Why not go renewable?

Green Energy?

The graph above shows the donations to the three main political party's in Australia by Coal Seam Gas (CSG) company's. 
The Lib/Nats (Liberal/National) are two radical far right wing party's that have formed a coalition. The Labor party is a mid-right ring party, and the Greens are a middle of the road (leftish) party.

I find this very shocking, especially when our power company's like to say they are concerned with the environment. The goveernment hs given handouts to the major polluters which was supposed to be for moving into renewable energy sources. I don't think any of those hand outs have been returned, despite some of it being compensation for polution policy that is no longer in effect.

So i had a look at my energy company, i was curious as to if they still claimed to be 'green'. The only thing i could find was an offer to pay and extra $3.85 per week for my homes energy to be sourced from renewable sources. I have no idea how they determine that only renewable energy can get to my house through the power grid. I didn't think the grid was so customisable.

Why on earth do i have to pay extra to do this, why isn't it that i pay extra not to do this. If everyone suddenly opted into this, would they be able to provide 100% renewable energy to all its customers? If so why are they not already providing this. I I just don't think this is real, it does not seem logical.It also grates when they have had many years to go renewable and have had many handout from the government.

Back to the political donations, why if these companys are concerned with the environment do they give the largest donations to the Liberal/ National party (Who are very anti environment), and  Labor who are more environmentally concerned. With no, not one donation going to the Greens, the one party that want to make Australias energy renewable and sustainable? Why?

We are customers of these company's, we pay them. So i suggest that we as customers contact our electrical company's and ask why they are not 100% renewable?, why do they not support the Greens with donations, the one party who would assist in making our power sustainable?

Australia's businesses come out!

Australia's businesses take out full-page ad backing marriage equality.

 On 29th of May 2015 Australia's businesses took out a full-page ad backing marriage equality. These 53 company's have  came out as non bigoted. 

Its great to see, its heartwarming. I can say with most of my family being homophobic, not having equal rights under Australian law, being vilified by political and pseudo-religious groups, its a real boost. It is a great feeling to see such support for equality.

The list of participating businesses is constantly growing. Its more than time we allowed all Australians to have equal rights.
Have you done your part? Its easy to participate, it will be amazing one day to tell the grandkids that you helped end this discrimination. Australian Marriage Equality website is a good place to start, There is also the trending #equalitycalling which helps you call your local MP.

 


When you have a little spare time why not peruse the advertisement, take a few seconds to send an email thanking those businesses who participated, maybe your bank is not included, ask them why not?
To all those who help fight for equality, for those who stand up to their own friends and family and say "that's not cool" to bigotry or homophobic comments. To those who take a few seconds out of their day to sign online petitions, share blogs (hint hint ), like and share Facebook posts, for those who do their bit for equality. You are appreciated, from one gay guy i just want to say;

Thank You

Update:

Telstra has changed its position on equality.

 

We dont need no referendum

 Lambie calls for referendum

Tasmanian Senator Jacqui Lambie formerly of the Palmer united party (PUP) has called for a referendum in Australia over marriage equality, further saying the vote would and should fail.
In the statement she admitted her homophobia saying she was opposed to equality. 
Its difficult to talk about Lambie, i think she does care and think she is trying to do what she sees as right, but she doesn't bother to actually research a topic before going off, and she seems to lack the ability to empathise. 
Though in this day, there is no excuse for ignorance, and if your in parliament you have a responsibility to know what your talking about. So i give you my opinions on  Lambie...

Lambie has been seen as bigoted and hypocritical by most Australians. Her embarrassing statements range from topics as, Aboriginals, invasion by Chinese communists, banning religious practice, using a policewoman in full 'burqa' in a meme to try to ban the burqa for security reasons, opposing equal rights, one day defending our constitution the next day opposing it, demanding forced military service, terrorists would contract Ebola to infect Australians, i cant list all her controversial statements, it would take way too long. I am sure you get the idea.

The thing is we dont need a referendum in Australia, all we need is for Politicians do do the right thing and vote for equal rights in parliament. A referendum would be expensive and utterly useless. She should know that, she is a politition, i am not.

