Saturday 5 December 2015

The Meridian Wave


The Meridian Wave
 
POWER TO THE PEACEFUL

“There is no power on earth that can withstand the united cooperation on spiritual levels of men and women of goodwill everywhere.” Wellesly Tudor Pole
 
"The river is rising, to reclaim the Earth!"  Starhawk
 
One very easy and enjoyable thing that we could all include in our daily routines is to observe a minute’s meditation, based on The Big Ben Silent Minute*, at midday every day - its simplicity belies its enormous potential. The theory suggests that it would generate a dynamic wave of energy that could bring profound beneficial changes to humanity and promote harmonious relations between people of all ethnicities & faiths. Maintaining peace will then allow us to devote our energies to urgent priorities, such as adapting our societies to cope with extreme weather events, catastrophes, environmental & climatic changes. With our time and energy freed up and focussed, hundreds of entire ecosystems, currently in danger of extinction, could be restored back into healthy balance & re-invigorated.

Synchronised meditation is an ancient tradition in most cultures that goes back thousands of years and was used more recently by Winston Churchill, an initiative of Tudor Pole his advisor, to help on a spiritual level to bring an end to World War II. Over the airwaves, he implored the people of Great Britain, as they were all gathered around their radios to listen to the 9 pm news, to collectively pray in silence for the minute that the chimes of Big Ben were striking the hour (broadcast before the 9 o’clock news). After the war, Nazi records noted “the Britons had a secret weapon connected to Big Ben" - they never uncovered the nature of this weapon!
 
Everyone participated, millions of people fervently praying for peace, for the war to be over and their sons returned to them safe & sound. Churchill knew from his connections with esoteric knowledge that this huge outpouring of emotional energy would set up a ‘standing wave’, a self-embedding roll of energy (aka Ouroborus) that would bring peace & harmony to all in its path.

All spiritual traditions maintain that the power of prayer is greatly magnified when people synchronise their passion and will and attune to the same intention at the same time. Today it is needed more than ever to overcome the negativity, cynicism, fear & hatred many people harbour within them, unwittingly aiding the spread of mind and physical pollution, violence and mayhem that disregards all living things. All this darkness & disease could be transformed into loving energy if we all participate, Matrix style, our united human body channelling the high-vibration of love, compassion and understanding - humanity working together as one, all of equal value, transcending race or religious persuasion. We could create a veritable tsunami of pure love and bliss, overcoming negativity, lifting spirits and healing all in its path.

I truly believe that if millions of people synchronised their goodwill and prayers at midday every day, it would bring lasting peace everywhere. This is what many people are already doing, and this is what we can all do, starting tomorrow, just by being aware at noon each day, saying a prayer, chanting a mantra, being silent, meditating, or just doing whatever feels good to you, for one minute … our ‘secret weapon’ against negativity connected to the Meridian.

Peace will come.

----------------------------o0o--------------------------

A few suggestions for spoken word prayer:

From His Holiness Pope John Paul II (written 24.1.2002):
Violence never again!
War never again!
Terrorism never again!
In God’s name, may all religions bring upon Earth
Justice and Peace, Forgiveness, Life and Love!

From the Rig Veda (Hindu religion):
Let us be united;
Let us speak in harmony;
Let our minds apprehend alike.
Common be our prayer;
Common be our resolution;
Common be our deliberations.
Alike be our feelings;
Unified be our hearts;
Common be our intentions;
Perfect be our Unity.

From Starhawk:
We are the sweet water, we are the seed
We are the storm wind that blows away greed
We are the New World that we bring to birth
The river is rising, to reclaim the Earth!

 
From Peace Pigrim (link to her unbelievable but true story http://www.peacepilgrim.com/  ):

“This is the way of peace: Overcome evil with good, falsehood with truth and hatred with love.”

PRAYER FOR PEACE IN OUR WAR WEARY WORLD

O wonderful spirit of gentleness, touch, calm and embolden us and all men. Take from our frightened hands the bomb and bayonet. Arm us instead with faith. Arm us with wisdom and love so that wherever we walk in whatsoever land, life will enter and not death.  This we know is the will of the Prince of Peace.  Amen.

FOUNTAIN OF LOVE

Fountain of love
My source is in thee
Loving thy will
My spirit is free
O Beautiful day
When all of us see
The hope of the world
is LOVE!


