Turnbull, Bligh and Brisbane

As I ride my bike past the First Settlement Memorial in Redcliffe, I am reminded of a local whose ancestors were in the second fleet.

A wiz for information about 2^nd fleet descendants, he informed my how stopping in south Africa, the fleet was stocked of vegetables by allowing some on board to work.

Since, Cooks scientific measures aboard the Endeavour found hygiene and cabbage had so effectively saved lives, perhaps it was natural food stocks be sort. The first fleet would nearly starve when supplies were lost. So it was a good move.

Some of the ladies found more sensuous employment with the local males. This doesn't surprise me. Australia had a double standard of morality. There were attempts to scientifically prove the necessity of men to spread their attentions - for reasons of health (yeah right). Convict women needed a male protector lest they be swamped by men – the first fleets arrival has been described as being an orgy when it first arrived – and Lt King, the later governor, had his own tribe born at Norfolk Island that a long suffering wife had to raise. Of course a woman found pregnant on board a convict ship was flogged.

From one of these 2nd fleet women descends Prime Minister Kevin Rudd. I always thought politicians were tarts.

The historical reach of the Endeavour goes beyond purchasing vegetables. Joseph Banks recommended New Holland for settlement to the Beauchamp Commission of 1785 where he romanticized that the Aboriginals would simply allow Settlement. His proposal was initially rejected but the alternative site in Gambia was found unsuitable.

Banks influence is not surprising. The Botanical Gardens at Kew oversaw exploiting natural resources disparate throughout the Empire. The gardens would even supply the merino's that would later be the backbone of the Australian economy.

Banks would also recommend hot headed William Bligh, whose ill-fated voyage on the Bounty was rescued of ignominy by an incredible 5822 km open boat excursion that charted the 'north-east coast of New Holland.' In that boat was Mid Shipman Matthew Flinders who would later circumnavigate Tasmania in a whale boat, proving it an island distinct from the mainland.

Of course Bligh would again be deposed, in the Rum Rebellion , exactly twenty years after Australia's Settlement on the 26^th of January 1808. Intriguingly, one of Bligh's biggest supporters was John Turnbull. Turnbull's ancestor former Opposition Leader Malcolm Bligh Turnbull yesterday seems to have followed the same path to oblivion.

Yes the middle name Bligh is no accident.

Just as Bligh stubbornly dragged his return to London, sailing to Van Diemen's Land then tried to hang off the NSW shore in protest, Malcolm Turnbull hung around even when he was politically dead in the water.

Blighs fall would indirectly shape later Queensland.

Bligh's replacement, Governor Macquarie, arrived with his with his own regiment and disbanding the NSW Corps. He realized that the colony had been allowed to run down. Set against the Napoleonic Wars, needed repairs were expensive. So the freed convicts were a resource that could not be ignored.

Skilled freedmen were given positions of authority which again upset elitist sensitivities. John Macarthur, who had fled to England and successfully defended himself for his part in the Rum rebellion, was well informed by his wife in Australia.

Macquarie introduced Australia's first building code, and name New Holland Australia

But MacArthur hit back and seems to have been partly behind the commission of John Thomas Bigge's. Bigge's accused Macquarie of being too lenient recommended reforms of the legal system, constitutional changes, a reduction in public works and more extensive and rigorous use of convicts in private enterprise

The Bigge's Report was big in name and gigantic in size. Much of it is ridiculous with unrelated facts that in distant England could not be checked. Few fully read it and it was simply assumed to be an exhaustive study.

Although one of Macquarie's last acts before he dying in Britain was to redress some of Bigge's claims, the report was responsible for establishing the Moreton Bay convict Settlement.

Second offenders were unworthy of civilization and cast to the distant north. Governor Brisbane, a highly skilled astronomer, spent more time settling up his observatory rather than governing. He thought that previously discovered Pumistone River may lead to the dreamed of inland sea. But the day after the amity arrived in Moreton Bay, it was found to be a passage.

Short of supplies, (the animals escaped the day the settlement landed), ill of tropical diseases, with insufficient drugs Brisbane's only appearance was unannounced without supplies. Three of the wives were pregnant and Jane Miller, who had just given birth, was tossed from her bed to give Brisbane accommodation.

So as I ride past the First Settlement memorial, calling out 'hello grandpa William – hello grandma Hanah" I am reminded that historians review the past with the questions facing the present.

So perhaps my glib view of history is distorted. But then the influence of history is rarely found in truth, but usually legends and myths shape our public imagination.

