Killer bird raid

THEY have put up with Cyclone Larry and weeks of torrential rain, but now the luckless residents of Innisfail face a new dilemma, a posse of hungry marauding cassowaries. Pictured above is a housewife keeping a beady eye out on her hungry visitor. The critically endangered and famously testy flightless bird, known for its ability to disembowel humans with its razor-sharp claws, is running amok through the backyards and suburban streets of north Queensland in search of food. Picture by Eddie Safarik Cassowaries are Gondwanan in origin and were concentrated in the small part of the supercontinent that later broke apart and became the present areas of Northern Australia, Papua New Guinea and some of the eastern island groups of Indonesia. Two separate populations of Australian cassowary exist - one in the Wet Tropics area from Mt Halifax/Paluma through to Cooktown and the other on Cape York Peninsula in the McIlwraith and Iron Ranges, Jardine River area and the Eastern Dunes. The Australian cassowary is called the Southern Cassowary or sometimes the Double-wattled Cassowary. Once you realise that this species is also found in Papua New Guinea along with two more species and several subspecies, then it becomes clear why ours is called the Southern Cassowary. Comments most welcome. _____________________________

Gunpoint enforced peace

How the conflict has unfolded • NEARLY 600 heavily-armed soldiers were sacked from East Timor's army, the F-FDTL, at the beginning of this month after going on strike. They took their weapons and set up camp in the hills. This is of course whilst regrettable is classed as mutiny why this has happened would never have happened in a western country like the USA, Australia or the UK for example; I can however see their point of view. It now seems as a result of that; that there are around a 140 Australian special forces (commandos and SAS) who have permission to use maximum force if confronted by anyone carrying a firearm, all up it seems there are 1800 of our military personnel and 5 navy ships to enforce peace in the capital Dili. The largest force to leave Australia since we first went to stop the Indonesians in 1999 called Interfet, which was strictly an Australian operation after this the UN took over but we still had troops there. They say freedom comes at a price and it sure did when the East Timorese shook off the yoke of their colonial masters (Portugal) and after getting independence and free elections which were monitored by the UN, to find the Indonesians were back on their case once again. Honest John it seems is staying until the job is done; I always thought it had been done but it appears not. I understand his reluctance to just invade the country as it is a sovereign nation but now he was asked to help it seems he has, that alone will not ensure his party my vote but it does seem he is living up to his nickname at last.

Howard a bad influence on Harper

A poor act to follow Although they are close, Stephen Harper should not allow himself to be influenced by John Howard May 22, 2006. 01:00 AM -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Harper, Aussie PM to cement close ties -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- May 18. Graham Fraser's article detailing the wonderful relationship, similarities and ideologies of Australian Prime Minister John Howard and Canadian PM Stephen Harper hits a low note with Canadian expats, such as myself, living in Australia. I have always pointed out to my Aussie family and friends how many similarities there are between my old and new homes. However, I've always been fiercely proud of the differences in many government policies. It makes me sad to think Canada may head down a similar political alleyway to that of the Howard government if the two leaders do more than just compare notes. Currently, every single state in Australia is behind a Supreme Court case against Howard's new industrial relation laws. Big business: 1, lowly worker: zip. The immigration policy of choice in Australia consists of locking up "illegals" in penetentiary-style camps, most located in remote and inhospitable regions. These people include whole families, men, women and children, who can spend years in detention behind barbed wire while they wait to hear that the Australian government won't give them asylum. Then they are sent back to countries where they have already been brutalized. The immigration department here is also plagued by "mishaps," wherein Australian citizens and/or long-term residents have been deported to foreign countries or locked up in these camps along with other "illegals." Next, our ongoing shame regarding Aborigines. Despite great pressure from within and outside of these communities, the Australian federal government continually refuses even basic gestures, such as a formal apology on behalf of previous governments. This only serves to continue the marginalization of the original owners of this land. Forget the "three birds with one stone" of Howard snuggling up to major world leaders. The Australian military, which is currently at war with Iraq for no clear purpose, should instead be focusing on getting its own house in order. Case in point: Only one Aussie soldier has died in Iraq, very recently, and my heart goes out to his family. More than one version of cause of death has been circulated, the wrong body was sent home to Australia, and a military official "forgot" a sensitive document regarding the situation at the Melbourne Airport. This has taken over any real news that may come out of Iraq in regard to Aussie troops stationed there. Mr. Harper, please do not let your relationship with Mr. Howard influence you in any way, shape or form. And if you personally see benefit in any of the situations I have just outlined, and would ever imagine including them in Canadian policy, then God help us all, Australian and Canadian alike. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Courtesy of an E-mail (no relation of mine) Rebekah Rogers, Victoria, Australia