From OAHSPE, A Kosmon Bible, Book of the Arc of Bon Ch:VII v.14:

The highest peace is the peace of the soul, which comes of consciousness of having done the wisest and the best in all things according to one's own light. For after all, is not the Earth life but the beginning, wherein we are as in a womb, moulding our souls into the condition which will come upon us after death?  In which case we should with alacrity seize upon the passing time and appropriate it to doing righteous works to one another."

and  Ch1 v.16

"Behold, the seventh era is at hand.  Your Creator commands you change from a carnivorous man of contention to an herbivorous man of peace. The four Heads of the Beast shall be put away, and war shall be no more on the Earth."


From the Essene Gospel of Peace, an exact translation from the Dead Sea Scrolls:

"Come to me, all that are weary and that suffer in strife and affliction! For my peace will strengthen you and comfort you. For my peace is exceeding full of joy. Wherefore do I always greet you after this manner:  “Peace be with you!”  Do you always, therefore, so greet one another, that upon your body may descend the peace of your Earthly Mother and upon your spirit the peace of your Heavenly Father.  And then you will find peace also among yourselves, for the kingdom of God is within you.  And now return to your Brothers with whom hitherto you were at war, and give your peace to them also. For happy are they that strive for peace, for they will find the peace of God. Go, and sin no more. And give to every one your peace, even as I have given my peace unto you.  For my peace is of God. Peace be with you."

And he left them.

And his peace descended upon them; and in their heart the angel of love, in their head the wisdom of law, and in their hands the power of rebirth, they went forth among the Sons of Men, to bring the light of peace to those that warred in darkness.

And they parted, wishing one to another:

"PEACE BE WITH YOU"
 
 

Tuesday 18 August 2015

“CCOOEE” - A Community Farm Initiative for the Murgon District


“CCOOEE” - A Community Farm Initiative for the Murgon District

To whom it may concern

This is to let you know about an initiative I have been working on for over 20 years in Cloyna, near Murgon, Queensland, to set up a community enterprise I am calling “Cloyna Community-Owned & Operated Eco-Enterprises” – CCOOEE – which I intend to incorporate, on a 40 acre property. The proof-of-concept has been working well in principle over all that period in my renewably-powered ‘towards 90% self-reliance’ bush settlement model.


It is based on the principles of permaculture and evidence-based strategies for local social cohesion, resilience and growth - there are innumerable examples but these excel: 


I have also taken inspiration locally from Brian Jarvis’ highly successful ‘Growing the Burnett’: https://www.facebook.com/GrowingTheBurnett . This group is showing us a far better way forward, of how a community acting on a shared vision can lead to a brighter, more supportive, and more resilient future for this district, a working model that is realistically achievable and truly sustainable over the long term. 

As well as a comprehensive plan to produce a wide diversity of traditional permaculture foods, it includes horticulture of local endemic bush foods and medicines and Vic Cherikoff’s bush food supplements program http://cherikoff.net/  Vic has been extremely supportive of all my community-focussed efforts over the past few years:  http://worldatpolarity.blogspot.com.au/2014/08/wild-foods-vs-processed-foods.html

It also incorporates my Continental Connectivity Collaboration threatened ecosystem restoration initiative: http://worldatpolarity.blogspot.com.au/2015_01_01_archive.html, protecting, enhancing and restoring the listed critically-endangered remnants of virgin forest and old re-growth on site. A number of Australia’s professional eco-restoration experts have expressed their support of this initiative.

It also includes a program of earth-building based on the ABA standard plans for a coursed adobe (cob) cottage that I have submitted to council, that were drawn up by one of Australia’s foremost earth builders, architect and builder Michael Leo of Bardon, and underwritten by possibly the foremost earth builder, Peter Yttrup who designed and built the mud-brick Rainbow Serpent Information Centre at the base of Uluru. The building that I propose for the community farm is an adaptation of those plans, which I hope to collaborate with Michael Leo on to bring to fruition. http://worldatpolarity.blogspot.com.au/2014/08/blog-post.html http://worldatpolarity.blogspot.com.au/2014/08/earth-building-5-bedroom-cob-longhouse.html  


