Monthly Archives: June 2012

Collective Poem….. Add a line of your own…. Let’s see where this goes…..

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Collective poetry- the basics.

I’ll start the poem with just one line and you, my dear bloggy friends and poets, are warmly invited to add your own lines in the comment section bellow.

Every now and then I’ll put the poem together in its collective form so that you can continue to add to it and others can join in.

The construction of this poem is open to anyone who wishes to add to it, poet or no, we’ve all got things to say….

Okay….. here we go…… first line…… and no it does not have to rhyme.

I used to have a perfect mouth,

That spoke of days gone by (Ruth2day)

Where imperfect syllables came out (Ian Moone)

funny, often wry (Julia Dean Richards)

As I greenly kissed your azure heaven (Lady Day)

but none listened (Ariane Zurcher)

And you hear of many truths (Boomiebol)

From the heart my words would flow (paulaacton)

Glittering in a pretentious dye (parshant)

With dirty words I just can hold back. (Silentlyheardonce)

to poison those I love, (Sacha Black)

distorted but defining (Cathmae)

We look to the heavens above (Nutsfortreasure)

The repressed taint redounded (Angel Fractured)

……… (add your lines here)

The Topic of ‘Boat People’ in Australia It’s not the number of Refugee’s but their method of arrival that is the main concern.

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English: Orthographic map of Australia centere...

Is it just me, or does anyone else consider the amount of media and political discussion dedicated to the so-called “menace of  boat people” in Australia to be just a tad bit over done?

When compared to the level of media coverage and political discussion over other equally important, though seldom discussed issues, such as the National Disability Insurance Scheme and the status of the Disability Support Frameworks within Australia, the issue of  illegal refugees seems to be getting a much bigger chunk of the pie.

When you look at the practicalities of it all, the number of illegal refugee‘s accessing this country pale in comparison with the number of Australians living with or caring for family members with long-term health conditions or  disabilities.

Australia does not take in the largest number of refugee’s, nor does it refuse the largest number of refugee’s and it’s certainly in no danger of ever achieving either of those statuses. So why is there suddenly so much urgency and debate on the issue?

Illegal refugee’s come here by boat and to me that seems to be the main issue.

It’s not that Australia is receiving too many illegal refugee’s, because it’s not by a long stretch (even of  Tony Abbott‘s  imagination). The issue is that the refugee’s arrive via boats that are often un-sea-worthy vessels in the first place and as a result they arrive in extremely poor health.

It seems only logical to me that if this is the main issue, then maybe we should be doing something to address this factor, rather than debating where to put refugee’s once they have landed on our shores.

I think the Australian public has for too long been confused by the nature of the debates taking place.

So let me just make this point. Australia is not in danger of being over-run by illegal refugees.

Even if Australia took in every refugee that made it to our shores we would still not be in danger of being  over-run by refugees.

The number of people of arriving should not even be part of the debate.

It’s not the number of refugee’s arriving but the method via which they are arriving and the poor health status they endure as a result of  it.

However, when it comes to the broader issue of how Australia treats  its own aging population, or those with long-term  health conditions or disabilities, both the political arena and the media scrum fall deathly silent.

Yet these are the real issues that are causing long-term hardships and economic crisis’ to a much larger number of Australians than the issue of  illegal refugee’s ever could.

Statistically speaking Australia is in more danger of being over-run by those with long-term health conditions and the elderly than it ever will be of  being over-run by refugee’s.

So why aren’t we as a nation focusing more on what needs to be done to help and support those whom we already know are the most vulnerable in our society?

Why are we instead, spending millions of dollars debating the issue of ‘illegal refugee’s’ when, in the grand scheme of things there are far bigger issues facing Australia than ‘boat people’ ?

I’m sure that those struggling to live on the old age pension or those who are providing underfunded 24 hour care for a disabled family member would love to see their issues receive the degree of publicity and public awareness  that the issue of the ‘illegal refugee’ is currently generating.

Why do we as a country continue to allow our national debates to be framed by the rhetoric of the latest bout of political and  media based sensationalism?

Am I alone in this view or are there a few others who share my concerns?

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Blogging and Copy Right Do we really own our words on the Internet?

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Symbol for copy & paste problem on the English...

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

To me this is a puzzling question. In the days before blogging, when words were written securely on paper and the issue of copy right was as easy to deal with as posting your own work to yourself through the mail, we all knew exactly where we stood.

But is it the same today?

Well in theory yes. One should always retain the right to their own intellectual work. No doubt about that, but in practice on the internet,  I don’t see how the ideal of copy right can actually apply.

If I post a poem on my blog site, just  what mechanisms are there in place to prevent someone else from copying and pasting it on to their own blog site or their computer and claiming it as their own?

