It Doesn't Happen To Us...

But it does!

After further diagnoses of my 11 yearold's bleeding nose on the weekend, we found out he had full blown Juvenile Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemuia this week. DO NOT TAKE ANYTHING CASUALLY.

Look for paling of the skin, lethargy, highly increased heart rate with temperature, unsteadiness - it would depend on the child's ability to express what is going on as to how quickly obvious signs would be apparent.

Take no chances with anything!

One of a myriad of tragedies, waste no time with yours, it could make a difference!

September 2006

Has the Second Coming Been Cancelled?

Both Christians and Jews have been awaiting the Arrival of their Messiah, Jesus’ second coming and Mosciah’s first appearance. Religious fervour foments around the coming of the new age. It must be the same bloke I reckon, considering our religious beliefs are borne from the same seed of philosophy, travelling the same time line.

Would it not be sad if each time either of these Saviours decided to make a re entry into our lives they found themselves aborted? People in Australia are worried about an Islamic take over, yet we as Australians are in negative growth because of the multitudinous abortions that take place in this country. Are we assuring our mutual reassignment to the minority in our own country?

Ockerettes

Nellie Fertado’s song “Man-eater” is surely the anthem for this recently Identified sub-culture within the Australian psyche.

Interestingly, the behaviour iconised as ‘Yobbo’ ocker, male, behaviour has been supplanted by the antics of the young girls in the street, the Ockerette – well done Germaine!

Drinkin’, smokin’, rootin’, tootin’ wimin! STAND BACK! Lucky for them Australian males have been that confused that they have become submissive metrosexual homemakers (the alternative was to starve!), and guess what they do it better!

Come on girls, what about Mickey? I don’t mind a bit of rough play…

Jihad Jack- The Fallout

The control orders that have been applied by the Australian Government to Jack Thomas should ring warning bells through the whole community. The Government representatives that I have seen or heard in the mainstream media commenting on this matter seem to be playing a very determined strategy to highlight their personal views and parallelling those views to what they say most Australians also believe. This reeks of (hegemony), playing to the overt paranoia that the Government is seeding to prop up its commitment of our troops to the Coalition of the Willing.

Control orders have been applied to convicted paedophiles that have served their sentences. This in itself is an abomination! These less than human creatures should never be allowed back into the community, they have shattered lives through the most appalling of crimes. I have said before that if we can't legally eradicate this scum that we should isolate them offshore in 'Survivor' like environments - Rockspider Island! Control orders on those that are found innocent in our Australian courts, unconscionable!

This bloke though has been interned and then, through the courts, released as innocent of the crimes he was purported to have committed. Sure, his conversion of religious beliefs and his attraction to foreign fighting force is a source of worry for some, but hey, many hundreds of our homegrown servicemen are now fighting as soldiers of fortune across the map of global conflict. This type of behaviour used to be romanticised amongst Australian males of the warrior caste.

Standing in line at my daughter's Year 6 school concert last month I overheard a fellow behind me talking with his family, stating he felt that we should be trying to pre-empt 'terrorism' by identifying potential problems and, on assumption, to act against groups and individuals that can be perceived as dangerous to our 'way of life'. He was echoing, virtually verbatim, the thread that the protagonists of Islamic paranoia, that waffle the mass media have been touting - it is like listening to the Libs and Labs in Question Time!

Bomber Beasley is also a great mate of the good old US of A, so we can't expect too much of a difference in either of the major party's attitudes on the matter. WE need to discern whether this one sad man is to be the catalyst that allows more of OUR rights and freedoms to be diluted by emotional (dissertation).

How slippery is the slope we are going to address if we allow ANY persons cleared by Australian courts to be used as an emotional rod on the backside of our national consciousness, because our paternal politicians think it is for our own good? Too much by half I would suggest! What is next? On a local basis our hard fought for worker's rights are being eroded like concrete cancer in the integral support lintel of the society we have built.

Thank God we are still very naive to the effects of civil and international conflict in this great land. Those that have died have said their bit, those that have returned from past global conflicts have had very little to say in support of issuing our troops as cannon fodder for our so-called allies.

Do not get me wrong, even at fifty one years of age I would be one of the first to take my great grand-fathers Boer War sabre to any invading insurgents - sorry, that's all I have got .The Government, in it's wisdom, disarmed the most responsible nation on the planet in regards to firearms. I also believe that the global take on Australia is still not indelibly stained by our involvement in these current conflicts.

The reason the other major western members of the Coalition have been targeted is that they are considered as decaying democracies, declining powers. We are still considered as a vestige of hope for the less fortunate in the world. We are still taking on plane loads of immigrants, mainly Muslims looking for freedom of choice in life. Although brusque, and colloquially use racist diatribe, we Australians readily accept people who contribute to our development. What the!!!

Thank God no one has noticed that the majority of our Melbourne taxi fleet is being driven by Muslims from many and varied nations. Driving around in metal missiles brim full of petrol and LPG! Tullamarine could easily be mistaken for Islamabad airport! Fuck, you gotta laugh!

Now THAT'S Handy!

Directly opposite the Asylum Seekers Resource Centre in the top west end of the city I noticed that there is a mosque. On the other corner is the Melbourne Remand Centre. Now that's what I call service!

August 2006

State of the Nation

I think we are going to be served up a very mediocre bunch at the next elections, a re hash of the dubiously anointed, appointed ones that are put up as our ‘local’ representatives. The current evolution of the Two Party System seems to have no interest in the grass roots, just for the ongoing security of their Party. They seem more interested in promoting a bi party philosophical rabbit stew!

We, as a Nation, have invested heavily in the machinations that support the Two Party System so I would be hesitant to dismantle the infrastructure. But I would bleed the System to support a raft of qualified Independents to keep them in check! Is there anybody out there available, willing and capable of taking on the big boys and conferring pressure to their goolies or equivalent?

Gretel Killeen, Love your Work!

Vot a storm! Big Brother’s incredible mouthpiece maintained control and dignity as the rhetorical storm built around the finale. Big ‘L’ Liberals and fanatical Christian political groups are using BB as an excuse to tighten the reins on what THEY think we should be watching. What’s this about? Did the US Government release a virus to start us all ‘talking in tongues’? Is censorship the next big move for the Howard/Costello Government?

Soft-core porn is a matter of taste, and there is no doubting that it is titillating. Hard core porn though is a major cash cow for the Federal and Territory governments. X rated DVDs, videos and a plethora of other curiously useful artefacts are available online and through mail order, with the associated governments copping a healthy whack of the profits, thank you very much!

