Happy cradling arms with moving feet.

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So the election is rumoured to be after the rugby world cup. Our PM, John Howard is a massive sports freak, and the cynical would say he gets a last photo opportunity and free seats for our beloved Wallabies before he is voted out. Secondly, APEC is being held here so he wouldn't want to miss that and he also has two visitors, in the Japanese PM and Canadian PM in the next couple months.

Parliament has been rather spirited, if you like that sort of thing. The Labour party drew first blood when they tried to expose the long standing rift between John Howard and his right hand man, Treasurer, Peter Costello, in sitting period, where they are trying to sell the notion there is so much infighting amongst the "Libs" they don't have time to run the country. It was interesting to note, the Sunday Telegraph, posting the headline, in which Kevin Rudd, leader of the opposition, was caught in a strip club while attending a conference in New York two years ago. Accusations were that the Liberals were behind the public smear. In a slight twist of fate, it appears that Rudd's lead in the polls has grown since this was exposed. The slogan, Kevin in oh seven and its party have a monstrous lead according to the official poll but like the last two elections, I am sure they are wary that Howard will once again pull the rabbit out of the hat and streak to victory. It should be a good race.

India, the village of Sariya, anti terrorist classes for the ladies in an effort to train women to fight should they be attacked. It makes for an interesting photo which you can see above. ( look at the smiles ) Local defence groups which were set up in Kashmir, and Jammu, under the VDC or Village Defence Committee programs were given direction by the army. The article could end here, we would be slightly amused by the picture and move back into our happy little lives. However, who supplied the guns? Why does the army train civilians? The AK-47 is the most widely used weapon used on the globe. It is one of the weapons of choice for terrorists. It is easy to fire and readily available to over one third of the world's population. Does the Indian government condone a violent and potentially fatal training for these weapons? In theory is this not an appalling practice?

Not really. It is actually necessary. For over 15 years the Kashmir and Jammu regions, sitting in the world's second most populous country, has had lawless and terrorist activity in a disputed region between Pakistan and India. I know the connotation of terrorism seems to be stolen and replaced by images of Iraq, but in fact has been a blot on civilization since the early ages. In pre 2001 days, India, then and now has been ravaged by bands of outlaws. At the front of the firing line are the women. They are terrorized, intimidated, raped, beaten and subjected to many abuses. The Village Defence Committee was borne out of tragedy. June 26, 2004, terrorists killed 12 women, including 5 children, further galvanizing these defence communities. Women banded together, acquiring weapons, organizing, and forming a motley crew of resistance, with some effect. I am not telling the entire story because I don't know it. I would bet, if prompted gently with a big stick, that Pakistan lists a number of terrible acts committed by their enemy, India. However, I applaud the courage and strength of these women who will fight back, often I am sure while giving their own life, in trying to save those who are being victimized by an uncaring and violent enemy. Now when you glance at the above picture, do the smiles look like happy masks, which in fact disguise the pain they have witnessed? Despite the smile it is a shame.

Zee tres expensive

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It is about time...

Art. It is only worth as much as someone will pay for it. The top picture, is the highest priced painting to ever be sold at a staggering $135 million. It was looted by the Nazi's in WWII and was painted by Gustav Klimt in 1907. It was purchased in 2006 by R.S. Lauder, the cosmetics king.

Sitting at number 2

Garcon a la Pipe- Pablo Picasso 104.1 million

3. Dora Maar with Cat- Pablo Picasso 95.2 million

4. Portrait of Dr. Gachet- Vincent van Gogh 82.5 million. This one was interesting because the Japanese businessman who had paid over 80 mil for it in 1996 wanted to be cremated with it when he died. He loved it immensely. Somehow it was saved.

5. Bal Au Moulin de la Galette- Pierre-Auguste Renoir. 78 million. I like this one.

6. Massacre of the Innocents- Peter Paul Rubens 76.7 million. ( pictured above ) It was painted in 1611.

7. Portrait de l'Artiste sans Barbe- Vincent van Gogh. 71.5 million. A selt portrait without the beard.

8. Rideau, Cruchon et Compotier- Paul Cezanne 60.5 million.

9. Femme aux Bras Croises- Pablo Picasso a paltry 55 million.

10. Irises- Vincent van Gogh

Also pictured below is the painting titled No. 5, by Jackson Pollock. It is rumoured to be on the verge of selling for a whopping $140 million which would place it firmly in first place. If you ever get the chance to visit Canberra, I urge you to check out Pollock's Blue Poles which is exhibited in the National Gallery of Australia.

Cydonia Mensae- THE FACE ON MARS!

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July 1976 was the month in which the Viking 1 spacecraft delivered a shocking photo back to mission control. Whilst searching for a better landing place for its sister ship, Viking 2, it came across the sight. It was a large reproduction of a human face, in the spirit of our pyramids, but this structure covered 2 square miles. In comparing this structure to our pyramids you will quickly realize that any life forms that created such a vast structure would have to be more advanced than we are here, because of the sheer size of the phenomenon. They would have to be well organized and more advanced than we are because we have no knowledge of their appearance, which would suggest they have travelled here, or observed us in some way. Almost immediately, experts at NASA claimed there was little evidence to suggest any life was prevalent on the red planet. This did little to quell the anxiety felt by those who believed the possibility existed that another species, quite possibly not human, existed, and they were more advanced than we.

In the 1800's thousands of convicts were sent to Australia. The voyage lasted several months, where danger nurtured disease making the trip potentially perilous for all. Temperatures were noticeably warmer, as compared to England, making those who were used to cooler climates feel that Australia was an undesirable place to live. Colonizing Mars would also be a dangerous undertaking. It takes approximately 7 months to travel there. Temperatures range between minus 140 C in the winter and reaching highs of 20 C in summer. There is a polar ice cap at the north pole, which suggests water. Under the first couple of meters of rock, which covers the mysterious planet, scientists estimate there is an ample supply, which if these geniuses are correct could sustain humans. The landscape is named after highly regarded astronauts. Gusev crater, Apollo 1 hills, Columbia hills and Endurance crater are the names of a few.

