What the fuck?

In the wake of yesterday's historical apology, the element that drove me to despair in this post are back and haunting me.

What worries me is this question. What does it say about my personality and my friends that I keep receiving these racist 'jokes' via email and text?

Why would anyone think I would find redneck propaganda, like the fake 'apology' that has been doing the rounds, even mildly amusing. Its not 1970 anymore.

You people shit me.

Sorry

"Today we honour the Indigenous peoples of this land, the oldest continuing cultures in human history.

We reflect on their past mistreatment.

We reflect in particular on the mistreatment of those who were stolen generations - this blemished chapter in our nation's history.

The time has now come for the nation to turn a new page in Australia's history by righting the wrongs of the past and so moving forward with confidence to the future.

We apologise for the laws and policies of successive Parliaments and governments that have inflicted profound grief, suffering and loss on these our fellow Australians.

We apologise especially for the removal of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families, their communities and their country.

For the pain, suffering and hurt of these stolen generations, their descendants and for their families left behind, we say sorry.

To the mothers and the fathers, the brothers and the sisters, for the breaking up of families and communities, we say sorry.

And for the indignity and degradation thus inflicted on a proud people and a proud culture, we say sorry.

We the Parliament of Australia respectfully request that this apology be received in the spirit in which it is offered as part of the healing of the nation.

For the future we take heart; resolving that this new page in the history of our great continent can now be written.

We today take this first step by acknowledging the past and laying claim to a future that embraces all Australians.

A future where this Parliament resolves that the injustices of the past must never, never happen again.

A future where we harness the determination of all Australians, Indigenous and non-Indigenous, to close the gap that lies between us in life expectancy, educational achievement and economic opportunity.

A future where we embrace the possibility of new solutions to enduring problems where old approaches have failed.

A future based on mutual respect, mutual resolve and mutual responsibility.

A future where all Australians, whatever their origins, are truly equal partners, with equal opportunities and with an equal stake in shaping the next chapter in the history of this great country, Australia."

Cricket again

This story on baggygreen.com.au really got up my nose this morning.

Before I start ranting, I will point out that I am not one of "those Australians" that "doesn't see what all the fuss is about", as the general cricketing public has often been referred to since the Sydney Test. There is plenty of room for improvement of the behaviour of both cricketers and spectators in the recent past, but the smarmy condescension of Peter English in this article is beyond belief.

Mr English's use of the good behaviour (which I wholeheartedly applaud) of both teams and the crowd as an excuse to not-so-subtly attack their Australian counterparts is both odious and counter-productive. Surely any cricket writer worth his salt should be able to report on the harmonious atmosphere without sly and demeaning digs at an absent party? Anyone reading this article would think that it was Australia's recent history that included games being stopped due to rioting crowds, that Australia's board had threatened to cancel a tour if the ICC did not dance to it's tune or that an Australian captain had threatened to take his team from the field because he didn't agree with the no-balling of one of his bowlers. I'm sure that even the Indians and Sri Lankans would agree that there are incidents in their collective pasts that they would rather not have occurred, that reflect badly on their cricket, but apprently the fact that they are not Australian on this tour absolves them of any wrongdoing.

I am glad that the cricket watching public of Brisbane last night were well behaved during the half a game they got to watch, and I truly hope that it continues. Australian crowds can sometimes get rowdy and uncomfortable to be in, but as anyone who watched "An Aussie Goes Bolly" last week will agree, I know with whom I would rather be watching my cricket.

p.s.
Because I am a sucker for punishment, I also read this article by the aforementioned journalist about the fining of Rohit Sharma for dissent. It could be because I am sensitive but this sentence "The Sri Lankans were convinced Sharma had edged the ball to Kumar Sangakkara, but the replays showed Rudi Koertzen made a serious error." I found to be in stark contrast to the hammering Adam Gilchrist and the Australians copped during the Sydney Test for appealing when Rahul Dravid was "incorrectly" given out. To make matters worse, I found this on the Fox Sports web site.

"Murali initially failed to appeal but went up in support of Sangakkara, who later said he heard a noise."

Is this fair and balanced journalism?

