I am bored witless by this prosaic federal campaign, bland on bland with no courage to make the bold party defining statements, safety control, cruise control and remote control all bought into play.
Abbott in reverse gear shying away from his core values, is a blancmange caricature of tough guy waving feathers at the government in an attempt to appeal to the female vote. I think if you had a close look at his push bike, it would have 1 forward gear and 6 reverse gears.
Julia is the biggest disappointment to me, I expected articulate fire and brimstone spouting ALP policy on environment, climate change and workplace equality. I have received a mish-mash of moving forward at snail's pace and prepared speeches from a bunch of advisors who are putting the proletariat into a coma like sleep.
For fucks sake we knifed heavy Kevy for a more consultative ALP and now we have nothing more than a bland focus group driven motherhood statement bunch of wankers trying to bore us into submission. I have been loyal to the ALP for 30 something years, I will still vote labor because it's in my DNA, but I am starting to get the shits with those who are pulling the strings.
Give us a break, get some gumption and go for it! Bloody hell, Christine Milne is starting to look good to me, at least she has some guts about her.
All we are getting is a few mealy mouthed promises to some nimby communities and half arsed interest groups.
Julia show me what you are made of, give me that stuff you exhibited in parliament during the education debate, give me something!
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Saturday, May 22, 2010
I have had a few friends that have physical disabilities, however two of these people have impacted on my life in various ways, the first was Mike Duggan, and Mike taught me much, Mike has little speech and very little control of his body, he was born with severe cerebral palsy.
I met Mike when I was at university and he asked me for a hand one day, we were doing the same course and I was a year ahead of him. Mike had some issues when it came to help from other students, and I was one of only three males studying social science in the 80's at QUT Carseldine campus. It made his choice of people to help with toileting issues very narrow, he basically had any one of 50 women or me.
As time went by I became Mike's friend, helper in the library, typist and sometime tutor.
I also was an eager student who learned much from someone who was intellectually superior to me, but through his situation, not able to express his intellect or feelings about his life goals.
I was privileged to be able to help Mike when he was advocating for the deinstitutionalisation of people with a disability. Mike was a resident in Seven Oaks , a place where people with cerebral palsy were parked and lived a regimented existence almost totally dependent on others, it was managed by the "Spastic Centre" which in itself says something.
I travelled the journey with Mike as he transitioned for being institutionalised to independant living, helped him move furniture, change relationship dynamics with others in similar situations, move from shared accomodation to his own unit in West End and establish aroutine that most of us would take for granted. When I say I helped, I should say I provided some muscle and became an obsever of interest, it was Mike that was in the vanguard and showed me how you should cope with adversity and survive with dignity.
Mike taught me what it was like to be humble, caring and loving and expect not much back in return, Mike had no chance of having a physical relationship with a woman, he was heterosexual, but had resigned himself to being alone. I think it was this that gave him the desire to become a priest and offer pastoral care to fulfil his life. Mike is the most committed catholic, with a fervent belief in faith, which confounds me because I am an atheist of the first order, the sort that comes from being a cultural catholic with the smarts to realise that Marx was right when he stated that "religion is the panacea of the masses".
I was just catholic enough to have my youngest daughter Natalie baptised at Mike's insistence, he was her godfather and they are still in touch.
After graduation Mike found work in the Queensland advocacy service, but his desire to be a priest was thwarted by the church he loved, as they thought he was too disabled to be able to do what was required to be an active clergyman.
I struggle to find the right words to express the frustration Mike felt, and as a consequence the frustration I felt for him, so much to give and so few to receive. Mike lives alone save for some helpers twice a day.
I, on the other had have had the good fortune to work, enjoy relationships, marriages, travel , sport and politics with varying degrees of success, just because I managed gulp a little more air in the birth canal.
There has to be a remedy, where we as a society come up with something better for those among us with a disability, we as brothers and sisters need to lobby government to come up with innovative solutions , so that everyone has a chance to reach their potential in life whether it be personal, academic or professional.
The noises out of Canberra about a national insurance scheme have some merit and must not be put on the back burner. The attitude of politicians like Bill Shorten are to be lauded and I hope there is a form of osmosis that seeps through lesser people on parliament and there eyes are opened.
Todd Winther is 26 years of age and has the ability to be anything he wants, at the moment he is channelling his energy into his education and a fledgling political career. Tod also has cerebral palsy but he has excellent speech, which gives him a power denied to Mike.
Todd came into my life through the ALP, as a branch member and we have been through a bit together in the hurly burley of local branch politics that can get pretty vicious at times, as ego's and ambitions take hold. Todd will go far in politics if he chooses, people underestimate him because he is in a wheelchair and the fact that he looks younger than his 26 years mainly because he is seated.