Reflections on Grandma's Giving

My grandmother was always giving.
Thirty-six years after her death, and two thousand kilometers north of her home, I still meet people who remember her for some service rendered.
Her cupboards were full of clothes to be sent internationally, especially New Guinea.
Her husband, who died 8 years before her, had also taken in a dozen people during the Great Depression. There giving continued through the war, he volunteered for guide dogs for the blind.
When he died, my mother, and I a sixteen month toddler in toe, had to rescue her shoes from being given away. They were the only ones mum had flown over with for Grandpas funeral.
Grandma was not a member of mainstream religion, known as Sister Stevens by so many, some thought she was a nurse, others a Nun – she was neither.
Hers was the religion of service – and kindness. True she was a serious type, at least one of her children remembered her husband as kinder.
Her legacy was in its effect in other peoples lives.
I don’t think I heard her quote this, but I imagine she treasured the word’s of the Christian Messiah she loved “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you." (Luke 6:37-39).
This may conjure a whole lot of theological debates. If givers are blessed how come the bad guy’s seem to be winning.
Many people refuse to believe that our thoughts create our reality and repelled by the idea of a white bearded altruistic force behind all things. However, let’s just think of it psychologically for a minute.
Ignore to quantum claims, dubious speculations and counter claims.
If you act as if you are in control of your reality you achieve more.
“Positive thinking doesn’t work, but optimists achieve more” said James Arthur Ray.
If you generate an air of generous giving and gratitude that is what you will focus on.
Hence there is great benefit beginning the day either in prayer, meditation, or reciting a personal mantra.
Meditation or Reiki can help clear the energetic garbage and refresh you for the day ahead.
This aids us in our pursuit to make the earth a dwelling place for the divine.
Of course, it is so very easy to fall into self castigation when those negative thoughts slip in. We are barely conscious of the thousands of thoughts that float through our consciousness.
Nor does punishment or struggle help us. The more we try to control the monkey mind, the more it fights back.
Yet if we let it go unchecked it also runs away from us.
Hence, the benefit of a daily mental spring clean.
Prayer and meditation can help loosen our emotional attachment to our thoughts. Other tools like EFT, Reiki and Bowen Therapy can help relax our bodies and let the energetic burdens dissolve.
Deepak Chopra suggested the wonderful practice of giving to everyone we meet. It could be offering a simple blessing or prayer. A flower from your garden can be given to a neighbour. A few kind words to a youth on the way to school can gladden a young girls tumultuous teenage years.
Do you remember your grandparents praying or blessing people? This was not religious self sanctification but genuine caring for others.
Today its popular to talk of sending out positive energy to the world. You could simply begin your day blessing people in your mind.
Without any hint of reward, giving has the power to remind us of our many blessings.
Our mid compels us to rush. Don’t waste your time meditating – get into life. Yet somehow we find no problem spending 3 hour a day worshipping the plug-in drug (AKA Idiot Box, or TV).
It seems so hard, not because it wastes time, but because the mind wants to go its merry habitual way.
When I begin my day cleared of emotional l baggage with a clear intention for the day and every second becomes meaningful.
I am no longer being driven by habit.
Reflect calmly about your options and affirm that your unconscious mind knows what is right for you.
Perusing your options in a meditative, unattached state clarifies your options, you can access your intuition and by monitoring your results navigate to your life’s purpose.
We begin to create our own reality.

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Rare species discovery honours wildlife campaigner Steve Irwin

Queensland Museum scientist Dr John Stanisic has named a rare species of tree snail discovered in north Queensland in honour of wildlife advocate and conservationist Steve Irwin.

The snail, Crikey steveirwini, has swirling bands of creamy yellow, orange-brown and chocolate giving the shell an overall khaki appearance.

The snail has been discovered in three locations in north Queensland's Wet Tropics near Cairns at altitudes over 1000 metres.

Only two lives specimens have been collected the rest been taken from the ground as empty shells, states Dr Stanisic's in the online scientific journal, Zootaxa where the discovery was announced. They were first collected in 1989.



However, one live specimen has been collected from low shrubs indicating that the species is arboreal tree dwelling).

Honorary Research Fellow Dr Stanisic said that like its namesake, the Crikey steveirwini is a unique creature with some interesting qualities that set it apart from other land snails.

The snails habitat is expected to effected by climate change.

"These mountainous habitats will be among the first to feel the effects of climate change and Steve Irwin's tree snail could become a focal species for monitoring this change" said Stanisic.

Dr Stanisic will present a commemorative certificate to the Irwin family this Sunday 15 November as part of Steve Irwin Day celebrations at Australia Zoo.

