Forge Australia winding back up?

 
Got an interesting comment on my blog 'Forge wind dowwnnn'::

g'day have a look at www.forge.org.au for Re launch event and we are still operating in the North with rumuors of starts again in the West, and down South. cheers,
st

Looks as there is a bit of life in Forge yet. I also got in my inbox as well as I discover on the forge.org.au web site  'Forge Re-launch' event.

Our first event on November 30  – LIVING WITH TOUGH CONVICTION IN AN EASY WORLD – features a number of ‘must-listen-to’ special guests. Michael Frost was a co -conspirator with Alan Hirsch at the beginning of the Forge journey and brings us a message about living with a tough conviction flavoured by stories of people he has bumped into on his journey.
Peter Breen was a Wesleyan Minister who has journeyed to Jugglers Art Space in Brisbane to support his love for art, artists and how faith fits into real life.
Stephen Drinkall, is involved with the Pathway collective, a group of friends working out what it means to live incarnationally in the suburbs, while supporting each other and many others in their wake.
Steve Turner, working with Forge for 7 years, best at being a missionary, worst at admin, loves people and finding the extraordinary hiding under the ordinary stuff of life.

Good on them re-launching Forge I think still has somthing to offer.
It is interesting the 'rumours' down south'. Most of the people I know down in Victoria who where connected with Forge where pretty exhausted and moving there own way after it all wound up. Although there where some interesting connections been made with City Life near the end.

Progressive Christianity and Bono

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I was reading the 'Progressive Christianity' wiki page and noticed under the 'notable progressive Christians' Bono!

I would doubt that Bono would endorse anything which put him in a box. (Probably like myself). Yet if you look at the broad definitions of what progressive is on the wikipedia then you could see that Bono actually fits in with this definition nicely.

• A spiritual vitality and expressiveness, including participatory, arts-infused, and lively worship as well as a variety of spiritual rituals and practices such as meditation
• Intellectual integrity including a willingness to question
• An affirmation of human diversity
• An affirmation of the Christian faith with a simultaneous sincere respect for other faiths
• Strong ecological concerns and commitments
• Social justice commitments through collective salvation

I think like many 'Rock 'n' Roller' like Bono part of there allure, is the mystery which makes them tick. Unravelling the riddles that make up their poetry and lyrics. Realising that what they write resonates with us all.

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• What Progressive Christianity is really about - in their own words! (livingjourney.wordpress.com)

Victoiran election 2010 :: Coaltion water policy

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This week we received our water bill. After living in a situation in our last house where we survived totally on tank water. I was surprised at the the breakdown of costs of consumption. Out of a bill of $312, only $28 was for actual consumption.
The recommended water consumption per day for one person is 155 litres. Out of a family of four our total daily usage is 177 litres. We are using less than 50 litres per person.
What is frustrating in this situation is that you can be doing the right thing. Limiting your water usage and yet there is no reward or incentive for doing so.

So it was with relief that I read in 'The Age' Victorian Coalitions water policy::

Household water bills would be calculated so that at least 60 per cent of the cost would be determined by consumption, potentially reducing the impact of fixed costs on bills.

I think that its a good start but I would push the calculation to up to 80% to make a read differnce.
I also thought that the coalitions policy idea of using storm water instead of building more dams and desal plants as a really good initiative. No mention of the desal in Bass though...

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• The desal cup runneth over with our cash. (theage.com.au)
• Water bills 'to double' (theage.com.au)

Desal disaster x2

The Desal project in in the news again down our way. This time with reports of spying::

From the ABC::

Members of the Electrical Trade Union (ETU) walked off the job at Wonthaggi over reports in the Australian newspaper that the company had employed contractors to infiltrate union ranks and spy on workers.

More delays, more cost blow outs. Why didn't the the government just give away free water tanks. It would have been cheaper...

The Moslem fear

Had a US Christian friend who put up on their feed::

In twenty years there will be enough Muslim voters in
the U.S. to elect the President! Is this what all you Obama voters hand in mind?!

