tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-42031103377546305892024-03-19T18:46:18.325+10:001735099Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger1376125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4203110337754630589.post-31572700923333494442024-03-18T09:47:00.002+10:002024-03-18T10:50:35.129+10:00Taken for Granted<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi38fN9vLBRzm1t3R6RA76dQbiKa5Fk7-EOEpm5ZyfTjzImGe2cWUDCC97e3RxsbbzqRM5ClJdPfw5BsoAIwPxHsYPbbSYc1uycLjIyC8RJDqngMar6u_b4wFIrXkem-ertOdkgRl9744K6A-7_U9ZaKp3BZDNVXDceM1lrLo1JGRanfixMs9T1nMRZ9yQ/s299/AEC.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="168" data-original-width="299" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi38fN9vLBRzm1t3R6RA76dQbiKa5Fk7-EOEpm5ZyfTjzImGe2cWUDCC97e3RxsbbzqRM5ClJdPfw5BsoAIwPxHsYPbbSYc1uycLjIyC8RJDqngMar6u_b4wFIrXkem-ertOdkgRl9744K6A-7_U9ZaKp3BZDNVXDceM1lrLo1JGRanfixMs9T1nMRZ9yQ/w400-h225/AEC.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pic courtesy <i>Leader Today</i></td></tr></tbody></table><br />Yesterday I went to the state school down the road, and voted in the local government elections, something I've been doing for years, and something entirely unremarkable. <div><br /></div><div> But is it? </div><div><br /></div><div> We've only to take a glance to the East, across the Pacific at the U.S., or Northwest, to the Russian Federation, to understand that our electoral system is entirely remarkable. </div><div><br /></div><div>We're not the only country to have <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Joint/Completed_Inquiries/em/elect04/appendixg">compulsory suffrage,</a> but it goes well beyond that.
</div><div><br /></div><div>To use that much-maligned "mutual obligation" term, if the law demands that you vote, it has to provide you the facility and infrastructure to do so. Hence, <a href="https://www.ecq.qld.gov.au/">state</a> and <a href="https://www.aec.gov.au/">federal</a> electoral commissions, regulated boundaries, and a standardised and transparent vote counting process have been developed over the years.</div><div><br /></div><div>The foundation of our system is the maintenance of an <a href="https://www.aec.gov.au/about_aec/Publications/easy-read/files/how-to-enrol-easy-eng.pdf" target="_blank">up-to-date electoral roll</a>. We don't always appreciate the fact that the maintenance of this critical data is humming away quite efficiently in the background, except perhaps when we receive the note in our letterbox reminding us that an election is on the way, and we have to vote.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMi2UPTFaqPbmkrfnUIMGTtKjc3O5WS6HvlCSCi9eAPU_zaGTry7CTzFheN_dasP1gV2qL4zJXo2Yxlb4UtOSZqmOZUEfStK-ck2-lsW2hdp6My0xQtFJ4mR2OpAfus3K06DOCydn1oVNaFrSY0KOK9YKY9WGdRuIkwrNujquVmZ9psenUhY9s8qw0ygE/s637/Vote.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="379" data-original-width="637" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMi2UPTFaqPbmkrfnUIMGTtKjc3O5WS6HvlCSCi9eAPU_zaGTry7CTzFheN_dasP1gV2qL4zJXo2Yxlb4UtOSZqmOZUEfStK-ck2-lsW2hdp6My0xQtFJ4mR2OpAfus3K06DOCydn1oVNaFrSY0KOK9YKY9WGdRuIkwrNujquVmZ9psenUhY9s8qw0ygE/w400-h238/Vote.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div>People who arrive at the age to vote are also encouraged to enrol, although many don't follow through. <a href="https://www.aec.gov.au/enrolling_to_vote/enrolment_stats/" target="_blank">That seems to be changing</a>, which can only be a good thing.</div><div><br /></div><div>Enrolling to vote is encouraged at school, and most young people in my experience are enthusiastic first-time voters. I certainly was, when my first opportunity to vote came up at the 1969 Federal election. At the time, I was at the Jungle Training Centre at Canungra, preparing as a conscript, for operational service in Vietnam.</div><div><br /></div><div>I was, to say the least, disappointed, when I went to the orderly room seeking transport to Canungra State School to vote, only to be told that if I left the centre, I'd be charged with being AWOL*.</div><div><br /></div><div>Somehow, the notion that we were ostensibly fighting for democracy seemed lost on the army at the time.</div><div><br /></div><div>This experience has driven home to me the value of our system, as I was voting for a decision about my immediate future, and I was given no say in it. I wonder how many of the 200 National Servicemen who died in Vietnam actually got to vote on the issue?</div><div><br /></div><div>Contrasting our system with that in the "democracy" across the Pacific is revelatory. The quotes are intentional, by the way, as the US is not a democracy, but a constitutional republic. </div><div><br /></div><div>It's electoral college system, the history of the disenfranchisement of minorities, and its bipartisan tradition of <a href="https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/gerrymandering-explained?ceid=%7B%7BContactsEmailID%7D%7D&emci=946d3453-90d5-ed11-8e8b-00224832eb73&emdi=ea000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000001&utm_medium=PANTHEON_STRIPPED">electoral gerrymandering </a>are well known, although not always well understood outside of the USA.</div><div><br /></div><div>The fact that <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voter_turnout_in_United_States_presidential_elections" target="_blank">62% of US voters turned out at the 2020 presidential poll</a>, gives the lie to an application of the term "democracy" as applied to the USA when you consider that 38% had no say. The turnout in 2020 was one of the highest on record, and an improvement on the 52% in 1952. <a href="https://www.splcenter.org/fight-vote-overcoming-voter-suppression-south">Voter suppression of minorities</a> has decreased, but it continues in many southern states.</div><div><br /></div><div>Perhaps the greatest advantage of a compulsory system is that no encouragement is needed to get people out to vote. In countries where voting is voluntary, you need to get people angry or frightened to get them to the ballot box. Anger and fear are very dangerous emotions, and the results are usually the election of those who use anger and fear, rather than hope, to secure power.