Steve would have been delighted to have a new species bear both his name and his signature cry said Steve Irwin's wife Terri.

"Steve worked tirelessly to promote conservation, wildlife and the environment and his work enabled the plight of endangered species to reach a whole new audience," Ms Irwin said.

Steve Irwin collaborated with Queensland Museum in his conservation efforts. He was awarded the Museum's highest accolade, the Queensland Museum Medal, for his contribution to the international understanding and appreciation of Australian wildlife and environment.

Crikey steveirwini

'Steve Irwin's Tree Snail'

Species profile:
Crikey steveirwini Stanisic, 2009
Etymology: In memory of the late Steve Irwin, wildlife warrior, environmental educator and Queensland Museum medallist.
Holotype: QMMO 78184, Mount Spurgeon, 7 km north, 16°22'S, 145°13'E, altitude 1250 m. Collected by G.B. Monteith, H. Janetzki, L. Roberts, 19 October 1991.
Description: Shell medium-sized, yellowish cream to creamy brown with dark chocolate-brown spiral bands of various widths, turbinate with a very high spire; whorls rounded, sutures weakly impressed; protoconch with vague radial ridges to smooth, teleoconch with weak radial growth threads and incised spiral striae; lip weakly thickened, brown; imperforate; height to 15mm.
Distribution: Central Wet Tropics (uplands), North East Queensland.
Key localities: Mt Lewis; Mt Spurgeon; Lambs Head, West of Edmonton.
Habitat and ecology: Rainforest; arboreal living on leaves on trees.

Reflecting on Violence Against Indians

I love India.

So as an Australian I was very saddened when some Indian students were harmed in the southern states of Victoria and New South Wales. At least 14 students were assaulted in May-June in Australia.

At the same time, I was saddened by the Indian press coverage used by some to suggest all Australians are inherently evil.

Deputy Vice Chancellor of Queensland University of Technology, Professor Arun Sharma, travelled to India and encouraged Indian media to avoid 'hype' and correctly portray the situation.

In my area, north of Brisbane, schools had harmony days to promote racial tolerance among students.

I was particularly saddened that Amitabh Bachchan declined an honorary doctorate in Brisbane. I respect Mr Bachchan immensely, however, I believe he missed an opportunity to improve racial understanding – perhaps at the harmony days I just mentioned.

My problem is that in writing ‘my conscience does not permit me to accept this decoration from a country that perpetrates such indignity to my fellow countrymen” he accuses a nation of deliberate action rather than condemn the thugs despised by most Australians.

Not going to a Brisbane, for the attacks in Victoria is comparable to criticizing Chennai for violence in Delhi. Sadly, Australia has areas where most people view unsafe as does India and some of the Melbourne attacks were in these locations.

This is a view I believe is contrary to India’s own history of tolerance. But it must be said that during some religious festivals other religious groups have been targeted in India. However, I would never accuse the Indian nation for the offence.

A dear friend of mine, who established a shelter for 43 children orphaned after the 2004 Tsunami was attacked during the 2008 Ganesh festival.

To be fair, when contacted the local Hindu authorities apologized. India is a melting pot of many faiths living in harmony. The actions of a few individuals do not represent all Indians. Nor should all Australian’s be blamed for a minority’s criminality.

So What Is Happening?

There 1,082 Victorian attacks on Indian students were attacked in the 12 months to June 2007 and 1,447 students registered attacks in the year ending in June 2008 states the South Asia Times. However, I could not verify these figures, however many were similar to attacks experienced by Australians.

Accorsding to prominent Sydney-based Indian activist Yadu Singh, the "issue of security and safety to the highest level" attached to the Indian Consulate who heads a committee concerned with the welfare of Indian students in Australia. He suggested protest rallies were not helpful.

However, Victorian Police have increased policing in areas where Indian students are living.

“Victoria Police is focusing on trouble spots around train stations and the Attorney General has announced the Government will amend the Sentencing Act to take into account racial or religious motives for violence” said Victorian Premier John Brumby.

On the other hand, the Federation of Indian Students of Australia (FISA) has accused Deputy Prime minister Jula Gillard of spin to protect the 15 billion dollar industry.

Australia has no longer has institutionalized racism but is accused of not doing enough to curb student violence.

GOPIO Brisbane Queensland President and publisher of the Brisbane Indian Times, Umesh Chandra, met with the Indian High commissioner, Mrs Sujatha Sigh, and Indian students.

He reported there were two broad groups of students with different experiences.

The first group were legitimate students in Australia solely to be University educated, had correct induction and obeyed Australian laws.

