Month: December 2014

Local trees take a beating

Local trees take a beating

Posted by | Dec 17, 2014 | , , , |

Mother Nature may laugh at Tree Protection Orders, as last month’s super-cell storm demonstrated, but local Councillor Helen Abrahams is more concerned about the willful destruction proposed by Brisbane City Council for a mega-development in Mowbray Park. Here’s a snippet from Helen’s latest newsletter. Many of the larger trees in the area were badly damaged by the wind and hail of the recent storm, in particular the trees in Orleigh Park, Dutton Park and Davies Park. I have been advised that two fig trees in Orleigh Park will be removed. One tree is now a single branch bravely pointing...

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Mindfulness in Business

Mindfulness in Business

Posted by | Dec 16, 2014 | , , , , |

Buddhism encourages you to focus on your breathing or on a single principle of Buddhism to calm the monkey mind. But then the annoying thoughts creep back in. You know what I’m talking about. Boring thoughts, really mundane mental memos. “Did I turn off the iron?” “I must remember to send that email to my boss.” “What was that idea I had when I was going to sleep last night?” “I know I’m forgetting something.” The reality is, when your mind is full of chatter, you can’t just shut it up by trying to shut it off. You have...

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Kuripla Futures Community Conversation

Kuripla Futures Community Conversation

Posted by | Dec 15, 2014 | , , , |

On Saturday December 6th, members of the community dropped into Kurilpa Hall in Boundary Street West End to share their thoughts on the Kurilpa Master Plan. The event was hosted by the Kuripla Futures Campaign Group (KFCG). The KFCG is a network of Brisbane residents, community organisations and political organisations campaigning for community sensitive alternatives to the currently proposed Brisbane City Council’s Kurilpa Master Plan. The group considers that the current draft plan “..proposes sizable population growth but doesn’t add the necessary ingredients to ensure the basic needs of new, and existing residents, are met.” The KFCG has set...

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A Life of Living Hell

A Life of Living Hell

Posted by | Dec 7, 2014 | , , , , |

Cheryl is like any other 19 year old student at the University of Queensland. But her former life is an account of the living hell many children in Australia are currently enduring. For the first few years of her life Jack was a good step father. They lived in Harvey Bay, Jack’s family owned a restaurant, he was a hard worker and every day he would pick a word from the thesaurus for his step daughter. Soon a 3 year old Cheryl was using the word inquisitive in context. But when the family started struggling financially he began helping...

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Astronomers Find the ‘Real’ Xmas Star

Astronomers Find the ‘Real’ Xmas Star

Posted by | Dec 7, 2014 | , |

The ‘Star of Bethlehem’ is one of the most powerful symbols of Christianity. Was it purely a divine sign, or was it an astronomical event in its own right? Astronomer David Reneke believes astronomers may have found the answer. We see it almost every year around this time, blazing brightly overhead. A brilliant ‘star’ that heralds good times, holidays – and lots of great food. Its Christmas time and you’re looking at the planet Venus, often mistaken as the ‘Christmas Star’ shining brightly, just after sunset in western sky. The ‘Star of Bethlehem’ is one of the most powerful,...

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