It is all quite complicated.

I like to see the diplomatic relations between the countries. It appears in my estimation that the better the leaders treat each other, that the citizens will follow suit. Trade opportunities are gained by good communication, and cooperation between governments. Local customs can be respected, and everyone can gain from these encounters. The opposite is true. Primary examples include George Bush vs Hugo Chavez. One could also recall relations with Iran and North Korea. Friendships between leaders can become strong as well. It has been reported that Jacques Chirac was close to Saddam Hussein.

I have finally found an article in which I quite enjoy commenting about. The issue is now a non issue here in Australia but nevertheless is an interesting one. The great Amanda Vanstone ridiculed by the former leader of the opposition in a cheap shot at her uh, girth has been in politics for over 20 years. She has just been dumped as a Minister in the Howard Government with the latest cabinet reshuffle. Now you have to understand that we are coming into an election year. The PM can do what he likes and if the polls are any indication he will not be doing what he wants within his party for very much longer.

Diplomatic protocol appears to have been breached by Australia in rushing to appoint the before mentioned, Amanda Vanstone as the new Ambassador to Italy. The appointment was done just hours after her resignation from the Senate and without consent from Italy. It is widely believed that the appointment was done before the long standing diplomatic convention of advising the country and it being approved. This courtesy was not followed, it is thought. The present incumbent is being recalled before his tenure in the post is up. Peter Woolcott, a respected career diplomat will give up the final six months to make way for the “hefty chick” which formally was the head of the Immigration portfolio.

I would have liked to be privy to the conversations between our John Howard, his advisors and Ms Amanda Vanstone. I have seen her conduct interviews with the press and it appears as though she was always in complete control. Can you imagine her alone with the “rat,” Johnnie, all 5’3 of him and 51 kg?

“John I want a plum posting.” “Now”
“Uh yes well as the Leader of the Australian people and a man who demands a very large re…..”
“John. JOHN. Stop with that rubbish already”
“But but Mandy, as I was saying before, the people of Australia, within the Commonwealth and those people being a wonderful example of humanity, an excellent example of…..”
“JOHN JOHN JOHN….AAAAAAAAAAAARRRGH”

After body slamming him the real negotiations began.

Her official quote to the press in which she would not say when she was formally offered the job was that it was “all quite complicated.”

Kevin Rudd, the opposition leader says that “the Government is turning the diplomatic service into a Liberal Party employment agency, just in terms of sheer numbers.” He went further in saying that he didn’t have anything against Amanda but he feels that Howard is becoming arrogant with the use of these positions. As I said before, he is the PM and can do as he pleases. And he does.

Battle over top of the mountains but under the moon.

Airplanes. Big ones. I am not a connoisseur and will not pretend to be one but what I know about the big elegant beasts is there are two players; Boeing and Airbus. They are built with different philosophies too. One is built with a strong frame which encompasses the entire structure and a relatively thin shell around it. The other is built with a thick shell on the outside and a fairly weak framework inside. Boeing is the one with the stronger framework and the weaker skin, whilst Airbus is the opposite. The two have battled with each other for years.

I always love a good stoush. I like to see two teams, two players, two countries going head to head on the sporting field or in the business world where the stakes are high and the competition stiff. This has been the case for Airbus and Boeing. Enter Sir Richard Branson and his Virgin Atlantic Airlines. Virgin currently has a fleet of airlines, all built by Airbus. As you can well imagine, maintenance is fairly stringent and the planes are due to be replaced. Now the airlines are also in quite a competitive situation themselves. After 2001, it was just a battle to survive and in recent years aviation fuel prices have risen dramatically. Consumers require these airlines to keep their prices down and quite often will flock to the one that is least expensive. The costs to fly keep going up, while the masses demand cheaper fares. I don’t know if Airbus thought they were going to immediately replace and re-supply Virgin, whether they became complacent, or just didn’t have their game together when it mattered but they received a massive shock last week. Virgin has decided to go with Boeing.