When you have politicians of the ilk of Bob Katter potentially throwing his safe seat in the ring with St Steven of Family First, so as to attain a balance of power with an ultra right wing (in piss weak Australian terms thank God!) putsch we all should worry! Can you tell us who else is amongst your cohorts Bob?

Back in your box you bastards! Australia has ample censorship protection and a vigilant media community to hold an appropriate course.

July 2006

Have Your Say - Instantly

You will notice at the bottom of this article a couple of Internet addresses, one to the In Tents Thawt Blog and the other to a Yahoo groups chat site. I have been told that I can be overly opinionated and I figured that if I was going to open my mouth it would be wise to offer a conduit of response. So what I would like you to do is get onto these sites and discuss the various articles and opinions that have been broached in these columns.
Until now I have only been entering my own articles, but I shall also place other articles by contributors onto the blog for your discussion purposes. The Yahoo chat site I would like you to consider as a means of writing your Letters to the Editor. This is a much more responsive way of getting your point across and also having an interactive discussion of your thoughts with myself and other readers. Come on now, don’t be shy, drop in and say hello!

Gumfitti

It is great to see the powers that be try to get a proactive campaign up and running to channel the artistic talents of Melbourne’s graffiti vandals, but I wonder what they can do about the pigs that spit their chewing gum out onto the footpath and other public areas. Go for a walk in to Federation Square and have a look on the ground – disgusting! The only thing I can think of that is more disgusting is the idiots who fling their cigarette butts around the place.
It would be very hard to police though, unlike the Environment Protection Authority method of having registered dobbers for people littering from their cars, people do not wear obvious numbers, yet. With the proliferation of phone cameras though a site could be set up so that when you see someone gob their gum onto the ground you could take a happy snap of them and put them in the hall of shame at Gumfitti.com.au.(Just kidding!)

New Found Truths

I was fascinated by the apparent epiphany that has overcome one of the world’s leading feminist writers. Naomi Wolf was discussing her turn around in thinking in relation to the lessons her father taught and how she had been blinkered to these male concepts until recently when she started to understand that her father wasn’t coming from a patriarchal point of view, but purely humanistic expressions of truths.
This surprising back flip comes not long after Virginia Hausegger’s book Wonder Woman – The Myth of Having It All, a modern insight into the pitfalls that are there for women whose will to make it in the career world have impinged deeply on the want to have a family.
I think a lot of women are waking up to the folly of demonising the traditional roles that held humanity in good stead and the feminist movements that have marginalised and devalued the roles of males in society.

Desperately Seeking Representation

I am still on the bandwagon, pushing the idea of electing more independents into the various levels of Australian government. We need to be able to have representation that will listen to and act on the wishes of those that elect them.
I was disgusted by the attitudes of Bob Katter, as he was being interview on 774ABC. Bob reckons that he is salivating at the thought of being one of a group that will hold the balance of power following the next election. One of the scenarios he put forward was to tie himself to the coattail of Saint Steve of the Family First Party, as he thought that with him and one or two other likeminded power mongers they would be able to swing a win for this religious political movement.
This is the type of behaviour that I abhor, power for ego’s sake, nothing to do with the wishes of those that have elected him to office.
How do we canvas for capable people to take on the mantle of Independent candidacy? Do you know anyone in your area that has the skills, the time and the will to offer themself as a community’s voice in Parliament? I think we should be shaking the foundations to find a better way of administering Government in Australia, in a manner that serves the people, not the pressure groups that prop up the major Parties.

Henny Penny II

Well it looks like we are safe – for the moment! The 73P Schwassmann-Wachmann comet has flown past and we did not get smacked by one of its icy crumbs, although it may not be too late yet. Apparently Earth is going to wander through the outskirts of the comets trail until June 19th but we are only expected to see some shooting stars during that period as tiny pieces of the comet’s tail get drawn into our atmosphere.

June 2006

Have Your Say - Instantly

You will notice at the bottom of this article a couple of Internet addresses, one to the In Tents Thawt Blog and the other to a Yahoo groups chat site. I have been told that I can be overly opinionated and I figured that if I was going to open my mouth it would be wise to offer a conduit of response. So what I would like you to do is get onto these sites and discuss the various articles and opinions that have been broached in these columns.
Until now I have only been entering my own articles, but I shall also place other articles by contributors onto the blog for your discussion purposes. The Yahoo chat site I would like you to consider as a means of writing your Letters to the Editor. This is a much more responsive way of getting your point across and also having an interactive discussion of your thoughts with myself and other readers. Come on now, don’t be shy, drop in and say hello!

Gumfitti

It is great to see the powers that be try to get a proactive campaign up and running to channel the artistic talents of Melbourne’s graffiti vandals, but I wonder what they can do about the pigs that spit their chewing gum out onto the footpath and other public areas. Go for a walk in to Federation Square and have a look on the ground – disgusting! The only thing I can think of that is more disgusting is the idiots who fling their cigarette butts around the place.
It would be very hard to police though, unlike the Environment Protection Authority method of having registered dobbers for people littering from their cars, people do not wear obvious numbers, yet. With the proliferation of phone cameras though a site could be set up so that when you see someone gob their gum onto the ground you could take a happy snap of them and put them in the hall of shame at Gumfitti.com.au.(Just kidding!)

New Found Truths

I was fascinated by the apparent epiphany that has overcome one of the world’s leading feminist writers. Naomi Wolf was discussing her turn around in thinking in relation to the lessons her father taught and how she had been blinkered to these male concepts until recently when she started to understand that her father wasn’t coming from a patriarchal point of view, but purely humanistic expressions of truths.
This surprising back flip comes not long after Virginia Hausegger’s book Wonder Woman – The Myth of Having It All, a modern insight into the pitfalls that are there for women whose will to make it in the career world have impinged deeply on the want to have a family.
I think a lot of women are waking up to the folly of demonising the traditional roles that held humanity in good stead and the feminist movements that have marginalised and devalued the roles of males in society.

Desperately Seeking Representation

I am still on the bandwagon, pushing the idea of electing more independents into the various levels of Australian government. We need to be able to have representation that will listen to and act on the wishes of those that elect them.
I was disgusted by the attitudes of Bob Katter, as he was being interview on 774ABC. Bob reckons that he is salivating at the thought of being one of a group that will hold the balance of power following the next election. One of the scenarios he put forward was to tie himself to the coattail of Saint Steve of the Family First Party, as he thought that with him and one or two other likeminded power mongers they would be able to swing a win for this religious political movement.
This is the type of behaviour that I abhor, power for ego’s sake, nothing to do with the wishes of those that have elected him to office.
How do we canvas for capable people to take on the mantle of Independent candidacy? Do you know anyone in your area that has the skills, the time and the will to offer themself as a community’s voice in Parliament? I think we should be shaking the foundations to find a better way of administering Government in Australia, in a manner that serves the people, not the pressure groups that prop up the major Parties.

