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The Politics of the Australian Pastoral: Jonathan Dunk Reviews 'The Hands' by Stephen Orr
The Hands: An Australian Pastoral by Stephen Orr Wakefield Press 2015
Pastoral', from the Latin word for shepherd, denotes a form of verse composed in praise of rural and bucolic life against the urban and mercantile. It was inaugurated by Theocritus in third century B.C.E Sicily, but typified by Virgil's Eclogues composed between 44 and 39 B.C.E. Classical poets often associated rural life with Hesiod's Golden Age, and the form rapidly evolved into an idealized and loftily conventional aristocratic parlour-game divorced the actualities of agricultural conditions; like a farm themed costume party thrown for the privileged kids at St. Paul's. Ironically enough the genre was moved closer to realism by John Gay's extravagant parody The Shepherd's Week in 1714 which juxtaposed the elegant formulas of pastoral poetry with the crude realities of rustic life. Virgil's fourth eclogue, 'Pollio', proclaimed the Golden Age inaugurated by Augustus, and constituted an extremely potent political mythology, later fulsomely exploited by the Christian allegorists as Frank Kermode writes in The Classic (1975). Even at its most idealized and nostalgic, the pastoral form is intricately dialectical, and keenly political.
In the colonial era the pastoral, like many forms of landscape writing, was pressed into the service of what Paul Carter calls the "fabric of self reinforcing illusions" of colonial discourse which Edward Said defines as "the ideas, forms, and imaginings" that legitimate(d) imperium. In Australia the most potent article of this process was the doctrine of Terra Nullius in which the continent was imagined as a tabula rasa ripe for European settlement and cultivation. Of course, the land wasn't, and isn't empty, but inhabited by a pre-existent and sophisticated culture of land-management, one albeit, profoundly antithetical to European systems of cultivation. In these forms of colonial contexts, landscape genres like the picturesque and the pastoral acquire a particularly poignant ideological freight as mechanisms by which "colonial space is rendered familiar and manageable according to western schemes of representation, as Jeanne van Eeden writes in a study of South African architectural politics.
In his 1993 article 'Pastoral and Priority: The Aboriginal in Australian Pastoral' Ivor Indyk traces representations of the antithetical other through a genre which he understands as haunted by "a sense of violation, caused by an upheaval… the displacement of an Indigenous population by the settlers of a colonizing power." Indyk considers the idealized Rousseaian representations of the Aboriginal-as-noble-savage in Australian colonial poetry a presence which "unsettles the affirmations of the pastoral song" and therefore argues that the success of this genre in effacing the prior claim of Aboriginal custodians is at most "limited and partial".
Writing, perhaps, in a more cynical time I'd argue that the claim to "a deeper and more basic" connection to country which Indyk finds articulated in Katharine Susannah Prichard's novel Coonardoo (1929), in which Aboriginal people are figured as the simpler children of an essential 'life force', merely constitutes a more sophisticated, and therefore more insidious, form of colonial discourse.
From the current vantage, Coonardoo reads as heavy-handed, and paternalistic novel which rehearses Daisy Bates' disingenuous 'smooth the pillow of a dying race' dictum rather than critically engage the material conditions of Australian colonialism. A disappointing turn, given Prichard's Marxist inclinations.
Stephen Orr's new novel The Hands was published in late 2015, and is currently under consideration for the 2016 Miles Franklin prize. The Hands is a cyclical, familial pastoral circling the red soil of the Australian interior. 'Bundeena', the farm worked by six generations of the Wilkie family, straddles the territorial edge of the Modern Project, on the lip of the Nullabor desert, where the east-west rail corridor thunders by, and where "man" according to Trevor Wilkie, "had given up agriculture". Already, on it's fourth page, you'll note that the text denies Aboriginal land management practises the dignity of cultivation. 'Bundeena' is a Dharawal word meaning 'like thunder', which in Sydney is traditionally associated with the waves. In Orr's arid setting, four hundred miles from the coast, the etymon acquires more ominous connotations. The name is one of the text's notably scarce allusions to Indigenous culture, a fact to which I will return.
The novel's dust-jacket wears the subtitle 'An Australian Pastoral' above the poignant image of a small homestead with corrugated iron roof, clinging to the face of a parched country beneath a vast celestial geography. The ironic structure looks fragile, already historical. Thus self-proclaimed, The Hands plants crooked fences across a nebulous territory.
Orr takes one epigraph from Eliot's 'The Dry Salvages' in which the recurrent hauntings of history are tremulously elevated to a profession of religious faith, and another from James Agee and Walker Evans' elegiac documentary of Depression era sharecroppers Let us Now Praise Famous Men. Both texts were first published in 1941, and this duality expresses the fundamental tonal and stylistic ambivalence of the text's moment. It aspires both to tragedy and reportage.
Firstly, Orr's novel liberally avails itself of tragic structures and iconography: the action set in the early 2000's is haunted by an ancestor's desertion in the First World War, and the resulting ignominy which precipitates his father's suicide. A miasma of past wrongs and suppressed guilt palls the station's air, and inflects the drought with the weight of an ancestral curse. The supposedly firm roots of the Wilkie patrimony, extolled so inflexibly by the patriarch Murray, are gradually excavated by the narrative arc, and revealed as a fragile honeycomb of lies.
If The Hands is a tragedy, however, it conspicuously lacks a hamartia. John Wilkie's shell-shocked desertion, and his father's subsequent suicide are resonant indictments of the inflexible axioms of rural masculinity, but these events seem a symptom rather than a first cause for the historical despair threatening to engulf the Wilkies. In his 1968 Boyer Lectures the anthropologist Bill Stanner argued that the Australian false historical consciousness comprised "a cult of forgetfulness practised on a national scale". In an exchange dismally familiar Trevor Wilkie derides his son Harry's history curriculum for including abstractions like Ancient Egypt alongside 'real' history like the explorers. Further, when Harry does study the explorers he learns to Trevor's chagrin that: "they only survived because of the blackfellas", a reflection which prompts one of the many reveries through Trevor's mind which ventriloquise the brittle, contorted melancholies of white Australia: "Trevor was tired of songlines, and explorers. They weren't real – anymore, at least. ."
If we combine Stanner's historical diagnosis with the psychoanalytic approach to Australian literary culture in Jennifer Rutherford's Lacanian study The Gauche Intruder (2000) Orr's novel can be observed writing into an Australian settler fantasy obsessively overwriting the forcible dispossession of the Aboriginals with anxious eulogies to masculine prowess. The guilt of which, naturally, always returns, displaced into the body of the text.
Trevor's blithe dismissal of history is bitterly ironic, as the belief structures that keep him locked in a struggle of diminishing returns against a sere landscape is constructed and not given. That is, to paraphrase Coetzee in Dusklands (1974), history is whose fault he is, and the truth of that history might set him free from a despairing obligation to a failed and misbegotten estate.
Like many novelists straddling that much disputed category, the middle-brow, Orr is playing a double-game. His other, and contradictory ambition in this novel is foregrounded by the other epigraph. That is, to record in detail the conditions of the rural poor. Subsequently the texture of the novel's language ripples with barbed wire and sighs with gidgee and bluebush, mallee and bloodwood. The minutiae of country life, like the pedagogic rituals of the School of the Air, and the intricate dignities of labour involved in the muster, say, are recorded with a precision that will, I imagine, divide readers.
To some, the mechanical litany of 'authentic' detail characterising much of this novel will be an asset. Readers like Stella Clarke who reviewed Orr's earlier novel Dissonance for The Australian: "Orr is a no-nonsense, vivid storyteller" Clarke writes, who "punches out exchanges… in a pragmatic way… without sentiment." Perhaps for some there's a pleasing and steadying representative frisson to be found in this kind of fiction. For me though, this is where the pastoral merges with the Wintonesque suburban narrative; it becomes a fleetingly examined self-consciously masculine realism; predictably solid fare for that mythical tribe: 'Middle Australia'. This kind of book is a perspiring VB in a Carlton FC neoprene sock. It's quartered oranges at half-time, unveiled like corpus Christi in a Tupperware coffin by someone's cardiganed mum. It's double-brick and a Hills Hoyst, Winfield Blues and Wonder White, Menzies' forgetting people, and Howard's perpetual battlers: a mirage of diesel-slick wilting up from an endless stretch of bitumen into a blizzard of midday sun. A tedious rehearsal of threadbare clichés.
Perhaps I'm just disappointed. There are moments early in The Hands that promise much more than they deliver. A few pages in, following a dog-chewed akubra, some lyrically parched soil, and the usual nonsense about 'taming the country' there follows a more interesting passage:
"As they drove the clock rattled in its too-big receptacle. His eyes settled on a pocket of of ground peeling away from the earth in the mid-distance. He felt himself falling, until he wasn't in his ute. This place – the fences, the cattle, their hunger, their thirst – seemed to have nothing to do with him. All he had to do was keep his foot on the accelerator. That would lead to arrival, eating, sleeping, vaccinating, ranting about government and stock agents driving jaguars. But beyond all this he felt smaller than a spider." (p6.)
This is plangent stuff. The bumbling chronometer of metropolitan time, the standardized currency of western linear history, rattles in the wide socket of the Australian continent, its most resistant soil. The time, as Slessor writes in Five Bells "that is moved by little fidget wheels/ Is not my time", the temps of Modernity is not the durée of individual, affective experience, to adapt Bergson's model. In the third vision of his earlier poem Five Visions of Captain Cook Slessor artfully situates a similar temporal schism between the two quarrelling time pieces kept by Captain Cook on the Endeavour, "choked with appetite to wolf up time". Stretching the cross-reference a little further; the temporal narrative of modernity arrives on these shores already broken, and in the echo of this crooked narratival space the Wilkies and their ilk attempt to live. The soil itself, to which the frantic nostalgia of the Australian pastoral enacts a constant Pochvennichestvo-esque return, shrugs off the settler's gaze, and refuses to contain his presence. The untethered repetitions of eating, sleeping, ranting, getting and spending, form the tenuous thread of his dissociative desire. Most of the depiction of Trevor's interiority in The Hands is keenly aware that this cultural configuration is a cul-de-sac.
