KEEP A DIARY

As a school principal (now retired) and as a person who has connected with the training of teachers and through my blog and other writings, I have ALWAYS suggested that those working with people keep a detailed diary outlining the contexts of their association with people. Most certainly that was my practive from the commencement of my teaching career in 1970. My message to teachers, colleages and others working with people, is that you never know when documentation may be more than useful in helping refute false representations.

Ongoing events within Australia and the fact that alleged matters, years and years and years old, can be visited upon people remind me of the wisdom behind what might seem like irrelevant record keeping. Prudence outdoes suppose irrelevance every day of the week.

THE ‘LAST’ SPEECH IS FROM THE HEART

One of the characteristics of leaders and politicans I find interesting, is what they say on the last occasion they speak as CEO’s, Politicans or others in the public eye. For years and years these people tend to push the organisational line that may be less than fulsomely reflective of their own particular viewpoints. Then amazingly, their last deliveries juxtapose on what they may have been saying all those years while occupationally engaged.

Many come out with a ‘what is wrong’ with my organisation, even to the extent of remonstrating about the trends and directions that have been followed. This may include criticism of parallel organisations which would be unheard of while these people were still deeply embedded within their occupational roles. In no way would they speak out with any honest counter-conviction while still engaged in work, lest they be or be confronted with contract termination.

While these final salvos may be from the heart, they also expose the speakers as being somewhat hypocritical. These speeches confirm that conformity has been a dominating personal paradigm. While listeners may think or exclaim ‘hear, hear’, over speech sentiment, they may lose some of the respect they have had for the speakers in past times. To that end, while identifying with the truth of the speech, they may become disillusioned because what is being said, was kept under a shroud of silence during years that could have seen a positive difference made through change practice.

People become the slaves of organisations and remained shackled until they sever formal ties.

BANKS HAVE GONE DOWNHILL

Many years ago when I was a small boy, banks used to be friendly customer centric places. Bank managers knew their clients. Tellers were personable and interested in customers. They always had time to talk to people; people used to like going into banks because of the friendly and positive atmosphere that existed.

Fast forward 55 years and the banks I used to know, no longer exist. Gone is the friendly relaxed atmosphere. If you can “find” a real live bank with real life people inside, they’re interested in pushing people through as quickly as possible. Especially if you don’t want to borrow money or take out a loan. Banks these days are all about making money for shareholders.

I get the feeling that staff in banks often feel insecure, looking over their shoulders most of the time because of some sort of “measurement” of their performance. They dare not be too friendly or take too much time in dealing with individual people because “time is money”.

Shareholders are paramount. So too, is turnover and making as much as possible in as least time is possible. Atmosphere in banks is no longer friendly. There is often a feeling of some sort of latent hostility.

I liked banks in the olden days. These days I am a credit society person.

TAKING ‘UNDUE’ CREDIT

We had a major problem with the discovery of asbestos in buildings at my school. The school was built AFTER asbestos sheeting was outlawed. When discovered, the sheets which were asbestos were labelled with an ‘A’. Those which were gyprock were left unlabelled.

Some work was done in one of the learning modules housing four classes. The “A” walls were left alone, the gyprock ones drilled for the insertion of rods to hang student work.

It was then discovered that the labels were on the wrong walls.

There was lots of hysteria about asbestos in Darwin at the time. I devised a scheme that managed the issue in a way that avoided hysteria and lead to a correction of the issue.

I discovered years later that our Department’s Media and Marketing section had used my experiences to develop an application for an award in handling sensitive issues, claiming the credit for my work. It won an award from PRIA (Public Relations Institute of Australia) and basked in self congratulation.

YEARS later I found out about this plagiarism.

That is only one example. I have had numerous other experiences of a similar nature with both NT and wider implications. I have never minded others using my ideas. BUT I have always acknowledged sources.

THE PROS AND CONS OF INTEGRATED HOUSING

I am trying to look for positives.

Darwin is going through a massive shift in its older suburbs with integrated housing to the fore.

A senior real estate agents told me that the social impact of integrated housing is a more than significant decline in the values of ‘non integrated’ residences put up for sale. He hold me that the difference in value of a well kept and maintained and renovated home now in an integrated environment (‘now’ because of shifts in public housing policies) can be as much as $40,000 to $50,000.

Decision makers and policy setters seem, by and large to sell up, exit their homes and move into the newer suburbs where this policy seems not to exist. They do not therefore, experience firsthand any economic impact. Nor are they affected by the social changes of greater noise and often yards and surrounds, unkempt to the point of appearing derelict.

There is also a security issue being felt by an increasing number of residents in these housing divisions.

These changes are impacting on the character of many older, established suburbs.

Can readers please share with me the positives of this policy because I need reassurance. How does the policy of housing integration benefit me?

How telephone communications have changed.

The way in which communications have changed over the course of the last half century is breathtakingly astounding. Children born into the 21st-century will not for one moment understand communications methodologies that existed for their grandparents and even their parents.

When I was a child in the 1950s and growing up through the 1960s, then on into the 70s, the most forward and advanced communications tool was the landline telephone. All telephones work cable (line) connected to telephone exchanges which were manually operated. Manual connection was necessary in order to reach your target. Local telephone calls (those within the same exchange Directory) attracted charges That were quite “moderate” with costs of more distant connections.

