Monthly Archives: September 2008

Wall Street – bankruptcy over bailout

OK, having owned up to my own sense of economic bewilderment and yet a gut feeling that congress made the right decision when it denied a $700 billion bailout, I’ve found an article that makes sense to me. (Click here). It clearly advocates bankruptcy over bailout.  I think it’s right because it’s an honest acknowledgement ofContinue reading “Wall Street – bankruptcy over bailout”

The Visitor – more movie dipping

   They told me I should see this one.  So I did.  The Visitor certainly evoked memories from not so distant times when folk from my church and I sat through tribunals, negotiaited immigration interviews and confronted officialdom on behalf of “illegal immigrants,” otherwise deemed by the international community to be legitimate refugees entitled to protection underContinue reading “The Visitor – more movie dipping”

Movie Dipping

How could two films be so different yet so similar? I saw them randomly and almost back to back (give or take a week or two). Both drama/comedies, both dealing with the paradoxical art and escapism of cinema, both unconsciously aware that the “acting out” before the camera mirrored the real life dramas of theContinue reading “Movie Dipping”

Despair by chocolate

I sit at the desk opening mail while tucking into a Father’s Day chocolate – a delicious indulgence. My eye falls on World Vision’s Action News – the lead article takes the chocolate industry to task for failing to meet yet another deadline to meet certain measures to curtail the use of child labour inContinue reading “Despair by chocolate”

The morning after polling day in Western Australia

So here we sit with an undetermined result – neither major party has sufficient seats to form government in its own right. Minor parties and independents will have a major say in how WA’s next government is formed. This is parliamentary democracy at work. In the end a small portion of the electorate will ultimatelyContinue reading “The morning after polling day in Western Australia”

So – who are you going to vote for?

Elections are in the air. Campaigning has moved into high gear in the USA as Barak Obama and John McCain begin to slug it out. We go to the polls here in WA this Saturday. Will we vote for more of the same last eight years or take a gamble on a hastily revamped opposition?Continue reading “So – who are you going to vote for?”

The Enneagram – my take

I’ve just linked to Dave’s Enneagram Blog. Since the early 1980s I have been fascinated with the enneagram system, used primarily for identifying and exploring personality styles in both secular and Christian spiritual direction circles. There are many instruments out there for identifying temperament behaviour in vocational, management and therapeutic settings, some better known than others. The danger of all such instruments isContinue reading “The Enneagram – my take”

Sustainable September

It being the first day of Spring, a PeaceChurch sojourner draws my attention to Sustainable September, a Western Australian initiative involving church and community groups. Earlier discussion here revealed several correspondents who have reservations about climate change discussions. Whichever side of the debate we fall on, and whether we believe the cause of climate change is natural or human orContinue reading “Sustainable September”

Cryptic Crosswords

It’s hard to imagine that, around 4 weeks ago, I was languishing in Los Angeles International Air Terminal, waiting for a plane to begin the long journey home to Perth. A souvenir of the 9 hour wait sits on my desk, staring accusingly at me. It’s a book – The New York Times think outside the boxContinue reading “Cryptic Crosswords”