Richard Branson’s airline has ordered 15 Dreamliner jets, taken out options on eight of the 787s and the rights to buy a further twenty. The deal, if fully consummated would be worth 8 billion dollars US. It seems that the jets were over 25% more fuel efficient. In addition to this change, Virgin is attempting to make a switch to a clean fuel technology in a bid to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. Airbus gambled with their new Airbus jetliner in a different way. The fuel was the same but the planes were much bigger. I guess the theory was that an airline could make more money from the people, which would offset the overall cost. It seems Branson was serious about also looking at the cost a plane makes to the environment too.

Finally, my disclaimer. Branson is first and foremost a businessman. He would have, in a second, I believe gone with Airbus if he felt he could have made more money with their design. Of course he would have. He will, however, pay a little more over the next years to push for a cleaner, more Earth friendly solution. The only way to see if his gambit works is to wait. I wonder if more people will choose Virgin because he symbolises a greener change.

We need a brief interlude from this debate.

I stumbled across a saying tonight and thought I would post it at you.

I think it is so easy to focus on the steps you take right in front of you, and it is easy to forget to stop, pause and look around. A big picture view. I know, I know, I know, it sounds trite, it sounds sappy and a bit fake but think about it seriously for a second. I don't know too many working people who hate to take a lunch break. I know some who count the hours until it is quitting time. I know I can be quite gleeful when I get to leave work to go on holidays. Now just think about stopping the ever quickening life roller rat race coaster for just a second or five. The merry go round can stop for a little while, can't it? [ OK NOW THAT WE ARE STOPPED- I will get up onto my soapbox.]

I seriously believe, (and those of you who know me will concur) in having a good self esteem. I think that we can get so much more out of life, by shifting our views a bit, being less hard on ourselves and looking at positives. I believe for children, that if they are being uplifted, and nurtured, and loved they will go through their formative years with a bit more confidence. Confidence comes after a good self esteem starts. When we are confident it is then we can grow as a human. I believe for adults, and it is never too late to start, that a good self esteem will bring about a change for the better. I am serious. I am a massive believer in loving myself. If I love myself, I can love others even more.

I know a very special and amazing lady. She told me one time, when she perceived that I needed a lift, that it is important to reinforce myself. Take a second. Berate yourself. In a silly sort of way, it feels good. Now, compliment yourself. Did it feel as though you were not being honest? If the above was true for you, then I know you need an adjustment. It is not good to enjoy berating yourself, and it is essential that you uplift yourself. I know for a fact that there will be at least one person who will read this last passage and find it easier to berate and harder to compliment. Okay, I will stop. For today go easy on yourself.

Enjoy.

Anzac Day.

Today was Anzac Day. We had a day off from work and there was a dawn service, and a parade. It was to remember the fallen and those who died in WWI in Anzac Cove. There is remembrance day also but I think this day is by far the most revered.

I did a post about this day last year and what it means to Australians so I will not, this year do anything but draw your attention to it.

Another thing I will draw your attention to is to the stoush between Psam and Bench. Our own, and special AV sparked the furore by saying "if the government hadn't stepped in, insisting on taking God out of the schools." What happened next was Psam publishing a lengthy reply and letter to AV. Bench responded by claiming, " [t]his country is afraid of offending someone. This country no longer has a backbone, well....it no longer has a god." Psam has again responded in the last BS and has asked some very interesting questions. Although I feel he rambles on he does so with passion. It makes for very uh, interesting reading.

Me? Where is me? I am looking forward to tomorrow, at 12 noon where I plan to be listening to a very important program. The result will tell me what the rest of my day will be like.

Ciao4now

Chankslee

Ghost Yacht.

We here at Chankslee like ghosts. If you remember last year we took you to Zanzibar in Afrika and told you about the ghost workers. Today, another mystery.