It may not be too long before a concrete proposal for colonization is realized. It would be heightened by a discovery of a resource or a new element. If this did take place, would the news be kept secret or would it be heralded across the globe as a reason to continue exploration of this planet? If given the opportunity, would you travel to Mars, and be the first human to be exposed to the Martian landscape, without the benefit of a space suit? Would you consider living away from Earth? If we continue to populate we may have to colonize another planet. Do you agree with the notion?

Education AIDS Developement?

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Can you confess the truth? I ask you whether or not you know where Madagascar is?

Yes, back to Afrika we go. I entered the subject line, "sunset, madagascar" on the flickr website, which by the way is an amazing place to visit, because I wanted a vision of the location from an ordinary person, not a watered down, slanted, cynical, safe hotel dwelling media droid. Jessy, whose photo is pictured above is from Mozambique, and her tag line or album name was called "vote for hate." Intriguing, I felt, beauty conjoined with hate. I view above, where we pose beside a tree, possibly a cherry blossom in security, while the cruel sun begins to die. We focus on a statue, symbolizing order, progress, peace, but the hazy outline of fog obscures our panorama. I would imagine our tour guide was covered in sticky sweat, while lurking in the humid air.

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Madagascar, is located at the bottom of Africa. I should say the southern region, the island east of South Africa. Many consider this to be a vanishing eden. It is prosperous but poverty stricken. It is home to many mammals and birds not found anywhere else in the world. Its capital city is Antananarivo, located just north of the center of the lush island. Its population is more than New Zealand and just barely less than Australia, sitting at nearly 20 million. It is a former French colony, where France is its biggest trading parter for both imports and exports. On the smoggy side, this location has a low HIV rate, which is considerably better than its neighbours. However, BBC reports that the rates of STD's are raising because of an ignorance by most of the natives. A good percentage of the population earn 1 US dollar per day, which means buying a condom is pretty expensive. Africa, once again is a paradox. A beautiful untouched landscape married to a Rio Tinto mine site. A capital city conceals herself beside an underdeveloped city infastructure, poverty touching most, but embracing a downtown core filled with Hilton hotels, and a cosmopolitan shopping district. You get a great black coffee, but it is polluted with thick luscious creme. Yes this is Madagascar.

_

One final issue. Power. This year there has been growing frustration on the many power cuts. Diesel for the generators has risen so much the state run power company is facing bankrupcy should it continue to generate. Therefore, rolling power cuts are a normal but frustrating occurance. Internet cafe's, hotels, homes, all struggle with this hassle. Due to the rising gap between the haves and the have nots it appears that only 15 percent of the population has access to the grid anyway. Being an island nation can have its advantages but when dealing with power production, its drawbacks.

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So I ask the big twenty four dollar question. At what point to you encourage investment, foreign firms setting up infastructure, hydroelectric dams, resource developement, when you will have a little more of your personal beautiful eden stripped away? Will a fully functional power grid help with education amongst its children, promoting disease control, hygene, stability? Has Madagascar survived for so long without modern conveniences, while education was handed down from elders to youngers, and society living in their own style of comfort for many years previously so therefore should a focus on developement be abandoned? I know what I think.

Wat du yu tink mate?

Paul stammered towards Wassily and Henri.

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.....and so, since the trial was held in Libya under a man named Gaddafi, where torture was allegedly used to gain confessions from the foreign medical staff, the EU has been attempting for years to gain the freedom for the sextet, who until recently had been jailed for the last eight summers.

>

Opponents of the release of this group of six, ( five nurses and a doctor ) have said it is an insult to the victims. I wonder how much mileage Gaddafi got as he sold the idea to his country about how he was tough on foreigners who have come into his country and attempted to kill its people. He would have looked like a noble man, and one who was a defender or protector of those he governed. Now, he is getting favourable press, allies amongst the French, the EU, and the United States as a man who listens to reason, a man who believes in compassion, a man who has strong ideals, and a man who governs a country where it may be a safe haven to invest in. Oh, and guess what.... Sarkozy, has already agreed to a nuclear desalinization plant, a joint partnership between the two countries where all would benefit. Interesting.

>

On the flip side, we have an introduction of two ladies. Cecilia Sarkozy, and Benita Ferrero-Waldner. Cecilia has said she would not be a conventional first lady and within weeks has proven this to be true. Breaking from protocol, she breezed into Libya to visit Gaddafi personally on an impromptu trip to the region. She appears to be a bit of a firebrand, a maverick, one who pursues what she deems to be right, regardless of consequence. I think those qualities can be the mark of a leader, however, they are also the qualities of those who embrace diplomatic failure. Time will reveal her mettle. Personally, I kinda like her. Benita, the fifty something External Affairs Commish for the European Union has been tirelessly working and negotiating on this issue for some time. She became the commissioner in 2004. I googled her name and came up with just about sweet nothing. If you want type in Barossa, where you will find his cabinet, then scroll down until you get to this dignified lady. The ABC here in Australia, reported that the Sarkozy's have gone in, grabbed the glory, the headlines, while the others, like Ferrero-Waldner, who have done the hard yards are left to bask in the aftershock of the lovemaking made with the presse by the French delegation. In other words, there was little if any recognition given to the efforts of others. I will leave it to you to formulate your own view, but until then, I think Benita deserves some recognition for her great strides. I have been negligent in providing pictures but hope to follow these two strong ladies in the future and will no doubt post more about them.

>

I lastly ask, about the others. Did Wassily Kandinsky, Paul Klee, and Henri Matisse have an important part to play in this dramatic, political rescue? Should they be awarded medals?

The evil ones?

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So the result was terrible. A team of foreign medical staff deliberately doing harm to hundreds of children. I have been following this story for a while now, and am kicking myself for not writing about it earlier. A Pakistani doctor and a team of 5 Bulgarian nurses knowingly infecting 438 children with HIV. At least those were the charges. The African nation handed down the stiffest sentence possible. Execution. Fair? You tell me.

