Dear Republican Zionists

 Dear Republican Zionists,

You might not believe in systemic racism, but are you willing to agree that there is SOME racism in the criminal justice system?  Can you agree that, at the very least, there are some bad apples...some racist cops and some racist judges?

Whether you believe there IS systemic racism in America's criminal justice system or whether you accept there are at least two racist police officers out there, I very much doubt you would align yourself with left-wing people who say ACAB (all cops are bad) or Defund the Police.

I am guessing you are very much against defunding the police.  

I am guessing that if you did agree there is a little or a lot of racism in the criminal justice system, meaningful reform is the way to go.  Rather than defunding or demonizing everyone in that career.  

Could you perhaps be willing to take that same mindset and apply it to DEI and other such diversity initiatives?  I think it would be much more helpful to the Jewish community, and other human communities, if we wake people up to the antisemitism that unfortunately dwells in DEI and work towards reform.  

California Dorothy Gale, Endings, and Hope

1. Dreamed that I'm somewhere with my family (maybe an Australian airport?) I end up seeing a glossy newsletter with a picture of my college Californian friend on the cover. The headlines say that my friend, and someone else, committed suicide.  

I see that the magazine is written and published by the Australian clique who gave me a hard time online a few years back. I'm surprised that they've published something that can be found at the airport (or wherever we are). I'm also surprised that the Australian clique knows about my California friend. Though, when I think back, I vaguely remember finding out that they somehow knew each other. 

I try to read the newsletter as we're rushing around. I have a hard time finding the whole article.  

In a later dream scene: I try to send a message through the newsletter by writing on the newsletter. I try to say that I hope/wish that this suicide isn't true. I'm hoping it's just a dream. I have a hard time writing the word dream. It doesn't look right.  

Then later there was something with me talking to another friend from Santa Cruz, the place where my Californian friend had been from.  

2. Wrote down my dreams on Livejournal. Then I did what I usually do. I read the dream I had on this date last month (August 18). And I read the dream I had, on this date, a year ago (9/18/14).

In the dream from a year go, I dreamed about one of my old Santa Cruz friends.

So, that was quite a coincidence.  

3. Wondered if the universe is trying to give me a message about Santa Cruz.

4. Had another weird coincidence.  

The other thing I do in the morning is read an old blog post. I'm just working my way backwards. Right now, I'm my post from May 30, 2011.

One of the subjects listed on the title of the post is Kirsten McKenzie.  My college Californian friend's name was Kirsty. I say "Was" not because she truly committed suicide and is dead. But we're not friends anymore. I haven't talked to her in over twenty years. 

Anyway, I know Kirsty and Kirsten aren't the same name. But they're fairly close.

And THEN...I started reading my blog post. I mention that Kirsten is from South Africa.  Before my Californian friend was Californian, she was South African.  

5. Started to feel haunted.

These things happen to me once in awhile, though. They never turn into anything very exciting. They're always left as unsolved mysteries.

6. Saw that my May 30, 2011 post also mentions my Californian COUSIN. My Californian cousin has a sister living in Sydney.  So maybe the dream was somehow about them. It's that California-Australia connection.

I'm sure, though, that there are a lot of Australia and California connections—in the world and that I know of personally.

Well, first of all there are Australian actors moving to California so they can try to find work in Hollywood. I mentioned Australian actors moving to America in my post yesterday.

Second, I had a friend from Sydney who moved to California. I've been reading her blog lately.

In college, I had strong feelings for a guy from Santa Cruz. He had a roommate that I wasn't too fond of. Guess where the roommate was from?

Australia!  

7. Started watching an episode of Neighbours.

8. Could relate to Amber (Jenna Rosenow) having her friend disappear into thin air.

I've gone through that—being friends with people who end up not existing.  

9. Watched The Wizard of Oz with Jack.

I thought about how Judy Garland is the mother of Liza Minelli and that Lisa Minelli married Peter Allen. 

Then I started thinking about that saying, Friends of Dorothy. Where did that come from? Well, I know where it comes from, really. I know what it means. But why is it used in that way?

And then my brain started connecting things and wondering. Is that why rainbows are the symbol for gay pride?  

I also thought about how the movie takes place in Kansas, which is interesting, because I did a little cyber-stalking this morning. Kirsty, my old Californian friend, seems to be living in Kansas now.

And no. Learning the Kansas thing didn't inspire me to want to watch Wizard of Oz. It was Jack who picked out the movie. I wanted to watch Beetlejuice. 

10. Wanted to say that I also remembered the whole Boy from Oz thing and the fact that Oz is a nickname for Australia.

11. Found myself liking the movie less than I did when I was a child.

First of all, I think Wicked has jaded me. It's hard to see The Wizard of Oz in the same way these days.

I didn't like the whole it's-just-a-dream thing. I think I ignored that as a child.  In my eyes, Dorothy went to a magical place. But now watching it as an adult, it doesn't seem that open to interpretation.  

Then there's the main message of, There's no place like home. Not only is the movie anti-fantasy, in some ways; but it's also anti-adventure. Dorothy has this chance to be away from home—to explore this magical world. And all she wants to do is leave it.

12. Thought that the message of the movie reminded me of my parents when I showed interest in moving to Australia.

13. Consulted Lord Wiki about Friend of Dorothy. He says the origin of the term is unknown, but some believe it's about Dorothy being able to accept people who are different.

Okay?

But as Dorothy accepted the Tin Man, The Scarecrow, and The Lion; didn't they all accept her as well? They also accepted each other.

14. Learned from Lord Wiki that Judy Garland herself is a gay icon.

That makes more sense to me. 

15. Saw that Lord Wiki has a quote from John Waters (the American one, not the Aussie). His sentiments remind me of my own. He says,  [I was] the only child in the audience that always wondered why Dorothy ever wanted to go back to Kansas. Why would she want to go back to Kansas, in this dreary black and white farm with an aunt who dressed badly and seemed mean to me, when she could live with magic shoes, winged monkeys and gay lions? I never understood it.

Exactly! Well, that's how I'm looking at it now. As I said before, as a child, I think I ignored the whole part about going home. Or I just saw it as a quest that made the story more exciting.

Then again, I did get homesick a lot as a child. So maybe I could relate to Dorothy wanting to go home.

16. Consulted Lord Wiki about the rainbow flag. He says some believe it comes from Dorothy/Judy Garland and the "Over the Rainbow" song.

17. Started watching an episode of Neighbours.

18. Finished watching that episode of Neighbours.

Maybe it will be my last for now.

The episode is the one that aired on Jack's birthday, so that kind of seems like a good place to stop.

I was going to watch another episode, but I think instead I'm going to get spoilers by looking at the episode descriptions on Hulu.

19. Read the spoilers.

There wasn't anything too exciting. Hulu doesn't have any episodes beyond August 28.

Terese starts the AA path, and it seems Toadie decides to sue Naomi for the bouncy house catastrophe.

20.  Amused by comment on the last episode of Neighbours.

Scott Windsor from California says, Well, I guess after 30 years, it was bound to come to an end.

I think he thinks that Neighbours is leaving Hulu, because it's completely over.

But no. As far as I know, it's still airing in Australia.

21. Done with Neighbours.

I'm ready to move on.

22. Deleted all of my Neighbours bookmarks.

It's my way of moving on...and being overdramatic.

23. Hoped that Neighbours will return to Hulu someday.

Until then, I shall watch other things.

24. Went to the Triple J 2014 list.

Today I'm going to listen to the 62nd song, which is "Heart Beats Slow" by Angus and Julia Stone.

I forget. They're brother and sister, right?

25. Googled.

Yes. They're brother and sister.

I didn't realize they were still singing together. I thought they had both gone solo.

26. Started to watch the video to "Heart Beats Slow".

27. Saw man that looks like an Australian actor—the guy on Love My Way and other things.  I'll go look up his name in a sec.

Anyway, I wonder if it's him or just someone who looks like him.

28. Found the actor.

It's Damon Herriman.  I don't know if it's him in the video, though.

29. Saw that Damon Herriman is going to be starring in an American TV show, starting in November. It's called Flesh and Bone, and it's about ballet.

It sounds similar to Dance Academy.

30. Saw that from 2010-2015, Damon Herriman appeared in twenty-episodes of the TV show Justified.

The show has been on for six seasons, and I don't think I've ever even heard of it.

There's just so much media out there. It's hard to keep up.

31. Went back to watching the Angus and Julia stone video.

32. Liked that the video has clips from old cartoons. That's fun.

33. Wondered if the video was filmed in Australia or the U.S

It kind of looks like California again.

Hey! See, that's another California-Australia connection. I've watched two Australian videos lately that were filmed in California.

34. Got idea it was filmed in the U.S.  I looked at some signs in the video with phone numbers. They looked American not Australian.

35. Saw a sign in the video that says, Eat Pie.

I wish I knew what kind of pie. If it's a fruit pie, the setting of the video is probably the US. If it's a meat pie, then it's probably Australia.

36. Considered that the video might have been filmed in Canada.

I'm not sure what their phone numbers look like.

37. Tried to find information about the video and failed.

38. Tried again and succeeded.

I found this article.

I was right about Damon Herriman; and California!  The video was filmed in Los Angeles.

I'm very proud of myself right now.

39. Saw that one of the other actors in the video was Nash Edgerton.

I didn't notice him.