</div><div><br /></div><div>So gentle reader, be thankful that you live in a country where participation is understood the be the cornerstone of democracy, and don't ever take it for granted.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>*Absent without leave.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4203110337754630589.post-18835343616693242622024-03-03T06:57:00.002+10:002024-03-03T06:57:24.223+10:00George is Back<iframe frameborder="0" height="270" src="https://youtube.com/embed/QJQ4wUhsRXo?si=6pKsk6Lt4IyNs06v" width="480"></iframe><div><br /></div><div>George is back, and providing entertainment based on snippets of truth, as he has done so often in the past.</div><div><br /></div><div>I know, gentle reader, that he is a product of the UK political landscape, but much of what he says and does has echoes in our electorate.</div><div><br /></div><div>He excels at puncturing bloated political commentary. He also has a knack of getting under the skin of his political critics.</div><div><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_dD48d-yjxc" target="_blank"><br /></a></div><div><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_dD48d-yjxc" target="_blank">Who can forget his appearance before the US senate in 2005?</a></div><div><br /></div><div>We could do with a George Galloway in our senate. We have David Pocock, but whilst he has the substance, he lacks the style of a George Galloway.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><h1 class="firstHeading mw-first-heading" id="firstHeading" Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4203110337754630589.post-23329184093188529112024-02-21T13:26:00.005+10:002024-02-21T13:29:04.613+10:00The Second Coming<p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzep-fu9xB74uduQ47020YKVgufEIbMsf_DMA1bpIewUehIQUBRp7dJpZFRmsVMRoTai3PHRKw7iGCCKMc0QbQeDGAQEF_UW5YuEb4owHnv2vymOfOFVJb02BgymGfHn28IiEt9PB46_L0GbQ01hldOn4lu0w7KjqGHhOQ0TN5boSQzf5NsI35-hIWSFQ/s252/yeats.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="200" data-original-width="252" height="317" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzep-fu9xB74uduQ47020YKVgufEIbMsf_DMA1bpIewUehIQUBRp7dJpZFRmsVMRoTai3PHRKw7iGCCKMc0QbQeDGAQEF_UW5YuEb4owHnv2vymOfOFVJb02BgymGfHn28IiEt9PB46_L0GbQ01hldOn4lu0w7KjqGHhOQ0TN5boSQzf5NsI35-hIWSFQ/w400-h317/yeats.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Image courtesy of the Paris Review</td></tr></tbody></table><br />Over the decades, gentle reader, I've enjoyed reading poetry, and have, from time to time, made attempts to do my own work. Most of this musing went on during my service in Vietnam. There was always a need to fill in the three hours of picket duty, when doing so in the daylight made scribbling possible.<p></p><p>I was always careful to keep this practice well hidden. On the very few occasions when I was sprung, I always said I was writing a letter. I got away with it.</p><p>The product of this lifelong dabbling is an appendix in my memoir. </p><p><a href="https://jellybeansinthejungle.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">You really should buy it.</a> I need the coffee money.</p><p>One of my favourite poets is W.B. Yeats.</p><p>Yeats was a Protestant/Agnostic, but his work has always resonated with this Catholic, possibly because of his subject matter, and his espousal of Irish nationalism. <a href="https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/43289/easter-1916">Easter 1916 </a>captured the spirit of this nationalism as no sterile reading of the history could ever do.</p><p>Yeats was deeply into spiritualism and towards the end of his life, this became evident in his works. His "The Second Coming" is said to be a dirge for the decline of European civilisation. I reproduce it here, and ask the reader to consider the state of western (not just European) civilisation in 2024. </p><p>Yeats wrote it in 1919, at a time when the horrors of the Great War were fresh in the minds of most, but the rise of authoritarian fascism had not yet begun. The resurrection of these themes worldwide is apparent now (note Putin, Trump and Milei). A resurrected Yeats would probably have had something to write were he observing now.</p><p>Yeats should always he heard, not read, so here is a <a href="https://www.poetryfoundation.org/play/77066">link to a reading</a>.</p><p>And here is the text of the poem - </p><div style="text-align: left;"><i>Turning and turning in the widening gyre <br />The falcon cannot hear the falconer; <br />Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold; <br />Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world, <br />The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere <br />The ceremony of innocence is drowned; <br />The best lack all conviction, while the worst </i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>Are full of passionate intensity.</i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i> <br />Surely some revelation is at hand; </i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>Surely the Second Coming is at hand. <br />The Second Coming! </i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>Hardly are those words out <br />When a vast image out of Spiritus Mundi </i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>Troubles my sight: somewhere in sands of the desert <br />A shape with lion body and the head of a man, <br />A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun, <br />Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it <br />Reel shadows of the indignant desert birds. <br />The darkness drops again; but now I know <br />That twenty centuries of stony sleep <br />Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle, <br />And what rough beast, its hour come round at last, <br />Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born? </i></div><p> </p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4203110337754630589.post-50827104485919485582024-02-12T10:34:00.002+10:002024-02-21T15:26:08.297+10:00One Website at a Time<p> </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYWSblxI2IDCZ7HwTLKH3cs-WLFfX1TB91vWcXUHWwhfV8_CWY0tz3i_DtUfsxA9uwXx8CSwVVM2yIwiyddWkzahIWqe_8LrxkBDGS2Q9tEaLwhsyu1qTQss_0aruZlrGZ2pg7l0j54S_AhRu2bpegsSYeSkLaHzpcbs9G5HoOrNgAQ93zw3gm5NddHNU/s2717/Dave's%20pic.