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!

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.