First Offshore Wind Farm Faces Powerful Opposition

The proposal for what would be America'sfirst offshore wind farm is facing strong opposition from a small group of powerful politicians,and wealthy inhabitants of Nantucket despite majority public support and support from the White House. The proposal for what would be America's first offshore wind farm is facing strong opposition from a small group of powerful politicians, despite majority public support and support from the White House. It seems this proposal is facing some stiff opposition to some politicians in the United States heaven knows why; Australia uses this system; true we don’t use it offshore and this system is used on shore in the USA; one example is the one at Horned Toad Hills near Mojave. California, USA. Spoils the looks of their waterfront backyards I guess. Mainly the opposition is from the wealthy but this proposal if given the green light to go ahead will produce 420 megawatts of energy; to me this sounds like a good thing but others do not. And it actually has the backing of a majority support in the white house, whilst 71% of Massachusetts residents also support it. Still if you read all the links it may give you some idea the Danes think it a good scheme; as do these folk here. The Daily Kos won’t have a bar of it at all; to be honest I never believed anything I read on it regarding wind farms at all; well very little anyway and I read their publication fairly regular as well and agree with quite a bit in a lot of their articles. This could help you make your mind up I guess who knows. Image from Google Images.

Cold Queensland surely not.

I wondered why it was so cool these last few nights but now I know it seems Qld has been in the grip of an extremely dry air mass. Gympie a town about 30 minutes drive from me hit (-1 C) Thursday night Brr; its not going to last thank goodness maybe for a few more days. Brisbane actually had an all time record low (7.1 C) even further up in our tropical regions temperatures have dropped (10 C) which is most unusual; what’s that about global warming it has to be global cooling lol. Still my neighbour has the right idea I reckon with her new attire rushed from Alaska at an exorbitant price lol. Source Brisbane Courier Mail; Image courtesy of My space.

For everyone with a Birthday today

Enjoy the day

Siberia in the news again

Fishermen in Siberia have it seems discovered a complete skeleton of a mammoth Scientists are suggesting that climate change on our planet is the culprit otherwise it may well have remained hidden; seems it is a rare occurrence. Mammoth time line. July 2003 scientists were hoping to clone mammoths. January 2004 a complete skull was unearthed. May 2005 efforts commenced to restore some of Siberia as it was 10.000 years ago before the last ice age on this planet. December 2005 extinct mammoth DNA finally decoded. Reminds me a little of Jurassic park not the era just the circumstances. Source BBC news Image courtesy Stumble ALL

Grog, Ablutions and other crazy things

A VICAR who forgot to disconnect his microphone when he took a mid-service comfort break entertained his parishioners with the soundtrack to his ablutions. But when nature called, his microphone broadcast his every splash and sigh to the congregation who of course giggled a tad. The Germans are furious that Budweiser will be the official tipple for the soccer World Cup. And what most upsets the fans is that Budweiser - advertised as the "King of Beers" in the US - fails to meet the ancient German standards for purity, which stipulate that beer can be brewed only from malt, hops and water so they are hopping mad. The American lager has secured a near-monopoly of beer sales inside World Cup stadiums and within a 500m radius of the grounds. JACK the Ripper could well be a Jill. In a bid to crack the identity of one of the greatest murder mysteries of all time, technology developed in Australia has tested 118-year-old DNA the notorious serial killer may have left behind Brisbane-based Professor Findlay said he used his method, called Cell Track-ID. Dinki-Di 'Strine COMPUTER software could soon start recognising words like bogan, sheila, bonza and sickie under new moves to make the products more user-friendly for Australians. Microsoft today announced its Australian subsidiary was putting forward a list of quintessential Aussie words, including rough and tumble slang, for inclusion in its next version of productivity software products known as the 2007 Microsoft Office System. I have seen it all now I think with this a Dogs radio station Dogs get own radio station. A Thai entrepreneur has launched the world's first internet radio station for dogs. DogRadio.com features barking human DJs playing round-the-clock music with no ad breaks no Ads "WOW" Seems us humans had relationships with Chimps and moreover it went on for 4 million years; I am not so sure about this one but; the act maybe but all that millennia ago Hmm. Well stranger things have happened but this well it takes a bit of believing. Comments are most welcome and thanks to Google Images also. .

