Hypocrites who refuse to act for the long term, but will pretend they care,

What a complete twat is Mr Murray Watt--  the new Labor man who wants to play the good shepherd.  He needs to go read the Bible .  He would then realize that the good shepherd KNOWS sheep . 

Federal Labor want to score some points with their own worry warriors in the city.  

They think that old age animals with no teeth (to get a feed in the paddock  ) should not go on well fed cruises where they finally get fat .
The worriers know this , the aged might lie down and not get up  just like they would if they were left to starve in the paddock with younger sheep with better teeth.

Labor haven't learnt anything since Ludwig saved the world

.... and neither have the press 
The sentimentalists want to end the live sheep trade. 

Albo is getting desperate and we in the country can all see the shallowness of his preoccupations . He can't visit the NT ,but he can go to Sandiland's wedding 

Show some respect for farmers, the sheep and vets and make sure they have a good trip !
More of the story here 

What Watts and Marles and his mates have done this week is just to try and stay in power --- to sound caring!
These desperadoes know to press the pain button will get them votes. 
 The only criteria a good conservationist and any realistic adult knows is". Will the pain last?"
If its short term gain at the expense of long term...... its wrong 
Greenlabor are desperate enough to shore up their sinking sentimentally laden ship with an appeal to care for the sheep.
If only they were intelligent and strong enough sheep to really stand up for them 
Richard Marles and Murray Watt don't even know the truth "That it takes one to know one " 




Now this man cares for his sheep . notice how closely the young animals graze 



Posted today 

To Minister Murray Watts 

I understand you are about to deny my parents and grandparents their well earned pension and overseas  cruise, complete with the best food and water they will ever taste.. 

You are clearly blind and sentimental twats who deny death  and are happy to let our dear ones starve;Desperately looking for some simple self righteous sentimental appeal to the masses that is as thin as your understanding of tough old nature.  

You clearly  don't realize that without their teeth they will slowly starve here in the paddock with us and any discomfort you think they suffer is overstated  because like you , the overly worried and over protected, being fed and watered and having a place to lie down is nearly everything. .

You said and did nothing when hundreds of thousands of kangaroos  died of starvation all across Australia a few years ago because you know not how to care .   

On behalf of the family    

Hugh Sheep 

signed also by the farmer who they trust and are walking towards 

To call your right to deny our fun a mandate is to show yourself as ignorant and arrogant  as the Agricultural ministers before you ,
A correspondent suggests that the Labor party are delusional to think 1/3 of the vote is a MANDATE 

IF YOU STILL HAVEN"T GOT IT - mature sheep will starve in the paddock BECAUSE the shorter grass is obtained by younger sheep,  The same thing happens to all animals who live in the savannah,
------by allowing this closure you are not HONORING FARMERS VETS and INDUSTRY 

The greatest evil in protecting the earth is NOW done in the name of the best intention of saving it .

 Edmund Burke's great quote could be refined for our age in a form that should shock both conservatives and progressives alike  - in May 2020 we have never seen such a mockery of the competence required to  work  well with nature .The hardest management job we  and our children will face is presumed to be in the hands of polys  and their use of our ever diminishing tax basis  Thinking is no longer required .   

Despite the gigantic budget of Australian governments spent in the name of the environment, there has never been so few independent well trained scientists to ensure the incentives and cutting are done well enough to produce a sustainable result. The wastage on treeplanting and other tokens ad old tech in previous decades alone sets the scene for this latest nonsense that governments NOW know what is needed.   
 
The greatest evil in protecting the earth is NOW done in the name of best intention of saving it .
. 
I could make a long list
 but let me just remind you that government's have neevr been so carless with their cutting.

The completely incompetent Albanese government legislates to allow bureaucrats and lawyers to make decisions solely on the basis of how they affect our production of carbon dioxide..
Instead of spelling out actions,  his completely woke lot trust that the magic formulae of 43 % will work magic . It won't work and all those who try to work with such indecision and incompetence  will be corrupted b their ineffectiveness. 

