Category: General Musings

MARK Latham’s new life as a stay-at-home dad is being funded by a generous $66,000-a-year pension scheme that he slashed for the next generation of MPs.

But yesterday on 2UE radio in Sydney, the former Labor leader said if he had become a merchant banker he would be earning $300,000 a year.

Who on earth would pay Latham anything after his dummy spit? On reflection though, the country and the ALP would have been a lot better off if Latham had picked merchant banking as his career. Any commercial enterprise would have picked Latham as useless quicker than the time it takes to fracture his fragile ego with the result that he would never have occupied a responsible position in Merchant Banking or in politics.

A definite win-win situation

Lathams verdict: The system is sick
Australia’s verdict: Latham is sick.

Over at Silent Running a Kiwi has a message for Latham The post starts with this plain spoken message;

In the unlikely even I need some asshole comment about my countries apparently enviable pro-terrorist position we have plenty of home grown f**kwits already thanks.

Latham still has plenty of supporters though, and one of them comments on Anthony Lowenstein’s blog

I want to be able to vote for a party that is public in it’s mistrust of this American administration. I want candidates who assert the primacy of Australian sovereignty in matters of war, fo-po, trade, media law, etc. I want a party that will guarantee that ID won’t end up in our schools on their watch; that there will never be computer screen voting in this country; that someone like Scott Parkin would not have even been questioned by their government; that dares to call Israel on it’s sins.

I note he says …mistrust in this American administration to cover himself for the unlikely event that a left leaning Democrat gets to the White House.

Glen just wants an anti-Bush/US party.

You’re dead right Glen…don’t hold your breath. Australians think deeper than US evil…Bush dumb.

I trust by now the Libs have all his most outlandish quotes databased on their laptops for quick reference in the House at question time.

It’s going to be fun.

In light of the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II I refer to notes by my father as he describes the last days of HMAS Sydney. The Sydney was sunk on 19 November 1941 with the loss of all hands.

It was from the mine sweeper Olive Cam stationed at Fremantle in the second year of the Second World War that I was drafted to the Sydney, a cruiser in the Australian Navy. She was the pride and joy of the Navy Board at the time after sinking the Italian battle cruiser Bartolomeo Colleoni in the Mediterranean.

I was at that time Able Seaman in the RAN drafted with a potential batch of Leading hands and Petty Officers and we were drafted to the Sydney as Cruiser time was an essential part of any sailors promotion.

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Good news from Bad News Central

AN Australian who was missing in New Orleans “probably had one too many and got loud” before being found safe and well today – in prison.

Tourist Ashley McDonald, of Narre Warren in Melbourne’s south-east, was arrested in New Orleans before Hurricane Katrina hit last week his sister Jasmine Mutnansky said this morning.

Australian Federal Police contacted the family and said: “Good news – he got arrested.”

Good on ya’ son. Hurricane coming…let’s get pissed.

It’s bad enough that Howard is castigated for not giving his undivided attention to the self inflicted troubles of all the Aussie druggies in SE Asia, he is now expected to save individuals from their own folly or misfortune whilst travelling.

The disaster that is Katrina is so huge, so devastating that the US themselves are having trouble tagging tens of thousands of their own citizens without the Australian and other governments barging in and demanding preferential treatment.

A Brisbane woman, Ms Fiona Seidel was caught in the disaster area and allocates blame for her presence and slower than instant excavation.

“I have mixed emotions about John Howard,” Ms Seidel told the Seven Network from the US.

“I’m a good Australian, I pay my taxes, I work, I own a home, I do the right thing, I don’t commit crimes and he pretty much wasn’t there for me when I needed him.”

Nothing mixed about that.

I do however have mixed feelings about MS Seidel.

The report says she arrived in New Orleans two days before Katrina struck having been in the US for a week or two. How could you possibly be touring through the US and not be aware that Katrina was about to strike New Orleans. Don’t you think that that knowledge would have caused Ms Seidel to think, just for a moment…..should I go there?

And then, after she had decided to ignore all warnings and found herelf in an imminent diaster area, did she heed the calls to evacuate?

It appears not.

And, would she, for example, still have mixed feelings about Howard even if he flew over personally and saved her.

I think so.

Husband Andrew Glendinning says

… both the Australian and US governments have been very supportive of his attempts to get them home, but the scale of the devastation has outstripped all contingency plans for the category five storm.

Maybe Fiona and Andrew could have a chat when she gets home about who put her in the bad situation to begin with.

I do of course have pity for her but am still having trouble with this ‘Blame Game’ mentality. All unsavoury outcomes in life can be, it appears, sheeted home to the government.

Whatever happened to adults being responsible for their own decisions or, the fact that sometimes in life you occupy unfortunate time and space and it really isn’t anyones fault.

John Howard clearly needs to lift his game and have DFAT brief him every morning on the million odd Aussies overseas who may, or may not be in danger.

UPDATE: I received an emaill from a reader and post it in it’s entirety.

Having been invloved from the start with the Seidel case, I need to clarify a few points; 1. They arrived on the Saturday, 2 days before the Hurricane. The news they were given by US experts was the Hurricane was NOT going to be a threat to the Gulf Coast 2. They attempted to evacuate, but there were no hire cars nor buses available. The airport had closed by this time 3. Contact with what was happening was through us here in Australia. It was us who had to put pressure on DFAT to actually call Ms Seidel and Ms McLean. They were in a Hotel Room with telephone connection. There is no excuse DFAT took 4 days to finally call them. They had complete details as set out in Smart Traveller, room number, phone number. Yet 2 radio stations here in Australia managed to speak with them on a daily basis. And DFAT’s Excuse is…?????

