Category: Uncategorized

Found an interesting, and disturbing article in yesterday’s ‘Australian’ newspaper. I will simply copy the first couple of paragraphs below –  my feelings/views should be obvious from the simple fact that I’m posting this.

[by Frank Furedi ‘Australian ‘Inquirer’, 7 May  2011].

‘The political bosses of the European Union and their army of technocrats could do worse than listen to the lyrics of the Band Aid tune ‘Do they know it’s Christmas’. Apparently they don’t know December 25 still has significance for the vast majority of the EU’s 502 million people. A year ago the European Commission printed more than three million school diaries for distribution to students. They are lovely diaries which, true to the EU’s multicultural ethos, helpfully notes all the Sikh, Hindu, Muslim and Chinese festivals. The diary also highlights Europe Day which falls on May 9. But the diary is not without its significant gaps. It makes no reference to Christmas, Easter or indeed to any Christian holidays……………..Not surprisingly, not every European has been delighted with the conspicuous absence of Christian festivals from a diary produced for children………………..the Commission apologised for its ‘regrettable’ blunder. However the ombudsman dismissed the demand to recall the diaries, arguing that a one-page correction sent to schools had rectified the error. A storm in a teacup or a symptom of the commission’s indifference to the cultural legacy of Europe?’……………[no suggestion of any kind of militant atheist agenda or deliberate ommission, but]  ‘The authors of the diary were probably so obsessed with the EU’s administratively constructed values of diversity and inclusion that they never once stopped to think what kind of experiences really mattered to the people of Europe……………….It is evident that what influenced the authors of this diary was not the concern of hundreds of millions of people for whom Christmas and Easter constitute important events but the latest administrative diktat of the EC.’  The writer ends with the comment that  ‘A political culture that can be so cavalier with its past is readily disposed to regard the calendar as merely a set of dates to be fiddled with. Disdain for history is the flip side of indifference to a traditional calendar.’

Meanwhile, it is Mother’s Day here in Australia, and from what I’ve seen on Face Book, perhaps in other parts of the world as well.  While I didn’t have any specific ‘Mother’ classics to play on air this morning, I did end the program with 40 minutes of songs and arias from some of our wonderful female singers [Australia and elsewhere] such as the late Joan Sutherland, Yvonne Kenny [We’ll Gather Lilacs], Hayley Westenra [ the traditional Kiwi ‘Pokarekara Ana], Taryn Fiebig [with a delightful brief version of the traditional American ‘Simple Gifts’, Lisa della Casa, Renee Fleming, and the mother/daughter combination of Maggie and Katie Noonan with a rather special version of the Flower Duet from Delibes opera ‘Lakme’.   I noticed later on that the shops were doing a brisk early morning rush of business, especially the flower sellers!!

Speaking of radio, I notice that our station, along with all other community stations are going to be asked to complete a broadcasting census this month. This is apparently a two yearly event, and was previously undertaken as a survey. There is a major difference between the two. While a survey generally works on the basis of a sample of the available ‘population’, your census attempts to collect data from the entire population, This doesn’t always work, for a variety of reasons,  but rather than reflect the community sector on the weightings or average of a sample result, the broadcasting authorities are this time asking all community stations to participate. Now I don’t know if any penalties are going to be imposed on those stations that don’t participate, perhaps not, as I note that for participants, there will be a incentive in the form of a small payment of some nature. I would imagine most organisations would see it as a valuable resource [the findings, that is],  will the census aiming to provide a snapshot and better understanding of the sector, and provide an aid to lobbying and advocacy resource allocation, strategic planning and opportunities for growth and development of the sector from which a flow on affect to the advantage of individuals stations would be expected. The authorities have already indicated a list of nature of questions that will appear in the census so that stations can prepare themselves.  

While on the subject of broadcasting, I also note that the Community Broadcasting Association of Australia [CBAA] is now going to offer member stations a new service in the form of dispute resolution assistance – an initiative offering 3 hours of pro-bono mediation services by an impartial mediator.  The broadcasting sector is made up of many people with different passionate views about a range of issues. The Honorable Justice Michael Kirby noted that ‘To be human is to have an argument every now and  again, but arguments can become corrosive to individuals and organisations. Sometimes you need a bridge and that’s where a mediator can be helpful. The objective of mediation is not to impose a decision on the parties involved in the dispute. Rather it finds within the parties a resolution that they can both live with’.  No guarantee of course that it will always work –  from personal experience, having being dragged somewhat unwillingly in what I regarded as an unnecessary process of that nature, while it could be claimed that a situation was reached where both parties ‘could live with it’, I’ve never been particularly satisfied with the outcome. Perhaps in cases generally, the use of an external mediator may be more likely to provide a better outcome all around.  It’s certainly a useful initiative, and a particular advantage I would think to smaller organisations where it may be extremely difficult to find an impartial mediator in some instances. Certainly, the stated aim of the initiative is to give stations access to professional dispute resolution assistance and potentially heighten stations’ awareness of how disputes arise and how they can be managed. Certainly in external industry and business, an impartial professional external body is often used.

Heritage is more precious,

With every passing day.

Traditions keep us close,

In a very special way.

Travelled over to the ‘family home’  tonight for a casual evening meal with the two Mums of that establishment, only son number two was missing. Probably sleeping, in preparation for another early morning shift at the bakery! Susie apparently not returning to Bendigo until the morning, so she was with us tonight. I took with me a couple of little chocolate selections for the two ladies!  My mother of course is no longer with us, has been 21 years now. I was looking over some comments she wrote for her granddaughter [Raelene] many years ago [in fact, it was Mother’s Day, 1985], and realised how much she felt the fact that her family all became so dispersed around the country. She was very family orientated.  In a little section of her writings titled ‘When our family gets together’, my mother wrote  “I am happy that we all can be together sometimes – not very often now, because all my children have their own homes now and many miles separate us now. But I can always see some of you from time to time, especially at special times like Christmas and sometimes birthdays. We all have phones and can write letters.  I am glad you and Bruce are coming to Ballarat, Christmas 1985. I am also glad we are all able to talk about your Grandfather Kirk”,

I finished reading the Folio Society book ‘Dickens’ London ‘ this afternoon  – a selection of short essays written by Charles Dickens of his observations of various aspects of life in London around 1850.  Some interesting reading here, much of it rather depressing in terms of the poverty and crime, and general desperate state under which much of the population lived.  One description I noted, referred to the essays showcasing London of the time ‘in all it’s seedy, opulent, oppressive, liberating, and tumultuous glory’.  I think my favourite ‘essay’ was the last one in the book, called  ‘Night Walks’ in which the author, unable to sleep through the nights, spends the lonely hours wandering the streets of London, and, as he does with all the other essays, comments on every aspect of life that he comes across. Fascinating stuff – he refers to himself in this section as the ‘houseless one’, and uses other applicable ‘titles’ depending upon the nature or topic of the essay.

<!– –>

This selection of celebrated essays by Charles Dickens conjures up a peerless, eyewitness account of the 19th-century capital, from the rarefied world of Whitehall to working-class conviviality and blighted slums.  With a total of 26 essays, including ‘Greenwich Fair’, ‘Early Coaches’, ‘Private Theatres’, ‘A Parliamentary Sketch’, ‘Gin-Shops’ and ‘Scotland Yard’, this collection, with original illustrations by George Cruikshank, apparently is  one of the most popular titles ever published by The Folio Society in spite of being out of print for over thirty years.

Just in case my readers have never been introduced to Charles Dickens  –  well, he was born Charles John Huffam Dickens (February 7, 1812-June 9, 1870) pen-name “Boz”, was an English novelist. During his lifetime, Dickens was viewed as a popular entertainer of fecund imagination, while later critics championed his mastery of prose, his endless invention of memorable characters and his powerful social sensibilities. The popularity of his novels and short stories during his lifetime and to the present is demonstrated by the fact that none has ever gone out of print. Dickens played a major role in popularising the serialised novel. I suppose some of his most famous ‘characters’ would include the like of David Copperfield [my favourite Dickens’ novel], Oliver Twist, or Mr McCawber, amongst many others, and he would obviously base his characters in his stories on the kind of folk he met in his travels around London, and elsewhere.

Well, so much for Dickens!  Move on to something else now, and no doubt, very different.!

 Cooking a slow roast today  –  Susie suggested she intended to be home, and likely to eat a meal with me, so I am trying to prepare something a bit above ordinary, with the aid of my ‘slow cooker  Crock Pot’ I purchased last year after been introduced to the wonders of such a cooker when I visited my sister in Brisbane last October!

