Grass Roots

Grassroots
Alisa Gordaneer

---

there’s a revolution afoot in the garden, the chickens
are scratching up resentment, the beans have surrendered.
it's become an all-out struggle, with worms,
beetles rambling in shiny coats
stolen
from the night’s shimmer.

at first it’s quiet, as though
you could imagine them fomenting quietly, muttering against
damp grass by moonlight, passing secret messages in
the scuttering of dry day. but the trees get wind of it, bushes
rustle, and suddenly the grasses know all, tell all
until the whole garden has rebellion on its leaftips, insurgency
in every seed.

it will go like this
despite the gardener, despite the scythe, despite
white flags waving from the laundry line.

Alisa Gordaneer is the 2005 Barbara Mandigo Kelly Peace Poetry Award Winner.

20 Frontiers of Global Conflict

http://conflict-frontiers.beyondintractability.org/gateways/conflict-frontiers/slideshow-short.jsp

Freedom = Violence

Researching I came across: http://www.classicalvalues.com/archives/2007/08/freedom_is_viol.html

This is my quick response, I couldn't post a response on the above-named blog...

Yes, you could say "Freedom = Violence". But only because the Capitalist Freedom believes in the inalienable right of every American (British, Australian, etc) to live as s/he desires regardless of the consequences to anyone else (outside of our country, thank you very much). Free Trade Agreements? how "free" do you think they really are? Has America stopped subsidizing it's farmers yet? I don't think so, yet America yells and screams for everyone else to cut tariffs to create an 'equal playing field', while giving it's own a giant leap into the stratosphere. South Korea has been planting rice for centuries and has the capacity to grow enough rice for it's population, yet subsized American rice undercuts market rates.

This is what us loonies in Peace Studies (and other associated fields) would call Structural Violence in the Name of Freedom. The real question is "Freedom for whom?", because it isn't freedom for all.

Conflict Transformation - the beginnings

Dear Reader,

in less than a month I begin studies in Conflict Transfomation. What is CT and why would I want to study it? Where am I studying and what does it entail?

The Masters in Conflict Transformation is offered in partnership with ACTS (Action for Conflict Transformation) and the Pannasatra University in Phnom Penh. There are several other course run in other continents (Balkans, eg) through the global ACTs network. It is a two-year program designed to be integrated into participants work-places. The final year is a major research project which I currently plan to be based on the experiences at Cheas Ponleu / WDO where I have been working the last 2 years.

Conflict exists everywhere, and at every level of society. There are many reasons and theoretical explanations for conflict. I am particularly interested in investigating conflict at the institutional and international level. We are living in a global community, and we cannot ignore the global effects our small, local lives have. The well-worn motto "think global, act local" sums up this intent pretty well.

In a place like Cambodia, institutional conflict is all around us, yet the political institution is resistant in letting voices of discontent to be heard. I hope to explore ways for Cambodians to express their voices of discontent in constructive ways, so that oppressed/oppressor can find common future paths, rather than seeing mutually exclusive ones. Many people's revolutions have simply turned the tables in who is oppressing whom. Iraq has demonstrated that while Saddam Hussein was an insane mad man, he kept an unsteady balance between warring factions. The military pre-emptive incursion in Iraq has created a blood-bath far beyond Saddam's regime, and has destabilised not only Iraq, but the political shere in the region. This, too could happen in Cambodia (but on a smaller scale). Hun Sen is the 'king-pin' of Cambodian political life. He holds many factions together and in somewhat-peaceful balance. This balance ensures that anyone who feels they are entitled to a piece of Cambodian wealth has it. Of course, this mainly benefits the Cambodian fat cats and usually disempowers and disenfranchises the poor, ethnic minorities, and sub-culture groups.

The 'answer' to Cambodia's 'problems' is not the removal of Hun Sen and his cronies by the powerless poor, thus turning them into powerful demagogues destined to repeat the horrors of the past, but to find a common future, where all can enjoy freedom of expression (of who they are, of dissent, of where they live, how they express religion, sexuality, personhood). Freedom to be truly human, not afraid to be such.

Right now I am pretty idealistic about Conflict Transformation, but I hope this course and my research will give me greater insight and practical applications for making positive use of the conflicts around us.

Humility Meditations

Each quarter of the year we spend a month or so reflecting on one of the
6 commitments of InnerCHANGE. This time around we are looking at the
commitment to Humility.

I suppose I have always thought of myself as humble, or at least, not
arrogant or self-seeking. But the past month has highlighted for me
times when I want to grab control of things. Especially as our team goes
through a leadership transition, I find myself dreaming of all the
things I could do with the team as part of the new leadership council.
And really I am looking at it as if our team were a blank sheet of
paper. But as I try to respect our former leader's contribution I
realise to actuate my plans right now, would be counteractive to the
commitment of humility. So I require patience.