Suddenly, one starts to rationalize. How could medics, charged with caring for children be so monstrous? Stories slowly emerge that those charged are wrongfully imprisoned, and will die without the facts presenting themselves. It seems the problem wasn't murderous intent, but a culture of overwork, poor sanitary standards, coupled with lack of proper funding. The staff in charge of infecting the children were in fact innocent, but were caught in a trap which led to a dire consequence.

Those are the two stories. I know you are familiar with the outcome, because it has become a major story now, as opposed to an obscure side track, which has been the case for the last years.

I ask though, what should happen? Who is guilty, who is innocent?

... to be continued....

Infamous or famous, rich or poor?

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I love pictures. I also like to find provocative pieces which make one ponder. Now I have to give a slight warning here because the picture I am posting below is one that may make you want to vomit. So, if you have just had more than a couple pieces of pizza, and about 5 too many beverages, while topping it off with the best chocolate cake, you will want to stop reading NOW. Do not go any further. I mean, we have had Britney Spears sculpture of her posing nude, while pregnant, on a bearskin rug. We had images of the flamboyant Parisian throwing a brick at police, while fires burned in the background, and of course the one of a massive man sitting naked on a chair. I feel this little ditty is in the "special" calibre. I hope you do too.

As an interlude, I feel it is always good to break away from the same ole political talk, worries of the future, postulations upon themes which hold no lasting value, and hold a couple light hearted blog spots. So please indulge me for a time, we will get back to important topics. I read with interest about Sarkozy and his wife, about Putin with his weapons and a bit about the Tour de France. Hopefully steroids will not be such a blemish this year. Today I would like to focus on Virus Protection. Here is my story......

My laptop wasn't performing very well. I was not happy, and thought it was due to not enough memory. I went out and purchased 2GB of RAM, upgrading from a paltry 512, and then expected a marked improvement in my performance. I noticed no difference. In fact, when I clicked on "My Computer," it would take up to ten seconds before loading the page. Of course at this point I was too lazy to push this big mountain of a problem off of me and to investigate why things were not going too well. The next indicator was when a little bubble came up in my taskbar informing me I was out of disk space. I moved skads of junk to my spare usb drive and went for coffee. Upon my return I noticed the little bubble was back. No disk space. My co-worker asked if I had updated my virus definitions. I hadn't, so I did. Of course, my virus scanner did not pick up anything awry, so I let it slide. Two weeks have gone past, and with a burst of energy I tackled the problem. On Thursday, last week I downloaded Prevx. I chose the free trial. The idea is, that they will put the software on you computer, and will update it, while watching for trouble. Upon finding a perpetration, they will clean it up. After 30 days though, they will only tell you that there is a problem. At that point you can buy it, which is actually pretty inexpensive, and it will continue to flush any problems into the toilet.

( Picture below is an example of a virus having its way with YOUR computer )

Sunday, today, I turned to my Prevx install, and did an extensive scan. I note in fairness that it, once installed does a quick scan to find anything. It didn't. I had to enable a full scan and it found 2 malicious files, which were over 8MB each. Yes eight freaking megabytes each! It is the equivalent of 6-10 songs, or about 15000 of the above picture and 50 of my last blogs or thereabout. So officially I dedicate this small spot, to spruiking Prevx. Hopefully Google won't be too mad because they want to put their own ads here, but that is my humble opinion, and I intend to let everyone I know, know.

A virus, or rootkit, or worm, or trojan, and the humble computer user is rarely a good combination... as evidenced in the picture at the top. "Where did all my hard drive space go?"

Nemo wasn't sad.

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Well well well, it is certainly good to hear from Targo, which is getting rarer and it is nice to see a visit from Bench. However, it is an amazing treat to get both of you! So thanks.

Does a fish have a heart? Yes it does. Can a fish have a heart attack? I don't know. Can fishermen have heart attacks? Yes. What if they are frustrated? Here is my story.

A short time ago, in a place far, far away a gentleman met another who had a boat, gear and the knowledge to fish, fish away. One of the gentlemen was me.

So I met and climbed into the craft. The water, though calm, looked cold, uninviting, but ready for a fishing rod. We set out, travelling slowly upstream to the special spot, where we found another mate with his wife, already fishing.

"G'day"

Pleasantries were exchanged first, then blissful working of the river for her treasure ensued. All was quiet, until, "So have you caught anything today?"

"No, but I did yesterday. We have only been here for an hour and a half"

Silence. Swish goes the water.

I asked again, "So, how're those Roos goin?"

"Sssh...quiet, you are scaring the fish!" She exclaimed with vigour and contempt. I was thinking because if they had been quiet for the last hour and a half like they said they were, silence wasn't the golden lure.

" I just wanted to...."

"Shaddup! You are scaring the fish, and if you are going to continue I will have to ask you to leave. We were here first." This time he was the culprit. Man, I wondered again about this strange breed. My boatmate chuckled silently. His brother and sister in law were the real serious, dour, fishing type. Whenever, they fished tension was high and most people just kept quiet, hoping they would not make eye contact.

Suddenly, my line gave a tug! " Pull up, pull up " was the exclamation but to no avail. Fishy fish was only teasing. I decided to name her in honour of my fishing mates, surly girl. Surly girl wouldn't bite.

Now the surly girl in the little white dingy got a bite. She dutifully reeled her prize in, but it was a fighter.

"C'mon Terese, go, go, get her man. You can do it. Have you got her?"

"Quiet, I'm trying to concentrate." Her arm tensed, her eye was gleaming, her brow perspired.

"I gotta name it for you."

"Would you just shut up."

"But you gotta name her. Look, she's getting closer. Oh man, this is exciting." I stood up rather too quickly, the boat violently keeled over but my blonde companion and I steadied our vessel before we had a tragedy.

"*&^% off. Shut your face!" Her face contorted with rage. It seemed she was a bit hot, but I wasn't really doing anything. " You are causing waves, I can't concentrate and would you quit being so excitable, like a little kid"

Undaunted I blurted, "Happy Mood"

"What?" This time it was the husband. " Happy what? Are you making fun of my wife?"