What if others engage in the age-old literary practice of taking a line from one of my poems and construct their own work from it? Are they stealing  my words? Or are they stealing  my ideas? Or both?

This question has vexed the literary community for years, hence the creation of intellectual Copy Right in the first place.  Yet as far as I’m aware there can be no copy right on ideas, only words that have actually been written.

So Copy Right on the internet can only extend to the written word, but is it even doing that?

I know  the first time I saw one of my own poems cut and pasted onto another’s blog post ,  I was genuinely taken aback.

To be honest it did not make me feel particularly good. Especially considering that the person who had copied it had not left a comment nor notified me in any other way that they had done so.

This left me questioning just how protected are the creative works that any of us  post on the internet?

It also lead me to another broader question which is,  can there really be such a thing as intellectual ownership, if we are prepared to give our words away for free in our blog posts?

When I really thought about it, I came to the conclusion, that as long as my work is always credited back to me, then I’m okay with others copying it.

My rational for this decision in the end was incredibly simple.

If I weren’t posting my poems on the internet, the chances that anyone else would ever  see them would be incredibly slim.

When I really take the time to consider why it is that I continue to write and share my words on the internet, it becomes clear to me that I do so because  I wish to give voice to  my own experiences. The issue of Copy Right in this sense doesn’t really come into it. Although like everyone else I would prefer that credit be given where ever that credit is due.

So I’ve decided, that despite the dubiousness of Copy Right on the internet, I would sooner share my words than remain silent on the issues that affect my life.

The other question that struck me is,  just who am I on the internet anyway?

A faceless name? A pseudonym? A pseudonym, that should anyone choose to look it up, would not lead inexorably back to me, the person behind the words.

Given this, how on earth would the internet pseudonym that is me,  ever be able to  prove ownership of my work anyway?  And if I cannot prove my words are my own then how can I expect to protect them through Copy Right ?

To me the answers to these questions are still unclear.

Although I have seen a few bloggers  trying to address this issue by stating that the works on their blog site are covered by Copy Scape.

Yet when I checked Copy Scape I found that you could simply cut and paste the logo without actually employing the Copy Scape system.  I think the term ‘as safe as houses’ may apply here. I also found that the use of Copy Scape involved a fee (if anyone  reading this is using Copy Scape could you please let me know how effective it is and whether or not you would recommend it?).

So all these questions regarding Copy Right and the overall lack of clarity surrounding their answers, have led me to consider  just what the correct protocol should be when  incorporating another bloggers work into your own blog?

Is it okay to copy and paste  entire works, such as poems, onto your own blog?

Does  providing a name or a  link back to the original author make it okay to reproduce another’s work without prior permission?

Is hitting the  reblog button simply the most ethically correct way to go  when it comes to sharing the works of others?

What method of sharing do you prefer when it comes to others distributing your work?

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The Star Wars That I Used To Know

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Reblogged from Stories by Williams:

You know that song that's been getting stuck in your head over and over for the last year or so, thanks to viral videos and constant radio exposure? Well, if you're not thinking of "Somebody That I Used to Know" - the Gotye original that was recently covered and re-popularized by Walk of the Earth - then we are on two completely different wavelengths!

Read more… 84 more words

This is just so well done... and lets face it..... who among us hasn't asked this question??? Enjoy = )

I Feel Like An Aspie Cat (Cat With Asperger’s Syndrome)

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Why do I feel like an Aspie Cat? Well it’s quite simple, or rather complex, depending on you understanding of computers, WordPress and blogging.

Please note that for me this means the answer must be quiet simple, as I have no grasp what so ever of the complexities of either amalgamating, programming or running data scripts.

So in Aspie Cat terms, my WordPress reader thingy isn’t working. This distresses me deeply.  I keep swatting at the like button on all the wonderful posts that I so enjoy reading, but the like icon refuses to stay to blue.

So I swat and sigh and clean  (do the dishes) instead. Then pop my head back up for another try.

But alas…. it’s just not working……  so I’ll just go off now and play with my mouse for a while…..

Or maybe  I’ll try and locate that lost ball of wool…..

Apparently it’s not the only thing with a thread loose…….

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Word Hugs

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Don’t you just love the way a good book can embrace you. Take you in and carry you far, far, away, from the worries of the every day, or reflect some essential truth, hidden in the mist of  daily being?

Words can hug you,

Holding you joyously captive,

Before gently releasing you,

Back into the ebb and flow of life,

Adding always some fresh ingredient,

To the heady worldly  mix,

Of thoughts and feelings,

That eternally surround you.

Words can become life rafts,

Keeping you afloat,

In the ocean of emotions,

That can sometimes threaten,

To drag you under.

Words can hold and hug you,

Keeping you warm and safe,

Becoming a source of nutrients,

Especially when the world outside,

Removes  all semblance,

Of  its grace.

