced Positive (spiritual) Light Forces. See here and here for more on this.

[2] Please see here and my post "The Death of Wikipedia" for the reasons I now recommend caution when using Wikipedia. I'm also exploring use of h2g2, although that doesn't appear to be as extensive (h2g2 is intended - rather engagingly - to be the Earth edition of "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy"). 

Love, light, hugs and blessings


Gnwmythr 
(pronounced "new-MYTH-ear"; ... aka Bellatrix Lux?)

My "blogiography" (list of all posts - currently not up to date) is here.  

I started this blog to cover karmic regression-rescue (see here and here), and it grew ...  See here for my group mind project, here and here for my "pagans for peace" project (and join me at 9 PM on Sunday, wherever you are, to meditate for peace), and here for my bindrune kit-bag.
  • One size does NOT fit all. 
  • Gnwmythr's Stropping Strap: Occam's Razor only works if  the simplest solution is actually recognised as being the simplest, rather than the one that best fits one's bigotries being labelled 'simplest'.
  • May the world of commerce and business be recognised to be a servant, not a master, of the lives of people.
  • Ban the dream interpretation industry! 
  • A home is for living in, not feeling, becoming or being rich or a “better” class than others.
  • Housework is for ensuring a home is comfortable to live in, not competing to outdo or belittle others.
  • Like fire to the physical, emotions to the soul make a good servant, and a bad master. 
  • Expertise at intimacy and emotional happiness is generally not the same thing as spiritual growth.
  • "Following the crowd" is not "going with the flow".
  • Armageddon is alive and well and happening right now: it is a battle between the indolence of "I only ..." and/or "I just ..." and/or "Everyone knows ... " and/or "they can ..." and what Bruce Schneier [2] calls "security theatre" on one side, and perspicacity and the understanding that the means shape the end on the other. Indolence vs. perspicacity, and expediency vs. honour.
  • The means shape the end.  
  • Sometimes you just can't argue with a biped that is armed with a sharp stick, a thick head and not too much in the way of grunts.
  • As words can kill, the right to freedom of speech comes with a DUTY to be as well-informed, objective and balanced as you can be.
  • My favourite action movie of all time is "Gandhi", although I've recently come across "Invictus" and might put that one in to that category. However, I loathe the stereotypical action movie - and, for similar reasons, I loathe many dramas, which are often emotionally violent, more so in some cases than many war films.
Do not pray for easy lives. Pray to be stronger [people]. JOHN F. KENNEDY (who was quoting 19th century Episcopal Bishop Phillips Brooks)
Jesus loves you.  Odin wants you to grow up. (Facebook meme, according to John Beckett)

Females, get over 'cute'. Get competent. Get trained. Get capable. Get over 'cute'. And those of you who are called Patty and Debby and Suzy, get over that. Because we use those names to infantalise females – we keep females in their 'little girl' state by the names we use for them. Get over it. If you want to be taken seriously, get serious. JANE ELLIOTT 

The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good [people] to do nothing. (based on writing by) EDMUND BURKE

"The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them." EINSTEIN

We didn't inherit the Earth from our ancestors, we only borrowed it from our children ANTOINE DE SAINT-EXUPÉRY

Like an unchecked cancer, hate corrodes the personality and eats away its vital unity. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.

True compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar; it is not haphazard and superficial. It comes to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.

Those whom we cannot stand are usually those who we cannot understand P.K.SHAW

Few men are willing to brave the disapproval of their fellows, the censure of their colleagues, and the wrath of their society. Moral courage is a rarer commodity than bravery in battle or great intelligence. Yet it is the one essential, vital quality for those who seek to change a world which yields most painfully to change." SENATOR ROBERT F. KENNEDY (US Attorney General 1966 Speech) 
Too much and too long, we seem to have surrendered community excellence and community values in the mere accumulation of material things. Our gross national product ... if we should judge America by that -- counts air pollution and cigarette advertising, and ambulances to clear our highways of carnage. ... Yet the gross national product does not allow for the health of our children, the quality of their education, or the joy of their play. It does not include the beauty of our poetry or the strength of our marriages; the intelligence of our public debate or the integrity of our public officials. It measures neither our wit nor our courage; neither our wisdom nor our learning; neither our compassion nor our devotion to our country; it measures everything, in short, except that which makes life worthwhile." ROBERT F. KENNEDY 1968
Tags:attitudes, discrimination, economy, presumptuousness, racism, responsibility, sexism, society,

First published: Fryrsdagr, 19th December, 2013

Last edited: Friday, 19th December, 2013 

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