"No, its the name of the fish, don't you think it is...."

"You are naming the fish? " She was looking at the waters, while his mouth still hung open with disbelief

"Yeah, Happy Mood." I watched as she reeled her in. The hook was caught deep into the belly, wriggling, unable to breathe, eyes wide open, flopping all over in the bottom of the boat. Terese pulled, but the hook wouldn't come out.

"Grab me the pliers." They were handed over but it was no use. The hook was too far, and it couldn't be reached. "Measure it," she ordered.

"Don't call her an IT, her name is Happy Mood," I declared.

"Just do keep you mouth shut, how do you know if it's a girl?" She was seething.

"Its a little short love. We are going to have to throw it back in," her husband faithfully said.

Cutting the line, she carefully placed Happy Mood in to the water. " That hook will dissolve eventually. It's the acids in the stomach of a fish."

I pondered. It seemed a little inhumane to me. Of course, would it be inhumane if it was a fish? Wouldn't that be another word. This kind of philosophies are too much for my tiny brain. What did I know, they were probably right. I mean, catching an animal with a sharp hook, dragging it by its innards, pulling it out, where it couldn't breathe, yanking on the foreign object, cutting the line.... that didn't seem very, uh, what is the word, fish friendly, to me. Oh well, at least she kissed it before depositing, my Happy Mood back where she belonged. I thought it looked like the fish had done a little poo.

My boat mate suddenly came to life. "Fairdinkum mate!" He yelled while furiously pulling the line in. " Get the net ready." I did, and quickly slid our prize into the bottom of the water filled box. Unfastening the hook, I realized I didn't have time to name our treasure. This was so exciting. Again, I nearly capsized us. Once measured, it was just a little short to keep. I asked for our passenger, kissed her, and then much to the horror of our surly friends, lobbed her in a high parabolic arc 20 meters away. Splash! See ya my nameless friend.

" I can't believe you did that. That was uncalled for. You probably gave the poor thing a heart attack", exclaimed the cranky duo. "Don't you know anything? You don't treat a fish like that. It isn't how things are supposed to be done. In all my years I have never seen anyone do THAT!" They both droned on with animation.

Give a fish a heart attack? I hadn't thought of that. What a selfish jerk I am. " C-can a fish even have a heart attack," I stammered? I enforced my will and asked to be taken immediately to shore. My friend complied and while I detected the beginnings of a slight smirk, he kept his face straight like a poker player eyeing a winning hand.

Tonight, after weeks of turmoil, I finally had the courage to google fish heart attacks. I had done something so unruly, so cruel, acting like an unjust judge. What did I find? I found that fish oil actually helps with heart disease. What did I glean from that? Well, number one, if my unnamed fish was a cure for heart problems, it must have a healthy heart and couldn't have been in any duress. Number two, the hook in our little fish, Happy Mood, would not be too happy. But what do I know, I'm not a fisherman.

Charcoal anyone?

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(picture) Virgin Amazon Rainforest logs and the mud huts they will be put into to create... charcoal.

Australian Minister for Defence, Dr. Brendan Nelson, was involved in what Liberal supporters called a gaffe, last week. He may have had his words taken out of context by a media outlet to sensationalize a story but the spotlight was thrust upon him, and it was reported in the worldwide news that Australia is in Iraq for the oil. John Howard went into damage control after the official opposition leader, Kevin Rudd, claimed the Liberals were making up policy on the run, or words to that effect. American diplomats would have "encouraged" to refrain from these kind of statements because the war is not about oil. It is about ridding the evil Saddam Hussein's dictatorial empire and give freedom to the Iraqi people.

The Gulf War I, was not about the oil, it was about defending Kuwait from an evil bully. Gulf War II, of course was not about the oil either. Fact 1. The Middle East, including Iraq is awash in oil. Fact 2. When the initial invasion took place, in both conflicts, the price of petroleum raised dramatically. Fact 3. The largest exports from the Middle East are oil. Fact 4. The largest companies in the Middle East are oil exporters. Fact 5. Without oil, every country in the Middle East would be poor third world countries. Fact 6. The US, Britain, and Australia are not in Iraq for oil.

I know Australia, is but a tiny little speck when compared to any of the G8 ( Canada notwithstanding ) nations and the pollies know which side of their toast has honey on it, but it would be refreshing for at least one politician to at least blurt out, in a high and voluptuous voice.... The emperor isn't wearing any clothes! It will not happen because we recently signed a Free Trade agreement with the US, making them a larger trading partner, and secondly because we are not the puppet master. If Australia, was to tell the world, that Iraq was about oil, many Republicans would be upset. Democrats would be happy of course but when Hillary Clinton, comes into power, I doubt she would trust Howard and his experienced cronies because of the damage they had done to the previous administration, however small. I guess the game is played with certain rules, that cannot be broken.

We have many hostile thoughts against the US government here on this site and wonder if you would like to indulge in a few more? Isn't it interesting when you see normal Americans echoing the views of their enemy? Ironic. Defeat from within? I am full of questions today.

Psam agrees with Osama?

"We declared jihad against the US government, because the US government is unjust, criminal and tyrannical. It has committed acts that are extremely unjust, hideous and criminal whether directly or through its support of the Israeli occupation." - Osama bin Laden - to CNN in March 1997

"The pieces of the bodies of infidels were flying like dust particles. If you would have seen it with your own eyes, you would have been very pleased, and your heart would have been filled with joy." -- Osama bin Laden at the wedding of his son in southern Kandahar about the 17 sailors who died suicide bombing of the USS Cole off the coast of Yemen

The should be dead... alive!