I was distracted by the cartoons, guns, and phone numbers.

40. Looked around the FreemantleMedia page to see if I could any clues about Neighbours.

I didn't really find anything helpful.

Now I'm on the FreemantleMedia Australia page. Maybe I'll find something there.

41. Saw that there was a partnership thing between Neighbours and something called Airbnb.  There was a contest where fans of Neighbours could have a sleepover on Ramsay Street.

42. Saw that FreemantleMedia Australia also owns Wonderland.  That's the other Aussie show on Hulu that went wonky!

It's still there, as far as I know.  But they have the first season and part of the second season combined into one season. Then it just ends.

43. Considered sending out a Tweet to the Neighbours Twitter account, but it doesn't look like they respond often. Instead I sent one out to Hulu. It looks like they respond to people quite often.

I'll see if they write back.

44. Saw that someone already asked the question. Damokeeffe from Brooklyn asked why there hasn't been any new episodes of Neighbours.  Hulu says their rights to the show are expiring. Why didn't they sign a contract that allowed them to at least finish the season?

45. Felt a little better. Saw Tweets from Hulu saying they're going to talk to their team about Neighbours.  And there are other fans besides Damokeeffe speaking out about the huge Hulu loss.

46. Felt better seeing that there are other American fans of Neighbours wishing for Hulu to keep the show.


Read my novel: The Dead are Online 

Prejudice

I've been thinking a lot about Fruitcake's latest post. Or really the things that are being said in comments.  

Fruitcake says, I am inclined to be a little put out when people say "I am allowed to trash group X because I'm one of them, but you are not allowed to.

I have to admit to being guilty of that. I bitch about Americans in my blog. Then I get offended when Australians bitch about Americans. Is that fair? Not really.

But sometimes I feel more justified because I KNOW Americans....lots of them.  And on a very frequent basis, I interact with lovely people who happen to fit the negative stereotype of Americans—  Loud, ethnocentric, frequent bragging, and sense of entitlement.

When Australians complain about Americans, I'm thinking, what the hell do you know? What are you basing this opinion on?  The one group of loud tourists you ran into while hiking?  An episode of The Simpsons?  George W. Bush? A geographical blunder made by CNN?  

Fruitcake's complaint came after my list of complaints. I realize I'm guilty of my own pet-peeves..at least one of them. I spoke against, people who act like they're doing me a favor by tolerating me, since they usually hate everyone else in my group.

I have my prejudices. And I have my exceptions to the prejudice.

For example....

I'm prejudiced against a certain age group.

I'm an ageist, I suppose.

But there are a few people from this age group that I adore. Instead of thinking Well, maybe I've judged this group wrongly, I tend to think, Well, this person is not like the OTHERS.  

I try not to be, but I AM a prejudice person. If I meet two or three people from the same religion, country, age group, ethnicity, etc; and they have something in common, I tend to imagine everyone from that group will have that trait as well.

It's stupid, really.  

It's irrational.

You probably need to know at least 100 people from a specific group for your personal stereotype to be even remotely valid.   

I definitely know more than a hundred Americans. Or at least I've known MORE than that many through out my life. I'm guessing that only a small minority fit the stereotypes I mentioned above.  

All in all, people are people. There's more variation between individuals than there are between groups. My rational smart brain knows that. The irrational dumb sections of my brain will probably never succeed in grasping the concept.


P.S-I can't complain too much about Australians judging Americans based on fictional American TV shows. Watching Offspring has raised questions in my mind about Australians, specifically their attitudes towards sex.  It's silly, though, because certain characters in certain American shows have the same attitudes and behaviors. It's probably more of a TV vs. reality thing than an Australian vs. American thing.  But when I see an American TV show, I can know better and think, that's not realistic or overly common...at least not with the people I know.  When I see it in an Australian TV show, sometimes I'm not really sure. 

Read my novel: The Dead are Online 

Names, War, Scottish People, and Prayer

1. Explored the Cloudstreet miniseries website.  

They have little videos about all the main characters. I'm watching them.

The Dolly Lamb video isn't working for me though.

2. Went to bed and had lots of dreams. In one of them:  I start watching a soap opera I haven't watched in several months. I tell Tim that this is not like Days of Our Lives. You can stop watching Days of our Lives for six months; then come back and be able to follow along, because nothing much has changed.  With this other soap opera, I don't recognize a lot of the people.  

I then remember that there was a reason why I suddenly started watching it several months ago. I'm thinking either a Harry Potter actor was in it, or an Australian actor.

Then there was also a dream about a giant koala saving people from a tree. It didn't actually happen in the dream, but someone was suggesting it as a plot device.  

3. Watched a funny video on Fruitcake's blog about a dog screen test.  

There's other interesting stuff in her post. She talks about Anglo-names. If you're looking for a job in Australia, does it help to have one?  If you use your foreign-sounding name, will people reject you because they want someone white?

Fruitcake suggests the rejection might not always be about racism. She says employers may not call applicants, with unusual names, because they're worried about mispronouncing them.

I think there's merit to her theory, at least in some cases.     

I would say if someone has an easy to pronounce foreign name, and consistently doesn't get called for interviews; MAYBE racism is involved.

Tim has a very Anglo name because he was adopted by white people.  His accent is totally American.  So people don't know he's Asian until they see him.  

My last name is Anglicized. When my paternal grandfather came over, they changed their last name from Rabinowitz (or something like that) to Roberts.  My first name is Jewish, though. Well, it's Hebrew at least.

4. Remembered that when I did the past life regression thing, the name Esmeralda popped into my head.  I got the idea it had been my name, but I dismissed it as being silly. I didn't even tell the therapist.  I only knew it as a character in The Hunchback of Notre Damn and didn't think of it as a "real" name.

That was really small-minded of me.    

5. Watched the trailer for Red Dog.  Fruitcake talked about it on her blog.



I'm not usually the type who makes an effort to see dog movies, but it looks pretty sweet.

According to IMDb, the movie doesn't have a release date for America yet.  

6. Read article about Patrick McGorry.  He's the Australian of the Year who's into mental health. He believes in early intervention for teens, and young adults, who might one day have an illness like Schizophrenia.

The article says there's a growing backlash against him. Some people feel he's lobbying the government to fund programs that he has founded.

David Castle the head of psychiatry at Melbourne's St. Vincent's Hospital says, It's extremely worrying that the government is listening to professional lobbyists who have a massive personal investment in the programs they're recommending - and they are undoubtedly overstating the evidence. There's a massive conflict of interest there.  

Yeah.  I think it's worrying.  I've always had a bad feeling about McGorry. But to be fair, I've been anti-psychiatry for a long time. I do like to see that there are psychiatrists speaking out against McGorry type behavior.  This helps me to remember not to paint all psychiatrists with the same brush.

Another person interviewed for the article is Louise Newman. She's the past president of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists.  She worries that early intervention could lead to kids being overmedicated, prematurely diagnosed and stigmatized.  

I agree with that.

I could probably label everyone I know with some type of mental illness. But I think it's better to just say they're extremely sad, moody, crazy, weird, anxious, silly, eccentric, energetic, annoying, nervous, anal, imaginative, irresponsible, apathetic, delusional, dramatic, sensitive, insecure....

In other words, they're human beings trying to deal with a world that's insane, unfair, unpredictable, scary, and stressful.  

7. Went to Tallygarunga. I think I forgot to mention that yesterday was their birthday. They're five-years-old now. So that means they started in August 2006.

That was the summer between Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. 

8. Found the story thread I'm going to read today. It's called Meeting You Again For the First Time.

It takes place in the piers and markets of South Melbourne. Would St. Kilda count as South Melbourne?  Well, it looks south on the map, at least.

Now Tallygarunga is asking their wizards to specify the date of the story. This will be helpful to me.

So, this one takes place on July 31, Harry Potter's birthday. It's late afternoon and it's cold.

9. Thought about how I still have trouble associating July with cold weather. July to me is synonymous with heat. It's swimming pools and watermelon.

I'm sort of better at associating December and February with summer because we've gone to Australia in those months.  

10. Looked a the characters in the story.

There's Jordan Scott, a nightclub bartender. I think of the name Jordan as being a guy's name. But here it's female.

The other character here is Forrester Smith.

11. Started reading the story.

I feel a little bit lost about what's happening.

Jordan Scott goes to a warehouse that has really bad memories for her. I guess she was attacked.   There's something about her wings being clipped. I don't know if that's literal or figurative.

12. Consulted Lord Wiki about South Melbourne.  He says it's an actual suburb.

Tallygarunga says it includes Luna Park, the red light district, the piers and markets, and Albert Park.

13. Saw that this Victorian tourism site has a page about South Melbourne. 

There seems to be a lot of ballooning activities there.

I don't see anything about Luna Park here, so I'm thinking Tallygarunga was referring to the southern part of Melbourne rather than the suburb named South Melbourne.

14. Decided to read the biography of Jordan Scott.

Her Face Claim is Winona Ryder.  In honor of that I shall watch this.



Jack's been into watching 1980's movies lately. We've done Gremlins, Goonies, and we're making our way through Ghostbusters. Beetlejuice would be a great one; although he says the next movie he wants to see is the original Karate Kid. 

I love that he's wanting to watch all these old movies. I feel like I'm reliving my childhood. 