Air and sea rescue services have discontinued a search for an abandoned yacht found drifting off the coast of Townsville, in Northern Queensland this weekend. Over ten planes and helicopters were scouring the area but to no avail. It seems there was a table set for 3, dinner served, laptop turned on, the engine was running and the radio was on, but nobody aboard. A mate of mine was 80 meters away from the place where the boat was launched and described the place as busy. Airlie beach is a popular place for locals, tourists and another great place to be out on the open water. It seems the crew was from Perth and the plan was to sail around Australia. Speculation as to the demise of the crew was rampant. Most casual observers that we have interviewed feel that one must have fallen overboard, and while being rescued the other two fell in as well. Pirates are practically non existent but there are some who wonder if there has been foul play. One cynic described this tragedy as " a couple of guys trying to capitalise on an insurance policy." I don't know and it appears that we will never know, the fate of the three sailors. One can only hope for a happy ending.

Link-http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6574547.stm

A POST BY PSAM!- Title- OVERPOPULATION.

I thought I would post a rather looong comment by our own, Psam, who we love and admire. This is in response to our other valued and endeared AV. He asks AV some questions that I think we can all attempt to respond to. I hope you enjoy, the one, the ONLY----------

Puh-Sam-uel and for the rest of you Psam is writing the following post, which may not be the view of this blog. This view requires disgression. It is not written by Chankslee.

Dear AV,

I only got a chance to read your comments in the last post recently. My internet availability's been scarce.

I'd like to ask you what you mean when you say that you think God is being kept out of schools. I remember several classes in elementary school where I was asked to brainlessly recite "our father who art in heaven..." every morning. I also remember a teacher who regularly read to the class from the Bible every day.I happen to think that neither the Bible nor the "Lord's prayer" have much to do with God, but I was too young and impressionable to ask to be relieved from this expectation. I don't think either of these things did any of the other students any good either.Nonetheless, I think that Biblical Christianity, like a lot of other religions, has some good things to teach people. In Europe, there is a whole subject devoted to religion in schools. They study all religions, and they learn how all of them interact. There is a lot of unbiased study of how much harm individual religions have done throughout history, as well as their contributions to the integrity of communities. This kind of study is, I feel, beneficial to all. An understanding of religion can bring harmony to the world. That's what I would expect you meant by "bringing God into the schools". Enlighten me if you meant differently.The other subject of contention between us was the population explosion and its effect on social stress among the populace, leading to explosive situations like the one currently in light.First of all, I believe that it's a foregone conclusion that the human race can not continue to multiply as it has been without choking the planet to death. I appreciate your sentiment that if my parents were convinced not to procreate, I wouldn't exist. I feel the same about you. I do indeed believe that every human being should be valued. However, in order to look towards the future, it would be good to convince the human race to stop behaving like a tumourous growth on the face of the earth. Please don't think that I'm saying that every single human being should be convinced never to have children. But I do believe that if we try to convince people not to have children, and reduce the birthrate by 50%, then we will be saving the future of our world. Also, I think that it's important that people don't have children unless they have spent countless hours with other people's children prior to doing so. People can enjoy time with the children of their friends or their siblings. If they find that they enjoy this time with children, and they feel a need to live with it around them, then by all means they should not be given any grief for that decision.A lot of people decide to have children for the purpose of "carrying on their line". This mentality should be stricken from human consciousness. It is this mentality that is at the root of the population explosion that the world is being subjected to. Most certainly, if that is people's reason for having children, they should be strongly discouraged by any enlightened people that know them.Please understand that I believe that the most important factor in creating a peaceful world in which all living things exist harmoniously is that our offspring are treated with respect and love. That, and putting Osama bin Laden and George W. Bush in jail for crimes against humanity and warmongering. Put them in the same cell and let them duke it out with each other. Sorry, I know I talk about Bush too much, but he really is an obscene greedy villain who's filled with glee over the war he's created and it disgusts me every time I turn on the television.As to the relevance of the population explosion to acts of mass murder such as the Virginia tech shootings, well, I can understand that you might believe they are unrelated. There is much evidence to support either side of this argument. However, I believe that a rapid surge in population leaves the majority of children with less time and attention given to them by the adults around them. It is not only the responsibility of parents to raise children. It is the responsibility of the entire community in which they live. The less children a community is raising, the more attention those children receive. That works on a small scale and a large scale.I look forward to reading responses to these ideas. It has been a pleasure reading your thoughts, and I hope you've enjoyed mine too.