The second group attended Diploma trade courses seeking immigration. Unregulated, commissioned agents in India promote a misinformed dream image of Australia and promised permanent residency after completing their course and work experience.

Well trained in sales, and aware of the legalities, the agents do not make written promises. Some agents and colleges are accused of disguising immigrants as students, taking fees, issuing a work permit and not offering education.

Characteristically, diploma students pay 25% of their fees upfront intending to pay for the remainder working in Australia. They are in their 20’s and thirties, with a dependant spouse, from middle income families owning farming land used as collateral to get a loan.

Sadly, many of the students struggle with English and must compete with many of similar students for work. They find low paying employment and share accommodation with 7 or 8 others in homes meant for two.

“Allegedly many Indian students have been exploited by their own countrymen who have Indian restraints and grocery stores” states The Brisbane Indian Times.

Many realize their dream of living in Australia is best abandoned but find that their family tell them their village or family will be shamed if they return. Even if they want to return, all their saving were spent in getting to Australia.

So some husbands take up hard seasonal labour in distant farming communities and some unscrupulous farmers pay only at the end of the season – keeping men from their families.

Some driving schools are accused of falsely promised quick licenses, charged higher fees and drag out the process to charge more, reports The Brisbane Indian Times.

Feeling disillusioned they do anything to survive. In 2007-08 the unlawful rate among Indian students was 1.48%t of 87,145 Indian visa-holders, compared with 0.99 per cent for the average foreign student.

However, Indian migrants are the second least likely nationality to be jailed in Australia.

The flawed legislation that commercialized education to oversees students has been criticized and some of the fraudulant colleges closed down. The Indian government is considering licensing Agents, and Australia wants to insre students are correctly informed about Australia before students travel.

The number of Indian students studying in Australia rose from 11,313 in 2002 to 96,739 of nearly 500000 international students in 2008.

Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, Senator Chis Evans, assured students that reporting crime will not to police will not affect their visa status. He has strengthened student visa checks in line with other countries that receive large numbers of student visa applications, such as the United States.

Victoria Police has trained English and Hindi speaking volunteers from the Federation of Indian Associations of Victoria and the Victorian International Students to man help lines.

I love history, and recognize that the Australia Commonwealth was founded fearing invasion and many tried to be more British than the British.

This led to a fear of the other felt by each new wave of immigrants. The idea that Australian jobs are being stolen by ‘foreigners’ is used by a few idiots who flare up the noisy minority.

It is true that some Australians think that India is a land of endemic caste exploitation. But then ill informed people of all nations like to find fault with other people to boost their low self esteem.

It is equally true that governments have worked to overcome racism.

As I plan to visit India I hope my nationality will not be used against me.

The silent majority welcome Indians, find them friendly and kind, and enjoy cultural diversity.

I wish there were more here.

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The Dalai Lama and Political Correctness

http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-world/political-correctness-baffles-dalai-lama-20090911-fk10.html

The Dalai Lama added a new entry to his English vocabulary - "political correctness" - oddly enough in Prague, a liberal city known for leniency towards the incorrect.

Tibet's spiritual leader, who is in the Czech capital to speak about human rights in Asia at a conference on Friday, found himself lost for words when a Czech journalist asked him what he thought about political correctness.

"What do you mean?" he blinked, genuinely puzzled.

His expression forced laughs from the crowd and an eloquent explanation from the journalist, but the Dalai Lama still looked stumped.

"What do you mean?" he repeated, shaking his head and turning to his assistants for help.

After a lengthy discourse, the Dalai Lama straightened up but still radiated uncertainty.

"I don't know... I openly express - if someone's short, I express it as short. If someone's very tall, I say very tall," he mused.

"Of course, if you create embarrassment, you can't be saying this. But otherwise, black is black, white is white, yellow is yellow. And that's it."