Whiny Indians Go Home

I'm sick if the Indian Cricket Team already. They talk a good story about the spirit of the game, then threaten to call off the tour when things don't go their way. I say let them go, we may as well play the Kiwis again, for all the good that India are. It is also really disappointing to me that all the news stories around I have read seem to be targetted at the Australians, accusing them of a lack of integrity for standing their ground until the umpire makes a decision. Michael Clarke's standing his ground when he nicked it to slip certainly was ridiculous, but at no stage it insulting or racially motivated. How can 90% of the cricket stories around be questioning the spirit of the Australian team when Harbhajan Singh gets a three Test suspension for calling Andrew Symonds a monkey?? Do not be fooled by the spurious Indian claims that monkey to them is not a racially offensive term. The fact that it is was made clear to them when Symonds was subjected to, not only the name calling, but to hooting from Indian crowds late last year when Australia toured. While the Australian team will undoubtedly be painted as the bad guys (again) after this Test, surely their behaviour is less offensive than racial vilification and their awful display of petulance by blaming the umpires for costing them the Test. Of course, the Asian dominated ICC will do nothing about their outburst and may even go so far as to censure the Australian team for the way they play.

If, or maybe I should say, when Singh's ban is overturned, rest assured, I will be in the outer of the WACA, hooting like a monkey for all my worth whenever he touches the ball.

Is there anything better than a beach house?

Spent Thursday to Monday in Guilderton with just about the whole Schoie clan. Our nephew Shane invited us to stay at his wife's (Helen, above) mum's place in Guilderton. Only an hour out of town, it was fantastic. We were originally going to stay only 2 days but we were having so much fun we didn't leave until yesterday (NYE). 9 adults and 11 kids from 15 to under a year was a tight squeeze but a few tents and couches saw us right. No television reception made it feel like all the holidays I went on as a kid, with us playing pool or sitting around the table playing cards.
Interior view. Maddison, Jack and Shane-o
Azza in the back yard.

We spent Friday and Saturday in our newly acquired sunshade in "The Desert" on Moore River, kayaking, fishing and skurfing along behind the boat.
Jillie and Kim


It struck me while I was reminiscing that what was for us a weekend away hopefully lay the foundation for future reminiscing of childhood holidays for our kids.

p.s. Have you ever noticed that you suffer from hangovers less on holidays?? Four days of late nights and early mornings on holiday and no discernible discomfort. I'm back less than 24 hours and I've been almost comatose all day.

Or is it just me?

Part of me

Just because I can't see you
Doesn't mean I'm blind
If I hear your voice when you're not around
It doesn't mean I've lost my mind
I reach so I can touch you
Even when I know that you're not there
I can feel you on my fingers
I can smell your hair

Because you're part of me

Sporting Achievement No. 2 overshadowed.

It used to be that even though my older son has surpassed my highest score, I could boast of the best bowling figures, once having taken a Michelle (5-63). Sadly (for me, but happily for him) theses are no longer the best bowling figures in the family.

They are now:

O M W R
11 4 6 24

5 bowled and an LBW. Well done.

A thinking voter!

This is reprinted from the blog of my friend's brother. I just wish a higher percentage of voters asked the same of their representatives.

November, 2007

To: Michael Keenan
Honourable Member for Stirling

Dear Sir,

You have been my voice in the federal parliament for 3 years. Now it is time to renew your contract and I would like to check some of your Key Performance indicators. By this, I mean, have you represented my interests at a federal level.

Therefore, I would like to ask you a few questions on which I can base my decision:

1. What have you done to make life in the city of Stirling ecologically sustainable? For example: subsidising renewable energy.

2. What have you done to reduce Western Australia’s contribution to global warming (and thus ensuring that the houses along the Mitchell Freeway don’t become water-front properties)?

3. What have you done to ensure the release of refugees from the “detention centres” in Western Australia? They are always welcome to stay at our place, if accommodation is an issue.

4. What are you doing towards creating a stable Middle-East, which the current administration helped to (further) destabilize?

5. What are you doing towards reconciling the interests of the Aboriginal Community with the rest of Australian Society? For example: perhaps moving to amend the constitution to recognize the indigenous people are the rightful custodians of the land might be a good start.

I did take the time to review you website/s in search of answers to these questions, but they seemed more concerned with crime and safety. This is not a major issue for me, having lived in the City of Stirling for 20 years, and never once been the victim of a serious crime. However, if this is a problem for the majority of residents my question is this:

What are you doing to address the causes of crime? For example: the economic factors, social environment and family structures.

If you could let me know as soon as possible it would be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks in advance.

Sincerely,

A




Unsurprisingly, he is yet to receive a reply.

Creative

For those of you not bludging @ work or stuck on dial-up, this is one of my favourite songs and an extremely creative and, i'm sure, time consuming effort. Hope you like it as i do



Don't you love You Tube

Hadn't heard this

Found @ song codes