"After he graduated, Pell returned home to Ballarat, where he lived and practiced in the St. Alipius presbytery. There, he immersed himself in a crisis; the St. Alipius boys’ school had become overrun with child sexual abuse, perpetrated by a ring of Christian brothers and a pedophile priest. They were raping, beating, and abusing the schoolboys. Kids were violated in just about every corner of the school, including the principal’s office. In one fourth grade class, over a third of the boys went on to commit suicide. “It was one hell of an evil place,” says Lyndon Monument, one of Pell’s accusers who went to the school. “Just pedophiles — a network of pedophiles.”
The horrifying details of St. Alipius reemerged during Australia’s Royal Commission Into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, where Pell was called in for questioning. As they spell out in their 2017 report, the abuse at St. Alipius was so “blatantly obvious” that “every boy in the class knew his turn would come.” The royal commission wanted to know: why didn’t Pell do anything to stop it?"
Brother Evans trained with Cardinal Pell at Ballarat and arrived at my school, SPC in the early 1970's where he went on to abuse students for 10 more years. Once pressure got too much on the leaders of the catholic church, Evans, as a "solution", was then "promoted" by The Catholic Church in 1980 to Principal of Edmund Rice College in Wollongong, where he went on to abuse boys for another 10 years. "Brother" Evan's was gutless to the end, finally committing suicide, by carbon monoxide poisoning on Mount Keira the day the police came to take him into custody for his jail sentencing. Evan's was eventually convicted of child abuse crimes perpetrated for nearly 4 decades, 30 plus years of child abuse covered up, allowed and enabled by The Catholic Church. He also buried my mother in 1979. Angry? Fuck yes I remain pissed off at all who knew and did nothing. The many many teachers and parents and clergy and inner sanctumm including Brother Greening, the SPC (alcoholic) Principal at the time, who knew that not only Brother Evans was a child rapist, but at least 4 other SPC staff were also involved. And not one brave soul spoke up at the time? Except the many staff, who mysteriously kept leaving SPC, as they too found out who (and what) they were working with. Child rapists and their protectors. No, thank you for your kind offers to be connected still with The Old Boys of SPC, most of whom were awesome, kind and friendly at the time. But I have no interest what so ever in maintaining any connection with the sullied name and criminal actions of an institution that was and remains in my eyes, rotten to the core. When I arrived at SPC I did not consider my self to be "catholic" let alone "christian" (even though we had been baptised, confirmed and raised as such) Mum sent me there for an education, NOT religious indoctrination. Mum remained grateful for her "Catholic" education which was the result of a scholarship she received some 20 years earlier, we were NOT sent to a Catholic High School for religious instruction, just a "good education" whatever that may mean. Little did she know that the many sacrifices she made to pay for that "good education" was tarnished by the child rapists teaching there.
This was yet another beginning of being kind as my healing. In response to the "christian" lies and "christian" abuse and "christian" fear and hell and damnation. The contrast between an idyllic creative Primary School, wonderfully strict loving parents and extended family and a close neighbourhood community containing many friends and sporting, leisure and recreational connections, to going to a Living Hell, aka SPC, an evil "christian" misogynistic, racist, limiting institution lead by an alcoholic principal hiding numerous rapists, scared adults (clergy/teachers/parents etal) and an extended elite upper class hoi polloi "community" so bound up in the fear of being seen to be "righteous" that they remained silent on the most evil crimes being committed against the most innocent members of society.
There was ONE man of the cloth who did speak out, Father Alf Rivett, who was a visiting priest, NOT an SPC teacher, NOT attached to the school in a paid capacity, and therefore maybe more able to speak out. He along with the rat pedophile brother evans conducted mum's funeral in 1979. Alf also helped me enormously in the few years immediately after mums death.
As I tried to cope alone, taking drugs, getting wasted, wagging school, stealing money to pay for drugs, sleeping rough in the city, "borrowing" dad's company car when he was away, without a license, let alone permission.