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The Moral of the Bird Brain

Its old news that the neurogenesis of new brain cells does occur. Although, perhaps like me, you can remember arguments to the contrary.
I still remember a school friend arguing that you kill five brain cells every time you have a drink of beer and they will never grow back….
Fortunately, Argentinean Fernando Nottebohm shattered the belief that a brain gets its nerve cell quota shortly after birth and lets them die off through life.
Then of course the skepticism continued that it could not be true of humans. "Read my lips: no new neurons," stated Pasko Rakic, of Yale University.
Now I fully support the scientific method. The problem is that institutionalization is as part of science as it is in religion or politics. And as in the field of religion, I admire a man who is prepared to logically test his belief or theology and modify his view because he never stopped searching for new data.
In a world of magical thinking, where statistical association is often confused as proof of causation among new age gurus and advertising executives it is only right that science proceeds cautiously.
OK, the mating calls and territorial claims of caged canaries and finches in New York State may appear an odd place to start.
Yet neurobiologist Fred Gage of the Salk Institute in La Jolla, California, found evidence nerve cell regrowth in humans. This may potentially help treat waisted neral conditions like Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s.
It was because Nottebohm remained open minded that a new field of health care may develop.
"Once I was in the 5 or 10 percent of scientists who believed in neurogenesis," said Nottebohm. "Now 95 percent accept that position. I rather liked it better being in the minority."
."Listening to birds was sort of my hobby," he said. "Other boys had cars, I had birds. I liked to try to identify them by their songs."
He then studied bird songs at the University of California at Berkley before moving to Rockefeller University.
Iin 1981 he demonstrated that a male canary’s brain changes seasonally in the area responsible for bird song. It grows when it is needed most to attract a mate in spring and shrinks in summer.
Nottebohm’s collegue Arturo Alvarez-Buylla, traced the new nerves to particular stem cells in the lining of the ventricles or fluid-filled cavities in the brain.
“The discovery that neurons can arise from stem cells in the brain fires hopes of a potentially limitless material for repairing damaged brain tissue” states Smithsonian Magazine. The potential will depend on the realities of further research.
In 1998, research found that a chemical called BrdU in the hippocampus, part of the brain that lays down memories. BrdU incorporates into the DNA of dividing cells and suggested that new neurons had developed and perhaps played a role in storing information.
However, mammalian adult neurogenesis has only been found in the hippocampus which is why researches like Rakic are skeptical. Unless it is found to occur in the cerebral cortex the research may be of little value.
"We start life with a lot of uneducated neurons, but at some point they all become college graduates," states Radik. "With neurogenesis in the cerebral cortex, you would have neurons that never went to elementary school. New cells would erode all your memories. You would give up all you have labored to acquire."
On the other hand neurobiologist Elizabeth Gould, a Princeton University argues that neurogenesis would not occur in mammals without a reason. Ms Gould found neurogenesis in marmoset and other adult primates.
Nottebohm suggests that the aging brain develops new brain cells to learn new things but deletates the unnecessary files from the neural hard drive.
Nottebohm soon found evidence in birds. He researched blackcapped chickadees that hide food sources in trees. Come autumn the chickadees grow new cells in a brain center dealing with spatial memory when it is most needed.
So Gould continued research with rhesus monkeys and discovered neurogenesis in three areas of the cerebral cortex:
1. the prefrontal region, which controls executive decision making and short-term memory;
2. the inferior temporal region, which plays a crucial role in the visual recognition of objects and faces, and
3. the posterior parietal region, which is important for the representation of objects in space.
It was not discovered in the striate cortex, which handles the initial, and more rudimentary, steps of visual processing
“That contrast suggests that neurogenesis may play a role in performing higher brain functions” stated a Princeton Press release in 1999.
More recently, a Japanese research group led by Professor Junichi Nabekura in National Institute for Physiological Sciences, NIPS, Japan, found that, after cerebral stroke in one side of the mouse brain, another side of the brain rewires its neural circuits to recuperate from damaged neural function. The report was released in the Journal of Neuroscience, on August 12, 2009.
"We found that the active rearrangement of the neural circuits in the opposite side of the brain happens only in the specific period after strokes. Our findings can be applied to rehabilitative programs for stroke survivors", said Professor Nabekura.

Recent advances in functional imaging of human brain activity in stroke patients, such as functional magnetic resonance imaging, have revealed that cortical hemisphere contralateral to the infarction plays an important role in the recovery process. However, underlying mechanisms occurring in contralateral hemisphere during functional recovery have not been elucidated.
Perhaps this short example demonstrates how we should not be too quick to shut off areas of research, while proving we must be open to try and establish causal mechanisms.
It’s the insight of people like Nottebohm that win respect.
Sometimes people are accused of making ridiculous claims in the name of positive thinking. You have to be realistic they rightly say. They may even be rightly frustrated.

However, as New Age guru James Ray said: “Positive thinking doesn’t work, but optimists achieve more.”

I suggest we should be we should be encouraging creative research to see how far the boundaries can be pushed. I also encourage the cycnical minority of scientidfic thinkers to perhaps be a bit more tolerant of more abstract and less mechanistic ways of thinking.