She claimed;  "To me it’s [marriage is] a sacred religious tradition."
Thats great and all but the issue isnt how different religions (as no one religion owns marriage) view marriage, we are talking about the legal definition of marriage, so from a religious perspective, as going by our constitution, the law has to be 'neutral' to religion, we must have marriage equality. As for traditional, the christian definition (which again isnt even relevent to the discussion) is not static and has changed considerably. 
The legal definition of marriage was changed in 2004 to its current unconstitutional bigoted and homophobic state, that's not a very long tradition. 

This is the same woman who fights vehemently against another religions laws being practiced in Australia. Now i am all for separation of church and state, but all church from all state.
It can generally be said the Lambie does not represent me, or most Australians.

The current marriage laws discriminates against all those religions that accept the natural variations of human sexuality. They need to be changed, all in parliament should be demanding equality for all Australians.

As we would say back on the farm,we might say too Lambie;

Charlie Charlie challenge

Charlie Charlie can we play?

There is a craze going around at the moment, called the charlie charlie challenge. You basically take a piece of paper, divide it into four squares. You write yes no, yes no, each to a square. Then you take two pencils and balance them along the lines, so they intersect at the crossroads.You then ask 'Charlie Charlie are you there?" when Charlie Charlie says yes you ask, "Charlie Charlie can we play?" he he again says yes you can ask him questions and he will answer them yes or no. 

NO

Apparently to end the session you should say "Thank you Charlie Charlie, can we stop?". If he says yes you should say "Charlie Charlie, thank you" and stop, some even say to crumple the paper, and drop the pencils on the ground.
He answers yes or no by moving the pencil so it falls into one of the labelled squares.

YES

The 'game' seems to have come from Spanish speaking country's, though it does beg the question why it isn't Carlitos Carlitos? There are even some claims that Charlie Charlie is a ancient Mexican god, such claims seem unlikely unless the deity has had a name change. 

There are also claims that Charlie Charlie is a demon, and the practice is satanic, though i can see nothing overtly christian / catholic about Charlie Charlie or the game itself, so we can probably rule this out. Some say he is a ghost of a young man. Charlie Charlie is said to have black eyes and a red robe and to harass people who don't play the game by his rules. 
Such people have experienced disembodied voices, Telekinesis, unexplained shadows, sinister laughing among other 'paranormal' events.

To my eyes this seems less like Ouija board use, or even use of a Pendulum for divination. But with the Spirit of the Pendulum given a name and back story.

After some experimentation it seems Charlie Charlie does give adequate answers. It can be difficult to set up the pencils where they wont be inadvertently influenced by table movements and your own breath, though it could be argued that maybe that's the energy that can more easily be used by Charlie Charlie to answer the questions.
It seems harmless enough, and might teach the young folk that ending a ritual is just as important as starting it. As well as the ability to tell when a given phenomenon is supernatural or mundane, this is a very important skill to develop and it seems severely lacking in our current society. So many people jump to the illogical conclusion that something is mundane despite all evidence to the contrary.
Personally for my quick divination needs i would stick with the pendulum, its just as easy to perform and gives more reliable results. Please comment below if you have tried it and let us know what happened.
As with everything, caution should be used when dealing with the other realm.

Charlie Charlie can we stop?

Update:

While making a video version of this blog i may have been visited by Charlie Charlie himself.

 

The registered nurse is an integral part of aged care.

Is aged care important?

That is the question that Australians face today. Under the current laws NSW (New South Wales) nursing homes must have a registered nurse on duty at all times and must appoint a director of nursing. This requirement is at risk. Its a complex issue and this PDF Staffing by Registered Nurses in NSW Nursing Homes, might explain it better than i could.

Registered nurses prevent frequent visits to hospitals and emergency wards. There presence also reduces the times residents would have to remain hospitalised, as they can receive the after care i the nursing home. They have a higher skill level and more training than other staff and know when a doctor or ambulance needs to be called. 

The government is turning its back on the elderly. Our elderly deserve the best care we can offer, we should not sacrifice the level of care we give our older population for the sake of profits.

