Chiamaci: 3343430288
Scrivici: risparmiaresullebollette@gmail.com

Contattaci:
http://www.santolero.com/come-risparmiare-sulle-bollette-di-luce-e-gas.html

Volevo tributare il mio dovuto riconoscimento alla professionalità e gentilezza del personale addetto al Customer Service della sede britannica della White’s Electronics (Inverness, Scozia) e soprattutto della Sig.ra Margaret del Sales Management. Il 18 novembre ho scritto alla White’s chiedendo se cortesemente potevano inviarmi una copia cartacea (o PDF) del libro di Jimmy “Sierra” Normandi UNDERSTANDING THE DFX che tempo fa veniva normalmente inserito nelle confezioni del DFX. Come spiego nella mia email, il mio DFX (un ex-demo acquistato l’estate scorsa dal distributore ufficiale italiano) ne era sprovvisto.
La Sig.ra Margaret, dopo neanche un’ora, mi risponde che, pur se non è di prassi che tale volume accompagni le confezioni del DFX, loro ancora detengono qualche copia extra in azienda e che hanno provveduto ad inviarmene una per posta!

Ragazzi… il 23 Novembre è arrivato il pacchetto col libro… tutto gratuito!!!
Il timbro postale inglese riportava la data di spedizione del 18 Novembre… LO STESSO GIORNO DELLE NOSTRE EMAIL!!!! E guardate bene l’orario delle mail… 15.47 la mia… 4.56 la sua!!!

Non ho parole!

Complimenti davvero White’s Electronics…

Happy Grateful Hunting!
Bodhi3

———————
Vi posto qui le email:

The Bodhi3
Wed, Nov 18, 2009 at 3:47 PM
To: info@whites.co.uk

————–
XXXXXXX XXXXXX
Strada XXXXXX, 8
XXXX XXXXXX (XX)
ITALY

Ecco la gentilissima risposta arrivata lo stesso giorno…

Wed, Nov 18, 2009 at 4:56 PM
Reply-To: sales@whites.co.uk
To: The Bodhi3

–
White’s Electronics (UK) Ltd
35 Harbour Road
Longman
Inverness
IV1 1UA

For example, you need to upload log file in case of error from desktop application to remote site using WCF service and if the log file is too big, you might have to tweak your WCF service’s Web.config.

By default the configuration for the service will be

      <services>
            <service behaviorConfiguration="ServiceBehavior" name="Service">
                <endpoint address="" binding="basicHttpBinding" contract="IService">
                </endpoint>
                <endpoint address="mex" binding="mexHttpBinding" contract="IMetadataExchange"/>
            </service>
        </services>

You need to specify the binding manually and add binding reference as highlighted below.   

    <services>
            <service behaviorConfiguration="ServiceBehavior" name="Service">
                <endpoint address="" binding="basicHttpBinding" bindingConfiguration="BasicHttpBinding_IService" contract="IService">
                </endpoint>
                <endpoint address="mex" binding="mexHttpBinding" contract="IMetadataExchange"/>
            </service>
        </services>
        <bindings>
                <basicHttpBinding>
                    <binding name="BasicHttpBinding_IService" closeTimeout="00:01:00"
                        openTimeout="00:01:00" receiveTimeout="00:10:00" sendTimeout="00:01:00"
                        allowCookies="false" bypassProxyOnLocal="false" hostNameComparisonMode="StrongWildcard"
                        maxBufferSize="2147483647" maxBufferPoolSize="2147483647"
                        maxReceivedMessageSize="2147483647" messageEncoding="Text"
                        textEncoding="utf-8" transferMode="Buffered" useDefaultWebProxy="true">
                        <readerQuotas maxDepth="32" maxStringContentLength="2147483647"
                            maxArrayLength="2147483647" maxBytesPerRead="4096" maxNameTableCharCount="16384" />
                        <security mode="None">
                            <transport clientCredentialType="None" proxyCredentialType="None"
                                realm="" />
                            <message clientCredentialType="UserName" algorithmSuite="Default" />
                        </security>
                    </binding>
                </basicHttpBinding>
            </bindings>

That’s it Simple isn’t it?

(c.Sanjay Patel, 2007)

As introduced in Sunday’s post, Tweetsgiving has a two-fold mission: to share gratitude and raise funds for a school in Tanzania. 

I am filled with gratitude that my children recieved  good education and have become happy and successful adults.

When we aked Gideon to draw a picture of what makes him happy, he drew a picture of himself playing in the rain. He dreams of one day becoming an astronaut who reaches new planets.

When we interviewed Gideon’s father, a welder who’s volunteering his skills to help build the new school and is also a minister, Mr. Gidori wondered aloud how they could have the same God as the people he once visited in Australia, why they would have so much while his people have so little.