Purple fingers

Returning to Phnom Penh, we found that everyone has dyed their right
index finger purple. In the tradition known as "throwing the sugar palm"
(បោះ​ត្នោត​) each Cambodian person over the age of 18 casts his or her
vote in the commune elections (Communes, larger than villages, are
somewhat like local governments and are responsible for regulating
various areas of Cambodian life).

Cambodian political life is broken down into various layers: national,
provincial, commune and village.

Doctor's widow receives maximum compo (The Age)

A Victorian hospital has paid the maximum compensation to the widow of a young doctor who died from epilepsy brought on by an excessive workload.

Dr Peter Nettelbeck, 28, was found dead at an accommodation unit at the Latrobe Regional Hospital, near Traralgon, 160km east of Melbourne, about midday on December 4, 2004.

The doctor, who had suffered a fatal epilepsy attack sometime after finishing his shift at the hospital about 12.30am (AEDT) on the same day, had been staying in the unit because he was on call.

Law firm Maurice Blackburn Cashman acted on behalf of Dr Nettelbeck's widow Katherine and their children Jeremy, five, and Elizabeth, two. Elizabeth was born a month after her father's death.

A spokesman for Maurice Blackburn Cashman said Latrobe Regional Hospital had agreed to pay Dr Nettelbeck's widow the maximum $186,650 in compensation allowable under the Victorian WorkCover Act.

The hospital also had agreed to pay Dr Nettelbeck's two children $10,370 each, with the money eing placed in a trust fund.

The family's lawyers said that Dr Nettelbeck's workload was a significant factor in his death.

The Melbourne County Court has heard evidence that Dr Nettelbeck's roster contributed to his death. In the 12 days prior to his death, he worked shifts finishing at 12.30am and was then on call after that time.

Documents submitted to the court showed that a medical panel had found that the shift work combined with being on call had resulted in sleep deprivation and irritability of the autonomic nervous system - which helps the body cope with stress - aggravating Dr Nettelbeck's epilepsy.

Ms Nettelbeck's lawyer Liberty Sanger said her client was happy with the outcome, but had maintained that her husband's death could have been avoided.

"She feels vindicated because she knew that Peter was complaining about being sleep deprived prior to his death," Ms Sanger said.

"But she also feels angry because she and Peter did so much together to manage his epilepsy, and she feels this was an avoidable tragedy."

Dr Nettelbeck, who had moved to Gippsland with his family at the beginning of 2004, was undertaking a post-graduate practitioner training register course at the time of his death.

In a tribute in the Gippsland Education and Training for General Practice 2005 annual report, Dr Nettelbeck was described as generous and warm, with "a delightful sense of humour".

"Our profession and community have suffered a great loss with his passing," the tribute said.

© 2007
AAP

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The Greening of the Religious Right

I have been listening in to Jean Feraca at www.wpr.org/hearonearth/, an online radio program. a couple of weeks ago she talked with Calvin B. DeWitt about the National Association of Evangelicals taking up the cause of global warming and "creation care". Then I came across this transcript of another interview from Living on Earth.



It's great to see Christians coming to the political fore of the call to care for God's Creation, not use and abuse it. Shame on those with their heads in the proverbial sand.





Technorati Tags: environment, religion, creation

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How effective is my life? Part 2

I checked out an article on personal goal setting at www.mindtools.com. I have used their materials before, namely when I prepared a SWOT analysis for the staff at Shining Light. It's a good read and I plan to use it as a basis for setting goals and a life plan.



I haven't really ever thought of Life Goals. I am such an 'in the present moment' person that trying to set goals for my life is overwhelming. But I am caught in a trap. To enjoy each moment I really need to set goals.



The other part of goal setting which I am poor at is reviewing my goals and achievements. I am the guy who writes in his daytimer my plans and meetings, but never bothers to look at them to make sure I am on time. When life is cruzy it's not a big problem, but when it's busy I end up double- and triple- booking myself.



Ultimately, my current malaise had been determined by my inability and lack of desire to set goals for myself. I have let life happen, and nothing much has happened as a result - or they happen by accident.



Technorati Tags: goal setting, life goals, effectivity

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The War Against Terror

I have been heartened by the recent reports on TV and in the print media, of our military efforts in Afghanistan. In a true "war against terror" our military are working against terrorism and militant opponents by "making them irrelevant". By completing "backyard blitzes" throughout their area of service, the true heroes in the "war against terrorism" are an inspiration in times that are filled with despair. Whether the war is finally won or not, the people who experience the generosity and commitment of our service men and women will remember them with fondness and kindness and perhaps will join in to make terrorism irrelevant, too.