I am in too much grief over this totally unscientific approach to resource management to say any more Please ask questions /

Treaty - can you trust even a Westerner to keep his written word ?

While I love our tradition of law,  I would never trust a lawyer or the law without its principle .
And who says a mere title gives you licence to do what you like ?. Real estate is  make believe territory,  whatever your land ambitions and race . 
. 

 

Of all the people I think we should NOT trust its  those with  the narrowminded idea who insist on property rights because the  Western liberal tradition does not worship the power that property / territory gives people but is  ONLY EVER  meant to be USED  TO HONOR the responsibility  it gives people to share the benefits of it . The aboriginal fisherwoman in the picture knew and honored this  

Without the latter,  our faith says take away both if the latter is ignored . 
Any treaty that doesn't bring the above consensus won't be worth the paper its printed on . 

Before Australians will agree to a treaty they need to share something deeper than the law of property rights  themselves . The territorial imperative is natural and a useful diver but IT IS not binding in on- ground terms for humans ( territorial responsibility is a burden too )
.
Think inspirationally . We can, should and have learned to share the territory. That's the sort of sharing we can and should celebrate . Diversity of tasks not diversity of rights .Unity of property rights as we all own it all - called a commonwealth.
If you want more than you have. ask God for it -- not me !

The division of labor that industrialization has brought us all,  is a basically a good thing.  Harking back to the past is only helpful if we take what is good and necessary from it , And there is good there - no doubt about it , The quickfixers  and blame in colonialization (Half full = training in new ways ) must be resisted because change can have its half full side .  
East ,West and Aboriginal are sources of good things to bring forward 
Lets bring us all forward and not fall for the wasted old and childish nonsense of us all having our own little empires. Competition alone achieves nothing .
Vaclav Smil's   book on "How the world really works"  sets out a  framework that works and can be used to guide us through many of the remaining threats . Building on foundations is what adults do not idealistically falling for every new progress idea sold in the media.

Dynasties are dumb and done for . Note how adults who have never grown up still believe in them 

There is no going back to subsistence . We have to build family beyond the dependency of space control .
The great challenge for the future then is how to fish carefully with bigger boats and still adopt the ownership and stewardship traditions of the past.   
The wonderful story of the aboriginal fisherwoman of Benelong.

The best view to take when threatened is the ecological view

 March 9th 2020
RE Coronavirus concerns    Finally some sense ?

B4 any wannabe thinks he/she  is going to calm us all down - just remember what group we don t trust 

I love the fact that a doctor and the AMA are finally taking a Minister to task re panic over virus managemnet .

Lets hear from the senior chief medical health officer as well!!!!!!

I really wish we ecologists had a Senior environmental Health Officer to stop polys opening their bigmouths so wide and so often.

Modern leaders seem to think they know things and it's their job to educate us , Rubbish, 

They know nothing about the complex matters of health care.

By using ads with simple catch ideas , they show their incompetence and perpetuate ignorance and simplicity ,

Just one example 

This preoccupation with sanitizing is too simple .

When I did microbiology at the best University  in Australia we were taught NOT to wash hands too often and why . Disinfection was a site for reinfection with all sorts of new tenants that were often not better than the family ( ecology of the skin and air ) we killed.

UPDATES   MAY 2020

Certain practices have become accepted because they reflect popular prejudices not professional wisdom. 

Management class issues ; The ascendancy in the West has been to manage others not educate them , This feeds our desire to be experts about others needs and jobs and "ideas " they must take on " 

Hand sanitizers 

60% alcohol,  if you use on your hands all the time will take away much of the oils and colonies that normally live on your skin .You  are best to keep your hands clean but don't keep offering new tenants a place at your house   . 

UPDATE OCT 2020 We here in Victoria have been in relative  lockdown for over six  months with Melbourne people unable to visit and move for several months causing a massive economic shock .