Even if you don't have a relative in aged care, you may one day. You yourself or your partner, or a friend may be subject to these laws one day. So act now to ensure proper care is given.

What can you do? Click the links for helpful shortcuts.

• Download print out and sign this petition; Insist on registered nurses 24/7 in NSW nursing homes.

• Register your support at the NSW Nurses & Midwives association.

• Send an email to the Minister for Health asking her to keep the requirement for registered nurses 24/7 in NSW nursing homes.

• Send a letter to the paper to insist on registered nurses in aged care 24/7.

• Talk to your colleagues, family, friends and local community about the essential role of registered nurses in aged care.

• Like their Facebook page. 

• Print out the poster (or the petition) and place it on your local noticeboards, leave it at your doctors, hairdressers or school. 

 

 Do it!

Book Review: KRAMPUS, The Yule Lord

  KRAMPUS

The Yule Lord

 

Authors:                                Brom

Design:                                  Paula Russell Szafranski

Publisher:                             HARPER Voyager           

Type:                                     Hardcover

Pages:                                   357

Genre:                                  fiction

Published:                            2012

ISBN:                                    978-0-06-209565-7

Source:                                 Independently purchased 

What happens when The Krampus decides he wants his holy day back?

The Krampus for those who don't know, is a Yule nature spirit or possibly even an ancient Pagan deity. Krampus travels door to door at Yule, rewarding good children and giving naughty children a swat with his birch stick. He is hairy, with a long tongue, goats horns and hooves.

The book itself is beautiful, the pages have a kind of corrugated old manuscript feel, almost like the edges are ripped . The dust cover was bright and colourful.

The book is lavishly sprinkled with black and white pictures, there is even a section in the middle where the main characters of the story have full colour glossy pictures.

Though it doesn't specifically say anywhere i could see, i believe all the art is done by Brom the author. Whom you may remember from the art in the Dark Sun setting of D&D.

The book is a good read, it has mystery, action, adventure a bit of horror and sort of romance thrown in for good measure.

 Your probably wondering if i enjoyed the book on an artistic level and thought it a worthy read, that 3 1/2 eucalyptus leaves seems a little low.  You would be right, as two things bothered me about the book.

The first thing that bothered me was the main character, he just was not very likable, he also made homophobic jabs at a coworker whom he disliked so that didn't endear me to him or make me root for him at all. I understand that a character can be flawed but the character didn't seem to grow, the homophobia just kind of happened and was not really addressed again.

The second thing was the biggest for me, Krampus is pre-christian, he is thought by some to be a remnant of the ancient god of the witches, that would make him my god. 
In one part the Krampus has a conversation with a priest, christian or catholic, Krampus taunts the priest about the state of the world and its evils, he mentions homosexuality along with some actual evils, in the same sentence, as if they were like things. Now Krampus may have just been listing things the priest thought of as sins, but it didn't really read  that way.

Krampus as a pre-christian entity wouldn't (doesn't) have anything against homosexuality, most deity's through history have accepted homosexuality as a normal form of human sexuality, some even considering homosexuals sacred because of their unique perspective.

I may have read far to much into that conversation, and after the comments of the main character, i may have been on the defence, and alert for any signs of homophobia by the characters. Like i said the conversation is ambiguous, it isn't clear if the Krampus puts homosexuality with those evils or if he just knows the priest does.

So to be fair without taking those two issues into account, i would give the book a lot higher rating. If you can overlook those things, and knowing they are there might dampen the shock. If the main characters homophobia was further addressed and the Krampus acceptance of homosexuality stated clearly, the book would get a better score, as it was otherwise a very enjoyable read and is physically beautiful.

To be clear i am in no way implying that the author is homophobic, in fact i believe he is not. It is simply the character that makes offensive comments (and doesn't seem to learn the error of his ways) and a (non homophobic) god whose meaning isn't exactly clear.

 Brom is an experienced artist, who has art books published and has also written The Child Thief, The Plucker and The Devils Rose novels.

Have you read it? What did you think of the issues i had, did you even notice? Which way did you interpret The Krampus comments? Was the paperback just as beautifully designed?

