Dare to think for yourself
Dare to think for yourself
slow down you move too fast (click to listen to feeling groovy….) very important to play this song whilst reading!)….breathe. Spring is on its way…
I realise now what it was that had caused me so much angst and reflection and challenge……. I had been missing – what with the travel and the freeze – the water ions, one of the things that makes me so happy in Geneva … the lake.
Is this a social or a philosophical question? A moral dilemma? Or a reflection on our changing society.
When do we act? How do we act and how should we act and why is it such a question.
The solution lies within the self and self’s reaction – to oneself and to those around. The simple framework to guide is to do no harm……to others, nor yourself.
Above all, retain your passion……
{Photo of Rocio Molina by F. Valaquez – ole! 6 Feb en Ginebra… http://www.leprogramme.ch/festival-antigel/rocio-molina-vinatica}
Balance, that is what it is all about.
A history revision will of course explain that the Holy Grail is about a sacred object – interpreted throughout history from the mundane – as a cup or dish from the last supper (and then used later to collect Jesus Christ’s blood);
to the sacred – a vessel to hold the sacrament; to the esoteric – a vessel allegedly given to Joseph of Arimathea by Jesus Christ, which sustained the former’s survival for 42 years in prison;
to the valuable and powerful, a precious stone with miraculous powers; and finally the symbolic, as Mary Magdalene’s tomb and later as depicting the female womb and bloodline of Mary and Jesus. (Some say this is symbolised by an inverted pyramid, and shown in Da Vinci’s last supper).
Feliz ano nuevo!
Just returned from Mexico. In particular the Teotihuacan pyramids/temples. Amazing. Need to go back though, as circumstances meant only had 2 hours to view and absorb a site at which one could spend a day.
An interesting article on Latin America – and Brasil’s new leader Dilma Rouseff - whilst reading the saturday morning news over a galette… as well as a friend’s twitter :
…. led me to delve into my information files now my Geneve life is sorting itself out, to review the list of women leaders.
Entrevista de euroXpress con Giji Gya, Directora Ejecutiva del International Security Information Service (ISIS Europe), y Experta Asociada de la Fundación para las Relaciones Internacionales y el Diálogo Exterior (FRIDE)
euroXpress.- Las potencias occidentales y la OTAN están considerando la posibilidad de una intervención militar en Libia para evitar más derramamiento de sangre de civiles, ¿cree usted posible un nuevo escenario bélico internacional? 
Giji Gya.- En estos momentos se está considerando la posibilidad de establecer un espacio de exclusión aérea,pero una intervención con ataques aéreos sobre el territorio de Libia es otra cosa. Los países con la capacidad necesaria – incluyendo en particular a E.E.U.U. y Reino Unido – son reacios a involucrarse de esa manera en otro país después de las muchas críticas que han tenido por sus intervenciones en Irak y Afganistán.
A day in the life….. (too long for twitter and about as weird as you’ll ever get me on facebook so enjoy………..). Writing on EU policy implementation on women in conflict… phone rings, Italian number - a friend – Canadian, was in Thailand, now leaving for DRC on the same day I do on Saturday…. freaky. But they to Kishasa, me to Goma. Just as close together as Perth and Sydney. Then computer crashed. Felt a strange and rare need for a cigar (whilst contemplating how to design a 1325/1820 cf Comprehensive Approach/CSDP implementation doc whilst pc reboots).
Vague recollection that there was a cohiba in a romeo y julieta case in the junk drawer (every good house needs a junk drawer) looked. Couldn’t find it. But in the meantime remembered where I’d put my yellow fever vaccination certificate for Saturday travel. Plus need to remember to get 2nd dose of malarone for malaria prevention (Dr didn’t give me enough the 1st time). Checked drawer again. Discovered where I’d left my penknife (useful for DRC?) ..then found cigar case! Empty. Oh. Need to go to Cuba…………..
Age letters (below is the text before newspaper editing)
It was with great hope, but then with sadness, that I read The Sunday Age (30/11). On the positive side, Leunig’s calendar for 2004 gave us a poignant message, subtly calling on us to look a little deeper and more philosophically.
It was then sad to find that the 64-page “Christmas essentials” merely pointed (by its immense size and content) to a deep problem. Christmas, essentially, should be about spending time with friends and family to talk and reflect on the year, and to indulge in a little feasting and revelry.
It is not supposed to be about how many, how extravagant or how desirable are the material possessions with which we bombard each other. It would do us good, as a nation and as individuals, to reflect a little on the past year: the invasion of Iraq, the threat of AIDS, the poverty levels in Australia and the world in general – and then to act for the good of humanity.
A more secure humanity gives us all security, and you can reflect this in your gifts. For example, you could buy coffee or hand-woven bookmarks from East Timor; use the Salvos’ envelope in the The Sunday Age to help a homeless child; support Community Aid Abroad or the New Internationalist in the promotion of fair trade; support a child’s health or education through the UN Global Parent fund; or provide help for humanitarian organisations working in Afghanistan, Iraq, Philippines, DRC; empower women by donating to International Women’s Development Agency.
Many aid organisations and NGOs (such as Amnesty and MSF) sell greetings cards, the proceeds going to their work. Give gifts that give twice.
Giji Gya
(former) Executive Officer, Medical Association for Prevention of War
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/12/16/1039656303847.html
Dear Editor,
I write regarding today’s curious article on the now required ID checks for posting items over 500 grams overseas. The article comments that Australia Post has supposedly put in place this mechanism for ‘enhanced security measures’ due to concerns of terrorism – perhaps using such ‘terrorist’ material such as toxic chemicals or biological agents or the odd batch of uranium.Yet have they not realized that this mechanism would exclude the infamous ‘anthrax letters’ that were found in the US (which were sent not by terrorists but allegedly an internal affair)?
A better solution is to insist on vigorously supporting enforcement protocols to safeguard biological, chemical and nuclear materials with international monitoring mechanisms by experts – not postal workers. These international protocols are currently being undermined by the very governments – in particular the US – that claim to be fighting a “war on terror” on our behalf.
Rather than putting the strain and consequence on the civilian population, governments should be safeguarding us through international law and abiding by international enforcement and disarmament agreements designed for the very purpose of protecting us.
The US and Iraq have some interesting similarities. Neither have signed the Landmine Ban Treaty, both supported Saddam Hussein in the 1980s and both are in violation of international law by allegedly currently creating, keeping and apparently intending to use weapons of mass destruction.