Our Premier and Police minster Lisa Neville have taken to policing all aspects of behavior and have managed to get a very high level of cooperation,  

Not enough space here to list how thinking people respond to their governments quickly convened workshop sessions where they brainstorm what they  think we should do,
What we can say about the Victorian Department of Hairbrained Halfbaked  Suggestions  ( DHHS) is that they really feel bad about making so many  heartbreakingly heavy hammer  solutions  

Noone yet has been able to burst their bubble  , One DrAndrew Lemming has said" there is no credible risk assessment involved "  and that appears to be spot on  to their ongoing chasing of the wind of death triggers.  

This highly infectious disease hasn't changed in 50 yrs and  is not very virulent or long lasting but Mr Andrews would like to chase it around the country anyway

The truly scary thing is that the East Melbourne bubble who advise him do not seem to know what they are doing either . The ABC trust bubbles while SKY news is onto them  

If nothing else the Victorian government  have kept their  police and people busy  by wearing masks and keeping a safe distance ; except of course if you work for the taxpayer or a union , or are in the limelight.

Update  19th October 2020
As of this date 19th October 2020 Mr Andrews  is still not sure of his aim .Is his aim to eradicate the virus  or for us to live with it ? No one knows even though he holds long press conferences every other day >

.Thankfully the people are starting to realise the ecological view is probably sound " to : live with it ;' 

All Mr Andrews talk of dark clouds and more tsunamis dissipates when we properly analyse the cost of the last wave  .  

The chief shock Jock  premier Daniel Andrews has made it his mantra that we and we are saving lives  because his collection of particular facts enables HIM to be the best informed on  where the wolf is at any moment . 

Wolf sightings are not common but because people are NOW too afraid to report a possible sighting  because they will be locked  for 14 the innovative ideas man is down to sampling Sh and finding evidence of evildoers there. 

 

The children can tell you all about problems, but it takes real leaders to find solutions

If you want some clarity on the real risks in forest management consult those on the ground . " Facebook : : Fire and the Australian Environment "

Things have got so catastrophic with incompetent political management that when there iss REAL risk -  many of us who used to try to save lives are no longer willing to go into the bush.  While the current management paradigms operate its pathetically PC ( don't cut anything or touch anything ) reactive , hypocritical( few insist on proper protective buffers for houses and roadsetc 

There aren't a lot of experienced and capable people talking on that site because the noise from the speculators and cynics is deafening and persistent .
Not being really  listened to " Notalk"   is a precursor to suicide. One 2 one please

Do people have to die before Governments are forced to act ?

Yes -- far too often . They don't know and its worse when they don't admit they don't know that they don"t know - and don't consult the small voices in the household.  Progress comes from,  not someones knowledge,  but everyone's knowledge .

Many professionals reading the heading  know this headline  to be true

. We are ruled in AUSTRALIA ( until we change the system) by the superficial and the superficial, reactionary and ineffective  medicine that flows from that . The most urbanized country in the world
is at risk of losing touch with its most productive  and thoughtful members.
Until we insist in a return to the founding fathers vision of  responsible representation . the  democracy we have NOW will grind into ineffectiveness.







 Watch out for the pathetic blind  pedantry that says Democracy is just about numbers . If you care for the country you give a voice to the country . Anyone who name calls and doesn't recall the need for gerrymanders is a patheticly narrow minded pedant.- sorry if i have offended you.








Our vision of what works is a system that makes us listen to each other, not the majority all the time.

No more patriarchal nonsense from the city;  telling us it knows how the country should be run.
 Go children ! Go millennial's

Small is beautiful

Don't waste your whole life thinking big and powerful. Other factors are at work.Yes most people can't see them and big and powerful maybe as blind as anyone . Seek and you may find. Follow the money and you may well be confounded  if UR in Politics ( as a representative)   an ex ample Environment ( planning)

