Auntie, Sister. Grandmother, Great-Grandmother,
Mother and Wife of German Descent
I've lived in Australia since 1959 together with my husband Peter. We have four children, eight grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. I started blogging because I wanted to publish some of my childhood memories. I am blogging now also some of my other memories. I like to publish some photos too as well as a little bit of a diary from the present time. Occasionally I publish a story with a bit of fiction in it. Peter, my husband, is publishing some of his stories under berlioz1935.wordpress.com
I did get an invitation to a wedding in September 30th (soon after my birthday!) When I think right now that the wedding is in five months time, I get the feeling, five months is a long time. But once we get real close to the date, I’ll probably think, that the time passed too quickly! 🙂 Anyhow, I have now about five months to look for a formal dress or cocktail dress, and some good shoes as well! 🙂
What’s so good of being on yout own most of the time? A few hours all by yourself, can sometimes feel like an eternity. But when you spend just as many hours in good company, then it feels like the time passes very quickly. 🙂
I often mentioned my neighbours, for naturally since they live so close to me, I see and talk to them more often than this is…
Social justice campaigner and “people’s priest” Father Bob Maguire has died aged 88.
The media personality and Roman Catholic priest dedicated his life to standing up for the poor and marginalised and clashed with church hierarchy over his forced retirement.
The Father Bob Maguire Foundation confirmed he died on Wednesday morning at Cabrini Hospital in Melbourne.
In a statement, Fr Bob’s family said the preceding months had been difficult as the 88-year-old’s health declined.
“His physical and mental health had been deteriorating for some time but his preference was always to help others rather than consider his own situation,” the statement said.
“Father Bob was not just a much loved family member but was loved by all Australians for what he stood for.”
The family said in its statement that Fr Bob’s passion had always been helping those in the community who often went ignored.
“Despite his high profile in the media, he was always on the job, especially for the disadvantaged families and individuals for whom he had great love and compassion,” the statement said.
“He wanted nobody to be left behind and always saw and believed in the good in people, but he knew that there were many whom he referred to as the unloved and unlovely. These were his real passion.”
Father Bob Maguire was known for his social justice work, providing food relief and educational support through his Melbourne-based charity.(AAP: Julian Smith)
Known universally as Father Bob, his faith and social justice work was balanced with a wicked sense of humour.
He was described by his own charity foundation as part Billy Connolly, part Mother Theresa, part angry Old Testament prophet.
Robert John Maguire was born in Thornbury, in Melbourne’s inner-north in 1934 to Scottish immigrant parents, and experienced the fragility of life at a young age, losing two sisters and both parents by the time he was 16.
He entered the seminary at Werribee in 1953 and was struck by the conservative nature of some of the church’s methods, later referring to the seminary as “the cemetery” in his trademark larrikin way.
He was ordained as a priest in 1960 at the age of 25.
Fr Bob joined the Army Reserve in 1965 and during the Vietnam War was head of the army’s Character Training Unit for young officers.
Forced retirement led to clash with church
Father Bob was forced to retire in 2012 after reaching the mandatory retirement age set down by the Catholic Church.(AAP: David Crosling)
Fr Bob was parish priest of Sts Peter and Paul’s Catholic Church in South Melbourne for close to 40 years from 1973 — leaving only after a clash with Catholic Church hierarchy over its mandate that priests retire at 75.
“I am of a mind not to resign and I’ll write a letter saying that,” he told the ABC in 2009.
“They’ll say there’s a retirement village — in other words, don’t be afraid, come to us and we will look after you.
“Then you end up dishonourably discharged and going into a retirement village. Now that’s not what I signed up for.”
He eventually reached a compromise that allowed him to remain a priest until he was 77, retiring in 2012 after 50 years of service to the church.
Delivering his final mass in January 2012, he told crowds of people crammed into the church that his forced retirement would not stop him from working to improve the lives of those less fortunate.
“I can’t take the church with me, and I don’t have another church to go to, [but] I’m still Bob Maguire the Catholic priest and I’m still Father Bob the citizen,” he said.
Priest became a popular media performer
Father Bob Maguire came to greater fame through his numerous media appearances on television and radio.(ABC News)
Maguire reached audiences outside his congregation as co-host of the SBS television show Speaking in Tongues with John Safran.
He was also a regular guest on Safran’s triple j radio show, introducing himself to a younger and more diverse audience.
Despite achieving cult status with his media appearances, Fr Bob was wary of the trappings of celebrity culture.
“That celebrity caper we’re going through right now, that’s been a pain in the neck,” he said at his last mass in 2012.
“Jesus was a celebrity, they crucified him. He really wasn’t a celebrity, he was really someone who just told it as he saw it.”
After his retirement from the church, Fr Bob continued to work with his charity foundation, which delivers hundreds of free meals each week and operates an outreach program to those in need.
