Lost in the Forest of Hidden motivations

The  dark forest - where you don't know whose going to attack you , when and why and

worse ..... without any real reasonability.


What could be more pathetic than a week of  high level accusations by the highest level leaders in the land ?
Surely one great worry that goes with that is the confusion amongst the gang about what is right and wrong to say in such situations ,
Why are we so worried about saying the wrong thing? Is it because we no longer know what's right to say?

If we are realistic we expect  careless words and fear and worry up front .
The more substantial worry is when even the troops can't fight the threat either.Those not being shot at and injured but able , you would think, to be objective about the risks in this dark place .
The pathetic failure of the "Insiders"ABC  ( the observers)  to even talk about the reasons for the confusion in all this name calling is a serious issue .
Are some of "The Insiders" like Leonore, too busy reading the tea leaves to recognise that flavour is really about something more concrete than the epistles of spin they weave each week - substance is about morality or perceived morality - a bit of a no go area for many of them .
Whatever you think of Andrew Bolt , it was his woman guest Amanda who finally hit the nail on the head; " playing the victim card" is the wrong thing to do ; Projecting the problem onto another is a possible consequence of unresolved application of guilt.
Its wrong for lots of reasons and lawyers, of all people,  should know why. Why our leaders have this blind spot is itself a huge question because the answer could help explain why Greenlabor is now fighting in the  forest and not in open country .The forest of post modernism where nothing is moral and only nature takes it course ( You heard it first from EA)
The most obvious basis for the confusion is that Greenlabor refuses to face the historical cultural reality that our law is based on treating the sin and the sinner differently .Most of them don't even accept that these categories are concrete,  real and helpful .

Here' s the concrete bit. The sin is serious and we should hate it and prosecute it . The sinner on the other hand,  is precious, redeemed and redeemable .Protecting every persons reputation is all of our jobs ,. And, by the way,  we are all sinners, so its everyone's interest to be careful.  Death by stoning can happen before justice gets a word in edgeways. Maybe the Eight commandment needs more attention that the fifth (killing) ? The issue of protecting person hood ( Slander Libel and so on )  is so precious that its got a whole commandment attached to it ( 8th ). If you slander someone publicly you should correct it publicly because someone's whole life may be at stake if you don't . Sin is the serious matter .There is no greater prosecutor on this matter than Jesus himself ( Matthew 5:21)

Clearly the women who backed Julia last week over her comments didn't know this. The closer you are to a person , the more you can stop the rot . The closer you are to a person , the more you can stop the rot .Those women were all close enough to Tony Abbott to stop the rot .  The closer you are to a person the more you need to be a aware that it maybe your responsibility to carry forward the intent of the  8th. Men and women of character themselves will say " I know this man or woman " .";  "he/she  wouldn't do that . Those women who spoke were close enough to say it , but they didn't . That's where they really failed - more so than in talking tothe mere words , all of which can be retracted in an instant.

The old believers are not stupid enough to prosecute  on the basis of the bad word alone. Their books , while full of bad words, are not big enough to go on about all that stuff .  They could see all this nonsense with word accusations and counter accusations all around them;  Pharisees they called them. The books they wrote ,  like all good cultural stuff,  is full of bad words and bad behaviour because each book is slowly but surely getting above it .Unlike our Parliament at the moment,  the books they wrote  get beyond bad behaviour fairly quickly; as the Labor leadership should have done .
 Look , we all know we say the wrong thing -  and we do it in anger or whatever and the best thing to do is to repent of it ( shock horror !.....but its the only remedy that actually works ) .
Presumably deep down Julia Gillard knows this and knows it because of her father,  perhaps . We all need the daily reminder to hate the sin and not the sinner..... in order to get out of the dark forest.

His name is not Entitlement

Some politicians have recent'y caught onto the idea that the danger is all in entitlement imperatives . The neo liberals need to be clear about the sound basis for this position before they pull it down and erect some soft centred wishy washy rubbish of their own . I will be the first to say rebuild;  but rebuild without the weak mortar or marxism, humanism or that absolute blinder - the faith that 's what just around the corner will be better.

Evolve or Die is the cry of the listless

Such is the cry of the truly desperate .Those who cannot argue -preach .Those failing to addreess the last question rationally  use the words and phrases "move on"  or "let's progress" because their ultimate faith is not in their own logic but what's around the corner .Their faith in progress, in keeping moving and in some esoteric faith in evolution . This sort of evolution advocacy has now the status of a god .the road ahead god . Such faith is not testable because it can only be proved by change itself . All such advocates have to do is talk about something new being better.
Pleased to hear a prominent ABC discussion leader today resist the attempt to conclude a discussion on that religious note in their attempt to justify changing history and word meanings - "the language is evolving" and the ultimate inference of arrogance " we are leading that evolutionary move ".Attractive but only while the road ahead has some corners that they can't see around .