I am hoping that Cherbourg’s Nurunderi TAFE’s earth building program may be interested as I believe it would provide invaluable experience for Cherbourg’s youth. Justin Crawley, Executive Officer of the Thathangathay Foundation: http://www.tf.org.au/about-tf/foundation-profile.aspx  is an exceptional role model for Aboriginal self-determination and self-reliance through earth building and has expressed his support. I will also be approaching Graham Jones, the Executive Director of Aboriginal Housing in the WA Department of Housing  and structural engineer Daniela Ciancio at the university of Western Australia who have been pioneering earth building in that state. I have also designed, with the help of a local Butcher, a small adobe free-range piggery and bantam chicken roost based on a traditional dove-cote. A small dairy is also planned.

There are now tens of thousands of such community enterprises around the world: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecovillage , and many in Australia:  Google ecovillages Australia for a list. The model easily adapts to urban populations as neighbourhood community enterprises. CERES was the first and goes from strength to strength – it has been a brilliant success story for Melbourne. The small enchanting St Kilda community garden is an absolute gem: http://vegout.org.au/  These places become sanctuaries for the most disadvantaged among us, a place to go where they always feel welcome and can have as much fulfilling work as they want and where engagement with others with goodwill invariably produces beneficial outcomes for them.  I believe the town of Murgon and district is in great need of such a safe and joyful hub of productive activity that community gardens and farms can bring.

I am seeking and hoping for state, federal government and the South Burnett Regional Council's support for this initiative and will soon be taking a petition concerning it around Murgon town. As this template also applies to my ‘P/C villages for New Australians’ initiative: (reposting update soon):  http://worldatpolarity.blogspot.com.au/2014/06/dig-for-victory-what-to-do-about-at.html, I am also sending this to the PM, Warren Truss, Bill Shorten and Richard Di Natale. It is also being sent to the WA Premier to supply remote Aboriginal communities with the resources become 90% self-reliant through permaculture rather than removing funding and forcing them to leave their homelands, causing untold anxiety, grief and suffering.


Maureen Brannan 905 Wilsons Road CLOYNA Q 4605

ph: 0427710523  email: mbrannan4@bigpond.com


(For Leon Olle Arcos Brannan on his first birthday 1st June 2015)

Thursday 23 July 2015

The Old Althause Heritage Road – a fatal encounter with bureaucracy


The Old Althause Heritage Road – a fatal encounter with bureaucracy

I am posting this as an example of the mindlessly corrosive nature of bureaucracy which places no value on our natural heritage or on alternative views, and of the destruction, of life and of spirit, that this evil (which I define here as ignorance/arrogance and indifference combining) mindset can and does perpetuate throughout all levels of governance in Australia.

-----------------------------------

From:  “CIU” ciu@ea.gov.au
Sent:  Wednesday, December 17, 2003 8:54 AM
Subject:  Re:  DEH Online Queries

Maureen – thank you for contacting the Department of Environment and Heritage.  I have forwarded your email onto the Legislation section of this Department for reply. (I never received that reply)

Regards
Community Information Unit
Department of Environment and Heritage

>>Maureen Brannan brannan.home@bigpond.com.au 12/16/03 02:35pm>>
Below is the result of your feedback form.  It was submitted by Maureen Brannan (brannan.home@bigpond.com.au) on Tuesday, December 16, 2003