Last week, the Father Bob Maguire Foundation announced its namesake had stepped down as chairman following a legal guardianship ruling following a decline in health.
Fr Bob was made a Member of the Order of Australia in 1989 for his service to homeless youth and was named Victorian of the Year in 2011.
Posted Yesterday at 12:31pm, updated Yesterday at 5:40pm
52,943 views Apr 17, 2023 Through Conversations PodcastNoam Chomsky joins me for a third time on the show to discuss in depth the 2024 elections, the fentanyl crisis, the Russia-Ukraine War, and the looming threat of WWIII, and AI. This is the third time that Chomsky joins me on the show, In the first edition, we covered language, philosophy, and how to know oneself in this world. The second edition covered the Russia-Ukraine War, and the third edition will cover: • The 2024 presidential election • Potential conflict with China • How to address the fentanyl crisis • Artificial Intelligence and more. If you find this episode insightful, or you have any comments on the discussion, subscribe, share with your loved ones, and let me know!
“Normal is an illusion. What is normal for the spider is chaos for the fly.” – Charles Addams My two Philadephia cousins will be staying at my little abode in seven days time, which also happens to be the day of my “Perceptions” book launch. I have not been panicking “much”, and my cleaning-up and preparation has been a process of organised chaos!
Fluoride in drinking water is an industrial waste product from the phosphate fertilizer industry.19 More than 300 studies have shown fluoride’s toxic effects on the brain,20 including 2006 National Research Council review that suggested fluoride exposure may be associated with brain damage, endocrine system disruption and bone cancer.
The release of the National Toxicology Program’s (NTP) systematic review of fluoride’s neurotoxicity was blocked by government officials and concealed from the public since May 2022
Fluoride Action Network’s lawsuit against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to ban the deliberate addition of fluoridating chemicals to U.S. drinking water has been on hold waiting for the release of the NTP report
Prior to the NTP report’s scheduled release in May 2022, it was shared with members of dental groups like the American Dental Association, which urged officials to alter the report
After a court order, the NTP report was released, showing that out of 55 studies included, 52 found that increased fluoride exposure was associated with decreases in child IQ
The meta-analysis noted that no safe exposure level could be confirmed, including exposure to fluoride levels found in artificially fluoridated water
We asked Noam Chomsky about the future of our world, our systems of government and power and our need to come together to address the challenges of our time. The laureate professor and public intellectual shared his thoughts with UArizona College of Social & Behavioral Sciences Dean Lori Poloni-Staudinger.
Save130,166 views Apr 20, 2012Opportunity and care, dignity and hope. Prime Minister Paul Keating at the launch of Australia’s celebration of the 1993 International Year of the World’s Indigenous Peoples, Redfern Park, 10 December 1992. (Duration 16:50) NAA: M3983, 2272
If you are interested in a frugal lifestyle go to the above link. You’ll find there lots of ideas how to live a simple life and spending as little money as possible. I mean, those people who’s income gets less and less, have to cut down on spending wherever possible. It is not right to get more and more into debt, is it?
Think about it. If you are a small family, do you need a four bedroom house? Perhaps two of your bedrooms could be rented out to somebody who needs low cost renting?
The government provides some funds for housing of people who lost their homes in fires or floods. Of course these funds are not enough to house everybody in proper houses. My opinion is, that very simple housing should be made available asap to everybody who’s lost their home in a natural disaster. It should be possible to provide very simple basic housing at very low cost. I reckon a very simple hut is better than having no roof over your head. In the past generations of people survived in very simple huts!
The same goes for people that cannot pay the ever increasing mortgage anymore. Let them rent a very simple alternative, or let them share their homes with other people where this is possible. Why have homeless people in a country as rich as Australia? Why such a great gap between rich and poor?
In my previous post I pointed out, how in the past most students in Germany did have a very frugal lifestyle and were able to survive with very little money while having spare time to foster great companionship with other students.
I guess, we are in a cost of living crisis right now. I wonder, how can this cost of living crisis be overcome? Has anyone any ideas about this?
How can people adopt a more frugal lifestyle? https://www.frugalandthriving.com.au/start-here/
My father and one of his brothers studied in Germany from 1925 to 1930. They shared a room at a widow’s place. I believe this widow provided a simple breakfast as well as a daily home-cooked simple meal.
As far as I know, my father and his brother never worked to earn some money, while they were enrolled as students at the Leipzig University. Students in Germany just were not supposed to look for jobs to earn some money. This was the American way, my father said.
So, how did these students live? The answer is, the parents were responsible for their children’s upkeep until they were ready to become employed. That meant, most students were relatively poor and could not afford any ‘luxuries’. They just struggled to survive on very simple food. One cheap supplementary food for instance was called ‘STUDENTEN FUTTER’. This was a mixture of raisins and…
AuntyUta 