15. Went back to reading Jordan's biography.

It says she's human. There's nothing here about her being an angel. So I guess the wing bit was symbolic.

16. Thought that Jordan has my body type. She’s actually a petit young woman with thin limbs but still plush around her torso and hip areas.  I'm petite, and I seem to gain weight in my limbs last.

Maybe I should say I have her body shape and not her type. Jordan is one of those people who can eat and eat and never gain weight. I'm definitely not like that.

17. Learned that Jordan doesn't obsess about appearance; but she avoids smelling bad, and she's obsessed with oral hygiene. Wasn't there another wizard like that? 

Jordan usually likes to wear her older brother's clothes.

18. Learned that Jordan smokes.

She doesn't tie her shoes; and she slouches when she sits.

19. Learned that Jordan is both introverted and extroverted.  I'm that way too.  I'm kind of in the middle of both.

She hates being bored.

I do too.   

20. Learned that Jordan is very independent and likes to appear tough. Well, and she probably IS tough.  Maybe.

She doesn't like admitting weakness to people.

I know someone like that. 

I don't find it endearing at all—probably because while this person tries to appear perfect, I know she's far from it. I might be more patient with someone who REALLY was perfect and didn't admit weakness.  But that's impossible. Everyone has a weakness, even the most amazing people.

21. Reread the lines about admitting weakness. Jordan does admit weakness but has to have enough trust in someone first. That's totally fair.

And with some people, it's best to avoid revealing weakness. You say one little thing bad about yourself, and they take it as an opportunity to tear you apart.

22. Thought about how it's nice to be around people with whom you can share your weaknesses and not feel judged. And then they share their weaknesses too, so you don't end up feeling stupid.

23. Started to read Jordan's history. Her mom is a pureblood witch and her dad is a Muggle.

When Jordan's mother was pregnant with her, she expected a boy. They had the name Jordan planned, and decided to use it anyway.  I'm used of the name for boys, but I think it works fine for a girl.  

24. Learned that Jordan was a mama's girl when she was young. Her mother dolled her up in a very feminine way.  It sounds like she had very girly beginnings. I'm guessing something traumatic is going to happen to change all that.

Well...the parents got divorced.  It sounds like most of their problems were due to Jordan's father being intolerant of the magical world.

25. Saw that the father got custody of Jordan and her brother. I wonder why.

Was there a custody battle?  Did Jordan's mother fight for her?  I wonder if she didn't because she worried her magical identity might be revealed.

26. Learned that after the divorce, Jordan's father became hateful of his ex-wife and even more negative towards magic. He took his kids out of their wizarding schools and stuck them in Muggle schools.  It was at this time that Jordan became a tomboy.  

Jordan started hanging out with criminal-type kids, including an abusive wizard boyfriend.  She ended up in a detention centre for young wizards and she lost her wand. Now she's a wandless wizard.

27. Wondered what happened to Jordan's mother. Did she give up on her kids completely, or does she try to stay connected with them?

28. Found out that I have another John Anderson for my Australian of the Day. This one is John GERARD Anderson.  He was an educationist.  Is that different from a teacher?

Like other John Andersons I've read about lately,  he was from Scotland.   

I guess Anderson is a Scottish name?

29. Consulted Lord Wiki about the surname Anderson.  He says I'm right.  It comes from Scotland.

Now the name (in various forms) is popular in many countries.  

30. Tried to figure out when John G. Anderson moved to Australia. It seems like he spent most of his formative years in Scotland.

At some point he became headmaster of the Spencer School in Newcastle. Is that Newcastle Australia or Newcastle in the UK?

31. Tried to google Spencer School and Newcastle.   I couldn't find anything.

Oh well.

32. Saw that in 1862, Anderson started working for the Board of Education in Queensland. It might have been his first job in Australia. I don't know.

The Australian Dictionary of Biography says that Anderson wasn't quite suited for the work his job entailed.  They say he was cautious, conservative and autocratic.   

33. Looked at website about autocratic leadership.   They say in its extreme form it can be like a dictatorship.

The site says this type of leadership isn't always horrible and that it works for some organizations. The example they give is Martha Stewart. But most workers seem to prefer environments where they can play a part in decision-making.

34. Remembered a time where I worked with an autocratic leader. It was at our temple. I joined this committee. I think it was for organizing activities for children and families. The guy heading it was very autocratic. He pretty much told people what to do and had very little interest in getting input from others.

I hated it. It was a situation, though, where I felt I could have valuable input. The project I was supposed to work on involved children and books. I feel I do know a fair amount about those things.

If I was put on a job in which I was very ignorant and disinterested, I probably wouldn't mind if someone told me exactly what to do.

35. Went to Mousie's database of Australian music.  

Today's song for me is Redgum's "I Was Only 19".  

I remember this song. Mousie sent it to me along with a remake. Or maybe this one is the remake.   I can't remember.

Well, I'll see in a second.



It's the old one.

The song is sadly fitting for what's happened today.

36. Tired of hearing how I should be thankful to soldiers for my freedom.

Yes in some cases through history, soldiers did fight for our freedom.I'm definitely thankful to them.

But I'm not thankful to every military person out there. Not all of them are fighting for my freedom.   Some of them are simply caught up in some kind of horrible worthless political trap. I'm NOT thankful to them. I'm sad that this is happening to them. I'm sad that they're far away from their family and friends.   I'm sorry they may never come home again. I'm sad that if they do come home, they may be very broken.    

We use terms like He died for us or he died for his country to hide the horrors and wrongness of war.

September 11 is what sparked this war in the Middle East.  Right?

Lord Wiki says close to 3000 people were killed on that day.

How many people have been killed by the war itself?

Lord Wiki says there have been around 100,000 Iraqi deaths, although he says people can't agree on a number.  Some groups think it's much more than 100,000.

Over 4400 American soldiers have died. Almost 200 journalist/media people have been killed. And over 300 people from armed forces around the world (including Australia) have been killed.

American soldiers killed Bin Laden. People celebrated. I thought, yeah, exciting. But how is this going to help us?

Then we started hearing about how airport security is going to be tightened.

What's the point of having a war and killing Bin Laden if it's not going to make us any safer?

It's all such bullshit.

Oh and there's the fact that war costs a lot of money.

What else could we have done with those trillions of dollars?

37. Reminded of a scene from Ghostbusters. The ghostbusters are called to an elegant hotel to take care of a poltergeist.  This little green guy has been causing some mischief.

The ghostbusters cause major damage, to a ballroom, in their attempts to catch the poltergeist.  And they do some kind of thing that has the risk of pretty much destroying the world. The damage will probably cost the hotel thousands upon thousands of dollars. The ghostbusters most likely did more damage than the Poltergeist itself.

I'm not trying to say the 9/11 terrorist attack was like a little green goblin ghost. What happened to America was extremely tragic, and I don't want to downplay that.   

But in the end we have caused more hurt to ourselves.  

38. Decided that instead of putting money and effort into war, we should use that money to

A) protect our borders from bad people. And it's also a good idea to protect from within the country as well.

B) Help bring in refugees from countries that want and need our help.

39. Went to Flickr, so I can continue my stalking of Faun070.

I'm going to look at his album of Potts Point and Paddington. 

Here's Faun070 in front of El Alamain Fountain. It's pretty cool. It reminds me of a dandelion.

Lord Wiki says it's a war memorial for those who fought in World War II. He also says that other people see a dandelion too.

40. Asked Jack what he thought the fountain looked like. He didn't see the dandelion until I pointed it out to him.

41. Wondered...what is the black thing in this picture?   It's up in the tree.  Is it a bird?   It looks weird.

Maybe it's a demon.  

42. Saw a photo of Elizabeth Bay House. What's that?

Well...Lord Wiki says it's a famous historical house in Elizabeth Bay.  It was originally built for a Scottish guy named John Anderson.

No, I'm joking.  It was named for a Scottish guy named Alexander Macleay.

Macleay was the Colonial Secretary for New South Wales. That sounds important, but boring.

What's interesting to me is he was interested in natural history, especially entomology, the study of insects. He was especially into butterflies.

43. Saw a photo of Onslow Avenue. Is that significant to Faun070 and his partner? Or did they just randomly like the scenery?

It's a pretty nice view.

44. Here's a pond with those fish. I have no idea how to spell it.  But you guys know what I'm talking about.  Right?

They remind me of a certain episode of Offspring. 

45. Decided not to freak out about this picture.  Maybe the ledge isn't that high.  Sometimes Faun070 or his partner look like they're high up, but they're really not.

I wonder if they're purposely trying to trick people? 

46. Saw that Faun070 has a lot of photos of various streets.  I'm guessing they're not all significant to them. I think they walk around, take pictures of interesting things, and then write down the street name.  It's a good idea.  Then they can later find it on Google Maps.  Also the photos can be useful to other people if they tag them. Then if anyone is wondering what a random street is like in Sydney, they can find their photos. 

Although it looks like they didn't put the street names in the tag. The pictures still might come up in a search though, since the street name is in the description. Or maybe not.  

47. Started to look at Faun070's sequel to his Darling Harbour album.  This one has the aquarium and Sydney Wildlife World.

I remember this guy. Well, it might not be the exact same guy we saw.   But maybe.....

It's a perentie.  I think they're the same thing as goannas, but I'm not positive.