At 14:35:24
Name:  Maureen Brannan
Organisation:  Cloyna Nature Reserve

Query:  My local council (Murgon Shire) consistently destroys endangered old-growth ecological communities along roadside reserves (The proposed Old Althause Heritage Road a case in point).  Virtually all fences in this shire are ILLEGAL, farmers having stolen as much land as possible, placing their boundary fences right on the road in many cases.  There are hundreds of kilometers where the forest road reserve has been totally cleared, most noticeably alongside the Byee cotton farms, again illegally.
Not only does the council do nothing about these breaches of law, they continually issue burning permits to farmers to degrade “their” roadside reserve so only grass grows in their ‘long paddock’, and they regularly push unnecessary drains into the undergrowth. 
Remnant vegetation in this district is plagued with die-back episodes, especially at Byee where there are simply not enough trees left to accommodate insects when they swarm.  Over the years I have approached council and the EPA on a number of occasions with never any response. I would very much appreciate it if you could look into this degradation of our publicly-owned roadside reserves. 
[Update 24.7.15  -  I am in the process of integrating management of our “Ribbons of Life” into my CCC initiative – where farmers have illegally cleared the roadside reserve along main roads, rather than revegetating, which puts wildlife at risk of being run over, I propose they “offset” the trees and native habitat they have cleared and donate a suitable portion of their land that is safe for wildlife, to eco-restoration, funded by governments, to be linked to neighbouring properties wherever possible.]
I was the recipient last year of Envirofunding to revegetate my privately-owned Nature Reserve and to experiment with ecological restoration methods and processes, and I will be putting in an application this year to restore the Old Althause Heritage Road, a critical wildlife habitat corridor, which was all but obliterated by the council two months ago in one devastating, unnecessary (it was perfectly drivable) road widening operation that felled 104 old-growth trees along a four kilometer stretch. Greens and Althause Roads are actually the old road from Windera and the first and oldest road in the district. Althause was still very quaint to drive through, meandering through the intact old-growth bush as it did, although Greens Road had been straightened and widened years ago for a piggery.  
I would like to know WHY MSC spent so much money on the totally unnecessary  road widening, when Frieberg Road nearby is STILL chronically potholed along it’s entire length!  Friebergs Road has more farmers living along it, an electricity substation and is used by the school bus, yet this road has been severely degraded for years and is STILL not graded today! I believe it is purely malicious vindictiveness towards me on their part.
Please respond – MSC will not answer my questions and concerns.

 (FROM COUNCIL MINUTES)
10f Holdings Road (RA 2/14) (AD 8/2) (A/Sheet 55)
The DES reports as follows:
Following inspections of Holdings Road, it is proposed to upgrade Holdings Road to a higher standard. At present, the road is a low standard (No it wasn't - the standard of the road was perfectly adequate - it only needed the scouring removed if anything, and only a handful of people use it.)  with some gravel sections. As part of the maintenance strategy that has been implemented over recent years, every endeavour is made to continually improve the gravel road standard. However, improvements on the section, (Althause Rd to Cloyna West) requires the destruction of a number of trees. Although every endeavour is made to retain trees, (You didn't endeavour very much, obviously) unfortunately the removal of the trees is required for the following reasons:-
· The road meanders between the trees - (Yes, it DID - it was a quaint bush track, the first road in the district in fact, and also represented the last old-growth forest remnant in Cloyna, there being very few old trees left on any adjacent properties. As such it was prime wildlife habitat, the dead trees also offering homes for native creatures. As the road improves, traffic speed generally increases resulting in increased risks of a traffic accident; the meandering of the road between the trees kept car speeds down - THERE IS NO NEED TO SCREAM ALONG THIS ROAD AT 100 KMS AN HOUR AS SOME HOONS DO - it just increases the risk of running over wildlife or hitting a tree – I’ve found two dead koalas on this road)  as the road improves, traffic speed generally increases resulting in increased risks of a traffic accident. (You are admitting that you are increasing the risk of a traffic accident!)
· Many trees are too close to the edge of the road - this creates an increasing risk of a traffic accident, but also prevents the installation of table drains. (Trees by the side of the road were beautiful to behold, and once again slowed down the inconsiderate, uncaring yobbos who used the road as a racing track - the road has existed for over 100 years - it used to be cambered perfectly to drain away the water, but MSC totally wrecked that and now they need to make frequent incursions into the undergrowth all along the road, for 'table drains" - there were 32 drains pushed into the undergrowth of the roadside reserve along a one kilometre stretch alone, alongside the subdivision 3 years ago – possibly as more intimidation towards me, some pushed right onto my property - all unnecessary)
· Many trees are dead or severely leaning across the road.  (None were ‘severely’ leaning. Dead trees are critical habitat for many species. Country roads in England are like driving through living cathedrals in many places - all the roadside reserves in those landscapes are left completely intact and NOT TOUCHED - they experience far more adverse weather conditions than here, yet they don't have a problem in the country of 'trees leaning across the road' – the trees support each other...and anyway, if they do come down, people will do what they always do around here - get on their tractor and drag if off to the roadside. They are just not a problem.)  The approval of Mr Bob Baldwin is currently being sought. (Presumably Bob gave his approval, or the road wouldn't have gone ahead - the question being would he have given his approval if he knew all the facts.)  However, it is envisaged that cutting the trees will be a significant issue for some residents due to environmental issues. (No, only one - me - NO-ONE ELSE AROUND HERE GIVES A SHIT)  In this case, human safety should take precedence over these other issues. (…just as this ‘civilisation’ has always taken precedence over the rest of the natural world which is why there are now 3,000 ecosystems in danger of extinction in Australia - i.e., we have destroyed so much native vegetation that now the planet's life sustaining ecology is collapsing.)  It is estimated that tree removal will take approximately one day using a Caterpillar D7 sized bulldozer. Should Council agree with the tree removal and re-alignment / straightening, it is proposed to expend approximately $10,000 - $12,000 to upgrade the section to a gravel section. It should be noted that approximately $6,000 - $7,000 is required to be expended to remove the scours which occur every wet season and place gravel at selected sections.
MURGON SHIRE COUNCIL
MINUTES OF THE GENERAL MEETING
THURSDAY 24TH APRIL 2003
This is page 28 of 32 pages of the Minutes of the General Meeting of Murgon Shire Council held 24th April 2003.
-------------------------------------------------- -----------------------------------------------
Chief Executive Officer Mayor
Page 28