Psam...........

I hope you have a wonderful weekend. I am having a good one too.

Simply not enough...

.

...time.
I don't know if people took time out of their busy lives to diagnose there was a problem with this guy. One professor did, and spent extra time with him but was rebuffed by staff and told there was nothing they could do.
...warning
Two hours elapsed between the killings. Why were the students not warned? When they were warned, they were told to stay away from the windows and in their class rooms. Students who jumped out of the windows escaped.
...good imaginary girlfriends
yes Cho Seung-Hui had an imaginary girlfriend. Maybe if he had a nice girlfriend who cared, she would have stopped him.
...lights
If the school had turned on all of the lights, maybe he would have gone to sleep. He slept with the lights on.
...GUNS
wrongly accused, Wayne Chiang, a self confessed gun lover pointed out that if people were allowed to carry concealed fire arms, then if there was just one other person who was armed, then he would have been stopped. Of course, maybe more people would have died in the ensuing cross fire, but, who knows.

Like it was reported, these acts tempt us with a million questions. I am sure there are a million answers, but where?

I can write here, as a person who is quite removed from the situation, and maybe appear flippant. I am not. My heart goes out to the many who have passed away, and many more mourners.

Columbine again.

I know you have probably been oversaturated with the whole story, but I feel compelled to revisit it again. The worst shooting in the history of the USA. Over thirty killed by a man from China who initially was embroiled in a domestic dispute goes ballistic. This tragic act raises many questions. My first impression though, was one of, and I am being honest here, " oh great, another shooting in the US. " It is tragic in itself that I have become so desensitised but sadly, it happens too regularly. I don't know why. Why do these things happen, one would ask rhetorically. You will notice the date on the picture, of 1999. It seems like such a long time ago. Minutes before lunchtime. April 20th. Columbine. I can bet the parents and loved ones of the children who passed away find it feels like yesterday. And yesterday the tragedy happened again. Why?

She Sells Sea Shells.

I just had to write a quick post. It seems that bombing crowded marketplaces is not enough. The Parliament was bombed, ten minutes after the members stopped for lunch, in the staff coffee shoppe. I feel that the elected government has enough problems right now, and are doing the best they can to kick the US out, restore order, safety to its citizens and to begin a peaceful process of law and order, without these zealots killing innocents. This is just so repulsive to me. One of two things will happen. Iraq will cower and fall apart, just when they were taking those small shaky steps at self government sans dictator, or they will have their resolve strengthened and will unite together to combat this evil and uncaring act. I wonder if Iran has anything to do with it. I also noticed that they are similar to the Parliament house we have here in Canberra. They also have the tomb of the unknown soldier, which is close by.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6548337.stm





The other topic is the disappearance of BBC journalist, Alan Johnston. I will be brief. Alan was on the last week of his tour. It is like being a week away from retirement, and then being struck down. Johnston was surrounded by armed men and taken. Nobody has heard from him since then. There are protests by the Palestinian people as he was the only foreign correspondent in Gaza, and had been there for a couple of years. He is highly respected there and it was said he was the "only bridge to the world" community where the honest opinions of the common people were displayed. He worked hard and was apparently very upstanding and accurate in his reporting. I will not profess to know this as fact, because I don't know if I have ever even read any of his posts, but I gleaned this info from news radio on the way home from work this evening and from various reports I have read. Again, I find it tragic. This is another topic I touched on last year, in the fallout from "doctored" pictures published by mainstream media outlets. A prevailing thought from these violent groups are.....If you write something about me that I don't like, I will KILL you.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6546059.stm

I have taken a bit of a break from slurping up all the news I could find, but just felt compelled to write again on these topics. If you do read this please comment. <---- no u won't be shot.

thanks. chanks.