He went on to say, “if you tell a man he is weak, he will be weak, if you tell a man he is poor, he will be poor,” illustrating perfectly the reasoning behind the Epic Change model: we treat our partners not as recipients of charity but rather as leaders who possess the strength and resources (i.e., their stories) to improve their own communities – and even to improve other communities in need elsewhere on the globe.

Please click HERE to join me in supporting Epic Change, via 12for12k, as they help with the resources to rebuild Gideon’s school.

[This is the third of a series of three short reflections I wrote during my last semester of college, as part of the assigned work for a seminar course titled "Citizenship and Public Service".  I consider them a personal statement of purpose and a guide for the journey as I transition from college into the working life.]

April 15, 2009: Committing to the Journey

Over the course of my last year of college, I have developed a way of expressing my views about service that is closely related to my experiences away from home as a “quasi-international” student.  Even though I am and benefit from being a U.S. citizen, there are many ways in which I did not share cultural bonds with my college peers when I first came here.  I have chosen, however, to fully embrace the experience of being abroad, and found plenty of ways to connect to local issues and put my own grain of sand to help around here.  In doing this, moreover, I have found opportunities to go outside of my St. Louis comfort zone and practice service further abroad.  It has been an exciting journey to be able to do this at my age.  The challenges I have met have made me grow and the lessons learned have shaped my understanding of what it means to have a passion for service and what it entails to do something about it.

When asked about my opinions on global service, I cannot help but bring this personal experience onto the table.   I am a Puerto Rican and I serve in St. Louis.  Being right here, right now, I feel a responsibility to do so.  Does this make me a global servant?  Does it mean that I would ask St. Louisians to serve in Puerto Rico?  It matters to say that more often than not during the last 2 to 3 years I have felt more like a St. Louisian and less like a Puerto Rican.  I have lost a portion of the common bond that I had with my peers at home, because of sheer physical and emotional distance.  On the other hand, I was also a Puerto Rican serving in East Africa.  Would I go back?  I doubt it.  I did not do that out of a duty, but out of an opportunity.

I believe I have a responsibility to serve and work with people.  I believe it is the right response to my upbringing, my education, my personality, and my level of access to people and to information.  Whether I have a responsibility to serve in one place or another is a question that can only be answered along the way.  It is less a matter of principle and more a matter of circumstance (therefore the answer is particular to a person’s circumstances).  In my case, I like to travel, I’m bilingual and have family in Puerto Rico as well as in Colombia.  That dictates a convenient opportunity to find contacts and go there in the near future in pursuit of an experience.  I do not know where it will take me or whether I will be ready, willing, and able to give my best there and then.  More than a duty, I feel like I am fulfilling a passion.  I would not call it global service; I’d rather think of it as an applied course in the school of life.

Global service “from the US to the World” is a concept that comes loaded with baggage.  Paternalism, imperialism, and ignorance are but a few of the adjectives attributed to such a venture, and often rightly so.  I think the problem arises when people want to do this “global service” for the sake of doing it, or with the excuse of “helping other countries”.  We’re all in this together, which is why I believe that anything that we do to address a problem that is global in any respect could be called global service, no matter whether we travel 10 or 10,000 miles to do it.  But what should come first is not the means of service but the purpose of serving.  If I am not committed to and informed about something, I am risking hurting others even if I want to help.  I have a responsibility of making this world a better place, but I should go about it with caution and respect for the task at hand.

What would true global service look like for me?  Going back to Puerto Rico?  Working in Boston or Bogotá?  I don’t think it’s the location, but the commitment to the journey that matters in the end.

[This is the second of a series of three short reflections I wrote during my last semester of college, as part of the assigned work for a seminar course titled "Citizenship and Public Service".  I consider them a personal statement of purpose and a guide for the journey as I transition from college into the working life.]

February 11, 2009: When Service Hurts

It was a hot and sunny day in the village of Bakasala, about two hours away from the capital of Malawi in southeast Africa.  After a week-long gap of failed attempts to drive us through a dirt road that was partially flooded because of heavy rains, our van driver finally succeeded in getting us back to our “service” destination, just two days before our scheduled departure from the country.  We would no longer be able to complete re-roofing three small concrete buildings that were to serve as schools in the fast-approaching school year; the task would be left, for as long as the funds could provide for, to several local workers who had been contracted to help us.  Facing a limited time frame to interact with the village residents, my group’s leaders seemed to have only one way left to give: handouts – a full truckload of them.

