Author: Kev

Retired infantry officer. Conservative by nature and politics; Happily married and father and grandfather of eight. Loves V8 powered Range Rovers, Golden Retrievers, good books and technology and think there should be open season on Greenies. Born in the mid forties and overdue for servicing but most parts still work.

State’s sky to get heritage status

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THE sky above New South Wales is to be given heritage status by the National Trust.

The National Trust of NSW is set to classify both the day and night sky above the state as worthy of preservation.

National Trust NSW president Zeny Edwards said the sky viewed from NSW had extraordinary aesthetic, historic, social and scientific significance for all Australians.

The move was timely with Earth Hour on Saturday, when switching off city lights would allow the sky to be seen clearly, he said.

What on earth is she on?

Uncategorized

I’ve had better weeks

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Went for an angiogram last Wednesday. The Doctor had trouble finding the femerol artery and pushed into an non-anesthetized area….arched back..nausea…lowering blood pressure…male equivalent of screaming..followed by appropriate but rude words to Doctor. The Doctor found the spot and then disappeared leaving the nurses and female radiographer to apologise and calm me down.

Was dispatched home in a yellow cab – the driver and the shockies were about the same age. Got home and sulked. Three days later blood had tracked to my manhood and everything was black which is not a good look for a white anglo chap. Went to emergency on Easter Sunday to be told lots of words which summarized as go home and stop acting like a girl. The pain will go in two weeks and the bruising in four.

Sitting out the back by the pool (still sulking) and Holly, my faithful golden retriever of 15 years walks towards me, drops her head into a tilt and walks into the ground. The vet says neurological bleed or tumor, give her these tablets. If she survives three days all OK, if not I’ll have to put her to sleep…..that will be $88.00 thank you.

Wake at 4.00 am (damn! they are sore) make a coffee and sit outside talking and stroking old retriever. Reminded her of how she helped us bring up five kids.

Reminded her how she used to walk the kids to the bus and one day said bus ran over her. She limped home like a mongrel dog and licked herself better. Next week she resumed escort duties and never got caught again.

She always was a timid soul. When she was about five she actually barked at a possum and the whole family went out and congratulated her. She’s a gentle soul and loved by everyone she meets and she will be sorely missed.

Holly

Dogs guarding house. Holly is on the left

Told her that Kevin Rudd was considering setting up a committee to look into aging retrievers and their problems. As sick as she is she managed to roll her eyes.

Take it easy old girl and go well.

General Musings

Why is this woman in Australia?

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Angela Davis, ex Black Panther and rabid communist has been invited to speak at the West Australia’s Harmony Week run by the Office of Multicultural Interests

There are many articles on Angela that brush over her time on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted list and trial where all charges were dropped but this one doesn’t

In 1970 Davis was implicated by more than 20 witnesses in a plot to free her imprisoned lover, fellow Black Panther George Jackson, by hijacking a Marin County, California courtroom and taking hostage the judge, the prosecuting assistant district attorney, and two jurors. In an ensuing gun battle outside the court building, Judge Harold Haley’s head was blown off by a sawed-off shotgun owned by Ms. Davis. To avoid arrest for her alleged complicity in the plot, Ms. Davis fled California, using aliases and changing her appearance to avoid detection.

Two months later Davis was arrested by the FBI in New York City. At her 1972 trial, Davis presented her version of where she had been and what she had been doing at the time of the shootout. Because she was acting as her own attorney, she could not be cross-examined. She presented a number of alibi witnesses, almost all Communist friends, who testified that she had been with them in Los Angeles playing Scrabble at the time of the Marin slaughter. Prosecution witnesses who placed her in Marin were dismissed by Davis and her fellow attorneys as being unable to accurately identify blacks — because they were white.

What is it with Multiculturists that they pay this woman big money to speak? Charges may have been dropped but there are enough questions left to bar her entry to Australia.

Politics

Haneef demands wider inquiry

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The hide of the bastard! He may be innocent although that was never fully tested in a court; the AFP may have handled the case less than perfectly but he still has a very iffy family who like to blow up innocents and from my point of view that is sufficient reason to bar him from entry into Australia.