At one point in novel, traumatized by a car accident, another subverted trope of masculine autonomy, Trevor's oldest son Aidan deliberately rides down a kangaroo on his quadbike:
"He took a deep breath, found his knife in his pocket and opened it. Then he knelt down beside the animal, grabbed its scrotum and cut into it. The roo struggled and made a series of low, guttural moans. Only wanting to finish the job, he castrated it, stood up and threw the warm, bloodied sac onto its body." (p104-105).
This act is a cruel parody of the Wilkies' method of bull-catching during muster, the text's supreme embodiment of the "will" and "bloody mindedness" of rural masculinity. At this, and many similar points in the novel, the critique of the text's ideological material is incisive and visceral: Australian masculinity performs its brokenness violently upon the body of the other, the animal, the earth.
However this promise is not pursued to its full potential, like the Wilkie family, the text is divided against itself, fundamentally ambivalent about the future. It yearns to burn the crumbling estate of the Australian pastoral to the ground, but remains wedded to it like Murray, the family patriarch, and a miserable old bastard incapable of imagining another way of being. Although the text stages and performs the Australian settlement's ubiquitous denial of frontier violence, it shirks from articulately disrupting or subverting this silence, and so risks replicating it.
In a comparable vein, The Hands takes pains to illustrate how the roaring days of masculine prowess abused the unrecompensed emotional and material labour of women, but remains incapable of furnishing its female characters with agency or interiority. Again, this boundary is dismally appropriate to the tradition into which Orr writes. Kay Schaffer and others have shown in their critical reinterpretation of the hallowed 'Bulletin years' of the 1890s, that the putative golden age of Australian literary nationalism, perpetrated a forcible overwriting of the lives and work of women. In one scene towards the novel's conclusion Trevor and Murray watch "a mother in frayed track pants and an old boob-tube, a cellulite midriff and pierced belly button" and conclude that "it could be worse", referring to her as a "bush pig" and a "fuckin' disgrace". The stark limits of their empathy might be 'authentic', and the boundary of the novel's attention to women might be historically appropriate, but in the ethical contexts of Australian history, silence is an insidious form of assent and approval. These elisions blunt the novel's critique, and render its gestures towards a gentler future, in Brecht's terms, less convincing than they might otherwise be. As the novel rambles away from its tragic, metafictional beginnings, I often wondered why any of these characters merit attention or sympathy.
In the way it seeks to elegize the transplanted topoi of European culture The Hands recalls Prichard's social-Darwinist pastoral, discussed earlier, and Patrick White's eschatological masterpiece Riders in the Chariot. The application of tragic structures and symbols to contemporary realities and problems is a fraught business however. It risks the vague, roseate, and politically enervating 'transcendence' of which the New Critics were so fond. Riders in the Chariot abounds with White's magnificent difficulties; both numinous and ironic. It also typifies the complex problems of White's political ethics. On the one hand the novel constituted a progressive expansion of White Australian consciousness. Written in 1961, it was one of the first imaginative texts in the Anglosphere to engage with the reality of the holocaust. Similarly, one of the text's four elect, and the artist moreover, is an Aboriginal man. His characterisation, however, is at times clumsy, and as Michael Wilding argues in his Lukácsian essay 'Patrick White and The Politics of Modernism', its searing critique of violent masculinity may also be a a pejorative presentation of the working class, verging on a patrician reactionism.
My context in this reading is not inert. As a twenty-something academic residing in the fertile bottle-cap of urban Australia, the pastoral and suburban iconography that Orr eulogizes is at best a melancholy curiosity. These are the artefacts of the horizon-pressed lives of many of my male relatives, practical, laconic, miserable men, marooned in language and away from it.
As Brigid Rooney's various work on the representation of suburbia has shown, the rebarbative rejection of the suburban trope, and its ancestor, the pastoral, performed by so much Modernist literature, and Patrick White particularly, can be read as an oppositional gesture. In this figuration the ideal space of 'Middle Australia' is a fictive other, simultaneously too empty and too cluttered, demarcated by passive, stultifying, 'feminine' forms of cultural consumption, readily opposed to active, intellectual, 'masculine' forms of cultural labour. While he wasn't much of a Modernist, Phillip Larkin's poem Vers de Société illustrates this conflictual model perfectly; juxtaposing the solitary hermeticism of male art against the plural tedium of that suburban communion, the dinner party:
My wife and I have asked a crowd of craps
To come and waste their time and ours: perhaps
You'd care to join us? In a pig's arse, friend.
Day comes to an end.
The gas fire breathes, the trees are darkly swayed.
And so Dear Warlock-Williams: I'm afraid –
Funny how hard it is to be alone.
I could spend half my evenings, if I wanted,
Holding a glass of washing sherry, canted
Over to catch the drivel of some bitch
Who's read nothing but Which;
Just think of all the spare time that has flown…"
To acknowledge that critiques of the pastoral and the suburban are mired in their own politics is not, however, to consider all politics relative. The topoi of Middle Australia are certainly cultural constructs that can be fluidly plied, but they also remain fairly unironic aspirational models for a politically powerful cross-section of Australian society. As the pastoral overwrites the violence of the frontier the suburban idyll consolidates and polices that suppression beneath a fictive consensus. In the same year that Simon During proclaimed White's patrician critique of White Australia irrelevant to Keating's new multicultural society, Howard swept to power on a resurgent tide of White Australian conservatism to which the current government remains hostage, despite its leader's avowed liberal principles.
A few nights ago I was fortunate to attend the launch of the Free University of Western Sydney at Bankstown Art Centre. The event consisted of a panel of Aboriginal elders, activists, and academics hosted by an initiative and an audience overwhelmingly composed of non Anglo-Celtic migrants. The discussion was various, fierce, and proffered no easy solutions to the problems of Australian polity. It did however, constitute a genuine attempt at equable, progressive discourse, and a genuinely empathetic forum to air grievance. It drew a stark contrast to the attention given these problems by mainstream Australian discourse which ranges from tired and tokenistic sufferance to scornful cant about remote 'lifestyles'.
I generally try to avoid criticism's normative fallacy of baldly wishing for a different book, but given the essentially divided nature of Orr's book, and the complexity of its cultural contexts I feel justified in this case. Returning to the politics of the pastoral with Bankstown and Bundeena to mind, I wished that the Wilkies had left Bundeena in the novel's first chapter, and had gone somewhere more interesting and more hopeful.
If the cultural fabric is so tortuously stitched that we can't depict the plight of the rural white poor without occluding the violence of colonialisms past and present, that we can't critique the brazen cupidity of the powerful without slighting the disadvantaged and under-educated, perhaps we should abandon the genre. Perhaps it's time to do what this novel yearns to but cannot. To lift our hand from the plough, and let the scythe lie in the field where it falls by the rusting hulls of the FJ and the John Deere. Leave the sheets to swing on the line, open the sash-windows for the leaves, and up stumps for good.
In abandoning the conventions of middle Australia we might enrich our cultural discourse, and liberate that of those whose misfortune it has been to cohabit history with us, whose lives and languages and graves the canards of Middle Australia still obscure. Perhaps, to paraphrase Midnight Oil's immortal Beds are Burning, it's time to pay the rent, to see what other stories we can tell.
** ** **
Carter, Paul. The Road to Botany Bay: An Exploration of Landscape and History. New York: Knopf, 1988.
Coetzee, J.M. Dusklands. London: Secker & Warburg, 1982.
During, Simon. Patrick White. Melbourne: Oxford University Press 1996.
Eeden, Jeanne van. 'Theming Mythical Africa at the Lost City' in The Themed Space: Locating Culture, Nation, and Self. Edited by Scott A. Lukas. 113-135. London: Lexington Books, 2007.
Larkin, Phillip. The Complete Poems. London: Faber, 2012.
Kermode, Frank. The Classic. London: Faber & Faber, 1975.
Orr, Stephen. The Hands: An Australian Pastoral. Adelaide: Wakefield Press, 2015.
Prichard, Katharine Susannah. Coonardoo: The Well in the Shadow. Sydney: Harper Collins, 2013.
Rutherford, Jennifer. The Gauche Intruder: Freud, Lacan and the White Australian Fantasy. Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 2000.
Said, Edward. Culture and Imperialism. New York: Vintage Books, 1994.
Slessor, Kenneth. Selected Poems. Sydney: Angus & Robertson, 1993.
Stanner, W.E.H. The Boyer Lectures 1968 – After the Dreaming. Sydney: Australian Broadcasting Comission, 1969.
Indyk, Ivor. 'Pastoral and Priority: The Aboriginal in Australian Pastoral.' New Literary History, vol. 24 no. 4 1993 pg. 835-855
White, Patrick. Riders in the Chariot. London: Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1961.
Wilding, Michael. 'Patrick White: The Politics of Modernism' in Studies in Classic Australian Fiction. Sydney: Sydney Association for Studies in Society and Culture, 1997.
– Jonathan Dunk
Jonathan Dunk is a PhD candidate at the University of Sydney, where he teaches Australian Literature. His work has been published in The Australian Book Review, Southerly, and Cordite, and shortlisted for the 2015 Overland Victoria Short-story prize.
The Hands is available from http://www.wakefieldpress.com.au/product.php?productid=1238
Issue 18, Jonathan Dunk, Stephen Orr, The Hands: An Australian Pastoral, The Simplest Words: A Storyteller's Journey, Wakefield Press
Australian Fiction, Novel
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Home Microsoft Hackers Can Use Windows Safe Mode To Secretly Steal PC Login Credentials
Hackers Can Use Windows Safe Mode To Secretly Steal PC Login Credentials
Security researchers announced that Windows Safe Mode is not as safe as it is believed to be, considering the feature to have a "significant risk". However, Microsoft is informed of the issue but still Microsoft has not acted on it as it does not consider this to be a 'valid vulnerability'.