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I just had to comment on the release of Alan Johnston, BBC reporter, who was held hostage for 114 days by terrorists. If you recall, I had a brief blurb on here and fed you a link in which there was an online petition calling for the release of the respected journalist. I did not sign the petition because I figured it was an exercise in futility, feeling also that he would be yet another victim of terrorism. However, he was released. Amazing. Did any of you sign the petition? While I think that it was not the petition which was the mitigating factor which secured his release, it would have been another small step in the right direction. It was a vote for hope, and a vote for a peaceful solution. I am glad Alan Johnston is alive, and hope he can receive any mental healing he needs to receive. I would have felt a bit better, if I had put my name to the petition, and maybe felt that I had done a little, itty, bitty thing to help sway the minds of evil to release one who was a pawn in a much larger game. One could argue that I am being a bit harsh when I refer to the kidnappers as evil, as they were just trying to negotiate better conditions for their movement. However, I don't know that involving bystanders, or killing children, or using suicide bombers will ever enter my mind as an acceptable method of achieving empathy for a cause. I will, for now, simply say the kidnappers are evil. I watched Alan, say he didn't give up hope. While being in chains, in desolate circumstances, in uncertain times, he never gave up hope. I admire his composure, but again, it is evident that he never gave up because he didn't look like a beaten man, he looked tired, he looked weary, but he also looked strong and able. I felt a bit sorry for him, as he gave interviews, and liaised with the former leader of Lebanon and other Hamas members, becoming once again a pawn, or a photo opportunity for another side of the conflict. Hopefully, he can now get some rest, and spend some much needed time with some loved ones. Maybe we all can take a little time to spend with the ones we love.

Dirty White Trash [With Gulls]

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Tim Noble and Sue Webster.

Ah, dirty white trash. What image does that evoke for you?

I put the garbage out where it waited for the trash person to arrive, taking it to its final resting place in the sun. Whilst awaiting for limo equivalent transportation its grave site was interrupted by a young couple. The two, scavenging for treasure flipped the lid open, proceeding to ferret around for scraps of gourmet undertakings. After closing the garage door, and backing out, I suddenly stopped. Upset, agitated because I was already behind schedule, I shooed the magpies away, picked up egg shells, leaking containers, and the like putting it back into the bin. Disgusting.

Our topic is consumption. Each day, we will produce trash in mammoth proportions. First of all I must digress. When I say "we" I mean anyone who would be reading this, so that means, an internet user, who reads English. Okay? That will eliminate about 3.5 billion of Earth's inhabitants. So, yeah, each morning as we start with "brekkie" two egg shells, half a slice of toast, maybe a butter container go into the bin. We put our dishes into the dishwasher, after washing off the used scum on the plate. Net result, oh about a litre of water, not including the dishwasher.... I will not keep going, but if one was to ponder for about nine seconds, the amount of refuse going into the trash each day we would realize a few things. What are those few things? Next is production. If we consume, do we produce? What do we produce besides emissions?

Australian police are questioning two doctors in the aftermath of the attempted bombings in the United Kingdom. Slowly sloshing through traffic this evening, the talk show was floating the idea that it is not the young disenchanted middle eastern men who are the main fear among anti terrorism proponents. It is the established, thirty something, educated, middle eastern men. I have to confess, when seeing middle eastern men, in the airport, I sometimes have a fleeting thought they could be terrorists. Yes, I know this is unfair, but be honest, does it happen to you? I think it does. I also wonder if it is a theme which is perpetuated by western media sources causing fear. September eleventh, UK tube bombings, Iraqi, Bali, Israeli, Turkish bombings, all in under 10 years involve those of middle eastern decent. Every morning, as we check the news we are being inundated with these images. So therefore, does it make one racist if they feel a fleeting suspicion when in close contact with middle eastern people while at the airport? I think not. Is it fair? No. Conversely, it would be true, I feel, that in Iran, a great number of the inhabitants there would feel a fleeting suspicion when they came into contact with some of us...... Dirty White Trash!!!

Pasha Bulker on Noddy's beach is still afloat.

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Cash. Beautiful cash. This bread is supposed to be over 200 million US. In another country, another continent and another time, this amount in post war Germany would have bought you a few days food supply. In Zimbabwe, currently, this will get you approximately 5 months worth of rent in your 1 bedroom unit. We should see Mugabe run out of Zimbabwe or killed because he can't even pay his own bodyguards now. If he pays them it will be worthless by the end of the day. Good Job, Robbie Mugabeee!

So the question of the day as opposed to the soup or the catch du jour, is whether you would sacrifice half of the years of your life, for enough money to live in excess or very very comfortably. Lets say, would you, if you were 15 years old, take the offer of 200 million dollars US, and live like royalty until you were 55. At age 55 your life would end. No tricks, you get the dough, and give up your life at 55. You can take the money in gold, silver, oil, Euro's... whatever, but at 55..... GAME OVER! All you old farts... you are 15... what is your choice?

I noticed that Iran has enforced fuel rations today. They have all the oil they could ever want, but lack refining facilities. Citizens are now forced to live on 100 litres per month. Iran relies heavily on receiving imported fuel. Interestingly enough, part of the reason they have an inflation rate of nearly 20% is because they subsidise their petrol, which makes the cost per litre a mere 11 cents. The government is worried the US is going to sanction this foreign oil, which would throw their already teetering economy into chaos. President Happy Mood, a.k.a Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, is quite an unpopular character right now. How fickle the people are, as he was very popular just months ago while he defiantly told the world he was going to have his nuclear program and didn't care what everyone else thought. I can't help but wonder what would happen if he had some secret talks with, the Americans and suggested he would stop sending over suicide bombers to Iraq, and stop his nuclear ambitions in exchange for assistance in normalizing their fuel supply. Secondly, if he was to build a few refineries, it would create jobs, more stability, and a stronger economy. His people would be better for it, and the world would be better for it. How is that for a diplomatic solution? Will it happen? Don't make me gag.

Desolation in the Indian Ocean.

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HMAS Sydney was logging many hours acting as an escort ship. Its latest mission sent it to escort the ship Zealandia, a redesigned merchant ship carrying troops and supplies to offload, at Sumantra. As the Sydney was returning, it was advised to be aware of hostile ships. On November 19, nearly back to Fremantle, it spotted an unidentified cruiser, 20 kms away. It exchanged signals and after many errors and stalling, the signal that it was merely a Dutch Merchant ship seemed in order. The Sydney came closer to investigate. When it was 1000 meters away, the Dutch boat opened fire with concealed artillery weapons and torpedo's. It was actually the German auxiliary cruiser, the Kormoran. While the HMAS Sydney managed to return fire, and scuttle the german raider, it sailed south on fire, and sank, killing all 645 on board. The year was 1941 and the ship has never been found. This is the highest navy death toll in Australian history.