Slipping up a bit this week, have not been here for a few days, so it must be catch up time.  Most of the week’s news  has understandably centred on the Osama Bin Laden killing in Pakistan – accusations, recriminations, praise, jubilation, anger, and so on, the method of operation, whether the attacking forces went in with the intention of executing him [this is denied of course], and so on.  Debate over this will continue for some time – certainly, it has left a bitter taste in my mouth, not so much because the man didn’t deserve some kind of punishment, but at the method in which it seems to have been carried out.

Then again,. Had he gone to trial, I wonder how many years that would have dragged on, and what kind of repercussions would have been created from terrorist circles.  I guess we can still expect some ‘payback’, but President Obama has argued against displaying photos of the murdered Bin Laden  [which have been called for, to provide proof that he is actually dead] on the basis, that to do so would only inflame the passions of his supporters and terrorist elements to an even greater extent than is already happening. I presume also, that the purpose behind the ‘burial’ by US forces of his body at sea has denied him a proper Muslim burial and the potential for some kind of martyrdom of the man. Anyway as anticipated, I’m sure this weekend’s papers are going to be dominated by stories from every possible angle.

My own week has not been a particularly  ‘happy’ one [at least up until Thursday evening] with concerns over Susie’s situation, and her current ‘loss of interest’ attitude in her studies, and in generally communicating with the family, her Dad in particular !  Impression is that she is seriously thinking of giving away those studies, but is not actually saying so!  So that has left me feeling somewhat inadequate, with her home most of the week, and  not really venturing out anywhere. That ‘mood’ hopefully had improved a little by Thursday, and last night I had my first uninterrupted sleep [even if only 6 hours] for quite a while.  Susie went back up to Bendigo during the day, presumably with some commitments of the university needing attention. Meanwhile, youngest daughter Jodie reminded me overnight,  that  ‘You shouldn’t worry so much, you really  don’t need to’. Probably true, but as parents, it is not something so easily put aside, irrespective of the ‘children’s’ age!  Anyway,  Thursday’s happenings allowed me  to go out to tonight’s Radio Committee meeting in a more relaxed frame of mind.

Quite a useful meeting again also – plenty of problems to deal with, as with any organisation, but we currently have a cohesive and  strong working team on this committee [bit of a contrast to the argumentative makeup of a couple of years ago], and it is an environment in which cooperation is much more likely to eventuate. One little interesting sideline –  since early Summer, the outside of the studio has been plagued by a nest of bees just outside the door, which we thought we had got rid of a couple of times. But the little beggars kept returning.  However, the ‘exterminator’ returned this week, and did just that – destroyed the next and ‘exterminated’ the bees. Oddly, myself included, most of the committee felt this was an unfortunate action to take – I guess we had assumed the nest would be moved to another location or given to some local beekeepers!!  A bit like the spider that encroaches into one’s house  –  ‘sorry little spider, but you have overstepped the mark, if I can’t remove you back outside, I’m afraid it’s the end for you’!!!

Wednesday night found your personal essayist in no mood for doing very much himself – watched an episode of my favourite TV police series –  East West 101 on SBS –  then, without really thinking, sat down and started to watch a Spanish movie, called Camino from 2008. If I had of looked at the TV guide and noted that this movie  did not finish until 12.30am, I would not have even switched it on!!  But, once started, it ‘got me in’ and that was the end of another attempt  at an early sleep [which would have failed anyway].

Camino

Camino. An award-winning Spanish drama, directed by Javier Fesser, and  starring Nerea Camacho, Carmen Elias & Mariano Venancio,  Camino is the story of a brilliant 11 year old girl who is facing two significant events in her life at the same time – falling in love, and dying.is a film is based on the real story of Alexia Gonzalez-Barros, a girl who died from spinal cancer at the age of  fourteen in 1985 and is currently in process of  canonization. Apparently, the film had some controversery, as Alexia’s siblings objected to Fesser’s use of Alexia’s full name in his dedication, despite him having undertaken not to directly identify her. He calls her Camino (‘the way’) in the film, referencing ‘the way’ to sainthood she apparently undergoes. As presumably depicted accurately in the film, Caqmino manages to shine bright and overcome the darkness that tries to stifle her desire to live, love and be happy.  The film won six Goya Awards, including best picture, best director, and best original screenplay, and is perhaps best summarised through the following online review.

‘Fesser portrays the Catholic organisation,  Opus Dei, in a negative way, depicting it as an extreme cult destroying families. Fesser suggests that Opus Dei manipulated the tragedy of the young Camino’s painful death for its own ends. Her elder sister is an Opus Dei acolyte, deliberately kept from contacting her family. Suppressing open signs of normal maternal grief, the mother seems almost inhuman in urging her dying daughter to ‘offer up’ her suffering for Jesus. The father struggles to protect his daughter from a concerted effort to canonise her (even before her death) by his wife, elder daughter, and Opus Dei officials. Even the hospital medical staff seem to be complicit in this.  In a subversive irony, Fesser suggests that Camino’s ‘Jesus’, whose name she invokes, is not Christ, but a teenage boy named Jesus (a common name in Spain and other Spanish speaking countries) on whom Camino has a normal schoolgirl crush. This is shown in dream sequences she experiences throughout the film’.

Despite the ‘happy nature’ that this girl  tried to maintain through her difficulties, it was certainly not a happy film to watch, and this week of all, was also a bad choice. However watch it I did, and despite the late finish, was well impressed [if not depressed] by the outcome!

On the political scene, we have this week had the State budget for the next 12 months brought down –  lots of the Liberal’s election promises from last November seem to have found their way into the document, but my work organisation very quickly noted that there was little in the Budget for our area of interest –  public housing, and in fact, funds overall for housing had dropped. Perhaps my retirement at the end of this year, is coming at an opportune time, as there may well not be an ‘organisation’ continuing!!  Anyway, it is the budget time of the year, because I think it is next week that the Federal Budget will be delivered amidst much speculation, and I believe, many deliberate ‘leaks’ about the contents!!  And once again,. I’m afraid that Opposition leader Tony Abbott is on the negative attack ‘before’ the budget has even been presented. I find it difficult to agree with this particular slant of his – I’d much prefer to have him attacking the government by countering with specific policies and proposals for corrective procedures.  So accordingly, his ‘message’ in a speech to the Victorian Employer’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry a couple of days ago was all about giving the government four tests to pass!!!

• Can the government demonstrate a real rather than just a rhetorical commitment to spending discipline;
• Does it have a credible strategy to pay off debt as well as to return to surplus;
• Does it come clean about the costs of it’s policy failures; and,
• Is it capable of being honest about the real costs of its policy initiatives such as the National Broadband Network and the carbon tax?

‘And he went on to say that if Wayne Swan [Treasurer] and Julia Gillard [PM] fail these tests, they will reinforce the view that we are a great country with a lousy government. A failure to be honest about the carbon tax in this Budget will reinforce Julia Gillard’s failure to be honest before the election. An honest government would use the Budget to detail a credible energy strategy and a time-frame to return the Budget to surplus and pay back the debt’    Well, I’m sorry Mr Abbott, but your approach to these matters and your use of the Opposition tactics and in the absence of clearly defined alternatives, are beginning to wear a bit thin in these humble eyes, and I’m becoming convinced [a little different to my views of  12 months ago, that the Coalition cannot win government while you are the leader.  You came close last August, but not close enough, and I think you have now missed your big chance – especially if Kevin Rudd regains the Labor leadership, eventually, which I actually consider he will  – like John Howard’s book,  there is another ‘Lazarus arising’ in the pipeline!!   .

Meanwhile, the ‘GET-UP’ organisation is on another campaign trail I notice, this time to save the depleted forests of Tasmania. It makes quite interesting reading, though of course only presenting the environmentalist’s viewpoint of the situation, and while I don’t always so along with some of the more extreme and outlandish views of the ‘Greenies’, I think there is some merit on this particular issue, although the following jargon is presented in a very emotive manner.. This is a summary of Get-Up’s latest email, which I received on Thursday……………………‘Archaic Tasmanian laws mandate that an area 100 times the size of Melbourne’s CBD must be logged every year. Environmentalists, unions and the logging industry have formed a rare agreement to save most of these ancient forests. But because of the Tasmanian Forestry Act 1920, these trees will be felled anyway — unless the Federal Government can step in and buy out the logging licenses.  Time is running out: this once-in-a-generation deal is about to fall apart. Environmentalists are under pressure to walk away from the deal because trees are still being logged. Industry players are ready to walk away because some are facing uncertainty and bankruptcy. Our forests are the greatest carbon sinks we have. They are the living lungs of our nation and home to hundreds of native species. In order to save them we need to make sure that timber workers get a fair go, the opportunity to develop skills in new areas, and job security — rather than an industry that is collapsing before their eyes. \We know this is affordable. For much less than the Federal Government spends on advertising each year, Tasmania’s iconic forests could be saved for all Australians, now and into the future.
This is a once in a generation opportunity to preserve our irreplaceable forests, wildlife, water catchments and help save our climate……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
The Get Up organisation has had some success with various political agendas, and has a reasonably large support base, but I’m not always so keen on the obvious one-sided nature of their approach in each instance., as in this case for eg, they remind us that archaic Tasmanian laws mandate that an area 100 times the size of Melbourne’s CBD must be logged every year!………………………………………………………………………….