48. Consulted Lord Wiki about goannas and perentie.

He says a goanna is another name for monitor lizard. The biggest monitor lizard in Australia is the perentie.  The biggest monitor lizard in the world is the Komodo Dragon.

Lord Wiki says some folks have tested the intelligence of monitor lizards.  They appear to be fairly intelligent. Staff at the zoo in Washington D.C say that Komodo Dragons recognize their keepers and that each lizard has a distinctive personality.

I personally think lizards are adorable, although I'd probably be scared of very big ones if I saw them in the wild.

49. Saw Faun070's partner bonding with a sea turtle.  I think these guys love animals.  

50. Started to look at Faun070's album of Balmoral and Manly.  

We loved Manly in 2007, but a little less in 2009.  There was a bomb threat so we ended up getting stuck there longer than usual. That's not a big deal really.  But it was a really horrible night for me in other ways; and now I kind of associate Manly with all that.

We should go back, though—make good memories to replace the bad ones.

51. Delighted by this picture.  I'd love to see cockatoos on a beach.  

52.  Wondered. Who is Christopher??

Is he Dutch?  Australian?  A new friend of Faun070...or an old one?   Did they plan to meet in Australia?

Am I overly nosy?

Probably 

53. Noticed that Christopher is dressed up, like he's been working. Maybe he works around there and met up with Faun070 (and his partner) during his lunch break.

Hey you know what....they might be internet friends!

54. Intrigued by this photo.  Faun070 is looking very cozy with Christopher.  He has his hand on his leg.  From my cultural viewpoint, it looks like there's something more than friendship here. But it's probable Faun070's partner that is taking the photo.

Are they just playing?

Is this a threesome kind of thing?

Is that kind of leg touching appropriate among friends in the Netherlands?

Really. Who needs Days of our Lives when you have Flickr?

55. Tried to figure out who Christopher reminds me of. Maybe Kenneth Brennaugh a little bit?  

56. Wondered what the girl, on the step, is reading. Is she doing school work, or is she reading for fun?

57. Sat here thinking, I wish I had a magic wand so I can fix all the crap in the world. Then I looked at the news and saw the headline "Perry: Turn to God For Answer to Nation's Woes".    I was going to roll my eyes at our governor, but then figured it's no worse than me wanting a magic wand.  Well, it's a little different.  I believe less in magic wands than he believes in his god.  That's okay. Either way, it's nice to imagine that there's something supernatural out there that can help us fix things.

Perry thinks if we return to Christian ideals, our problems will fade away.

I disagree.

I think we should follow the ideals of Dumbeldore.

58. Went to look at the second page of Franz's Australia photo set.   

This photo is really cool. For some reason, when I saw it, I thought of the book Tender Morsels by Margo Lanagan.  Maybe because the trees have a fairy tale look to them?

59. Loved this picture too. It's from somewhere on the Great Ocean Road.  

And this photo is amazing. I think it's part of the Twelve Apostles.  

60. Enjoyed Franz's kangaroo photo.  

Maggie, Stuart's kids, Siany's Goals, and Michael Dawes

1. Finished reading The Darkness by Anthony Eaton.  I enjoyed it. I think I usually like books about the sea.

My next book is The Secret Life of Maeve Lee Kwong by Kirsty Murray.  It looks pretty good.  I hope I like it.

2. Found an Australia related-post in my dream/spiritual journal. I had actually titled it "Australia". It's September 8, 2006, which is about 11 months before I became super-obsessed.  

Feel I'm being bombarded by Australian stuff

Nip/Tuck

Australian diet guy on TV

Death of Steve Erwin....kind of the BIG one here.

At museum, overhearing docent saying animal is from Australia

finding Australia t-shirt in drawer I had completely forgotten about.

With Nip/Tuck, I'm not sure if I was referring to Julian McMahon, or there was something Australian about a particular episode.

3. Started to read article about the carbon tax.  

People are going to be taxed; but they're also going to be compensated.

I don't understand economics.  

Wait.  Maybe I understand.  I think what they're saying is families won't be taxed.  Companies will be taxed.  Since companies are paying taxes, their production costs are going to be higher.  So, they're going to start charging more for their products. The government is going to help families afford the higher prices by giving them money.  That makes sense to me...in theory, at least.

I hope it works out well.

4. Found this blog because the blogger became a follower of my blog. It's so fun to see follower numbers go up.  I have to admit it.  I love it. It makes me feel popular.   

Maggie (the blogger) is an Australian that's obsessed with America.  Her situation is different than mine because she's actually lived in America. She misses it as a place she used to live. It might be more similar to how I felt about New York a few years ago.  We lived there; then we left. I started to miss it a lot.

I'm going to read her posts now. I haven't done that yet. I kind of just skimmed a bit.

I love her first post.  It starts out with, I'm obsessed and I really don't have the desire to recover.  I love the USA.  I'm homesick for somewhere that isn't truly my home. And when I'm in the US for any extended period of time, I'm homesick for my actual home - Australia.  And she writes more brilliant stuff after that. I'm tempted to quote the whole post here, but that wouldn't be kosher.

I'm not homesick for America when I'm in Australia; but maybe I would be if we stayed for a really long time. I would definitely miss my family, and I'd miss the cats.  That's about it. No, wait. I'd miss non-flavored tortilla chips. We had a hard time finding those in Australia.

5. Started to read Maggie's second post.  

She is a FANTASTIC writer.  She's too good. She's the type of person who makes me feel my own writing is crap.

It was so weird reading it. It's like Maggie stole the thoughts and feelings out of me; expressed them in a way that I'd never manage. But she messed up and got everything completely backwards.  

One of my favorite lines:  We get lower and now I can make out signs and I get a thrill of excitement as I read them - In-n-Out, Del Taco, Conoco, Bank of America, La Quinta, Ralphs - so mundane and every day to you who live there, but such a sight for the sore eyes of one who did and doesn't any more. 

When you're madly in love with a place, even the mundane things thrill you.   

I can't say I share Maggie's love for Los Angeles; but I can totally relate to her passion for a country where's she a visitor and not a resident.  

6. Read article that says the New South Wales Labor party ended up not doing a vote on whether or not to support gay marriage. That's the bad news. The good news is there's a national conference coming up in December.  At that time, there might be more attention given to the issue.

7. Continued to read The Secret Life of Maeve Lee Kwong. I'm enjoying it somewhat.  It's interesting. I'm having some trouble with the writing style. Some of the dialogue seems a bit unrealistic—forced.  It reminds me of the type of writing I did in middle school and early high school. To me, it has the feel of something written by a beginner writer.  

Of course it's a personal taste thing. I'm sure many people come to my blog and are not fond of my writing style.  Actually, I answered an email from one of them today.  

8. Read good news about diabetes treatment. Medical researchers in Perth have come out with a device for children that goes under the skin. It constantly tests the child's blood sugar, and then releases the needed insulin dosage. This way the child doesn't need daily blood tests and shots.

Jack has a strong fear of needles. He hates shots. I'm sure when the universe is handing out diseases, it doesn't stop at children like Jack and say, Ah, bypass. That kid really hates needles.

Of course no kid likes needles...minus a few strange ones, perhaps. But I think some hate them worse than others. For all diabetic kids, and especially the major needle-hating ones, I think this device can make life much better.

9. Went to Tallygarunga. Today, I'm going to read the new posts in Find An Orbit Closer To The Ground.  

I looked at the date of the first post. It's May 17. I'm guessing this means the story takes place in May?

The story thread has been going on for a long time.

10. Tried to figure out where I left off in the story thread. I think it was with Tamarah's post, so I'm going to read Viktor's and Stuarts.

Viktor struggles to be supportive about the drama between Tamarah and Améa.

I like his lines here. But I do trust your sister with everything that I have. And if she thinks that there is something in Améa, maybe the rest of us just don’t see it, or Améa doesn’t want us to see it. I don’t know.   

It takes a strong and decent person to understand that people might not be as awful as the walls they put up.  I don't think I'm very good at that.  If someone is mean, I have to struggle to remind myself that they may have had a difficult life or a difficult day.  I mean I'm not completely unsympathetic.   When I think hard enough about it, I can be understanding. But my first instinct is to be angry and/or hurt.

11. Started to read Stuart's post.  He's the single father to five kids. Who are they?   Tamarah's one; then the boys I suppose (Tom and Tim).  I think Stewie's another song. That leaves one more.  Is it Jezabel?

I'll read Stuart's biography in a minute  I glanced at it, and I'm pretty sure I haven't read it yet.  

12. Started to read Stuart Blair's biography.  

He's the Minister of Magic for Victoria.

I think I already knew that.

He's easygoing, except for the occasional moments when he's angry. He wears nice clothes at work, and when not at work.  He keeps fit by working out a lot.

13. Learned that Stuart's love of exercise helps to counteract his love of food.

He likes the bad stuff, like fried food.

I think it's good to have an exercise plan that coincides well with your eating habits. It's not good to be the way I was a few years ago; hardly eating and exercising almost constantly. It's also not good to be one who eats tons of fattening food and then sits around all day.  

14.  Learned that Stuart's past love interest was Tanya. I may have already known that; but I sort of forgot.

Tanya and Stuart split up.  Stuart had a little fling. This all sounds familiar to me.  I may have read it before?  Maybe on someone else's biography?