So when 2 young ladies have seen and experienced what they had, and were rescued by a Sheriff from another county, what do you think they are to say of our own government? Oh, and was there a DFAT official at the airport to meet them when they returned? What do you think?

I would actually expect a sherriff from the host country to rescue them…how the hell could Australian authorities do so. I think the young ladies had an unreal expectation of what their country could or should do for them in the first couple of days. The readers says DFAT were phoned exhorting them to phone the ladies – to what end? They, like the officials of every other country with nationals in the disaster area, couldn’t do anything until the US had control of the situation.

I was overseas in Vietnam when the Tsunami struck and returned home in a plane full of victims. They were suffering minor injuries and were processed, very efficiently I thought, on landing at Brisbane by authorities including DFAT. I can’t see how DFAT would change their protocols in a matter of months so can only assume as the young ladies weren’t injured there was no welcome. I wasn’t welcomed (other than by my family) and didn’t expect to be – there was nothing wrong with me.

I cannot begin to imagine how any US Expert could say, on Saturday, that Katrina was not going to be a threat but in light of the apparent confusion/ineptitude and politicking I can almost believe it but suggest the expert may have been less than informed . Sat was the day when evacuations were ordered and Katrina was predicted as having a 45% chance of hitting NO as a cat 4 or 5 blow.

I repeat, I do feel sorry for the young ladies but the blame game is not the answer and I think it’s a long bow to draw to sheet the blame home to Howard. So long that I think a ‘pre-trauma don’t like Howard’ syndrome existed.

I believe the reader believes the events happened as he states but each of us view such events from a different perspective with some expecting all and others doing all they can for themselves.

I certainly wouldn’t think to blame Howard for my location in a given disaster area for some days. I would look at other aspects.

But then I’m not a young lady.

If there is sadness at having lost my father many years ago it is balanced by joy of having my five children and their partners dine with me on Fathers day and that of course, is life. One son-in-law was unfortunately on shift in a hospital but the other wannabe/bettersoonbe son-in-law dropped by to join us. We went to Racecourse Road for brunch and I got some great loot including a voucher redeamable at the local hardware store and an electric toothbrush.

However, the highlight was this card from my eldest son, the tonsorially challenged one, with the note “Thanks Dad”

Although I still have a full head of hair, albeit white/grey/blonde, I burst out laughing on seeing it.

Their presence was enough, the gifts a bonus, the card a hoot and all of it organized by my son’s fiance (and as of next Saturday, bride) who brings serenity, grace, humour and organization to our large family. Her family were there as well enjoying themselves as they adjust to the irreverant humour and frivolity of my tribe.

Doesn’t get much better and I know my father would enjoyed himself no end.

I, for one am sick of it. The debate on Katrina is swamped by a tsunami of people blaming Bush.

Read this and tell the Bush haters to shut the hell up.

Even this from Dreadnought

The image of the President flying over the abandoned city, looking out the window at people who were dying, dead or worse, was magnificently obscene.

Presidents and Prime Ministers have been visiting disaster sites since Noah had to check out the Great Flood. I would say that Bush has been the only leader ever, in recorded history, to have the word ‘obscene’ used to describe his doing so.

Get over it you fools.

THE Victorian Education Department will spend up to $500,000 on legal fees fighting a discrimination case brought by a deaf boy denied a classroom interpreter.

The boy’s mother, Robyn Beasley, believes an interpreter would cost about $35,000, but says the department would rather spend hundreds of thousands of dollars fighting her son Dylan in court.

Reality check, Robyn. If the Department don’t fight the case they will be forced to supply an interpreter in each class that has a deaf student. If they lose, each and every deaf kid in the state will turn up at the local state school with their parents demanding a place in a class and an interpreter. I’m sure sending your hearing impaired child to the local school would be a lot cheaper for the parents than the current set up.

It would cost millions.

But what do the lawyers care.

Hi res satellite image of New Orleans via Donald Sensing.

For local updates visit The Times – Picayune and Mississippi Coast Area News

For news on the military contribution visit The Mudville Gazette

Florida Cracker covers the story of the relief chopper being fired at and makes this point;

I’m sure this situation is exactly the reason they didn’t want to evacuate the city in the first place –the dregs of society would stay behind to have a field day.

Poor buggers. It just keeps on getting worse. Outside the Gateway reports;

An explosion at a chemical depot has added to the misery in New Orleans. No word yet on whether it was related to the Hurricane, a criminal act, or sheer coincidence.

From Vodka Pundit

Now for the really painful part, said not with anger, but with a heavy heart: As sad and awful as it is, Louisiana in general and New Orleans in particular did a lot of this to themselves.

UPDATE: The Blithering Bunny has a good post on BBC biased reporting, all of it designed to make Bush look bad.

UPDATE II: As usual Zoe Brain has a good post on the inaccuracies of the ‘Blame Bush’ brigade and touches on the inhumanity of some left wing haters.

UPDATE III: A post at American Daughter outlines Katrina’s time line as she heads towards New Orleans and local authorities procrastinate. It is well sources and apolitical.

A link to the New Orleans Post for those interested in the plight of others. I note that they link a lot to Aussie sources.

On further reading I note they link a lot to the Guardian particularly to an article by Sidney Blumenthal that lays the blame for the tragedy on Bush leading with;

President Bush is to blame for the scale of the disaster as a result of his administration’s policies and actions.

Simple then, isn’t it? Impeach Bush and no more natural disasters.

Now, how can I blame Cyclone Tracy on Gough Whitlam?