Todd is currently doing his PHD in politics, I believe that those who can't see past his wheel chair will take notice of Dr Todd Winther, academic, politician and person.
The ALP is supposed to be the progressive party but I still encounter uneducated comment from party members about Todd, this has led to a few verbal stoushes with a group we call the "cows" or the "gows" (grumpy old women) and a few others because their attitude to people with a disability, they are either condescending, patronising or dismissive and it riles me. It seems that these folk anchored in a different generation refuse to see people, they see "chair", "disability", or worse still "child". What amazes me even more is that this unenlightened bunch are seated firmly in the left faction, the supposed traditional home of the bleeding hearts.
Todd Winther has demonstrated a loyalty of the type that any soldier would have loved to have experienced from his comrades, and being a returned soldier I value it. Being an active member of the labor party, loyalty leads to a brotherhood of those like minded persons with similar values and ideals, this grouping and a loose coalition of unions is the basis of the factions in the ALP. This leads to lifelong friendships.
I have no fears that Todd will make it, he is smarter than most, he just lacks the " emotional nous" that comes with old age, but he learns fast and will mature in to somewhat of a sage. His real power will come in his mid thirties, when he has been around the block a few times, had his heart broken a few more times and learns, that it will be repaired by one of the few special women that exist in the world (and they do),that fall in love with intellect, soul, heart and loyalty. These women are found in politics and academia, usually in the humanities, because that is why they are there . My son Will is a good looking able bodied man and he seemed like he was destined to a life of heartbreak, till in his mid thirties he met the love of his life.
I have been around the block a few times and I had to wait until my late forties to meet the love of my life. I hope Todd develops the patience to override testosterone, loneliness and the need for female company. The constant vigilance as the parade of fertile creatures float by in the stream of life can be pretty distracting for one studying and searching. Sometimes we feel we could chuck it all in for the want of a good woman, I am sure there are women out there who feel the same way.
Women are going to have to take the time to look inside, to open up the layers that make the man, else they will be rejected in anger by a young man that wants it on his terms and has yet to learn the art of compromise and patience when it comes to sharing his heart, for with this young man it seems it is all or nothing and as a defence mechanism, anger and work fill any voids that could otherwise be filled with a slower form of affection and love. Patience, patience, patience!
I met Mike when I was at university and he asked me for a hand one day, we were doing the same course and I was a year ahead of him. Mike had some issues when it came to help from other students, and I was one of only three males studying social science in the 80's at QUT Carseldine campus. It made his choice of people to help with toileting issues very narrow, he basically had any one of 50 women or me.
As time went by I became Mike's friend, helper in the library, typist and sometime tutor.
I also was an eager student who learned much from someone who was intellectually superior to me, but through his situation, not able to express his intellect or feelings about his life goals.
I was privileged to be able to help Mike when he was advocating for the deinstitutionalisation of people with a disability. Mike was a resident in Seven Oaks , a place where people with cerebral palsy were parked and lived a regimented existence almost totally dependent on others, it was managed by the "Spastic Centre" which in itself says something.
I travelled the journey with Mike as he transitioned for being institutionalised to independant living, helped him move furniture, change relationship dynamics with others in similar situations, move from shared accomodation to his own unit in West End and establish aroutine that most of us would take for granted. When I say I helped, I should say I provided some muscle and became an obsever of interest, it was Mike that was in the vanguard and showed me how you should cope with adversity and survive with dignity.
Mike taught me what it was like to be humble, caring and loving and expect not much back in return, Mike had no chance of having a physical relationship with a woman, he was heterosexual, but had resigned himself to being alone. I think it was this that gave him the desire to become a priest and offer pastoral care to fulfil his life. Mike is the most committed catholic, with a fervent belief in faith, which confounds me because I am an atheist of the first order, the sort that comes from being a cultural catholic with the smarts to realise that Marx was right when he stated that "religion is the panacea of the masses".
I was just catholic enough to have my youngest daughter Natalie baptised at Mike's insistence, he was her godfather and they are still in touch.
After graduation Mike found work in the Queensland advocacy service, but his desire to be a priest was thwarted by the church he loved, as they thought he was too disabled to be able to do what was required to be an active clergyman.
I struggle to find the right words to express the frustration Mike felt, and as a consequence the frustration I felt for him, so much to give and so few to receive. Mike lives alone save for some helpers twice a day.
I, on the other had have had the good fortune to work, enjoy relationships, marriages, travel , sport and politics with varying degrees of success, just because I managed gulp a little more air in the birth canal.
There has to be a remedy, where we as a society come up with something better for those among us with a disability, we as brothers and sisters need to lobby government to come up with innovative solutions , so that everyone has a chance to reach their potential in life whether it be personal, academic or professional.