Should circumcision be voluntary?

Genital mutilation

With the recent case in America of a woman forced, under duress to sign a 'consent' form for her child to be circumcised, the issue of male genital mutilation has again risen. 
The story is shocking and i would imagine no doctor would perform the surgery under those circumstances. I hope she gets further legal advice and fights this decision, and sues those responsible if the surgery occurs. No matter if your for or against infant genital modification, you should agree that this is a horrific story.

The thing that bothers me is that the only reason the issue has been going on for so many years was that, the husband thinks that circumcision is; 'just the normal thing to do.'  
He is lucky i am not the Judge there as i would have given full custody of the child to the mother as soon as i heard that nonsense. I mean really, that is no reason to modify the sexual organ of a young child! And especially not to prolong the argument for years and to drag the mother into court, into jail...

I have trouble believing a father would put the child through unnecessary surgery, pain and permanent disfigurement, because its what most people do?
If there were a medical problem with the child than of course he should have the surgery as it would be required, but to force it out of, well i don't know, it almost seems like it is only being done to cause distress to the mother and or child. 
If you have a better explanation, please comment below.
I don't know the people involved and i don't know the intricacies of the case, so its all conjecture.

Lets speak more generally about circumcision. Most circumcisions begun with religious practices which we will briefly examine below;

African beliefs:
In Africa it was traditional for ritual circumcision to occur as a transition into manhood. The practice certainly varied from tribe to tribe.

Bahá'í

Have no circumcision tradition, and view female gentile mutilation as well mutilation.

Buddhism:
There is nothing in this religions relating to circumcision.

 

Christianity:

Now based on the Christian Bible it seems that circumcision is not necessary and indeed was frowned upon as to differentiate Christians from Jews. Upon a lot of research into this i am going to conclude that for Christians it is a practice meant to be a personal choice, by a well informed adult. It appears to me that child penile mutilation is frowned upon by the Bible versus, unless the child is Jewish.

 

Egyptian/Kemetic Re-constructionist Paganism: 

Performed voluntarily on a boy mark of passage from childhood to adulthood. The ritual was performed by priests on mass, and was more popular with the well off. It was also performed at any adult age in order to learn ancient secret mysteries, that may be lost today. 

 Hinduism

There is nothing in this religions relating to circumcision.

Islam:
Another confusing one as there seems to be no consensus. It is seems as ether recommended or required. Performed at birth or as a right into manhood. 
 

Jewish religion: 
When a boy is eight days old, in the morning, at the parents home. They get this from Genesis 17:10-14 in the Torah , and Jews who are not circumcised are 'disconnected' spiritually from their god YHWH ( Yahweh). The mutilation is performed as a sign that the child will father more Jews. 

Mormon:
The Latter Day Saint movement urges parents not to circumcise their children.

Roman Catholic:
The Roman Catholic Church does not require or endorse circumcision on males or females. It goes so far as to voice moral objection to the genital mutilation of infants.

 Wicca:
The Wiccan Rede is very clear on the issue. Wiccans do not circumcise unless there is a valid medial reason.

As always i am trying to remain respectful of other religions, but as an outsider i may miss subtle nuances and meaning. If i have please do inform me and include a link or source.  
Did i miss your religion? Comment below and let me know.

Where i live we have laws which say you can not do particular things before a particular age. 
You need to be 18 (or have your parents permission) to get a tattoo. You need to be 16 (or have your parents permission) to get a piercing. 
You need to be 18 to get a nipple or gentile piercing. Other body modification (brands, scars, beads, circumcision, etc) can be done at 18 (earlier if you have permission from your parents). 
You can not have sex until you are 16 (18 in some instances). 
You have to be 18 to vote, drink alcohol, or smoke cigarettes in Australia. 
We do have laws against child abuse but police, and doctors seem to turn a blind eye to the mutilation of a baby's genitals for some reason...

My personal opinion is that it should be the individuals choice if their body is modified or not. Unless there is a real medical reason, it should be law that he or she should have to wait until they are 18 before permanently modifying their genitals.
What is your opinion and why do you hold that opinion?

Should circumcision be voluntary?