MS and being a Grandmother in a broken State

Some time ago, I got out of bed and could not walk. We called an ambulance, and I was taken to Princess Alexandra hospital, in Brisbane. There, after a few days and a lot of tests (so  many that the thought of tests still causes me to feel unwell) I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. This is an illness in which the brain is attacked, by the immune system. I would be surprised by this, were neurological disease not visible through my Father's family line (he had Parkinson's disease) and before that there were cases of rheumatoid arthritis and earlier, some odd  thing that the sufferer bought to Melbourne (from New Zealand) and was healed of. 

In hospital I was taught how to walk with a 'wheelie walker'. I came home, my Grandson grumbled about my being able to still walk faster than he could despite my using an aid and my walker briefly became the most fun thing for young members of the family to ride on ... and I stopped using  it. It was not believable. From that I moved to a walking stick, which is useful as far as balance goes but not as far as threatening the family cats with (they know I'm lying, you see). I could not type, or hand write. I was/am often tired, and not often able to take notice of political things. 

Political things in Australia are fairly silly at the moment, so perhaps it's a good time to take a break. Which is what I will continue to do. I look forward to writing about the abuse of asylum seekers, and about the use of other State's misbehaviour to cloak one's own ... maybe the punitive choice of making convicted Bikies wear pink clothing in prison (yes, as I said, it has become silly) and the use of the poor, aged, unemployed and disabled to pay down a national debt that is the envy of most of the world (because it's so low.) A 'debt and deficit disaster' that is non existent. I could go on but weariness is hitting. Time for a break. Thanks to those who have read this Blog. Thanks for your encouragement! Take care.

Ruth

     

Welcome and an apology

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Welcome to one of the most neglected political Blogs in the history of blogging. (It's hyperbole I know, indulge me.)  Having been very busy attending to a family crisis that is now resolved, I'm back to work! What has been happening in the world of politics?

Middle East - human rights breaches and various kinds of war

UK -  Investigations into the media (the Leveson inquiry) and such serious

problems found that the role of media as 'the fourth estate' and/or the value of this is under serious question (while the media thinks of vital to democracy the rest of us don't know what it is or means.)

U.S - climate change and weather disaster along with political interest following a federal election

Europe - climate change and weather related disaster

Asia - apparently a joke naming the North Korean leader the 'sexiest man alive' was repeated as gospel by certain Chinese media

Australia - nothing... wait … my mistake … federal stoushes relating to claims the Prime Minister did bad things long ago or that the leader of the Australian Opposition is sexist and given to dishing 'sleaze' and … last year … in the state of Queensland the ruling party changed the law, so that MPs from it's ranks who quit and sought to join a small fringe party have lost the right to be considered a 'party' by the parliament, unless they have three elected members … seen as a blatant move to silence opposition and punish the 'unfaithful'.  Federal moves supposedly designed to cause single parents (most of these are female so single mothers) to 'get a job' resulting in increased impoverishment for an all ready powerless, impoverished group at least half of whom have been working anyway and their children, the internet providing a ready window into the lives of a group who now will go without food so that their kids can eat. Congratulations Australia.

Beauty, like politics, is at the heart of things. Freedom from violence, freedom to be at peace, to believe (or not), to love, to learn, these belong at the heart of things. Beauty joins them, always. One of my daughters took this photo and shared it with me, she has a talent for striking to the heart. I’m sharing it, beauty, something that sits at the center of things, an essential for humanity. 

http://www.tumblr.com/blog/heartofthings

When sons Vanish

Is there a mother in the country, whose heart doesn't clench a little, when the Australian media reports the disappearance of a teenage boy? Is there a family in Queensland who didn't watch, perhaps unwillingly but watch nonetheless, as developments unfolded in the search for missing teenager, Daniel Morcombe? A mother whose heart doesn't ache for the suffering etched on Denise Morcombe's face? I wonder how many prayers were uttered on behalf of this family, from pulpits and pews in Australia last weekend? They were heard in the church I attended. How many parents and siblings wonder how it must be, to be Daniel's twin brother, growing up and living with what might have happened to Daniel? Bradley Morcombe talked about his brother in 2009, about his first attendance at school without his twin, about missing him constantly. Perhaps mothers are not the only people whose hearts ache when they hear news about missing children.

While the Morecombe family continues an experience that must be excruciatingly painful, we are watching a family confronted with evil of a kind most of us can barely imagine. We are watching a family living so as to oppose it. The loss of a son and brother has taken this family into determined, effective charitable action on behalf of lost children and their parents. See the bottom of this page for links to the charity. Evil touches our lives in a variety of ways. Reading the media on the kinds of things criminals interviewed in the Morcombe case had to say about what happens to children who are snatched, abused and killed, is like looking into the face of pure evil.