The noises out of Canberra about a national insurance scheme have some merit and must not be put on the back burner. The attitude of politicians like Bill Shorten are to be lauded and I hope there is a form of osmosis that seeps through lesser people on parliament and there eyes are opened.
Todd Winther is 26 years of age and has the ability to be anything he wants, at the moment he is channelling his energy into his education and a fledgling political career. Tod also has cerebral palsy but he has excellent speech, which gives him a power denied to Mike.
Todd came into my life through the ALP, as a branch member and we have been through a bit together in the hurly burley of local branch politics that can get pretty vicious at times, as ego's and ambitions take hold. Todd will go far in politics if he chooses, people underestimate him because he is in a wheelchair and the fact that he looks younger than his 26 years mainly because he is seated.
Todd is currently doing his PHD in politics, I believe that those who can't see past his wheel chair will take notice of Dr Todd Winther, academic, politician and person.
The ALP is supposed to be the progressive party but I still encounter uneducated comment from party members about Todd, this has led to a few verbal stoushes with a group we call the "cows" or the "gows" (grumpy old women) and a few others because their attitude to people with a disability, they are either condescending, patronising or dismissive and it riles me. It seems that these folk anchored in a different generation refuse to see people, they see "chair", "disability", or worse still "child". What amazes me even more is that this unenlightened bunch are seated firmly in the left faction, the supposed traditional home of the bleeding hearts.
Todd Winther has demonstrated a loyalty of the type that any soldier would have loved to have experienced from his comrades, and being a returned soldier I value it. Being an active member of the labor party, loyalty leads to a brotherhood of those like minded persons with similar values and ideals, this grouping and a loose coalition of unions is the basis of the factions in the ALP. This leads to lifelong friendships.
I have no fears that Todd will make it, he is smarter than most, he just lacks the " emotional nous" that comes with old age, but he learns fast and will mature in to somewhat of a sage. His real power will come in his mid thirties, when he has been around the block a few times, had his heart broken a few more times and learns, that it will be repaired by one of the few special women that exist in the world (and they do),that fall in love with intellect, soul, heart and loyalty. These women are found in politics and academia, usually in the humanities, because that is why they are there . My son Will is a good looking able bodied man and he seemed like he was destined to a life of heartbreak, till in his mid thirties he met the love of his life.
I have been around the block a few times and I had to wait until my late forties to meet the love of my life. I hope Todd develops the patience to override testosterone, loneliness and the need for female company. The constant vigilance as the parade of fertile creatures float by in the stream of life can be pretty distracting for one studying and searching. Sometimes we feel we could chuck it all in for the want of a good woman, I am sure there are women out there who feel the same way.
Women are going to have to take the time to look inside, to open up the layers that make the man, else they will be rejected in anger by a young man that wants it on his terms and has yet to learn the art of compromise and patience when it comes to sharing his heart, for with this young man it seems it is all or nothing and as a defence mechanism, anger and work fill any voids that could otherwise be filled with a slower form of affection and love. Patience, patience, patience!
Sunday, May 9, 2010
Lost love
I broke your spirit,
You broke my heart,
Lost in a bottle,
Found in pain,
Nothing to lose,
Everything is already gone.
Despair layered like tissues,
Fragile, furtive, predictable, naive,
And delicate with the strength of fired metal,
Shaped in the heat of battle
And lost, gone cold,
In the enigmatic female matter.
Peeled open skull,
Bared, endless psychosis,
Exhumed from the other man.
He is gone fuck it,
What is left is me.
You broke my heart,
Lost in a bottle,
Found in pain,
Nothing to lose,
Everything is already gone.
Despair layered like tissues,
Fragile, furtive, predictable, naive,
And delicate with the strength of fired metal,
Shaped in the heat of battle
And lost, gone cold,
In the enigmatic female matter.
Peeled open skull,
Bared, endless psychosis,
Exhumed from the other man.
He is gone fuck it,
What is left is me.
Saturday, May 8, 2010
who was that
Someone else son,
The vision gone, the pain begun,
Anointed this second one,
Sidelined by age,
Distanced by love,
I watch and cannot stem the flow,
At twenty one,
Like the child, the love is gone,
The hurt is come,
The boy is now a man,
The barb is deep,
The slings of heart,
Felt beneath the flesh,
The world smashed,
A room trashed,
Healing too far removed,
I break in empathy,
Not someone elses son,
My seed screams,
Will I always bleed so much,
When I open my heart?
Chasm wounds ooze,
Scarred but functional,
Character in a dampcourse of living,
A new touch lurks,
Lit passion will blaze again,
Wisdom is come,
Life awaits breathless renewal,
Experienced lover,
This second son of mine.
