northbysoutheast

So disappointing to hear that Stephen Crittenden, presenter of RN's Religion Report, didn't correct the blunder in terminology he made in his earlier report on dodgy U.S. Catholic priests. In the repeat of his interview with an American critic of that branch of the Catholic Church and its appalling record of lies, exploitation and deviance (they call it sin, I believe) he failed to make the distinction between homosexuals and pedophiles. C'mon Stephen, these priests apparently didn't put the hard word on any adults choosing instead to harass underaged boys. Amongst the many other interpretations of their actions, I think it highlights the emotional, social and sexual immaturity of these priests and the eventual transmogrification of this arrested development, into the trio I referred to as "sin" above.
It also challenges the whole idea of spirituality in the wider world of Christianity. In an altogether more benign tale, this is brought home in another of Stephen's Summer Series called Cassocks in the Wilderness where former seminarian, now NSW judge Chris Geraghty, promotes his memoir of the time he spent in Springwood and Manly. Apparently he found no evidence of higher purpose or anything spiritual amongst the brothers at all.

And it's when I start hearing about nutters like former Gulf War marine Ken Nichols O'Keefe that I long for last century's less burlesque approach to the promotion of peace and understanding. I guess he's living proof of at least some of the effects of Gulf War Syndrome.

Some serious reading ahead now that I've received my copy of David Holmgren's new book Permaculture — Principles & Pathways Beyond Sustainability. A small point that grabbed my attention on first browse is figure of energy use and population over a millenium and a half. The lead up is from 'Pre-industrial sustainable culture' through 'Industrial growth culture (modernism') to the present day 'Climax (post-modern cultural chaos)'. The curve down from this is what Holmgren calls 'Descent culture (permaculture)' into a 'Future low energy sustainable culture'. The road to this vision of sustainability takes place over about 500 years. Unlike Bill Mollison, David always seemed the patient one.

A random sampling from the first few pages of yesterday's Melbourne Age has a bunch of farming women from Ouyen somewhere in rural Victoria planning a "naked rain dance" sometime in March; Melbourne and Monash Unis installing anti-cheating software after Monash released a study it conducted with Swinburne U "showing that 79 percent of students admitted to some kind of cheating" (my emphasis); and over the Tasman the private yachts of Oracle boss Larry Ellison and Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen are taking up mucho dock space. The combined value of the pair's private fortunes is equal to the Gross Domestic Product of all New Zealand. All this before we get to page 9 where the Federal Government's used the page for one of its ludicrous anti-terrorism ads "Be alert, but not alarmed". I say "Don't be bemused. Be very pissed off.."

On a lighter, er, heavier note...For the record: compost heap, now dropping a degree or two was thoroughly aerated while being redampened and turned into Bay Number Two for further rot.

Found this further confirmation of what we've known all along in my weekly peruse of Arts & Letters Daily.

ON THE six square feet next to the computer on which this article is being written, a complex ecology has developed. There are approximately (it is impossible to be precise without disturbing the natural order) 100 assorted print-outs (e-mails, web pages, newspaper articles), 12 books, ten academic articles, six pamphlets, five notebooks, three newspapers, two magazines, two faxes, two telephone books, one file containing further faxes and print-outs, six pens, one box of matches, one key (origin unknown) and one handheld organiser.
[from In Praise of Clutter — Economist Dec]

Seems that the U.S., the country with the highest penetration of IT equipment had also steadily increased its consumption of official paper bumf. Predictably, the least technologically seduced have had the lowest increase in paper consumption. Goes on to suggest that desk clutter is a perfectly valid filing system too. But that's another thing we've known all along isn't it.

And the Sunday Bale had a sad footnote to a story about a sad 34 year old who drank himself to death. Russell Carvolth from the State Govt's Alcohol, Tobacco & Other Services (huh?) says, "Most drug related deaths of young people up to 25 years are alcohol related." My own Horror Houseguest who is 19 consumed over twice the "safe" maximum number of standard drinks daily over the past couple of weeks. Yeah I know, I counted. Besides, couldn't help it — had to clean up the clutter of cans and brown bottles just so I could get to the kitchen sink. So I found that they print the number of "standard drinks" on the labels these days. Hasn't done much when the number of underage bingers doubles over the duration. HH doesn't seem to get the connection between his drinking and all the trouble he finds himself in. His sister turned 18 recently and the only milestone it represented to her was legal drinking age, despite her having drunk booze since she was 16. She can't make any connections either. We expend so much hot air on the illegal drugs.