Security researchers from the CyberArk Labs which is an information security company offering privileged account security, announced, diagnostic features of Windows, Safe Mode, it can be used as an attack vector remotely by the hackers who have access to a PC or server targets.
The method of this attack was rated by the researchers as a method that is not common, and focuses attention on a tool used to fix the problems on your PC and remove security threats. Researchers also cited that they have created a number of proof of concept attacks that take advantage of Windows Safe Mode tool as an attack vector.
According to the security researchers, for a successful attack, the attacker will need to first gain access to the local administrator privileges on a computer or server running Windows. Then an attacker could remotely activate the safe mode to bypass the protection.
In safe mode, the offender can run a variety of tools to collect credentials and compromise other computers on the network without being noticed at all times. As the security researcher, Doron Naim said that this method works on all versions of Windows, including Windows 10, despite the presence of Microsoft's Virtual Secure Module (VSM).
As we all know that the Safe Mode feature in Windows, loads only essential services and functions necessary to run Windows and blocks the launch of third-party services and programs, including security tools. As a result, attackers can remotely run safe mode on a compromised computer and then carry out the attack very easily.
Furthermore, the attacker can also use the techniques, such as the COM object which is dangerous. The COM object technique is used to execute code that will change the background, look and feel of Safe Mode, hence, making the Windows Safe Mode appear like the user is still in Normal Mode.
Given Windows' ability to allow the applications to help users to restart PCs, hackers can hold this process to secretly restart systems in Safe Mode. As it shows that due to these easy feature billions of computers and servers are threatened on the basis of this operating system all over the world, said Doron Naim.
Successful exploitation of the problem involves three steps: Change the settings to activate the safe mode for the next time when you load the operating system, the creation of malicious tools for loading in Safe mode, and the implementation of the forced reboot your computer to exploit the vulnerability.
Furthermore, the information security company CyberArk researchers confirmed that they have notified Microsoft about the issues. However, the tech giant Microsoft still not acted on it, as it does not consider this to be a "valid vulnerability", which actually "requires an attacker to have already compromised the machine".

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Health Ministry unveils huge testing study to gauge real level of coronavirus infections in Czech Republic
https://english.radio.cz/health-ministry-unveils-huge-testing-study-gauge-real-level-coronavirus-8102285#player=on
Photo: ČTK/Dalibor Glück
The Ministry of Health has announced it is launching a collective study aimed at gauging the COVID-19 infection levels within the Czech population. Around 27,000 selected individuals and volunteers will be tested in order to give health officials the data needed to establish a better picture about the stage of the pandemic in the country. Results are expected to be available at the beginning of May.
As the Czech Republic prepares to gradually dismantle its quarantine measures and attempt to reach a level of herd immunity, health officials say it is necessary to first establish a picture on the level of spread of COVID-19 within the country.
This is to be achieved by collecting and analysing samples from a wide representative group of the Czech population, Health Minister Adam Vojtěch said at a press conference on Tuesday. Calling it an "unprecedented study in modern Czech history", he explained the details of how it will be carried out.
"This substantial and representative study will collect samples from up to 27,000 individuals. We made sure to choose the population samples from geographical clusters which we know have been hit quite hard by the disease…
Adam Vojtěch, photo: ČTK/Michal Kamaryt
"This includes the area around the [Moravian] towns of Litovel and Uničov, which were briefly quarantined, but also Prague and a certain group of individuals with chronic illnesses. We want this study to be as representative as possible in regards to the population, individual age groups and sexes."
Sampling is set to begin this week and should be finished by the beginning of May. In order to ensure the samples are truly representative, parts of the target groups will be selected by the Czech Statistics Office and the Academy of Sciences.
However, adults up to the age of 89 and in some cases children as well, are encouraged to voluntarily take part in the study by visiting sampling points in Prague, Brno, Olomouc and selected smaller districts. Further details and a detailed description of the sampling points posted on the Ministry of Health website.
With the exception of Olomouc, where full blood samples will be collected, the individual test will be composed of a finger-prick blood test, a so called "rapid-test" for COVID-19 and the filling out of a questionnaire. The results themselves will be available within 15-20 minutes.
The project will be under the competence of the Institute of Health Information and Statistics, a subsidiary of the Ministry of Health. Its director Ladislav Dušek called it a "monstrous project". Cautious of speculation, he provided some basic detail on what sort of results the Health Ministry is expecting.
Ladislav Dušek, photo: ČTK/Roman Vondrouš
"It will basically tell us whether a very small, medium, or high amount of the population has come into contact with the virus and at what stage of the imaginary curve we currently find ourselves.
"Do not expect exact answers on the level of three decimal points. We are aiming at a semi-quantitative result. That means anything between 0 to 10 or 15 percent would be regarded as a low level of spread, while more than 15 percent would be considered medium.
Deputy Health Minister Roman Prymula said similar tests have been conducted in other parts of Europe as well, but it would be unwise to exclusively rely on foreign data, as these numbers tend to conflict with one another. He expects the overall level of infection rates to lie somewhere between per mile and percentage point numbers. However, he stressed that the numbers could be higher in specific locations hit by the epidemic.
Further details on the study and the individual testing stations can be found here: https://covid-imunita.uzis.cz/index.php?pg=o-studii
Author: Tom McEnchroe


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On Nova Scotia's historic Shubenacadie River, a slow-motion showdown
By Michael MacDonaldThe Canadian Press
Sun., Aug. 5, 2018timer5 min. read
FORT ELLIS, N.S.—On the muddy banks of Nova Scotia's Shubenacadie River, Dorene Bernard is listening for sounds that will let her know the historic waterway is about to change direction.
"The wind will pick up, and you'll start hearing the water and waves coming," the Mi'kmaq activist says as she walks through the tall grass, carrying a large fan made from an eagle's wing.
The Shubenacadie is a 72-kilometre tidal river that cuts through the middle of Nova Scotia and flows into the Bay of Fundy. But when the world's highest tides rise in the bay, salt water flows up the river for almost half its length, creating a wave — or tidal bore — that pushes against the river's current.
It's an unusual natural phenomenon that draws tourists from around the world. It has also helped support the Mi'kmaq for more than 13,000 years.
"This is a major highway, a major artery for our people," says Bernard, a social worker, academic and member of the Sipekne'katik First Nation in nearby Indian Brook, N.S.
"Our ancestors are buried along here ... It has a very significant historical, spiritual and cultural relevance to who we are."
Read more: 'Just doing our small part': Halifax group cooks up support for Alton Gas protesters
Before the bore arrives, the river is like glass on this humid, windless day.
However, Bernard is mindful that another change is coming for the river and her people.
For the past 12 years, a Calgary-based company has been planning to pump water from the river to an underground site 12 kilometres away, where it will be used to flush out salt deposits, creating huge caverns that will eventually store natural gas.
AltaGas says the leftover brine solution will be pumped into the river, twice a day at high tide, over a two- to three-year period.
The initial plan is to create two caverns about a kilometre underground. But the company has said it may need as many as 15 caverns, which would be linked to the nearby Maritimes and Northeast natural gas pipeline, about 60 kilometres north of Halifax.
The storage is needed by an AltaGas subsidiary, Heritage Gas, which sells natural gas in the Halifax area and a few other Nova Scotia communities. It says it wants to stockpile its product during the colder months to protect its customers from price shocks when demand spikes.
Drilling for the first two caverns has been completed.
After years of consultations, legal wrangling and scientific monitoring, the company's Nova Scotia-based subsidiary, Alton Natural Gas Storage LP, has said it plans to start the brining process some time later this year.
Bernard says her people are not going to let that happen.
The $130-million project has been largely on hold since 2014 when Mi'kmaq activists started a series of protests that culminated two years later in the creation of a year-round protest camp at the work site northwest of Stewiacke.
"We're not going to let anyone destroy our water," Bernard said in a recent interview, declining to elaborate on what will happen if police or security guards try to reclaim the site.
"The impacts will be huge. You can't just put something in your vein and think it's not going to affect your whole body."
She says the company has consulted with Indigenous leaders, but she insists it has done a poor job of reaching out to the Mi'kmaq people, particularly those who are members of her First Nation.
"There was never a public hearing with Alton Gas in our community. Never."
For its part, the company has insisted it has consulted with local Indigenous people, and the provincial government has agreed.
More importantly, the company says it has already secured the permits it needs to start pumping water from the river.
At the entrance to the protest camp off Riverside Road, a steel gate is covered in placards and a canvas lean-to. A sign that warns against trespassing — installed by the company with the help of the RCMP — has been covered with a blanket.
In May of last year, protesters built a tiny, two-storey house out of straw bales and lime plaster. It has a dirt floor, wood stove, bunks and plenty of provisions inside.
There's also a garden. Chickens and geese roam the makeshift squatters camp.
On this day, there are only three protesters — they call themselves water protectors — at the site. But some supporters from Halifax later drop by for a visit.
"We have a lot of allies, settlers who are supporting this camp — it's not just the Mi'kmaq," says Ducie Howe, Bernard's cousin and a resident of what she calls Shubenacadie Reserve No. 14, the original name for the nearby First Nation.
"There's people from all over who will come. And they'll keep coming."
Howe says Nova Scotians need to be reminded that the company is operating on unceded Mi'kmaq territory.
"We signed peace and friendship treaties," she says. "We never signed treaties that gave up any part of our lands ... Giving out permits? Those are illegal. They didn't have the right to do that."
Closer to the river, there's a smaller, flat-topped wooden building that Bernard describes as a truckhouse. The reference is to the 1752 Peace and Friendship Treaty, which states that the Mi'kmaq are free to build "truckhouses" along the river to facilitate trade.