Dad did his best as he always did, he never wanted me to attend SPC in the first place as he was agnostic and had done a lot of his own cutting ties with a strict Baptist, Methodist, Mason, conservative Victorian era parental upbringing, he travelled extensively and worked long hard hours as he always had even before mum's battle with cancers, and ultimate untimely far too young death, dad got sacked by his US oil company soon after mum died, got cancer himself, my older sister left home almost immediately after mums death, so of course school was the last place I wanted to be. So I didn't go that often. Except To Lyn's classes as she too resisted the bullying bullshit of the scared little boys aka as The Principal and The Rats.
Then brother michael evans mysteriously "disappeared" in 1980 as did brother greening the alcoholic principal. Not even farewell assemblies, they simply were there one day and gone the next. No normal trumpet blowing fanfare, no boring speeches about what wonder full servants they had been, not so much as a cuppa tea and a bikkie.
I also left, or checked out more accurately, much like me post 10th August 1979. Except for Alf who was an enormous NON preachy, NON judgemental support for almost two years.
He got me into volunteering at Matt Talbot Hostel from age 15 to 19, a place where I met some of the kindest people I have ever met in my life. Stories of hardship that still open my heart to this day, I won't repeat them here at this point, but those wonderfully kind people probably saved my life in more ways than one. Yes, high school was exactly that, "high" and fucking mighty, pretensious wankers, scared little boys (the staff, NOT the students) following orders, scared little boys (the students this time) being taught how to lie and cheat and drink and smoke and be sexist and racist and misogynists all in the name of "catholicism" or "christianity" and your sins shall be forgiven because the fucked up "adult" leaders were exactly that, fucked up adults. There is a lot more energy in this story still to unravel, most of the boys there were kind and simply being conditioned as the next layer of complicit next generation old boy bullshit. I don't blame them nor condemn them, I simply prefered then to move on and live the life I felt aligned with, which is why "the HIGH priest school" was more like an institutional prison than a fun and joyous learning space. One or two awesome teachers who knew the game of Higher School Certification (NOT learning I emphasise) inside out, trained us monkeys to pass a 3 hour "test" and get The Score to go onto higher edumacations, aka "uni verse city" and jumped through meaningless hoops and achieved sticky labels of credentials to say ewe waz qualified... and on the attached ham stir wheel turns... yeah, did all that shiz, thanks crime scene 101 SPC and I had and have no desire to perpetuate "edumacation" of an imposed extrinisc busy body doing. Life Long Learning should be FUN and JOYOUS and lights the learner UP from isnside... that's why I ditched Business Law my first boring degree at UTS and went into learning, wonder, awe, figure shit out as you go, ask LOTS of really challenging questions, DON'T follow the assigned top down test passing BORING as batshit curriculum, and instead, learn for real, learn for life with the world library in your pocket...if that's what you see, but that learning has too has been banned because both the drunk on power upper crust back room boffins who set the political control edumacation social engineering agenda AND the earnest doing their level best low paid clerks and classroom line tamers... sic etal
BOTH can't bear the freedom of uncertain learners figuring shit out for them self and responsibily sharing what they find with transparent immutable learning by paying it forward... and being intrinsically lit up from within and in awe and wonder... just like when we all learned to walk...
That's how I lead my learning for 30 years in a "profession" and for 60 years NOW in life. There are no limits and web3 is FINALLY bringing that rfealisation home globally. Nowhere left to run or hide, life long learning is NOW becoming each individuals life long responsibility to get off thy ass and learn, for life, be agile, for life, train, untrain, retrain, learn, unlearm for life, be intrinsically lit UP, be Response able, Be accountable, not passively wait and be a dumb fuck and be told what to do... by the lorded over lords and boss hogs and my way or the high way controlling gas lighters or drunken pedophiles, misogyists, racists, sexist assholes masking as christian brothers or "teachers" indoctrinating humans to pass a meaningless "test" so they get a higher paying badge to level up in life and lose them self?