15. Saw that the fling resulted in Jezabel.  Her mother is Adele. So when I read about Adele, I probably read about Stuart's fling.

Stuart and Tanya raised Jezebel.  The biography says Adele was going to do something rash otherwise.  Would that be an abortion?

Tanya got pregnant with the triplets. So then the couple ended up with four kids. There's Jezebel.  She's half-siblings with Tamarah, Tim, and Tom. They're connected through their father. Then Améa is half sisters with Jezebel via their mother (Adele).  I think I'm FINALLY understanding all of this.

Améa and Tamarah are not siblings by blood; but they're connected by the fact that they're both sisters to Jezabel.

16. Read more of Stuart's biography.  He had challenges with Jezabel. She did her weird dreaming stuff, and she had different personalities. But it seems he managed to be a good father through all of this. 

Then another baby came along. Stuart jr.  So, that must be baby #5.  His role-player is Megan, the singing girl.

17. Read that Stuart and Tanya split up.

Okay, and now I feel lost again.  It says here that Améa may be Stuart's daughter as well. This would mean that Améa and Jezabel are full siblings and not half-siblings.  And it would mean Tamarah and Améa are half-siblings.

Just when I think I have everything straightened out in my head, I realize I may be totally wrong.   

18. Watched Siany and Josh sing Missy Higgin's "Scar". She does okay with it.   I personally don't think it's an easy song to sing. Whenever I try to sing it, I end up sounding very southern. Uh...not that there's anything wrong with that. Southern accents are adorable.  But it's like the song forces that accent out of my mouth.  It's kind of annoying to me.   




This might sound unfair; but I think maybe Missy Higgins is the only one who can do very well with the song.

19.  Watched Siany sing "Cupid". She's very cute here. I think she's singing well, but the sound is a bit tinny.  Maybe I'm imagining it?  



I love the song.

It reminds me of a really good night I had in my college days.

At times, I had an unpredictable social life. Well, and college was the rare time in my life that I had very strong social desires. I would want to be with people, but I sort of left it up to chance?  Would I run into people? Would I not?  Would I end up being alone?  I would often hang out in public places with the hopes of seeing people. 

At one point I had a crush on a guy named David. It was at the point of the relationship where you don't know if there's something between you or not. I think I expected to have a bad boring night; but I ended up hanging out with David and some guy named James. I don't remember much about the night; but I remember being in the car with them and hearing that song.  

The song also reminds me of watching a music game show with my family at the lake house. My sister and I learned we had the lyrics all wrong. All through the years, I thought it was saying Martha's heart rather than My lover's heart.  My sister didn't know the guy was saying cupid. She thought he was saying You Kid.  

20. Saw that Siany finished her goal of finishing fifty songs by her birthday. That's awesome.   So, what's she going to do now? I understand her slowing down a bit.  But I hope she's not planning to quit all together.  

21. Did not find out who my Australian of the day is because the Australian Dictionary of Biography isn't loading. Instead I'm sitting here getting very interesting Tallygarunga gossip via the chatroom.

22. Decided to look at pictures on Flickr. I want to see the Tally gossip, but the chatroom is very slow. You really have to be multi-tasking when you go in there.    

23. Loved nlw's picture of an abandoned building. Maybe it's a house?  

One of the tags says Victoria, Australia. The title is Heathcote.  

24. Found Heathcote on Google Maps.   It's about 40 minutes south-east of Bendigo.  

25. Decided to look at more of nlw's photos. 

He has a whole set of abandoned buildings. 

I think this photo is awesome...somewhat eerie.  

This photo looks like it should be in a movie.   It's amazing. 

Really.  The whole set of pictures if beautiful. 

26. Left the chatroom.  The change in conversation topic became less interesting to me.  Plus, I feel weird being there because I'm so much older than everyone else. I feel like Cam on Modern Family when he joined Dylan's band.  I'm too old and too not-cool-enough for that chatroom. 

I still feel a total dork for participating in Magic is Might because everyone else (as far as I know) is under 25. Then I start thinking maybe that's why I didn't like it; while the other participants talk about it being the best experience of their life.  Maybe they're the right age for it.  But that can't be right. I love Tallygarunga, and it is made up of the same age group as the Magic is Might creators and participants.  

I'm still writing my Harry Potter blog.  I can see from Statcounter that people are reading. Not many people are commenting anymore.  I'm not sure if they will start that back up or not.   Maybe it will end up being more of an online serial novel type thing rather than a role-playing type thing.    

I am actually having fun with it. I need to think up more storylines, though.  It probably shouldn't just be the daily diary of a Muggle girl in Kiama. I really don't want melodrama; but I probably need....something.  

Maybe my dreams will inspire me.  Or something.

I'll figure it out. 

27. Decided I should look at more Flickr photos. 

Never mind. I'm having trouble with that. 

Wait...now it's working.

Here's a beautiful photo of Cradle Mountain. The photographer is Michael Dawes. That name sounds familiar to me.   Is he famous?  Or is there another celebrity named Michael Dawes?  Maybe I know a Michael Dawes? 

Well, I did a Google search and didn't come up with any famous people.  I also searched through my Google mail to see if anyone had ever emailed me with that name. I didn't find anything.

I'm probably thinking of another Dawes. 

28. Looked at some of Michael Dawes' bird photos.  He has a LOT of bird photos. 

This rainbow lorikeet is beautiful.  

29. Started to look at Michael Dawes' set of favorite photos.  

I love this photo from the Gold Coast.  

Here's a beautiful photo of a cockatoo.  

30. Loved this photo.   It reminds me of a dream.  

31. Loved this photo of Old Parliament. It reminds me of my dreams too. 

I think I love anything that reminds me of my dreams. And I love the Old Parliament.  

32. Forgot the name of this flower, but I saw the answer in the tags.  Banksia.  

33. Loved this adorable photo of a bug.  

I'm very impressed with Michael Dawes photography. 

34. Thought about how I used to write about famous Australians.  Now I often write about Australians who SHOULD be famous.  There's so many talented people out there. I enjoy finding them.

35. Wanted to go back to the David in college storyline. I had a major thing for him; and he seemed to have a thing for me.  The problem is he already had a girlfriend. Okay, before you think I'm awful....

He mentioned the girlfriend in a very casual way.  And it was a long distance relationship.  I think they met at a tennis thing. It was along the lines of I'm-kind-of-seeing-this-girl. Plus, he was showing interest in me, so I assumed it wasn't serious.  I thought it was one of those things where you meet someone on a holiday, or camp. You start a relationship, but it quickly ends as you move on with your life.

That being said....I also had crushes on two guys who did admit to having serious girlfriends. I can't promise I wouldn't have loudly protested if they had shown interest in me.  So maybe I am a wicked bitch.   

Anyway....

One night David told me we'd just be friends; and then like something out of Offspring, he kissed me.  
It was a total soap opera moment.

The romance lasted a few weeks...maybe less than that.  David finally came to his senses and broke things off.  It turns out the girlfriend was much more serious than I had imagined.  Back then I was hurt and mad. Now I admire him. I got the sense that he really did like me; yet he knew it was wrong because he already had someone in his life.  He gave into his feelings, but then he was strong enough to put an end to it.

He insisted that we could still be friends; and even said I was his best friend.  I was so into him.  It was to the point where I'd be happy with romance, friendship, or whatever...as long as I could see him. But despite being his supposed "best friend" he never hung out with me.  He always hung out with Jason. Guess where Jason was from?

Australia!

I don't remember much about Australian Jason; but I remember I didn't like him. I don't know if the dislike came from something about the guy's personality; or if I didn't like him simply for the fact that I was jealous of the time he spent with David.

Bourke Street, Mortal Kombat, Gwyneth Graham, and Books

1. Saw Australian art on my iGoogle Art of the Day widget.  I was proud of myself because I immediately suspected it was Australian.  The title is Bourke Street.  I know there's a Bourke Street in Australia somewhere.  Melbourne, maybe?  That's why I thought the painting might be Australian.

 Although I figure there's Bourke streets elsewhere in the world; so I wasn't 100% certain.  Then I saw the name of the painter (Tom Roberts) and I knew for sure it was Australian.

2. Looked up Bourke Street.  It IS in Melbourne.  I'm glad I remembered that. Lord Wiki says it's well known for having lots of shops and restaurants.  The old post office is there; the one that was turned into a shopping area.

3. Looked up Bourke Street on Google Maps. There's one in Texas. It's 3.5 hours southwest of us.

There's also a Bourke Street in Sydney.  It's in the Bondi Junction area.  

Google Maps lists five Bourke Streets in Queensland.

There's a Bourke Street in Adelaide, and there's a Bourke Street in Launceston.  

4. Read article about the Green Party defending Gillard on the carbon tax thing.   They defend the tax, and they defend the lie. Is it okay to break an election promise? Christine Milne from the Greens says, There is a saying from a gentleman in the House of Lords, When I'm wrong I change my mind. What do you do?

Sometimes we break promises. If we do it too often, it's probably best to stop making them.

One thing I question, though.  If Gillard was breaking a promise she made to the Green Party, would Milne still defend her changing her mind? And if the promise-breaking brought about something that pleased the Liberal Party, would Abbott complain about Gillard being dishonest?   

As for the tax itself, Milne would like to see it going towards more efficient public transportation.  I like that idea.