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2038" data-original-width="2717" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYWSblxI2IDCZ7HwTLKH3cs-WLFfX1TB91vWcXUHWwhfV8_CWY0tz3i_DtUfsxA9uwXx8CSwVVM2yIwiyddWkzahIWqe_8LrxkBDGS2Q9tEaLwhsyu1qTQss_0aruZlrGZ2pg7l0j54S_AhRu2bpegsSYeSkLaHzpcbs9G5HoOrNgAQ93zw3gm5NddHNU/w400-h300/Dave's%20pic.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Some of 5 Platoon B Coy June 1970</td></tr></tbody></table><br />Regular readers of this blog will remember<a href="http://1735099.blogspot.com/2018/08/setting-record-straight.html"> this post,</a> which explained the fun I had setting the record straight about the "Volunteer Nasho" myth that had persisted for nearly fifty years at the time I encountered it.<p></p><p>The simple exercise of discerning and disseminating fact is essential if we are to tell the truth about our history, military or otherwise.</p><p>Truth-telling is, after all, the first step towards reconciliation, and I'm aware that there is still a way to go to to achieve real reconciliation amongst Vietnam veterans, given the comments I get whenever I post on the topic. Three years of research doesn't seem to make a difference to some of the enduring mythology. </p><p>The barnacle metaphor springs to mind.</p><p><a href="https://independentaustralia.net/australia/australia-display/reflections-on-the-fall,4404">I'd written about the need for reconciliation before.</a></p><p>Last month I came across a page on the State Library of Queensland website devoted to national service. It regurgitated the old myth that national servicemen who served in Vietnam were for the most part volunteers. Once you ignore the logical impossibility that conscripts could be classified as volunteers, the next step is to consult the literature, something that I spent three years doing prior to my thesis.</p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span>I made phone and email contact with the library about a month ago, sending them my thesis, together with a reading list on the topic, much of which has been around for ten years</span><span times=""> at least.</span></span></p><p>Today on revisiting the site I found that the reference to "many" volunteers on the website has been <a href="https://www.slq.qld.gov.au/blog/national-servicemens-nominal-roll-comes-anzac-square">altered </a>to - </p><p><span><i><span style="font-family: arial;">The 1965 amendment to the Defence Act stated 'conscripts could be obliged to serve overseas' and in March 1966 then Prime Minister Holt announced, National Servicemen would be sent to Vietnam to fight in units of the Australian Regular Army. Consequently, <b>most National Servicemen (Nashos) were not given the choice of active service once allocated to a regular army unit, especially infantry units. </b>As a result, 2 died in Borneo and in the Vietnam War 210 were killed and more than 1200 were wounded. </span></i></span></p><p><span><span style="font-family: arial;">This is gratifying because the reference to infantry units not being given a choice is precisely what my interviews with Nashos revealed. Once posted to infantry, manpower was all that mattered to the army.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span><span>The courteous head librarian told me that they had relied on material from the National Service Association to provide content. I then contacted the NSA who told me that they had not updated their information for years, mainly</span></span><span> because the people tasked with maintaining their website were infirm as a result of age.</span></span></p><p><span><span style="font-family: arial;">So the myth has remained on the NSA website more out of neglect than malice, a very sad state of affairs. </span></span></p><p><span><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://www.nashoaustralia.org.au/History.htm">It's still there -</a></span></span></p><p><span font-family:="" style="font-family: arial;" times=""><i>Most but not all units gave National Servicemen the choice of active service and most volunteered. </i></span></p><p><span font-family:="" style="font-family: arial;" times="">So the next step in my quest is to contact the NSA and suggest that they rejig their website to reflect the historical reality. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Everyone has to have at least one obsession. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Wish me luck...</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Update -</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">I posted this email to the NSA after many unsuccessful attempts to talk to them, with copies to the Australian War Memorial, and the Minister for Veterans' Affairs -</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">____________________________________________________________</span></p><p><span 0="" 0cm="" 11pt="" 12pt="" calibri="" font-family:="" font-size:="" margin:="" msonormalcaret-color:="" rgb="" sans-serif="" style="font-family: arial;">Dear Sir</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); margin: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: arial;">I draw your attention to the following statement on your history of national service as it refers to the second national service scheme on your website –<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); margin: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); margin: 0cm;"><span><span style="font-family: arial;"> <i>All Battalions were rotated through Vietnam between 1966 and 1971. Most but not all units gave National Servicemen the choice of active service and most volunteered</i>. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); margin: 0cm;"><span><o:p><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); margin: 0cm;"><span>This statement is misleading, especially the “most volunteered” reference, and is not based on fact. In the first place, national servicemen (including myself who served in 7RAR in Vietnam in 1970) were conscripts. We were in the army because our birthdates were drawn in the various national service ballots. If we had wanted to volunteer to fight in Vietnam, we could have done so by enlisting in the ARA.</span></p><p 12pt="" 1966="" 1971.