But  to more important matters – sporting issues. The controversy over jumping horse races has raised it’s head in Victoria again, at the Warrnambool annual racing carnival this week. A racehorse died on the first day of the carnival, on Tuesday, while yesterday, in the principal jumps race in Victoria [the Grand National Steeplechase], a starting field of just eight horses saw only two of them finish the race, the rest threw their riders at different stages. Even more serious, one of the riderless horses, decided to jump over one of the external fences of the racecourse – into a crowd of spectators, seriously injuring a number of people including a two year old child! And the reactions from the racing community  – 

• The race was a farce, although jumps diehards described it as “exciting”, “unpredictable”.
• RVL chief executive Rob Hines was horrified by the carnage but defended the race. A freak accident: ” … it was a hell of a spectacle.”
• “He is just a great jumper. It is his forte and he played to his strengths,” Maher said, adding he “didn’t breathe” as the seven minutes of calamity unfolded.
• “Obviously a few made a few mistakes, you don’t see that in the Annual very often,” he said.
• Maher said Al Garhood, now the only horse to win two Brierly Steeplechases and two Annuals, might return at age 12 in 2012.
• Winning jockey Steven Pateman offered a simple explanation for Al Garhood’s incredible win.
• “That’s what this race is all about. There are 33 obstacles and they all have to be jumped,” he said.
• Robbie Lang, whose three horses failed to complete the race, had a similar sentiment.
• “It’s a tough game and you have to stay on your feet,” he said.

It is these ‘few mistakes’ that are costing race horses their lives  – but both sides are determined to prove their views are correct – as reported in the Herald-Sun newspaper   –  ‘Whether jumps racing can stay on its feet is up to the minister (an unabashed jumps fan), and RVL, which seems far more tolerant of it now than a year ago. Supporters will point to the scoreboard after yesterday: no horses dead, no horses injured. Detractors will point to the race – the most iconic and important of all the jumps races in Australia – and say it was ridiculous’.  Or as someone else suggested, a ‘farce’!! I’ve suggested before that it is not a question of whether jumps racing will be banned in Victoria [Victoria and South Australia are the only two states in which the jumps are still permitted]  but when it will happen – the outcome will inevitably happen one year. I wonder how many more horses will die however before that occurs.  It was in 2010 [or perhaps 2009] that three horses died in three days at the Warrnambool carnival!!

As for my football team,  all 22 players from Carlton’s victory over the Sydney Swans last weekend,  have been named in the 25 man squad for the round 7 match against St Kilda  to be played on Monday night, of all times.  Joining them in the squad of 25 are Lachie Henderson, Matthew Watson and Chris Yarran.  Yarran was a late withdrawal, due to hamstring tightness, from last week’s game against Sydney. Matthew Watson made his AFL debut in round two in Brisbane and played the following week in the blockbuster against Collingwood at the MCG. He was rested for the next game and has played the last two in the VFL [the equivalent Reserves competition].  Henderson, who had an interrupted pre-season, has played one AFL match this season. Jordan Russell will play his 100th AFL match in the game on Monday night, becoming the 160th Carlton player to play 100 games for the Club. He is one of just 21 players to play his 100th game and make his debut against the same team, and only the second to do both against St Kilda. The squad will be finalised on Saturday afternoon, for Monday night’s game.

Susie returned from Bendigo early this evening, and not long afterwards went out to have a meal with a girlfriend. Her younger sister Jodie, called around not long afterwards [with James’ dog ‘Murphy’]  to use Susie’s computer [hers is out of action apparently] – I think she thought Susie might have been home. Stayed for a couple of hours – think she was preparing a job application while I tried to keep the dog calm and not too excited [and to keep him separated from the two cats!!].  I didn’t really mind having James’ dog here, although I don’t think he has yet got him properly ‘house trained’ so I am always a little apprehensive about where the dog is at any point in time!  He behaved tonight!!

Well, apart from a couple of  police shootings [of assumed criminals] in Melbourne over the past 18 hours, the reports from America through the afternoon, relating to President Barak Obama’s announcement of the death of Osama Bin Laden, following an attack on one of his strongholds outside Islamabad [in Pakistan] a few days ago, has dominated the media attention.  The ‘celebrations’ in the early hours of the American morning, particularly in New York and Washington, while being easy enough to understand, were also a little disturbing for there to be joy over the death of the world’s most wanted man!! Perhaps the world is better off to be rid of  him, although I think you would have to be a super optimist to think that his departure is going to do much to lessen the threat of terrorism.  Speaking in a televised address to the world, late on Sun day night, American time,  President Obama announced that Bin Laden was killed in a fire fight with US special forces, apparently early Sunday [although I thought I read a report it was a few days ago].  The attack, which had been planned for some months, was carried out on a mansion in Abbottabad, Pakistan, about 65km from the capital city Islamabad, where Bin Laden had been in hiding.  “After a fire fight, they killed Bin Laden and took custody of his body,” the President confirmed. “On nights like this one we can say to those families who have lost loved ones to al-Qaeda terror, justice has been done.”

However, as the following reports suggest, it does seem that those celebrating in the States are not alone.   Commenting today, former Australian Prime Minister, John Howard, believes that the US celebrations over the death of Osama bin Laden are the natural reaction of a country that felt violated by the al-Qaeda leader’s acts of terrorism,. Mr Howard, who was in the US at the time of the September 11 attacks in 2001, said he understood how the American people felt. “They are the natural spontaneous reactions of ordinary people who saw the 11th of September as an even deeper violation of American sovereignty than Pearl Harbour,” he told journalists in Sydney on Monday. “To lose 3000 people in your political capital and your commercial and cultural capital, without provocation, without justification, without reason, without any explanation, without any moral justification, it leaves an impression.  “I understood how the Americans felt, and I’ve always understood the reactions and the impulses of the Americans as a result.”

But Kuranda Seyit of FAIR, which describes itself as “an independent public relations group”, said the images of Americans rejoicing in the streets of Washington and New York were not appropriate. “I’m just totally disgusted about it,” he told AAP. The director of the Forum on Australia’s Islamic Relations (FAIR), has labelled the US celebrations as “disgusting”. “(The celebrations) are just like the so-called reports by American television of Muslims celebrating after September 11. This is just as bad. “We need to show a little bit more respect towards humanity, even if they’re the bad guys. Mr Seyit said the al-Qaeda leader had galvanised the Muslim community in the past. “The way he is viewed now, I would say 50 in terms of pro and 50 in terms of against. “A lot of people see him as a negative representative of the Muslim community. “But then, other people see him as someone who is at least having a go at some of those colonial powers interfering in Muslim affairs”.

A couple of sharply contrasting attitudes, and probably, coming from where they do in each case, to be expected. Generally however, around the world tonight, world leaders are not holding back on their ‘suppressed pleasure’ that Bin Laden has been got rid of. Former US presidents have reacted to the news of Bin Laden’s death, with George W Bush describing the operation as a “momentous achievement” that “marks a victory for America, for people who seek peace around the world, and for all those who lost loved ones on September 11”. Bill Clinton has also congratulated President Obama, the National Security team and US armed forces for “bringing Osama bin Laden to justice after more than a decade of murderous al-Qaida attacks”.  World leaders applauded the news. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu congratulated Obama in a written statement, while New Zealand Prime Minister John Key told reporters the World was a safer place without Bin Laden. Meanwhile, the Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard has  warned Australians travelling overseas to take extra care. “We are advising Australians in areas likely to be affected by gatherings outside hotels, gatherings and demonstrations, to exercise enhanced vigilance regarding their personal security.”  Ms Gillard said Bin Laden’s death was a small justice to those grieving, but the threat of al-Qaeda was far from over.  “I trust that today’s news comes as some small measure of justice for those who still grieve the loss of their loved ones,” she said.  “Every Australian has been touched and affected by acts of terrorism by al-Qaeda …. consequently, every Australia will be touched by this news today.”