Our leaders desperate to use the word catastrophe

Recent floods in NSW reveal a deep disease amongst the powerful. " it might rise as high as ....." The tendency to panic affects the hoards of imported reporters, who will,  whether they respect the process or not,  air some "half baked propped up panic talker" --seldom some expert .
Just focusing as the ABC did on Ryan's error symbolizes the projection and panic that infects the media on such occasions.
Few leaders have the back bone to call the situation as the locals see it ; Most wannabes  play the game and refuse to name the game as exaggeration.Maybe the worst local managers will get the most money ?
Our PM appears infront of fast flowing water offering to pay up to all as if the problem is God's and God alone.
Fast flowing water is rare anywhere down there so its probably near some broken levee; levees created by man and levees increasing, like the houses located without the planning,  that would look like peanut payments  next to the payments we NOW make to disaster levies and the insurance industry.

In a move destined to go into history the insurance council , who are paying less and less because the govt are paying more and more ( should be suing agencies and individuals as well ) are happy to call more events "catastrophic "
The emperors lead means she wins and they can hide under the skirts of "not our problem mate " The insurance industry have never had its so good with government so serious about solving all these big problems; problems  that "you me them?" were created to deal with . In2012 , if the government are responsible they are not being responsible, because noone else is responsible
Meanwhile many in the audience are saying "they might be wearing gumboots  but they look like they are wearing no clothes" We don't watch the ABC - we read Orwell

Just one bite and you know the Wolf is real

About 20 years ago Anthony Jay and I discussed the consequences of  putting a mirror up to politicians and top public servants - letting the world see what really goes on . While it was woosy and weak even then, the wolf seemed far away. Now the wolf is at the door,  and we don't quite know just why . Conflict has become cocontenation. Tension no longer keeps us taught, but  teaches our kids to keep sliding instead  
 As Jay and Lyn  have shown with their  latest show, the consequences of exposure are even more scary than we thought. Both groups still want more power , but noone,  it seems has the same wisdom . The quieter sources of solid advice have gone silent while the urgent loud voices drive Prime Ministers mad. Bernard would rather not be there now , and neither would I .
Neither of us, it seems , could have anticipated just  how woosy and onesided  it would all become .
Without leadership from below,  both parties would be stuck in the a suck it and see sort of  mess that they are in now. Neither of us could do much about egos out of control in politics,but we both know that we used to able to advise those in power. Influence them . Now "good advice"  is falsely seen to be something you only get, if you pay people for it . "Paying people peanuts " talk was to easy when everybody turns out to be in the same family of hairy beasts. The lesson should have been that we need each other - not that we were better than each other .

The great danger for the people is not that our leaders think they know ( that's always an ongoing risk ) but that the public service thinks they know too .( copyright EA6Feb2012)

Permanent Incident Controllers -a mistake

As stated many years ago on blogs like this, the ham fisted reactionary establishment of Departments to deal with emergencies can be a mistake; an expensive diversion from the much lower cost options of Departments of prevention and sound practice; groups who know the stresses BEFORE they kill,  so those people can better manage them when they arrive . IC should be drawn from the ranks of planners and practitioners as required  - not creating their own empires .
 Relatively rare and dispersed risk like bush fire and flood and environmental " hazard" mean the big noise these bashers make (before the moment and place  that something needs dealing with)  is counterproductive .
Unfortunately for Victorians the rightful high place for planning has been subsumed by reactive politics . Paradoxically considering the Libs so called love of less government , The Department of CW has grown under their leadership .Just proves that not all reactionaries come from the left .
Few NOW stop to think when an algal bloom STOPS everything  - well why didn't the Departmnet responsible reduce the risk in the first place .Answer is:  because the government have closed down the department that prevents in favour of the department that names and shames; The Department that suggests emergencies - DSE ; Such Departments are just as likely to name some other departmental or contracted service to " fix the problem "--- all a bit late of course .  The Libs have lost sight of foresight  and created Wolf radio.You heard it first on blogger .

If fear itself is the the only fear

Admitting we don't really know much and aren't very together can be liberating.  We don't spend so much time crying wolf for others when we are humble about pits we might fall into today. Better than that ; we can feel a lot better overall and make a better day for ourselves by finding a way to accept ourselves and not worry about others.  
Thanks Truthaholics
"We tell lies when we are afraid... afraid of what we don't know, afraid of what others will think, afraid of what will be found out about us. But every time we tell a lie, the thing that we fear grows stronger." ~ Tad Williams (1957- ) Author

One of my class of 10YO's  walked past me as I tried to open  my car the wrong way the other day ( using the key instead of the button) The alarm went off and I swore ( The child  tells me ) I do it all the time and the world knows I haven't learned from my mistakes
I didn't want to admit even that I may have done it ( I can't remember ) I probably did , but how hard is it to admit you have been wrong ( not that swearing is that big an issue , except some people watch you like a hawk for faults and YOU feel that  )
Never easy to confess,  but its good for the soul - everyone's  soul if it encourages us to be honest ( first line)
My relationship with that student improved no end from that moment I confessed . The problem  went away somehow and it was wonderful . So good to be amongst the poor.