="" active="" all="" and="" battalions="" between="" but="" choice="" class="font-family:" font-size:="" gave="" ll="" most="" ms="" national="" nbsp="" not="" of="" quot="" rebuchet="" rotated="" sans-serif="" service="" servicemen="" the="" through="" units="" vietnam="" volunteerestyle="caret-color: rgb(0, : 0cm;" were=""><span 1966="" 1971.="" active="" all="" and="" battalions="" between="" but="" choice="" class="font-family:" face=">This statement is misleading, especially the “most volunteered” reference, and is not based on fact. In the first place, national servicemen (including myself who served in 7RAR in Vietnam in 1970) were conscripts. We were in the army because our birthdates were drawn in the various national service ballots. If we had wanted to volunteer to fight in Vietnam, we could have done so by enlisting in the ARA.</span></p><p 12pt=" font-size:="" gave="" ll="" most="" ms="" national="" nbsp="" not="" of="" quot="" rebuchet="" rotated="" sans-serif="" service="" servicemen="" the="" through="" units="" vietnam="" volunteerestyle="caret-color: rgb(0, : 0cm;" were=""><span face="12pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Secondly, historians who have researched national service, including Mark Dapin, Jeffrey Grey, and Ben Morris (the latter a Vietnam veteran) have shown through their research that most units did not offer options regarding operational service. Once enlisted, we were members of the ARA and amendments to the National Service Act of 1965 specified that we were to be treated as such. <span s="">My own research has made it clear that most national servicemen allocated to Infantry, were not given an option. There were examples of Nashos going directly from recruit training to battalion postings, in the knowledge that those battalions were likely to be deployed but describing that process as “volunteering” is an abuse of the English language. These men were in the army because they were conscripts, not volunteers. </span></span></span></span></p><p 12pt="" at="" battalions="" became="" cases="" class="In" commanding="" compassionate="" decision="" decisions="" font-size:="" for="" if="" known="" level="" made="" ministerial="" nashos="" occasional="" of="" officers="" out="" reluctant="" reversed="" sans-serif="" service="" the="" these="" they="" to="" transfer="" vietnam="" warned="" were="" where=""><span style="font-family: arial;">The best example of this practice was the fate of Stanley Larsson, a member of my unit who was killed in a mine incident on June 6<sup>th</sup>, 1970. Reference to this incident is made on P 132 of my recently completed <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vRTTb1LyVo2LN9xh8LOPkEXmg5TAJn-aOakK91ZIM1phDeRMRt0dRAjpQoXdHP-Ag/pub">thesis. </a></span></p><p></p><span style="font-family: arial; o: p></o:p>The statement on your website should read MS", sans-serif;"><o:p> The statement on your website should read - </o:p></span><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); margin: 0cm;"><span 12pt="" style="font-family: arial;"> <i>All Battalions were rotated through Vietnam between 1966 and 1971. Occasionally, unit commanders gave National Servicemen the choice of avoiding active service, but this practice was in breach of the National Service Act and was discouraged at a political level</i>. <i>Most national servicemen simply made the best of their situation.<o:p></o:p></i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); margin: 0cm;"><span 12pt="" style="font-family: arial;"><i><br /></i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Whilst this history is not a good fit with the Anzac legend, it is the reality, and if you respect our service, especially those who gave their lives, you will tell the truth about it in your publications. Those who died are honoured by the truth, not convenient mythology.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); margin: 0cm;"><span 12pt="" style="font-family: arial;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Please acknowledge this email and correct your webpage.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); margin: 0cm;"><span 12pt="" style="font-family: arial;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Respectfully yours</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); margin: 0cm;"><span 12pt="" style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial;">XXXX</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial;">_____________________________________________________________</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); margin: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); margin: 0cm;"><span 12pt="" style="font-family: arial;">I'll keep you posted.</span></p><p></p></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4203110337754630589.post-71443363777700606002024-02-04T16:22:00.003+10:002024-02-05T06:44:40.824+10:00A True Volunteer<p> </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiRTkoXAuUsmhZIHSaBHjKXEY9aalaWxKS87zjY5QczPa63-LahL4PO76LhQLFZSJThv3eNR0z-r_5xBu9SJYkvcpPeJaOAGX8y1MXmktJ5vJgEJxX3aRZmecTlW6hF7tvXneUzy2NHfYOBOvJ1PEPFtFLKDwJQLoyN-mqpEpM3h_mM7t2iDrj6AIRgLw/s4032/reds.heic" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiRTkoXAuUsmhZIHSaBHjKXEY9aalaWxKS87zjY5QczPa63-LahL4PO76LhQLFZSJThv3eNR0z-r_5xBu9SJYkvcpPeJaOAGX8y1MXmktJ5vJgEJxX3aRZmecTlW6hF7tvXneUzy2NHfYOBOvJ1PEPFtFLKDwJQLoyN-mqpEpM3h_mM7t2iDrj6AIRgLw/w300-h400/reds.heic" width="300" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">They're sweet and juicy</td></tr></tbody></table><br />The Oxford defines a volunteer as "a person who does something without being forced".<p></p><p>It's a term usually applied to a person, but my father-in-law, a lifetime farmer, used it to refer to plants which came up all by themselves without being planted by human hands. He grew mostly peanuts.</p><p>Until I met him, I had never heard the term used in this way. His often unconventional and picturesque use of language reflected a life lived richly across many parts of the country, and a keen sense of observation.</p><p><a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vRTTb1LyVo2LN9xh8LOPkEXmg5TAJn-aOakK91ZIM1phDeRMRt0dRAjpQoXdHP-Ag/pub" target="_blank">More recently,</a> I have been involved in exploring the use of the term as it applied to the use of conscripts in this country between 1965 and 1972. I was amazed to find that there are those who define conscripts as volunteers.