A brief look at China and the Victorian Colonial Military

This is a country with at least five thousand years of civilisation behind it and it went through several Dynasties until 1949 when the communists finally took control after fierce fighting for thirty eight years. The war against them from Japan slowed their efforts naturally. They are still in control now but are much more liberal than they once were. China under the Emperors was actually a harsh place to live; feudal exploitation and private armies reigned. I would not have thought the days in 1949 were that soft but I guess they were prior to that; to put it this way I'm sure glad I never lived there then or now come to that; I like my own personnel freedom. I have to admit that it is fast casting off it's communist shackles regarding the international community and becoming more like a western democracy but I fear I shall never see that in my lifetime but who knows? -------------------------------------------- Defending Colonial Victoria Was something I had never heard of before and I found it amazing at all the info I read. In fact I wish I could have gleaned this info prior to my post on our Indigenous people. The three forgotten heroes. Three aboriginal soldiers were killed on the same day August 9 1918 in Northern France two of them had distinguished themselves earlier and were both awarded the Military Medal a very high honour; so I am learning here and our PM would not apologise. Then of course we had native police and trackers all in all a vivid history I shall do a follow up to this for sure. ---***---***---***---***---***---**--- Comments welcome, images by Australian War Museum and Google

The original Aussie's

Australia is a multicultural society, consisting of people from all around the world. Australia has always had a mix of cultures and people although not in the same way as it does today. Nowadays of course we are truly multicultural and have many ethnic folk who live here. Colonisation of course ruined the original inhabitants of this vast land sadly. And Kooris as they wish to be known were first of all introduced to alcohol in a similar manner to the indigenous folk of the USA. This action has left scars and a visitor to our country could not be blamed for calling them drunks. Indeed a lot of white Aussies get drunk frequently but nothing is said of that; this usually occurs in larger towns in regional Australia and the big cities It was actually OUR OWN FAULT; we also massacred them especially in Tasmania;I did a post on that some time ago. They were poorly understood by most of the colonists here as all they were interested in was opening this land up to run sheep later cattle was introduced and Aboriginals did not use the land quite like that, they used it for food and their well-being. And of course they were hired by the colonists to help run their sheep and cattle stations (ranches) at a mere pittance IE basic food supplies and a hovel to live in. Their art is quite different to the usual art and some of it whilst looking abstract is not abstract at all it fetches a very high price today as well. And then the shame of the white man as an Aboriginal called Wandjuk tells of how he actually saw his people’s most sacred paintings blithely on display in the national gallery of Victoria; it appears from his account that he is the guardian of the culture of the Rirratjingu tribe charged by his father on his deathbed to look after and care for such sacred objects and this art mob has them. As you can see we have made grievous errors a typical European action I think. The Australian encyclopaedia by Angus and Robertson printed in 1925 refers to areas here being INFESTED with Aborigines what a shocking word to use to a people that fought for this country in the second world war. Nineteenth Century bounty hunters one in particular butchered these normally peaceful people by the thousand while squatters put arsenic in their flour and water holes; a fact I myself did not know until I read it good grief. From the moment European explorers first laid foot on Australian soil, the interactions between new arrivals and traditional owners were volatile; not a surprise really as in fact they were being invaded. This early contact between Europeans and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, resulted in many resultant killings and massacres of Indigenous people. Then we come to the infamous stolen generation of Aborigines who were taken from parents, families were split and lodged in white folks homes and brought up in the way of the British. John Howard PM refused point blank to apologise to our coloured brethren who really owned Australia and had done for 60.000 years give or take a hundred years or so. To date, with the exception of the Northern Territory, apologies have been made by all State and Territory Governments. In the Prime Minister’s speech to the 1997 Reconciliation Convention he expressed his personal sorrow but stated ‘Australians of this generation should not be required to accept guilt and blame for past actions and policies over which they had no control.’ The Commonwealth parliament has not APOLOGISED preferring instead to express its ‘deep and sincere regret’ for past injustices in a Motion of Reconciliation on 26 August 1999. This has not pleased our Aboriginal Australians much; if I could provide a news clip of Howard evading the issue on TV at that time you would know what I mean. Most of these people with a few exceptions are not lazy or drunks at all but they are portrayed that way, many of us white Australians are lazy and drunks as well, We are all one nation split into territories and states and it is about time we started to act like one nation in my opinion. Comments are most welcome and the images are courtesy of Google images.