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Reflections on an Archaeological Find

On September 14, 1824,the Colony of Moreton Bay was established. From here, Brisbane and eventually the State of Queensland, Australia would form. On the evening of the 12th, after a 12 day passage from Sydney, the brig Amity anchored "about 1 mile" (1.6 kilometres) east of the present Humpybong Creek, Redcliffe. On board were surveyor John Oxley, botanist Cunningham, 29 convicts, and from the 40th Regiment, 5th Company, 10 married crew and their wives, 3 of whom were pregnant, along with 9 children.

Lt Miller, of the 40th Regiment of foot (2nd Sommerset) was appointed commandant by Governor Brisbane.

The previous day, about 6 am the Amity had weighed from under Cape Moreton with a fresh Southerly wind and breakers, working winward. After dinner the whale boat proceeded to ‘Pumice Stone River’ infact a passage separating what is now named Bribie Island from the mainland.



On this same day, 175 years later, the kiln set up to fire bricks for the new settlement was found. The team from Queensland University was ledd by Professor John Pragnell. This morning, Sunday 13th September, is the date for the Annual first Settlement Festival, at Redcliffe, north of Brisbane.

As I stood outside the excavation fence, I admit I felt a little envious. This was my family plot, my Amity ancestors walked this ground. Of the three children born at the short lived settlement, I descend from the third, Mary Cox, the youngest resident of Moreton Bay and later Edenglassie, now called Brisbane.

The three children led different lives, Captain Millers son, Charles born November 1824, went on to be a renowned business person in Tasmania and Victoria, Amilty Moreton Thompson, born a few days after the Settlement on 21st September, 1824, returned to England following her father’s death in India in 1833, Mary’s father William was invalided from the Army in 1838 but Mary, although only 13, refused to go and married a William Maud. William would die in Britain after the 40th regiment left India leaving Mary a widow at 27. However, if stories are accurate her husband fought in the Sikh Wars and was involved in the Battle of the Khyber Pass. Family stories even claim a Sikh woman warned her that a ruse had been used to lure toe men away from the camp so it could be destroyed and the woman dressed in Uniform and marched in front of the barracks as if they were soldiers on guard duty.
Mary remarried back in the regiment in Britain and returned to Australia in the 1850’s. Her husband fought in the Mouri Wars and her brother may have fought at the eureka Stockade (however, I have not found evidnce supporting the family claim).Mary died in St Kilda, Victoria, in 1909, a few months after the death of her son Samuel who rose to the ranks of inspecting in the Victorian Police Force.

Although I have looked forward to this discovery for sometime. I still wonder what was it like. Australia had been revolutionised following the Bigge’s Report which alleged that governor Macquarie had been to lenient with convicts. The report was influenced by Macquarie's arch foe, John MacCarthur who had been apart of the Rum Rebellion, the mutiny that ousted William Bligh as Governor. (And yes, this is the same Bligh who also experienced a mutiny on the Bounty).



Moreton Bay was part of the policy to remove second offenders from Sydney, although many of the original convicts were volunteers hoping to earn earlier release.

It is possible governor Brisbane hoped the Brisbane River would lead to the mythical inland sea. To the British soldiers, these tropics were hard to endure. The settlement was hindered by rampant tropical disease and a poorly equipped pharmacy. Everything would have been foreign to British eyes; even the grass has a harshness to it, unlike the soft lawns of England.

It is of interest that the settlement storeman, a Dr Scott, would later be a strident advocate against the convict system, even though the original settlement predated the excesses of the Captain Lockyer.

Of course, Redcliffe was forgotten when Brisbane town grew but would re-emerge as a tourist spot in the 1860’s.

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Turning Chaos Into Creativity

On January 24 1975, Jazz pianist Keith Jarrett arrived at the Cologne Concert Hall hungry. Trying to find a morsel before performing he discovered the wrong piano, a tinny sounding instrument, had been delivered.
From this chaos developed one of the greatest jazz improvisations ever recorded. It has sold over 3.5 million copies.
What if you were in that situation? Would you walk out? Methodically struggle through with dogged determination? Or would you truly create?
Whatever was the intended program, the different tones of the unexpected piano required a creative approach.
Jarrett said the music was improvised and "on a certain night and should go as quickly as it comes." One section is a masterful 12 minute improvisation vamping between the chords of A minor 7 and G major. With two chords he could create a masterpiece.
We find throughout history that the greatest periods of history and the greatest achievements ate made in hardship, necessity or challenge.
Yet we try to control risk, manipulate the odds and take control.
Business people particularly try to smooth risk and plan with projections. This is of course necessary. Yet look at the balance sheets and you find an almost universal truth. It was when things went wrong – when all the projections flew out the window, that the creativity and drive of the inspired few lifted the company to the next level.
Nobel Lauriat Ilya Prigogine demonstrated that we grow in direct proportion to the amount of chaos we can sustain and dissipate. All systems go through different phases of life. Each time our system is overwhelmed by too much energy it is moved towards chaos, unable to dissipate the excess.