Don't try to do what only God can do

Burke,Wong and Flannery have floated down the Murray Darling channel and missed the point. Regenerating the riparian and the lower lacustrian  lakes takes floods that only God can produce.
 There are very few wetlands in flat old Australia and nearly all have to die to live ;because of the patchiness of flood flows and the intense evaporation and the salinity that results.
 Both the perennial and annual life phases are more dependant on the bedload  the silt deposits of giant floods  and deflation processes of dead salt pans than they are on the presence of water on the surface.
The mere explorer  doesn't really understand nature. They miss the point of droughts and flooding rains in a wide brown land -its meant to be dry for most of the time .  Libs can be just as bad, asking around their consultants and  failing to support people in the bush who like Iain Ellis know their stuff and don't expect dollars to share knowledge /learn from others in field freely .The Libs don't deserve government either because they don't effectively support the potential efficiency an effectiveness of the public service( see Net flixes  LINE of DUTY)  .
 Like the dumb and blinkered accountants that mere polys can be , they only see numbers (ML) and not the soil, silt ,seed and dry and dusty circumstances required for life to go on . Red gums , for example only regenerate easily in silt deposits. How many of our leaders move where angels fear to tread . How often are they like dumb and blinkered ideologues who  huddle  and cower to Green pressure on the crossbench -on the left  , Many of our leading non thinkers with blinkers  simply haven't  realized that none of those terrible dams which we have created ( and they want us to use - hypocrites) have taps big enough to do anything but piddle and fiddle . Takes one to know one when it comes to denial ?what do you want design with nature or do nothing?
Don't they realize that to even have their favoured, highly flavored ENVIRONMENTAL FLOWS  - you need DAMS -really really big dams and even they ( like Minindee lakes ) are not big enough .No they do not know - but they expect us to give them more money so they can learn what they don't know -- No -- feed these people .

Burke , Wong and Bandt  think themselves  great explorers and innovators in the theory of what others don't know or what others have not yet done . They specialize like Greenlabor  in Virtue signaling and finding fault with others . They proclaim a new form of righteousness that  is entirely their own ; pity they are ignorant and wrong. Capitalizing on emotion not ecology 
   Having fixed their minds . like the Greens and most reactionaries on  what we have supposed to have not done in the country, they see that we have interfered in nature ( we have but not always  without care ) and are determined to right the wrongs of others - at our expense. Be reasonable  if they were trained in careful surgery but they are NOT .


Even though we have spent more than Trump wants to spend on his wall ( his idea of a sword ?) on the Darling ( Murray ),  many are not happy . these never happies ? HEC's
This of course is quite predictable to those of us who have worked the earth at ground level , The politicians think they can do the impossible. We know what' s possible .
 These well intention'd ones  can  spend another 13 billion and it still won't work .-- if they don't change whom they listen to and the logic that drives their actions .
 The Premier of NSW can go on about how " he never heard" about the need to monitor more in the bush  but the reality is the polys spent the budget visiting the problem and not in fact dealing with it .
Guilty as charged ....time for confession high priests . And don't do what Dan Andrews- the iron ruler who fixes every problem with more police - water meter police  

ACTION
Put more Iain Ellis's on the ground. ( ref fish kills)
Recognise

1. That the riparian and desert lake zone zone and our awfully old and flat country needs something that our mere reservoirs cannot provide AND  Water that gets even half way down our modest hills will find itself quickly evaporating in the sun. Life in such lakes is always precarious and we respect nature by recognising that its naturally shallow and needs naturally big flood flows to live  . Prosecute offenders but ditch the pitch from the kindergarten right that "water price  control wise use"    
2. That we live in the Savannah where things have to die to live -
3. We do not live in the Garden of Eden even though some Greens still want to rewrite  the story and live in dream land .

The greatest evil is done in the name of technology

I wasn't the first to say this but those who did first say it have been forgotten ( J Ellul, B Russell, AN Whitehead)   Its a newer local version of "the best intention".
When everyone thinks  something is a good idea, its dangerous if it doesn't work , or it isn't going to work . Clearly it probably does work in some cases (eg Secondary industry policy ) Our wannabes have been busily legitimizing the dumping of processes that work for processes that don't work - on the basis of one example that does .

