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This Is Sad

The body of 12 year old Brandi Allen was found by searchers yesterday afternoon. There was stil a chance, till then, that she had just gone off with a friend, or at least, that she was alive somewhere. She had been swept away by flood waters in Caboolture, North of Brisbane, on Monday.

My sister Stephanie was killed in a car accident at the same age, and that loss has stayed with me ever since.

My thoughts and prayers are with the Allen family.

That makes ten people killed in floods in Queensland in the last few months.

Financial Optimism Delusional

President Barack Obama can see “glimmers of hope” on the horizon, despite the country battling its deepest depression in decades, and his own claim that most presidents don’t have to deal with as much as him even in a whole lifetime.

Risk analysis and market expert Satyajit Das says such expressions of hope are not based on any change in productivity, markets or in available credit, and are therefore delusional.

“The banking system is now running, after all the losses and even after the recapitalisation, with a shortfall of between $1 and $2.5 trillion of capital. That translates into a reduction in the amount of credit available to the global system of somewhere between 20 to 30 per cent.”

That means 20 to 30 percent less money available to spend on projects, eg, construction, farming, mining, manufacture, which actually produce useful things, and employ people in useful actitives.

So don’t start celebrating yet.

Turkemenistan’s Palace of Happiness

The Republic of Turkmenistan is to build a $133 million wedding hall, to be called the Palace of Happiness, as part of $1 billion in stimulus spending, most of which will go to infrastructure and beautification projects around the capital, Ashgabat.

Another $1 billion is to be spent building an Olympic village, including a winter sports complex, despite the fact that the desert nation is not in line to host any forthcoming Olympics.

Well why not? It makes as much sense as most other stimulus plans I’ve seen.

Climate Science is Wrong. Yes, We Know – But This Is On The ABC!

Bob Carter has been challenging the popular media/political view of climate science for years. So have I. Bob Carter even linked to my introduction to Global Warming Theory on his website. Thanks Bob.

But no one at the ABC has been taking any notice. Now they are. Professor Carter’s evidence to the senate enquiry is ‘balanced’ in the ABC report by claims from Penny Wong, Minister for Hot Air, and a gaggle of scientists from the CSIRO. But it is Carter’s view that gets the headline – Science Behind Garnaut Report Flawed.

“The Stern Report and the Garnaut Report in Australia are both reports by distinguished economists – they have no basis in scientific expertise,” he said. “It is never a good move to appoint someone to a review committee who is not competent to judge the basis for the whole review, but that is what the British and Australian Governments did.”

The times, they are a changing. And about time.

If Republicans Are In it, It Can’t Be Grassroots

That seems to be the message from some liberal commentators on the protests about Obama’s spending-spree and high-tax policies, which are occurring around the US as I write.

Nope. Not grassroots. Nope. They’ve been organised. Those tea party protests aren’t real protests at all.

It is certainly true that, in general, for things to be organised, some sort of organisation needs to take place. When things are not organised that should be organised, a level of disorganisation tends to occur. This can cause confusion and inconvenience. The mayhem at the Monarto music festival is a perfect example of not organising something that should have been organised.

Besides, Obama used to be a community organisor. So some organisation must be OK. Maybe even a little grass-rooty. As long as it’s not, you know, too well organised. Cause then it’s not. And stuff.

But in any case, not when anything at all is being organised by people who are concerned about just how well organised the current US administration is. And just how much more into debt they plan to take the US and the world. And why alternatives are not being considered, and, and ….

If Intel’s Profits Have Dropped by 55%

Because of lower margins

Why have chip prices gone up? Or when they say lower margins do they just mean that PC sales have been down in the first quarter?

I hope Intel CEO Paul Otellini is right when he says PC sales bottomed out in the first months of 09 and are now returning to normal. Not just because PCs are my business, but because spending on PCs is a good indicator of confidence in both home and business expenditure.

What Works and What Doesn’t

According to protestors at the G20, capitalism doesn’t work.

G20 Protestors - Captitalism Doesn’t Work

It certainly works better than anything else that has ever been tried.