Taking all of that it, and the potential for some reaction in parts of the Muslim world, one has to wonder, perhaps with some degree of concern just what level of ‘payback’ will occur for this payback by the Americans, which they have worked 10 years towards? And no doubt over the next few days, the media saturation of the Royal  Wedding, and the accompanying reports over the past coupler of days, of the deaths of some of Colonel Gaddafi’s family in Libya following a NATO forces strike, we are now going to be similarly saturated with stories of the life and death of Osama Bin Laden, and a reminder, rightfully so, of the horrors he masterminded on behalf of Al-Qaedi against the west, including 911 in the USA, the Bali bombings and other terrorist attacks.

Meanwhile, closer to home, it was a typical day in the life of an accountant for your writer, head down, calculator operating, and annual estimates of income and expenditure for the next 12 months of my employing organisation’s ongoing business, being worked upon!! Even closer to home, I was disappointed that Susie had not returned to the university work in Bendigo, and seemed little interested in talking to her Dad [or anyone in the family at present] about the reasons therefore and/or her plans. She had presumably been home most of the day. It would be untruthful to say that the situation on that score was not worrying me considerably. She has been given a lot of help and advice, but must come to a few decisions of her own, and very soon. Later tonight, after I had retired, she went out for a couple of hours after 11 pm, in fact someone picked her up. Back sometime after 1am., no idea what that was all about, except it meant another disturbed sleep for yours truly!!

Anyway, with those thoughts in mind, I decided I needed another episode of Q & A to watch, and to brighten, hopefully, my own spirits. Tonight’s program was presented from the inland regional city of Albury, which sits on the banks of the Murray River, on the New South Wales side of the Victoria/NSW border, and not surprisingly, tonight’s panel had a regional ‘touch’ about them, in name [or at least title] anyway! Actually, looking at those titles, one might immediately assume that tonight was destined to be a very dry and boring program – I hope, in advance, that I’m proved wrong. Our panellists, under host Tony Jones are Simon Crean [Federal Minister for Regional Australia], Sophie Mirabella [Shadow Opposition Minister for Industry], Tony Windsor [Independent Federal Member for New England, and one of those politicians holding a bit of a balance of power in the House of Representatives at the present time], Eliza Brown [a local wine grower, and Director of the successful ‘Brown Brothers Wines], Nick Klomp [Dean of Science, at Charles Sturt University], and Alana Johnson [Victorian Rural Woman of the Year 2010.  Mmmmmmm, well looking at that line up, I not convinced that my night is likely to be brightened up very much.  I shall remain optimist! In fact, despite the nature of the panel, I’m sure because of the news of the day, that it will be impossible to avoid questions, and discussion/debate on Osama Bin Laden!  Such as this potential question –   ‘According to initial reports concerning the death of Osama Bin Laden, American ground forces entered Pakistan without any permission to conduct the operation that has supposedly been in the works for several months according to President Obama. Does the panel have the view that the ends justify the means and what are the implications for future Pakistan-US Relations?”  That will be interesting –  personally, I think with the Americans, the end always justifies the means [look at the infiltration into neighbouring countries during the Vietnam War], and certainly from various reports, this would not be the first operation, eg, against the Taliban, that has involved  American forces entering Pakistan.  Somehow, irrespective of how right or wrong they were, I can imagine the Americans coming out of it all with ‘clean noses’, don’t they always?  Or another question  –  “Hours ago we saw President Obama announce the death of Osama Bin Laden. Since then we have seen footage of over the top celebration by many young Americans. Panel do you really think this is time for celebration  or rather a time for reverence  and contemplation of the continual job at hand?”   Well, I’ve touched on that above, I wonder how the panel will handle it?

Well, there were just the two questions allowed on the subject, at the beginning of the program, and rightfully so, with the largest Q & A audience, packed into a large auditorium in Albury, they were there to talk about regional and rural issues.  On the Bin Laden situation, I think the most telling comment from one of the panel members was simply ‘it’s disturbing that we celebrate death, in the way we have seen today – it’s a sad comment on us as humanity’!!   Meanwhile, on the regional issues, I think the principal point being made by the audience [and of course denied in various guises by the politicians present] was the question as to why governments continually fail to acknowledge the contributions of regional people, as compared with their attitude to the city populations?  I notice some bright spark on the website commented ‘because that’s where the votes are, in the cities’. But if you listen to the government minister, Simon Crean,  you would think the opposite is happening, and Labor is taking a lot of notice of rural needs this time around, with the proposed National Broadband Network [NBN] implementation been sited as a prime example of that policy. In fact Mr Crean came along to the meeting with a prize in his back pocket – a pre-Budget announcement of the establishment of a $65 million Cancer Clinic in Albury, apparently something that area has been seeking for a long time.  During the program, there were various questions which tended to revolve around the subject of rural disadvantages, compared to capital cities, involving issues such as health services, education, communications, transport etc. Interestingly, on a number of points, the challenge was thrown back to the local communities to make their voices heard more, and push for a higher profile of those issues that matter. Much is being made for eg, of suggestions that the NBN will connect rural communities to the major centres, when perhaps it would be more useful to place emphasise on using the NBN to provide meaningful opportunities for decentralisation, or to establish training facilities in regional areas aimed at encouraging those trainees to use their qualifications in those areas, rather than having to go to the cities to train, and generally staying there for employment.  Of course, the regional must have employment and jobs available to compensate the local training – the lack of such jobs is aiding in the drift to the big centres!

Overall, a good discussion, with as usual, time the restricting factor in allowing most potential questions to be put to the panel. I was a bit disappointed, once again, that the politicians on the panel are given the majority of opportunities to respond and contribute to the program – and I blame the host presenter for that situation arising time and again.

 

Bill had a couple of sessions on the radio today, about 4.5 hours in total. Probably would have gladly given them both a miss were not that little ‘bug’ called commitment so strong in my psyche –  not a good sleep overnight [seems to be a Saturday night pattern], but more due to a feeling of ‘unwellness’ on this occasion!  However, ‘we’ did get to both programs, early this morning, and later on this afternoon, but generally, didn’t achieve a great deal in between times. The papers of course continued to be concentrating on photos and stories, still, of Friday’s wedding, but I guess we can expect that to continue for a while yet. There was in fact, a beautiful photo in this morning’s Sunday Age.  It showed William and Kate with the six children [4 girls, 2 page boys] who participated in the wedding procedures – no other adults, Kings, Queens, Prime Ministers, etc –  just the children with the bridal couple. I think that might well be my memorable ‘look back’ photo of last Friday’s wedding!

Overseas of course, this date is quite a memorable one, and is referred to in many areas of world society as ‘May Day’.  May Day can refer to various labour celebrations conducted on May 1 that commemorate the fight for the eight hour day. May Day in this regard is called International Workers’ Day or Labour Day, but means different things or occasions in different parts of the world. Some unions might think otherwise, but those kind of significances have no real bearing here in Australia. But my thoughts today are turning to things of a more peaceful and relaxing mode – found a little poem written by Henry Kendall many decades ago, about Bell Birds.  The Bell Bird is a small Australian bird with a very distinctive call. It sounds like tinkling bells. It is very beautiful to hear as you walk through the bush. You don’t hear them in the cities at all. These are just a couple of verses from a longer poem about this little creature, which I’d like to share.

Bell-Birds    by Henry Kendall

By channels of coolness the echoes are calling,
And down the dim gorges I hear the creek falling;
It lives in the mountain, where moss and the sedges
Touch with their beauty the banks and the ledges;
Through brakes of the cedar and sycamore bowers
Struggles the light that is love to the flowers.
And softer than slumber, and sweeter than singing,
The notes of the bell-birds are running and ringing.

The silver-voiced bell-birds, the darlings of day-time,
They sing in September their songs of the May-time.
When shadows wax strong, and the thunder-bolts hurtle,
They hide with their fear in the leaves of the myrtle;
When rain and the sunbeams shine mingled together,
They start up like fairies that follow fair weather,
And straightway the hues of the feathers unfolden
Are the green and the purple, the blue and the golden.

After all the media excitement of yesterday, I made a point of staying away from crowds, busy shops [until this evening anyway], and took the opportunity to engage in a bit of gardening, go for a walk on yet another beautiful Victorian Autumn day, and do a bit of research tidying up of my family history records.  Susie went off to work for most of the day, and tonight, went out to a 21st party  – I was a bit concerned when she admitted that the former boyfriend was likely to be there; I wish she could try and avoid him for a while!!

For myself, a quiet Saturday night at home – listening to one of the classical concerts that I would have actually liked to have  gone to – but at least this way, it was more comfortable, and so much cheaper!!!!  This concert was a part of the 2011 Musical Viva Festival, featuring a popular trio of recent years, the Eggner Trio, together with a number of other artists.