In the distance, a small hut for security guards sits empty.
Company spokesperson Lori Maclean says some protesters have been served with trespassing notices.
"The company is aware of the activity of protesters at the site and continues to engage with law enforcement and the community," she said in a recent email. "Alton sites are work areas that are open only to Alton staff or approved contractors."
Alton has received the environmental and industrial approvals it needs to proceed, including two environmental assessments and an independent third-party science review. However, provincial Environment Minister Margaret Miller has yet to make a decision about an appeal of the industrial approval filed by the Sipekne'katik First Nation.
As for the brine that will be pumped into the river, the company says the peak release on each tidal cycle will be approximately 5,000 cubic metres, which will be mixed in with four million cubic metres of brackish tidal flow.
The company says the brine flowing into the Minas Basin "would not be detectable and would be insignificant in terms of the natural fluctuation of salinity the ecosystem is subject to during each tidal cycle."
Alton Gas also says the intake pipe will not suck in fish or small organisms because the water will be filtered through a rock wall, and the intake flow will be low enough to allow all fish to swim away.
"The requirements of our monitoring program with provincial and federal regulators will ensure that the brine will not impact the ecosystem," the company's website says.
Before Bernard and Howe leave the river, the pair stand at the edge of the bank to make an offering through song.
The lyrics are sung in the original Ojibwa and then in Mi'kmaq: "Water, I love you. I thank you. I respect you. Water is life."
Nova Scotia, Halifax


Having your teeth whitened can be very exciting. Within just an hour or two in your dentist's office, you finally have the bright, white smile you've always wished for. Now, it's time to turn your attention towards keeping that smile white! Follow these tips in the weeks, months, and years after treatment to ensure your results last as long as possible.
Even though your teeth are no longer stained, it's a good idea to use a whitening toothpaste. These toothpastes work because they have some gritty matter in them. The special grit helps scrub stains from your teeth. You'll scrub them away before they get to the point of being obvious! The exception is if your teeth are a bit sensitive after whitening treatment. In that case, you should use a sensitivity toothpaste for a few weeks -- until your teeth feel better -- and then switch to a whitening toothpaste.
If you're able to give up coffee and other dark beverages completely, that's the best. However, most people don't want to kick that coffee habit. You can minimize the staining effects by at least drinking the coffee with a straw. This way, it won't directly touch your front teeth. Also drink your tea and red wine with a straw. When drinking in public, you may want to choose green tea and white wine if you're too worried about looking silly.
A lot of staining is caused by the slow buildup of plaque and tartar on the surface of your teeth. You can minimize this buildup by brushing your teeth more often. Instead of just brushing twice a day, bring your toothbrush with you (or keep a second one in your desk), so you can brush after lunch and snacks. If you don't let plaque accumulate, then stains won't accumulate, either.
Keep your regular cleaning appointments.
During a professional cleaning appointment, your dental hygienist will scrape away tartar, which is hardened plaque that accumulates along the gum line. This tartar leads to staining if left in place for too long. So, keep going to the dentist for cleaning and checkup appointments every 6 months. Schedule your appointments well in advance so you don't forget to make them.
To learn more about keeping your teeth white after a professional treatment, speak with your dentist or dental hygienist.


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← Walking the floor on my hands over you
And Frida Kahlo said that?… →
What really happened at Jalna stayed in Jalna
Posted on July 13, 2014 by maryannadair
Mazo de la Roche – (pron. may'zo) was born on January 15, 1879, in Newmarket, Ontario, Canada. She was the successful author of the prolific Jalna series of novels; one of the most popular of the era.
An only child, Mazo grew up on a hobby farm which belonged to her wealthy father. It was during these years she began to develop her fictional world of rural aristocracy that would later become Jalna. At the age of seven, her parents adopted an orphaned younger cousin on her father's side of the family, Caroline Clement; who joined in Mazo's fantasy world game and would become her lifelong companion. The two lived a fairly reclusive life; and their relationship was never discussed.
Mazo wrote her first short story at the age of nine. Her first two novels, Possession (1923) and Delight (1926), were romantic novels and earned her little in income or recognition. The following year, her third novel, Jalna, was submitted to the American magazine Atlantic Monthly, winning a $10,000 award at the age of 48.
The 16 novel Jalna series incorporated the Whiteoak Chronicles. The series chronicled 100 years of the Whiteoak family from 1854-1954. It has been said that there are some similarities and differences experienced by the Whiteoak family that are similar to the De la Roche family. Several critics believe that Finch Whiteoak, who majors in Finch's Fortune (1932) is a reflection of Mazo, herself. Finch showed some overtones of gayness, and was depicted as a tortured concert pianist.
Mazo de la Roche died on July 12, 1961 and is buried in the cemetery at St. George's Anglican Church, at Sibbald Point, near Sutton, Ontario. Some interesting facts about Mazo and the Jalna series include:
The novels were not written in sequential order, so each can be read as an independent story.
The names of many of the characters were taken from gravestones in a nearby cemetery in Newmarket.
According to Wikipedia, The Jalna series has sold more than 11M copies in 193 English and 92 foreign editions.
In 1935, the film Jalna, was released, based on the novel
In 1972, CBC TVs produced a series based on the Jalna series.
A National Film Board of Canada production; The Mystery of Mazo de la Roche, premiered in 2012 at the Festival International du Film sur l'art in Montreal, then and the Toronto Premiere of Hot Docs in April 2012.
The image here is from the cover of the paperback edition of Return to Jalna and the illustrator is unknown, unless anyone knows otherwise?
This entry was posted in Cover Art, Illustrations, nostalgia and tagged #IllustrativeArt, cover ar, Jalna, Mazo de la Roche, novelist, Whiteoaks, writer. Bookmark the permalink.


hill websites like realgm.com, dreamscity.net and 2baksa.net.
Google search volume for "hill"
Description: The Original Online F1 News Service.
Description: F1, Formula 1, GP2, DTM, WRC, MOTOGP, Türkiye Motorsporları haber, resim ve video merkezi. Sanal Formula1 yarışması.
Description: Features news from the Kennebec Journal of Augusta, Maine. Serves Augusta, Hallowell, Manchester, Summerhaven and Granite Hill.


Oscar Choker Necklace is rated 5.0 out of 5 by 16.
A striking bib silhouette, the Oscar Choker Necklace is the perfect blend of sparkle and studs. Surprisingly versatile, this choker necklace pairs perfectly with everything from a cocktail dress to a simple tee. Finding a length you love on the Oscar Choker Necklace is simple with our adjustable slider.
• Size: 28" chain, 0.54", 0.5", 0.26"
Rated 5 out of 5 by ENB1676 from One of my all time favorites Beautiful for every day and special events. Love the adjustable length — allows me to adjust with my top and it's long enough to layer under high neck sweaters. This necklace is a must.
Rated 5 out of 5 by Shopgirl from Gorgeous necklace! I just bought this gorgeous necklace and I love it! Beautiful Rose Gold. Lays very nicely on your neck. Love the crystals. Very substantial necklace. You will not be disappointed!
Rated 5 out of 5 by jml27 from Show stopper! I bought this necklace for a particular dress and event but find myself reaching for it at least once a week. It's beautiful and practical at the same time and can be dressed all the way up or down. I highly recommend it in the Rose Gold!
Rated 5 out of 5 by 1shopper from Love it! This necklace caught my eye because it reminds me of Valentino Rockstud. The pyramid studs match perfectly with the light gold pyramid studs on my shoes! It's a fabulous necklace and I am very pleased with my purchase.
Rated 5 out of 5 by Pmac from beautiful statement necklace I love my necklace, stunning piece. It goes well with black outfits. I have received a lot of compliments. So glad I picked out this piece, I will get a lot of wear out of this necklace.
Rated 5 out of 5 by KarenSSZZ from Stunning choker Really beautiful necklace, good quality. It makes me wish I dressed up more, so I could wear it more often!
Rated 5 out of 5 by SueCQ from Oscar Rose Gold Choker Necklace Beautiful necklace... did not disappoint. You can wear this necklace casual or dressy. Quality piece.
Rated 5 out of 5 by Krissy from Great purchase Love this necklace!! Very pretty and goes with everything. Exactly what I was looking for.


Sunny, literally sparkling inside, ring consists of yellow sapphire and diamonds is a frisky and beautiful jewel. We name it in honor a famous Golden stone – Buddhist shrine on Myanmar, where this gemstone was born. It seem impossible to break up with this ring. It is said that yellow sapphire attract wealth and prosperity.


COKATO, MN – Cokato Licensing will soon have a new home – off Broadway, and onto Millard Avenue.
Owners Steven and Ramona Strolberg had been looking for a larger office space for their business and knew the former Saber Controls building was available. All they needed was a buyer for their current office building.
That's when Jake Linder came into the picture.
Mike Seaberg of First National Bank in Cokato had been working with Linder, a 1999 Dassel-Cokato graduate interested in opening a financial planning office in town. Seaberg recommended talking with the Strolbergs because he knew of their wishes to move.
Linder began working with his uncle, Mark Linder, in December at Navigator Financial Group, a full-service financial planning firm in Hutchinson.
Jake and his wife, Bethany are a fourth-generation family living in Cokato, and he wanted an office closer to home.
"It's going to be great," Linder said, adding that not only is it a great location, but it's a great space for the size of office he needs.
Cokato Licensing is expecting to be moved to its new location by April 1, after some necessary remodeling is done, Ramona explained.
"It will be exciting," she said, adding that the space is about double the current location, which will add a lot more storage and working space.
Linder is anticipating a gradual transition beginning in April, in which he will likely work in the Cokato office a few days a week before moving there full time.


Backing Germany is in their DNA. Dress your little Germany superfan in the team's famous white and black colours with this infants' football mini kit. With a shirt and shorts, this pint-size home strip is styled after the one the team's superstars wear. It features Climalite to keep them dry and comfortable.