The vision gone, the pain begun,
Anointed this second one,
Sidelined by age,
Distanced by love,
I watch and cannot stem the flow,
At twenty one,
Like the child, the love is gone,
The hurt is come,
The boy is now a man,
The barb is deep,
The slings of heart,
Felt beneath the flesh,
The world smashed,
A room trashed,
Healing too far removed,
I break in empathy,
Not someone elses son,
My seed screams,
Will I always bleed so much,
When I open my heart?
Chasm wounds ooze,
Scarred but functional,
Character in a dampcourse of living,
A new touch lurks,
Lit passion will blaze again,
Wisdom is come,
Life awaits breathless renewal,
Experienced lover,
This second son of mine.
where time goes
Looking over my shoulder
A view of yesterday
Bridges burnt,
A lesson learnt,
And nothing stays the same,
It's someone elses game,
The trees obscure the bushes,
And my son id now a man.
His childhood obliterated in an instant,
I blinked and I am old,
Bunkered in a bygone space,
My Baby gone without a trace,
A stranger takes his place.
This wise person teaches me,
And disapears again,
Relevance is a passing phase,
The meaning has moved on
Too slow to grasp the import,
The moment now is gone,
A stranger came home today
And reminded me of me,
I wonder where he's been?
A view of yesterday
Bridges burnt,
A lesson learnt,
And nothing stays the same,
It's someone elses game,
The trees obscure the bushes,
And my son id now a man.
His childhood obliterated in an instant,
I blinked and I am old,
Bunkered in a bygone space,
My Baby gone without a trace,
A stranger takes his place.
This wise person teaches me,
And disapears again,
Relevance is a passing phase,
The meaning has moved on
Too slow to grasp the import,
The moment now is gone,
A stranger came home today
And reminded me of me,
I wonder where he's been?
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
A letter to My son
Some things I recon,
There are no such things as accidents, you can't help but be in the right place at the right time, it's what you do at that time that defines you.
Listening is the greatest gift we can give aside from love.
If love is the answer, the question does not matter.
Listen to your inner child, it is the closest thing to a god you will find.
Reality is what you want it to be.
Your journey thus far is learning what you already know.
You my son are, are responsible for me having the ability to return to sanity.
Sometimes we have to do something foolish to get someones attention, you've got mine and I'm listening.
Every crisis is an opportunity.
Everybody is your brother or your sister, you should love them, but you don't have to like them.
There are some things that I know, that I choose not to share.
Be honest at all times except to do so would injure others.
There is no such thing as brutal honesty, there is brutality and there is honesty, they are separate and distinct and should never be used in conjunction.
Sometimes you have asked for guidance and I gave you an opinion, please ask me again.
Loyalty is the key to friendship and is never to be underestimated, it should be valued and savoured, to me it is more highly cherished than gold.
Know that you are loved by your father and that if you need me I am there, I am but a thought away.
There are no such things as accidents, you can't help but be in the right place at the right time, it's what you do at that time that defines you.
Listening is the greatest gift we can give aside from love.
If love is the answer, the question does not matter.
Listen to your inner child, it is the closest thing to a god you will find.
Reality is what you want it to be.
Your journey thus far is learning what you already know.
You my son are, are responsible for me having the ability to return to sanity.
Sometimes we have to do something foolish to get someones attention, you've got mine and I'm listening.
Every crisis is an opportunity.
Everybody is your brother or your sister, you should love them, but you don't have to like them.
There are some things that I know, that I choose not to share.
Be honest at all times except to do so would injure others.
There is no such thing as brutal honesty, there is brutality and there is honesty, they are separate and distinct and should never be used in conjunction.
Sometimes you have asked for guidance and I gave you an opinion, please ask me again.
Loyalty is the key to friendship and is never to be underestimated, it should be valued and savoured, to me it is more highly cherished than gold.
Know that you are loved by your father and that if you need me I am there, I am but a thought away.
Sunday, May 2, 2010
never happen at netball
The natives are restless, as the truth of football invades the night,
Wrong can never be right, men ashamed and women hurt,
fallen heroes and empires collapse.
Denied by lieutenant colonels and still the money machine spins,
not the big feller, he wasn't there!
She really deserved her fate, hardly his fault mate.
$600,000 per year is not the real world, It's talent and testosterone off the planet and thriving on another hit of animal fuelled sex.
Not base just bonding for the good of the team, fuck them,
as long as they are under the salary cap, can't lose those points.
Can't have another disgruntled fan.
Wrong can never be right, men ashamed and women hurt,
fallen heroes and empires collapse.
Denied by lieutenant colonels and still the money machine spins,
not the big feller, he wasn't there!
She really deserved her fate, hardly his fault mate.
$600,000 per year is not the real world, It's talent and testosterone off the planet and thriving on another hit of animal fuelled sex.
Not base just bonding for the good of the team, fuck them,
as long as they are under the salary cap, can't lose those points.
Can't have another disgruntled fan.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)