The Journal
2009
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Wanganui Hospital Again
An astonishing, excuse filled response from the Wanganui (or Whanganui) Hospital in response to a front page story today in the Wanganui Chronicle about some of their failures in Amanda’s care. I have just emailed a letter…
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Wanganui Hospital Stuffs Up Again (and Again)
I wrote a week ago that I expected normal transmissions to resume forthwith. That didn’t happen. Amanda was then in the Critical Care Unit at Wanganui Hospital. I foolishly imagined that she would be safe there.…
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Good Luck Young Golfer
Eighteen year old New Zealand golfer Danny Lee could become the first amateur winner of an Australian PGA event for ten years. I’m not much of a sports fan really, but I’ll be keeping an eye on…
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I’m Happy for You 2
That is, I’m happy for Harry Nicolaides that he is out of prison in Thailand and back in Australia with his family. But I can’t see what he has to be angry about. He certainly knew the…
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I’m Happy for You
That is, I’m happy someone found peace through the ministry of ‘maverick cleric’ Peter Kennedy. It’s nice to feel empowered. Whatever that means. But if you are a Catholic Christian who is serious about your faith,…
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Mourning for Bushfire Victims
An earlier headline said that services around the nation were expected to bring comfort to those who had lost homes or loved ones in fires in Victoria two weeks ago. Expected by whom the headline did…
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Another Rau Row
Cornelia Rau was briefly detained in a detention centre for illegal immigrants by Australian offcials four years ago. She did not appear to speak English, said she did not have Australian citizenship, had no identification, and…
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Tragic for the Parish
But if you can’t or won’t teach the Catholic Faith, you have no business being a Catholic priest. If you want a do-it-yourself faith, and a do-it-yourself Jesus, why not be an Anglican?
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Conversations With Amanda
A Poem for Amanda Dressings for windows and watches and wounds I think all my zebras are coming home soon. I asked my friend Millie the mincer to fix But she sits on the mantelpiece playing…
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You Can’t Spend Your Way Out of Debt
Who would have guessed? Alarmingly this simple fact still seems to be escaping the current US administration. Kelsey Grammer is absolutely right. The ‘stimulus’ package is about rewarding people who are unproductive, or who have been…
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I’m Ba-ack!
I am still In Wanganui in New Zealand, still caring for Amanda. But we seem to have settled into a routine now, and I have found a decently quick internet caff, so posting should be back…
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Tough Times Make You Fat
According to the Australian ABC, MacDonalds is doing well in Australia, so soon everyone will be obese. This is another one of those increasingly frequent (especially when it comes to health and climate scares), headlines that look…
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Mental Health Services
This is an article I have just written to send to the Wanganui Chronicle. It is about Amanda, but may be of wider interest. I apologise for the lack of posts over the last few days. Things have been pretty…
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A Short Break
Amanda is being flown up to Wanganui in the next hour. I will drive up – about three hours – and be there tonight. Posting will resume tomorrow. Run the race. Keep the faith.
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Help!
Staff at the Intensive Care Unit in Wellington told us this morning that Amanda is to be transferred today to the ICU in Wanganui. It is clear she is going to require a long period of support…
