Dear Lacey… Life Is More About Perspective Than About Circumstance

It is good to read all this! Thank you for posting. I reblog this so maybe some of my followers may want to have a look at it.

The Good Names Are Gone

A guy gets into a car crash, steps out and starts raging about how his day couldn’t get any worse. The guy in the other car responds to the situation by counting his blessings and appreciating the fact that no one got hurt.

Same circumstance, two different perspectives.

It’s often easier to be guy number one, he’s a “glass-half-empty” type of character,, the sort to consistently wallow in their own pity party, thinks complaining is a personality trait and has no other interesting conversation topic other than moaning about anything and everything.

He’s more than a Debbie-downer, he’s a soul draining nob and we’ve all had the misfortune of keeping one of them around longer than we should have.

Don’t be like guy number one.

Guy number two is generally quite happy, he knows how to find the silver lining to every rain cloud that pisses on his parade. He’s…

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Diary, 5th/6th February 2020

There is talk about it, that a lot of people, adults as well as children, are traumatised by these bushfires.

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/jan/05/explainer-how-effective-is-bushfire-hazard-reduction-on-australias-fires

“The National Parks and Wildlife Service in NSW says bushfire hazard reduction occurred across more than 139,000 hectares in 2018 and 2019.”

Explainer: how effective is bushfire hazard reduction on Australia’s fires?

Claims of a Greens conspiracy to block hazard reduction have been rejected by bushfire experts

Factcheck: how park ranger numbers stack up amid debate over bushfire readiness

What are the links between climate change and bushfires? – explainer

Graham Readfearn

@readfearn

AuntyUta

DSCN5114

I think I took this picture of the above poster the last time we were at the Nan Tien Temple, probably about one year ago. One can see a lot of similar posters all around te grounds of the temple. I always like to have a look at some of the verses that are displayed there. It makes me think really what sort of meaning do our lives have . . .

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Diary, 5th February 2020

DSCN5114

After a long summer break, the Australian Parliament is back in session. For many weeks and months an awful lot of Australia has been effected by immense bushfires. These fires brought great suffering to many communities on the fringes of or in the midst of immense fires. After the fires went through some places look like they have been destroyed during a war! Yes, places do look like this after a lot of fighting or terrible bomb raids during a war! You could say, Australia is in a warlike situation at the moment. Of course right now ‘only’ certain areas in a number of Australian states are effected. But to keep the flames away from major built up centres requires an enormous amount of firefighters, emergency workers (a lot of them volunteers) amd equipment. Australia has always had droughts and bushfires. But the droughts are getting more severe and the bushfires with very hot winds are getting worse than ever. There is an enormous amount of very dry fuel that can burn for months on end. The bushfire seasons do start now earlier and last longer, and the temperature can be in the 40sC or even in the 50sC in a lot of places. Heatwaves like this with little moisture can appear again and again all through spring, summer and autumn. So our climate is changing more and more. There is no doubt about it.

There is talk about it, that a lot of people, adults as well as children, are traumatised by these bushfires. They need counselling for they can’t cope with their lives after having lost everything in a bushfire. I think the best help they can get is a roof over their heads somewhere and the necessities to start from scratch again. Surely, if they know, there is help available to get them on their feet again, they can learn to once more look with hope to the future!

Noam Chomsky (2): On the Lesser of Two Evils

NC: “Now, if you care about Israel, what you tell them is you’re sacrificing security for expansion. And it’s going to have a consequence. It’s going to lead to moral deterioration internally, and decline in status internationally, which is exactly what happened.”

Bandt’s big business bash

ABC journalist Anna Henderson is just back from the Adam Bandt press conference.

Anna Henderson

✔@annajhenderson

· 2h

Replying to @annajhenderson

Bandt says party members should have a say in leadership in the future, but not until federal conference in May sorts out the process. #auspoI @Clarke_Melissa @abcnews

Anna Henderson

✔@annajhenderson

Bandt – says some big companies should be held partially responsible for the summer bushfires #auspol @abcnews @jacksongs

4

11:21 AM – Feb 4, 2020

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See Anna Henderson’s other Tweets

Here’s her take on Bandt’s comments about the responsibility of companies in the resources sector:

Adam Bandt has hit the ground running as the new leader of The Greens, taking aim at big corporations in the fossil fuel industry.