Henny Penny II

Well it looks like we are safe – for the moment! The 73P Schwassmann-Wachmann comet has flown past and we did not get smacked by one of its icy crumbs, although it may not be too late yet. Apparently Earth is going to wander through the outskirts of the comets trail until June 19th but we are only expected to see some shooting stars during that period as tiny pieces of the comet’s tail get drawn into our atmosphere.

May 2006

Good Old Barnaby

Surprise, Surprise! Gomer Joyce of the almost extinct Nationals goes on a junket to the Antarctic Territories and comes back rubbing his hands with glee to have discovered what he claims is a belief that we should hop in and start exploiting the Antarctic continent before anyone else gets in for their chop.
Nothing changes with the Nationals eh! They must have run out of rainforests to destroy.
Get a grip Barnaby, you should be leading world opinion on the fact that Antarctica needs to be protected from development at all costs.

What Do You Reckon?

Are immigrant and first generation Muslim kids more likely to fall into the Australian way of life or maintain the strict regimes of the countries that in most cases they have escaped from? I believe the former is the case.

Pass The Doyley

Thank God Robert Doyle finally bent down to smell the roses. I found him to be quite irritating. He quite rightly stated that although he had given his 100% it was not good enough. Darn Tootin’! It will be interesting to watch the Liberals scramble over one another during this period of positioning and posturing. I can’t see Ted Baillieu being effective against Bracks’ team, Louise Asher, maybe, but in reality I think we will see a return of the Labor Party in Victoria come election time.

The Biggest Loser

Have you seen Bomber Beasley recently? He looks like he has been following Andros’ lead and has been out losing some of his bulk. Somehow I do not think that he will be a starter at the next election svelte or no svelte! He has had plenty of opportunity to enamour himself to the Australian public but he just does not have the ‘It’ factor required. In Labor Party history Kim will go down as the biggest loser.

Henny Penny

As the 73P Schwassmann-Wachmann comet hurtles towards Earth the doomsday sayers are out and about again. Apparently it has been predicted that on May 25th part of this celestial body has a good chance of colliding with the planet, supposedly smack bang in the Atlantic Ocean, creating 200 metre tidal waves that will wipe out large parts of the US and Europe. All I can say is I’m glad I’m living in Melbourne. I suppose the one thing we’ve got going for us is that all the other predictions of doom have come to nothing, remember Y2K, so let’s not lose any sleep!




Yes Sir!

Apparently the New South Wales opposition leader, Peter Debnam has been calling for an across the board Military cadetship in all public schools. Now most private schools have kept their cadetships as historically private schools were the breeding pool of candidates for officer training.
For some reason he is arguing that a cadetship is going to instil some discipline that is sorely lacking in today’s youth. Poppycock!
The problem lies in the fact that parents these days are more concerned with their own lifestyles and generally leave their kids to their own devices in front of video game or Internet babysitters. Mothers are spending more time organising childcare than they are actually caring for their children.
Military training may well mould the youths into mindless followers of hierarchical seniors, but I can’t see it helping troubled youth understand more about themselves and the reasons they are dissatisfied with their roles in society. Let’s hope the Victorian Liberals don’t take a page out of their NSW compatriot’s book.

Diesel Rip Off

I wonder why it is that while diesel prices in New Zealand and South East Asia remain well below petrol in Australia the price has risen to be on par with the more refined fuel. I just can’t understand why biodiesel hasn’t taken off bigger than it has.
When you consider that biodiesel is less toxic than table salt and biodegrades quicker than sugar.
Friends that have returned from South America where biofuels are used commercially say that it is remarkable the difference in air quality compared to any of our cities. It is time we insist that our government starts make bigger strides into this new territory of alternative fuels, if for no other reason than releasing us from the politics of petrol.

Come On People

The reality TV show that is Oz politics has devolved into the unserviceable! This ‘class’ of politician are presuming our future along party lines ignoring the true needs of the population. They rely on public opinion polls, but I believe their ‘public’ is an amorphous mob to-ing and fro-ing with media induced uncertainty.
Sure there are minorities of uber committed followers of one particular religion, philosophy or political dogma but none seem to be pulling together to help society move forward.
I am not particularly religious, but the state of play in the world at the moment is reminiscent of the Bible story of the Tower of Babel. Intrinsically all disparate parties want the same thing, the opportunity to live life the way they see it should be lived without others interfering with their beliefs but few are listening to the other. It is surprising how most want the same things out of life they just express it differently.
We have the perfect island, and to date the most brave and compassionate people on the planet. We punch well above our weight in world affairs and with our small population we should be able to come to a consensus that would be a model for the world.
We need to change our political system. I am not saying get rid of the parties, at least not straight away, their resources and confidences need to be shared, but we need politics for the people to shape our future. We need to control the parties by electing people who will represent their constituents’ desires.

Craig Ingram, State Independent for the East Gippsland electorate has been a standout example of how a politician can work with his electorate and find a balance in representing one of the most diverse philosophical areas in Australia. Forty more like him would be a wonderful salve for our political woes.

April 2006

Downer On Hot Coles

I hope they take the fishnets off before they skewer dear Alexander on the slow burn political spit. He is in for a most uncomfortable time.

The bastards!!! Just when a bloke gets well and truly over Labor they go and show themselves up for the shifty creatures that they are really. The Cole Inquiry has brought to light some of the more interesting asides in the war against terror, those of the terrible ends that business will go to chase a profit. In the light of the Telstra sell off it is an untimely reminder of what can happen to perfectly good government companies that have been sold to private interests.

Well I won’t be voting for any of the bastards, so I have to hope that a suitable Independent stands in the electorate in which I live or cop a fine for not voting.

Gawd Derwent, What Now?

I have a hunch there is something rotten in the state of Derrynmark. Isn’t it a shame that the can’t keep himself out of the press? What shame have you brought to the 4th estate now Daryl, and it would be a shame if the truth did not come out? Saw the pictures of you and your missus, handy that you fit snugly under her chin like that Derza .

Cartoon Wars

Finally the truth is out! Political cartoonists DO drive public opinion and beset politicians. But what is going on? Minor cartoonists are trying to lift there values by attracting attention to themselves by going past reasonable boundaries, instead of inspiring people to think about life et al, making sensational and inflammatory personal comment and insults.