Thanks SPC and the candy crush game you doled out as "christian" faith and pass a test edumacation. It taught me much about who I never want to be and never was.
Bring on The Inescapable Life Long Learning, open source community, IRL, web3 and DLT, you aint seen NOTHING yet... once this revolutionary limit less BIG BIRD DLT takes off!
"On the Sea" Beach House Out on the sea we'd be forgiven Our bodies stopped the spirit leaving Wouldn't you like to know how far you've got left to go Somebody's child Nobody made you It's not what you stole, it's what they gave you In or out, you go In your silence, your soul Would you rather go unwilling? The heart is full and now it's spilling Barreling down the steps Only a moment left In hind of sight no peace of mind Where you begin and I'm defined Daughter of unconscious fate Time will tell, in spite of me In hind… In hind of sight no peace of mind Where it begins and we'll be fine Shadows bend and suddenly The world becomes And swallows me in, me in Whistle to a friend Gentle 'til the end Any way in a name She takes shape just the same Listening To The Thunderous Seas Tonight, I Love This Song, so much Song of the Sea by Rainer Maria Rilke Timeless sea breezes, sea-wind of the night: ...
"Some people mistake being loving for being a sap. Quite the contrary, the most loving people are often the most fierce and the most acutely armed for battle... for they care about preserving and protecting poetry, symphonic song, ideas, the elements, creatures, inventions, hopes and dreams, dances and holiness... those goodly endeavours that cannot be allowed to perish from this earth, else humanity itself would perish..." "Having a lover / friend who regards you as a living growing criatura, being, just as much as the tree from the ground, or a ficus in the house, or a rose garden out in the side yard... having a lover and friends who look at you as a true living breathing entity, one that is human but made of very fine and moist and magical things as well... a lover and friends who support the criatura in you... these are the people you are looking for. They will be the friends of your soul...
“Why I Wake Early Hello, sun in my face. Hello, you who made the morning and spread it over the fields and into the faces of the tulips and the nodding morning glories, and into the windows of, even, the miserable and the crotchety – best preacher that ever was, dear star, that just happens to be where you are in the universe to keep us from ever-darkness, to ease us with warm touching, to hold us in the great hands of light – good morning, good morning, good morning. Watch, now, how I start the day in happiness, in kindness.” Mary Oliver Efferent Sea Your Magic Glowing, No challenge to a deeper ocean as river rapids receive. Same as A Worldly Morning Star peeks, not competes, to kiss Us, We thank and never tire. Silent Sunrise, No Surprise Like Us, Our Nature flows Smiling, Simple, Risen. by Tony Searl #luceatluxvestra
Leemon Baird is the Co-founder and CTO of Swirlds Inc. With over 20 years of technology and startup experience, he has held positions as a Professor of Computer Science at the Air Force Academy, Adjunct Professor at multiple other prestigious universities, and as a senior scientist in several labs. He has been the co-founder of several startups, including two identity-related starts-ups with successful exits. He received his Ph.D. in Computer Science from Carnegie Mellon University faster than any student in school history (2 years, 9 months), has multiple patents, and over 100 publications in peer-reviewed journals on computer security, machine learning, and mathematics. He regularly keynotes on these topics at conferences. In this nearly hour-long conversation , our audience will get a first-hand look at what may become the future of the Internet. Hashgraph is a revolutionary new distributed ledger technology like no other. It is able to scale faster, wi...
Not only have you called, you gifted the key which was always present in our cageless expanse of Rich Red Ochre, The Infinite Heart Centre. This fly to more freedom a true artful ancient, The Wisened Young, connect serpent lines with whispering souls, as Desert rose listens, as desert song sings, Amaroo, Creation, We Rise Together Nascent Morning Star Looks Forward, as red sails in our sunset have taught us well. by Tony Searl #Dadirri We Have The Best of Both Worlds
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