Some British Castles

Britain is strewn with ruins of castles, rubble from the centuries of her existence. Castles are tangible relics of a remarkable past, a lengthy heritage etched in stone, as well as with the blood and sweat of those who built, labored, fought, and died in their shadow. Ruins stir up in us a profound awareness of those past lives. Castles have a timelessness that is awe-inspiring. That they have endured centuries of warfare and the effects of weather is a testimony to the creativity and power of their medieval owners. How many of us will have such long-lasting success? I just thought that some folk would be interested. The top left featured here I have been to and as a matter of interest my wife’s parents’ lived close to it before moving and it is still lived in. The one below this is the Famous Edinburgh Castle from which a Military Tattoo is paraded every year and as times have changed they now show Foreign troops including Red China and the USA who have both partaken in the Tattoo. Type: enclosure Date: 11th century Built by Malcolm III. Altered many times over the centuries, and what is seen today is mostly from the 17th century. The oldest part is the Norman chapel. The castle was attacked and exchanged hands many times.Location: Edinburgh Scotland. The one below here is Bodinham Castle in Sussex which I may have visited I just can't recall now. A few more for you all to look at as I think it will be a change from my usual political rants lol. the one below is Leeds Castle. This one is Stratford Castle at Stratford on Avon, Will Shakespeare's county. Comments are most welcome and the images are courtesy of Google images.

A few Lunatics and Maniacs of our ERA

I have to say without a doubt that President G.W.Bush should be the world’s number one idiot close on his heels comes Vice President gun toting Dick Cheney; the stupid and insane things they are both doing to the people of America is a fact plus the other two depicted here naturally. There are other loonies around so never think for one moment you are safe from these clowns. We had one here a Prime Minister who got fired in 1975 name of Gough Whitlam; his idiotic efforts caused a double dissolution in our parliament especially when our senate refused to pass the supply bill or budget bill. It seems it still irks him to this very day and he is around ninety years of age very soon or eighty nine; the Governor General of the day Sir John Kerr whom Whitlam nominated to the Queen was of the same political party. Of course whitlam seemed to go off half cocked at anything that happened; he made outrageous statements even called the then Premier of Queensland (JOH) a bible bashing bastard in the Federal Parliament; as a matter of fact it amused my Father no end and our discussions at times continued into the small hours over Whitlam. Of course one springs to my mind at once Adolph Hitler now he was a real Loonie had delusions of grandeur as most of us know. along with a few others of his Nationalist Socialist Party; had the temerity to call it the third Reich; of course he was not only a raving maniac but also tried genocide on another race, not a nice fella at all. Now this joker Menangle in my opinion was as well as being a lunatic a medical doctor who disgraced the medical profession not all will agree with that but it’s my view; in fact a monster is what I would call him;just imagine being operated on in the most private parts of the body without anasthesia and that will give you an idea of what he was like. Eichmann another maniac; I liked the way the Jews found him and put him on trial. Annoyed a certain South American country the way they captured him but like the Mounties they got their man one of them at least. He doesn't look like one does he but he was an evil person. Hess yes he was a strange one as well I know he supposedly flew to the UK (Scotland) in the second world war and was imprisoned until his death but the then Soviets refused his release. Osama Bin Laden is another maniac and what has he done well he has assaulted the heart of American democracy; and it seems he is doing his best to make other western countries suffer I wonder at times what he actually gets out of all this. A son of a Saudi billionaire at that; I have never opposed his thoughts as regards Islam and have no intention of doing so. So why he does these terror attacks is beyond me. However after reading this site I am wondering a little but nah; he still has homicidal tendencies I think. Well this bloke was not an idiot or a maniac but he did have a lot of control and hated the thought he would be defeated so I thought I would slip him in here. He took BRIBES and was CORRUPT and it was proven in a court of law he was guilty but he was still allowed to keep his precious knighthood the knighthood of KCMG in our idiom we say it as kindly call me God actually it means Knight commander St Michael and St George. The Most Distinguished Order of St Michael and St George (1818) usually awarded to overseas countries of the British Commonwealth; now we have our own orders of course. Joh held Queensland in a grip for nearly twenty years with his wife Flo being made a senator which caused a ruckus but died down eventually. Still the voters voted him in and all in all he did a good job even though the rest of Australia thought he was an idiot. There are many more but this is just my selection. Images courtesy of Google/Clusty

