In the minority again

OK, to balance out this morning's "butterflies and unicorns" post, I thought I would once again peek into the David Hick's debacle. I wish I hadn't, I really do. I've seen his guilty plea reported on a number of websites, some of which allow comments from the public. These ones sadden me the most. The number of people who seem to have missed the point entirely scares me.
Comments like these:
"We need to bring back capital and corporal punishment. I don't know how anybody could turn against their own country like this guy. Shame shame shame."

Why will he be coming to Australia, he should be sent back to the country he was fighting for and that was Afghanistan. I'm surprised that there are not more comments from the do-gooders saying he has been coerced into pleading guilty.

He's no longer a terror suspect but a self confessed terrorist and will shortly be a convicted terorist. He's had his day in court which we've all been waiting for, so now it's time see what punishment this sloppy bit of dog s*it has agreed to.

and the worst of all
"Obviously we've had enormous concerns about the allegations that have been brought against David Hicks," he said.

"(But) I'm pleased for everybody's sake ... that this saga has come to a conclusion." Foreign Minister Alexander Downer

Reading back over these comments has convinced me that I have been wrong all along. The people of Australia have EXACTLY the sort of government the majority wants (and for that matter deserves). A Government that abrogates it's responsibility to a citizen who, while in a foreign country, is captured by an invading force and shipped to a third country, incarcerated away from the rule of law for 5 years until he pleads guilty to trumped up charges, then allows the invading force to then "graciously" hand responsibility for that person back when they've finished, but agree to lock him up at taxpayers expense until they say it's ok. That's the sort of Government we have. I don't care if David Hicks is guilty or innocent, and neither apparently do Howard and Downer. It's the difference of opinion about how he was treated that scares me.

Be the change......

Click here and watch this video
Just when my cynicism reaches new highs after the handling of David Hicks, the murder of Bob Woolmer at the World Cup and a swimming coach being banned for fighting with his daughter pool side, something comes along to give me hope.

Motherhood ain't what it used to be

Jordan named celebrity 'Mother of the Year'

Seriously, how hard would this have been for her to win. She was up against Jade Goody, Kate Moss and Heather Mills McCartney. Other contenders were Victoria Beckham, The Duchess of York and Davina McCall.
Andrea Yates is unlucky not to get a nomination.

This is wrong

This story was just about the final straw for me today. I have almost completely lost faith in the human race. An old man who, apparently, acted as a "sperm donor" for a woman has had his estate claimed against his wishes by the "donor" children and not his two daughters. Bad enough, I know, but the last paragraph sickens me

"DNA testing proved they were Mr Willem's biological children after their solicitor plucked his eyebrow hair as he lay in Port Macquarie Base Hospital."


There was more to this post, but blogger seems to have joined the queue of entities hell bent on fucking my day up.

Victim 700

Boxing Day



I've been meaning to post this for ages. Boxing Day at the MCG, Victim number 700 for Shane Warne. It was freezing cold, but my favourite live sporting moment.

p.s. Even if it hadn't bowled him, the stumping was on :-)

Post 101

A bunch of random stuff today.

I thought the pictures on Preparation H web site were amusing. Roll your mouse over the pictures on the front page to see exactly what "anal discomfort" looks like.

I found a new blog I like Violent Acres. Freedom of speech at it's free-est

My musical tastes are expanding, thanks to my older son. Last 5 songs on my list were "Du Hast" by Rammstein (which i introduced him to), "Download this song" by MC Lars, he introduced me, I in turn introduced him to "The Passenger" by Iggy Pop. "Hey Now Now" by the Cloud Room, introduced to us both by Pepsi, "Vicinity of Obscenity" by System of a Down (me the band, him the song, both surprised to find we're fans) and "Mama" by My Chemical Romance. (Him the band, me the song).

My Chemical Romance. New Romantics without the style. What an odd band they are. As a product of the '80s (well my teenage years) I can understand the make-up thing (the Cure, Duran Duran) and the angst thing (the Smiths) but the combination of the two in My Chemical Romance freaks me out a little bit.

No, No, No, No, No

One less reason to go to the gym

Not that I need encouragement to avoid going to the gym (I've been once) but if I did, this story is exactly the sort of thing that would do it.

Surely straddling the seat of an exercise bike with sweaty, NAKED arse cheeks is neither savoury or sanitary.

That's without even thinking about the bouncing bits on the treadmill.

Jesus Christ

The man, the figurehead and the epithet

I've always had a real interest in Jesus as a historical figure (rather than a religious icon), so the news about the James Cameron documentary caught my eye this week. It seems an interesting story and one I would like to hear more about. Scott Adams (the Dilbert Guy) makes an interesting comment on the discovery over at his blog.

Of course, Christians around the world have either condemned or dismissed it out of hand, which got me to thinking about why the would do that. I have expressed my thoughts on religious fervour before but the thought keeps gnawing away at me, "Surely, these people can't be so different from me that they won't even entertain the idea?".

Apparently I was wrong. I ran across this entry by Stu over at yelpar. Apparently Wikipedia is "anti-christian" and "anti-American", so the neo-Cons have taken it upon themselves to create a strikingly similar looking web site and called it Conservapedia. This is where the epithet part comes in. Some of the things there are so far removed from what I think that it scares me. I thought Jesus Christ, what if these people are right? What if the world is really only a couple of thousand years old and carbon dating is fraudulent? What if I am one of the deluded? All this time, growing up, growing older, science has been lying to me?

Jesus Christ, I am in trouble.