Connections over distance were trunk calls. The further the caller was in distance from the call Lee, the greater the cost of the conversation. Trunkline calls were charged for a three minute intervals. Open that took a long time to be connected because the calls had to be relayed through a number of exchanges to reach their destination.

How much easier it is these days with mobile phones instant messaging and everything else that goes with connecting with people anywhere around the world have any time at all and for a very very very minimal price.

It is interesting to contemplate the paradox of food.

There are many strange and almost juxtapositional situations about food.

Possibly the most standout one is that in some parts of Earth food is in great abundance and oversupplied to the point of glutting markets, lowering prices and causing food producers to cut supply or downsize on outputs. Agriculturally, in oversupply situations farmers are encouraged not to grow products. They are paid to keep land out of production or resigned to having to plough back tonnes of unwanted produce.

The juxtaposition to that is in other parts of Earth people are starving hungry. There is no equitable distribution of food and if there were a way of moving oversupply into areas of need, I doubt very much whether there would be food famines or hungry people anywhere.

Another interesting juxtaposition relates to the worth of product. This is specific to niche markets. When we were on Groote Eylandt In the Golf Carpenteria in the late 1970s and early 1980s Kailis Fisheries were operating at Bartalumba Bay. Prawns were all the go. The fishermen would catch big heaps of Morteon Bay Bugs. These were not worth anything! Fisherman would give them away free!! For a carton of beer (reasonably priced in those days) you could pick up 10, 15 or even 20 kg of bugs. At Christmas time just gone, this same product was selling at Woolworths delicatessen for $40 a kilo. That was for whole bugs, The head and the shell as well as the tail. Taking account of the edible bits of bugs customers were paying around about $100-$110 a kilo. In 40 years bugs have gone from being worthless to being priced almost out of the domestic market.

Vagaries associated with food are everywhere. These are just two of the anomalies that strike me as being peculiar and sad.

WE NEED THE REINTRODUCTION OF CAPITAL PUNISHMENT

The need to study language offered for public consumption causes me to moderate the feelings in my heart and head for the purpose of this comment. Suffice it to say I am aghast, reviled and revolted by the matter of Israeli student Ali Maasarwe’s horrific assault, torture and death in Melbourne. The vile wickedness and sin of the (alleged) perpetrator both curdles and chills the blood. If convicted, this person should not be permitted to live out years and decades in jail, all at huge taxpayer’s expense. Those convicted of such heinous crimes and unsurpassed evil intent should be terminated. Death by the state should be their measure.

One of the downsides, indeed one of the evils of modern social thinking is to look for every cause and reason as to why perpetrators of such crimes should be afforded mitigating circumstances. THERE IS NO EXCUSE FOR SUCH EVIL AND JUSTICE SHOULD NOT BE TEMPERED BY SOME MISPLACED NOTION OF FORGIVENESS. Neither should any expression of contriteness or regret for their actions on the part of such perpetrators be accepted for anything other than what it is – a hope that crocodile tears will work on gullible empathisers.

It’s time the issue of such wanton, wicked behaviour to invoke the death penalty.

Every morning when I wake listen to the news, and read the paper I become convinced the Darwin in the Northern Territory are a little bit more, a little bit more and a little bit more rundown.

Take this morning. The NT News reports for businesses that have closed because of lack of custom. This simply has onto the other businesses, some small and some larger, that have closed over the last 12 to 18 months.

There are lots of plans about improving this city on our territory, lots of visions, lots of talk and Tubthumping. However, in practical terms nothing is changing for the better and things continue to slide.

Underpinning our demise a government that spends $4 million a day more than it receives an income. That borrowed money is applied to pay wages for the public service and to service the interest due on previously borrowed money’s.

The present indebtedness of the government is not all due to the Gunner Administration. We were already on the death trial and the previous governments. However, borrowing has escalated and our debts are magnifying hugely because of fiscal policy.

There has to be an endpoint! It seems that we are going down the gurgler at a rate of knots. As a long-term territorial who came here in 1975, prior to self government, it seems to me that the only way forward is to go back to being managed and 100% managed by Canberra.

Simply put, the Northern Territory in self managing terms is not up to the mark.

REPUBLIC? NO THANKS!

I have NEVER been MORE turned off on the idea of Australia becoming a republic than right now. Republic translates as meaning ‘the power of one’. America is a republic. Four times, American presidents have invoked partial shut-downs of federal business in the USA in order to get their own way. The latest shut-down, thanks to President Trump, is the longest in USA history. At least 800,000 Americans are at work on the congress ‘promise’ of back pay when the close out is lifted. Growing numbers of services are impacted and hundreds of tourist attractions are closed. All because a rigidly minded and inflexible president can force the collective hand of government and the people for the sake of splurging huge dollars on a separation wall that won’t work in a fit.

Why doesn’t the man, with his alleged vast fortune, commit some personal money to a useless artefact? Does he want the Trump Wall to stand into our historical future as does the Great Wall of China? Does he want the wall to remind astronauts and future space travellers of him and his greatness?

Republican leaders can dislocate services, build personal desperation in masses of people and disrupt countries for the sake of satisfying personal whims.

Republic for Australia?

REPUBLIC – NO THANKS!!