</p><p>Upon analysis, it became clear that mythology has no respect for facts and history, so the volunteer myth persists like barnacles on a boat.</p><p>With that concession to metaphor, I'll give myself permission, gentle reader, following the example of my father-in-law, to apply the term to a plant. </p><p>The plant in question is a variety of tomato. I have no idea exactly what breed of tomato, because it came up all by itself near one of my worm farms. I feed the worms with leftover organic cooking waste, and some seeds must have escaped.</p><p>The soil here is pretty good, and most things grow well. This summer has been especially wet, and the grass grows whilst you watch. The volunteer tomato did exactly that, after I almost removed it because I thought it was a weed. It was, actually, as a weed is defined as an unwanted plant that turns up somewhere you don't want it.</p><p>It grew like a weed, and flowered prolifically, much more so than the numerous tomato I'd bought and set up in hanging pots. It's producing large fruit which initially were spoiled by fruit fly until I applied some organic insecticide. </p><p>We now have more tomatoes than we can eat. I'm looking for recipes for tomato sauce and chutney.</p><p>The volunteer metaphor works well, as the plant is sturdy, energetic, and resilient, a bit like the<a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14490854.2019.1590151" target="_blank"> ahistorical myth as applied to national service. </a></p><p> </p><p> </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4203110337754630589.post-57825186767916842532024-01-26T13:59:00.000+10:002024-01-26T13:59:55.799+10:00Short Finals at Cunnamulla<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/2U9CcaXiPwU" width="320" youtube-src-id="2U9CcaXiPwU"></iframe></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I was going through some archived video the other day, and came across this.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">It was a video grab (via iPhone) of a landing we made at Cunnamulla in 2017, when I was working permanent part time as an Advisory Visiting teacher.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The chartered flight (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beechcraft_Super_King_Air">Beechcraft Super King Air</a>) flew Roma - Cunnamulla on Thursdays with the flying surgeon and his offsider anaesthetist. As far as I know, he never performed surgery on these occasions. Rather, he was assessing and preparing patients for procedures carried out in Roma.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">To be honest, I never had any idea what he was doing during the day. Upon arrival, I would be dropped off at the school, and the medical (QHealth) people at the hospital. We'd be collected by a government vehicle at the end of the day and driven to the airport. Boarding the aircraft after it had been locked up and sat in the sun all day, particularly in the summer, wasn't much fun, although once the engines were started it cooled down quickly. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Hitching a ride on these regular charters was a very efficient use of taxpayer resources. The aircraft was a nine-seater, there was plenty of room, and a whole day wasted on travel by car was avoided.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Nevertheless, permission to do it was withdrawn shortly at head office level, overriding the very sensible local decision to allow it. I never was told exactly why. It's possible that it had something to do with cost and/or insurance.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">In any case, I always enjoyed the flights, and usually sat in the cockpit where I could see what was going on. The airstrip at Cunnamulla was originally built for US bombers <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_B-17_Flying_Fortress">(B-17s) </a>stationed there in World War Two. One of the US personnel involved was a certain Lt Commander <a href="https://www.lbjlibrary.org/life-and-legacy/the-man-himself/lbjs-military-service">Lyndon B Johnson</a> on leave from the US Congress. Apparently he had advised that<span style="background-color: white; font-family: lato, sans-serif; font-size: 17.5px;"> </span> Cunnamulla was inland far enough to be out of range of Japanese attacks.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">That history explains the length of the strip at <a href="https://www.airservicesaustralia.com/aip/current/ersa/FAC_YCMU_30NOV2023.pdf">Cunnamulla</a> at 1733 metres. It would still be marginal for modern airliners. A 737 needs 2133 metres. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><br /> <p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4203110337754630589.post-47088153898867942172024-01-22T10:15:00.001+10:002024-01-22T10:48:23.413+10:00At the Bakery<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP-lVlppQ5cRD8DjeDX4lcVZL5VNeLh1hyphenhyphenFL6cQpgq2xZ7O9PSmSHH8FA2wZFUuXO33x2LCL29T1BZimSE2sdc0_N2M7D37-ePAH9n9O2b6_L3ojLVJH2lde8r6Phj9x72mSjemmGb-XjQRaF0k_HCcgJWgwvZxOPeNc6PMoQZaSCvP2F0tOLZ31BxzZI/s275/beg.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="183" data-original-width="275" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP-lVlppQ5cRD8DjeDX4lcVZL5VNeLh1hyphenhyphenFL6cQpgq2xZ7O9PSmSHH8FA2wZFUuXO33x2LCL29T1BZimSE2sdc0_N2M7D37-ePAH9n9O2b6_L3ojLVJH2lde8r6Phj9x72mSjemmGb-XjQRaF0k_HCcgJWgwvZxOPeNc6PMoQZaSCvP2F0tOLZ31BxzZI/w320-h213/beg.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pic courtesy ABC</td></tr></tbody></table><br />My daily habit, gentle reader, is to drive the short distance to a nearby bakery to buy a coffee and a bagette. <div><br /></div><div> I should probably walk, but my son's blue heeler looks after my exercise by taking me around the block daily. Besides, I enjoy driving. </div><div><br /></div><div>You should always do something you enjoy every day. I can at a stretch, pretend I'm still driving my MX5, despite the fact that I had to <a href="https://mx5mutterings.blogspot.com/2021/08/goodbye-and-hello.html" target="_blank">dispose of it </a>a few years ago as physical access became a problem.