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Lamá
Lam and its various forms may refer to:
Lām
Lām, a letter of the Arabic alphabet
Mor lam, an ancient Lao form of song in Laos and Isan
Lam saravane, a music genre
Lam luang, a music genre
Lam, Germany, a town in Bavaria
Lactational amenorrhea method, a contraceptive method
LAM Mozambique Airlines, the National airline of Mozambique
Los Alamos Airport, IATA airport code
LAM/MPI, an MPI programming environment and development system for heterogeneous computers on a network or Local Area Multicomputer
London After Midnight (band), an L.A. band
Lymphangioleiomyomatosis, a rare lung disease
The collection code of the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County
Lipoarabinomannan, a glycolipid associated with the cell wall of Mycobacterium tuberculosis
Laser aiming module, a laser sight for firearms
Laser capture microdissection, also known as laser-assisted microdissection
Libraries, archives, and museums, an alternate formulation of the GLAM industry classification denoting publicly accountable institutions collecting cultural heritage materials
This page contains text from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia - https://wn.com/Lam
Lamé may refer to:
Lamé curve, geometric figure
Lamé (fabric), with metallic strands
Lamé (fencing), jacket for detecting hits
Amy Lamé, British radio presenter
Gabriel Lamé (1795–1870), French mathematician
Lamé (crater) on the Moon
Lamé, a couple of the Masa languages of West Africa
Lamé parameters
Lame (disambiguation)
Lame (kitchen tool), occasionally misspelled lamé
This page contains text from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia - https://wn.com/Lamé
Lamá may refer to:
Lamá (Angolan footballer) (born 1981), Angolan football goalkeeper
Lamá (Mozambican footballer) (born 1985), Mozambican football goalkeeper
This page contains text from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia - https://wn.com/Lamá
Lam, Scarlett Filmography
Play in Full Screen Born Again: The Power Team Story
Play in Full Screen Shuffle
Play in Full Screen Metronome
Play in Full Screen Melvin Goes to Dinner
2003, role: actress , character name: Stewardess


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Pre-Earnings Optimism Lifts Dow Jones Industrial Average; RUT Makes History
The Russell 2000 Index (RUT) notched its highest perch on record earlier
After signaling a slow start amid some downbeat data overseas, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) reversed course shortly after the open as optimism sets in ahead of a slew of high-profile earnings out of the financial sector. This burst of buying power has spread elsewhere on the Street, with the Russell 2000 Index (RUT) notching its highest perch to date earlier. Additionally, the Nasdaq Composite (COMP) has found a comfortable footing above the highly watched 5,000 mark -- thanks to an analyst-induced rally for this streaming giant -- while the S&P 500 Index (SPX) is also extending last week's impressive gains.
Continue reading for more on today's market -- and don't miss:
A massive valuation for Spotify has Pandora Media Inc (NYSE:P) higher -- and options traders calling for more
The cybersecurity firm in the spotlight after uncovering a decade-long cyber espionage scheme.
Plus ... Checking in on CBOE Volatility Index (VIX), the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY), and other noteworthy stats at midday.
Among the stocks with notable put activity is Arrowhead Research Corp (NASDAQ:ARWR), with the contracts crossing at 14 times the average intraday pace. The stock is in rally mode today, following a tip of the hat from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and was last seen up 4.3% at $8.25. Against this backdrop, it appears a number of option traders are throwing in the towel on their bearish bets, selling to close ARWR's May 7 put.
For more midday statistics and stocks on the move, head to page 2.
One of the major advancers on the Big Board is bookseller Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE:BKS). The stock is up 6..2% at $23.34, amid some upbeat attention from Craig-Hallum. What's more, the shares are back in the black on a year-to-date basis, and on track to close north of their 30-day moving average for the first time since March 9.
Recro Pharma Inc (NASDAQ:REPH) is one of the biggest gainers on the Nasdaq, after the drugmaker completed its purchase of a handful of assets from Alkermes Plc (NASDAQ:ALKS). At last check, REPH was up 25.3% at $13.99, after earlier hitting a record high of $14.70.
After closing last week at its lowest perch since early December, the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) is up 0.7 point, or 5.3%, at 13.24.
Today's put/call volume ratio on the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) is 1.06, meaning puts have the slight edge over calls. SPY was last seen 0.3 point, or 0.1%, higher at $210.30.


These corner rooms feature large windows on two sides, affording spectacular views of the city of Osaka in both directions. A generously-proportioned desk and chair face the windows, allowing you to enjoy breakfast in the sunshine and the lights of the city at night. At more than 51 square meters in size, these rooms promise a truly exceptional stay.
All guest rooms are located on the 24th through the 37th floors and offer spectacular panoramic views of the city.


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Glenlockhart Cottage
A holiday home in Edinburgh
Local & Edinburgh
Exploring Edinburgh and beyond
The Old Town skyline with Salisbury Crags behind - count the chimneypots...
Just one of Edinburgh's many grand statues and monuments
Edinburgh Castle high above the Scottish National Gallery
The perfect base for exploring Edinburgh and many of Scotland's treasures, Glenlockhart Cottage is just 2.5 miles from Edinburgh Castle and the city centre
Stay local and take a walk to Morningside, one of Edinburgh's lively urban villages, where you'll find a Waitrose, M&S Food, the independent Dominion Cinema (the most comfortable seats in town), a wide selection of cafes, bistros and restaurants, specialist food shops (including cheesemonger, artisan bakers, and a delicatessen), boutiques and several pubs offering food - including one of Edinburgh's most historic and best-known, the Canny Man's. You'll find details of all our favourites in the cottage
Enjoy the gym, tennis courts or golf course nearby, or pamper yourself with a spa treatment. Within five minutes' drive you can enjoy horse riding - from pony rides for the little ones to scenic rides in the hills with views of Edinburgh - and year-round skiing or snowboarding on Europe's longest dry ski slope
Do as the locals do and avoid Edinburgh's notorious parking charges (and stress!) by hopping on the bus into town. There's a bus stop just two minutes' walk from the cottage and an excellent bus service running every 10 minutes to the city centre
From family days out to cultural pursuits, Edinburgh has a wealth of top attractions to satisfy all tastes. Edinburgh International Festival and Fringe Festival, Edinburgh Film Festival, Edinburgh Jazz & Blues Festival, Edinburgh's Christmas & Markets, Edinburgh's Hogmanay, Six Nations Rugby, Edinburgh International Science Festival, the Royal Yacht Britannia, Edinburgh Royal Military Tattoo, and Edinburgh Zoo (especially the giant pandas!) draw visitors from all over the world
From pandas to pop-art and dinosaurs to Dolly the Sheep, Edinburgh boasts art galleries, museums, parks and much more, all within easy reach in the UK's most walkable city. Take an early morning walk on the beach, explore the cobbled streets, enjoy a dram (or two) at the Scotch Whisky Experience, peruse world-class art in our National Galleries and, of course, visit Edinburgh Castle and watch the One O'clock Gun being fired. Despite its timeless setting, Edinburgh is a city that never stands still
Glenlockhart Cottage is perfectly positioned for short drives to explore the surrounding areas - places such as Rosslyn Chapel, the Forth Bridges and Queensferry (take a cruise on the Forth and watch the seals), Bo'ness Steam Railway, Stirling Castle, the Falkirk Wheel and the Kelpies, the villages of Culross and Falkland in Fife, pretty Peebles in the Scottish borders, and the seaside town of North Berwick where you can enjoy freshly caught lobsters at the harbour shack or take a boat trip and see the puffins. Visit historic houses such as Traquair, Hopetoun, Abbotsford, and Blackness Castle
Come and stay in Glenlockhart Cottage for a magical Christmas or New Year! The cottage is warm and welcoming with festive decorations and Christmas tree, the city is spectacular in winter, and if we're lucky enough to have snow, young and old can have fun sledging on the hill beside the cottage – sledges provided!
…check availability and book
Quirky independent shops in colourful, cobbled Victoria Street
Happy New Year from Edinburgh!