How does this happen? Well it happens largely because legitimization is often a matter of faith -esp when we are all struggling to make ends meet. The new faith for many is" in the future" ( therefore what we learn from the past is now less important )  . Many just now believe that the new is always better . Its a matter of faith bolstered up by the reality that in production of goods technology does increase efficiency and efficiency does matter for a large part of the economic sectors-- at least  on the surface . The fact that it doesn't work with ecology and some resource uses is lost in a blinkered majority "declaration /doctrine of truth" .
The dominant belief system across all Parties is in the idea that things will automatically progress . You haven't heard it that way because it sounds absurd  but then as Chesterton said : "religion and romance have a way of really turning things on their head."

Test it for yourself . See how you go defending " the way we do things " You old dinosaur " the majority will say ( as a matter of faith ..??..almost) .
If you want something more satisfying in the way of a faith system , you have to go to the margins , the outsiders and the cranks . ( I hope you don't ALL think of me that way !)    As we know we have the satisfaction of being able to predict how things will work -- most of the time .
take democracy -its always under threat because its not reliable or efficient ( but not everything has to be on the bookkeepers ledger _ who would have children ? ) Churchill summed it up - hands off Its the best of all the options ( and those who experiment at our expense should be accountable should be forced to demonstrate their competence/ not their faith to do so  )

A new conservatism is coming. Lets be a bit more cynical about new processes  than political reactionaries have been in the recent past so that the new religion isn't as inflexible as the current one .
Ask yourself  Would anything be any better in the care fields in our leaders just ensured we were as best trained as possible and LEFT US ALONE from the efficiency freak show .( that was the OLD way - the one without monitoring and relentless  bookeeping by the pedants !- where your reputation counted ,not the number of outputs)

Sentimental do gooders do more harm than good

Western culture is build on a faith in Jesus Christ and his faith that we get the best out of people by loving them individually,  not patronizing them or blaming their bad choices on disadvantage :by sharing on the basis of known need .  Keeping the commonwealth takes a miracle based on this faith and the idea of holding individuals responsibility for poor choices .( our law is respected if only just)
Many reactionaries still want to deny this so the only political choice is to offer another faith to civilizations who are losing faith in their careless invention ; breeding dependancy .
"Lets all believe the poor deserve their problems and may get another chance ... in the next life " a sort of less obvious version of "i good, they bad" - very Orwellian.
That way we need never worry or be worried again about the needs of others and keep our natural preoccupation with our own - we can all embrace the faith of Hindus  or the entertainment industry or whatever

Handicapping yourself

Tony Abbott  makes a telling point to the Heritage foundation today by reminding Americans  that while the symbol and substance of the US is not perfect , we want, need and, have to have it, as both symbol and substance of the best the west has created.  Are we wiser than Churchill in seeing  the glass as half full rather than half empty.
Probably the greatest handicaps are the ones we impose on ourselves.. and then pass on however subtly to others

We can do a lot for each other by encouraging people to believe in themselves .
My summary of the response to " pay teachers more " discussion on "the drum"   is that money alone will not revive the teaching profession but respect for their right to be teachers could.
The audience around us is full of people who  see the glass half empty in us,  or in others

The Greens Party's biggest problem

Seems to be that they want to do surgery without doing the training.The Greens would do a lot more good if they better supported those who study the environment , culture , incentives taxes and behavioral modification .
By adopting the modus operandi of many wannabes they can become as relevant as most wannabes are 10 years after their days of fame /favourite fantasy solution.
The green slide is not over . Minor voices  reflect people with a passion to see the comfort zone of major parties challenged to deal with failure areas . Until thinking Young people and rural producers hear more credible conservation policies from the major parties, they will seek to support individuals who seek to speak to reform.
 That said I thought Joel Fitzgibbon  did a good job of pointing directly to  arrogant errors of the Greens at Labor conference .
Do wonder if Libs do enough reflection  when they keep repeating same mistakes they made last time they were in power.Peter Walsh's new love affair with coops is a quickfix and a distraction.Viclibs and the Nationals  must think deeper about why their rural  constituencies are going mad ;  like the rest of the wannabes - handing out and following false hopes!  Before long our market blinkered polys won't care whether its food , fuel or opium that's grown in our paddocks. That great program on 4 corners on the opium growers in Afganistan this week show how misplaced effort can be . We  go in there with guns and knives , when they need political help/ wisdom  to avoid mere survival stretching economic policies.  
Greens could have even less relevance than major parties because at least the major parties have an advisory stream who take seriously the FACT that goals are easy, getting there is another matter.