5. Listened to Russell Hitchcock, Judith Durham, and Mandawuy Yunupingu sing I am Australian.   I love to hear that song, and I love to sing it.  I'm back to believing I probably sing pretty bad. Tim laughed a little too hard about this weeks Modern Family.  

You know how you laugh extra hard when you can relate to something?  Well, this episode had Gloria singing a lot. She thought she sang good, and in reality she sang really bad.  Jay (her husband) was very annoyed by it but didn't know how to break the bad news to her.

I'm joking. Tim laughs hard at a lot of stuff, and he probably can't personally relate to all of it.  I still believe he thinks I sing bad, though...or at best, extremely mediocre.  It's not going to stop me, though.  I'm pretty much addicted to singing. It's one of my drugs.

6. Read article about the Northern Territory intervention thing.  At first I was impressed because the beginning of the article says ARCHITECT of the controversial Northern Territory intervention Mal Brough has declared the radical policy he masterminded to end a crisis in Aboriginal Australia a comprehensive failure, amid escalating violence and dysfunction in Alice Springs.   

It sounds like a politician is admitting he made a mistake. How amazing is that! Not that amazing, because I read the rest of the article, and saw that Mal Brough is NOT admitting he made mistakes.   He feels he had a good plan, but the Labor party is messing it up.

Brough wants a prison camp built for substance abusers. He says it wouldn't be like a prison. It would be a place for craft-learning, trade schools and manual work.The place would not be voluntary.

I kind of like the idea....under one condition.  It has to be there for ALL Australians, and not just Aboriginal Australians. If it's only for Aboriginal Australians, then I'd call it government sponsored racism.  I'd say anytime someone is displaying problems with alcohol they get sent there. You get drunk and beat up your kids, you go there. You drink and drive, you go there. You get in a pub brawl, you go there.

Oh. Wait. I have another condition. There HAS to be safeguards against abuse and exploitation. I'd say any guard or counselor, there who physically or emotionally bullies a patient, gets fired. The expectations for these professionals should be no less than the expectations of teachers at schools.

 7. Read that Mortal Kombat (the video game) is being banned in Australia. That kind of surprises me.  I don't know much about the game.  Is it super violent?  The commenters on the article don't seem too pleased.

Lord Wiki says that it's because of Mortal Kombat that America came out with a rating system for its games.   And he says the game is very gruesome.  Some people like seeing blood and guts....bones sticking out.   It doesn't mean they're evil. What about people who work in emergency rooms? How about surgeons?  People who perform autopsies? They don't mind seeing cut up bodies.  

If you enjoy killing people in video games, does it mean you'd enjoy killing them in real life?  Do violent video games encourage violence, or do they provide a safe (and legal) outlet for violent feelings?  Maybe people play violent video games, get their aggressive anger out, and then refrain from hurting people in real life.

8. Started to read Gabriella Coslovich's editorial on racism. She says, SADDENED and galled. That's how I felt when I read this week's news about Australians' attitudes to racial and cultural minorities, their prejudices against Muslims, Jews, Asians, and, most ludicrously of all, the original inhabitants of this country, the Aboriginal people.

Well....See.   she was much more optimistic than me. When I saw that 1/4 of Australians had antisemitic thoughts, I saw it as oh my goodness 3/4 of Australians don't have problems with Jews.  AWESOME!    I really thought anti-semitism was more popular than that. Again though, it depends on the level of anti-semitism. If 1/4 of Australians despise Jews and wish them harm; I'm disturbed. If 1/4 of Australians are a little weary of Jews and have some misconceptions, I'm fine with it.

Coslovich goes on to point out that the findings of the study were NOT all negative.  Most Australians are open to being....open.  They're open to being inclusive. They don't want to be prejudiced.

However, one out ten Australians is racist....bad racist. They think certain groups are inferior and superior.  They believe in keeping the races separate.   This is the type of racism I don't tolerate.  To me, the 1/10 number is disturbing. I wish it was 1/100...or lower.

Is America any better?  I doubt it.  It could be worse.  

When I first started reading Coslovich's editorial, I mistook her for one of those people who have their head in the sand and claim they're totally color-blind. Oh my Goodness!  I can't believe the world isn't as perfect as I thought it was!  

I turns out I misjudged her.  I think she has a very realistic and fair picture of things.  I especially love her last paragraph.  I feel weird quoting it because it's kind of long.   So maybe you can just go and read it for yourself.  I will try to paraphrase it though.  Basically she's saying we shouldn't be scared to have open and honest discussions with each other.  But we shouldn't let the discussion get... hijacked by political expediency or the likes of shock jocks and sensationalist scribes who are not at all interested in sincerely debating the issues, but who wish only to fan the flames of hatred and misunderstanding, and who would have us believe that the deviant minority is the majority. Okay. Well, I directly quoted a little bit of it.  She says it so well.  I couldn't do it justice by just paraphrasing.  

9.  Read Sarrah Le Marquand's editorial on racism.   

I love what she says here, A misplaced sense of cultural superiority is not a uniquely Australian quality. Nor is feeling scared from time to time. Or even a little bit angry. It's called being human. A universal experience if ever there was one. Be it human nature or tribalism, a degree of friction is sadly inevitable in any multicultural society. It's what happens when you put a bunch of different people together and expect them to get along.

It makes me rethink my position on feelings of superiority.  Maybe it's not as awful as I thought. I mean it IS kind of bad, but maybe in small doses it's just human. I'd say it's okay as long as you control the feelings, and give yourself a reality check now and then.  If you have a little group pride, no worries. If you have so much group pride that you think other groups are worthless and should be murdered, banned, and exploited....then THAT'S a problem.   

10. Intrigued by what Sarrah Le Marquand says about Muslims. Given that 48.6 per cent of Australians identify themselves as having anti-Muslim attitudes, clearly there's much more work to be done on the part of moderate Muslim leaders in distancing themselves from extremism and debunking commonly held perceptions that theirs is a faith incompatible with inclusion.

Should a group be held responsible for the prejudices directed at them? Is that fair?

I'd say it was slightly fair. You can't blame Muslims for all anti-Muslim feelings. Some people are just hateful, and nothing you can do can change that.  I've learned that in my experiences being Jewish.  Some people will hate Jews no matter what you do. They obsess over any misdeeds the Jews have done, and then when they run out of stuff in that area, they simply make things up.

But a hated group can make things better by welcoming open dialogues, having a sense of humor, and distancing themselves from extremists. I don't think you can just assume and expect people to understand that you don't agree with extremists.   You have to speak out.   Like....yesterday I spoke out against American extremists. I love some of them (because they're my friends and family members) but I want to be clear that I don't agree with them.  I want the world to know that not all Americans have ethnocentric superiority complexes.   

11. Read that there's a whooping cough epidemic on the Sunshine Coast.  Free vaccines are being offered to parents and grandparents of people under six months.   I'd say it should be offered to EVERYONE.  It's not like parents limit their babies contacts to themselves and grandparents.

I still believe that many people aren't getting their shots because they're too cheap and/or too lazy.    OR they might be scared of needles. Maybe they should come out with one of those nose spray things.  It would be really interesting to do a study of why people aren't getting vaccinated.  What percentage of these people are anti-vaccines?  And what percentage are just procrastinating?   I wanted to get the shot for a long time, but it took me a long time to finally get it done.

By the way, it didn't hurt me at all.  I didn't even feel it. I know it's probably different for everyone....but I thought maybe that piece of news might offer some people some encouragement.

12. Saw article about Gwyneth Graham. She's in trouble for claiming she could cure cancer.  I thought of Lionel Logue's confidence in healing people with speech defects, and thought....well, what if she CAN cure cancer?  I gotta consider the possibility.

I looked at one of her ads though....or at least I think it's hers. And it MIGHT be toned down, because of the charges against her. The ad says, 100% effective non invasive therapy, phone now for appointment.    That sounds like bullshit to me.   The 100% is a red flag.  Nothing is always effective.  At least....I'm very doubtful. I would guess it's one of those things that people go to, are not cured, and then are told it's their fault for some reason.

I do wonder why this woman is being targeted, though. There's so many people offering miracle cures out there....especially with weight loss.  And how about dentists who promise to make me beautiful by straightening my teeth? What about parenting gurus who promise better behaved children?  

I'm curious. Is Gwyneth Graham in trouble for making false claims, or is she in trouble for promoting New Age beliefs/alternative medicine?  

Was she deceptive?  Was she out to take money from innocent sick people? Or did she simply promote a belief that isn't popular in mainstream society?

Well, I guess we'll know more as the story unfolds.  

13. Listened to Seeds You Might Sow from Bran Nue Dae.  

14. Saw that Tom Hooper FINALLY answered the questions on The Daily Beast's Facebook Page.  My question was included!!! I sort of expected to be edited out of this thing as well.   My question is #7.   I asked about research done for the film.  It seems Hooper did a lot of it.  That's good.

One of the books he read was by John Wheeler-Bennett.  Lord Wiki says Wheeler-Bennett was the official biographer of King George VI.   Another book that Hooper mentions is Sarah Bradford's The Reluctant King.

Maybe I'll read one of those books someday....although I'm more interested in Logue than the King.    AND I'm doing so bad with my book reading lately. I've been reading so slow lately. Well, I'm probably reading at the same speed. I doubt that has changed. But I haven't been giving myself enough book reading time.  