Festival time in Edinburgh
Scotland, Home of Golf
Malt whisky maturing in casks at the world-famous Laphroaig Distllery on Islay
World-class fishing in secluded lochs
Enjoy walking…
There's a nature reserve and duck pond within 10 minutes' walk, and leafy walks all around. You'll find books in the cottage library on 'Hidden Edinburgh' walks and other walks in the countryside around Edinburgh from Arthur's Seat to Linlithgow and Dunbar taking in the Pentland, Moorfoot and Lammermuir Hills. Munro-bagging adventurers will find 11 of Scotland's Munros within two hours' drive, and Glenlockhart Cottage is a cosy and comfortable haven after a day in the hills
Enjoy golf…
Glenlockhart Cottage is a great central base for a Scottish golfing holiday - the Merchants of Edinburgh Golf Course is on our doorstep (literally!) and welcomes visitors. Within 30 minutes' drive along the lovely East Lothian coastline you will be spoiled for choice of courses to play - Craigielaw, Gullane, Archerfield, Muirfield, Dunbar, North Berwick, to name but a few. We are only 1.5 hour's drive from St Andrews Old Course and King's Barns, as well as the 'East Neuk' Fife courses such as Lundin Links. We are an hour from Gleneagles, 1.5 hours from Carnoustie, and two hours from the Ayrshire coast for Troon Old Course
Enjoy whisky…
Whisky enthusiasts, from newbies to connoisseurs, can combine a luxurious and relaxing stay in Glenlockhart Cottage with a visit to a local distillery or with a tasting tour on the Whisky Trail. There are six distilleries within easy driving distance, including Glenkinchie, The Famous Grouse, Dewar's and Blair Athol. Even closer to the cottage you will find the new Johnnie Walker Experience on Princes Street, and the Scottish Whisky Experience on the Royal Mile where you can learn about the history of whisky, how it's made and the skill of blending. View the world's largest collection of Scotch whisky and learn about Highland, Lowland, Islay and Speyside distilleries. Tours include whisky tasting and tasting notes, and audio guides in many languages
Enjoy fishing…
Glenlockhart Cottage is a perfect base for a fishing holiday in Scotland, with the River Tweed in the Scottish Borders to Loch Awe in Argyll all within easy reach. Scotland is one of the world's top destinations for freshwater and sea angling, with world-class fishing available throughout the year. From beautiful rivers to secluded lochs, there are excellent salmon, trout and coarse fishing opportunities in some of the finest Scottish landscapes. For anyone keen to catch wild fish in spectacular surroundings, from beginners to accomplished anglers, our friendly guide is a professional fly-fishing guide, a contributor to Trout & Salmon magazine, and has extensive knowledge of Scotland's rivers, lochs and more remote locations
Enjoy books…
Visit the Writers' Museum or join a guided walking tour visiting the sites and haunts of Edinburgh's literary legends: Robert Burns, Sir Walter Scott, Robert Louis Stevenson, Arthur Conan Doyle, J.M. Barrie, Alexander McCall Smith, Ian Rankin and J.K. Rowling. Or discover them yourself with a guide book from the cottage library
Enjoy film & tv…
Immerse yourself in the mystical Outlander world of Claire and Jamie; many of the locations used in the series are within easy reach of Glenlockhart Cottage - from ancient and mysterious standing stones to dramatic castles, magnificent stately homes and breathtaking landscapes. As one of the Location Managers on the series, please ask in advance and I'll be happy to point you in the right direction of those you'd like to see
Edinburgh has played a starring role as a superb film location for some of the UK's best-loved productions, from blockbusters such as Avengers: Infinity War to Trainspotting, Inspector Rebus and Sunshine on Leith
Harry Potter fans can visit the places where JK Rowling sourced much of her inspiration for the locations and names in the series. Tours are available, muggles welcome!
Enjoy cycling…
Edinburgh has many safe and interesting cycle routes which can be enjoyed by all ages. From off-street paths, canal towpaths, former railway lines and sea view esplanades, there's a cycle route to suit most abilities
The network of exhilarating world-class trails in our hills and forests have put Scotland on the mountain biking map. You'll find 56 trails in the Pentland Hills alone, just 10 minutes' drive from Glenlockhart Cottage, and Glentress Forest (less than an hour away) is a 7stanes mountain biking centre with a great café and bike hire on site
The cottage has its own secure Asgard cycle store for up to four adult bikes
Enjoy photography…
Edinburgh offers endless opportunities for photo enthusiasts, from beginners to experienced photographers. Climb Arthur's Seat, Salisbury Crags or Calton Hill for unbeatable views, or indulge your passion by exploring the medieval Old Town with its courtyards and closes (alleyways), the cobbled crescents of the Georgian New Town or historic spots such as the Dean Village or the shore in Leith
Researching your roots…
Does your family history include Scottish monarchy, brave warriors or villainous rogues? Looking to learn about the background of your grandparents, or discover living relatives? Glenlockhart Cottage is the perfect vacation rental as Scotland's main record office, here in Edinburgh, is a wonderful archive to begin your genealogy journey. With a copy of a birth or marriage certificate, or even just names and dates of a family member, you can uncover information about your own family history, including occupations and addresses. You may be able to discover your family tartan and which clan you belong to. If your ancestors were evicted from their land during the Highland Clearances, you could find out more about how and when they set sail for the US or Canada. Bring your Scottish ancestry to life by building a picture of your Scottish family tree, a memorable gift to pass on to future generations
We are happy to provide more information on any of the above, please ask prior to arrival
Find Outlander's real Lallybroch
Scotland ablaze with autumn colours
Spectacular views from Arthur's Seat, the highest point in Edinburgh
The Jacobite steam train - all aboard the Hogwarts Express!
Perfect reflections of an autumn sunrise on Buachaille Etive Mor, Glencoe
Kilchurn Castle reflections in Loch Awe at sunset
Enjoy the splendour of Scotland…
You'll find that many of Scotland's most dramatic and best-loved landscapes are within easy reach of Glenlockhart Cottage. A trip in the car will take you to Loch Lomond, Rannoch Moor, Glencoe, Balquhidder (Rob Roy country), Doune Castle and Stirling Castle – all in a single day
Or take a day to explore beautiful Royal Deeside and the grounds and gardens of Balmoral Castle, the Scottish summer home of the Queen and Royal Family. Braemar and the pretty Victorian village of Ballater with its many colourful Royal Warrants above the doorways of the local shops, and delicious eateries, make this a wonderful place for lunch
Spend a day in the Borders, where England and Scotland meet, with its historical estates, villages and ruined castles, market towns, rolling hills and majestic coastlines. From Sir Walter Scott's historic country mansion, Abbotsford House, and the magnificent Cistercian ruin at Melrose Abbey, to romantic Dryburgh Abbey and Scotland's oldest inhabited house at Traquair, the area is rich in history. Travel further back in time and visit Roman ruins and Hadrian's Wall
If you don't drive, or don't have a car, we can point you in the direction of some of Edinburgh's highly-rated tour companies that organise day or half-day tours – either bespoke or as part of a small group
Enjoy a Scottish safari…
Take a Land Rover safari with a kilted safari ranger and indulge your passion for nature, culture, history and breathtaking scenery. Armed with binoculars, climb aboard and journey to the high tops through a land sculpted by the elements. You may be lucky enough to see majestic red deer, the famous grouse, an elusive mountain hare or soaring golden eagles as you travel through forests, mountains and moors on private hill tracks. Just over 1.5 hours' drive from Glenlockhart Cottage, it's a great day out for all ages. You'll be inspired with an insight into this magnificent natural wilderness and your memories will last a lifetime
Enjoy touring further around Scotland…
Follow the Jacobite trail and visit Glenfinnan and the battlefield of Culloden, walk in the footsteps of Mary Queen of Scots as she travelled around Scotland, see the unique and dramatic landscapes of Skye, the beaches of the Hebrides, drive the North Coast 500 route or simply explore the highlands and islands at your own pace - the landscapes are spectacular at any time of year
Fly into Edinburgh at the start of a touring holiday around Scotland and enjoy a city break in Edinburgh at Glenlockhart Cottage before travelling onwards. As a film and television Location Manager with many years' experience in seeking out the best of Scotland, I would be happy to offer suggestions for the most scenic and interesting routes
A young red deer stag caught unawares
Ring of Brodgar neolithic standing stone circle in Orkney
The Quiraing on the mystical Isle of Skye is a place of wonder and amazement
8 The Steils Edinburgh EH10 5XD Scotland
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So how did it become May already? I love having a May birthday – all that spring sunshine – and I love looking forward to it. However, the last few years I seem to get really busy in April so my birthday jumps out at me like an exam I haven't studied for. (Another thing about a May birthday? Remember AP exams in high school? I had one on my birthday one year. That was great too).
Walk into any cooking store or get a cooking catalog and chances are you'll see Le Creuset proudly displayed like works of art in a museum. I was quite excited to be offered a Le Creuset braiser in their new fennel color for review. By the way, this is my first Le Creuset piece! Woohoo! I guess that counts as a pretty awesome birthday gift!
This cast iron braiser is great for searing off foods quickly at high temperatures and then braising them slowly and evenly. The enamelled interior makes cleanup a breeze; we've used it several times already and it cleans up like new. It also works great for poaching, marinating, or browning – the wide bottom lets you fit in lots of pieces without crowding. The website also says it's works for baking, although I haven't figured out what to bake in it yet! Something for fall, it feels like…at least I have several months to mull it over!
The Husband broke in the braiser by making some short ribs with polenta and we were extremely happy with the results – like eating the leftovers for several days straight happy.
I'm giving away a 3.5 quart Le Creuset braiser to one Dessert First reader. Just visit the Le Creuset website and comment below on what your favorite piece is. I'll run the contest through May 8 and announce the winner on May 9.
Sorry there's no birthday cake recipe! But I'll have the Pebble Beach Food and Wine full recap up in another day, with recipes from Yigit Pura and Daniel Boulud!
Anyhow, my favorite Le Creuset piece is the classic cast-iron French oven.
I'm the type of french oven but I'm very curious about the Pate Terrine: i can imagine me cooking delishhhhhiuos french terrines in the oven and serving them to my guests saying Bon Appetit! like Julia Child! XD It will be very interesting to reproduce some terrines recipes btw, i love them.
I love the cast iron French ovens! And all of the gorgeous colors.
My favorite is the red, round, 9qt french oven!
I covet just about everything – french ovens, brasiers, roasters. I desperately need a french or dutch oven, so if it's a case of NEED, not WANT, I'd go with one of them.
I just love all of the products. I love the colors and how easy they are to clean and I can't decide.
Happy Happy Birthday, bon anniversaire and herzlichen Glueckwunsch!
Happy Birthday!! I hope it's everything you want it to be, along with dessert!
Happy Birthday! The braiser actually IS my favorite piece, but blue is the color my other LC pieces are. Short ribs sound delicious!
I have eyeing the French oven for some time now and still have yet to own any Le Creuset cookware. Winning one would be absolutely awesome.
Right now I am loving the Mini-cocottes. So awesome and filled with possibilities.
Have been eyeing their French Oven's for a while now but a braiser will do quite nicely!
I love le creuset, but I don't have any of it. I think the tiny pots are adorable even though I have no clue what I would use them for. And, call me boring, but the new black onyx? It looks pretty awesome.
I love anything that gets baked in a gratin dish. It's all good. Love the shape and orange is my favorite color. All food cooked in a gratin dish is comfort food.
My favorites will always be the French Ovens. I have 2. They are my go to cookware! I love all le Creuset. It's all fantastic.
I love the tri ply roasting pan. It would be great for Thanksgiving!!
