Results of Victorian state election

Phew! It seems finally over, and thank god/dess the Libs did not get in, once again, in our fair state of Victoria... Having said that, some aspects of the ABC's election coverage disturbed me: no mention at all of Malvern, the electorate I visited to hand out how-to-vote cards for People Power, a new political party furthering the interests of the disabled and mentally ill, in particular, represented by Deb Holmes in that area... In fact, no mention of People Power, Deb Holmes or Malvern whatsoever! Perhaps because it seemed all too foregone a conclusion (extreme Liberal stronghold, held by a margin of 10.2%), so Deb demonstrated some guts even having a go! Also held previously, interestingly enough, by previous Liberal premier Henry Bolte and the retired leader, Robert something-or-other (who cares?), in favor of Ted Baillieu, who continues to hold the seat of Hawthorn... Ted Baillieu has a gorgeous-looking wife and kids, btw, and I did like how his little son, in particular, put him temporarily on the spot, by saying that no, he would not vote for Ted Baillieu, unless Ted Baillieu got him a hot dog! lol

I had to go to the website, not the TV, to find out most of the above, except for the Ted trivia! lol

o O... I think they just mentioned People Power, for the first time, on TV, at 9:44 pm...in the context of eastern Victoria, small parties and balance of power in the upper house (actually technically the Legislative Council in Victoria, as opposed to Legislative Assembly, the lower house, for all you non-Victorians!) ;-))

In my own electorate of Prahran, we did not have a People Power candidate (too safe a Labor seat?), so I had to go Green with Labor preferences, as, it seems, also did plenty of others, although voting 1 People Power in our newly democratic (proportionally, as opposed to preferentially, represented) upper house seemed easy-peasy! ;-))

And Nards, a fellow wyrdling down Warrnambool way, gets to keep his Liberal member, the very snide Denis Napthine (whose wife I remember as a fellow teacher)! Oh, joy, he can keep him! ;-P

P.S. For Americans, Labor corresponds roughly to your Democrat, and Liberal to your Republican, believe it or not!

The worst dream!

Having worried for some time whether Bjorn Erik has died or not, I dreamt: I did get to see him, but he didn't want to know me; when I asked him, in Norwegian, "Do you think I'm ugly?", he just replied, "Yes, I think you're ugly..." ;-P

Have you heard the one about...? lol

Bill Clinton, Al Gore and George W. Bush went to a fitness spa for some fun. After a stimulating, healthy lunch, all three decided to visit the men's room where they found a strange-looking gent sitting at the entrance. He said: "Welcome to the gentlemen's room. Be sure to check out our newest feature, a mirror that, if you look into it and say something truthful, you will be rewarded with your wish. But be warned, if you say something false, you will be sucked into the mirror to live in a void of nothingness for all eternity!" The three men quickly entered and upon finding the mirror, Bill Clinton stepped up and said, "I think I'm the most intelligent of us three," and he suddenly found the keys to a brand new Bentley in his hands. Al Gore stepped up and said, "I think I'm the most ambitious of us three," and in an instant, he was surrounded by a pile of money to fund his next Presidential Campaign. Excited over the possibility of finally having a wish come true, George W. Bush looked into the mirror and said, "I think...," and was instantly sucked into the mirror.

An angry email I just sent to the Age

As a volunteer in the disability sector, I attended this week the pre-election forum held by the Coalition for Disability Rights, and felt depressed and disturbed to learn that, at this stage of the election campaign, neither major party has yet revealed its policy on disability services, and people have already begun to vote postally! The Minister for Community Services, Sheryl Garbutt, described the ALP's, almost with some smugness, as "a closely guarded secret", and I have the feeling that both major parties must have something to hide in this area. The Shadow Minister, Andrea Coote, seemed no better, as I learned that in her whole time in Parliament she has only put one question on disability services to Parliament, on record in Hansard, and doesn't an Opposition have to continually put hard questions to the government, to represent a viable Opposition? I think that both major parties have to hide their extremely low prioritisation of people with disabilities, their carers and families, and their extremely high support needs, and quality of life issues!

The promised universal wheelchair access in public buildings should begin with Parliament House itself, as I would have found it impossible to accompany a wheelchaired client on the Parliament House tour, as I could an able-bodied one!

I felt further appalled and outraged to read on page 1 of the Age yesterday (Wednesday) that this government can find $10,000,000 to spend on more guns for police, and the Victorian police at that, with their trigger-happy reputation, including taser stun guns and semi-automatics. I don't know what everyone else thinks, but I think it shows pretty skew-whiff and dodgy priorities, when they think that people expect to welcome them back with open arms for this, as if we need more police guns, like the proverbial hole in the head? How about thinking about real people with real needs, as in the disability services sector, for a change?

Yours sincerely,

Claire Pedersen

P.S. A pox on both their houses, and more power to People Power!

P.P.S. And it has not only snowed in November: it has also apparently snowed in southern Queensland in November - unheard of! Hell freezes over as we speak, but hopefully the rain has gone some way towards ending the drought! ;-O

The inner meaning of my recurring Sims dreams?

http://mmothra.blogspot.com/2005/01/crazy-hassan-his-clearinghouse-of.html

"Yule passes, and the sun comes dancing in joyfully. Crazy Hassan catches the sun up in his hands and dances with it, faster and faster. The sky swirls, day sky, night sky, morning and evening skies. "Nothing is True!! No truth anywhere!!," sings Crazy Hassan joyfully."

I love this; somehow it hints at the inner meaning of my recurring Sims dreams? ;-))

And, yes, Crazy Hassan seems strikingly apposite, not to mention a propos, as a/THE coyote/chaote figure? ;-))

"Space dust forms suns. Suns and planets form solar systems, solar systems form galaxies, galaxies form countless multiverses which flood the whirling fabric of spacetime as Crazy Hassan's laughter roars joyfully throughout."

>And Acme is very similar to Hassan I Sabbah's Clearing house of Delights

Hehe! And happy birthday to Bjorn Erik, wherever you find yourself, and many happy recurring solar returns!

And indeed everything happened in my astral scenarios last night, from someone suffering a fatal (?) beesting attack while making honey and beeswax at the honey-and-beeswax-making station, to a naked couple copulating on a lounge room floor, to orphaned kiddies trying to smuggle their way into new adoptive residences... ;-))

Finally...another dream!!!

I felt like I got a bit out of synch. with the Astral and Dream course last week, due to difficulties early in the week, actually downloading the course material videos, and feel almost a week behind as I start week 5, but only a couple of days, really! And last night, I did have another Sims dream, in which a character (me? Cornelia? Baba Yaga? one of the characters of myself as crone, anyway!) started creating a really magical site or lot, for herself, but also as a public magical venue: she still got the disintegration effect, but, as fast as things disintegrated, they got replaced by more magical "mystery boxes" for her to open, and either use, or sell for more buckeroos or Magic Coins, with the result that she ended up, (if "ended up" seems the right word, because the process or project has not actually finished!) developing a magical site with pay booths for different magical attractions, food stalls, sandwich boards advertising the place, stages for magical performances, to attract the crowds, etc.! I wish, I wish, I wish, I could do all this, in the real, mundane game!!