Friday, 16 March 2012

When

When is arson without intent to endanger life terrorism?
Yesterday I watched an (iPlayer available http://bbc.co.uk/iplayer) salutary tale featuring Seattle 1999 WTO "riots" & those who broke the windows as well as having a long history of arsons that got re-named terrorist attacks. I would recommend Storyville
2011-2012, If a Tree Falls, A Story of the Earth Liberation Front
 To anyone concerned about arson, terrorism, protest & or humanity's chances of survival on a planet  without more care....
"Part coming-of-age tale, part thriller about an American environmental activist."
Available until  3rd April 2012

When will people (be aware of &) value mediated communication where there is disharmony?

I'm pleased to find that a quick mock-up website -http://www.mediationsupport.info/mike/- of an (award winning) idea made 2 years ago still has useful ideas and links in it. Unfortunately though, no one from Sussex has yet taken advantage of the opportunity for mediated video messaging that is afforded by http://peoplesjustice.org.uk into which I poured so much love, sweat and tears.

Sunday, 4 March 2012

Who decides what justice is?

Dominic Barter in the 6th of the key films from 2010 (called Camden Restorative Justice Clips):

At the close of this video (from 7 minutes and 53 seconds in), Dominic asks the key questions that promote engagement in vital dialogues as a pro-active considered choice rather than a reaction to what's going on that is taken on the hoof:

How can we create communities which are resilient enough, robust enough, to deal with this [period] of intense transition that we are in on almost every front:

  • transition in relationships
  • transition in parenting
  • transition in education

But also huge coming social transitions

  • with the way we distribute resources
  • with the way that we deal with the consequences of massive climate transformation
  • with the way in which we deal with the increasingly volatile economic situations

WE WILL BE MAKING DECISIONS
WE WILL BE RETURNING TO TOWN SQUARES
WE WILL BE RE-OPENING PUBLIC DIALOGUE ; if not because of the exciting potential that that gives us for democracy, then simply because the kinds of situation that we are increasingly confronting demand that of us.

So I would like us to learn to get more and more skilful about:

  1. How do we create social dialogue?
  2. How do we create procedures which support social dialogue?
  3. How do we create outcomes from that process which (actually) effectively meet fundamental human needs?

Wednesday, 11 January 2012

Sharing some Facebook reflections on the significance of the pier fire


  • The in-depth Buddhist reflection on the OCCUPY movement - the main page is:http://theidproject.org/media
    and the talk I'm currently finding insightful is:
    http://theidproject.org/media/podcast-ethan-nichtern-david-loy-and-michael-stone-discuss-occupy-wall-street-part-01
    "My main fear is that people won't dream big enough" - what a quote!
     ·  ·  · 16 hours ago
    • Don Clarke likes this.
      • Paul Crosland The basic choice we most often face in the important things in life is between Love & Fear. I pray that I choose love, however great my fears I putting out there dreams such as the ribbon on the new pier being cut by those who burned it down.
        9 hours ago · 
      • Paul Crosland ‎"I putting out" should read "of putting out". (An I for an I, making the whole world blonde, as Gandhi wrote in his delirium from, like me, not having fresh food.)
        9 hours ago · 
  • RECENT ACTIVITY
  • like asking Hastings/St Leonard's what the pier (in it's present state) symbolises for you.
    Before I tell you others' answers, could you reflect a moment on yours and share it please?
     ·  ·  · Monday at 18:27 via Mobile
      • Patsy Solanki both hope and change for the future
        Monday at 18:37 · 
      • Lozzerella Boo Sad
        Monday at 19:04 · 
      • Lorna Mcdougall-boud It symbolises the state of the town x
        Monday at 19:42 ·  ·  1
      • Chris Gidlow It is a symbol of Hastings stretching out like Michelangelo's Adam to the infinite beyond. And of the utter failure of our state to provide anything approximating to justice.
        Monday at 23:49 ·  ·  1
      • Patsy Solanki i stood and watched that fire on the night, with members of the old save the pier committee. I can only say i thought it was the best thing to happen, for all the right reasons. It meant it had to be stripped and started again, AND it brought the town out of a dreary fog and into a much clearer picture; do something right now! I strongly believe that everything happens for the best, even though we might not see the bigger picture picture at that time. This fire has rallied the town like nothing else could, a great thing to come out of it. Fire is a cleansing element too.
        Yesterday at 09:05 · 
      • Antony Martin John May For me the pier in its current state symbolizes how far this country has gone downhill in recent years. It symbolizes how community has become fragmented and uncaring and it symbolizes people like me - the unemployed and unemployable 'old guard' who still believe in England being England and that the E.U. will be the death of us all in the end...
        22 hours ago · 
      • Chris Gidlow Hastings is an unusual symbol for England successfully resisting continental expansion....
        13 hours ago ·  ·  1
      • Paul Crosland Thank you all for playing the "symbolism" game. This helps greatly with my script-writing for the play "Ethical Outings in Hastings" to be performed on Friday 5th October 2012 at the Southwater Community Centre and staring Anthony May as Dr Ambedkar. (Do put that date - the 2nd anniversary in your diary and book your seat NOW!). Further info about the coming together of the play -and maybe something about the splitting up of the EU in the wake of the growth of India & China (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a68lTjIpnMI) at http://ethicaloutings.blogspot.com/
        www.youtube.com
        India; from a third world country to the second most powerful country by 2036
        9 hours ago ·  · 
      • Paul Crosland Story line: In Hastings, the town that is the last bastion against the invasion, the pier burns down and, though two individuals who jumped off the burning pier are apprehended, no one is charged. In charges Paul Crosland and his angel friends with some wacky ideas about how justice could be done, once we've engaged in more dialogue about the ethics of "outing" people and making life more wonderful for all.
        5 hours ago · 
      • Patsy Solanki outing people? what a curious concept. I thought people were better outing themselves. I wonder how the world would be if we all started outing people - regardless of its ethical stance....
        4 hours ago · 
      • Patsy Solanki you can judge people ethically, you can criticise them in that vein too, all in the name of 'better' but isnt that forcing someone out? Maybe to be a stronger person one would be the change they wanted to see and wait for others to see that it was too a good way. Is it our job to out anyone? One comes out as you put it when they feel ready to do so, to face the world in their new garb or guise, or lack of guise. Is this a 'shame' game you're thinking of Paul?
        3 hours ago · 
      • Paul Crosland No shame game. I'll post an example of the abhorrent opposite of 'outing' sometime; a gang on a South London Estate leafleting to threaten anyone who would give the police information about a murder. Please give me a more
        about a minute ago · 
      • Paul Crosland in-depth consideration of the dynamics of 'outing'; they are not 'cut and dry' but a complex judgement call worthy of a TV film; which is what I'm now making: http://ethicaloutings.blogspot.com/p/links.html
        A few seconds ago ·  ·