An unknown sailor, lying in a lifeboat, partially decomposed, washes up 2000 kms away onto the shores of Christmas island three months later. His boots have been taken off but otherwise the boat is empty. No handgun, no supplies. He is buried in an unmarked grave and the lifeboat burned. Japanese forces storm the island a short time later occupy until 1945. It appears that at least one man of the 645 which perished survived, for a time. Incredible detective work has narrowed the identity of the man down to three people. DNA testing will be done, to hopefully determine just who this man was.

Sub-Lt King's sister, Helen Blackburne, 84, said yesterday she was shocked to hear the sailor could be her brother.
"I couldn't believe it when they said they may have found him," she said.
"We've never forgotten him. We'd just like to know. It would be wonderful if it were Allen."
Mrs Blackburne's son, Allen, 57, was named in honour of his uncle.
He said news that one of their family could be the sailor was "more than amazing".
"It's completely out of left field," he said.
"Our family has been following the Sydney story for many years. We know the identity of the sailor is yet to be proven, so we are not jumping to conclusions. But it is pretty amazing." Quoted from Sun Herald June 24th 2007

Last November, on the second attempt a navy team finally found the grave site. After examination it was determined the man survived for days after the attack. There was an injury to the skull. A bullet to the brain.

If you were an armed soldier sitting in a heaving lifeboat in calm seas, with no food or drinking water, would you wait for death's dark slumber to overtake, or would you end the struggle to live? Did he commit suicide, or was he killed by a surfacing Japanese submarine suspected in aiding the German ship and defeating the HMAS Sydney?

Trade is more important to us.....(pause) than Aid.

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Aaaaaaaaah. Isn't the taste of a cold coke just divine? It is like black gold. Of course Black Gold is usually thought of as oil.... http://www.blackgoldmovie.com/ .... isn't it? Where are my values? I am spruiking the great drink, Coca Cola, talking about black gold, advertising on this site.... Where does it end. Has the Chank sold out? ( Heck while we are at it, do you think U2 sold out?)

Principles. Do you stand up for an ideal, a better way or a principle? I am editing, tonite, one of my earliest blogs because I am not prepared to die for my words. I know, that I am but a half of a half microspeck in the world, in fact I am a bit less than that, however, if these words here are ever read on a large scale, I would not want them to cause any harm to myself or anyone else. So does that make me an unprincipled, weak, insignificant person? Or does it make me common? We are not getting a clear unbiased look at the situation in the Middle East because of reporting that is unprincipled, and does not tell the whole story, simply because reporters are not willing to die for what the write. Trust me, they die, if they are based in the Middle East and they write the right story against the wrong people. Isn't that right, what I write. Right? Do you agree? If the mainstream media sources were smart, they could hire some aspiring suicide bombers to give some unbiased, identifying, good quality reporting. Of course that sounds like a Monty Python sketch gone wrong. The other opportunity open is to acquire Salman Rushdie. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salman_Rushdie

BTW, FYI, the picture above features disgruntled Mexicans on a twice yearly naked protest. On this day, they are protesting against alleged corruption by members within their House of Represntitives. Wow, is it true that politicians are highly esteemed in every country? Is it true that most people who are willing to bear it all in public, shouldn't? Is it true that the pictures on the uh, ends of the uh, middle section...are in fact the pictures of dost?

Would Brigitte Bardot cry?

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The smart man who is Robert Mugabe has driven his country into despair. Today it was reported that Zimbabwe will collapse within six months. Aid workers were briefed about this and told to prepare for crisis. An aid worker is making more money than the police. Whilst RM (Robert Mugabe) is making shrines in honour to himself, and giving his friends land, the rest of this formally great country suffers. It seems that the dummies, or the evil farmers who initially balked at giving up their land for free to Mugabe's cronies were right. They claimed, and it would have been about 8 years ago, that the country would go into ruin. Inflation in this country is the highest in the world. It could arguably be said it is as bad for Zimbabwe as it was for the Germans after WWII. I bet the next thing we hear from ole' Robbie is there is a plot against him and it is just propaganda spread against him by Westerners. Tell ya what Robbie boy. Why don't you go take a walk, without your bodyguards, down the streets of Harare for an afternoon. If the people are too hungry to fight against you does that mean you get to keep being the leader? With your permission, I will move Robert Mugabe from his comfortable position at number four, on the worst living Dictator's list, up a notch to three. Do you concur?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6751671.stm

Kyoto Protocol. The United Nations convention on climate change is a step in the right direction. I do not fully agree with it because it allows the two most populous countries in the world, who incidentally contain nearly half of Earth's humans to be overlooked in their responsibilities for climate change, simply because they have a weaker economy. You can paint it any which way, but that is the way I see it. I have seen many rivers which are considered polluted, and unsuitable to drink from but have never seen pictures like the ones above. The second one is located in the Citarum River in Indonesia where the people are collecting the plastic and is the source of drinking water for many cities. The first picture is located in Wuhan, China where they have lost approximately 125 thousand kilos of fish in three days because of pollution in the water. Does a government in China, who has killed people for expressing their own views, who throws people in jail for criticizing the government, who spends a great deal of money censoring the internet, have a responsibility to make laws against those who display wanton cruelty to the environment?

Aeneas flees burning Troy-- Federico Barocci

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Some time ago, I shared a travelling companion for a period of over 2 years. Every time we passed a certain building that had the following address in big huge numbers she would exclaim "two, five, four, four" until someone would go berko and ask her to stop. Sometimes she would stop, other times we just heard the wonderful soliloquy of.... "two, five, four, four, two, five, four, four........" I confess that I am very 2,5, four, foured when people whine about Dubya. It will be nice when he is finally out of office, so we can no longer hear about him and his failings. I nearly put down an article today, in the Canberra Times, because it appeared as just another rant by another columnist. However, it was good, and forms the thought du jour or kernel of this BS (blogspot.)