They are nowhere near original on the Australian cartoonist radar though. Back in 1979/80 the Australasian Weed published a cartoon that had Bob Hawke doggy style taking it like a girl form a Rabbi whilst providing fellatio for an Arab sheik… and that was when he was the head of the Labour movement!

Bill Leak won’t be travelling to Asia for a while I would imagine. Anyway I reckon all these cartoonist should have a good, long, hard look at themselves, except ours of course!

March 2006

Democracy, The Way To Go! Whoops!

Whoops indeed! They didn’t see that coming! I am still drop jawed as to the reaction of the West to the result of the Palestinian elections.

After many years of insisting that Democracy should be the political structure for a peaceful Middle East, and enforcing that there will be no peace without it, the Palestinians voted out the corrupt regime the Israelis have complained so much about and replaced it with the political wing of Hamas and all of a sudden Democratic election is not good enough as the West and Israel did not get the result they wanted.

I believe the world has to give Hamas the benefit of the doubt, but instead the West is prepared to interfere with another duly elected Government and the Israelis have decided to withhold funds they collected on behalf of the Palestinian Authority, a malicious theft!

It is like they will frustrate Hamas until the militant amongst them lose patience and attack, giving Israel the excuse it needs to resile from peace.

ACT Man Spat on by Minister

Lyle Upson, a distressed Canberra resident, was attending the ACT housing forum when in a brief discussion the ACT Minister for Housing and Disability, Mr. Hargreaves, was spat on by the Minister as he vociferously spoke to mister Upson an inch from his face.

Upson, an unemployed and disabled, homeless man, has been trying to get assistance for his condition for sometime now and it appears the Ministers response to his askance was to get in his face and spray spittle on him during a volatile explosion of abuse. Fortunately two AFP officers were on hand to diffuse the situation.


Baillieu – Whoo Hoo

So what, we get a prettier dud? We don’t need more people representing us that reckon they are born to rule and perfectly sculpted to fit inside the party image and agenda.
We need people that are going to go out and communicate with and represent their constituents. The guy has been given the easy road as one of the anointed and I don’t think the rich will fall into this one.
Would it not serve us better to find a candidate that will cut a deal for us? We need publicly minded, self sufficient entrepreneurs of honourable character that know they can serve the community better than the self serving dross that is served up to us from both Parties.
On the other hand it will be good to see the backside of that useless blob that has filled the Leader of the Opposition’s seat for too long.

February 2006

Number 9

The Australian Federal Police are stuck between hell and high water when it comes to how to deal with our Asian neighbours in relation to Australian drug smugglers. Most have the death penalty on their statutes.

The Bali 9 were caught red handed by the Indonesian authorities an insidious drug ring using threats and intimidation to acquire willing ‘mules’ was uncovered and the AFP apparently assisted the Indonesians in stopping this heroin hitting our shores.

If these rats had been busted over here they probably would have all done a bit of time, but the penalties being handed out in Australia are not providing to be much of a deterrent for these greedy, stupid/sick smack marketeers.

On the other hand the ongoing across the board media coverage given to these poor mugs and Schapelle is a priceless asset that has been handed to the AFP and the Federal Government. The torturous anguish exhibited by these foolish young drug mules would surely put the wind up any scatty, young junkies being tempted/coerced in with the promise of money and drugs or threats to their loved ones. Our Government cannot continue to rely on our neighbours to clean up our own backyard.

We need to get very serious, no more middling around. We need to either bring our laws into line with our neighbouring Asian countries or decriminalise the drug and cut the throats of the heroin cartels operating in and around Australia. Junkies are sick and the money saved would pay for the smack the government was supplying. We wouldn’t have to import either, as Tasmania is replete with opium.

Cereal Pest

You have got to love Darren Hunch’s TV cereal commercials, don’t you? I’ve got to admit Derwent that I have not laughed so hard with someone at his or her own expense for a long time. You have certainly nailed your public persona down to a tee.

Yahoo Message Boards

I recently started wading through the Yahoo message boards trying to understand what makes people who use these boards tick. The one thing that stands out most is the lack of literacy exhibited by a large proportion of these people and the standard of debate has to be seen to be believed. Fundamentalist Christians and Muslims hammering it out on the whys and wherefores of Jesus and Mohammed, feminists scratching the vowels out of chauvinists and deadset lame creatures just slinging off at everyone.

The boards appear to be populated mainly by bored housewives and feral feminists with a smattering of blokes that are either on a pension, dubious politicians or using their employer’s time and resources to spend surfing the net. I wonder how the average bloke would feel if his wife told him she spends six or more hours of the day building up relationships with multiple other males, and vice versa? Not too happy I’d suspect!

The thing that echoes out most is the loneliness that imbues many on these boards, so in the end it must have therapeutic value for some to be able to converse with such a diverse and multi national network.

Crying In the Schapelle Pt II

If you don't like the term White Trash you can use Moccasin Belt Maggots. At first look, to the uninitiated, taking pot to Bali would be like taking ice to the Eskimos. There has never been any real trouble whilst in Bali scoring a smorgasbord of pot from around Asia.

It has only been since the designer pot blends that can be attributed to the Dutch, often grouped under the name Skunk Weed, that a market has arisen in Indonesia. People pay more for skunk over there than they do here, but they want that quality if it is available.

It seems patently obvious now that she was aware but not the owner of the pot, but would surely have benefited if the pot had gotten through and the group's spending money was substantially increased. They were simply financing their trip to Bali as many others have.

You only have to look at her to realise she is no Rhodes scholar but I could imagine with the family background as it is her little brother would have had her then and ongoing protection. She should be left to stew in her own juices for being a mug if nothing else.

People in Australia are fully aware of the laws in the countries into which they intend to smuggle drugs. Some pull it off others don't, stiff for her.

January 2006

L’Enfant Terrible – What Next Cronulla?

Have we become the bad child? Has Australian society really diminished itself to such an extent? We are reacting to ideals that are being pushed to make us believe that it is better to hurt some of our citizens rather than try very, very hard to pull together and make this society of ours work.
.
The local Muslims are shitting themselves with fright; they know that if this state of ignorance prevails that they have no chance of building a meaningful life in Australian society for their children.

We HAVE the chance, out of all the Western societies to sort our troubles out amicably. Our country is not that old and the population is not that large, nor are we yet irrevocably at loggerheads with our various subcultures that with serious discussion we can’t sort this mess out. I mean who hasn’t eaten tabouli or felafel, souvlaki or noodles. Every second retail shop it seems is owned or run by Muslims or Buddhists, and thank Christ for that as the basis of these religions is cleanliness and nurture.