It seems odd to me that people complain endlessly about the government, and then some of those very same people claim to want a system in which everything is run by the government, and everyone works for the government.

Of course it’s true that some people, and some parking meters, make obscene amounts of money. Sometimes markets are manipulated and the poor suffer. There will always need to be safety nets for people who cannot cope, or who are inveterately lazy.

But encouraging people to use their abilities to help themselves and those around them works. It is a way of doing things that has resulted in living conditions for most people around the globe – clean water, good food, access to education and medical care – that even royalty would have been envious of 200 years ago. And it has enabled the building of a world community in which it is possible to respond to disasters and other great needs quickly and generously.

But the protestors are right – another world is possible. A cold, dark, hungry world. Like North Korea.

Korean Peninsula by Night

Obama Stands Firm On House Built On Sand

Well, that’s not quite what he said. Jesus said that people had a choice about building their lives on the rock foundation of truth, or on the shifting sands of fashion and desire.

Obama said people had a similar choice about building a new economy on the rock of his wisdom, including, for example, higher taxes, discouraging business, and record debt, or continuing with the unstable sands of a market economy which has brought unprecedented wealth and opportunity around the globe. Although he didn’t put it quite that clearly.

“It’s more than most Congresses and most presidents have to deal with in a lifetime,” Mr. Obama said, speaking of the financial crisis.  Really?

“I know there’s a criticism out there that my administration has been spending with reckless abandon, pushing a liberal social agenda while mortgaging our children’s future,” Mr. Obama said.

Yep. That’s pretty much it.

Mary MacKillop’s Second Miracle?

David Keohane, 29, was on his way home from a party in Coogee in Sydney when he was beaten beyond recognition in August last year. He had been in a coma in a hospital in his home town of Cork in Ireland, but awoke on St Patrick’s Day and is now talking.

Doctors had been unsure he would ever recover consciousness. His family are attributing his dramatic recovery to the intercessions of Australian Josephite nun Mary MacKillop, whose prayers for him they had constantly asked.

Catholics don’t pray to the saints (although they may sometimes loosely use that expression). Instead, they ask the saints, their friends in heaven, to pray for them in the same way as other Chrisians ask their friends on earth to pray for them. Catholics (and some other Christians) believe that if we are united in Christ, even death cannot separate us from those who have gone before, and that the ‘great cloud of witnesses’ continue to care for us.

Mary MacKillop was beatified by John Paul II in 1995. The process leading to the Church recognising her as saint began in 1925, so it has certainly not been rushed. The final stage is canonisation, which really means ‘being added to the list.’

The Pope doesn’t make anyone a saint – only God can do that. Every Christian is a saint, in the sense of being sanctified, set apart for God’s purposes. But the Church acknowledges certain people through whom the light of Christ has shone so clearly that their heroic dedication to the will of God is an inspiration to others. One of the requirements is two confirmed miracles attributed to the intervention of the person. Mary MacKillop needs a second miracle.

During his visit to Australia in 2008, Pope Benedict said: ‘She will be canonised, we’re waiting for the miracle.’ The recovery of David Keohane may be that miracle. But it will be a long process, and any medical testimony will be thoroughly tested.

Still, this might be it – Australia’s first saint.

This is the Mary MacKillop Prayer, as prayed by her own order, the Josephites:

Most loving God,
We thank you for the example of Blessed Mary MacKillop,
who in her living of the Gospel witnessed to the human dignity of each person.
She faced life’s challenges with faith and courage.
We pray through her intercession for our needs……..

May her holiness soon be acknowledged by the universal Church.
We make this prayer through Jesus the Lord.
Amen.

Christian Hostage Beheaded In Southern Philippines

Cosme Aballes was beheaded shortly after being kidnapped on Good Friday by a group of bandits consisting of members of Abu Sayyaf and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. The kidnapping took place on the island of Basilan in the South West of the Philippines. Another man, Eman Chavez, was kidnapped at the same time. His fate is unknown. This brings the total number of hostages held on Basilan to seven.

