Should 'hate' be banned?

Someone told me the other day that they have banned the word 'hate' in their household - and what did I think?

This caught me my surprise, and I had to think on my feet, but I ended up saying 'hate' is just a word, it describes a feeling, and all feelings are ok.  Its hard enough for children to talk about their feelings, without having to navigate the parental  equivalent of political correctness. Which, confusingly,  I generally believe to be a good thing, and now there is proof that it works, as Oliver Burkeman reports.

Its actions, not feelings, we should be worried about. But is saying 'I hate you' an aggressive act? Is 'hate' even a feeling, or a thought? And can I express how I feel, when I am angry, without being verbally aggressive? Non-violent language tries to address this, but it can be challenging at times. I had another incident like this this morning, of getting 'lost' on my bike...no bike throwing occurred this time, but S and I lost each other again, and I had no phone, keys or money, again.

Meanwhile, we are in the middle of enjoying a fantastic British Film Festival, at the Palace cinemas, this weekend: we saw Testament of Youth last night, in which Vera Brittain, who became a pacifist, bravely speaks out against post-war sanctions on Germany, after losing her fiance, her brother, and other friends in the First World War. The more things change, the more they seem to stay the same.

Other festival films we have seen include Jimmy's Hall, Mr Turner and the Love Punch, with one more today, What we did on our Holidays. I am also keen on the Imitation game, but may be running out of cinema stamina, although being indoors and eating ice cream seems very sensible in this heat. Record* high temperatures of 40 degrees and above are anticipated today.

 

Brisbane is currently hosting the G20. Twenty five years after the collapse of the Berlin Wall,  Brisbane is like a police state this weekend. with wall to wall cops and prison vans. The city is otherwise deserted.

The highlight of G20 yesterday was Obama's speech at University of Queensland, which clearly called for action on climate change, amongst other things. Tony Abbott's insistence that 'Coal is good for humanity' is seriously being challenged.  Finally. By an American president. Who would have thought?

more later

*for November - its still only Spring...