Valentine's day for who ??

Happy Valentine's day to who ?

By GDL.

Valentine's day is supposed to be a day when lovers renew their vows by sending gifts, flowers, chocolates, a teddy bear and what not a token of their love.
It is also occasion for husbands to make their wives believe that they are still very much in love ad vice-versa. Others will probably use this day as the appropriate time to propose. So today in the hearts and minds of many it is a special day.
Is St Valentine's day a genuine day for lovers or an excuse or opportunity for them to say and do what lovers forget or neglect to do everyday ?
Love is more demonstrated and reinforced in action rather than words. Flowers, chocolates and what not should not be offered on Valentine's day only but at every opportunity possible. A good husband loves his wife and family by caring for them. A lover will take her/his fiancé to dinner very often and offer her flowers or gifts from time to time. But this is not enough, he or she should say to the other from time to time " I still love you very much." and more still, show it in many ways possible.
Today is Valentine's day when the price of roses skyrocket. It becomes expensive to buy a bouquet of 23 red roses on this day. It can be an excuse for not buying them but why not do it next week or anytime with the same passion and love and spontaneity.
Today is  only the commercial valentine's day the other 364 days are the real love days.

Valentine's day can be on the other hand a very sad day for some who have still not found love and do not feel loved. So lets' sympathise with these lonely ones and tell then not to worry about today as it is only another of the imagination of the capitalist system and marketing to get the poor to feed the big business.
GDL

The historical origin of Valentine’s Day is surrounded by mystery, but one legend behind this celebrated holiday is centered around Valentinus, a Christian Saint, who was imprisoned for not giving up his Christian faith. Historians believe that Saint Valentine was a temple priest under Emperor Claudius II. The Emperor insisted that unmarried men were better soldiers that those who were married, and he forbade marriage for younger men. Valentine realized the unfairness of this statute, defied Claudius, and performed weddings for young soldiers who were forbidden to marry. He was also accused of preaching to Christians. During the Roman Empire, this act was considered treason, and when Emperor Claudius discovered his actions, Valentine was imprisoned and ordered to be put to Death.

Saint Valentine would cut out heart shapes from a sheet of parchment and give them to soldiers, and the persecuted Christians, to remind them of their vows and God’s love. It is believed that Saint Valentine wore an amethyst ring with an image of Cupid engraved in it. This was recognized as a symbol associated with love, and usually worn by bishops. The soldiers would recognize his ring and ask Saint Valentine to perform marriage ceremonies for them. During his imprisonment, he befriended his captor’s daughter, and they struck up a friendship. The visits by the woman were brief, and they did not have much time to talk to one another. He would, during his free time, write loving messages on small cards and hand these over to her when she visited.

However, there are at least three different Saint Valentines, all of them martyrs, mentioned inthe early martyrologies under the date 14 February. 

Can Melbourne remain the most liveable city ??

Is Melbourne really  the most liveable city ?

by GDL
Recently the  Economist Intelligence Unit's (EIU) voted Melbourne as the most liveable city, not only in Australia, but in the world.
What prompted the agency to qualify Melbourne as the most liveable city was based on some criterias like: the friendliness of its people, the moderate cost of living, great social interaction, the love and participation of its residents to sports and cultural activities, the good transport facilities, its cultural diversity, the parks, orchards and many flower gardens. It is also true that metropolitan Melbourne is not yet overcrowded; there are still lots of spaces between the suburbs and many scope for new dwellings.The buoyant economic activities and consumption patterns of the Melbournians are striking which can make believe that unemployment is low. Most people of Melbourne live in very nice houses with at least 3 bedrooms and drive new cars. One can see more luxury cars like BMW and Mercedes  in Melbourne than in Sydney. However all must be taken in proportion because Melbourne's population is a bit more than half that of Sydney.
This statistic denotes that Melbourne is not as overcrowded as Sydney as mentioned earlier. Reports show that 1,500 people are moving to Melbourne every week. With such a trend it is anticipated that there will me more social and economic activities which, on paper, will be beneficial to the Victorian economy. This, however, remains to be seen in view of the downturn in the manufacturing with the closures of Ford, Holden, SPC and Toyota which, according to some analysts, might affect up to 25,000 jobs directly and 1 million indirectly.

The principal drawback in Melbourne is the weather. Melbourne is reknown for a very versatile weather; it might shine in the morning and rain at noon, be hot in the afternoon and very cold at night.There is virtually no seasons in Melbourne as there can be up to five types of weather in the same day. While this unpredicted weather might be very annoying for the visitor, those living in Melbourne do not find any inconvenience, live with it as they are used to it, and  perform their social, professional and other activities as per normal. This is amazing, hats off.
The other problem in Melbourne is the "fragile" economy in a globalised one with firce competition from Asian countries. Melbourne grew from the gold rush from 1851 to 1896 when it is reported  that a total of 61,034,682 oz of gold was mined in Victoria.Gold was first discovered in Australia on 15 February 1823.
Melbourne was the capital of Australia before the establishment of the satellite city-capital, Canberra.
While Canberra was (still is) the political capital of Australia, Melbourne was the main manufacturing and service city of Australia. It was only years later that most service industries moved to Sydney leaving Melbourne as the heart of manufacturing in Australia.
Melbourne has enjoyed economic fortunes for many years as most manufacturers were investing in Melbourne where semi-skilled and low-skilled labour were abundant. Most migrants were going to Melbourne where it was much easier to obtain a job even though illiterate or unskilled.
The fortune of  Victoria today hands on a knife edge with the demise of manufacturing. Closure of factories, and lost of jobs in the thousands. This will eventually plunge the state in an economic slowdown and maybe into recession.
The fallout of a recession will cause harm to those directly affected and indirectly to those industries such as retail, housing and services as people will be careful with spending and investments. Those directly affected might find it hard to continue meeting their mortgages especially those couples with children attending school. A loss or reduction of income and a change of lifestyle will eventually follow as a consequence.This will indeed be a sad situation as the people of Melbourne are hardworking, caring, family oriented, enjoy life and so friendly.
Lets hope that Melbourne will not become, if the recession hits the state, the most unliveable city of Australia.