Just a sidenote to the references over the past couple of days to British Royalty – one of today’s newspapers had a feature in which the 50 most influential women in the world were chosen [by a panel of half a dozen prominent Australians]. One of those selections [in the Icons section] was Queen Elizabeth II, aged 85 years. Here are the comments that two members of the panel made:

“She has survived numerous prime ministers, a largely embarrassing family, and the Australian republican movement. She is  beloved in her own land and hugely respected beyond. A great legacy would be for Elizabeth II to be the last English monarch who is our head of state’ [Australia].”  and

“What’s remarkable about the Queen is her stoicism and retinence. The Queen is one of the most powerful women in the world, but not many people choose to remember that she was born into a life largely beyond her control.”

It would be interesting to go through the list of 50 women named by the panel, but while most of those selected are probably more than worthy of their selection, there does seem to be a high proportion of Australian nominees –  well, I suppose it is essentially an Australian selection panel, so we shouldn’t be surprised.  However, Australian or of another nation, most of their little bios make interesting reading. Perhaps on a future ‘quiet day’s writing’ I might introduce the other 49, in addition to the Queen, to my readers!!

This was the wedding that the whole world was invited to, if you cared to watch it on the television, etc, and by the time it was all over, about 10pm eastern Australian time, already millions of words will have written about the occasion, so I don’t think I will add very much more about the event here. Mind you, in my own circle of family and friends, there were a lot of cynics and negative comments about the wedding, and the Royal family and the establishment in general. So my relatively favourable outlook towards the occasion was a bit off mainstream as far as that group was concerned. A good Irish friend of mine was quite ‘strong’ in his viewpoint –  he wrote [on FaceBook] – Hey…have a look at the news……AUSSIE reporters falling over themselves with “excitement”? and I’m talking about the MALE reporters…….give me a break…..anyone would think the Ranga is getting married…..ha ha… I have NEVER seen Aussies crawl and drool like I am witnessing now…..they are a foreigners….. what is the big deal???  Is there no end to the arrogance of this family….Baron of Carrickfergus? Do they know where it is?……….Geeze!!!!!!!!!!!!  Carrickfergus is my Home town….where I grew up……once the Capital of Ireland, and landing place of William of Orange on his way to the Battle of the Boyne where he defeated James 2nd (i think), so I don’t think Britain’s royal family has ANY claim to it….’

Well, as can be seen, my Irish friend was really making his ‘Irish’ love of the English plain for all to see!!  The Carrickfergus he was referring to is one of the new titles that the Queen has bestowed on her grandson, William.  Meanwhile, in another discussion the other night, I guess I made my feelings also obvious, from the other point of view, with the comments that – “Not exactly a Royalist ….., but I have grown up with both the Queen, and Charles, and in broad terms I admire the way she has undertaken her role, whatever value you might or might not attach to that role. She was just little Princess Liz when I first ‘met’ her, lol……………former PM, John Howard said once that there will never be a republic in Australia while the Queen is on the throne, and I think he will be proved correct. It a kind of subconscious Australian sense of ‘respect’ for the woman,  if perhaps not the institution itself!”

Anyway, that’s about all I wish to say in relation to the Royal Wedding –  it would not have been  hard, anywhere in the world over the past 24 hours or so, for readers to have come across ‘talk’ of the event in some manner or other.

Having said all that, I actually didn’t watch it!!! Well, in parts I did!  You see, the Royal family made the drastic mistake of scheduling the wedding, just when my football team was coming on to the Sydney football ground!!! Luckily, there was more than one television set in the house, so that my daughters who both happened to be here with me this evening had the choice. Young Jodie was with me – she came over to watch the football, so she was content, as was I, to have an occasional ‘peep’ on the other set to keep up with proceedings at Westminister Abbey, etc. Susie wasn’t really in the mood for either performance, and certainly not the wedding, but she popped out on the odd occasion to check out what was happening at ‘both’ venues. And yes, I was taping the wedding, and would watch it in it’s entirety later on over the weekend!

But in all truth, my concentration was on the Carlton football team’s away game against the Sydney Swans. Now the last time we defeated Sydney in their home city was in 1993, and in the past 18 games between the two teams, Carlton had only won two of those games!!!!  Not a good recent record, and when the match started in driving rain [it has been raining in Sydney for about the last three weeks], the odds of Carlton breaking that drought of losses looked dismal. It was a low scoring football match [in Australian Rules terms, as can be seen by the quarter  by quarter scores below – especially the second quarter – no goal by either team], and by the end of the third quarterf, there was still only one point between the two teams. Thankfully however, Carlton captain and champion player, Chris Judd led the way in the last quarter with some inspiring football, which would leave Saturday’s sports headlines to declare that ‘As the heavens opened, Carlton broke a 17-year drought at the SCG last night’, as we managed to get on top of the Swans, and achieve a deserved victory.  I was pleased for Jodie  – since she became interested in the football, Carlton have not given her a great deal to cheer about over recent years –  now in the past two weeks, live last Saturday night, and on the TV tonight, she has been able to enjoy two consecutive wins, watching with her Dad, when in the years before she was even thought of, I had some glorious years watching a very successful team [of the 70s and 80s]. So now after 6 rounds of the 2011 season, the Blues are in 3rd position [on the 16 team ladder] with 4 wins, 1 draw, and 1 loss [to last year’s Premiers].  For the record, tonight’s result:

Carlton Blues:      3.1.19   3.6.24     8.9.57    Final:  12.15.87

Sydney Swans:     5.2.32   5.8.38    8.8.56    Final:  10.11.71

We did catch the end of the Royal Wedding – even saw the traditional famous balcony kiss!! Meanwhile of course, the weekend newspapers here would be completely carried away with the events of British royalty  with descriptions such as ‘The fairytale begins’!!! I wonder if that is an apt description these days!!  Or ‘the roar of the crowd speaks volumes of approval’!  And as the ‘Age’ correspondent would report from inside the Abbey [according to the Age] –  ‘As the choir’s voices soared into the arches of the ancient abbey – the resting place of no fewer than 17 monarchs – spines tingled with the theatre of the moment. The collision of youth with lineage, continuity and tradition seemed briefly to reduce the distance between ancient histories and the here and now’.   Mmmmmm, I wonder if that writer is looking for some kind of literary prize?

 

A real treat for us Q & A watchers on the TV tonight – a second program for the week. I’d earlier forgotten to make reference to Monday’s program, which dealt with a range of subjects ranging around areas of defence, Anzac Day, refugees, etc.  The panel that night was – Jim Molan, Former Head of the Australian Defence College; Matina Jewell, Former Soldier; Eva Cox, Feminist Academic; Neil James, Executive Director of the Australia Defence Association; and Najeeba Wazefadost, Afghan Refugee

Questions were put to the panel on such  subjects as

• the recent sex scandals in the Defence forces [eg, why is the real issue of the sexual mistreatment of women clouded by innuendos about their character and personal lives, which certainly on the surface, appears to have been the situation in the latest scandal to hit the forces];

 

• the culture of the Australian military and it’s apparent secretive and hostile attitude to enquiries about internal affairs, etc;   the likelihood of such a culture changing in the future, and whether the government’s reaction to current problems is really going to affect that culture?;

 

• women serving on the frontline in the Armed Forces, eg what is it ‘we’ are supposedly protecting women from, or is that also, a cultural throwback to earlier generatiuons in terms of views on physical or intellectual capabilities;

 

• is Afghanistan safer now for women and girls in particular, and if not, why does the government persist with policies of returning asylum seekers to that country; the payments made to people smugglers to get refugees to Australia and the common perception created in the public that this makes them ‘queue’ jumpers, denying genuine refugees a chance to get into Australia.;

 

• Najeeba was asked – “you are an example of a young person who has escaped Afghanistan and is achieving success. Do you believe that Australia and its allies are doing enough to help defeat the Taliban and are therefore making Afghanistan a better place? Has the situation for women improved and can girls now go to school?”   Najeeba responded that while in Kabul things might be better for women, there were many parts of Afghanistan where attitudes to the role  and status of women were little changed, and for our Government [and the Opposition] to suggest that ‘Afghanistan was now safe was an incorrect generalisation of the situation there.
• Najeeba Wazedfadost, was also challenged directly a charge relating to queue jumping  –  ‘Your parents paid people smugglers to get you into Australia. Are you aware that Julia Gillard and most Australians do not like queue jumpers, because they deny genuine refugees a chance to get into Australia?’  Her answer reminded us  ‘what queue?’  – this is no queue for these people in many of those countries from which the most genuine refugees [fearing for the lives of themselves and their families] come from – no authority from which they can make application, and such enquiries would most likely make them an immediate target.  So to be accused of being queue jumpers when there is no queue, mmmmmmm!!!  And has been pointed out many times before, the majority of refugees seeking asylum, who come by these boats, are usually found to be genuine refugees.  That is not the case with the so-called legitimate ‘refugees who fly in by plane, etc!