Of course, there were many people around the field that day, and we had to devise a way to distribute our goods equitably.  We asked some of the older men to have everyone line up.  More so, we thought it a good idea to have the items at the doors of the roofless classrooms, with people lined up inside, so that they could come out of the rooms and receive their portion of the pie from us on their way out.  After a brief deliberation under the hot sun, the men probably could do little more than agree, and began the mobilization.  Folks were asked to go inside one of three classrooms, while some from our group brought boxes out of our pickup truck and lined them up against the wall.  I, in my own adventurous spirit, decided to climb up a construction ladder and sit on top of one of the (unroofed) buildings, in the corner where two walls intersected, right above the door frames of the classrooms where I enjoyed a privileged view of both the inside and the outside.  And thus I observed quietly as a spectacle unfolded before my eyes.

Too many people were inside that classroom.  Standing in line (or, I should say, in a long spiral around the classroom) for more than 40 minutes were young men and their older parents, women of every age including those who carried their newborn children on their arms.  As it became clear that the “distribution” was almost ready to begin, children began reaching for the door, pressing and pushing against each other, forming a large suffocating mass that waved side to side.  I heard some cries and saw faces of discomfort.  One by one, the children would finally walk out from that mass, if only to receive one T-shirt, some snacks, toothpaste, and a toothbrush if they got lucky.  The adults waited behind for their turn, when they would walk out themselves and receive the same stuff their younger ones got.  We traded looks occasionally.  I took some pictures.  We didn’t talk because we didn’t know our languages.  The whole process lasted for at least three hours, after which we played soccer for a little while, and then headed back home.

It is in my memory of those looks that I traded with the Malawians (and in the pictures that I brought with me) where I find the biggest pitfall of community service, especially but not limited to the international sphere.  What I was doing sitting at the top of that wall was not adventurous; it was pretentious.  What we did that day to the residents of that village was not helpful; it was insensitive.  That is my honest opinion.   It was a blatantly clear demonstration of a power dynamic in which they were submitted to our terms.  There was more than a concrete wall separating us from them.  There were walls of opportunity and of status that we ourselves were building even when the intention was to help.  Throughout the whole process, we were active; they were passive.  We were giving; they were receiving.  We did; they responded.  We were good; they…

When engaging in community service, I recognize the incredible potential that there is for the nurturing of relationships and the fostering of mutual understanding.  I see it as an opportunity to build bridges between people, to push each other in the direction of personal and collective growth.  But this is an opportunity lost if the intentions and methods of service are ill-informed.  I have learned much and grown much from my service experiences, but I doubt that those I served were affected to the same degree.  I recognize that my actions, such as those in the anecdote above, have the likelihood of helping perpetuate the problems that I seek to address.  It is a double-edge sword with a sharp blade, so much so that sometimes I’m afraid of serving.  But I strive to reach a better understanding of the issues, and to make myself more useful that way.

[This is the first of a series of three short reflections I wrote during my last semester of college, as part of the assigned work for a seminar course titled "Citizenship and Public Service".  I consider them a personal statement of purpose and a guide for the journey as I transition from college into the working life.]

January 14, 2009: Service In My Life

“Over the last few years of my life, I have developed a passion for service within myself; an eagerness to use everything I have learned and every talent I have to do some good to others, to help others in every way I can.  This motivation has slowly gone deep into my soul, turning itself into a desire to cause some major positive change in my community and in my society in the near future.  That is what leads me to pursue an education in the social and behavioral sciences: I want to make a contribution to my people.  I still don’t know which field is the right one for me, but I do know that I first have to understand the society I want to change before I can make any further decisions.  I know that the social sciences will allow me to know myself, my people, and my home.”

Almost four years ago, I wrote the above paragraph as a response to one of the many short-answer questions I was asked during the lengthy venture of completing college applications.  The response was based on a few specific service experiences I had had during high school, including the Student Council, the school Campus Ministry, a youth group at my local church, and a two-week school-sponsored summer service project at a nearby city in Puerto Rico.  I was going off to the college world with high ideals, but lacking a good understanding of my role in the promotion of those ideals.  I wanted to go learn how to serve and whom to serve, and gain the courage to do it along the way.

Four years later, I can say that I have not changed much in the type of ideals I want to pursue; I have changed considerably, however, in my understanding of the complexity of the learning and discernment process that I need to go through in order to engage successfully in any kind of service work.  Various service opportunities as well as academic courses have shaped this new understanding.  Of the service opportunities, four major ones come to mind: a Spring Break in New Orleans, LA, over freshman year; a Winter Break in Malawi, Africa, my sophomore year; a summer internship with Heifer International’s Overlook Farm in Rutledge, MA, before my junior year; and another intern position with the St. Patrick Center in St. Louis City last summer.

There are many positive aspects that I still cherish about all four of those experiences.  It has been humbling in many ways and empowering in others to have the opportunity to contribute with my time and skills to the efforts of many who are fighting for justice and equality at the local (New Orleans) and global (Heifer International) levels.  In New Orleans and Malawi I was able to see firsthand the undesirable outcomes of an imperfect and flawed political-economic system here and abroad.  At Heifer International and the St. Patrick Center I was able to learn about specific solutions that are being implemented to provide opportunity to those who have lost access to it.  Each experience has been enlightening in its own way, and has allowed me to retain the same level of commitment to service work with which I started when I entered this university.