Expenditure in this manner would essentially result in “waste” as ultimately action is needed to rectify the issues. Council’s endorsement of the proposed action is requested.
6125 PROPOSED Cr Rewald seconded Cr Eisenmenger: That the work be considered in conjunction with the third quarter Budget review. CARRIED
---------------------------------------
Additional notes:  The approval of Mr Bob Baldwin is currently being sought. (presumably Bob gave his approval, or the road wouldn't have gone ahead - the question being would he have given his approval if he knew all the facts.) 
I believe the council neglected to inform Bob Baldwin, whose permission they needed to fell those 104 old-growth trees, of all the facts in the matter. He surely didn’t know that I had written to council proposing the road be heritage listed. I met the man, I don’t believe he would have approved this disgraceful vandalism of a heritage-value track which was the first road in this district – at night, when the car’s lights lit up the trees and you couldn’t see the cleared land behind them, it felt like you were driving through the bush for the first time... it was magical  - they utterly destroyed it for no valid reason whatsoever other than with malicious intent to get rid of me. This is also evidenced by the fact that, at that time, Friebergs Road was in an awful state of disrepair, potholes everywhere, and was used by the school bus! yet they chose to spend all that money on a completely unnecessary road widening which turned the Old Althause Heritage Road (what it was called before they re-named it Holdings Road, also around that time) into a straight 2-lane highway instead of fixing up Friebergs Road....that was in the same state of disrepair a year later (I took photos at the time) and still is as far as I know.
MSC demonstrated just how malicious and vindictive they were towards us after I had made a submission to them in 2001 to have the old Althause Road from Cloyna village to the subdivision (now renamed Holdings Road) heritage listed, as it was the first road in the district, with its roadside reserve still relatively intact, unlike all the others. It was a forgotten track, used only by the dairy farmer and a few residents on the subdivision. It was quaint, meandering between old-growth trees, usually the only ones left in the landscape after clearing - even the few dead ones provided habitat for wildlife with their hollows etc. When you traveled along it at night, it felt like being in the pioneer days - you couldn’t see the cleared land on either sides and could imagine how it was riding through on horses in the old days.
My suggestion to council was to re-zone it a Heritage Road and Wildlife Corridor, and have a sign up saying this and for drivers to take caution - the speed limit should have been advised 50 - this would have addressed the safety of drivers and the wildlife.  Unnecessarily widening the road, causing so much environmental damage and inevitably increasing car speed, is irresponsible to say the least. An Envirofund application to revegetate the roadside reserve was officially lodged in July. The $8.000 project would revegetate with vine rainforest plants, up to the road's current width, both sides of the road and build cob or super-adobe wayside shelters for walkers and cyclists.
I put this forward to council in a business plan of a ‘Back in Time’ tour, starting at the Cloyna Church (owned by my friends at the time) with horse and buggy rides (provided by another friend) taking eco-tourists to the Nature Reserve - the aim was to have state-of-the-art solar and wind powered adobe accommodation on the side of the hill, a wattle and daub settlers hut by the crows ash, with 19th century accoutrements, and a camp of Aboriginal gunyas (built by my friend Moollookatt) down by the billabong. Tourists could experience the land in different eras.  Leisurely walks along the old Althause road would be a bonus. At the time, hoons were using the road as a racing track, often killing wildlife. I suggested a sign that it was a Heritage Road, advising caution and a speed limit of 50 and that it was also a walking track with cob shelter and seats mid-way.
What was the council’s reaction? They sent in a D7 bulldozer and “widened” the old road, bringing down 104 old-growth trees, 50 on one side and 54 on the other, one of their  worst acts of environmental vandalism (although there has been others). I drove along it afterwards sobbing my heart out, tears just streaming down my face, I was so gutted. The piles of logs are still there on either side of the road, getting smaller each year as they are plundered for firewood every winter by the locals.
--------------------------------------o0o-----------------------------------------