We Aussies have almost lost our dream, sanctimoniously wasted by a past establishment that has been denounced for pecuniary and sexual abuse, like the various churches paying out compensation for deviant Brothers, Nuns, Priests and lay people. Criminal police and dubious politicians abound, we don’t have a lot of which to be proud, and we’ve had a relatively trouble free existence compared to a lot of the people that are now encouraged to immigrate to our shores.

I grew up in Sydney; my beach was North Cronulla and the surf nazis were around even then. Having a wog name myself the only thing that staved off continuous harassment from my peers was that a stranger would not of been able tell my background as I had white, blond hair and blue eyes. School was horrific, the ignorance unbounded - and I was more Aussie, generationally, than most.

They were practising on us Catholics long before the Muslims entered the fray. Cronulla, in the Sutherland Shire, has also historically been the drug capital of Sydney; combine this with racial intolerance and low education standards and you have the perfect formula for redneck behaviour to flourish. It used to be pot, with the predomination of surfies, but as the ignorance grew young people fell prey to powders.

I believe the various subcultures that took part in the Sydney violence are more polarised up there than could ever happen in Victoria. The rugby culture would not help one little bit either. Anyone who has ever seen the TV comedy ‘Pizza’ would recognise that the ethnic mob they parody is also bent on violence and anti social behaviour. Our Melbourne Lebanese community would be pulling out all stops to ensure that their children are not being sucked into a vortex of violence in reaction to a motley bunch of white supremacist pretenders pushing their buttons

BORAGE

What a wonderful and useful herb is Borage. It was renown in the ancient world as a spiritual uplifter and a source of enhanced courage. Once in the garden it will continue to grow from season to season as it self seeds.

I like to use the grey/green, ovate leaves as an added aesthetic in my salads; the flavour is reminiscent of salted cucumber and this is one herb that must be used fresh. The electric blue flowers of the plant are also edible, again in salads or as a candied sweet and can be added to wine or other non-alcoholic refreshment to add extra zip.

Caucasian Pests

While watching a documentary about the Dark Ages I heard of the Old Russian purging of the Caucasian races. Isn’t this the mob that the white supremacists claim to be ‘THE’ bloodline to have? Yet in past centuries it was most certainly not the most desirable of lineage. Funny old world, innit?

Wonder What The Old Girl Is Up To

Shock! Horror! I was sitting up watching Parliamentary question time the other week, the Senate to be exact, (Yeah I know, I should get a life!) and to my amazement sitting behind a contingent of visiting Iraqi pollies was one of our old favourites, Flo Bjelke-Petersen. Now what in the hell could she be up to, eh? Probably feeling a bit low and needed some light entertainment…

Mean Vicious Bikies

Wasn’t it wonderful to see the enthusiasm behind the annual bikies Toy Run? Much maligned and mainly misunderstood, the bikie fraternity has been overly tainted by the minor criminal element that, like all other groups, dwells within its ranks. Get it right people, big, ugly and smelly does not always equal bad. May your property look after your whims and your Hogs run forever!

FORTUNATE SOULS

Society is formed by the suppression of tribal rivalry either through homogenous means or through continual jockeying for supremacy. As we speak modern society, Oz style, is dessicated (due to the break down in familial ties), except for pockets of like racial background on their way to intergration into our what???

OK, we disarmed the failsafe and are about to be thrown into (who knows for how long) a Liberal wet dream.

It is the 'New World Order', get over it. Like, no, no we wont allow human cloning (bullshit , he says under an exagerrated cough). Social and genetic engineering are the key to global 'likeness'. Until the 20th century occurred our forebears lived for ever under the rule of sword, the chattels of warlords or a ruling upper class to be used as beasts of burden, cannon fodder and grist for the mill. Are we going to allow ourselves to be pushed back to these dark ages?

When I was young the Ananda Marga blew up the Sydney Hilton and Russell Sstreet was blown apart by criminals. There have been many more explosions and gangland fires, but generally speaking, till all this global paranoia set in we were the most balanced and safe western nation on the planet. Even now a couple of bombs here al a Bali would do nothing but steel our consciousness and awaken a frustrated warrior subculture. We are who we are!

We will have to put up with a couple of years of grief till we can realize the restructure of our political landscape in the form of a republic, but why not have a close look at the whole caper. Really, if you have ever watched 'Order in the House' (Parliamentry Question Time) you will know what I mean.

WHO SERVES WHO?

Serves, what a whimsical word.And when you think about it, to change our direction most of the expense would be in changing all the stationery! Yes it is the paperwork that will be the constant in any major shift of consciousness whether it be by force or by our own realisation of national identity.

Sedition my arse, do you really thinkour Government has undervalued the response if they start shooting at groups of citizens. We will need to have control over ourselves - remember the Phillipines, passionate non-violent revolution. I reckon feeding us newsreels of U.S. law enforcercers running down traffic violators and the unbridled use of firearms on their citizens is an attempt to soften us up for what the future could hold for us here.

I would like to see superfluous, inflammatory "news" be left to the pay TV channels and specialist news programmes instead of regular updates on the latest gruesome event splattered into our minds at any given time of the day. This irresponsible fear mongering goes a long way to the root of public fear and paranoia; that is its repetitive nature that does the damage.

We are fortunate souls living in this land, we still have a chance to get it right. Plenty of things have to happen here if we are going to survive as a society, and all of this has to be done by you...

SHOOT TO KILL, EH?

Well Johnny you are almost there. Soon you will have us emulating your master's race, right down to the rule by fear, using our police forces to subdue any persons that would dare defy or deny your propositions...and all in the pretence of protecting us from those evil terrorists!

Who out there thinks that this or any future Government with ultimate parliamentary powers would use these new proposed anti-terrorism laws to subdue or eliminate protesting for or protecting their rights in the upcoming industrial warscape? Could large sectors of industry be re-classified as imperative to national security?

The Labour Party are gone in this argument. Beazley is so far up the Yanks bottoms that only the tips of his highly polished boots can be seen.

RVBA/VLBA STRATEGY PLAN

The State governments Sport and Recreation department are funding the development of a strategy plan to look at increasing participation in our sport.