At the same time, there are pitfalls to be noted in my service experiences, which have equally shaped my perspective of what is service and how it should be done.  Most salient of these is a growing apprehension for short-term service work.  My week at New Orleans and my two weeks in Malawi had a lot of learning and just a little of serving; on the contrary, spending two full months at each of my summer internships, albeit still in the short end of the spectrum, was far more productive and meaningful for the organizations that I worked with because I had enough time to learn about them and put that learning into service.  I became part of the community, and could see with good clarity where I could use my talents to the benefit of others.  The connections I made in my shorter trips are inevitably lost by now, and I still wonder how beneficial they were to others in the first place.  Granted, I did learn incredibly and gained information and inspiration as a result of the cultural immersion I engaged in – that immersion, however, was less than ripe to bear fruit.  After these four experiences in college, I understand that in order to serve, I have to commit – and commitment lasts for a lifetime.

Outside my window… (weather, what do you hear, what do you see?) is another beautiful starry night.

my thoughts…are hopeful. I am putting out positive words and believing that I will receive all good things. Your words give life and death and I choose to breath life and hope with my words

Today’s Quote… Keeping score of old scores and scars, getting even and one-upping, always make you less than you are. Malcolm Forbes (1919 – 1990)

i am thankful for…my family, for each day, my children, my Master and Thanksgiving. This is my one favorite holiday. There are no gifts exchanged, no major things to buy. It is only family and friends laughing and sharing.

From my service training…(any skills, training etc; notes you want to share this week) Nothing for this week.

From the kitchen…(menu for the week, what are you cooking?) Thanksgiving is this week and in addition to the sweet potatoes that I am making, I want to make an appetizer. I phylo cups and would love any suggestions for putting stuff in them.

i am wearing…my workout clothes and I had a chance to go to the gym after work. Doing two times a day.

i am creating…(crafts, sewing etc;) peace and tranquility

my adventures this week…(where are you going this week?) Doing a thorough cleaning and putting everything in order.

Becoming well read…(What are you reading this week?) I am still reading Anneke Jacobs book “As She’s told”. I am also listening to several podio books on the iphone Master gave me. Also, skimming through Mrs. Beeton’s book of household management. Master’s house tends to skew to a Victorian household so this would be good to help me in managing things.

i manifest and co-create…(what are your hopes, dreams, and prayers this week) Peace and tranquility in my house and with my children.

Todays Melody…(what music are you listening to? even if it’s just the sound of a bird…) No music today, just silence. Sometimes I need silence in order to recharge.

One of my favorite things..is to sing. I love to sing from my diaphragm…lol

further plans for this week…Preparing the house for my family.

Still….life(share a picture you’ve taken OR a picture you found online that speaks to you)

photo used with permission of creative commons license agreement.
http://www.everystockphoto.com/photo.php?imageId=589451

Once a week on Monday you will respond to the above prompts.. more is better. Post your response on your blog or website.

Mention my blog (service savoir faire) and offer a link back to the main page of the blog. This way others can participate in the project as well! Http://servicesavoirfaire.blogspot.com/
So now that you know how, please feel free to join me.

MV’s esclave

Just as exercising regularly will help keep you physically fit, having a sense of purpose will keep you spiritually fit—& it will also keep you unruffled when faced with stress.

During the holidays, more than any other time, it’s critical to focus on who & what has heart & meaning in your life. This Thanksgiving, slow down, pause, & reflect on these affirmations:

-  I am authentic & full-hearted in what I say & do.

-  I say Yes to what & who has heart & meaning for me.

-  I can & do say No to others… & say it as a complete sentence.

-  I align my priorities with how I spend my time.

-  I invest in making a difference in others’ lives.

-  I do what I love for work & leisure.

Ask yourself, which of these affirmations apply to you… & what can you do to focus on those that give you a lift & a sense of forward momentum.

Consider the affirmations you can turn into goals—not just for today but throughout the upcoming holidays & into the New Year—to help you stay focused, unruffled, & on track so you can enjoy your loved ones & the many other blessings of the season.

Happy Holidays!

Pass It On!

The truly wealthy give until it feels good.

By TIM JUE
Beat Staff Writer

Come Dec. 5, you’ll have to squint a little harder to see your MUNI bus barreling down the street.

A litany of reroutes, line changes and truncations will take place that day on over half of the transit agency’s 80 routes. Those changes are poised to usher in a new era of transit service in San Francisco — altering a network of bus, rail and cable car lines that have remained relatively unchanged since the 1980s.