 

Sunday 12 July 2015

The NAIDOC Millennia

Re: NAIDOC Week celebrations showcase local talent in Cherbourg
In the South Burnett Times 10th July 2015
"It's nice seeing all the children out here respecting the celebrations and elders out enjoying themselves. I really wish it could be every day; not once a year. I want to have this feeling every day." The Ration Shed's Sandra Morgan, wishing the Naidoc Week celebrations would not end on Sunday.

I believe you can have that feeling of respect and enjoyment of your traditional culture every day Sandra, if you chose to – it’s your community’s choice whether you want to celebrate and enjoy practicing your Aboriginal languages and your generous, resilient & supportive traditional cultures every day, as you always have done for tens of thousands of years. Your cultures were stolen from you and I personally think that teaching that precious knowledge and wisdom of millennia to your children (and elders who have lost it) so they can pass it on to their children, is far, far more important than teaching them English and the Western culture. There are 360 million English speakers on this planet – how many Wakka Wakka speakers are there? Perilously few - the news report below suggests it is 98% extinct. It would be an utter tragedy if it did go extinct, taking culture with it. I know a few elders are trying to keep it alive.

Our global society is currently in the vortex of transition, from the usury/greed/out-of-balance growth, ecologically-destructive, fossil-fuel-dependant capitalist military/industrial system to the knowledge-economy, renewably-powered and mutually-supporting ecologically-balanced local community system (informed by Aboriginal cultures).

If the First Nations all asserted their never-ceded sovereignty, as those below have done, this year’s NAIDOC week could become the NAIDOC Millennium….as every millennium always has been on this continent, and always will be in truth and reality.

Maureen Brannan 905 Wilsons Road CLOYNA Q 4605 ph: 0427710523

theconversation.com/happiness-born-of-connectedness-lifts-up-aborigina...
Jun 23, 2015 - Unless you have been on one, it is hard to understand the level of poverty that some Aboriginal people live in – sleeping on concrete floors, .


(I have selected a few polar opposite views from the comments)

Don Cameron  Engineer - Thank you so much Larissa. There is so much negativity and political bias contained in most of the articles here (as with all designed-for-the-consumer journalistic media outlets nowadays), that I had all but given up on reading TC... I feel so lucky that by a scant browse I was brought to the gorgeous image at the head of your article and read your words.  My wife's extended family are Aboriginal and located throughout western NSW. As with your experience, many of our aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces and nephews (1st, 2nd, 3rd or 4th removed, it makes no difference in Aboriginal family life) are wonderful artists and musicians who paint, carve Emu Eggs and make Didge's, create bark paintings; and of course all are story-tellers. They fish, they interact, they drink, they love, argue and laugh. They tell wonderful stories. They care so deeply for their extended family's it's palpable. They are private; they are open and willing to teach. They treat me as an absolute equal in every way (and couldn't most white-fellas learn something from this!) On another of my increasingly less frequent forays to TC I briefly scanned an article a few days ago that was highly critical of people who live frugally and pass on their superannuation savings to their children... I didn't comment, what's the point? But how have we become so wrong minded? How can people purporting an academic ability be so wrong as to think it is not "in the national interest" to plan to support our families, our children across the generations this way? That we must consume at all cost; only think of today, not consider the future that we will not see; not save today for the tomorrow our children and their children must live? Through your experience you were given a wonderful gift - and it's a credit to you that you recognised it as such.

