Green TV, Fluoride, God of good sense, Rummy.

Had an extra good guitar practice session with niece Julie today. We worked for hours on just two songs :- St. Lois Blues and Tennessee Waltz. They are evolving very nicely. Almost ready for public performance. Probably "The Famous Blue Raincoat" on the Thursday after next. I might go there by myself next Thursday and do three open mic pieces. Maybe some classical plectrum pieces. I like that style.

I heard on the news radio about a new website that has short movie clips about environmental issues, things like climate change, poverty, etc.
Hope you'll look at it. [click]

Here's something from "Letters" in the "Age"

Tapping old mythsLiz Porter and her dentist have swallowed a myth themselves on tap water and fluoride (Society swallows the myth, 9/4). She urges people to consume tap water, and her dentist says water needs fluoride. Two reports from the US have blown those ideas out of the water. This month, a Harvard Centre for Cancer Prevention study showed that fluoridated water results in a five-fold increase in osteosarcoma, a bone cancer, in young people.

Last month, the US National Academy of Sciences revealed serious health hazards from fluoride in water, at quite low levels. Their three-year study highlighted bone fractures and joint pain, thyroid damage, and more.

They recommended that the maximum contaminant level for fluoride be lowered, which will leave no margin of safety between the amount of fluoride authorities add in Melbourne, Shepparton and Bendigo, and the amount proven harmful.

Remember, with fluoridation, the dose is out of control because people consume vastly varying amounts of tap water. Please Liz, check your myths.David McRae, Geelong

and another from the same source: (Age)

God of good sense Religion needs to be recognised as a group of philosophies, many centuries old, that contains grains of wisdom yet much nonsense that needs to be jettisoned (A God of all things, 9/4). The concept of God must be acknowledged as a concept only, not any kind of reality.

When we accept that religion is human-made, we realise that the values and ethics we place such great store by are human creations for human needs, not the motivations of some deity. When we realise that, we realise that we are quite capable of conducting ourselves as individuals, and our societies on a collective level, with grace, dignity and common sense. Having said this, it can't be stressed enough that people's concepts of what is good and evil differ greatly. For this reason, it's important to glean the values and ethics that we need to support a sustainable and inclusive community from the religions of the past.

We must then discard the superstitions and bigotry that condemns anyone outside these private clubs of spirituality to a life of rejection and persecution.
This is not a call for watering down religion, making it moderate or liberal. It's a call to reject religion itself, without throwing out all wisdom and compassion and opting for outright nihilism, as some would argue the rejection of religion leads to. We don't need a concept of God to decide what is right and what is bad for us. We should decide to have that wisdom for ourselves.

Andrew McIntosh, Glenroy

Call for Rumsfeld's Resignation

There's mounting anger over the Bush Junta's invasion of Iraq.

Calls for Rummy to resign over his inept handling of the "war"

Well now there's talk about his involvement in prisoner torture. See for yourself [click]

Here's a link to the "New York Times" with an article headed " More Retired Generals Call for Rumsfeld's Resignation More Retired Generals Call for Rumsfeld's Resignation" --- Sounds like good news [click]

See ya' tomorrow