On the nearby island of Jolo (Sulu province), two Red Cross workers are still being held by Abu Sayyaf. The Philippine military is now blocking all food and water supplies to the kidnappers’ camp.

“I think the hostage crisis won’t last much longer. We will not allow them to dictate on us. We are the ones supposed to be making the demands on them, that they release the hostages or else” said Sulu Governor Abdusakur Tan.

He is quite right. Making concessions to terrorists is the easy way out in the short term, but encourages an industry of kidnapping.

But what a scary call to make. Please keep praying for the hostages – there and in Somalia.

Two Dead in Thailand Protests

I was sorry to read this story of casualties in demonstrations in Bangkok – two dead and 113 injured.

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva imposed a state of emergency in the capital, but was claiming by last night that the unrest was almost over. I hope he is right.

Former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has a lot to answer for.

I don’t mean allegations of corruption while he was in power. Whether those allegations are true, and if so, whether those negatives were outweighed by the good his government did alleviating rural poverty and implementing universal health care, are questions too complex for discussion here. It is certainly true that the military acted questionably in ousting his goverment in 2006, and that the court appointed by the military regime probably acted wrongly in outlawing his Thai Rak Thai party.

But.

Thaksin Shinawatra could easily have responded differently to allegations of corruption at the time. He could have acted differently in response to the massive protests which led the military to act as it did. He could have called elections for example. He could have stayed and faced the charges of corruption. He could have refrained from calling for revolution in communications to his supporters.

He is saying now that he wants a peaceful resolution to the unrest, and a return to true democracy.

If that’s true he should stay out of Thailand and Thai politics completely, and urge his followers to express their concerns through the ballot box. Or he should return, face the charges of corruption pending against him, and then, if innocent, stand for office again.

But encouraging violence, then saying he wants peace, then saying he will come back to lead a coup himself, then saying he doesn’t want any more coups, is not helping either himself or the Thai people.

In the mean time, if you are planing a holiday to Thailand, you might be safer putting it off for a while. Or come to Kangaroo Island instead!

Geriatric Porn Star an Inspiration?

Not to me. Thanks anyway.

75 year old Shigeo Tokuda started in the porn business when he was 59. He was interviewed last Monday on the set of his latest film in which he is shown as a master of sex. In the film he used vibrators, whips and candle lights to show the master satisfying a 36-year-old actress.

“I wanted to challenge what ordinary people did not, so I decided to be a porno actor.”

If you say so. I guess if you are going to challenge what ordinary people do (or did not), becoming a porn star beats dragging your family through pirate infested waters. Or dragging yourself across the Arctic, getting lost and suffering frostbite because of the unexpected cold, in order to prove to the world that global warming is real.

Safran Crucifixion Offends Villagers

I have enjoyed some of Safrans’ work. He can be genuinely funny. But when people are kind and harm no one, mocking their values and beliefs is not funny. It’s just try-hard.

I can sort of understand the practice in some parts of the Philippines of being crucified on Good Friday. It’s a symbolic identification with Christ in his sufferings, an expression of a desire to share the burden he carried.

I think it’s the wrong thing to do. But I still respect the sincerity and faith of the people who do it.

John Safran dressing up in ‘Life of Brian’ type wig and pleading to share in this ritual just so he can belittle the people involved is not something which is fair or amusing.

Devout Christian followers of Good Friday’s crucifixion rituals in the rural Philippines village of Kapitangan were devastated to learn that John Safran’s nailing to the cross alongside local penitents was a TV comedy show stunt. In this isolated part of Bulacan province north of Manila the arrival of a faithful foreigner in a jeepney who pleaded to take part in the gory Easter ceremony and didn’t chicken out was at first applauded. Villagers were bewildered to learn on Saturday that Safran was not even a Christian. Student Jhoan Caparas, 18, who saw Safran’s crucifixion, said his actions had been disrespectful and immoral. “Why does he want to come here and laugh at us? We don’t laugh at his culture and his beliefs. So he should respect ours.”

Yes he should.

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