I love finding  authors whose words somehow, always, make you feel as if you are coming home. No matter what the genre. Here are a few authors that always hold me in their words Jane Austen, Mary Shelley,  Virginia Wolf,  Jeanette Winterson, Jenny Diski,   Jodi Picoult, Maeve Binchey,  Stephen Donaldson, Tess Gerritsen, Karen Rose and Karin Slaughter ….. the list quite simply could go on and on…..

Which authors words reach out and hug you?

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Spice Girls Reunite

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Spice Girls in Toronto Air Canada Center.

Valuable contribution to the world or shameless self promotion?

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It may be your home, but is it really your house? Exploring the Public Housing Debate.

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Seventh Voice Original

In Australia we are lucky. We have a system that provides public housing for those who are unable to afford the private rental market. Well in theory, that’s what it’s there for.

Of late there’s been a lot of discussion as to whether  individuals  who are living in public housing, have the right to remain in properties that may better serve the needs of  those with young families.

The discussion goes as follows:

-In Australia we have a public housing shortage.

-This shortage is seeing those with young families on low or no incomes residing in temporary or short-term emergency accommodation.

-However, there is also a dire shortage of temporary or emergency accommodation due to the long lists of those requiring it while waiting for public housing to become available.

-Some young families are currently living out of friend’s garages, cars, caravans or tents.

-Australia is a country with a demographically aging population.

-Many who are now in public housing are aged 50 years or over. This means that their children have grown up and are typically no longer residing in the house with them.

-Hence we have individuals or couples living in 3 and 4 bedroom homes provided to them by public housing.

-These homes were secured originally as family dwellings when the occupant’s children were younger.

The proposed solution to the public housing crisis is that those individuals or couples who are now living in 3 or 4 bedroom  homes  that they no longer require, should be moved on to smaller public housing  residences in order to provide the current crop of struggling young families housing.

The problem is however, that those already situated within public housing, do not wish to move on from the homes they have lived in for years and in which their own children have grown up.

I can see this debate from both sides. As a child I grew up in public housing and I know first-hand  just how many memories can be attached to a family ‘home’ that is not technically your own.

Yet, also as a child, due to lack of accommodation, my family experienced living in a caravan for 4 months in winter.  It was awful, cold and soul-destroying.  I would never want to do that again and I could not imagine subjecting my own children to that kind of stressful homeless misery.

Now, as an adult, I live next door to a 3 bedroom public housing home. The tenants, a couple in their 50’s, have been there for over 27 years.  Their children are grown up. They both work and whilst they do not own the bricks and mortar they live in, they do indeed own the two 4 wheel drives and two speed boats that fill their lane way.

I have to admit that every time I see a report on the news about a young family being forced to live out of a car I wonder how it is that the couple next door can continue to live in a house far bigger than they actually need, while others who desperately need such accommodation are being told there’s no public housing available for them?

It also strikes me, that if the couple next door can afford 4 wheel drives and speed boats, then surely they can also afford to leave public housing?

So could it now be the case that those who have been receiving public housing for so long, genuinely no longer, actually need it, but rather, simply feel entitled to it?

Could it be that some people receiving  public housing  are abusing the system?

If so how do we stop this practice?

My solution to taking some of the emotion out of this debate is to ask these very simple questions:

If you were renting privately and the landlord chose not to renew your tenancy contract, but instead rent the house to another family, would you be able to refuse to move on the grounds that you did now want too?

Would it legally matter how long you’ve been living in that rental property?

Would viewing that rental property as your home legally prevent a landlord from being able to rent it to someone else?

Should having the income available to rent a private property, but choosing not too out of habit, be considered a legitimate reason to stay in public housing?

The answer to these questions is no.

You could not legally choose to stay in a house that is not yours just because you don’t want to move, have lived in it a long time, or view it as your home.

If the house is not your own, then whilst it may be your home, it is technically not your property.

Therefore I do not understand why choosing to remain in public housing when you have the financial ability not too, is seen as a viable mechanism for out-weighing the needs of those who genuinely require public housing.

I cannot help but to agree that it is time to  take a good long look at how our public housing system is being run and if necessary, overhaul all the inequities that have trickled in.

For whilst it may be a daunting and emotional experience to have to consider moving to a new location at a later stage in life, it is not a legitimate reason to prevent young families from benefiting from public housing.

That is , after all, what public housing is there for.

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Why does prejudice fade so slowly?

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Desperation Breeds...

Why does prejudice fade so slowly,

In this so-called,

Fast paced,

Life?

Why is it that we still lay the blame,

For some illnesses,

At the feet,

Of the,

Individual?

Don’t we know so much better,

By now?

If knowledge is power,

Then when will we,

Finally see fit,

To use it?