Many of the changes are cuts to service — done to stave off a $129 million operating deficit in the San Francisco Municipal Transit Authority’s budget. Low sales tax revenues and the weak economy is forcing MUNI, like many city agencies, to cut costs across the board.

• MORE FROM SFMTA.com: Full list of Dec. 5 MUNI service changes

A fare hike implemented on July 1 brought the base Adult cash fare to $2 to fill MUNI’s coffers. FastPass prices are slated to rise to $70 in January of the new year.

There is some good news for riders on the agency’s busy “trunk” lines: bolstered service and expanded hours of operation for limited stop and express routes will greet passengers who rely on some of MUNI’s most heavily used transit lines.

Some of the service cutbacks come Dec. 5:

• Elimination of low-ridership lines: The 4-Sutter, 7-Haight, 20-Columbus, 26-Valencia, 53-Southern Heights, and 89-Laguna Honda routes will be eliminated because of poor ridership.
• Portions of existing routes will be eliminated: The N-Judah, 1-California, 10-Townsend, 12-Pacific, 16AX and 16BX Noriega Expresses, 18-46th Avenue, 21-Hayes, 29-Sunset, 36-Teresita, 38-Geary, 48-Quintara/24th Avenue, 67-Bernal Heights, 88-BART Shuttle and 108-Treasure Island will all see portions of the existing routes eliminated
• Service hours of operations will be reduced on other lines: Some lines, including the 1-California, 47-Van Ness, 30-Stockton, 29-Sunset and 45-Union/Stockton, will have their last trip(s) eliminated, thus reducing the span of service.
• Route numbers will change: The busy 9X-9AX-9BX San Bruno Expresses will be renumbered to the 8X-8AX-8BX, respectively. Service frequency will increase, and the routing has been altered on each line. The 16AX-16BX Noriega Expresses will be consolidated into one line, the 16X-Noriega Express, providing service to portions of each route.

Improvements to those trunk routes are also included in the changes:

• Bolstered service on some lines: The 5-Fulton, 6-Parnassus, 14L-Mission Limited, 14X-Mission Express, 38L-Geary Limited and 82X-Levi Plaza Express will see more frequent service and service hours expanded. Much of this is being done to compensate for eliminated routes on some corridors.
• New service on corridors: MUNI will introduce a new limited stop route serving the Potrero-San Bruno Ave. corridor with the 9L-San Bruno Limited. It will supplement existing local 9-San Bruno service serving major stops from the Ferry Terminal to Arleta & San Bruno.

Many of these changes were recommended by the San Francisco Transit Effectiveness Project study performed last year to assess the efficiency of MUNI service. Because of budgetary issues, a majority of the improvements proposed in the study won’t be implemented during this round of service changes, and aren’t likely to be seen soon as the agency grapples with a funding problem.

The changes also come at a time when San Franciscans are paying more for MUNI service that passengers complain is consistently degrading.

Frequent late buses, disruptions in MUNI Metro service and a rash of highly-publicized violent crime have plagued the system in recent weeks.

Few riders are welcoming the December changes.

“You’re really paying more for less,” said 14-Mission passenger Yolanda Aceves, 39. “Everyday there seems to be some crisis on MUNI that just causes me to be later and later. It’s unacceptable in my book.”

A full list, descriptions and maps of the service change can be found on MUNI’s website.

E-mail Tim Jue at californiabeat@gmail.com. Join the California Beat on Facebook, and get breaking news headlines, story alerts and previews when you follow us on Twitter.

On his fascinating blog, The Daily Yonder, Bill Bishop reported yesterday that “newly released figures from the U.S. Census Bureau show that 13.2% of Americans were living in poverty in 2008, the highest rate since 1997.”

Perhaps that increased percentage is unsurprising, given the economic downturn. Nonetheless, it’s a saddening and galvanizing reminder that we have a long way to go as a country when it comes to substantively addressing poverty (a leading social determinant of health).

But by the same token, it’s a reminder that there are opportunities all around us to serve and empower communities whose circumstances are grim.

Looking to heed that calling this Thanksgiving? Visit Serve.gov and type in your location; you’ll be given a list of community-based organizations in your area that could use your help.

Want to support emerging leaders who have committed themselves to delivering high-impact service to communities in need year-round? Visit our Giving Opportunities page – your donation will support Schweitzer Fellows in addressing inequalities that, as Bishop’s post shows, are right here in all of our own backyards.

The restless tension between globalization and localization was only a textbook scenario to me last year. Naturally I adopted the idea of globalization first – to me it means less barrier for people to move freely, which is essentially life-changing for someone holding a Chinese passport. I’ve always dreamed to live “elsewhere”, being an expatriate, a global nomad. The whole idea of cityard was based on the dream that one day we won’t be censored by visa officers, and we could just go and live anywhere we want like we order a book from Amazon.