Speaking of books....Jack and I started reading the Harry Potter series again last night.  We talked about rereading the series. I just didn't expect us to go only two days between reading the last book and starting the first book over again. We're addicts.   

15. Liked Hooper's response to a question about the film's R-rating.  He's not happy with the fact that it has received the same rating as Saw IV.  He says, Yes it contains the word "fuck" but the word is being used in a comic scene not in its sexual sense or in its aggressive sense but as an unblocking mechanism in the context of speech therapy.

I really think context is a huge thing here.

16. Read that Paypal cut off the account for Bradley Manning, the American whistleblower who gave information to Wikileaks.  Then many people signed a petition, and Paypal reinstated the account.   It's nice to know that petitions can work sometimes! I feel bad because I haven't been giving Manning the attention I've given Assange. I've been pretty much ignoring him.  

I just skimmed through a few things...including Lord Wiki's thoughts.  From what I can see....Manning seems like a brave man who's being treated horribly by the American government.  

I guess I'm looking at the story as one of those summer blockbuster movies. A person in the military discovers a horrible secret.  They put themselves in danger and risk everything to bring the story to the public.  I can't think of specific examples, but I'm pretty sure I've seen movies like that.

Anyway....all this stuff makes my blood boil.    It's DISGUSTING.   Instead of punishing whistleblowers, why doesn't the government work on being less evil?  

The American government is SO much like the Ministry of Magic. It's a bit depressing.

17. Read article that says George W. Bush has canceled his participation in The Young President's Association Global Leadership Summit.  Why?  Because Julian Assange will be speaking at the event.  You know when I first read that I was disgusted and angry. What a coward.  But that's not fair.   If someone refused to go to an event with a speaker I was strongly against, I'd probably be okay with it.  What if Aaron Barr was invited to speak at such an event?  Would I be okay with someone refusing to attend the same event?  Yes. I'd probably be very pleased with them.

Some people see Julian Assange as a villain, and I have to accept their right to have that opinion.   Refusing to attend an event is a fairly peaceful act of protest. I prefer that to cutting off funds of an organization, or pressuring an organization to cut off funds. It's better than making threats against someone, and going through with those threats.  

So although I don't agree with Bush, I respect his decision to stay away from the event.  What I would NOT respect....what would make me furious....is if the Young President's Global Leadership Summit took back their invitation from Assange.  I like that they're brave enough to let him speak.    Kudos to them for that.

18. Started to wonder how Assange is going to attend this event. Isn't he avoiding the United States right now? The event is in Colorado. 

Here's the website for the event.   It's this weekend.   I don't see Assange on the speaker list. Bush is still listed.  Maybe this was all a joke.

19. Found another article about the Young President event thing.  Assange appeared on a screen...I guess by satellite.  Yeah. Why didn't I think of that?  That happened today.  Bush heard of it, and canceled his invitation.

Well, I think it's great that the conference attendees got to hear Assange instead of Bush.   So...no big loss there.

20. Listened to the 14th song on the ARIA chart for Aussie singles; Bliss N Eso's Addicted.  From what I can hear....I like the lyrics.

21. Looked at lyrics for Addicted.   I don't know if I love all the lines, but I like some.

I like this bit:

Since a fetus, explored life's subtle secrets
From my fingertips to my unique double helix.
I can see history.  I can see the past lessons.
It's your right never be afraid to ask questions.

 I think the song has some unschooling spirit to it.   Maybe these lines....

They spoon feed but I won't be taking that sedative.
Cause my thoughts are way to precious to be wasted on the negative.  
I keep them critical yet positive to break the chains.   
Every dawn is a chance to make a change.  

I know it's not really about unschooling. I'm just interpreting the lines in my own little way.  

To me, the minds of the young are too precious to be wasted in a school room. Schools are the chains; or at least one of them.  And by saying no to school, we're breaking those chains. We're freeing our minds.  

I know. I sound like a radical. When it comes to education, I am one. Although I'm not the most radical. There are others who make me look conservative. Seriously.   

22. Listened to 16th song on the ARIA Australian singles chart; Just Got Started by 360 feat. Pez   That's an interesting band name.  

23. Listened to The Festival Song by Pez, and maybe 360 feat. as well.   I'm SO confused. I don't know if there's a group called 360 feat Pez.   Or is there one group called Pez, and another called 360 feat.?  I tried to ask Lord Wiki.  He says there's a guy named Pez.  Oh...okay....and there's a guy named 360.   So we have 360 and Pez. They sometimes work together. Is there a feat too?

I'm too tired to figure all this out.  I'm just going to leave my ignorance intact....for now. I do like the songs, though.  

24. LOVED Tony Alquit's comment on The Daily Beast's Facebook page.  It's in regards to Bush canceling his appearance because of Assange.  The Daily Beast asked its readers if they thought this was the right thing to do.  Alquit says,  Of course! Assange's cavalier and arrogant attitude in Iraq resulted in the deaths of over 4,000 American troops & 100's of thousand Iraqis as well as corresponding violations of customary and; statutory international law... uh, wait, that's Bush. Never mind.   


25.  Saw that someone had mentioned the Garden of Unearthly Delights on Facebook.  I went to see what it was, and saw that it's an art festival in Adelaide.     

I love the name.   

They have drumming monkeys. But not real ones. Only puppets are getting exploited in this show.  

26. Watched a video of the Amazing Drumming Monkeys. It's cute...but maybe a little too  didactic.  But I guess a lot of kid stuff is that way.  Maybe I'm not used to it anymore.  Jack's kind of past the stage of watching educational programing. The only thing of that type we still watch is Electric Company; and I think they do a pretty good job of not being overly preachy.    

It's funny. When I was looking at the festival thing, I picked an event at random, and it was the monkey thing.  Well, it probably wasn't completely random.  Monkeys are kind of attention-grabbers. I saw the monkeys, and followed the link.  

Then I decided to look at another event/program.  I didn't know what to choose, so I figured I'd find out what's going on now.   It's 8:30 here, and so I think it would be 1:30 in the afternoon there.    Guess what show was on at 1:00-1:30?  The Amazing Drumming Monkeys!  It's like my mind was all connected to Adelaide time.

Anyway, the show playing now is an Irish/Iranian comedian (for children) named Patrick Monaham.   Well, actually I'm seeing from YouTube that his work is not specifically for children. But I think the program he's doing at the festival is family-oriented.   

27. Decided to stop blogging early tonight so I can work on my book reading.  I'm almost finished with Vernon God Little.  I'd love to finish it before bedtime. I'm liking it more than I thought I would.   I don't love it, though. I'm looking at my Shelfari shelf right now. The last book that I read and liked a lot was After Summer by Nick Earls. Okay, but that's not including our nightly chapter of Harry Potter.

Anyway....After Summer was nine books ago. That's sad. I've read nine books in a row that I either didn't like, or at least I didn't love it.  Maybe it's not the books. Maybe it's me. Maybe I'm in some kind of mood.

I hate admitting this, but I have to include The King's Speech in the nine.  I liked it.  I thought it was interesting. But it didn't blow me away like the movie did. And maybe I was turned off a bit by Mark Logue's subtle harshness regarding his grandfather's spirituality.

Well, all I know is that the book didn't add fuel to my Lionel Logue fire. The movie had more magic....maybe because it was partly fictional.  I think most biographical films add things to give the story more tension and emotion.

Geoffrey Blainey

This post will have to start out like most of my posts.

I have no idea who Geoffrey Blainey is.

Maybe I'll guess....

That might be a fun game.

How about....

I'm going to say he's a lawyer turned politician.

Let's see if I'm right or wrong.

I'm wrong....sort of. He is involved with politics, but maybe not as a politician. He's a political commenter. He's on the right. I guess he'll balance out Philip Adams from yesterday.

I look forward to writing about this. I have to admit. Right-wing people completely bewilder me. I just can't find a lot of tolerance for their viewpoint. Maybe this post will help me understand their side better.

He's also a historian. When I see right-wing historians, in terms of Australia, I automatically assume they're going to downplay the atrocities done to the Indigenous Australians. Am I wrongfully stereotyping in this case, or will Blainey fit my expectations?

Baby Geoffrey was born 11 March 1930 in Melbourne. Lord Wiki says he lived in various country towns. Not much is said about his childhood. Lord Wiki skips ahead to his high school days. He went to Wesley College. This is the same school that Menzies and Holt went to. They were Liberal Prime Ministers....Liberal is right-wing/conservative. The school didn't just have conservative students, though. Gough Whitlam's daddy went there. That guy was pretty much on the left, if I'm remembering right.

After Wesley, Blainey went to the University of Melbourne. There he was the editor of the student union newspaper.

I'm not sure what he studied in school. Lord Wiki says he ended up becoming a professor of economics. That might provide us with a clue. No wait. He was a professor of Economic History. So maybe he studied economics and history?

A little later, Blainey became a professor of history. Then in 1982 he became the Dean of Melbourne's Faculty of the Arts.

From 1994 until 1998, Blainey was the foundation Chancellor for the University of Ballarat. I'm not sure what a foundation Chancellor is actually. Foundation usually refers to the beginning of something. Was he the first Chancellor of the University of Ballarat? Is it a new school?