We greens on the ground have the hardest task of all because, unlike the major parties who waver ,- we believe in BOTH resilience AND degradation and that if no balance is held ( often isn't) PEOPLE and the land SUFFER UNECCESARILY.  Afgans would,  just like us,  rather grow food than fuel for the rich.
We believe to hold the balance between exploitation and use is good for people in every country on the globe .but who is really on target here ?
Ask any rural person anywhere whether the politics of "care " works out where they work!

Co sleeping .Our reasonableness has its limits

Why do so many new parents think its OK to have a baby sleeping in their beds.? 
because they think its natural -" to listen to and not ignore the child " . Are natural arguments very deep or consistent or just used for convenience or in desperation - it is natural for a child to bash another child?  Why sit on anger when its quite natural ?
In the absence of a clear philosophy of considered resistance and faith ( eg to believe in hard edge cliffs you can't see but others have seen ) ,stoicism, determinism  and giving in become the norm . This state of mental incompleteness is not good or complete because tension is necessary for sustainable growth and development .

One hopes, as a realist, that irrationality or incomplete arguments are exposed .Because we all treasure our own reasoning we OFTEN ONLY  see the reality of incomplete logic in anothers failures and when the connection with their ideas is clear.  
Therefore
, I am positive most existing parents would be very pleased to hear the judge state the facts this week;  incomplete arguments have been exposed. Irushinality (copyright EA 18 july 2012)
Over half the SID deaths are cosleeping related, so its extremely risky for the baby to be there in bed  .Experience and objectivity are clear. Reality can and is not being promoted in some so called health and welfare magazines  who promote this new idea  .Why ? Are we truly rational creatures?The idea that we can trust magazines and organisation s who say they care to really care also gets a much needed shakeup - too easy to offer advice .everyone likes to put their bit in .

Why does idealism from time to time prevent us from accepting the real risks of life . As 95% of parents only want the best for their children and know that kids can go astray , anything that might prevent the alienation of parents and children is likely to be given consideration.Need doesn't necessarily drive solutions as some who promote progressive and evolutionary imperatives insist.

Sound moral drives have  therefore great power .We don't yet know a way to ensure our children make good choices , so naturally we would like to know if we could do more ; Previous generations of westerners had it easy ;"the problem is innate and related to their God given freedom " .
This generation have another idea;" If we think its not innate our focus will be on changing the environment" .Fine but how far do you go ? give them the best environment What cotton wool with candies ?
We may feel its only right to experiment   But like any moral choices just How you implement them is controversial . Surely its our preferenec for simple choices that can drive us to chose 1 line of reasoning rather than another . and a simple environmental reason seems to have the greatest clout  for many .
What if the issue is so complex  that no simple  line of reasoning can be followed . Are the environmenatl justifications just a bit too easy  So why do some advocates bring up stuff about " 2 cave" families ,it being unnatural . To call something "Unatural". ( like bottlefeeding)in 2012 is clearly to call a curse on the idea.Interestingly these natural comes first ideas are not new and have become prominent if not permamnet in previuos generations .  "The environment "now has too much weight attached to it ( cf heredity) .
 We can only keep the balance between nature and nurture here, as we have done before by ensuring we don't put nurture in a dominating position ?