Anyone with a BA including a little sociology can tell us the popular stance on childhood. It’s something we created and in the past people didn’t treasure children the way we do now. We ‘created’ childhood, as a stage of life that requires protection and special care. However, reading the pages of the Christian Bible, one finds a wealth of reference to the value of children. Jesus of Nazareth said that ‘the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to such as these.’ (Mark 10:14) That part of our heritage which is Christian includes both the reality of suffering and hardship in children’s lives, and a reason for treasuring our children. It is they to whom the ‘kingdom of heaven’ belongs,

The danielmorcombe foundation can be located by clicking on this link.

We protected the cows

The Senate committee looking at proposed changes to the Family Law Act 2006, the Family Law Legislation (Family Violence and Other Measures) Bill 2011, tabled its report on Monday. It's a report that favours change, a report that recognises the unfortunate message the current wording of the Act gives, to Australians. Under the terms of the current Act, abuse of various kinds is given a category, which includes the word 'serious'. We have inclined toward leaving abuse alone, unless it is 'serious'. Any protective parent will tell you that in the Family Court of Australia, 'serious' means 'blood on the floor in front of the judge'. How has this categorising developed?

As a community, with significant encouragement from father's rights groups, Australians are inclined to believe that women often lie about family violence. We believe that the children of abusive parents are better given to the abusive parent than they are not knowing the parent. This relates to a misinterpretation of data published by the AIFS some time ago. We also seem to think that protective parents should be punished for attempting to protect their children. At the latter point, we become the epitome of the abuser. We use children, to punish an uncooperative parent. A parent who appears 'unfriendly' about a child's relationship with an abuser, may have his or her children removed from his or her care, and handed to an alleged abuser. That is akin to saying; “If you don't smile for the man who bashed/abused you and give your baby to him regularly and look happy about it, we will take your baby and give it to him for good.” This happens. Children die of it. It's something the Senate committee wants changed. This is where the catch and the cows come in.

When the media published footage/photos and reports of cows being ill treated in Indonesian abattoirs, the Australian public and its government acted almost overnight. Live exports to Indonesia were stopped. We prefer cows we eat to be treated nicely before they are slaughtered. On the other hand, although we know that children are suffering, even dying, we have little to say. Writing for The Age, Andrea Petrie and Michelle Griffin (The kids are not all right, August 17, 2011) refer to the distress of a mother who regularly hands her child to an her alleged abuser. Each time she hands the child over, she is terrified it will be the last time she sees the child alive. This is the experience Darcey Freeman's mother had, before Darcey's father threw her off a bridge to her death. Every weekend parents across the country have varying degrees of this experience.

The Family Law Act is in the process of being changed. It's taking a while, but it's important that this time, we get it right. In the meantime, we protected the cows. We made a big fuss and government acted fast. The industry attached to bovine abuse seems to have been suitably punished. And the Family Law Legislation (Family Violence and Other Measures) Bill 2011 grinds its inexorably tedious way through the systems of governmental process. One hopes that one day it will become law. I wonder how many children might die waiting? In the meantime I suppose that at least we protected the cows.

Australians are worried. Our worries revolve around money. Instead of spending money, we're saving it. “Households are stashing away cash...” we're told. I can't help feeling guilty, instead of stashing cash, I buy a little ice cream. Or a little chocolate. When the media makes a noise about power prices rising, I diminish our power consumption. As a result, when the power price rises, ours falls. None of that assists the economy because apart from the ice cream and chocolate treat, I'm not buying stuff. In fact I'm avoiding buying stuff. I'm one of the nervous Australians who wants to not spend, in case things go pear shaped. 'Pear shaped' in this context means 'anything that prevents us paying our bills and purchasing essentials'. By 'essentials' I don't mean ice cream and chocolate. I mean medication so that my transplantee husband can stay alive. I mean meat, carbohydrate, fruit and vegetables, so we don't become malnourished. Then things like power, water, communications costs (internet and phone). And as a luxury my university fees and things related to study.

Leading with an article that seems to berate Gen Y for 'staying home more', a development that is 'worrying business', media reports a dip in consumer activity. Gerry Harvey is quoted as saying that consumers are 'rattled' http://www.news.com.au/money/money-matters/australians-saving-out-of-fear-and-its-doing-the-economy-no-favours/story-e6frfmd9-1226097253516. He likens consumer sentiment to the kind we might have if there was 12 % unemployment. Employment is sitting at 5 %. Maybe spending on non essential items is something some people have begun to feel they can manage without. You can only kid people that they need a house looking like it stepped off The Block, or a kitchen that appears to be loosely related to Master chef, for so long. The next enormous household utility bill arrives and the makeover desire evaporates, only to be matched by a desire to maybe be able to heat the living areas (or sleeping, depending on the ages and viral status of those who need heating) of the house for a couple more months, by which time the winter weather might be over. And that's for a household without a mortgage, which pays no rent. Add the cost of shelter, and people on low incomes are in deep water. No wonder Australians are worried.