@leisure, the company who won the contract to create the strategyplan, were sourced from a number of consultants that were put up bythe associations and Sport and Rec. to the steering committee(themselves) and were invited by the associations to take up thetender. The company has vast experience in the development of strategies for sporting organizations.Although there is no formal chairman, Simon Crawford, RVBA Development Officer, will be the co-ordinator amongst the two association presidents, the two executiveofficers and Tom Forsell from Sport and Recreation.Simon says that the terms of reference for the strategic plan were designed by theassociations. @leisure were formally briefed by the steeringcommittee of which they are now a part.The steering committee did decide not to mail out to clubs to gettheir feedback as they say they really don't want to hear from everyclub and every bowler, but they will secure the information they needthrough establishing focus groups and random sampling bowlers,
Clubs and any other interested party. They will also use the information gleaned of the web sites to add to this pot.When the first report is complete it will be presented to thesteering committee and the joint boards of the associations, the samepeople they will be consulting with along the way. Information willbe vetted and no one other than the steering committee and jointboard will have access to any of the submissions.The joint boards, after discussion with the Councillors, will makethe decisions as to what will be adopted from the strategy plan andwhen that will take place. Simon rejects the proposition that theJean Kerr Walsh plan from 2000 was ignored. Although not his area of responsibility hebelieves that much of the recommendations of that report were indeedtaken up. He also said he will endeavour to let us know what wasactually addressed from those recommendations.No submissions from clubs and individuals will be posted on theirwebsites; this is one-way traffic people! The information will becollated and fed back to us in meaningful terms for analysis.Which means we need to encourage as many stake holders as possible topublish their submissions on the Yahoo groups planetbowls and bowlsworld. These sitesare easily accessible and could provide a window that other wise we will not have.

I would hope that unlike when the Get On The Green program was put on the table that the people that have gone out and recreated lawn bowls in the inner city at their own expense will be consulted through this process.

The closing date for submissions 23/12/2005 and can be posted to the RVBA website or projectofficer@bowlsvic.org.au and lawnbowls@jeavons.com.au.

FOLLICLE WHISPERERS

Having lived my earlier life in a Yippie lifestyle, devoid of haircuts, I had a home for the buzzin’ bees, but now I would describe my pate as a reverse Mohawk. There are little things happening in the desert, but, oh well!

I was a partner with my father in an infused organic product that promoted hair growth called the Hair and Scalp Energiser and have a little insight into the market. Surprisingly our formulation (supposedly over 100 year old Apache recipe that ended up in the hands of an eccentric biochemist dad knew) worked extraordinarily well on alopecious women and Albanian men. It also did a great job cleaning up psoriasis and when used on dogs and horses cleared up many skin ailments.

Why am I bald then, one might ask? Well the stuff left a tea stain on the skin and I just couldn’t get over that. I wear a cap, not from embarrassment but to stop the cold in winter and the sun in summer. I challenge anyone to restore my vacant follicles. If you can fix me you can fix anyone. No stick ons thanks!

YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT THE PROBLEM IS?

You have got to be kidding! Apparently the latest problem at school is the dysfunctional parent. It does not surprise me at all when you consider the fact that the aberrational teachers of the Eighties and Nineties promoted illiteracy as a social evener.

Nowadays we have a generation of early parents whose social mores are far less than adequate and are now dragging their children through a mire of ignorance.

What cuts me the most is that it is the people I supported that created this philosophy of inadequacy, tempered by the burning fires of socialist feminism. We allowed our future to be under prepared and I reckon while the counter culture was going to sleep those that needed peons acted.

MORE SHAME, SHANE!

Yeah, yeah! How funny is it, Shane take the piss out of us by using the lurid text legend as a way of promoting his new found hirsute endeavours. Worse are the sound bites that refer to his wife thinking him sexy, how funny is that? You are an ankle Shane! I reckon he shaves his legs!!!

UNAWAKENED UNDERBELLY

I am going on fifty one years of age and it behoves me to say that you weak, self satisfied peers of mine, the “New Forties” – ex hippies, activists (Ahh, the halcyon days of picketing Woolies frozen food cabinets for fear they were selling South African whiting – Zanu Zapu, dude!), bikies, surfers, Viet vets, musicians, strippers and pros, musicians, radical feminists and homosexuals have bailed out on your ideologies. The Counter Culture was extant in the seventies and eighties, but now it appears to have drifted away. Or has it?

We have a broad and complex society now, but in 1972 with an illegal war raging and the Liberal government assaulting people protesting the stupidity of fighting others battles and oppressive industrial relations laws, people stood up and said we will have no more of this imposed on us and voted the bastards out.

History has proven that when Australians are battered and brow beaten, when admonished for their fervent belief in a fair go for all, they stand up and say ‘No more’.

Wakey, wakey!!! Break out the patchouli oil and start marching!!!

YANKIVERSITY

It appears it is another of the Liberal Government’s objectives to internationalise (read – Americanise) our tertiary education system. I mean if the Yanks have such a great system how come it is the product of our institutions that seem to be leading the way in most scientific endeavour.

Benny Nelson is promoting educational sedition! Does anyone else wonder why the Howard Royalist Liberal Party is trying to morph us into a George Bush Republican way of life? Oxymoronic innit?

YABBADABBADOO

Amanda Flintstone’s deplorable insight into why Australian kids would not accept or be able to handle working in regional areas as apprentices, because it would take them too far from the comforts of their families and friends, beggars belief! Most would jump at the chance to get support for that sort of independence from often dysfunctional families and friends and to gain an opportunity to prove their worth.

Mandy’s answer is to bring apprentices from overseas to fill this supposed gap in our work force smacks of racism, as if these young folk she intends to indenture would not have such like feelings for family and friends, I mean after all they ARE foreigners!

And within this puerile argument we need to recognize that the vast majority of those effected come from a growing underclass, the white Australian male. You know the ones, unlike their female contemporaries; with little infrastructure for societal support other than the penal system should they fall through the cracks.

Cheap labour is probably at the root of the Government’s argument. Keep the working poor in the glutted city market and increase their immigration figures. They might go fully sick on the idea once they rush through their IR laws and we become far South China-like with our national wages and entitlements dashed before our eyes.

Shiek Omran

The Shiek made an appearance on Lateline 10/11/05 to discuss the arrests of these young terror suspects. Now he was doing him self no favours by not being able to express himself fluently, several of his points could have been taken opposite in meaning to what he was trying to say. But he was trying to use his right to freedom of expression to try and clarify for us where these kids heads are at.

He has made it clear that these fools had no support from Islam in Australia, that they are a bunch of disgruntled indivduals that are taking it upon themselves to attempt to terrorize our population.

We must keep in mind that most of our immigrants come from countries that use these forms of resistence and attack as a matter of course, it is a cultural reflection on how to deal with those you think are your enemy/oppressors. So when confronted with constant racism and cultural attacks they react in the manner that is known to them.

The Shiek also made the point that what these people were attempting to do had no connection with the war in Iraq, but more with the way they perceive their community is treated here in Australia.