Nobody home at the health clinic

Just spent a week trying to remind our State polys why the Feds have made a jump on them over the environment (Windsor /Oakeshott legislation) .
The States , unlike when I was was working with them,  no longer have anyone responsible or coordinating environmental advice, and according to one key operative yesterday said "they couldn't manage to do that anymore " .-nice compliment for me for decades of effective coordination but affirms my assertion that the States have instituted their own powerlessness in recent years ( at least Victoria)  . The polys have been stupid enough to allow a whole lot of bodies to throw their bit in, but noone is responsible for drawing it together . The shire are handed the chalice but that doesn't work and they know it  .Members of present Victorian govt , unlike QLD , have yet to wake up to the time bomb they have been sitting on since they took office.
As for decreased funding problems to some sectors - its inevitable because the persons ( new management class) who let pollies rule over them didn't think scientifically carefully or deeply about the science profession they were trashing.
 Landcare, coined its name from Medicare and while it was great to be able to give landholders a sense of ownership of conservation, real farmers  didn't need to be told - they already knew that well . Landcare would be a problem because it was too obvious and looked easier than coercion and prosecution of the ignorant , careless ,lazy and ripoff RE elements etc ( always does ) For the politicians and quickfixers it retains its appeal - it seemed an easier kind ( they like the Devil, carelessly translate ease to efficiency) a sort of  "do what you feel like "version of health care.
My early concerns proved correct in the sense that our coercive influence in  group projects could and did decline .This has left such groups vulnerable to the very valid criticism that they are NOT objective about risks in their own area- the budget cuts to Landcare groups will continue because this is true and too much private benefit /shallow targets  have been funded (Whiteboard affair in Hawke's time  ).
Like doctors, we earth health practitioners can't say our clients can be trusted to be objective about their health or their eco resources . If ecology and environmentalism is to WORK   it must be  about objectivity and sound foundations.For too long now its about fads .
If you look closely you will see that the educational focus of government has declined and both Labor and green policy are NOW very coercive. Their reliance on warm water taxes ( everyone pays )and cost driven pressure points  is in itself unsustainable( how much does a packet of cigaretes have to cost before people stop  smoking ?)  .

 It now costs more to buy water than to treat the wastewater( vic)
Governments  are, like wannabes in media with their committed projects ,  now desperate to find ways to motivate people see ABC websites exploring the latest bandaid .Objective Care ( even coercive care) is the most effective because its sees the hard choices with benefits at the end ( what study and science does ) and it is proactive and preventative to boot .
Much of the fear and desperation amongst the wannabes  is NOT about the state of the environment but an expression of desperation in the state of the mind (esp amongst the powerful) .
These sound foundation professional matters are things are being lost to our collective wisdom on the subject of env, if not to health care. You heard it first on blogger on 9th June 2012 . ask questions/post please.

The HUB solution

Is it a real solution or a new name for old idea that did actually work at much less cost ?
On a day after the PM chants repeatedly about her offering to drip feeding money into the accounts of all of the people , HUBs are announced as  solution to problems in some indigenous communities in the Northern Territory .Something unsustainable about that and the idea that HUB as propsed will be properly funded  long term.
The cost of health care can kill.   ABC journos - talk to real community leaders on these property areas !
I wonder what the care ratio will be and whether the hours will be be beyond 9am -5pm and on weekends , when the problems arise .
We are happy to hear this news from the ABC,   but are the people on the stations?
I just talked with someone who poo poed the  idea of missionaries in such communities; So easy to knock the previous encumbent .  This was the sort of armchair repeat talk that undermined , a generation ago,  the commitment of white aussies to support hubs in some of those areas . Look up Hermannsburg.  They trained people to care for people and the carers were called Pastors . Pastors are a sustainable support system .
Pastors are on call,  and look after as they do world wide,  and for centuries  groups of 40 -100 people .
HUBS which are committed to care are welcome,  but lets not pretend people are going to replace pastoral care . Govt's can't even get drivers out to the richest woman in the world' s mines . and with both major parties hooked on the drip feed of money riven solutions,  I wouldn't hold my breath  about more care and more time.  The cost of health care can kill.   ABC journos - talk to real community leaders on these property area  !
The proper ratio of political announcements to people announcements is at least 1:2