However, if we dig it deeper, things are not that simple. I started to realized this since I entered my fourth year living in Helsinki. And Jussi my partner, a Finn living in his own country and enjoying his own cultural heritage, pointed it out in our debate of targeting our user and responding to their needs:

…the lack of enthusiasm into neighborhoods from discussions w/you and your friend are likely due to that you are surrounded by people whose language you don’t speak, and being still students, and the (esp. international) student-circle is everything.

This clearly defines one user group in itself will NOT use the service for these very reasons. It’s not a service for foreigners, but for those interested in local culture/language etc. Like academia, bookworms, older people etc.

Location based services like ours caters for the locals, with locals being from the very same country. It’s quite obvious in hindsight, but good to have in writing for further development on user groups.

If we can make this service also be of interest to (the expatriates), that’s a big design victory. The first, however, will be to raise interest in the locals — and anyone — for that matter.

I emphasized so much in the pitch for cityard that this is not a tourism service nor travel guide. And we don’t encourage fast-food type of tourism. Cityard is about living in a place and knowing it like an old friend. It would have been hypocritical for me to say that if I were reluctant to get out of my comfort zone, the international community, and be more active in local activities. And that attitude wouldn’t be helpful to design the service.

As I, the rootless, never had any experience of living in one place for more than 4 years, I have to learn what it means to be totally local. Jeo Murphy has thrown some ideas to help:

1. Provide context about the exact place that I live. Context makes information actionable.
2. Make accessible and linkable historical information about the place that I live. News sites are a community resource — time to start acting like one.
3. Give news sites exponentially more entry points to the information they’re already publishing. More entry points makes information more findable.
4. Make local political news and information more accessible. This makes politics more approachable and actionable to those not already disposed to follow it.

Although Helsinki feels more and more like a home to me, I’m still quite indifferent to the local happenings, according to Jussi. Dig into the neighborhoods, he said, there are 59 neighborhoods in Helsinki. Each of them is slightly different in its characteristics, and surely different happenings. What’s going on around the place one lives, that’s what the local would care.

—

After all these debates and thoughts, it’s clearer. Globalization surely has its advantages for me to embrace, but the disadvantages are equally obvious: it compels the hegemonic/elite culture and ignores the daily life of a normal person in a peripheral culture. The counter movement, localization was an attempt to preserve regional traditions and cultural diversity.

And maybe they aren’t that incompatible as we thought. Localization might be the first step towards a healthier globalization.

Helsinki is an interesting city for heimoi to start with: its peripheral geo-location kept it away from hegemonic culture, yet it’s quite open-minded and expatriate-friendly.

We’ll see in the years to come. Moi!

Advent Wreath image by jennmonsta Photobucket

RESOURCES FOR ADVENT 2009

Prepared by the Catholic Justice & Peace Commission of Brisbane

These resources are intended to help parishes to continue a focus on the messages of this year’s Social Justice Sunday Statement, And You Will Be My Witnesses: Young People and Justice. Each week, the resources will deal, in some way, with issues and themes addressed by the Statement.

FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT

This week’s resources will deal with the injustices faced by people with disability.  The International Day of People with Disability will be marked on 3 December which is in the First Week of Advent. The Brisbane Archdiocese will launch a new statement on people with disability during the week.  Please note that the last sentence of the sample editorial suggests that parishioners who cannot access the internet resource mentioned should seek help from the parish office.  You may wish to modify this to provide a more specific local or other contact.

Sample Newsletter Editorial

SHUT OUT: The Experience of People with Disabilities and their Families in Australia

Many of the large institutions that housed generations of people with disabilities—out of sight and out of mind—are now closed. Australians with disabilities are now largely free to live in the community. Once shut in, many people with disabilities now find themselves shut out. People with disabilities may be present in our community, but too few are actually part of it. Many live desperate and lonely lives of exclusion and isolation. The institutions that once housed them may be closed, but the inequity remains. Where once they were physically segregated, many Australians with disabilities now find themselves socially, culturally and politically isolated. They are ignored, invisible and silent. They struggle to be noticed, they struggle to be seen, they struggle to have their voices heard.

These are among the first words of Shut Out, a report based on a consultation with Australian people with disabilities and their carers.  It was released in August this year and was prepared to support the Commonwealth and State Governments’ development of a national disability strategy.

If you are a person with a disability or know people with disability, you may already be aware of the daily struggle they face.  If you do not, reading the report will provide you with many harrowing stories of their desperate, frustrating and difficult lives.