Pushed to the brink, the system either breaks down or breaks through. If it breaks through it reorganizes at a higher level and the adjusting system grows dynamically.

In the same way, life’s stressors push us to reorganize at a higher level and increase our prowess to manifest our desires.

"You cannot solve a problem from the same level of thinking that created it" said Albert Einstein.

Sometimes we need a creator push to force us to look beyond our limits, to seek the answers already within and to grow spirally to greatness.

1. Have a "yes-yes" attitude
Most of us have a ‘yes-but’ approach to problems. “It may work for you, but I’m…” There is always a ‘but’ that can stop you.
Instead presume an option is true and fly with it. Mentally play out the game of ‘what if?’
2. Begin like a child
look at the problem as if for the first time. Pull away the lenses of experience and rediscover the situation. Don’t edit what breakthrough’s come to mind, just let the creative right brain fly. Later you can edit your ideas with practical experience. Just start from a new foundation first.
3. Don’t try to be right
Being worried about being right can kill your creativity. Keep an open mind. Again you can edit the technicalities of your thinking later. If you don’t your accountant or business analyst will do it for you anyway.
4. Be prepared to put off judgment
Encourage your ideas. Brainstorm. Create first and exhaust all the options, then think of some more.
5. Recognize and let go of assumptions
Your kids keep asking ‘Why?’ It doesn’t matter how logical your answer they still want to know ‘why?’
“What is important is to not stop asking questions” reminds Einstein.
Yet when it comes to the solutions of crisis the first thing people do is search for certainties. Yet it’s when logical certainties fail that creativity must find new building blocks for the logical mind to build upon.
Of course we must grow from what is proven. Technology is built on known realities. However, the creative talent that changed the world looked in the opposite direction.
It is as if the logical left builds the machine that the creative right inspired. It is at the middle, the point of the heart, that logic and creativity, expansion and constraint, find a point of balance in the seat of our compassion.
At the point creativity and crisis find balance then we discover the solutions that serve. There are always opportunities for those who are willing to serve.

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The Psychology of Wealth - Course In Mastery Day 25

How do you prepare for wealth?

It's not just about what you do. Rather its about the beliefs you have about wealth.

Company after comapny report that sales people who are comfortable about a level of success rarely exceed it. Even if they start off well, they begin to sabotage their progress settling to a preordained financial thermosthat.

Tom Wood relates how at a moment of financial devestation he stopped and took stock of himself.
He wrote a code of Ethics for himself. what he would no longer stand for. what he must have in his life.

He also wrote down EVERY belief he had about money, power and success.
One of the most powerful ways to improve your beliefs is by choosing the right friends. We are the average ofthe 5 to 10 people we hang out with. The chances are you will have a similar character, level of integrity, act and behave in similar ways and have a similar bank balance.

This does not mean you dump your friends. Rather, seek people who are successful.
How can you add value to a person life so they will want 5to inviote you around?
Find opportunities to be at functions they will attend. go to the same conferences. Read the same books. Watch the same videos.

Finally, when you make it: Be the person who will give a hand up to the person, who like you, wants to expand.



Jim rohn is known for teaching Jim Rohn's "Five Major Pieces To the Life Puzzle"

* Philosophy - how you think
* Attitude - how you feel
* Action - what you do
* Results - measure often to see if you are making progress
* Lifestyle - the kind of life you can make for yourself out of the first four pieces

But how did he get there?

He fell to the point of having to lie to a girl scout when he could not buy her cookies and vowed he would change.

At this time he met John Earl Shoaff a man whose simply put blunt ABC philosophies profoundly changed Rohn's life.

Rohn complained: Thats how much they pay - see heres my pay cheque.
Shoaff replied: "That's how much they pay YOU' and set him on the path to be the person who people will pay more.

Rohn complained: This costs toom much.
Shoaff replied no you simply can't afford it.
As Jim rohn reminds us, 'Sometimes expensive things are put on the top shelf so that we we will stand on top fo the books we read to reach them."

'Success is something you attract by the person you become'taught Shoaff.
So become a better person and we will attract success. Once you know how, anyone can do it.

'Profits are better than wages" taught John Earl Shoaff.

So go to work to earn a living and to earn a fortune.