My birthday is in May too, mine is actually on Mother's Day this year! I love anything Le Creset, but the Square Skillet Grill is really nice. Hope you have a wonderful birthday!!!
I love their purple color, Cassis, and I've always wanted a French oven. Le Creuset is so awesome!
I've wanted to make Julia Child's boeuf bourguignon for a while. A La Crueset French Oven would be perfect for that!
No question that my favorite Le Cruset has to be the 9.5 qt Oval french baker in RED!! It's like a big friend that you can barely get your arms around! Wonderful for a brisket or stew for a delightful Sunday lunch with your closest friends, or for a perfect loaf of crispy crust bread.
Me and Le Cruset — BFF!
My absolute favorite Le Creuset piece is by far my skillet. My very unconventional girlfriend gave it to us for a wedding shower gift, 12 years ago. Rather than shop off of our registry, she chose a gift which she knew would provide us with many years of good eatin'! We have been making panini's in that skillet since before they were all the rage!
These are the best ! My favorite piece is the Dutch Oven! Pot Roast is not Pot Roast unless it is cooked in this piece! Thank you!
I can't believe no one has commented yet! I covet the Le Creuset pieces any time I'm in a kitchen store – my favorite is the classic (red!) dutch oven.
the enamel cast iron french oven!
No doubt. Precision pour saucepan.
Happy birthday! My birthday is May 9, so I feel your pain! No one ever wanted to party during finals week!
I have two Le Creuset loaf pans (in Kiwi) that I love!
I am in love with Le Creuset's enameled cast iron line. The reversible grill/griddle would be awesome, as would the oval skillet.
I love the classic (and cheery) French oven.
Happy Birthday! I hope you have a lovely day being spoiled by those you love!!
Happy Birthday! I hope you have a lovely one! But why oh why did you have to pick such a difficult thing as to pick ONE favorite thing? Well, I do adore the stonewear, but I would have to say that my absolute favorite would have to be the iconic French Oven.
The Tarte Tatin dish is something I would love to have, if I was going for a one-food accessory.
nothing better than a classic — the French oven!
the thing i just love from le creuset..
My favorite is the Dutch Oven!
I don't have any Le Creuset pieces and would love to win one.
I love the braiser and the oval french ovens.
Happy Birthday. The round french ovens are my favorite.
I do love those French ovens.
I love the 7.5 quart French oven.
I have never seen a piece of Le Creuset that didn't make me drool! The blue braiser would look great on my table, in my oven and on my shelf!! What a beauty.
I wish you a very happy birthday and can't wait to read about your birthday dessert next week.
I love the 13 1/2 qt stock pot. So amazing for making large stews, soups or a whole weeks worth of braised something. It is in constant use in my house.
The petite tart dish's are adorable! How inspiring. Could be a fantastic addition to my kitchen collection.
I stumbled upon your website not too long ago and I've already tried out one of your amazing recipes which was really easy to follow. The desserts were absolutely delicious and the whole family loved it. Thank you so much for sharing your love of food & desserts!
Wow, great giveaway! The piece you are giving away is pretty darn awesome, but if I had to pick a different one I think I'd pick the 3.5 quart French Oven in kiwi.
Happy birthday.. hope you have a wonderful day and a year ahead.
I've wanted a Le Creuset French Oven for a while now. Saving all my pennies so that one day soon it will be mine. I love that fennel color, looks just like an emerald. Happy Birthday!!
Happy Birthday! The 9 qt. cobalt blue enameled cast iron french oven is the one I've been sighing over for several years now…..I keep telling myself if only I had one I could make the best sourdough crusty bread in it!
That braiser is the piece I've been wanting – so I'd guess that to be my favorite!
My favorite Le Creuset item ….. the pale blue Small Teapot with Infuser and the braiser!
Happy Birthday! And another vote for the classic dutch oven.
I enjoy your website very much!!
I like the cast iron grill pans. They look great!
Happy Birthday. My fav by far would have to be the Teakettles!
Happy birthday to a fellow Taurus! I love Le Creuset's roasters in Caribbean. Fabulous color and an all around useful dish.
I love the 9 1/2 quart Oval French oven, especially in blue!
Can I say I want the 6-piece classic cookware set?! I've always loved their color choices; LOVE the green!
I was fortunate enough to visit L' Atelier de Joel Robuchon in Paris, France last year and it truly was an amazing culinary experience. My favorite Le Creuset piece would have to be the Round French Oven 2qt in red, as I have since that dining experience, associated it with the best mashed potatoes I have tried ever. The restaurant serves the exquisite potatoes in a similar dish.
My favorite piece is the Square Skillet Grill, 10 ¼" in Caribbean.
Favorite piece hands down is the 9 1/2 qt. French Oven. I use it for almost everything!! Got it as a Christmas gift from the hubby this year.
The tatin dish would be great. I always get so nervous flipping over tatins– the upside down handles is genius!!
I think the 11′ shallow fry pan would be perfect!
First happy birthday! It is such a beautiful day too. Second I would say my pick is the Rectangular Roaster, 5¼ qt. So we can make big dinners for the family.
I love the really teeny tiny french oven in the dark blue. So cute!
Happy birthday!! I found your blog a while ago, and just want to say that its been an amazing source of inspiration. Thank you!
The tatin dish, because I am a pastry cook, or the cast iron skillet. Perfect for so many things.
Oval French Oven, 6 ¾ qt. – I bake a *lot* of no-knead bread in mine.
I'm in love with everything but the skillet is beautiful!
Happy Birthday! I actually really love the braiser that you got, they have the prettiest colors and the most wonderful cookware. Sigh.
Hope you have a very Happy Birthday! I really like the skillet grill. Can just imagine grilling vegetables.
Happy Birthday! Maybe you hubby is secretly making a cake for ya!
My favorite has to be the Ogive teakettle. So unique in its size and shape!
Happy Birthday! Ooh, what a great giveaway. I've always loved the cute vegetable-shaped pots that Le Creuset has, so I vote for the pumpkin-shaped casserole.
Happy Birthday! My first visit to your site – I am so very impressed. Beautiful photos – such an inspiration. Fav LeCru: any round Dutch Oven – 9 qt, 7 1/2 qt…..
Happy Birthday, Anita! I covet the 5 qt. oval French oven.
I think the crepe pan would be fun to have and I love the little 2 qt. heart casserole French oven <3 BTW my birthday is in May too – 5/7! Yay for May babies!
Oh they all are wonderful. I do own two large dutch ovens and have my eye on the mini cocoites ! I would love a skillet/braiser…..
I think the 6 qt, oval French Oven, thought the braiser could also come in quite handy. I would think it would make a lovely tart tatin!
I have a small french oven. I would love a bigger one but I've been eyeing the braiser.
So many colors and so many choices.
I love the Round French Oven, 9 qt in orange – I can just imagine myself in a wore down kitchen making a delicious dinner for my friends in that gorgeous thing (of course I would live in an abandoned, charming little cottage just outside of Paris), and then we would eat it in my backyard where there are daisies, and there would be a small forest nearby. We'd jump over my white wood fence and find woodland strawberries for dessert.
wow…. I really got carried away, didn't I? 😛 lol… My point is: my favorite would be the Round French Oven, 9 qt because it just looks like something someone from a wonderful movie would own 🙂 -Oh, and happy birthday!
I have always wanted the 9 qt oval French Oven however after seeing your braiser it's a toss up. I still lean towards a French Oven for chili or etouffee. I also don't have much that will go from stovetop to oven which is sometimes limiting.
The 12″ deep fry pan looks amazing!
I l0ve the french ovens — they are amazingly versatile. I have a 3 1/2 qt round — but, when I bought it I was torn between that and the braiser.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY! I have been wanting a set of 8oz Le Creuset Classic Mini Cocottes for a while now. They are so cute!
Happy birthday! The roasters look really awesome, but I would also love love a braiser.
Anything in Caribbean Blue but if I have to pick it would be the 6 qt French oven.
Have a wonderful birthday! My favorite piece of LC cookware? Any of them!
The stainless steel skillets! As soon as my current batch of non-stick wear out, I'm replacing them with stainless steel so they'll last longer (and I won't scratch them).
My favorite is the Oval Cocotte.
I absolutely love the french ovens.
I love the 5 1/2 qt round french oven in Kiwi.
Happy Birthday! I like a few, but now I will say the Oval Casserole with Lid, 5 ¾ qt. in Caribbean.
I'm sorry I seem to have unsubscribed, when I really meant to just uncheck the box about seeing all the follow up comments. I knew that there would be zillions of birthday wishes (another one from me) but somehow I thought the follow ups would be telling me I'd won the Le Crusett. Dumb. I'll hope this till resubscribe me, but not get printed. Hope the day was grand, and you enjoyed those short ribs!
happy birthday! its so hard to choose a favorite, i love the ovens and the skillets and the tea kettle, i love them all!
Happy Birthday! I like the Oval French Oven, 6 ¾ qt. in green.
Happy birthday! A blue, 9-qt., round french oven would make me the happiest girl in the world.
I just got a Le Creuset 3.5 qt red round oven. I've used it once so far, love that it's easy to clean. The pretty red color matches my teapot kettle and makes my home brighter. I LOVE IT!
My favorite would be the oval 6-3/4 qt french oven, I think I'd be able to use it the most.
You are truly a giver, even around your birthday. Thank you for the fantastic blog.
Happy Birthday! what a wonderful way to let us celebrate with you!
Happy birthday to you! I had mine last week and for me it has been an occasion to make myself a cake, too. Le Creusets are stunning… my love goes to the french ovens (3 or 4 qt.) in blue. But the braisers look appealing, too.
a classic french oven in carribean/cherry would be awesome!
Happy birthday, can't wait to come back and see your cake. I hope you bake something nice and warming coming into autum and cold weather in your birthday present. I really love the Le Creuset braisers too, that's my favorite choice for real old time cooking by the oven.