He has warned “big business that makes its money by killing people” should be worried.

It’s no surprises to hear The Greens promoting the future of the renewable sector, one of their key policy platforms, but this language was strong.

According to the new leader gas, coal and oil companies are unsustainable.

“Your business model is predicated on threatening human life,” he said.

He also said those big corporations share liability with the government for the devastation over summer.

Bandt said those companies are eventually going to be “held to account financially” and company directors are going to be answerable as well.

Senator Jim Molan grilled over climate change, bushfire response on Q&A with Hamish Macdonald

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-02-04/jim-molan-under-fire-for-climate-change-admission-on-q&a/11925750

By Paul Johnson

Key points:

Senator Jim Molan has defended the Federal Government response to the bushfire crisis
He was heckled and laughed at by the live audience in Queanbeyan
The senator argued that climate science is not settled, but said he was “not relying on evidence”

THE LUCK OF POLITICS: TRUE TALES OF DISASTER AND OUTRAGEOUS FORTUNE Andrew Leigh

THE LUCK OF POLITICS: TRUE TALES OF DISASTER AND OUTRAGEOUS FORTUNE

https://www.dymocks.com.au/book/the-luck-of-politics-true-tales-of-disaster-and-outrageous-fortune-by-andrew-leigh-9781863957557

Andrew Leigh

PaperBackAugust 26, 2015

“A delightful look at chance and outrageous fortune. In 1968, John Howard missed out on winning the state seat of Drummoyne by just 420 votes. Howard reflects- ‘I think back how fortunate I was to have lost.’ It left him free to stand for a safe federal seat in 1974 and become one of Australia’s longest-serving prime ministers. In The Luck of Politics, Andrew Leigh weaves together numbers and stories to show the many ways luck can change the course of political events. This is a book full of fascinating facts and intriguing findings. Why is politics more like poker than chess? Does the length of your surname affect your political prospects? What about your gender? From Winston Churchill to George Bush, Margaret Thatcher to Paul Keating, this book will persuade you that luck shapes politics – and that maybe, just maybe, we should avoid the temptation to revere the winners and revile the losers. ‘Andrew Leigh takes the simplest idea there is – luck – and threatens to remake your basic understanding of politics with it. Then he succeeds. Lucky for us.’ Waleed Aly ‘It’s rare to find a politician prepared to acknowledge the role of luck – sheer chance – in political success and failure. Andrew Leigh doesn’t just acknowledge it, he interrogates it, using fascinating historical anecdotes to illustrate his tale.’ Lenore Taylor”

Andrew Leigh

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The Honourable Dr Andrew Leigh FASSA MP
Leigh in 2017

Member of the Australian Parliament for Fenner
Incumbent
Assumed office 2 July 2016
Preceded by	New seat
Member of the Australian Parliament for Fraser
In office 21 August 2010 – 2 July 2016
Preceded by	Bob McMullan
Succeeded by	Division abolished
Personal details
Born	Andrew Keith Leigh 3 August 1972 (age 47) Sydney, Australia
Nationality	Australian
Political party	Australian Labor Party
Spouse(s)	Gweneth
Children	3 sons
Residence	Canberra, Australia
Alma mater	University of Sydney Harvard Kennedy School
Occupation	Politician
Profession	Lawyer, academic, political adviser
Website	andrewleigh.com

Andrew Keith Leigh (born 3 August 1972) is an Australian politician, author, and former professor of economics at the Australian National University. He has been a Labor member of the Australian House of Representatives since 2010 representing the seat of Fraser until 2016 and Fenner thereafter. He briefly served as the Parliamentary Secretary to Prime Minister Julia Gillard in 2013 and then served as Shadow Assistant Treasurer and Shadow Minister for Competition from 2013 to 2019. Leigh is not a member of any factions of the Labor Party.