Ronald Reagan started program back in the eighties called Star Wars. It essentially is a missile defence shield. In short, if a long range missile is fired at the United States, it can be shot down before it reaches its intended target. Opponents don't like it because it may start another nuclear arms race. I don't read of any proponents other than the US government. The author in the Canberra Times, mentioned above, stated there is no reason for a program like this to commence because he feels it gives the US another weapon to play with, will potentially start another cold war and argues that the countries America is concerned with, Iran and North Korea, only have short range missles. "Dubya" a.k.a President George W Bush, practiced diplomacy this week with a President Putin. ( by the way AV, if Putin gives up power as he is scheduled to I don't know if we could really put him in our top ten diktators) Mr Putin was a master of diplomacy when after vigorously opposing the newly proposed Star Wars program he generously suggested that the Americans use his ( russia's) radar outpost as a means of monitoring potential threats. It would enable him to keep close watch on the program and being that he is a former KGB man......

I ask, do you support Star Wars? If not why not. I also ask if the US should not even look at this program until other countries develop long range tactical nukes? Would that be a good idea? Would I do that if I was head of the military? People say, that many inventions come about as an offshoot of military research. Could there be a possibility there would be a great and valuable invention other than destruction reaped from such research? Many questions. Many answers.

http://canberra.yourguide.com.au/detail.asp?class=your%20say&subclass=general&story_id=595622&category=Opinion

Finally, I have deleted one post, which I feel didn't quite belong here, and was a bit offensive. I am going to edit another post by the end of the week because...well I will explain later. We are in the mid nineties now, and maybe, with your help, we will do something different for the next one hundred. I am considering printing copies of our first one hundred, and the comments, binding it up into book so you can put it in your living room, and have a laugh. Would there be any interested?

http://chankslee.blogspot.com/2006/03/discussion-only-take-no-offence.html#comments

Dicks (or is that Richards) who govern.

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Okay fine, yes it happens. Targo, thanks for bringing me back to my senses. I think there are times when I go off into limbo. I am learning, slowly, that you have to be using the kiss principle when writing these things.

So let’s start slowly. ( Stops. Pauses. Takes a swig of courage. Resumes. )

In this world there are goodies and there are baddies, left versus right, people who take the high road and those who venture taking the road not taken. I choose to look at some baddies today. I think, in the present state of today’s politically correct world one cannot criticize even the biggest of boofheads unless they have a huge big bad lawyer sitting beside them. In the old days the little guy would have a gunslinger but I don’t have that, and I don’t have any big lawyers… I do have my opinion so yeah, enjoy.

The last few weeks I have gone on the Afrika tangent again. Noticing there are oodles of Diktators here has prompted a list. Who are the worst? I don’t have any interest in the hall of fame idiots, like Stalin, Hitler, Mao and the like because they are dead. While they will have their place in hall of fame dictator guys, we will focus on those who are alive today. To make this list, you have to have persecuted your people, killed them, violated rights, took away freedom of expression, fought against change of leadership, and really have been a pompous, self absorbed, inconsiderate, vicious jerk. I have taken my data from the sites below, but this is my own. Please feel free to question it.

The worst.

1. Omar al-Bashir. Sudan. Wanton killing of any who oppose.
2. Kim Jong-il. North Korea. Very cunning and now with Nuclear power.
3. Than Shwe. Burma. Highest use of child soldiers in the World.
4. Robert Mugabe. Zimbabwe. Hanging onto power. Using starvation as a tactic.
5. Sayyid Ali KhamEnei. Iran. Highest use of suicide bombers for influence.
6. King Mswati III. Swaziland. Highest AIDS rate in world. 40% of people
7. Islam Karimove. Uzbekistan. Ruthless. Massacred 10000 who were protesting.
8. King Abdullah. Saudi Arabia. Contoller. Even phone calls are recorded.
9. Teodoro obiang Nguema. Equatorial Guinea. High Torture rates.
10. Hu Jintao. China. Power through enforced poverty. Human rights abuse.

Honourable mention. Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan otherwise known here as the Poodle. Hugo Chavez will probably move up the list if he continues ransacking the media to put it under his control.

http://authoritarianism.blogspot.com/

http://www.newstatesman.com/200609040067

http://www.dictatorofthemonth.com/English/English_welcome.htm

http://www.arthuredelstein.org/worlddictators/

http://www.parade.com/articles/editions/2007/edition_02-11-2007/Dictators

"large splodge of wonga"

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Disclaimer: I may have run down the good intentions of many great and noble people. It is not the intent on this site to defame or discredit but to provoke discussion. Any who are donating in good faith, or are trying to help whether it be by their influence, or otherwise, generally make the World a better place and it is definitely not my intent to discredit their ambitions. Sorry in advance.

Afrika the great. I love the place. It is full of drama and intrigue. The life of Simon Mann, I am sure will be either cut short or if it isn't... a source for one great movie.

So we have Scratcher, we have Smelly, and we have Simon, who are good friends. Simon Mann was schooled in Eton and accustomed to the finer things. He is the son of Engand's famous cricket captain George Mann. Simon went to Sandhurst, trained to be an officer, and was by some reports a fine leader, and a good soldier, as evidenced by his swift promotion through the ranks of the SAS up to commander. He served in Cyprus, Central America, and Northern Ireland. I spoke to a military man here once, when he remarked; a good soldier is never truly discharged from the military. There are not many who know the special skills and temperments needed to be a commanding officer or soldier. Huh, maybe that explains all the Rambo movies. It was no surprise that 10 years after finishing with the military he was sought for the first Gulf War.