 

• There was criticism expressed of Australia’s current Memorandum of Understanding with the Afghan government to forcibly return so-called “failed asylum seekers” – many Afghan MPs as well as Australian human rights organisations and trade unions have voiced these concerns. . Why is Australia persisting with this policy, even though conditions in Afghanistan are still incredibly dangerous, especially for the Hazara minority, as indicated by Najeeba’s response?
• Another part of the discussion on Monday night related to  the subject of the 100^th anniversary of ANZAC Day, coming up in 2015, and the panel was asked to consider the future of ANZAC Day, and how the occasion can be made more inclusive for new migrants not raised with the legend of ‘mateship’ and the ‘Australian digger’?

That brought us onto tonight, and a special edition of Q & A on the ABC – a program that was preceded by an extremely interesting documentary entitled ‘Is the Royal Romance Over?’, which was basically dealing with ‘Australia’s ongoing romance’ as such with the Royal family. I found that part of the program fascinating – having being brought from birth, basically in conjunction with the present Queen Elizabeth, and Prince Charles in particular, I admit  to having closely followed their lives, and in some ways being a support of the family. The documentary covered most of that period from the end of World War II, the death of the Queen’s father, her ascension to the Throne, and her rule since then, and the trials and tribulations amidst a life of luxury and privilege for that family up until this day. I imagine, like most children together with the bulk of the Australian population in 1954, I lined the streets with my little Union Jack flag to cheers the young Queen Elizabeth and her husband, Prince Philip, on the occasion of her first visit to Australia that year. The documentary dealt with the years and visits subsequent to that, and the gradual diminishing of that kind of fanatical adoration and worship of the Queen as generational attitudes changed, and her significance to larger portions of the Australian electorate began to dwindle.  And yet, despite a broad view these days that the British Royal Family is irrelevant to Australia in 2011, there remains a widely held view that the Queen is still well liked and respected by Australians generally for the manner in which she has carried out her role –  I repeat admiration for the Queen, but that respect no longer applies to the ‘institution’ she represents.

After the documentary, which contained some fascinating old film footage, the normal format of the Q & A panel came on air to discuss both the ongoing relevance of the Royal family to Australia. and in conjunction with that,   the possible affect on Australia’s constitutional future. Tonight’s panel consisted  of  a broad range of  so-called ‘passionate’ Australians [an interesting collection of people whom I heard one commentator describe later as an entirely inappropriately chosen panel for the subject in question!]  –   Senator Nick Minchin [Liberal powerbroker, former Howard  Liberal Minister,  and avowed monarchist]; Amanda Vanstone [former Liberal Minister and outspoken republican]; Marcia Langton [academic and Aboriginal activist of many years]; Bob Carr [former NSW Premier and a passionate republican]; Angela Bishop [entertainment reporter and monarchist]; a representative from the ‘Chaser’ satirical TV  team, whose program scheduled for  Friday night in competition with the Royal Wedding, had been banned by the BBC, and cancelled]; and in the audience, Dr, Aaron Paul [academic and modern monarchist].

I must admit that while this program was happening, I was in the early stages involved in an online ‘discussion’ of sorts about the whole question of the Royal William [Prince William to Kate, tomorrow] and the general relevance of royalty here in Australia. As is often the case, my comments began with a bit of a serious aspect, eg, I was expressing ‘pleasure’ that the ‘Chaser’ program had been banned – I’ve always felt it to be an extreme satirical show which didn’t deserve the support it had – and in making that view, I was well aware that probably none of my fellow Facebook debaters would agree with me – well, I said, ‘I can live with that’, though Ruth seemed to doubt me  –  ‘can you Bill, can you?’  Anyway, my attempts at being serious [as usual with this group of friends] soon degenerated into the kind of satire on royalty, etc, that I had been expressing opposition to!!!  All fun, I guess, in friendly banter!!

Back to Q and A.  Though not many questions seemed to come from the audience tonight, or if they did,  the questions ‘seemed’ to have been set up!  The emphasise of tonight’s program – well obviously about the Royal Wedding, and with a member of the Chasers’ team on the panel,  a dissection of the reasons why their planned program for tomorrow night had been banned.  For those not aware, the ‘Chaser’s’ is an Australian satirical program, on the ABC oddly enough [I’d expect things of that standard to be more likely to appear on the commercial channels]  – anyway, they had intended to present on the alternative ABC channel tomorrow night, an ‘alternative’ version of the wedding, although as their spokesman explained, it was aimed to be more of a broad based satire on the Royal family in particular and the institution they represent, not aimed at the wedding couple, although obviously, the Palace and the BBC were worried about something of that nature occurring. In some ways, I’m not sure that it really mattered if the program went ahead or not  –  those viewers who wanted to watch the wedding would do so anyway, while those viewers who generally have a cynical attitude to royalty in general, would watch the Chasers because that kind of presentation is their ilk anyway! During Q & A tonight, we were actually shown a clip from the banned show  – and while some people may think it funny to take off people Prince Phillip and Prince Charles and their sometimes prejudiced and bigoted attitudes to certain cultures, etc, my argument against their type of show, is that by ‘repeating’ those attitudes, the so-called satire adds to the ‘public’ biased perception of such groups, or to me, is simply distasteful when in fact, it is not the normal view of the watcher – yet they will still laugh at the depiction being presented – in tonight’s clip, Muslims, Indians, the Jews, were just a few of the groups ridiculed   Someone called them a ‘controversial comedy’ group – I agreed with the first part of the description, but could never accept the description of comedy as accurate  – to me, personal ridicule and ‘put down’ in the name of satire, is not comedy..  I read somewhere else, that it is the ‘Australian way’ to satirise and laugh at the misfortunes of others  –   and yet, if I was to walk down to street, and make in public the kind of comments that appeared in the brief ‘Chasers’ clip tonight, I could well be arrested and charged under  some kind of racial abuse legislation if a listener happened to take offence!! And yet we sit in front of our TV sets, or in a theatre seat at a ‘Comedy’ Festival, and think the same comments are uproariously funny and clever!  Crap!! I refuse to accept any ‘logic’ applied to such a situation.

The only point of ‘agreement’ if you like, that I might have with those complaining about the program ban, is the fact that our Australian ‘freedom of speech’ is being dictated to by forces exterior to Australia – where for eg, we see the BBC [presumably with some ‘Royal’ influence] being able to prevent the airing of an Australian program, in Australia  – although we should remember that other nations have tried similar tactics, eg, China, to prevent the screening of certain films, or even the visit of the Dali Lama to this country,  in case China was made to look bad –  –  I’m not sure of the exact present ‘relationship’ between the ABC and the BBC, but obviously the hold of the later over our Australian counterpart must be of some significance! 

Aside from all of that, I was especially interested tonight to hear some Marcia Langton’s views. The more I see her [and her thick brilliant patch of white hair] the more I warm to her general attitude. I think whe4n she was younger, as a student, etc, Marcia was a bit of an Indigenous firebrand activist. She is still an activist, but gives me the impression at least, that she has broadened her views a little, and is more prepared to listen to other sides of the Indigenous argument. 

Marcia remains a great campaigner for the rights of her people, and in the debate about whether Australia’s Constitution should be changed to create our system as a Republic, away from the Monarchy, she was quite insistent, that before that happens, the Constitution must be changed to properly recognise Australia’s Indigenous population as part of this country’s people. Past referendums on that score have not been successful because  the question has always being put in conjunction  with some other question at the time of the referendum – recognition of Indigenous people in the Constitution must be put as a stand-alone proposal, if it is to have a chance of implementation.

The other interesting point that came from Marcia was the respect that the Indigenous community have always for the Queen, since her first visit here in 1954 – Marcia considered that her people understood the Queen, and her symbolic role, and the kind of traditional practices that were associated with royalty, because that was the way in which many of their tribal traditions and ceremonies operated. A similar attitude was taken by the Queen –  when traditional ceremonies, etc, were performed for her benefit, during visits, the Indigenous communities believed that the Queen understood the significance of those ceremonies, better than did the white Australian population. I may not have described that significance as accurately as Marcia Langton portrayed it, but hopefully, I gained the gist of what she was saying.

