What’s Old
Old stuff that I don’t want to throw away, but which doesn’t yet have a home.
Dinner with a Difference
(Added on 6 May 2009)
We have a rather belated [my fault – Ed.] report on last year’s
Dinner with a (yes you can make a) Difference,
at which Darren Bilsborough gave us the Al Gore Climate Project presentation.
***
FairShare Lunch in Melbourne
(Added on 23 October 2006)
The Melbournians who enjoyed a FairShare lunch together on 26 September 2006 have written a report on it.
***
New eBULLIeNT
(Added on 7 June 2006)
FSI eBULLIeNT #16 [MS Word format, 90KB, 4½ pages] was e-mailed to members on World Environment Day (5 June 2006).
***
President’s Report from the recent AGM
(Added on 7 June 2006)
Pam DiLorenzo gave the President’s Report [MS Word format, 46KB, 3 pages] at the AGM in May 2006.
***
FSI Launch
(8 March 2002)
The official launch of Fairshare International took place on 8th March, at 6:30 pm on the Armoury lawns, off North Terrace, Adelaide. Julie and Johnathan Webb on violin and bass and an opportunistic Rosella kept about 120 people entertained while waiting for the start. Proceedings began with Pam DiLorenzo explaining the philosophy behind FSI. The world today for many is quite fabulous but this comfort needs to be extended to all. FSI is not about dreariness but about life. It is about initiative and responsibility and hopefully 5.10.5.10 can become as familiar as slip slop slap.
The official launcher, Robyn Williams of the ABC Science Show, was introduced. Robyn began by pointing out that 113 billion dollars are spent on gambling in Australia each year. Compare that with the less than 5 billion that are spent on research. So there is plenty of money out there that could be usefully redirected. Why another organisation? Because this one encourages self-monitoring of performance in reaching goals and is able to coordinate with other organisations. It has a simple action formula.
FSI’s patron Mojgan Khadem, film maker and Bahai, spoke of how she was energised and enthused about a movement that was about freedom and dignity and that invited individuals to make a difference with action, not just words.
Robyn spoke again about the need not to be a neophiliac and spoke affectionately about his trusty old tape recorder which was still serving him well. He then read out a statement from FSI supporter Philip Toyne:
The question of sustainable development and its components, environmental health and social equality is now occupying more and more of our time and that of government and business leaders. Unless we profoundly change the way we earn and distribute our wealth, there cannot be a rich and diverse environment; there can be no world peace and no economic prosperity. But individuals often have difficulty in coming to grips with such complex questions, never mind doing anything about them. The FSI 5.10.5.10 campaign is a great way to become engaged to think about the issues and make a difference.
One of the first founders, Ron Newbold, spoke about FSI from the perspective of an ancient historian. Compared with life for many people today, life was grim and it was difficult to monitor developments and take global perspectives. History offers many examples of societies ruined by greed and exploitation.
Proceedings concluded with some thank-yous: to John and Julie for their music, to Fahad Noori and Nick Matthews for recording the event; to Robyn Williams for coming from Sydney to launch FSI; to Shadia Ohanessian of Shadia Designs for her generous discounts (up to 100%) in work done for FSI, such as designing the logo and publicity material; and finally to everyone for coming.