Shut Out gave people with disability a voice so that their frustrations could be heard.  They said in the clearest possible terms that they cannot participate fully in the community because of discrimination and exclusion.  People in wheelchairs are often unable to access public facilities like playgrounds, restaurants and cinemas.  Children with disabilities can find themselves excluded from local kindergartens and schools.  Well-qualified and competent candidates for jobs are rejected because of their disability.  People with mobility aids find difficulty using public transport.  People with a variety of disabilities cannot get the equipment and technology they need to do the things that everyone else takes for granted.  Others cannot get the support they need to help them get out of bed in the morning.

Every young person should be able to dream of a wonderful, fulfilling life, but put yourself, for a moment, in the shoes of a young person who is deaf or blind or in a wheelchair or who has an intellectual disability.  What sort of chance would you have to live a rewarding life in our community today?  What dreams could you dream for the life ahead of you?  The experience of the many people with disability who made submissions to this consultation makes it clear that your life is likely to be a constant struggle.  You would face discrimination and exclusion regularly.  You would find it hard to live in your own home and to get around.  You would face many barriers in getting a good education and regular, rewarding employment.  You would experience significant social isolation.

Some people with disability are living rich and rewarding lives, but even they will tell you that they have had to struggle against difficult odds for this to happen.  It simply shouldn’t be this way!

We believe that every human being is created in the image and likeness of God and that this entitles everyone to be treated with dignity and respect.  There is no respect where there is discrimination, exclusion and social isolation.  There is no dignity where access to education, employment and cultural pursuits is limited.

Change begins with us.  Becoming more aware of the experiences of people with disability is a good start.  Where it is possible, providing support and opportunities for them to participate in the life of the community is worthwhile.  Hearing their stories and seeing their needs opens our eyes to the discrimination and injustice they face.  When we have listened to people with disability and accompanied them in their daily struggle, we can begin to see the changes in community attitudes and practices and Government policies which are needed in order to give them the dignity which is their God-given right.

You can read Shut Out online. If you cannot access this report, please contact the parish office for help.

Homily and Reflection Suggestions

The justice which God wants is not the cold and exacting justice of a court of law.  God’s justice is infused with the warmth of abundant love.  God’s justice, as we saw in the life and ministry of Jesus, the just shoot (First Reading), reaches out in love to those who are excluded and discriminated against by society and brings them in from the shadows and lifts the burdens which have been placed on them by the law and society.

Paul implores the Thessalonian community to practise the same love which Jesus showed – “May the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all…” (Second Reading).

Jesus also urges his disciples to “Be vigilant!”, He told them: “Do not allow your hearts to become drowsy…” (Gospel).  Our hearts’ capacity to reach out in love to each other and to all cannot be diminished by the worries of the day or the attitudes of others.

Being prepared for the days that are coming and being vigilant means loving tenderly and living justly with God as our constant companion and guide.

During this First Week in Advent, we will mark the International Day of People with Disability (3 December).  The experience of many people with disability is one of discrimination, exclusion, lack of opportunity and social isolation.  The experience of many people with disability was heard through a consultation which took place earlier this year and the results were presented in a report called Shut Out.  It will inform the development of a national disability strategy being developed by the Commonwealth and State Governments.

The report tells us about people with disability missing out on opportunities for education, not getting jobs and losing them because of their disability, experiencing great difficulty using public transport, not being able to access many public facilities like playgrounds and restaurants and not getting the support they need to live ordinary lives.  For many of them, life is an immense struggle full of frustration and desperation.

Because many people with disability are deprived of opportunities for education and work, many live in poverty.  Vision Australia, for example, found in a recent survey that 63% of people with visual impairment are either unemployed or under-employed.

The International Day of People with Disability draws our attention to the stories of hardship experienced by so many people who are in wheelchairs, intellectually disabled, blind, deaf or with other disabilities.  And it should also remind us of God’s call for us to reach out in love and with justice to people with disability.

As the People of God, what can we do to make these stories heard?  How can we develop relationships with people with disability and their families and carers?  How can we change attitudes and practices and policies so that the burden carried by so many people with disability is lifted from them?

Love enables us to reach out; love enables us to see the suffering and hear the pain and frustration; love enables us to give support and act differently; and love gives us the courage to speak out and act so that justice comes to those who are shut out by social attitudes, practices and policies.  Love is the answer which Jesus teaches us and love is what we must constantly hold in our hearts for all those who are burdened, like people with disability if we are to welcome him fully into our lives.

Intercessory Prayer

We pray for people with disability,

That their experiences of discrimination, exclusion and social isolation may be clearly heard and acted on by the Church, the community and Governments.

God of justice, hear us.