The french oven, any size, is one of the most classic pieces of cookware ever created.
I'd love a French (dutch) oven in red. I've been drooling over one for years.
All. If that is not an acceptable answer then, I love the mini crocks! Thanks and Happy Day!
I love my #24 (4.5 qt ??) French oven.
Many happy returns. I hope you have a good birthday on the day.
My favorite is the classic French oven!
Happy Birthday!!! Oh, it is soooo difficult to select one favorite piece, but I have had my eye on the wok shaped dishes – I make a lot of stir fry dishes, and those would be oh so cute to serve them up in!
The caribbean colored classic dutch oven.
I like the large french ovens. Perfect for soup, stews, roasts…all good things!
While a fan of the good old fashioned skillet, I think it would be great to have a braiser! As a frittata fanatic, I image you could saute the vegg and cook the egg all in the same pan!
My sister talks about Le Creuset a lot (as an object of desire), and boy do they look nice! I love the 3-1/2 quart french oven with lid (enameled cast iron, in turqoise – I'm drooling!).
I thought the crepe pans looked nice! Makes me want to make more crepes!
I have been wanting this exact braiser in the color cassis, and I would also love to own the 5-1/2 quart dutch oven.
Happy Birthday! ….and thank you!
my favorite is the 11 3/4″ iron handle skillet in teal!
I've always loved the bright colors of Le Creuset, but I covet the dutch oven in caribbean most.
Meanwhile happy belated, and thanks for the giveaway!
My favorite (what I wanted for my birthday) is the 5 1/2 quart round french oven. I think it's the perfect way to roast a chicken! Happy Birthday, Anita!
I love the round French oven, 13 1/4 qt!!
Hi Anita, I just found your blog last week and have already made a long list of your recipes to try! I've really enjoyed browsing your blog. Got to say I love these cast iron pieces! The French oven will someday live in my kitchen! Hope you have a very happy birthday!
My favorite pieces are probably the tart dish or the petite tart dish. Tarts and tartlets are kind of my specialty.
My favourite is the dutch oven in caribbean, but I sure would like to try Le Creuset's version of a wok.
Le Creuset is wonderful. I love them so much I have not one, but TWO Dutch ovens. Not that I need two, but they were so pretty … !
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! I love the 2-quart heart casserole. So cute!!
I don't own any Le Creuset, but I do have an enamel cast-iron French oven, and it is one of my most prized possessions!
Tri-Ply Roasting Pan is the object of my desire.
I don't know why but the oval ovens really appeal to me. The 5 quart oval oven specifically. They're just so dang cute.
Happy Birthday! I love the 5 1/2 quart oval dutch oven… would love to have one to make soups!
I love the colors and the braiser in green.
And oh, I'm so rude–happy belated birthday! I hope you had a beautiful day.
Happy birthday, Anita! Great report from Pebble Beach. My MIL has a Le Creuset Dutch Oven in Red that matches her kitchen, and she makes me special vegetarian curry is that super delicious.
Happy Bday! Truthfully, I am enamored with any and all of their enamled cast iron pieces. Incredibly functional and efficent, and absolutely beautiful.
Hope you have/had a wonderful birthday!
happy birthday! hope you have a special day! i love the enamel coated casiton!
Le Creuset is my favorite!!! I really love the new Black Onyx collection, especially on the stock pots!
Happy early birthday! We have a Dutch oven, which we love. It's so versatile that my favorite piece would be another red Dutch oven!
I love all of their accessories in the bright colours, like the bright red balloon whisk!
I have one of the square skillets that I use for so many different things. it's a great versatile piece.
just found your website and think it's great!
I use the Creuset French Oven at least 3 times a week. Definitely my favorite piece in the kitchen.
Yay, Anita! Fellow Taurus! I like the versatility of the french oven, but I secretly covet the more frivolous models, like the cute mini cocottes…and yes, the petite strawberry and blueberry stoneware.
I like the 8 qt. stockpot in Dijon.
The first thing I want to say is Happy Birthday! I hope you have a great time celebrating.
Second I have to say I am in LOVE with the Mini Cocottes. I want about a dozen of them because you never know how many people will be over to eat. I can imagine serving mini monkey breads or eggs baked in ham for brunch. Yummy mac and cheese for dinner and creme brulee for dessert. They truly are adorable and their uses are endless. For a girl without a endless budget I could justify their purchase… ok not 12 but maybe 4.
My favorite is my 5 qt french oven. (even though porcelain interior is starting to show a few scratches from 20+ years of use).
Happy Birthday! Hope it's a terrific one!
I love the 9 1/2 qt. oval french oven for its versatility.
I love to bake/cook, but my favorite piece would have to be the teakettle. I drink tea like its going out of style.
Nothing makes me happier than the Le Crueset outlet store… sigh! My favorite has to be the french onion soup bowls… but really, i love any of their individual cookware. Lets be honest, I love anything they make.
Happy Birthday! The piece I have been coveting for quite some time is the 5 1/2 quart round french oven.
Happy Birthday. My eyes are bigger than my stomach + household and I'm drawn to the 13qt dutch/french oven in classic red. Something smaller might be more appropriate for everyday use.
I love all the Le Creuset cookware. Everytime my boyfriend and I go to Southern Seasons, I spend at least an hour drooling over everything tey carry!
My favorite piece is the saucepan. I have used this for over 20 years for the most simple things, mostly melting my chocolate for my chocolate fudge cake. It just melts perfectly in there! Also, my Mom used a similar one when I was growing up so I kind of enjoy carrying on the tradition!!
I was just at the Le Creuset outlet on Friday! I have an obsession.
French Onion Soup Bowls – it isn't even fair how cute they are!
Happy birthday! I love the Heritage Stoneware line, especially the covered casserole dish. Beautiful colours.


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You are here: Home / Readers Forum / In Australia, Misguided Focus on Israel Takes Attention from Local Issues
In Australia, Misguided Focus on Israel Takes Attention from Local Issues
by Manny Waks
It is overdue that we examine the role of advocacy for Israel in our community organisations, particularly those that nominally are not designated a specific role to represent Israel's interests. Of course support for Israel is critical, both at the community and individual level, and never more so than in the face of hostility to Israel throughout the world. This does not, however, preclude a careful assessment of the work undertaken by groups whose principal mission is to represent the domestic interests of the Australian Jewish community.
There are a plethora of dedicated pro-Israel organisations, including the Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council, the Zionist Federation of Australia (ZFA), and the Women's International Zionist Organisation (Australia). This raises the question as to why other organisations, largely established to cater to the community needs of Australian Jews, so often pivot their focus to include issues already capably within the hands of pro-Zionist groups.
It was indeed curious that there was no discernible difference in the recent Rosh Hashanah messages to the Jewish community from the presidents of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ) and the ZFA, respectively, despite their distinctive roles in our community. Both concentrated their comments on Israel, but in the case of the ECAJ, this was at the expense of local issues that are intended to be its primary focus. The centrality of Israel in the workings of the ECAJ and other mainstream "peak bodies", such as the Jewish Community Council of Victoria and the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies, is misplaced and a waste of critical and limited community resources. Local issues, some of which include aged care, social welfare, education, abuse, alcohol/drugs and social entrepreneurship, deserve the attention of groups whose imprimatur is to support the community needs of Australian Jews.
Another example of this skewed representation of local interests occurred when the B'nai B'rith Anti-Defamation Commission (ADC) decided to invite Israel Defence Forces Brigadier General Gal Hirsch to make the prestigious Gandel Oration, its centerpiece annual fundraiser and publicity event. Previous speakers have included University of Southern California Shoah Foundation Executive Director Stephen Smith, human rights scholar Professor Anne Bayefsky, human rights lawyer Irwin Cotler, Ambassador Martin Indyk, and former prime ministers Bob Hawke and Malcolm Fraser. The ADC's mission is clear, and though peripherally concerned with the demonisation of Israel as a means to defame Australian Jews, General Hirsch did not appear to be credentialed as an expert on matters that would advance the mission of the ADC, despite the disingenuous title of the evening's oration, "'Human Rights, International Law and the IDF".
As should have been expected, given even a cursory examination of the General's military record and utterances, he spoke mostly about his experience in the Israeli military as well as pleading with the audience and their families to make aliyah and to join the Israeli military. Clearly this is irrelevant to the ADC's mission to combat antisemitism and racism.
Like the ECAJ, the ADC does admirable work, and I was once proud to head this organisation. Nevertheless, there are a multitude of effective Jewish organisations addressing issues related to Israel. The ECAJ, the ADC, and all of the other organisations whose primary mission does not relate to Israel should shift their resources and energies towards Australian-related issues. This will be of benefit to the Australian Jewish community, the organisations themselves, and their constituencies.
No doubt, some within these organisations will argue that Australian Jews are staunchly Zionist and so expect a natural focus towards Israel. This is facile, for no one recommends any movement away from the vigorous support of Israel already maintained by pro-Zionist groups. True, fundraising in a difficult economic environment is enhanced by a pro-Israel focus, but apart from the diminishment of community interests, the inappropriate attention to Zionist causes continues to alienate many younger Jews who question the centrality of Israel but nevertheless wish to work for Jewish renewal and continuity in their Australian community. Disaffection with Jewish identity amongst the young has reached a crisis point, and the attitude of the ECAJ (and others) continues to prove counterproductive.
Anyone who attends mainstream Jewish community events should be discouraged at the predominance of older and middle aged participants and office bearers, and the dearth of younger persons in attendance and in representative positions. Time is of the essence here. We cannot continue to alienate younger Jews who want to identify with our community, and at the same time disenfranchise those whose needs should be met by locally focused groups. Perhaps a wider debate on these important issues will produce a meaningful consensus for a way forward.
Manny Waks is a former Vice President of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, Immediate Past President of the ACT Jewish Community and founding President of the Capital Jewish Forum.
Filed Under: Readers Forum