Nothing worth doing is completed in our lifetime,
Therefore, we are saved by hope.
Nothing true or beautiful or good makes complete sense in any immediate context of history;
Therefore, we are saved by faith.
Nothing we do, however virtuous, can be accomplished alone.
Therefore, we are saved by love.
No virtuous act is quite a virtuous from the standpoint of our friend or foe as from our own;
Therefore, we are saved by the final form of love which is forgiveness
-Reinhold Niebuhr
New Year begins as world mourns with knots in our stomach ... Satellite photo showing the tsunami
Eye on Politics & Law Lords: Titov Tremors of Doubt and Science: Second wave of horror in diseases
The political and ideological exploitation of perhaps the worst natural disaster in all our lifetimes is almost beyond belief , were it not for the fact that nothing these days is beyond belief.
It was a catastrophe that reminded us of our fragile existence, and of our humanity.
The most immediate danger is of water-borne disease, particularly the forms of gastroenteritis that strike when water supplies are corrupted. These include bacterial, viral and parasitic diseases, from cholera and shigellosis to E.coli infections and giardiasis.
Most of the bugs were already in the areas and likely to spread like wildfire...
People worldwide have jammed phone lines and websites today to give millions of dollars to the victims of Asia's tsunamis, outpacing their own governments in their generosity. Huge response to tsunami appeal Charity that begins at home does not have to end there. The horror of the tsunami drowns optimistic new year thoughts. Images of human flotsam and jetsam prompt nihilistic thoughts of meaninglessness. (If only there was a God to blame ...) Tsunamis may be inevitable; human failure to minimise suffering is not
• Race against time as toll nears 150,000 [ The earth shook, the sea rose up ]
• · Boris Johnson: on when it is time to admit gracefully that our number is up The forces of nature are upredicable
• · · A new age of barbarism is upon us ... Administration's legal counsels have been turned into the sort of cynical corporate lawyers who figure out how to make something illegal seem kosher - or at least how to minimize the danger of being held to account. Geneva Conventions and Abu Ghraib
• · · · Onlookers spread word that a senior official had abused a helpless porter. China's 'Haves' Stir the 'Have Nots' to Violence [How many different ways have I been warned not to rock the boat ... Let me count the ways]
William Gladstone observed: We look forward to the time when the Power of Love will replace the Love of Power. Then will our world know the blessings of peace...
• · · · · I tried to persuade him ... after the Darwin cyclone not to resume his interupted overseas visit. He looked at me in the eye and said: Comrade if I am going to put up with the f***wits in the Labour Party, I have got to have my trips by John Menadue on his former boss, Gough Whitlam. Treasury enlisted the help of Scotland Yard to try to torpedo secret negotiations by the Whitlam government for a $4 billion loan
Do? Do! All these people who say we have to do this and do that. What we have to do is make sure the trains are working for people, make sure there's a hospital bed when they're sick and there's a school desk for their kids. What you do in NSW isn't visionary, it's necessary.
- Graham Richardson, former ALP senator, March 2000
Having wished our leaders all the best, New Year's Day is also a time of resolution and good intentions and it is important we not eschew tradition. Here is a wish list to Carr, Brogden and their respective teams. Heartfelt thanks to a host of diverse thinkers and helpers, from former Fraser minister Fred Chaney and former state Labor MP Paul O'Grady, to Gary Moore, the director of the NSW Council of Social Service, and the medico and social activist Professor Ian Webster. The intriguing and clearly well connected - if anonymous - crikey.com.au political columnist, "Boilermaker Bill McKell", deserves a particular thanks for his/her thoughts and online conversations with me, too... Just the time to show some resolution By Paola Totaro