In an exclusive interview from India, Dr Haneef said the inquiry should be given powers to ensure all documents are released, and that witnesses, including Australian Federal Police Commissioner Mick Keelty and former immigration minister Kevin Andrews – as well as investigators, prosecutors and bureaucrats – are compelled to give evidence and face cross-examination.

Well he would say that wouldn’t he? This is now going to be about compensation as he has a chance of sitting on easy money for the rest of his life.

Maurice Blackburn partner Rod Hodgson said he believed Dr Haneef had a strong claim for compensation. “He has had his reputation trashed, his career stalled, his liberty taken away, his life in Australia interrupted, his earnings reduced and his life turned upside down.

“Those are all wrongs absolutely deserving of compensation.”

There’s still too many questions about Haneef for us to let him dictate the terms of enquiry.

War on Terror

HMAS Sydney found!!!!

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I had written on the Sydney before as my father served on her and only lived to tell the tale (and father me. I might add) due to sickness. The post covers his last two weeks on the Sydney before the Sydney sailed to it’s final battle and he went off to hospital.

With a family connection to the ship I have followed the stories about her and the attempts to find her resting place and the grave of 645 Aussie matelots with an avid interest and am so pleased that those NOK who still live will at long last know where their men folk rest.

The Finding Sydney website is here and here is a good summary of the action and aftermath.

The Courier Mail cover the story as well as most. It has less “Mr Rudd said” quotes than some of the others. I would have rather the announcement was mad by a spokesman of the organization that did all the hard work.

UPDATE:

Link to the Finding Sydney website with an account of the search and sonar pics. Nary a mention of a press hungry politician – just the facts.

Defence

Inquiry into Stolen Generation compo

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Democrats Senator Andrew Bartlett today said the Senate Legal and Constitutional Committee would hold an inquiry into his Stolen Generation Compensation Bill 2008.

Under the bill, applicants – who could include living descendants of indigenous stolen generation members – would be paid out of a Stolen Generations Fund.

Ex-gratia payments would be set at $20,000 as a common experience payment with an additional $3,000 for each year of institutionalisation.

They could be on a winner here; get removed from life threatening situations and be paid thousands of dollars for every year your life has been extended.

But wait, there’s more. Applicants don’t even have to have been removed themselves; they simply need to be a descendant of someone who was removed.

The mind boggles.

Still, $20,000 will never do….wait for the legal attack as lawyers submit ambit claims for hundreds of thousands of dollars.

I can see Andrew will be busy in the Senate today. I wonder if he will have time to contemplate his history and Rudd’s 53 million dollar Anti Binge Drinking campaign (otherwise known as ‘Get the oldies carping about allowances off the front page’ campaign).

Probably not.

Uncategorized

Binge Drinking

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FEDERAL MPs are in disagreement over the extent of binge drinking. Well they would be wouldn’t they? Everybody has a different opinion on drinking from wowsers to alcoholics so by definition there will be little agreement.

A woman is beaten up by her husband every time he drinks or I have half a dozen beers on a Friday night and get mellow. The wife beater and I could’ve consumed the same amount of grog but one wife hates binge drinking, the other is pleased about some quiet time for herself.

Not wanting to sound like a wowser here but one way to slow down on excessive alcohol consumption is to restrict the hours one can consume. I have lived through the six o’clock swill, 10 pm closing, 12 pm closing to open all hours and some where between 6 o’clock swills of my youth and open all hours there is a balance- I would suggest it’s 12 pm closing.

When I was a young player I would knock off work 5 ish on Fridays, be ready to play about six then drank, ate and tried to score for 4 odd hours. I went home mostly by myself and mostly happily inebriated but a long way from legless and the next morning I could function. Today the young knock off at 5 ish and have 12 hours to waste themselves, and they do, and you don’t hear from them until late in the wasted day.

When people are intoxicated restraint is not normally present so if the bar is open they keep buying drinks until the bar is closed or someone in the hospitality industry remembers the rules about serving drunks.

Look at the relevant state government licensing acts that are heavy on licensing/poker machine fees and light on social responsibilities.

Could be cheaper than spending 50 plus million dollars telling young people what they don’t want to hear.

General Musings

Myths surround Islam – leader

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The federal government is considering plans for a new-look advisory body to help combat public perceptions of an overly-religious image of Islam.

