Schools in Finland.

I wished we could adopt a similar system in our schools. Somehow too good to be true?

http://www.smh.com.au/national/this-is-why-finland-has-the-best-schools-20160324-gnqv9l.html

Please read the above article in the link.

“The Harvard education professor Howard Gardner once advised Americans, “Learn from Finland, which has the most effective schools and which does just about the opposite of what we are doing in the United States.”

Following his recommendation, I enrolled my seven-year-old son in a primary school in Joensuu. Finland, which is about as far east as you can go in the European Union before you hit the guard towers of the Russian border.

OK, I wasn’t just blindly following Gardner – I had a position as a lecturer at the University of Eastern Finland for a semester. But the point is that, for five months, my wife, my son and I experienced a stunningly stress-free, and stunningly good, school system. Finland has a history of producing the highest global test scores in the Western world, as well as a trophy case…

View original post 37 more words

Uta’s Diary, Easter 2016

Lucas looked around in our backyard and called it a “forest”. He loved running from the side gate on the south side of the house back to the table on the north side. He kept running, and running, and running with little Alexander always following him. That was after they had been looking for Easter eggs. Alexander was happy, when he found just one little egg. He did eat it straight away and let his big brother look for all the other eggs!

Our Granddaughter Natasha, the boys’ Aunty, took some pictures of her Nephews while sitting at the table with them.

Some weeks ago we went to the Bulli markets, where Peter bought some gelato. Daughter Caroline took some pictures of Peter buying the gelato and of me trying to take a picture of it. I also took a picture of Caroline walking towards us.

A. Piazzolla. Libertango Moscow City Symphony – Russian Philharmonic Moscow City Symphony – Russian Philharmonic

A. Piazzolla. Libertango

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_2QAki-GRk

Armic – Tango Flamenco

Listening to Tango Music – This is how I pass my time on Good Friday afternoon. It goes on and on. I was really out to read a bit more in Mick Gordon’s book of essays:

THEATRE AND THE MIND

The third essay in the book is titled “Emotion, Thought and Action.

I says in that essay for instance: ” . . . the way we think about things, the way we interpret our thoughts, determines how we feel and behave.”

Listening to music, doesn’t this determine how I feel? Does my brain tell me, how I should feel about the music? Also, the feeling is immediately there when I do not like some music.

So it is probably true that my thoughts do very much influence how I feel and act. I am going to try to reflect about this a bit more. Yes, I think, it is true, I mostly let my thinking determine my feelings and how I act.

I hope I can soon write about this a bit more.

The Bombs May Not HaveDropped Yet, But We ARE at War

March 23, 2016 A World War has Begun: Break the Silence by John Pilger I have been filming in the Marshall Islands, which lie north of Australia, in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Whenever…

Source: The Bombs May Not HaveDropped Yet, But We ARE at War

Homes for the Megarich

http://www.news.com.au/finance/money/wealth/the-fourpack-todays-megarich-chasing-a-portfolio-of-homes/news-story/68b8542d2fd26093f84a89004a8ea3ba

What can be in it for us in future?

http://www.amazon.com/People-Get-Ready-Citizenless-Democracy/dp/1568585217

Some very interesting book reviews about this book to be found in Google!

People Get Ready: The Fight Against a Jobless Economy and a Citizenless Democracy Hardcover – March 8, 2016

by Robert W McChesney (Author), John Nichols (Author)

“Humanity is on the verge of its darkest hour—or its greatest moment

The consequences of the technological revolution are about to hit hard: unemployment will spike as new technologies replace labor in the manufacturing, service, and professional sectors of an economy that is already struggling. The end of work as we know it will hit at the worst moment imaginable: as capitalism fosters permanent stagnation, when the labor market is in decrepit shape, with declining wages, expanding poverty, and scorching inequality. Only the dramatic democratization of our economy can address the existential challenges we now face. Yet, the US political process is so dominated by billionaires and corporate special interests, by corruption and monopoly, that it stymies not just democracy but progress.

The great challenge of these times is to ensure that the tremendous benefits of technological progress are employed to serve the whole of humanity, rather than to enrich the wealthy few. Robert W. McChesney and John Nichols argue that the United States needs a new economy in which revolutionary technologies are applied to effectively address environmental and social problems and used to rejuvenate and extend democratic institutions. Based on intense reporting, rich historical analysis, and deep understanding of the technological and social changes that are unfolding, they propose a bold strategy for democratizing our digital destiny—before it’s too late—and unleashing the real power of the Internet, and of humanity.”

PEOPLE GET READY: THE FIGHT AGAINST A JOBLESS ECONOMY AND A CITIZENLESS DEMOCRACY

I COPY HERE A PAST EVENT DETAIL:

A conversation with the authors

Monday, March 7, 3-5 p.m.

PSU Market Center Building, room 123

Free and open to the public

Humanity is on the verge of its darkest hour—or its greatest moment. In their new book, People Get Ready: The Fight Against a Jobless Economy and a Citizenless Democracy, Robert W. McChesney and John Nichols argue that the U.S. needs a new economy in which revolutionary technologies are applied to effectively address environmental and social problems and used to rejuvenate and extend democratic institutions.

“John Nichols and Robert W. McChesney make a compelling, and terrifying, case [for] a radical reform agenda to take power back from the corporations and give it to the people.”
— Naomi Klein

“Nichols and McChesney call us, as Tom Paine did more than two centuries ago, to turn knowledge into power.”
— Bernie Sanders

John Nichols is the Nation’s national affairs correspondent, a contributing writer for the Progressive and associate editor of the Capital Times. He frequently appears on MSNBC, NPR, BBC, and other broadcast media outlets.

Robert W. McChesney is the Gutgsell Endowed Professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He is the author or editor of twenty-three books and his work has been translated into thirty-one languages.