Well, Lord Wiki says it DID start in 1994. I'm not used of young schools like that. It seems most schools are so old.

Now Lord Wiki goes backwards a bit. We stop in 1950. Blainey researched and wrote something about the Mount Lyell Mining and Railway Company in Tasmania. I wonder if this was written for school...maybe his thesis? Or did Blainey just do this for fun?

Well, for school or otherwise, he turned is project into a book. Lord Wiki says it was fairly successful.

Blainey has written and published many books. Lord Wiki has a list of them. His most recent came out in 2008. It's called Sea of Dangers: Captain Cook and His Rivals.

He wrote a book called A Short History of the World. That sounds fairly familar to me .
Well, it turns out H.G Wells wrote a book with that same title. Maybe I'm thinking about that. Or I might be thinking about Bill Bryson's A Short History of Everything. Yeah. I was probably thinking of the Bryson book.

In Blainey's A Short History of the World, he shares his theory that the most significant thing in human history is the rising of the sea levels after the ice-age. Interesting. I wonder if I'd like his book. One of the reviewers compares it to Jared Diamond's Guns, Germs and Steel. I liked that book....a little. I got bored with it after awhile.

In 1975, Blainey published Triumph of the Nomads: a History of Ancient Australia. That's a pretty positive title....not really offensive. I mean it's not like he called it something like Those Early Savages in Australia and how the White People Brought Civilization to a Backwards Culture.

A guy named Stephen Barton uses the book to defend Blainey against accusations of right-wing radicalism. He says the book is a powerful piece of history, meticulously researched, sympathetic yet objective. I would probably have to read the book myself to know if I agree with Barton's review or not.

Blainey has had some controversy in his life. In the 1980's he made comments about Asian immigration. He also dissed multiculturalism. He wrote a book regarding all this stuff called All For Australia.

Lord Wiki talks about the book a bit, and what Blainey argues. One argument is that most countries practice discrimination based on race when it comes to immigration. Australia is afraid to offend Asian countries, yet these Asian countries keep themselves very homogeneous.

I think he has a good point. Asian countries do seem to be a bit homogeneous. However, my argument in return would be that Asian immigrants to Australia are LEAVING these Asian countries. Some of them want out for a reason. I'm betting some people aren't happy in Asia. I'm doubting that this is often a protest against the homogeneous make-up of Asian countries. There's probably other reasons for it. But it does show that the immigrants are willing to live in a country that is not made up of an Asian majority.

Also, as my sister would say. Two wrongs don't make a right. If some countries want to remain homogeneous, does that mean our countries need to do the same?

Blainey argues that too many foreign people at once can erode the feeling of national community. I definitely think it can cause conflict. It's not easy to invite a whole bunch of new people into a country. There's going to be some major hiccups and adjustments. But I don't think newcomers have to cause permanent erosion. Also, I think much of the conflict comes from the the long-time residents. They're often racist and unwelcoming. It's a tough situation.

Lord Wiki says Blainey argues that multiculturalism emphasizes the rights of minorities at the expense of the Australian majority. Well, I think that's bullshit. But it's hard to be convinced with a few sentences from Lord Wiki. Maybe if I read Blainey's own words in his book, I'd be able to sympathize with his viewpoint. On the surface, it just seems ridiculous to me.

It's just from what I can see, in Australia AND America, it's the white people who are living a healthier, safer, and more comfortable life.

In the 1990's, Blainey coined a term called black armband view of history. This refers to history that paints a negative view of Australia. It emphasizes stuff like cultural genocide and exploitation. In response, some of his opponents came up with the term white blindfold view of history.

Jack and I recently watched a Brainpop video about Christopher Columbus. The viewpoint of the film definitely leaned towards a black armband view. I told Tim about it, and he was very pleasantly surprised. It's a nice antidote to the white blindfold view that was pushed on us when we were in school.

Is there a middle ground? I think so. I believe both America and Australia have horrific skeletons in their closet. But I also think there are aspects of our stories that are very inspiring.

I am sickened by what happened to the Indigenous Australians. I do tend to see the Invasion Day aspect of Australia Day.

But then I also think there's incredible amounts of beauty and inspiration in Australia's story. It's amazing that the country was started as a penal colony. Look where it is now.

In 1984, left-wing students picketed Blainey at the University of Melbourne. There were also threats of violence against him. Blainey canceled the rest of his scheduled lectures because of this. I think it's unfortunate and shameful that people would do this. Why can't we manage to strongly disagree with someone without getting nasty and violent?

In 1988, he quit the University of Melbourne all together because of hostility from his colleagues.

There's a part of me that's doubtful. I'm wondering if the threats were truly dangerous, and if the hostility was actually that severe. Or was this a way to play the tortured martyr? Didn't Pauline Hanson do something like that? I think she did. I'll go check in a second. But I think she made some video talking about her life being in danger. Yeah, Lord Wiki says it's true. In 1997, she made a video alluding to the fact that she might be assassinated.

I have my suspicions. But it could come from my own prejudices. What if it were reversed. If a left-wing person talked about being ostracized and threatened, would I doubt him as much? Or would I more likely give him the benefit of the doubt?

Lord Wiki says today the University of Melbourne is more conservative, and in 2005, the university named something in his honor.

The University's site says they gave Blainey a honorary degree in 2007. They say, In conferring the honorary degree on Professor Blainey, the University is acknowledging his great contribution to telling the story of Australia, and to generating public debate on issues in Australian society.

There's nothing here said about his turbulent past with the university. Was Lord Wiki making that up, or is the university sliding stuff under the rug?

Although Blainey's book about Aboriginal Australia had a pleasant title, Lord Wiki seems to have some doubts about whether Blainey is truly supportive of the Aboriginal cause. He was against land rights. That kind of says something right there.

All right. I'm done with Lord Wiki. Where shall I go next?

I couldn't find much exciting stuff on regular Google, so I'm now looking at Google News.

There's a recent article in The Australian regarding Blainey and education. He's against the current phrase that's being used....education revolution. Blainey feels it's unrealistic. He thinks it's better to call it education progress.

Blainey says that today most of the educational control is out of the hands of the educators. Kids are learning from TV and the Internet. I guess we're supposed to see that as an awful thing. I don't.

Why does our society see teachers as so pure and godlike? They're seen as underpaid super heroes or something. Heaven forbid a child learn something from an episode of Arthur or Electric Company....or even a game on Facebook. Pity the child who is homeschooled....brainwashed by the narrow-minded and ignorant views of his parent.

There's this idea that teachers will provide the unbiased necessary truth...something that we can't expect from television, the Internet, and parents. I think that's correct. We cannot and should not expect bias-free education from these sources. But nor can we get it from teachers.

I had high school biology teacher who used bones in the classroom to push her viewpoint of creationism. I had a psychology teacher who often pushed his Christian viewpoints. He used his teaching post to proselytize. And yes. These were both at public schools.

I think the gist of the article is that Blainey questions Rudd's plans of spending more money on education. I might be getting it wrong, though.

Here's an editorial from The Australian which talks more about this whole issue. It starts by saying, education is about the teachers, the curriculum and a society's shared expectations about what schools should deliver. It is not about the buildings and it is not about equipment - although good infrastructure ought to be a given.

I can agree with that. If I did have to send Jack to school, I would care more about the teachers and curriculum then I would about the buildings. Although I wouldn't want him in a school that's disgusting, had very outdated textbooks, and no computers.

The editorial says that Julia Gillard is pushing for more testing, standards, and national curriculum. Yeah, because that has worked so well for America.

The person who wrote the editorial pushes for the same thing. It's all about testing kids and rewarding the teachers whose classrooms do well. To me, that's just dangerous. I think you create a monster--teachers who care more about raising test scores than they do about learning.

I do think testing can be a powerful assessment tool. I think it can give us ideas on how the children in a school are doing. But I don't think it should be the one and only factor that determines if a teacher is doing well or not. I mean what if a teacher has bad luck one year and ends up with students that are all a bit slow? It could happen. Or what if a teacher ends up with kids who are clever but awful at test-taking?

I also think there needs to be alternative modes of assessment. We can look at test scores, but I also think there should be classroom visits, videos made of classroom activities, portfolios of student's work, etc.

Ah! The San Francisco Chronicle has an editorial about all of this. It seems I'm not alone in my viewpoint. Walt Gardner (a teacher himself) says:

More than 30 years ago, Donald Campbell, an eminent social scientist, warned about the danger of measuring effectiveness by a single influential metric. The more any quantitative indicator is used for decision-making, he said, the more subject it will be to corruption and the more it will corrupt the very process it is intended to monitor.

The article itself is about cheating on standardized tests. It's not about individual kids cheating. It's about the schools cheating. The article (published in 2007) says that since 2004, 123 schools in California have been accused of cheating on the standardized tests. Around two-thirds of those schools have admitted their guilt. There are various ways for schools to cheat. One way was featured on an episode of The Simpsons. The schools try to prevent low-performing students from taking the test. On The Simpsons, this was achieved by promising a field trip to certain students. These students were given a practice test earlier, and then told that their scores were very superb. Because of that, they didn't need to take the real test.

Gardner ends with a quote from Einstein. Everything that can be counted does not necessarily count; everything that counts cannot necessarily be counted.

I love that.

Anyway, there's probably more exciting stuff to discuss. But I'm tired, and ready to quit.