I find this ironic that this come from a Christian. Most Church growth experts report that Christian growth occours the most when there is persecution. For example Christians who are persecuted in China, or Biblically the first two hunderd of so years of the Church when it was persecuted yet the minority. A Moslem majority maybe the best for evangelism in the US.
Maybe there just isn't a confidence in there Christian belief?

As a non-Us citizen though I find it interesting that when it comes to aggression the US especially under the administration of 'Christian' George Bush are more than aggressive than most nations.

To give the benefit of the doubt. A short snippet from a feed dosn't explain much. It rises many questions. Why be afraid of Muslims? Or is it just the Extremists? Do you really think it is Obama or is it the constitution? Maybe just Republican flag waving?

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• -International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church (charismatica.com)

Around the garden

Busy day around the garden on Sunday.

Some Basil Mint, I'm not sure of its exact name. from the wikipedia I think it might be "Perilia", certainly smells of Basil and Mint

Chives, which I grew from seed, Thi Basil, and Mint. Jemima reckons that the Mint tastes like 'Meat' and loves it!

Pomegranate, this was Christina's choice...

A perennial artichoke, it will be interesting how much food just one plant produces.

Not a very good picture but the 'Denise' has four blueberries.

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Arsenals Of Folly, Rhichard Rhodes x2

Arsenals Of Folly, The Making of the Nuclear Arms Race, Richard Rhodes.

This is my second post on thoughts on Arsonals of Folly, by Richard Rhodes.

::Once again I found Regan to be a man of contradictions. Deeply religious yet astrologers where used?

::It's well documented and mentioned throughout that the arms race basically bankrupt the Soviet Union. Yet I thought it interesting that Rhodes quotes  Marriner Eccles 'as long ago as the 1960's that "over-kill spending of the military" was " responsible for our financial inability to adequately meet the problems of our cities (poverty, crime, riots, pollution) and our rapidly expanding educational requirements".
Rhodes goes on to quote others as well to argue his point that the USA as far as infrastructure and other problems was behind other Western country's because of its military spending.

::That the same Neo-Conservatives who came up with exaggerated  claims of "weapons of mass destruction"  eg Dick Cheyney, Paul Wolforwitz, Richard Pearl, Donald Rumsfeld. Where very much behind telling and again exaggerating the Soviet nuclear capability. It was a good that Regan was  often motivated by his own intuition or 'hunches' and entertained and followed Gorbachev offers, rather than his 'conservative' voices in his own camp.

::I like the summing up paragraphs
"The politics of both sides were not moral because they put the human world at mortal risk, with no reasonable gain in security, for domestic advantage and the international play of power. Robert Oppenheimer saw the dishonesty as early as 1953, when he wrote sardonically in Forigen Affair

The very least that we can say is that, looking ten years ahead, it is likely to be small comfort that the Soviet Union is four years behind us, and small comfort that they are only about half as big as we are. The very least we can conclude is that our twenty-thousandth bomb, useful as it may be in filling the vast munitions pipelines of a great war, will not in any deep strategic sense offset their two-thousandth... We may anticipate a state of affairs in which two Great Powers will each be in a position to put and end to the civilization and life of the other, though not without risking its own. We may be likened to two scorpions in a bottle, each capable of killing the other, but only at the risk of his own life."

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• Richard Rhodes, "Twilight of the Bombs" (longnow.org)

Aldi's and Carbon imprint

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I was really impressed the other day when I read about a new initiative in Aldi's to label some of its products with the amount of Carbon used to produce them and them to the shops.

Here is the blurb from their web site::

The Carbon Reduction Label informs consumers of the total carbon footprint of a product, from raw materials and manufacturing right through to disposal or recycling of packaging. The carbon footprint is measured on a ‘per 100mL’ basis for ease of comparison. The Label helps people understand how they can reduce their own carbon footprint and combat climate change.