Maureen Brannan piggie in the middle still waiting for the permaculture revolution
In reply to Don Cameron   Thanks Don, so glad you didn’t give up on TC – your posts were full of heart & spirit – a breath of fresh, invigorating air - sadly rare in today’s climate of fear, negativity and cynicism. If we only realised the immense power we could generate by combining our good will towards each other and all creatures, as the people in Larissa’s post do so effortlessly, I believe we could overcome all adversity. (My blog post on the Midday Minute Meditation proposes this) I haven’t had the opportunity to visit any Aboriginal communities yet (other than Cherbourg, near where live), but it is on my agenda when I resume Indigenous Studies at SCU and purse a thesis on the Aboriginal Trade routes network. I have read A LOT though on traditional culture, and it has mind-boggled me just how advanced (environmentally and socially way beyond the West) and super-sophisticated the Aboriginal civilisation is, on so many levels - and how adaptive of every technology - I can say without hesitation that the very best book for our times is “Treading Lightly: The Hidden Wisdom of the World’s Oldest People” by Professor Karl-Erik Sveiby and Tex Skuthorpe. This is a fantastic innovation too:
http://startsomegood.com/Venture/sharing_stories_foundation/Campaigns/Show/songlines_online
 

William Stewart  Teacher  - What's missing from this rustic idyll is that no one works. Men are pretty absent too. The huge cost - maybe $80k per person per year - doesn't factor either.  Lots of people like going bush and doing a bit of fishing but they do it on their own coin. 

Maureen Brannan  In reply to William Stewart  - OMGA William… I think you might be Aboriginal people’s colonial opposite polarity! The legal sovereign owners of the tribal territory in which you live are your landlords...and as with all the First Nations, I am sure they are generous hearted and welcoming of anyone who wishes to live among them with good will. We should all understand that there is a compelling argument that the Australian government has no legal tenure on this continent - in any event, it’s well past time that we learned our place within the Aboriginal civilisation. More info here: http://nationalunitygovernment.org/ & http://nationalunitygovernment.org/euahlayi-nation-declares-independence-and-asserts-pre-existing-and-continuing-statehood & http://nationalunitygovernment.org/content/murrawarri-republic-declaration & http://nationalunitygovernment.org/content/yidindji-tribal-council-elders-public-notice & http://nationalunitygovernment.org/content/djurin-nyoongar-swan-river-treaty & https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBz7GLP0vs8 [First Nations Sovereignty New Way] - transcription here: https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8191464476578542044#editor/target=post;postID=1939636507132286890;onPublishedMenu=allposts;onClosedMenu=allposts;postNum=0;src=postname

William Stewart  In reply to Maureen Brannan   No thanks Maureen, most remote Aboriginal communities are Hobbsian nightmares. The one that Professor Langton describes might be a bit better than average but I doubt she stayed long and I don't blame her. It's the 21st century? Who wants to sleep on a concrete floor? I bet you don't.

Maureen Brannan In reply to William Stewart   William, how do know that “most remote Aboriginal communities are Hobbsian nightmares...” (which I had to look up but presume you mean that the state they live in “without civil society -the state of nature- is nothing else but a mere war of all against all”) and sleep on concrete floors?  Have you just heard that or have you witnessed it yourself? I ask because if you have seen Aboriginal people living with such chronic deprivation, I believe you are morally obliged to ‘bear witness’ and do something about it, as our Saint Mary MacKillop urged us all to do. I don’t personally need to witness it to feel a moral obligation to do everything I can to provide those people with furniture and whatever else they need to live descent lives. I have complained often re the NT Intervention that the government should have intervened by supplying bunk beds to get kids off the ground where they regularly succumb to ear infections and later hearing loss, not with the military conducting duplicate medical checks.