Cutting Edge Careers

Who cares ? what clothes should we be wearing?
Our politicains, like our people, are completely confused about what this skill set can be . Unwilling to ditch the destructive and depressing faith in progress idea that" it will all just happen" the people are more and more exposed to a mythical mix of determinism greed and old new clothes waste on the subject.
A wiser generation would unpick the childlike faith in technologically driven progress and decide what they wanted for their people ( invisible clothes merchants come and go)
A wiser generation would insist that our children do physics and chemistry and not assume one can do good science without them(Biologists are not coping with the complex eco challenges they find in trying to work with nature leading to a less scientific and practical approach to working with nature) .
We need to decide to train people to work together ( physics chemists,geol ,sociol,economists ) to really maintain and develop the boundaries of resilience protection that our forefathers established for us .  New technique fascination and short circuits must again come second to tough specific  training and skill development .
As a practical onground ecologist in Australia for over 3 decades,I have witnessed the politicization of my profession -clearly eroding its credibility.( groups like to grab the high moral ground without putting their feet down in places that work ;
Unlike engineering etc ,the conservation movement runs the risk of meaning all things to all men . To properly challenge mere convenience, conservation must maintain a hard edge in both mythos and logos; something that will attract young people to restudy the ways men can live well with nature http://designwithnature.blogspot.com/

Why do we make it easy for those who do not look after themselves ?

Let's put the seniors in jail, and the criminals in a nursing home. This way the seniors would have access to showers, hobbies, and walks, they'd receive unlimited free prescriptions, dental and medical treatment , wheel chairs etc. and they'd receive money instead of paying it out.
They would have constant video monitoring, so they could be helped instantly if they fell, or needed assistance. Bedding would be washed twice a week, and all clothing would be ironed and returned to them.
A guard would check on them every 20 minutes, and bring their meals and snacks to their cell. They would have family visits in a suite built for that purpose. They would have access to a library, weight room, spiritual counseling, pool, and education.
Simple clothing, shoes, slippers, P.J.'s and legal aid would be free, on request. Private, secure rooms for all, with an exercise outdoor yard with gardens. Each senior could have a P.C. a T.V. radio, and daily phone calls.
There would be a board of directors to hear complaints, and the guards would have a code of conduct, that would be strictly adhered to.
The "criminals" would get cold food, be left all alone, and unsupervised. Lights off at 8pm, and showers once a week. Live in a tiny room, and pay $5000.00 per month and have no hope of ever getting out. Justice for all.

Is sometimes best communicated by love

No wonder our polys attempts are OFTEN so feeble. lol

Take this wonderful example (click on here) - an ad produced in England by someone who cares.
If this doesn't make you laugh , I cry with you because there is a fair bit of "government trying to do what the government can't do" .
The West always runs best when we all do what we are best at....... and don't try to do what we haven't committed to training for .
Anyone  listening eh ? Glad you did !

Gillards education revolution may be doing more harm than good

It may not be well known in our society , but those of who have worked with incentives KNOW it  is possible to make things worse when you throw money( even lots of money)  at a genuine problem .

Rudd's and Brumby's team are not alone,  but they might take the cake for best intentions gone wrong because they seem to be unaware of how dangerous it is to take advice from those you clone to closely and how difficult it is to get the HOW right when you employ people with no experience and competency at the care coalface.
Our state schools have problems ,but so has our society . Our kids need every mentor still at school to stay there . The good teachers in our State schools need all the help they can get , because they do an impossible job . ( Read H.L. Menken on "The educational process" for the glass fully empty version - he wrote this at more stable times . These aren't the best of times for teachers cause they are doing a great job trying to make up for deficiencies at home )
The solution is,  as often happens in the care professions - don't change the structure, build more buildings or offer us help anywhere else,  but right on the hard cutting edge .What can i do to help YOU ?
How many good teachers will have left the State system simply because the Change agents in state and federal areas think and practice quickfiz:
They wanna help but only in ways THEY think are most helpful - whats' new .
They wanna listen or they will be outta office sooner than they think possible.
At least 6 in out town have gone to private schools in the last few years.

Telling the truth - are we still up to it ?

There was a great book in the early 70's - "The kindness that kills" .It was ahead of its time . We need someone to remind our leaders and wannabes ( you may not have this problem) that the truth can bring healing and prevent disaster.

If the Royal Commission into the Victorian Bushfires 2009 commission can't say that "we have a problem because we are not allowed to say to people "you are living in an impossible risk situation" we will still have the problem. More here