The CX3 has the same engine and gearbox, after all. </div><div><br /></div><div> This morning, as I was about to drive out of the car park at our local shopping centre, I was approached by a woman who asked for money. I told her I didn't have any cash (which was true) and was about to offer to buy her something from the bakery if she was hungry, but she didn't give me the chance, telling me to "f**k off" before I completed my explanation.
She then approached somebody else, and as far as I could tell, got a similar response. </div><div><br /></div><div> I was thinking about this incident on the way home. The last time somebody asked me for money was in Washington on a visit in 2018. Apart from that, I vaguely remember a similar request in Paris in 1980. </div><div><br /></div><div>That was a very long time ago and in a very different place when the world and I were a little younger.
So what has changed, in regional Queensland, and perhaps in this land of Oz, to cause this behaviour to emerge?
Are there fundamental changes afoot, or was this an isolated insignificant incident? </div><div><br /></div><div>ACOSS (the Australian Council of Social Service) with the cooperation of the University of NSW, has published a report which illustrates pretty clearly at least one aspect of the situation, that of <a href="https://povertyandinequality.acoss.org.au/inequality/#:~:text=Wealth%20inequality%20in%20Australia,fifth%20of%20wealth%20%2817%25%29.">wealth distribution</a> in Australia.
It reveals, amongst other things, that people in the highest 20% of the wealth scale hold nearly two thirds of all wealth (64%), while those in the lowest 60% hold less than a fifth of wealth (17%). </div><div><br /></div><div> That is obviously significant, but is this disparity a simple enduring reality, or is it part of a trend? Generally in this country, <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10361146.2015.1066309">current research </a>doesn't detect a <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/1467-8462.304034">measurable trend</a>, and that, I suppose, is somewhat comforting. Ann Harding's 2002 paper does however suggest that the middle class (however you define it) is shrinking.
Certainly, the <a href="https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/australias-welfare/home-ownership-and-housing-tenure" target="_blank">Australian dream </a>of home ownership is increasingly beyond the means of many of the younger members of the current middle class. </div><div><br /></div><div> Inequality across the pacific is growing, as is apparent from this illustration from this <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2020/01/09/trends-in-income-and-wealth-inequality/" target="_blank">Pew Resource Centre study.</a><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="882" data-original-width="1270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM9DAzhVHojTEmnXLKWwGOBFQWFi-8JvUh3ipWty3k7Jcf20yumHyMsIZz2cw8QuLYVxzEqt-UigcSCk3hr8exurmGkI4JXw-LrQSHjT9W5bvfipPuTVaoIekB2rm3jXaES5Rku7scgJzwyaeq8gdgQr3NpUzn-9Z-wQ0RW8e4o-iQhXThcG9CxGCm9lQ/s320/Screen-Shot-2020-01-08-at-5.06.47-PM.webp" width="320" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Social and economic trends across the Pacific are almost always visited on us in this country, after a three/five year delay. The abandonment of <a href="https://www.naa.gov.au/students-and-teachers/learning-resources/learning-resource-themes/war/vietnam-war/cabinet-decision-withdraw-australian-forces-vietnam-1971#:~:text=When%20the%20United%20States%20committed,began%20pulling%20out%20in%201970." target="_blank">support for the war in Vietnam</a> first in the USA, and a few years later here, is the best example of this phenomenon.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">These trends shape the political culture. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">In the USA, the response seems to be the rise of neo-Fascism. In Australia, the emerging of the TEALs and the growth of support for Green candidates in urban electorates is apparent. Young renters are becoming more than a little unhappy with the major parties.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM9DAzhVHojTEmnXLKWwGOBFQWFi-8JvUh3ipWty3k7Jcf20yumHyMsIZz2cw8QuLYVxzEqt-UigcSCk3hr8exurmGkI4JXw-LrQSHjT9W5bvfipPuTVaoIekB2rm3jXaES5Rku7scgJzwyaeq8gdgQr3NpUzn-9Z-wQ0RW8e4o-iQhXThcG9CxGCm9lQ/s1270/Screen-Shot-2020-01-08-at-5.06.47-PM.webp" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><br /></a></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4203110337754630589.post-90247470012496584242024-01-13T09:16:00.002+10:002024-01-17T13:12:03.619+10:00The Marketing of Outrage<p><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhajwWyrtMLalW-yLxromFcHkjW13HWTqSIJLjMl9A00x1wGxN_ZOw9aw_tvXHsPtEu1CAOJGizU7OeUlYE3DFo91ZCHkznykE6h-YajKXkM5z2ibpD-MTTEUloI2TdzfndosWxe934jdjCJqkvmhgOJNJwj0y9wwgj40PpnSIuN-sV4aZ5wlepnbKs3T8/s500/Mess.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="301" data-original-width="500" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhajwWyrtMLalW-yLxromFcHkjW13HWTqSIJLjMl9A00x1wGxN_ZOw9aw_tvXHsPtEu1CAOJGizU7OeUlYE3DFo91ZCHkznykE6h-YajKXkM5z2ibpD-MTTEUloI2TdzfndosWxe934jdjCJqkvmhgOJNJwj0y9wwgj40PpnSIuN-sV4aZ5wlepnbKs3T8/w400-h241/Mess.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Australia Day aftermath. Pic courtesy Courier Mail</td></tr></tbody></table><br />Unless you've been under a rock for the last few days you've been hearing, gentle reader, about the controversy regarding Australia Day merchandise and a couple of our leading retailers.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Let's look at what's actually happened, and then examine the blowback.