By adopting the Carbon Reduction Label, ALDI joins an international list of major businesses committed to reducing the greenhouse gas emissions of their products. Planet Ark brought the Carbon Reduction Label to Australia in partnership with its originators, the Carbon Trust.

Measuring carbon emissions at every step of a product’s lifecycle shows businesses where valuable savings can be made to improve the efficiency of their operations. There will be no increase in the prices of ALDI’s everyday olive oil range as a result of the Carbon Reduction Label initiative.

ALDI has committed to reducing the carbon footprint of its everyday olive oil range within two years of the Label appearing on the range. The Label is a considerable step towards providing customers with important information about the environmental impact of products, allowing them to make better informed purchasing decisions.

This is pretty good and its good to see Aldi's taking a lead here.


But

I brought some razors 'Prince Maximum3'

"Blades made in the USA. Handle made in China. Assembeled and packed in Mexico"

I would think that at least 60-80% of this product carbon footprint would be just in travel. This is atrocious. 

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View from Norman Bay lookout.

Just got back from a week at the Prom, just before the rain. Here's the only picture I took a view from Norman Bay lookout.

80's Rural Christianity

At the time I would have said I was a 'Born Again', reflectively God had always captivated and wooed me.
One of the formative times for me was the Christian lunch meeting which occurred at the private school which I attended. Their wasn't many of us. A handful. It was the usual stuff. Some prayer, some reading of the bible. We where the minority; strangely in a Christian School, (But better known for the most expensive fees in town).
One of the most exciting times for us and the only one I can remember was when we had a convert. She was one of the most 'out there' in the School at the time. Hair which had a dyed streak of pink (or was it Orange). She was a bit of a hippie. Our group had an edge.
I'm not sure where or how she was converted. But introduced to our group was Christian rock music, passion in debate and evangelism.
Sure we where still the minority but we now had a bit of flair.

The introduction of new new people and new ideas has been on of the most important aspect of my Spiritual formation. Hopefully with an open heart, I pray it continues.

Victorian election :: Bass Greens Launch

So far the most political action down in Bass has in my opinion has come from the Greens. I've spotted a few of these posters around Cowes for the Bass Greens Launch, good to see it as a local event::

It's also good to see that the Greens are really pushing the Desalination plant as an election issue down here. A lot of locals that I talk to arn't happy with it.

So far I've spotted a few posters from the libs with Ken Smith's face, nothing (which is typical) from labour.

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Victoiran Election:: Bass a political backwater

I've never lived in an area where services and infrastructure are so poor. I've written about the health issues on Phillip Island before::

It would be the largest town in the state without a proper medial coverage.
(Phillip Island has a population 7000,  in 2001, Wanthaggi has a hospital 6500 in 2001, Koorumbura a population 4500 has a hospital. In summer the population can be 50000 with all the tourists).

It makes me wonder why this is the case and one of the answers that seems to come up is that we live in a liberal strong hold. The liberals are the only one who make any promises of any infrastructure because labour has given up on these sort of seats.  I don't blame labour either. Why would you set aside any money for a region if you don't get any return.
When I lived in Bendigo,  a swinging seat, there where always new things on the go. A new police station, a new hospital. Money was promised everywhere from both sides of politics.

The other odd thing about Phillip Island is that the population estimates are 40,000 to 60,000 in Summer. Been conservative the council rates would be for 30,000 people. Yet the infrastructure is on barely for 10,000 people.

So In many ways I see the only way to get out of the rut that the electorates of Bass and Flinders is in is to get an independent or at least for the Labour vote to get to a whisker of winning.

Here is my short list of infurstucture which needs to take place::

Better medical system::
Hospital with at least a medical/surgical emergency ward
A bulk billing GP clinic that is opened at least 5 days a week
Secondary College
Gass on the island
Swimming pool. (We have the Ocean but no where to teach kids to swim)

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Girls Shoes

Just started following @alicam on twitter and discovered my girls shoes!