While he worked extensively as a consultant, served as a computer technician I have to be honest with you. Simon Mann is, in my opinion simply a mercenary. He allegedly formed a company named Executive Outcomes with one of his friends, a Mr. Buckingham, (Smelly a former oil rig operator) when he saw an opportunity in Angola. Rebels had taken over the oil production for the country and they offered to uh, dispose of the rebels and defend the oil production when this was completed. The venture was successful and they continued in that vein. He has done well, but was rich before his newly accrued wealth. Simon Mann has run into a massive problem though, now currently jailed in Zimbabwe for an alleged attempt at overthrowing the dictator in Equatorial Guinea. He had 70 with him, a large amount of money, a cache of weapons, and an advance force stationed in the country of interest. Zimbabwe is preparing to extradite him to Equatorial Guinea. I think the plan was to stage the coup, install the former rebel leader as the new governor and then run the oil rich state as their own kingdom, with a profit sharing scheme for the new ruler.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon_Mann

http://www.fas.org/irp/world/para/executive_outcomes.htm

The political side is interesting. South Africa who is investigating this debacle, has been criticized for not taking a lead role in the condemnation of the practices of Robert Mugabe. They have also not opened their doors to the thousands of refugees or displaced persons either. Zimbabwe though has many problems, which quite overshadow the criticism voiced upon South Africa. One of them is that they are in need of oil. Equatorial Guinea has oil. Both of the leaders are similar in that they have a certain style of government, which does away with any opposition. I will let you guess what that leadership style is. In short Zimbabwe wants to stay in good stead with their petrol pumping friends.

Now this piece of the pie gets a little bit juicier. A smuggled message from his Zimbabwean cell was to get a "large splodge of wonga" together and get him out. The message found itself in the hands of Scratchy, or was that scratch and sniff? Scratcher is none other than Sir Mark Thatcher who had a bit of acne in school. I would guess he did a lot of scratching. If you recall, he is the son of Baroness Thatcher, former Prime Minister of Britain. The Wonga list is the names of the people who financed this attempted coup. South African police are also supposedly interested in interviewing Lord Archer, author of bestselling books such as Not a Penny More Not a Penny Less and First Among Equals who may be a financier. If I was a man who liked to wager, I would think there are many on the list who would have their reputations tarnished if wonga was released to the world.

Now, a dash of salt and a pinch of speculation. One of the key figures in this failed plot was another ( will remain nameless at this point) who was involved in the Aristide coup. Sir Mark Thatcher allegedly has mining interests in Sudan, and inquired about some military helicopters. It is not clear how many, if any, he has operating at this present time. Do we have an elite group of individuals who are doing the work that governments deem too dirty? Aristide in Haiti has been ousted. Charles Taylor of Sierra Leone, has been deposed. The oil rich area in Equatorial Guinea is a target. Angola was a successful venture. Is Darfur next? The pieces are in place. Money is being collected in charitable donations by movie stars such as Brad Pitt and George Clooney for help in stopping the carnage in Darfur. Jean Chretien former Prime Minister of Canada was imploring heads of state in the G8 to "donate" money to causes in Africa. Bill Clinton has been focusing attention on the plight of AIDS sufferers in Africa. I have to admit, I don't trust Clinton or his motives. Oh wait, isn't his wife running for President? It is widely known that donations frequently go to soldiers and dictators. Is the only way to make things happen, to hire people who will remain in the shadows, and enforce the will of the World? Is Simon Mann a hero, who is overthrowing evil dictators or a rogue that reaps wealth where there is opportunity? Is he a pawn in a very large game?

One thing is for sure. The ending of the story will be interesting.

Let's plug in!

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The snake is a Cobra. The red part is blood, and the guys in green are army guys. Thought provoking? I thought it was.

If a person has electricity or a power source they can participate. If a person has time they can be involved. The next ingredient is a computer or a device which allows web browsing. You will also need a connection to the server whether it is by telephone or otherwise. All of the above though is worthless, without the knowledge of reading. I guess we will need to add education, which opens a whole can of worms. The internet is a pretty exclusive place. I would guess that only about one third or less of the world's population is able to access it. There are so many things which are needed in order to plug in.

I ask, is there any value to having the internet? Will those of us who do not have it be left behind? What about the billions who do not have it? Do they deserve a chance to have a voice?

Okay, let's go a little further.

Are you aware that the world, the internet world that is, had it's first nuclear attack this week? They have also had its first millionaire, paid in Linden dollars and various corporations are leaping into it. The place is called Second Life. It is one of a number, but I think the most predominant of the online worlds. I will only introduce it here, and won't take it further. If you are curious, google second life. I bet you will have the some of same thoughts I had.

http://secondlife.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Life

THIS world begs a few questions too. Do you have any answers?

Drinking like a blind man...

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As I sit, I sip my coffee, quietly Kashmir oozes from the speakers and I relax. We are getting more rain. Last night, on my run around the darkened track, sheet lightning silently put on her show. It was while sleep was invading, advancing slowly, the patter on the roof began and it was comforting. They say that by July we will not be able to shower but that will be the least of my worries as I think about those farmers I know who are losing their crop, with their hope. Here is a link for Canberra's weather. Canberra Airport is closest to my place.

http://www.bom.gov.au/weather/act/canberra-observations-map.shtml

I read today, about the Leader in Nigeria, who wants to challenge the laws of the country which forbid him to seek a third term in office. He is being opposed by his former friend and political ally, and has had a hex administered against him. Imagine that in normal first world politics. Imagine Kevin Rudd, our opposition Leader putting a hex on John Howard.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6678327.stm

It seems to me as though Afrika is one of the last places on Earth who is nearing the time in which it will seize a predominant role in this world or be taken advantage of by selfish nations. Afrika, seems to me, as a beautiful but young woman, a lovely but poor girl who is teetering on the brink of womanhood and being seduced by her suitors. In Egypt, and South Africa we can see strong and established nations, while Zimbabwe, Sierra Leone, Darfur, are being raped by evil people. We see unparalleled beauty in its forests and stretching sunset's while child soldiers are learning more effective ways to kill without wasting bullets. It is such an enigma. A place of hope and a place of hate. I will have to construct a list detailing the dictators and leaders and we can judge to see whether there will be hope or if decay is just inevitable. I hope for hope.

Well my song is finished, and my coffee is nearly gone. With some luck, you will read while cradling your drink while supping on these pitiful lines of prose.....