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Woolworths published this statement which was picked up by Channel Seven -</span></p><p><span face="HeyWow, Montserrat, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" font-size:="" medium="" style="font-family: arial;" times=""><i>There has been a gradual decline in demand for Australia Day merchandise from our stores over recent years. At the same time there’s been broader discussion about 26 January and what it means to different parts of the community.</i></span></p><p class="css-1n6q21n-StyledParagraph e4e0a020"><i><span style="font-family: arial;">We know many people like to use this day as a time to get together and we offer a huge variety of products to help customers mark the day as they choose.</span></i></p><p 0px="" 1.125rem="" 25px="" a33="" border-box="" box-sizing:="" break-word="" class="css-1n6q21n-StyledParagraph e4e0a020" color:="" line-height:="" margin:="" overflow-wrap:="" word-break:=""><span style="font-family: arial;"><i>Woolworths and BIG W celebrate the best of Australia every day, and we’re proud to support the farmers, producers, and suppliers who work with us.</i></span></p><p 0px="" 1.125rem="" 25px="" a33="" break-word="" class="css-1n6q21n-StyledParagraph e4e0a020" line-height:="" margin:="" overflow-wrap:="" word-break:=""><span style="font-family: arial;">When you drill down, they're saying two different things. One is that there has been a decrease in demand for Australia Day merchandise recently, and the other is that the day means different things to different parts of the community.</span></p><p 0px="" 1.125rem="" 25px="" break-word="" class="css-1n6q21n-StyledParagraph e4e0a020" line-height:="" margin:="" overflow-wrap:="" word-break:=""><span style="font-family: arial;">I can't understand why those statements are controversial. They both reflect reality, and any large retailer that ignores measurable trends affecting their business will rapidly become a small retailer.</span></p><p 0px="" 1.125rem="" 25px="" a33="" border-box="" break-word="" class="css-1n6q21n-StyledParagraph e4e0a020" color:="" line-height:="" margin:="" overflow-wrap:="" word-break:=""><span style="font-family: arial;">Then there's Aldi. </span></p><p 0px="" 1.125rem="" 25px="" a33="" border-box="" box-sizing:="" break-word="" class="css-1n6q21n-StyledParagraph e4e0a020" color:="" line-height:="" margin:="" overflow-wrap:="" word-break:=""><span style="font-family: arial;">They're reported as announcing they won't stock special Australia Day merchandise, but you won't find any mention of that on their <a href="http://website.">website.</a></span></p><p 0px="" 1.125rem="" 25px="" a33="" border-box="" break-word="" class="css-1n6q21n-StyledParagraph e4e0a020" color:="" line-height:="" margin:="" overflow-wrap:="" word-break:=""><span style="font-family: arial;">As you might expect, they're talking about what they are selling, rather than what they're not selling.</span></p><p 0px="" 1.125rem="" 25px="" a33="" border-box="" box-sizing:="" break-word="" class="css-1n6q21n-StyledParagraph e4e0a020" color:="" line-height:="" margin:="" overflow-wrap:="" word-break:=""><span style="font-family: arial;">The irony is, if you walk into a Woolworths or Aldi store, you'll find Australian flags stocked, it's simply that they're not promoted. Strange but true.</span></p><p 0px="" 1.125rem="" 25px="" a33="" border-box="" break-word="" class="css-1n6q21n-StyledParagraph e4e0a020" color:="" line-height:="" margin:="" overflow-wrap:="" word-break:=""><span style="font-family: arial;">So what is the media outrage all about? Marketing, of course. The various online and print media organisations are marketing the story.</span></p><p 0px="" 1.125rem="" 25px="" a33="" border-box="" break-word="" class="css-1n6q21n-StyledParagraph e4e0a020" color:="" line-height:="" margin:="" overflow-wrap:="" word-break:=""><span style="font-family: arial;">It attracts clicks and sells papers. Outrage always does.</span></p><p 0px="" 1.125rem="" 25px="" a33="" border-box="" break-word="" class="css-1n6q21n-StyledParagraph e4e0a020" color:="" line-height:="" margin:="" overflow-wrap:="" word-break:=""><span style="font-family: arial;">And the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2024/jan/11/woolworths-big-w-australia-day-merchandise-dropped-sale-peter-dutton-boycott-calls">politicians</a> extracting every ounce of attention by commenting are generally those who regard the market as sacred.</span></p><p 0px="" 1.125rem="" 25px="" a33="" arial="" border-box="" break-word="" class="css-1n6q21n-StyledParagraph e4e0a020" color:="" elvetica="" font-family:="" font-size:="" helvetica="" heywow="" line-height:="" margin:="" montserrat="" neue="" overflow-wrap:="" quot="" sans-serif="" word-break:=""><br /></p><p 0px="" 1.125rem="" 25px="" a33="" arial="" border-box="" box-sizing:="" break-word="" class="css-1n6q21n-StyledParagraph e4e0a020" color:="" elvetica="" font-family:="" font-size:="" helvetica="" heywow="" line-height:="" margin:="" montserrat="" neue="" overflow-wrap:="" quot="" sans-serif="" word-break:=""><br /></p><p><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4203110337754630589.post-81895280584082333952024-01-06T11:51:00.002+10:002024-01-07T17:03:47.930+10:00Two Tragedies<p> </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIMKDW9AWccsdSIls35szuvpK4tdgCOdj4cH8SuS6Rq7peyEa5t3FstsGdm-rJ5uBnAcr7-GK7FIBKutGMNbDn8-LbmnekwGHYVYPTafa3s6QM3zvqzlVISHaslrYke8zUVoBurpAvXwpriabLfck3ltW34dogCB5RSQJiwqxK1sVGSpbeSzT4F_vSq8Q/s299/Gaza.