I've had difficulty deciding how to wish all the LTUG members and readers of our blog a happy New Year in the context of such a horrific world catastrophe...
I hope all LTUG members and their families & friends are safe - although with so many Australians still unaccounted for and masses of others from so many nations missing or dead, it seems inappropriate to be celebrating a New Year...
Perhaps instead of buying more champagne (or maybe we could cancel all those obscenely expensive fireworks that seem to dominate NYE) we could donate something to the charities that are screaming out for world support - I've listed them below:
I recall reading comments from a contemporary philospher (I can't remember which one though) saying that one of the attributes that distinguishes people from other species is hope and the ability to look forward into the future and plan for the continuation of our lives in the face of adversity - perhaps then our NY resolutions should be reflective of what disaster has struck the world and our region of it and hope for a future that is better planned to avert the likelihood of these events recurring...and providing our support for those trying to re-build their lives...
Be safe, happy and reflective!
ABB
Comments
New Year - a time to celebrate?
I've had difficulty deciding how to wish all the LTUG members and readers of our blog a happy New Year in the context of such a horrific world catastrophe...
I hope all LTUG members and their families & friends are safe - although with so many Australians still unaccounted for and masses of others from so many nations missing or dead, it seems inappropriate to be celebrating a New Year...
Perhaps instead of buying more champagne (or maybe we could cancel all those obscenely expensive fireworks that seem to dominate NYE) we could donate something to the charities that are screaming out for world support - I've listed them below:
I recall reading comments from a contemporary philospher (I can't remember which one though) saying that one of the attributes that distinguishes people from other species is hope and the ability to look forward into the future and plan for the continuation of our lives in the face of adversity - perhaps then our NY resolutions should be reflective of what disaster has struck the world and our region of it and hope for a future that is better planned to avert the likelihood of these events recurring...and providing our support for those trying to re-build their lives...
New Year - a time to celebrate?
I've had difficulty deciding how to wish all the LTUG members and readers of our blog a happy New Year in the context of such a horrific world catastrophe...
I hope all LTUG members and their families & friends are safe - although with so many Australians still unaccounted for and masses of others from so many nations missing or dead, it seems inappropriate to be celebrating a New Year...
Perhaps instead of buying more champagne (or maybe we could cancel all those obscenely expensive fireworks that seem to dominate NYE) we could donate something to the charities that are screaming out for world support - I've listed them below:
CARE Australia: 1800 020 046 or http://www.careaustralia.org.au
Australian Red Cross: Call 1800 811 700, visit http://www.redcross.org.au or post a cheque to GPO Box 9949 in capital cities.
Oxfam: 1800 034 034 or http://www.oxfam.org.au
Medecins Sans Frontieres http://www.msf.org.au/
UNICEF: 1300 884 233, 1300 732 240 or http://www.unicef.org.au.
World Vision: 13 32 40 or http://www.worldvision.com.au.
Baptist World Aid Australia: Call 1300 789 991, by mail to Baptist World Aid Australia, Locked Bag 122, Frenchs Forest NSW 2086, or http://www.shareanopportunity.org.
I recall reading comments from a contemporary philospher (I can't remember which one though) saying that one of the attributes that distinguishes people from other species is hope and the ability to look forward into the future and plan for the continuation of our lives in the face of adversity - perhaps then our NY resolutions should be reflective of what disaster has struck the world and our region of it and hope for a future that is better planned to avert the likelihood of these events recurring...and providing our support for those trying to re-build their lives...
Be safe, happy and reflective!
ABB
Posted by AnneBB on December 30, 2004 at 08:01 AM in Editorial Comment | Permalink