Australia - a short history

Aborigines: "Damn Colonist!"
(Watching Captain Cook claim NSW in 1788)

English: "Bugger, it's Paddy and his leprechauns!"
(Watching the arrival of Irish convicts between 1791-1820)

Whites: "Yellow peril !"
(Following the arrival of Chinese miners in the 1850s)

West Europeans: "Oh my Lord, it's the wogs and Mafia crims here to steal our jobs and wives!"
(Cringing at the arrival of the Italians, Greeks, Poles and Yugoslavs in the 1950s)

All: "It's the bloody boat people !"
(Counting as 100,000 Vietnamese escape communism between 1970s - 1980s)

John Howard: "Stop the Afgans on the MV Tampa and Iraqis sneaking into Australia ! Mandatory detention !"
(John Howard playing on Australians xenophobic sentiment, won the election in 2001)

Kevin Rudd: "It's about people smuggling, like money laundering and drug trafficking. It's not about refugees from war-torn Sri Lanka."
(Rudd Government on the dilemma posed by 78 Tamils on board the Aussie customs ship, the Oceanic Viking, 2009)

Cottonwool Kids and Spoilt Brats

Reading Annie's blog, made me wonder how far we've come...

"PINT-SIZED crash helmets, baby- wipe warmers, baby GPS units, temporary tattoos with mum's mobile number and food allergy warnings". We protect, mollycoddle, teach them to walk away from fights. We let them have their way, throw tantrums at the supermarket, buy them the latest toys and gadgets and more...

What happened to the sound smack when they misbehave? Where's the biff in the school playground?

Even schools now eschew corporal punishment and teachers have one less behavioral motivator. I recall being hauled up at assembly (in front of the whole school and feeling the cane), standing in the corner of the classroom, arms outstretched holding weighty tomes and running round the quad. It probably made me a better person.

Was in church on Sunday for a little quiet reflection but alas there was this couple letting their kid run amok, not just in the aisle but climbing all over the altar. Yea, Jesus may love little kids but I could have throttled that monkey...

Mixed bag: Sharks, FCUM and Nessie

There is a monster great white measuring up to six metres long prowling the popular beachs of Queensland.


It bit another three meter great white almost in half (poor thing was still alive when hauled onto a boat near Deadman's Beach off north Stradbroke island). Read more here.

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Unique branding or a ripoff. English football club FCUM (Football Club of Manchester) could be accused of copying FCUK.

What's really sad is that they don't have any fans (watch the end of this clip) !

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And finally, they have found Nessie's remains. Unfortunately it was discovered in Dorset, southern part of England.

Wee ladie, am sorry tae Scootlund :0)

End times - 2012?

Can you imaging the hostility religion causes?

Someone recently sent me an email whinging about the Halal label on Cadbury Milk chocs. "BOYCOTT CADBURY!" she screamed. "Less than 2% of Aussies are Muslims, why do we pander to them, how come they punch above their weight?" Insinuations and accusations of bribery and other devious deeds followed.

How many of the 60%+ Aussie Christian population cares whether there is a Halal, Kosher or even a Heart Foundation Tick on a block of chocolate?

What I find disturbing is that the "militant" Catholic crusaders are coming out of the woodwork. They are making direct attacks on other religions, be it kicking up a ruckus about a Halal label, or calling for Latin masses. Even the Vatican is on a recruitment drive, holding out the olive branch to unhappy Anglicans, inviting them to return to the fold, mobilising its troops so to speak.

What's sad is that there are so few differences, but so many common traits in Christianity, Judaism and Islam. To begin with, there is a common ancestor Abraham. His sons were Ishmael and Issac. Mohammad descended from Ishmael, Moses and Jesus from Issac. All believe in one god, share sacred sites and even the Archangel Gabriel revealing the Qur'an to Mohammad and the Annunciation (to Mary).

So, how about it. Lets merge the three religions and end it all. By the way did you know, the "official" view according to the Catholic Church, the end of the world is when Jews become Christians (Catechism of the Catholic Church 674).

Sweet Briar Rose

Briar Rose, the name of sleeping beauty in a tale by the Brothers Grimm. A flower with pink petals and a lovely fragrance.

Such a sweet name and yet, it's classified as a weed down under.

Sweet Briar Rose... life's just not fair eh?