In public office, to witness such things and then walk away and do nothing can be seen as ‘willful neglect’ and should be reported to the Ombudsman – I believe Nigel Scullion is guilty of that. In an RN interview (transcript provided on request) Minister Nigel Scullion described living conditions in remote Aboriginal communities as “cave like” and “uncivilised”….he said that in many communities Aboriginal people ate at the same level as animals, which was unhygienic and contributed to poor health outcomes. Quote: “And I with despair was describing what I saw. Now you can imagine walking into a concrete box, because nothing else exists there. … there’s nothing. Nothing.  So what I was saying is that people actually have to live in a house without furniture so they sit on the floor. There’s often a television in the corner, on the floor, there are mattresses in the bedroom, on the floor, but you are right down here the whole time. They deserve better than that… they shouldn’t have to live in a cave… we need to move to ensuring that we provide the same level of amenity and furniture for people so that can actually sleep on a bed, they can eat at a table…”

My complaint to the Ombudsman was that if Nigel Scullion had witnessed people living in such horrendously impoverished conditions, and he said he had “seen it everywhere” he went in remote communities, he had a moral and legal obligation to provide those families with furniture and a clean water supply – as far as I’m aware, all the government has done is remove funding to make their situations even worse.


William Stewart Teacher In reply to Maureen Brannan  - Thanks Maureen, I think you are agreeing with me about the Hobbsian nightmare. [The reply I didn’t send!  -   No I wasn’t you racist dickhead – I was obviously quoting -from Wikipedia- not agreeing with you] Well agree to differ on what to do about it.  Personally I think the current situation is beyond redemption. There's only so much the government can do to help people. We're talking about a pretty high level of incompetence to be overcome. Surely a parent should know how to wash a kid's face so that the kid doesn't get glue ear? Why do we need a government department for provision of bunk beds to Aborigines? Everyone else seems to manage OK. What we don't need is any more of these ridiculous stories about how wonderful everything is "when the laughter rings around the campfire". [Your comments are beyond contempt.]

Bob Durnan  Community Development Officer In reply to William Stewart   Langton? You are getting your professors mixed up I think, William Stewart.

William Stewart In reply to Bob Durnan   I did too. Thank you for bringing that to my attention. On reflection, as I was writing my post, I did wonder what could have persuaded Marcia Langton to have written such tosh.

Don Cameron Engineer In reply to Maureen Brannan   Thank you so very much Maureen. I am humbled and more than a little surprised as I tend to see myself as something of a rebel in this largely left-leaning tower of cynics and critics.  I nearly didn't come back but it is magnetic... so many opinions, so much anger and angst (you should visit the "off topic forum" sometime if you are keen to participate in some really "out there' conversations).  Larissa has touched on something that is truly beautiful in this world, and there's not much of it left... Thanks for being human and showing compassion and concern. Good luck with your work! Cheers

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Bringing back the forgotten tongue
 Keagan Elder | 9th Nov 2014 6:00 AM

"It's probably 98% extinct," Cr Bone said.

LOSING TRANSLATION: Cherbourg mayor Ken Bone said the native languages have fallen victim to the past
Cherbourg mayor hopes to bring back the ancient Wakka Wakka language to the townspeople.
THE native languages spoken in Cherbourg are at risk of getting washed away by time.
Mayor of Cherbourg Ken Bone, born in 1946, witnessed firsthand the eradication of the Wakka Wakka language from his community.
"I went to school in the 1950s, we weren't allowed to speak it in school," Cr Bone said.
"Even the elders weren't allowed to speak it loudly.
"When you're in school, you had to be careful of what you said," he said.
If students were caught speaking the local tongue, they would face canings and being labelled a "my-all" Cr Bone said.
"It means you're a dumb black fella," he said.
"Nobody dared talk about the language. There was no Aboriginal language taught in school."
However, Cr Bone would like to see the heritage of the Wakka Wakka people in Cherbourg kept alive.
"If there is anybody out there (who knows Wakka Wakka), put your hand up," he said.
Cr Bone can barely talk his own language as a result, knowing only a few songs sung in secret and passed along the generations.
"My grandmother knew it and my mother knew how to speak it too," Cr Bone said.
"I think the opportunity was there, but people were too scared to pass it on.
"I wish I would've picked it up (the Wakka Wakka language)."
Nowadays, Wakka Wakka is spoken by few within the Cherbourg community.
"It's probably 98% extinct," Cr Bone said.
He said it was a reminder of the people of Cherbourg's past and has resided to that being a fact.
"It's good to be reminded of the past, but the past wasn't filled with lollies," Cr Bone said.
"You just get on with life and live the way white people wanted you to live.
"In time, we're turning things around, we're learning new skills to carry on."