As if to remind the world that 2005 had been a torrid year of horrendous terror from the sea, from the earth, and even from the heavens and also from people, a bomb exploded in a busy marketplace in the Indonesian town of Palu, killing six and injuring 45, to bring a year of suffering to a close. May 2006 be a slightly happier year for all!

You can read the news report here.

But the … case seems like yet another example of the lack of coordination between agencies serving the poor, homeless and mentally ill. The cracks are too wide and deep, and the political will for reform is too weak, if a man who suffered a life-threatening head injury less than five months ago can be left to the streets again.

Sometimes reading articles like the one from which the above quote is taken, gives me pause. Yet I still think there is hope as I alluded to a few days ago. You can read the whole article here.

As I said a few days ago in my previous post highlighting the story about the little boy saving the beached fishes one at a time, making a difference to each fish as he threw them back to the sea, it may not be the case of changing society dramatically all at once. However, if each of us do our part and if we only get involve in the cause of changing lives and impacting others so that the under-resourced and the marginalized of our societies can be empowered, we can then create a ripple of change that will impact others one life at a time.

As a cursory view of my sidebars indicates, I have signed up on quite a few different blog exchanges. Initially the blog exchanges, did bring me some new traffic. BlogExplosion is especially effective, and it is still attracting new visitors each day. However, I am beginning to think that each new exchange just bring in more of the same folks to this site, and even though there may be an increased number of hits, I many still not be getting as many repeat visitors. This may be because the same folks are the one who are traffic hungry and signing up on the same exchanges, but I cannot be sure, so, when I find out about BlogMad, of course, I jumped on the bandwagon and signed up!

Apparently, this new blog traffic exchange intends to be different from others, and is dedicated at increasing traffic to your site in innovative new ways! That sure sounds tantalizing!

Well, it is in pre-launch mode right now, so if if you are interested in generating more traffic, and would like to start at the ground floor, so to speak, go here to sign up now

The other day, #1 Daughter and I were having a long chat. Part of the conversation was about her plans post-college. She is finding her experience at NYU and in the Big Apple in general to be just a blast and a whole world of difference from where we have lived the past five years. Living and going to school by herself in the Big City has opened her eyes to so much more about life in America as opposed to our safe little surroundings in a city filled with planned neighborhoods, which is also known as “The O.C.” in some circles.

Anyway, #1 Daughter was talking about doing some traveling, both during and after jer college years. She hopes to travel to Thailand, but also she was hoping to live and work in Europe before settling back to America and either working or going back to school. As we talked, I mused about the love that most young Australians (all my kids are born and bred true-blue Aussies, although they are fast picking up much Americanisms since we have re-located here five years ago) for adventure spurring almost every young Australian I know to travel the world. And, not just to travel, but to live and work in international locations for periods of up to a year or two and in many cases, to do so shortly after high school - what is often known as “working holidays“. Even though my daughter had done quite a bit of travelling herself (as a high schooler in Australia, she traveled with a dance troupe to California for three weeks, and of course, this move across the globe some five years ago was some kind of travelling experience), yet for this young Aussie, that doesn’t count!

Read the rest of this entry »