Co-hosted by the Portland State University Institute for Sustainable Solutions and Department of Communications.

Roosevelt’s Second Bill of Rights

The Fight Against a Jobless Economy and a Citizenless Democracy

In the above film review Dr. Bramhall points out that

“Roosevelt’s Second Bill of Rights included the basic right of all Americans to

• Employment (right to work)
• Food, clothing and leisure, via enough income to support them
• Farmers’ rights to a fair income
• Freedom from unfair competition and monopolies
• Housing
• Medical care
• Social security
• Education”

Dr. Bramhall says:

“For me, the most interesting part of his presentation was a discussion of Franklin D Roosevelt’s Second Bill of Rights.* According to McChesney, both Germany and Japan incorporated this Second Bill of Rights into their constitutions after World War II. This, in his view, explains why both countries have become economic powerhouses.”

and she says in reply to a comment: “What I found even more surprising was learning that US government (as an occupying power) wrote the Japanese and German constitutions incorporating the Second Bill of Rights.”

Malcolm Turnbull, Australian Prime Minister

The rise and fall of Malcolm Turnbull

You find this article by Kaye Lee here:

http://theaimn.com/rise-fall-malcolm-turnbull/#comments

In one of her answers to a comment Kaye Lee says:

Kaye LeeMarch 18, 2016 at 12:15 pm

While they argue about rubbish in parliament, Australia is the only OECD country to not show improvement over the last two years in jobs, economic growth, productivity, balance of trade, wealth and debt. – in 5 areas we have gone backwards.

The data confirms Australia’s economy has worsened significantly since they replaced the discredited Tony Abbott and Joe Hockey in September.

Debt has increased at a higher rate. Actual employment, measured by hours worked per person per month, has fallen. December’s trade deficit at negative $3,524 million is in the four worst in Australia’s history. Wages are rising at the lowest rate since the GFC in 2009.

Morrison has changed his mind on GST, negative gearing, superannuation tax concessions, tobacco tax, bracket creep, and the backpackers tax – all in 6 months.

https://independentaustralia.net/politics/politics-display/scott-morrison-worse-treasurer-than-joe-hockey-say-it-isnt-so,8787#.VuqeXRBn8VY.twitter

So what is Parliament doing? Arguing about Senate voting reform and the Safe Schools Coalition and what date the budget will be delivered.

Oy vey.

Wet Weather Problems

It is still a huge tree, even though Peter just cut off about a dozen huge leaves. Why did he have to cut off some more of the leaves? Well, we had some problems with water coming through the roof onto the bathroom heating-lights! This was the other night after we have had a few horrendous downpours. So the next morning (that was yesterday) he looked at the roof to find out whether there were some lose tiles. To his satisfaction all the tiles seemed to be in the right position. However some huge, wet branches of the palmtree were hugging the spot of the roof where the water had come through.

Peter decided all these branches needed cutting off. He set to work straight away. My foot was pretty sore again that morning. Peter realized that I needed to rest it. But he asked me to come out with him anyway to keep him company. He set up two chairs for me, one to sit on, the other one for putting up my legs. I felt quite comfortable sitting there and took some photos while Peter was working, working, working. It took him only about one hour, and the job was finished. I was amazed how quickly he was able to cut all the leaves into small pieces to place them in the council’s garden refuse bin. The bin is outside right now at the kerb for collection for today all our bins are out for rubbish and garden refuse collection.

By the way, we think that unfortunately this whole palm-tree has to go soon for apart from the large leaves growing across our roof again and again it is causing unacceptable damage to our backyard fence. It has just grown much too huge. We never thought it would become that big.

Here are all the photos I took yesterday from where I was sitting on my chair:

Caroline Herschel, 266th Birthday, to be looked up on Google!

Caroline Lucretia Herschel was born in the town of Hanover on 16 March 1750. She was the eighth child and fourth daughter of Isaac Herschel and his wife, Anna Ilse Moritzen. Isaac became a bandmaster in the Guards, was away with his regiment for substantial periods, and suffered ill-health after the battle of Dettingen in 1743.[2]
At the age of ten, Caroline was struck with typhus, which stunted her growth, so that she never grew past four-foot three.[1] Her family assumed that she would never marry and her mother felt it was best for her to train to be a house servant. Her father wished her to receive an education, but her mother opposed this. Her father sometimes took advantage of her mother’s absence to teach her directly or include her in her brother’s lessons. Caroline was allowed to learn millinery and dress-making and worked hard at various types of fancy-work, with a view to someday supporting herself.

. . . .

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caroline_Herschel

. . . .

In 1846, at the age of 96, she was awarded a Gold Medal for Science by the King of Prussia, conveyed to her by Alexander von Humboldt, “in recognition of the valuable services rendered to Astronomy by you, as the fellow-worker of your immortal brother, Sir William Herschel, by discoveries, observations, and laborious calculations”.

She Once Said, ‘As Much as we Need a Prosperous Economy, We also Ned a Prosperity of Kindness & Decency’

Carolina Herschel Wikipedia page

Herschel was an extremely intelligent and insightful person. Her quotes are celebrated, her are some of the most poignant that celebrate her birthday, via 10 Best Quotes:

We do not judge great art. It judges us.

If men had to do their vile work without the assistance of woman and the stimulant of strong drink they would be obliged to be more divine and less brutal.

I approach serious subjects, and I like to have the good guys win and have the parents among the good guys.

As much as we need a prosperous economy, we also need a prosperity of kindness and decency.

Femininity appears to be one of those pivotal qualities that is so important no one can define it.

One of the greatest gifts my brother and I received from my mother was her love of literature and language. With their boundless energy, libraries open the door to these worlds and so many others. I urge young and old alike to embrace all that libraries have to offer.

Caroline Herschel: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know