'Your income is directly related to your philosophy and not the economy'
- John Earl Shoaff

what we need to learn is the disciplines and steps to success.

"Not to search for the exotic until you have discovered the basic"
- John Earl Shoaff

Tomorrow we will look at some of those basic strategies.
In the meantime, check out what 9 things Jim Rohn says are more important than capital.

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Personal Financial Management - Course In Mastery Day 24

Tom Wood explains the 4 tep system that took him from $70,000 in debt to millionairre.
1. Finanial Management is a Discipline - If you dont stay on top of your finances everyday the will begin to stink.


2. Money is a Symbol Money is a symbol for the value you have created in the market place. If you appreciate this you will value the good it can do for yourself and others.

3. Pay yourself first We may not like it but we pay or utilities before we go to on a holiday. Tom Wood explains we need to put aside money ointo our bank either to reduce our debt or add to our wealth before we spend on luxuries.

4. study and Master Money - Daily learn something new, keep abreat of the financial world. What you think about becomes your reality.




CPA Sandy Botkin, autor of Lower Your Taxes - Big Time! 2009-2010 Edition (Lower Your Taxes Big Time), explains the tax advantages of having a small busness. There are two sets of tax laws, laws for employers and wage earners. Sandy Botkin explains visually, in most countries wage earners cam declare very few deductions. however, business losses can be claimed against personal income. In the USA, as in many other nations, 70% of employment comes from small businesses hence the tax laws for employers benefit the economy as a whole.



Note: The time display on this video is incorrect and the video appears longer than it really is.

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Beauty Is nothing Without Brains

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Speaking In Public - Course In Mastery Day 23

Tom Wood reminds us that public speaking is something we will all have to do.
To succeed in public speking we need to create a message that matters.

We need:

1. Content - We must know our subject well
2. Style - How we present ourselves, when we pause, body language, facial expressions, the tone of our voice.

Tom woods simple method is to list the topic in point form and for reach point back it up with a story, a quote, a metaphor or an example.

For style, Tom Wood suggests we tape our presentations ans listen to them afterward. Tom gave 3 practice presentations a day and picked 1 or 2 things to work on each time.

One other very important tool is to watch and listen to people you can learn from. Take what you can use and make it your own.
"Speak from a place of integrity" says Tom Wood, "speak what you know and tell your stories."

Ross Shafer then demonstrates that even though master performers like Johnny Carsen were anxious before they went on stage, performance anxiety is mostly invisible. Others want you to succeed and perhaps are glad its you speaking and not them.

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Marketing Yourself - Course In Mastery Day 22

To Market Yourself you need to understand and master the power of personal marketing.
A good personal image makes a huge difference in whether the message is listened to or ignored.

Consider mother Theresa - her organisation created an image that was backed up by her integrity and passion.

Great leaders market themselves in atleast 4 ways:

1. Know Thyself What do you stand for? What are your passions? What do I believe in?
2. Be Yourself Be true to your values. Peoople may not agree with you, but they will respect you if you are true to your beliefs.
3. Talk favorably about people behind their back
4. Get the word out about your skills Get people to talk about your skills and talk humbly and genuinely about them to others yourself. Remember people hate braggarts.

Business coach Rick Barerra, authoe of Overpromise and Overdeliver: The Secrets of Unshakable Customer Loyalty reminds us that successful businesses think intimately. They 'build branded experiences for smaller groups of customer whose needs are more similar.' They bring the company down to the level of the customer and the employee. Where possible they develop small internal work units and build smaller branches so the customer experiences an intimacy with the company. They see the business through the customers eyes and ensure the staff are extremely well trained and empowered to makedecisions that will benefit the customer. They have suburb recovery systems that guarantee the customers positive experience even in times of service failure. Their brand is associated with memorable rituals and signature moments. - the Harley fanatic with a Harley Davidson tattoo is unlikely to go and switch to a Honda.

"A brand is a guaranteed experience that must be consistently superb" says Rick Barerra. It must have an extremely good offer and a brilliant system behind it so that the superbly trained human customer experience will shine in the good times and be forgiven in times of difficulty.

"Do what you do so well that people will come back to see you again and will bring others with them to see you do it."

- Walt Disney

"Disney is very clear about their brand. They are very clear about who they are. The question you need to think about is 'Who are you?'" says Rick Barerra.

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"The creative force in our bodies that enables us to create children in our own image can be redirected inward to create ourselves.We give birth within our minds to 'thought children' of artistic brilliance; we expand our vision of life's possibilities."

- John Maxwell Taylor