Hinch defends secret report broadcast

Has it ever occurred to you Hinch the harm you have done by your pigheadedness no of course not? As I said in my previous post an error is an error plain and true. You are the rudest person I have ever heard; just clear off back over the Tasman to New Plymouth New Zealand. I bet you won’t name your source will you I hope you get called once more to the bar in the parliament for this outrage. I do believe the last time you were gaoled you disclosed the name of a child molester a thing which abhors me but in doing so broke the law. Do you consider yourself above the law? As you are not. It seems you appeared on the today tonight show only two months ago to answer charges of sexual assault against a former business partner; Hmm and you are bothering a defence force chief about an error come off it sport. The following is from Wiki. Hinch and the fifteen-year old girl Hinch writes in "The Fall and Rise of Derryn Hinch" that as an adult he had sex with a fifteen-year old girl. He says: "I met her at a party at Molly Meldrum's house about three o'clock in the morning. I had seen her in lingerie ads in magazines like the Women's Weekly. She was exotic. European. And I thought she was about 25. Obviously this was a long time ago. We went out together days later. We ended up in bed. The next night we went to dinner again and, frankly, I thought her lack of knowledge – and struggling current affairs conversation - was because English was obviously her second language. There have been no reports to date of the Victoria Police taking any action to investigate this matter. Why are the Victorian Police not investigating this shady affair? Ok Millions of guys’ world wide have done this and usually it can be explained away as “quote well she looked old enough unquote”. You matey are too busy weeding out other folk’s mistakes to bother with your own; I sincerely hope it is a costly error of judgment on your part even though you said I thought she was 25 which she no doubt did but did that stop your crusade on others of course not. Is Derryn a dead man talking? . But this week we've discovered that what Hinch really values above all else is his good name. As he fights sexual assault allegations, we've heard that he will fight to his last breath to defend his reputation. But Hinch seems to have conveniently forgotten that he hasn't always given others the same opportunity to stand up for their selves. And more disturbingly, in some cases, Hinch's targets have been people who can't defend their good names, because they are dead. All images courtesy of Google images

One of those things

This mistake whilst causing more grief for this family was just a human error and if one is honest we all make errors. I certainly feel for the family but it is time all this yahooing about it is to excuse the pun buried once and for all; what about the grief of the family of the body that was in the coffin? I suppose they have no grief! What a lot of bloody idiots we all are, whom does the press think should be investigating that matter? Enough said on those jokers. As the Air Chief Marshall said he has taken full responsibility and he no doubt will get to the bottom of it while our government should get on with the job they were elected to do IE run this country instead of this error which was blown up I reckon by the fourth estate as usual not forgetting of course Derryn Hinch a Kiwi who is one of the world's biggest stirrers even went to gaol once for his actions according to this report but I recall the incident well, if you read it he was fired from a newspaper in New Zealand and since then has been apart from his gaoling fired many times in this country, he had a talk back radio show at one time and was one of the rudest people I have heard apart from John laws. The whole world knows now what incompetent idiots we are thanks in some part to the fourth estate. Brigadier Cosson will get the blame which he will pass on down. We should not be in Afghanistan anyway to my way of thinking not now. We should all pull out to avoid further embarrassments; the Soviets could not fix the place and neither will the west either. The job is done they have a government of their own so let them govern is MO.

Well what do you know? just have a squizz at this but.

I see Americans have just forked out $6.1 Million for Bushes’ new limo and mine was a lousy A$ 12.999 still mine is cheaper to run than his plus all the hangers on he has which he does need I grant you; And it is a beaut looking Machine don't you reckon? Now this guy had the right idea and had no heating bills for a quarter of a century pretty good huh. I know the installation may have been expensive but he got a grant to help from the DOE; So life can be good I guess for some; But not for the great unwashed sadly. It seems that the Amazon rain forest only grows when it’s dry and has had no rain how odd but then we live in an odd world. It seems dry spells there bring on spurts of growth. Also it appears we are responsible for the sixth major extinction event in the earth’s history; And these are the five prior to that. Strip poker world title discussed In Ireland would you believe yes well I do as anything is possible in the Emerald Isle. Possibly to be held in August or September let us pray it is held indoors as rain is notorious in all of Ireland, all the same it is a beautiful looking country it seems. And just to make youse all think. Will they take us over? Well a robot is a mechanical device as is a computer; I guess robots are programmed by a computer. The thing to ponder well I have lately is will they ever take us over altogether; some folk may wonder after reading Sci Fi books in abundance I confess I too read a lot of Sci Fi myself. This of course is referred to as artificial intelligence commonly called an Android. One wonders at times if this will happen but it is a thought I guess;Then there are search engine Robots commonly known as Bots who go hither and yon through cyber space seeking out web sites in fact anything really. Images courtesy of Clusty