@alicam Alister Cameron

Shoes off, girls @ Forest Edge http://instagr.am/p/Gima/

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Victorian Election 2010 :: Where do you live?

I've got to say this is a big one for me. I totally believe if a candidate is to represent you properly they need to live in the electorate. From the ABC::

An ABC survey has found Victorian Premier John Brumby and more than half of his Cabinet do not live in the electorates which they will be contesting on November 27.

Fourteen other Labor MPs also live outside their electorates - some of whom live on the opposite side of Melbourne to their seats.

About the Greens and the Coalition ::

All but two Coalition and all Green MPs live in their electorates.

How does the candidate know how public transport is running? What is the local driving conditions? The state of health care, could they get care quickly? Crime in the area?
They wouldn't it would be just told to them second hand.
I feel Labour is getting a bit complacent on this, it happened to us in the Federal Election in our electorate in Flinders as well...

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Crystal Catherdral bankrupt

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I've been to this church in the very early '90's when I visited the states. It was a spectacular building and I liked Schuller Sr's message at the time.

From Christianity Today::

Crystal Cathedral Ministries, which owes about $7.5 million to unsecured creditors, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy this morning, according to the Orange County Register.
Earlier this year, the megachurch founded by television evangelist Robert H. Schuller slashed several programs and laid off 50 employees to cut $4.9 million from its $20 million annual operating budget. The Register reports that Senior Pastor Sheila Schuller Coleman said the bankruptcy filing was a necessity because of lawsuits.

Its makes me wonder how many of these massive mega church structures are empty in the United States. Is this just the beginning?

Fred Plummer on ABC Nights with John Cleary

Just finnished listening to Fred Plummer who is one of the leaders of the 'Progressive Christian' movement on Sunday nights live with John Cleary.

Two things that I pondered

::Every on who is interviewed with 'Progressive Christianity', Sure has plenty of experience pastorally, written and read widely. Yet I never hear any youngish perspectives on this.

::Prayer, I got the impression that Fred thought the idea of praying for God to intervene in human affairs as silly idea. This sort of prayer has certain problems, some healed others not.
Yet he was open to prayer as the 'Transferring of energy' as I could understand it "Reiki".
I can see his point yet ultimately I think both ideas are unquantifiable, yet the 'Reiki' idea does remove many of the problems. 

You can hear the interview here from the ABC

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The end of print media

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Following ausdroid.net I found this bit of information on the launch of Samsung galaxsy tab::

The Australian will be pre-installed on all devices. It's like bloatware, but relatively useful. The App will be free for two months, then a subscription will be needed to continue the service. Pricing of said subscription will set you back $8.99 a month, or $36.99 over a half yearly period. Get excited, news lovers!

That's a pretty cheap deal for you to receive the paper. You don't even have to walk out the door to get it. It makes me wonder with the continuing increased specs and decrease in prices of computer products when it will be cheaper for news papers just to give away these devices.
My pick five years...

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Arsenals of Folly:: The Making of the Nuclear Arms Race, Richard Rhodes

 

I'm currently reading "Arsenals of Folly: The Making of the Nuclear Arms Race" by Richard Rhodes, just a few quick thoughts::

::Amazed my that when Gorbachev and Regan meet in private. Regan had to use cue cards. ? beginning of Alzheimer's.

:: Regan was a man of contradictions. He was deeply religious, convinced of  Armageddon and End Times. Yet was happy for his son who worked for playboy as a writer to interview him.

:: Gorbachev was the master politician more so than anyone I know. He worked the Regan administration, more importantly he had the measure of the internal government of the Soviet Union. If he had not been there, I'm convinced there would have been a civil war or a Stalinist Regime. He is one of the major reasons for prosperity of Russia today.

:: I was surprised at how early on Regan provoked the Russians and how nearly they responded. This period was very similar to the Cuban missile crisis.

I thought that Richard Rhodes' making of the Atomic Bomb was great. This book I rate just as highly.