I believe we need to keep a constant dialogue happening with the youth of today because, as the Shiek said these ideas will not be only held by Muslim youth, disenfranchisement is being felt by youth generally and any gross restrictions of freedoms could see violence erupt from the most unlikely of groups within our society.

SEDITION, DON'T BREAK MY HEART...

Mary Clark’s, heroine of the American Black freedom movement, timely death opens a window to us. Maybe her death and the publicity surrounding it will reawaken a few minds in our country.

Laws evoked through paranoia and the want for control over a population should ring loud the alarm bells for us…us the most liberated nation on the planet.

Who would have thought OUR Government would seek powers to shoot us at will? Everything that that we are, who we are, what we visualise ourselves as in national consciousness is at risk

This is the last key. We have been disarmed, we have been dumbed down as a nation and poor English education for our immigrants inflames this situation. Unfortunately for our new arrivals, seeking solace in the dawning myth of the Great South Land, they are dumped into public housing amongst the dross of dinkum Aussies, amongst the mad and the junkies. What type of message are we sending these people?

A lot of the public servants dealing with these new arrivals are also recent immigrants and I suppose that their idea of what Australian culture is and how it should be interpreted, to say the latest wave of West Africans, is probably less than accurate or coloured by their personal experiences.

Engendering the ability to glorify our multiculturalism does not mean that we have to change the character of the nation.

Sedition is not a concept that Australians can readily relate or warm to, even the Sandgropers have given up on the idea. But we do want to maintain our right to have our say and be able to let the Governments that we elect know how we want our country to progress.

EDUCATION '80's

The biggest bummer about the Labour Party’s education policy of the Eighties in Victoria was the fact that as they downgraded the relevance of the 3Rs during a time of heavy Asian and Middle Eastern immigration.

The effect this move had on multi generation Australians was drastic, but nowhere near as bad as the effect on those kids whose parent’s first (and usually only) language was not English. It was like those on an equality binge, gorged in devising the average, and had made a philosophical decision. We can now reflect that our worst educational outcomes are in the outer suburbs

Now I have heard that it is the golden thread of literacy that holds civilisations intact so it is no wonder the youth of today are losing their way - we as a society withdrew the tools that were necessary for these kids to understand and adequately respond to complex global and sociological problems.

I fully support any moves to redress this sad state of affairs in our educational system. National uniformity, a return to literacy and numeracy as priorities in education and an assessment regime that truly gives these kids an idea of how they compare with their peers I believe is essential in building a confident nation.

12 MONTHS ON

Jack departed the mortal coil almost a year ago, 28th of November last, and the letters keep coming supporting his points of view. It is patently obvious that we have taken the paper in a slightly different direction to where my dear Pappy would have wandered and have received fantastic support from our readers.

If anyone has anything to say about Jack or the direction we have taken the paper please contact me through the website via the blog or the yahoo chat site. Good, bad or ugly, the best contributions will be published in next month’s paper.

LATHAM DIARIES 2

I understand Mark’s publishers have asked him to write a sequel to the Diaries, as his book has proved to be a minor blockbuster. Has anyone asked Mark how much of his royalty (that’s got to hurt) bonanza he is putting back into establishing a viable alternative to what he has sought to drag down? We need your help Oh Great Piker!!!

ROBERT DOYLE - MAN OF LA MANCHA

Gawd he annoys me! Whenever I see or hear him speak my skin crawls with memories of over fanatical schoolteachers who just KNEW what was best for me. He ranted for months about the Tollway fees and recanted when the din died down. The guy is so bland, so uninspiring, how is he going to convince people to throw out Bracksie?

The only chance the Libs have got is to ditch this dreadfully boring man and hunt down an inspirational leader. Yeah, right. Labour is safe for a while yet.

WHAT NOW, KNEEJERKERS?

This latest wave of bombings in Indonesia has done nothing but steel our resolve to not let these bastards get to us. The odds are getting smaller and smaller as to when this type of thing will happen on our soil.

We are a nation capable of being self-sustainable. We could shut the doors for a little while and pull together to stave off this otherwise alien terrorist extremism. But that would only make them think we are scared.

After decades of paranoia about an Indonesian invasion (urban myth would have it that had one million Indonesians arrived on our northern shores, international laws would have kicked in allowing them possession of the land), these r’sole terrorists have brought our two nations philosophically together in what could almost be described as Austral-Asia.

Unlike Australia though, Indonesia had the courage to throw off the shackles of their Colonial masters and have matured into very responsible neighbours, while we here are still a teenage nation, still trying to cut the apron strings of mother England and Uncle Sam. Unfortunately it is our commitment to these two world powers that has also made us an enemy of the oppressed and a potential terrorist target.

Up until now bog Oz consciousness has remained virtually intact, our belief in freedom of speech and association has made us the unique culture that we are, any legislation reversing our rights could see our very national nature change and my bet is it wouldn’t be for the betterment of the culture.
Don’t let the paranoia merchants get to you, and don’t support a Government that would take away your rights while setting you up like a sitting duck.

MULTI-CULTURAL

I thank our various Godheads that our Australian culture is still identifiable. Early waves of European, Christian immigrants melded into our society like butter on hot toast, bringing with them the best of their previous lifestyles.

The next wave was from the attempted Zionist purge of the Middle East and it’s ongoing consequences. We graciously received Muslims, Christians and freaked out Jews and again these people melted into our society enriching the tapestry of Australian life.

Our Southeast Asian contingent were next and like the rest have made Australia their home and have added such riches to our society in terms of food, music and art. An indicator as to how well most of these cultures have spread through Melbourne is the variety of restaurants offering the delights from Europe, Asia and the Middle East.

Food for thought – You can buy a felafel sandwich in just about every suburb in Melbourne, a good Jewish feed is only available in and around Caulfield.

WOW!

When you compare the difference between the way the Chinese addressed the flooding of the Yangtze River and the frighteningly slow response of the Americans to Cyclone Katrina I’d advise you to start sharpening up those chop stick skills!

They are all bloody woosies though, we have floods, fires, droughts and locust plagues – we are a veritable biblical studies class and we barely flinch. It tickled me that we were collecting charity for the Yanks.

Pakistani Response

President Pervez Musharraf, of Pakistan, was at the centre of the Pakistani Earthquake Disaster within 24 hours and it was obvious by his sound bites that he was going to make sure that their country's response to this disaster did not mirror America's shame.