Finally, for the benefit of any who may be unsure of the significance [rightly or wrongly] of this ‘Queen’ we are referring to,  the following brief note, might help –

Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary, born 21 April 1926^, is the constitutional monarch of sixteen independent sovereign states, and as Head of the Commonwealth, she is the figurehead of the 54-member Commonwealth of Nations, and essentially is also the Queen of Australia, her representative here, been our Governor General, who for the past few decades, have been Australian born in any case.

Elizabeth II, in 2007

Meanwhile, this is the view below,  that many today, in 2011 [particularly the ‘republican’ cause proponents, have of the Royal family institution……………a life of opulence on the public purse!!!

Yes, the days have rolled along, and indeed got away from your personal essayist.  Tuesday was a relaxing day at home for this writer  – a short walk at one stage, and a drive for some shopping in the early evening, but for the most, simply an opportunity to catch up on tasks  at home, and prepare for that evening’s radio show  – usually go on air straight from the drive from work, and the city, but none of that on this ‘extra’ public holiday. Susie, who had gone through a weekend of good and bad days, returned up to Bendigo tonight – I was not keen on her doing the drive after dark, but her response was that she prefers to drive at night! Perhaps I felt the same way when I was her age, can’t remember now!  Anyway, she knows her Dad  –  I was just about to finish the radio show just before 8pm, when a brief text message came through –  ‘No need to stress, in Bendigo’

As a part of my ‘temporary’ subscription to the Folio Magazine, I receive a copy of their quarterly magazine, which usually contains previews of new book releases. Pity I can’t get this on a regular basis, as some of the articles are quite good.  There was one of this occasion that was talking about the meanings behind Lao Tzu’s famous work of Chinese philosophy called the ‘Tao Te Ching’ [translated by Arthur Waley as ‘The Way and it’s Power’].    Lao Tzu was apparently the founder of the main rival tradition around  the sixth century BC  to the philosophies of  Confucius.  The writer of the article tells us that modern scholarship has helped us to realise that the stories of Lao Tze have little basis in fact, yet they provide testimony to a rivalry between two major  intellectual  traditions – the Taoists and the Confucians., a rivalry which has been now dated to the mid third century BC. I was hoping that by reading this brief article, I might be able to gain a bit of understanding of those traditions –  it might have been  preferable if I’d just left it before proceeding, beyond the paragraph that stated “Completely beyond the comprehension of human beings who rely exclusively on dualistic, rational knowledge, it can only be comprehended by those adepts who follow a practice of apophatic inner cultivation…..or ‘Taoist yoga” That should have been enough for me, but I tried to read on, but had to agree that after a few quoted verses etc, I was none the wiser – beyond my limited rational comprehension, as warned…………………..let’s go straight to the ‘summary’ by H D Roth.  “To sum up, the compelling advice found in the Tao Te Ching has served as an ideal of cosmic wholeness and self-contextualisation, of withdrawal  from society and of laissez-faire rulership for more than two millennia”.   That makes so much sense!!!  Here’s one example of the teachings of ‘The Way’

From Tao Te Ching, XLVIII

‘Ridding oneself of desires is only one of a number of meditative techniques through which we may directly apprehend the Way in a non-dualistic fashion. The text also advocates limiting thought, feeling and perception to order apophatically to approach the Way:

Learning consists in adding to one’s stock day by day;/  The practice of Tao consists in ‘subtracting day by day,/  Subtracting and yet again subtracting/  Till one has reached inactivity,/  But by this very inactivity/  Everything can be activated’

Perhaps in past days, I might have persevered with this subject, and tried to get some element of understanding, or more realistically, and appreciation of the value of such ‘ideas’ as above!   In my 65^th year, I’m not sure that I really want to be bothered appreciating such ‘wisdom’ let alone understand it!!

Wednesday was not a very ‘happy’ day – early morning call from Shirley to advise that Susie [who seemed a little happier when she left last night] was in fact so low this morning, that she accepted the offer of Jodie or Shirley driving up to see her – she’d been unable to attend to her university commitments/placements, and was obviously quite depressed. Anyway, Shirley was going up to see her this afternoon after she finished her roster. And Dad was left to ‘worry’ for the rest of the day. Not surprisingly,   the work place wasn’t very attractive today.  Got back to Sunbury, wondering if I would find Susie had returned, as from the conversation this morning, seemed to be the probable option.  Not there! I decided to get some fresh air and exercise, with an early evening walk –  and it was quite ‘fresh’, becoming both cooler and darker halfway along my journey!  Ran into Brendan Bull [our plumber for most of our time in Sunbury] and his little dog, out for a walk,  at a slightly slower pace and less distance than my efforts tonight.. We chatted briefly – was good to see him up and about, as a few years ago, he had a bad period with prostrate cancer – as he said, ‘still walking and working’!  Ditto!!

Later, was cooking myself  a meal, when Susan and Shirley arrived, in their separate cars.  The latter didn’t stay, while Susie had given up university [hopefully just for the rest of this week – told me she would be going back up next week]. I didn’t press her for too much detail – obviously finds it easier to talk to her mother or sister about current problem. Dad is just here whenever needed!  Anyway, not around long tonight, going over to stay with a friend [in Watergardens  – more night driving!] – tried to persuade her to eat something, but line with her mood over past few weeks, didn’t feel like eating. I would be surprised if she has eaten much at all today!  Not sure if she would be back tonight – to ease my concern,  asked her to let me know if she decided not to return home tonight. Yes, but it might be late!  No problems, as far as I was concerned.  It was late –  in fact, at 1.10am, Susie’s message came through, although for a change, I had managed some sleep beforehand  –  ‘Hey Dad, staying here, sorry for late notice’  [wherever ‘here’ was!!].

On TV tonight, another episode of the great SBS Australian police series ‘East West 101’  –  one review of the current series describes it in this manner:- “A 6-part mini series about the investigations of the Major Crime Squad in Metropolitan Sydney. Zane Malik at 32 is a brilliant detective whose ability to connect with people helps him solve crimes. Ambitious and driven, he has confidence, strength and intelligence. Malik is an Arab and proud of it, a devout Muslim who clashes with his immediate superior, Detective Sergeant Ray Crowley. Both men are haunted by their past failures and the damage inflicted on loved ones. Ironically, they can only overcome the past with help from each other.”.  I enjoy it particularly because of the inter-race relationships, conflicts, and potential  solutions, and because it appears to provide a realistic approach [perhaps over the top at times]  of the involvement of racial tensions in the Australian criminal areas, and the manner in which innocent people on both sides are so easily drawn into situations simply because of their backgrounds,  It was last Wednesday, that saw the  return of this multi-award winning series which this time,  explores the fallout from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan through a series of violent crimes committed in Australia. What happened during the war in the opium fields of the Chora Valley in Afghanistan, and the collateral damage to civilians in Tikrit in northern Iraq, comes home to the main streets and malls of Lakemba. The sophisticated robbery of an armoured guard van leaves four dead, including some of the robbers themselves. Meanwhile Malik clashes with new detective on the squad, a former army officer, Neil Travis, in his impassioned pursuit of those who have hurt him and his family.  I generally don’t like watching ‘crime based’ TV shows, but this one I find is different, and despite the over-indulgence of violence, etc, it is a series I make a point of watching.

 

It was both Easter Monday, and ANZAC Day, this Monday, and if my memory serves me right, also a birthday [22nd] of a nephew – I recall he was born on Anzac Day 1989. I was up in Canberra at the time, part of a four week ‘management’ course, and that morning, we visited the Australian War Memorial to attend the Anzac Dawn Service – the first of only two such services I’ve managed to get to, the second some years later, at the Melbourne Shrine of Remembrance. Despite the reluctance [or is it lazyness] to actually get up on this morning to even our ‘local’ Mt Macedon dawn service, I do make a point each year [as with morning] of waking early in order to listen to the ABC broadcasts of firstly, the Dawn Service from Canberra [5.30am] and then the brief 6am service from here in Melbourne. As that time this morning, my thoughts went to brother Ian – retired from the Australian Army for a few years now, and having just gone through a few personal difficulties –  wondered whether he was participating in equivalent events up there in Brisbane this morning. I knew he would be glued to a TV this afternoon [probably in his local pub] watching his beloved Collingwood football team play against in the now annual Anzac Day match at the MCG!!

For readers who have not seen my Anzac Day blogs of recent years, a brief reminder of the occasion, with the aid of some general notes on Anzac Day.