Some Suggestions for Action

• Contact Faith & Life to find out more about the Archdiocesan Disability Network
• Find out how Centrecare supports people with disability
• Explore involvement with groups like L’Arche Brisbane or the Little Kings Movement
• Find out how you can support local and national organisations who are advocating for the rights of people with disability

Some Useful Web Resources

Shut Out: The Experiences of People with Disabilities and Their Families in Australia

People with Disability Australia Inc

Australian Association for Families of Children with Disability

International Day of People with Disability

L’Arche Australia

For lunch a few of us decided to go to Lowes near our work so one of us could arrange to have 25 gallons of paint tinted for a house he just bought. We got to the paint counter and started to tell the person what color and how many gallons we need of each item. We were very organized as we had paint chips in hand, quantities written down and pretty much done all the homework ahead of time.  As we started to speak with the guy at the counter he just keeps looking away in the distance, never focusing on his one customer at the counter.

Every time we started to tell him what we needed his actions told us pretty loudly “I am not here and really am not going to give you my undivided attention”. Since it was the middle of a work day you generally do not have a crowd standing around interrupting so that could not be the excuse. Several times my friend stopped so he could refocus on our conversations.

We were taking bets on our way back to work that (1) he would mess up the paint color or (2) tint the wrong thing and Lowes would have to eat a costly mistake. Also, it has to be said that this young man ordering 25 gallons of paint had a lot more other work to be done on his house and he could certain take his business to the competition.

Not only did the Lowe’s store employee potentially push a good repeat customer away by his action to this one customer but he could have affected our decision next time we wanted to buy something for our home projects. Being a part of the conversation and actively listening can influence so many factors.

A group of mainly doctors from Berlin visited HOPE Cape Town today and it was very good to engage with them in a discussion about the situation here in South Africa and what it means to them in Germany. I hope once again to make it very clear that the HIV problem is not a charity matter but that it is in the interest of the people living in Europe  to avoid the building up of a resistant HIV strain here in South Africa or in East Europe.
The global village does not allow anymore for a kind of separation: with poverty it still is possible, with a virus it is getting more and more difficult and the panic with which people react to certain flu’s in the last year, be it the bird flu or now the swine flu could give an indication what would happen if a real resistant heterosexual HI virus would hit Europe and the rest of the so-called first world. Not sure about the “first” then anymore. And looking at TB with the multi- and extreme resistant TB strains, we have an idea how fast it can go in this direction.

Once again it was obvious how different the situation is in Europe and in South Africa – and as with all group talks, we learned from each other. And I am sure they go back as good ambassadors for the situation here in Southern Africa while still enjoying the beauty of this fabulous continent.

A gathering with a service at a family home ended this day which also saw a lot of preparation for tomorrow and the coming days.

I admire this: http://www.idealist.org/ICA/root/en/Static/TheVision/default.

These guys have taken on an impressive initiative.

They have boiled the major problems of the world down into three main realities:

1. a substantial number of people want to do something to help others (even a simple act, like cleaning Granny’s gutters, say) – but they don’t, for whatever reason

2. our problems are the same world-over, but we have chosen in many cases to connect along separatist lines (just because we don’t want to get along with China doesn’t mean that pollution is going to hang around them more than us – we’re all toast)

3. there are plenty of ideas and solutions out there to tackle the problems of the world, but a lack of connection keeps them from being shared efficiently, if at all

Sounds naive?  Too optimistic?  Possibly.  But look here: list of countries! As of today, 6800+ from the US have joined the initiative, as well as people from 154 countries.  There are only approximately 195 countries in the world.  That means practically 80% of all countries in the world have at least one person who wants to imagine, connect, and act with others for the good of humanity.  If just one person in an entire country is willing to risk getting ridiculed for being an “idealist”, then I can stand with them.

Let’s at least see where it takes us, shall we?

The National Council on Family Relations (www.ncfr.org) members and Dr. Jonathan Davis worked in collaboration with Chris Vizzina, head chef at Samford, to serve breakfast to the women and children at First Light  Friday, November 20 at 5:35am. 

First Light(www.firstlightshelter.org/), the only emergency shelter accepting homeless women and homeless women with children 24 hours a day in the area. The Department of Family Studies has maintained a collaboration with the First Light Shelter for 7 years, through our Family Life Education service-learning course. This new involvement by our student organization is another great way Samford gives back to its community, and we hope to have events like this each semester in the future.

Original Photo: Flikr user U.S. Army Africa. Used under Creative Commons license.

Progress towards healthcare for all could be furthered by the creation of a United States Medical Academy which would provide free education for those willing to serve for, say, 4 years as doctors in places where they are needed, with a strong focus on preventive medicine.   The purpose of this opportunity would be to improve the health of all citizens.

Those who would and will cry “socialism” would hopefully come to recognize that the military academies provide us with an excellent “socialized” military which protects us from threats to our national security and that the very notion of national security must involve a population free from threats to the health of our citizens.

– George Cattermole

I like a good pint. I’m not thrilled that a pint costs six or seven dollars in Toronto, but a good bartender trumps my innate cheapness anytime. Alas, a good bartender can be hard to find.