Dr Ameer Ali, of the Regional Islamic Council, said he agreed with comments by the Parliamentary Secretary for Multicultural Affairs Laurie Ferguson that the idea that all Muslims were religious was a “misconception”.

“Islam has been portrayed as religion of violence, which is not true. Islam has been portrayed as a religion that promotes jihads … that’s not true,” Dr Ali told Sky News.

Misconception…Not true….fine. I don’t think any reasonable person would disagree with Dr Amir Ali. They are not all religious neither do all of them support jihad or violence but some of them do and therein lies the problem.

Dr Ali says; “The Muslim problem is not a religious problem – it is educational, economic, humanitarian, social. It (the problem) needs a wider attack.”

I agree the problem is educational – fix that and the other problems will dissolve.

In the meantime Australian Muslim leaders need to be a bit more proactive.

Heres an idea. The next time some radical idiot blows himself up taking innocents with him condemn the act. Call a press conference and denounce the violence.

The next time a leader is reported as agreeing with jihad or condemning the west for taking action against the radicals call a press conference and tell Australians the person quoted doesn’t represent the vast majority of Muslims. Tell us that you have given his name and the names of his followers to the Australian Federal Police and that you have removed his power to represent Muslims.

Tell us every day that first and foremost you are Australians and have no time for killers, murders or religious zealots.

War on Terror

The first 100 days

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Rudd has released a booklet on his first 100 days of government. I calculated the days from the day after his election win; Rudd says he calculates it from the day his government were sworn into power and fair enough too so maybe today is just an anniversary of a 100 days of my concern for my country. Either way readers can download a .pdf file of the booklet here. Chairman Rudd’s gospel is full of promise with a couple of achievements to date but if everything he promises does eventuate it will truly be a revolution.

Revolution…nasty word that.

Rudd says no to Left agenda and has assured mainstream Australia he will avoid radical social and cultural change by resisting calls to broaden his reform agenda and by sticking to his election promises.

I know Rudd isn’t from the left but a lot of his team are and it is they that I worry about, particularly when one looks at Rudd’s achievements in this first 100 days.

I think it disingenuous of Rudd to claim he is saying no to Left agenda in light of the following;

#1..Climate Change. Signed the Koyoto treaty- a symbolic but meaningless act that has more potential to harm our economy than do the ecology any good.

#2..Apology. Said sorry to indigenous Aussies and is having trouble putting the stopper back in the bottle of compensation. Is busy winding back Howard and Brough’s plan to actually help our mates and has reinstated the permit system that has helped to hide the horrific problems recently headlined in the Australian

Although plenty of punters from all sides and age groups agree with the apology they are going to react differently when compensation is discussed. Should there be no discernible difference to Indigenous life styles a year down the track people are going to be asking hard questions.

#3 Whaling. Sent a government ship on a fools errand at great expense for little gain, if any, that basically supported a radical greenie who has a history of ramming and sinking fishing trawlers going about their legal business, including indigenous ones.

#4..Uranium. Renegs on previously authorised sale of Uranium to India Another win for the Left wing of the ALP with their ideological based hatred of uranium. Apparently it’s OK to cosy up to the Chinese Communist Dictatorship but not to sell a legitimate product to the Indian Democracy

#5..Union Power. Initiates a review to clamp down on overuse of foreign-owned ships to transport freight around the nation’s coastline in a bid to bolster the shipping industry.

Or, more importantly, from Albanese himself;

blockquote>

“This review will be about boosting Australia’s international competitiveness and finding ways to increase coastal shipping’s share of the domestic freight market.

What Anthony means is the review will be all about reinstating the power of the Maritime Union of Australia enabling them to run our coastal shipping as they see fit and not have the industry run by any damn politician from Canberra.

Climate Change, Apology, Uranium, Union power and Whaling are all causes initiated by the Left Wing and although some from the Center and even the Right of politics dabble in them from time to time depending on media coverage, they are clearly Left born.

So far, if your Green or Left you should be happy. The other 85% of the country should be concerned. I wouldn’t deny there is some potential in his plans but the bulk of the booklet is about what he is going to do once the hundreds of reviews are submitted. A review of this; a committee for that – suggests he didn’t have a plan to start with and I wonder whether Bureaucrat Rudd is holding ascendancy over Leader Rudd.

Time will tell.

Politics
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