CARBON COPIES

We are carbon-based beings on a carbon-based planet. The evolution of the planet and it’s maturing atmosphere allowed us humans to develop and thrive and become the prime being on the planet.
Now planet Earth spent a lot of time locking up all that carbon in the form of coal, gas and oil and we foolishly have relied on unlocking this energy to fuel our daily energy needs. We have let the genie out of the bottle. Our reliance on these fuels is really biting us on the bum in most aspects of Australian life and we still support using our future gene pool to militaristically protect commercial carbon fuel interests.
Let’s not forget why Australia became the most hospitable country on the plane, why all the multifarious immigrants chose us. They like the way we walk, talk, eat and breathe, freely and enhance our lives with their different roots in art, food, music, family and religion.
I am a fifth generation Australian, root from three brothers who left Ticino in modern Switzerland to escape the purge in the district famous for supply the Papal Knights in Rome. An Italian name classified me as a wog immediately. I have watched with interest the passing parade of immigrant groups into this country during my lifetime and all I can say is eventually every one ends up Skippyfied.
A lot of these refugees come from oil rich countries like ourselves, but less developed and at the mercy of neo Imperial oligopolies playing God. The results are mass human privation.
We, as a planet, have the technology, equipment, food etc to support everyone on the planet (and some disgruntled alien spies). In this country are we going to allow this current style of political promotion to turn us into a paranoid carbon copy state, Black Adder like holding ranks against the people we have warmly welcomed, thoroughly searched and accommodated in rustic environments to share our good fortune?

LATHAM'S LASTING LEGACY

I feel that when watching anything that has been broadcast from Parliament House, for example, Question Time, doorstop interviews, etceteras, that it is a bit like watching an unscripted super series of a cross between South Park and Groundhog Day.
The puerile behavior of the members in any parliamentary scenario sends my blood cold. The set questions of the ruling party answered in detail we don’t need and the answers to opposition questions designed to not answer the questions beggars belief. And for that, in expectation of somehow participating, we pay lots of dollars.
The system has been a caricature for some time now, but like Asian flu the threat of terrorism has left our normally disinterested population suffering from an unhealthy overdose of the jingoism that is Australian politics.
Latham’s interviews belied a man that had seriously had enough of playing the political game. We all say we know politicians can’t be trusted, that they rank very low on the social esteem register. So why are we surprised that a bloke who believes he has been tromped over by his own political machinery wants to vent his spleen in their direction?
Latham damning Labour equally disdains the Liberals and sends out a message to us all, fix the system! Watching Kerry O’Brien’s interview on Lateline, Mark was straight up disconnected from the circus and backing himself and his family and as much as I have loved the ideals of the party I believe it has run it’s race.

AL WHO???

O.K., now that radicals, these imbos, have nominated us as a target, they have got to be
told…
Attack us on our own turf and you will not get the reaction you expect. Restraint and compassion are some things you may long for though. Most Aussies abhor needless, senseless violence, but to protect our own we’ve been proven to be the very best at it.
Get on with life, says little Johnny, my bum! We need to link arms against arms. "Sideshow Bud" Abbott tells us that if we don’t like the way he/they wish to portray Australian consciousness that we should shrink back to from whence we came. For me, after five generations that would be Canton Ticino, Hamburg, Copenhagen, London, Belfast, Edinburgh and elsewhere.
The fact is that most foreigners who choose to live here do so because their country of origin has seen conflict or have been forced out through religious or ethnic purges. They have come here to escape the horror and deprivation of their native lands, and most would no more want to lose the right to live here, or the rights we have, than fly to the moon.
This latest round of knee jerk reactions in regards to ‘terrorists’ in Australia has to be viewed with some cynicism. Our hard fought for rights are being frittered away, we are back tracking through the battles that mark development in our social history.
Al Queda in Australia would consist of a mish mash of travelling radicals from a variety of nations. Rather than worry too much about peoples whose lives have been saved by coming here to find a safe life, I would be looking at foreign students and backpacking members of Nicaragua’s Sandinistas, Basque ETA, Colombian FARC, Jema’a Islamiyah or for that matter IRA or Provo Irish holiday makers. There are many groups.
Although Al Queda is not exclusively an Islamic extremist group, they should recognise that Australians have acted singularly in times of war. I am sure Allah would not condone an exhibition attack on the Oz population. The sad fact is that an attack now will enforce extreme hardship on the women and children and defile the honour of of the male population of Australian Muslims, no matter what their nationality.
These people work as bar stewards, waiters, labourers, prostitutes etc to fund their holidays. These people invariably link up with like-minded people from different radical organisations doing the same part time or illegal work, and there I believe is the nub of the problem.
At any rate, Al whoever you are, I would think very deeply about waking the sleeping Oz warrior mentality. Do your thing elsewhere guys, if you think you really have to. You are in a no-win situation here. I’m still pretty cynical though, I feel I am in a book ‘they’ made me read in high school…

WHY?

We still get heaps of letters in relation to our father. Considering the blackguard he was portrayed as by the major media, it has surprised us the amount of commentary in relation to his ability to uncover major stories well before any of the ‘legitimate’ members of the fourth estate got a whiff.
All these letters come in riddles and nicknames I am sure would have tickled Jack but they go straight over my head. Oh, and by the way, Pacholli only has one ‘c’.
Jack was probably one of the best-connected individuals in Australia and he only ever got stuck into r’soles. In saying that, I will say this, some people representing public or private interests may have copped more than they personally deserved, oh well, probably should have stayed out of the kitchen.
His moles run deep in the infrastructure of Australian business, politics, criminal and social identities. He got the ‘mail’ early and there was no shortage of people who wanted to get into his ear.
There is an opportunity to have your say. Inside my chat site I have set up a poll – Demon or Dark Knight and please have your say uncensored on the chat site itself. Or go to the blog and have your say. Me old pappy had a penchant for uncovering corporate and governmental inconsistencies well before the major media outlets and with his demise goes the contacts and the knowledge. For as much as I harassed him to write down the gems, he refused, as the sources would have been violated. Spewin’.

Frog Wars Pt 1. The Battle for Hawthorn B.C.

Hawthorn Bowling Club is under siege from the petanque club they allowed to amalgamate with them a couple of years ago. Not unlike St Kilda a group of residents joined the club to ensure its survival and like St Kilda they allowed a petanque club in to stave off demise. And like St Kilda the petanque people have tried on the aggressive takeover.
When I was secretary of Middle Park I was foolish enough to encourage the board to allow a petanque member onto the board. Smarter than the other clubs, MPBC did not allow the petanque people full membership or board status, just associates and 3 full memberships. Worst move we made allowing one of them into a management position.
Petanque is a desperately waiting vulture hanging around suburban bowls clubs waiting to hear the death rattle and pounce. The extra revenue that they provide is not worth having to deal with this endemically treacherous mob.
The next club I am aware of them trying to get their claws into is Dendy Park. Clubs beware!