ANZAC (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps) Day is the anniversary of the landing of troops from Australia and New Zealand on the Gallipoli Peninsula, Turkey, in World War I on April 25, 1915. The bravery of all military personnel who participated in this campaign and the lives of those who died in all military actions, in which Australians have been involved, both prior to Gallipoli, and subsequently, are remembered. In 1916, the first anniversary of the landing was observed in Australia, New Zealand and England and by troops in Egypt. That year, 25 April was officially named ‘Anzac Day. The Dawn Service observed on Anzac Day has its origins in an operational routine which is still observed by the Australian Army today.The 1st official dawn service was held in 1927.  The marches, etc, are not a glorification of war itself, but of the sacrifices that have been made in those various conflicts, and the men & women who participated, and  to honour the more than 110,000 Australians

Many ceremonies, parades and other activities are held on ANZAC Day to remember the lives of those who participated or died in military action, particularly on the Gallipoli Peninsula in World War I. Dawn prayer or church services are a particularly important aspect of ANZAC Day. These represent the comradeship that the soldiers experienced as they rose each morning to prepare for another day of military action. After the services, gunfire breakfast (coffee with rum in it) is often served. In major cities and many smaller towns, parades, marches and reunions of current and past military personnel and memorial services are held. The fourth stanza or verse of a well known poem, known as The Ode, is read aloud at many ceremonies. The poem is called “For The Fallen” and was written by Laurence Binyon in 1914. It commemorates those who died and can never grow old. After the formal events, many people play games of “two-up”. This is a gambling game played using two coins. This form of gambling is usually illegal in many Australian states. However, the authorities usually turn a blind eye to it on ANZAC Day.As background to Gallipoli, one on site ‘historian’ has described it in this fashion

 “In the early months of 1915, World War I was raging in most of Europe, including the Ottoman empire in the geographical area that is now Turkey. Russian troops were fighting on many fronts, particularly against troops from Germany and the Ottoman and Austro -Hungarian empires. At dawn on April 25, 1915, forces from France, Great Britain and the British Empire, including Australia and New Zealand, landed at a number of places on the Gallipoli peninsula. The campaign aimed to open up new fronts for the Allied forces and a trade route to Russia. In the ensuing battle, many lives were lost on both sides and the Allied forces did not succeed in opening a trade route to Russia. The last ANZAC forces withdrew from the Gallipoli Peninsula by December 20, 1915, in a successful operation with very few casualties. In spite of their losses, the ANZAC servicemen and many Australians and New Zealanders saw this battle as the start of the ANZAC spirit. This is an Australasian ideal based on the “mateship” and cheerful suffering the forces showed during this campaign  ANZAC Day is also a public holiday and day of remembrance in New Zealand, the Cook Islands, Niue, Samoa and Tonga. It is also commemorated with special services and events on or around April 25 in a range of countries across the globe. These include: the United Kingdom, France, Turkey, Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, Canada and the United States (including Hawaii).

Sunbury itself of course, has it’s own Anzac Ceremony, at the local War Memorial, here on the Village Grren, after a brief march of veterans through the town. I usually attend that ceremony, but decided that, as with my weekend ‘intention’ of relaxing at home as much as I could, would give it a miss this year. The bonus, in watching the TV coverage of the Melbourne march, was to note one of the divisions under which my father served during World War II – the 2nd/5th Field Ambulance of the Australian Army. I think there are only a small number of veterans left these days, and I’ve noticed that over the past year or so, I’ve not been receiving any material from ‘reunion’ group associated with that division. Must follow that up. A dawn service is also held up at the top of Mt Macedon [about 15 kms north of Sunbury] – have not made the effort to get to that one yet, either.

The following story is an interesting, and inspiring, sideline to the Mt Macedon ceremony – 

‘An 80km walk may not be everyone’s idea of a Sunday stroll but it’s the way two locals will challenge themselves and remember those who fought on the Kokoda track. Gisborne’s Ian Gilchrist and Sunbury’s John Turnbull will again walk from the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne to the dawn service at Mt Macedon on Anzac Day. It will be the second time they have walked the route, and this year Mokoda (Macedon and Kokoda) has a following with a dozen or more people joining in. Mr Gilchrist said the friends regularly walked up Mt Macedon and decided last year to try and make it to the dawn service – starting at the Shrine of Remembrance.“We do take a lot for granted about the freedoms that were granted by those before us,” Mr Gilchrist said. “We did it as a personal challenge and as a mark of respect.” Mr Gilchrist played down the length of the journey and the thought that it could rain.“I think it’s more like 73km and it’s not that bad.  “It’s quite easy, it’s mostly flat, Bulla is a bit hilly and Mt Macedon is a bit of challenge at the end but you just take it easy.” The IT product manager and Sunbury pilot will set off at 10pm [Sunday] to make the trek.’  I hope they all made it too the top of the mountain succesfully this morning as planned. There is a large cross at the top of Mt Macedon which forms the central focus of the Dawn Service.

I was watching the telecasts from Gallipoli [Turkey], and Villers-Breneaux [France] early this afternoon, of the ANZAC Dawn services been held in both countries, and found it quite emotional at times – particularly at the conclusion of the service from Anzac Cove [Gallipoli] when the National Anthems of Turkey, Australia and New Zealand were sung, and played. I thought that rather a special moment, more significant in fact than the speeches being thrown around about former foes, now celebrating together the same event – the Anzac forces of course, with the British having being the ‘invaders’ as far as Turkey was concerned, back in 1915.

However while watching that, my mind was also drawn to the fact that while the Turkish forces, at significant cost to their own numbers, fought a gallant, and winning campaign against the Allies, there was something else quite disturbing going on in that nation. Throughout the early part of World War I, Turkey was quietly behind the scenes, engaged in a systematic and pre-planned ethnic cleansing of a portion of their population. Twenty years earlier, up to 80,000 Turkish Armenians had been slaughtered, and shortly before 1915, plans were in place to rid the rid the country of it’s entire Armenian population. First to be eliminated were the 100,000 Armenian conscripts in the armed forces, followed by all Armenian community leaders, and finally the forced deportation of the balance of the population into the desert regions, and Interior Minister Talaat Bey was given responsibility for carrying out Turkey’s ‘final solution’ of it’s Armenian ‘problem’.  In David Shermer’s history ‘World War I’, he writes “Talaat instructed that ‘the Government…..decided to destroy completely all Armenians living in Turkey……An end must be put to their existence, however criminal the measures taken may be, and no regard must be paid to either age or sex nor to conscientious scruples’.” P136].  In the summer of 1915 [while the Gallipoli campaign was in progress], a quartet of a million Armenians managed to escape to Russia, but they were the exceptions. Of the two million Armenians within the Ottoman Empire in 1914,  one and a half million of them had disappeared from the face of the earth by 1916. Ever since then, Turkey has told the rest of the world to ‘mind it’s own business’.  And seemingly, in view of subsequent genocidal events in the 20^th century, the world has done just that, and sat back while nations undertook attempts to ‘ethnically cleanse’ their countries of those parts of the population not wanted, eg,   the Jews [by the Nazis], Cambodia, Bosnia, Rwanda, and so on!!!

So around Australia, countless speeches today, are talking of the sacrifices made by our soldiers, to bring peace to the world, but when you look at much of the world since 1915, we have seen very little peace, or kindness of man to his/her fellow man!!

But, that is another topic, and something that has been forgotten in the euphoria of today’s celebrations. During World War II, my father was, amongst other roles, a member of an anti-aircraft division operating out of New Guinea, in defence against Japanese war plane attacks.  On the 13^th May, 1943, he wrote a short poem, which he titles the ‘Anti-Aircraft Gunner’

‘I’m sitting here and wondering,

Just what it’s all about.

The guns are all a-thundering

And the fighter’s going out.

Our crew is standing ready

Lest the Zero come in sight,

We’re bound to give old Tojo

A most terrific sight.’

[by Gunner John Keith Kirk]

 

Turning away from ANZAC, to the big Anzac Day football match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground this afternoon – a traditional game on the 25^th April between Collingwood and Essendon. Must admit, I put all else aside, and decided to watch this game  – a crowd of 89,626 present, beautiful weather, and a fairly close game throughout the match, although somehow, you felt that the favourites, last year’s Premiers Collingwood, just had the answers whenever Essendon challenged, and while the score of 30 points difference in the end, looked impressive, that was really only dominance in the last 15 minutes, apart from a strong first quarter. I thought the game even for the rest of the match. Final score: Collingwood Magpies: 16.11.107 defeated Essendon Bombers: 11.11.77.  Now, looking back over Collingwood’s games this year, I believe that result means that Carlton [my team] have got the closest to the Magpies so far this year, losing by 28 points!! Last week, we drew with Essendon – guess that makes our two teams very evenly balanced!!