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="168" data-original-width="299" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIMKDW9AWccsdSIls35szuvpK4tdgCOdj4cH8SuS6Rq7peyEa5t3FstsGdm-rJ5uBnAcr7-GK7FIBKutGMNbDn8-LbmnekwGHYVYPTafa3s6QM3zvqzlVISHaslrYke8zUVoBurpAvXwpriabLfck3ltW34dogCB5RSQJiwqxK1sVGSpbeSzT4F_vSq8Q/w400-h225/Gaza.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pic courtesy CNN</td></tr></tbody></table><br />The two tragedies I'm referring to, gentle reader, are the war in Gaza and the media's response to it.<p></p><p>Every war is a tragedy, a failure of rationality, and an exploitation of what is evil in the minds of men.</p><p>The current Middle East conflicts <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_modern_conflicts_in_the_Middle_East" target="_blank">(and there are many)</a> provide a textbook example of human tragedy. Daily, civilians are dying, and whether they are "innocent" or not makes no difference.</p><p>I learned in Vietnam fifty years ago that the military will always classify a dead civilian as "enemy" and by that definition not innocent and deserving of death. Much the same is happening in Gaza at the moment. Maybe Gazans support Hamas and maybe not, but I doubt a child can be a true supporter of any ideology.</p><p>To begin to explore the reasons for the current conflict is a can of worms, and depends to an extent on what version of history you accept. I won't go there, except to say it's embedded in the religions and culture in that part of the world. </p><p>What is abundantly clear is that media takes sides based on their biases, and discerning the facts from the reporting is all but impossible.</p><p>Social media is worse, because it lacks the filter of what passes as journalism these days.</p><p>To see people in Sydney and other state capitals waving flags, both of Palestine and Israel, is complete idiocy in Australia. </p><p>The only cause worth the action of taking to the streets is the cause of peace, and nobody seems to be prepared to support it.</p><p>We live in strange and remarkably irrational times...</p><p> </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4203110337754630589.post-50865748239238271922024-01-02T13:32:00.007+10:002024-01-14T14:26:11.216+10:00A Sweet Use of Adversity<p>My recently-completed thesis is no longer available on USQ's thesis repository.</p><p>This is a problem, as I need quick and easy reference online. </p><p>My efforts at publishing it in messy bits and pieces, gentle reader, was an abject failure. </p><p>An IT-savvy friend has suggested I post it as a link using Google Docs. I had to learn how to do this, but it's not difficult. </p><p>To access the whole document, click on this <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vRTTb1LyVo2LN9xh8LOPkEXmg5TAJn-aOakK91ZIM1phDeRMRt0dRAjpQoXdHP-Ag/pub" target="_blank">link.</a></p>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4203110337754630589.post-86388808744560487242023-12-27T07:29:00.000+10:002023-12-27T07:29:25.915+10:00Chickenman Remembered<iframe frameborder="0" height="270" src="https://youtube.com/embed/OFX_i_NBbpg?si=s5kVu2Q4fQN7kfNN" width="480"></iframe><div><br /></div><div>One of the very few entertaining aspects of serving in Vietnam was the opportunity to listen to episodes of <a href="https://jamesstrauss.com/chickenman-vietnam-radio/" target="_blank">Chickenman</a> broadcast on American Forces Radio.</div><div><br /></div><div>They were universally funny and a send-up of the genre of radio serials that had been popular both in the US and Australia throughout the fifties and sixties.</div><div><br /></div><div>By the time I was in country, this genre of programming was no longer popular back home in both countries, but they enjoyed a resurgence amongst service personnel during the war. They were at the same time a reminder of home, and a bizarre diversion.</div><div><br /></div><div>There was also an <a href="https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C2084893" target="_blank">Australian</a> radio station set up by members based in Vung Tau, which supplied news, sporting broadcasts and other reports from home. From memory, it didn't broadcast around the clock as the American station did, and was bereft of the "commercials" which punctuated the American broadcasts, which reminded GIs to fasten their buttons, take their anti-malarials, and secure parked vehicles, amongst other things. </div><div><br /></div><div>This <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lbbJWfntxTA" target="_blank">broadcast </a>coincidentally was made on the day I arrived in country aboard HMAS Sydney. </div><div><br /></div><div>You're probably familiar, gentle reader, with Robin Williams' <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093105/" target="_blank">Good Morning Vietnam.</a></div><div><br /></div><div>We used to listen through earphones to AFN on transistors secreted in our basic pouches. It was tolerated, but not encouraged by our commanders. Listening without earphones was a chargeable offence, as was listening (with earphones) on picquet.</div><div><br /></div><div>The Americans were prone to playing radios at all times, even when patrolling in the case of some units.</div><div><br /></div><div> </div><div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4203110337754630589.post-53013382028928668572023-12-22T12:10:00.002+10:002023-12-22T12:10:35.526+10:00"Jellybeans" in Hindsight<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRG3F2I8p0v57fNO-StRfEjdQO3bB6YP3SjIJSym8ZcaFikTtaLc6k3HVOIQNPjUzvOwfBHAadNFFdscPBAgjTQoT0bp2_nSZgVG2EudYC6ugHazs4xvuy1gU6mSCeNMbwec-iQmPWWWN4lOZ9CY67CbdDrUiYm2ZcrQf9BE_Rqb_-MCufvi0ZxGe9UgY/s294/jellybeans-in-the-jungle-book-cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="294" data-original-width="188" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRG3F2I8p0v57fNO-StRfEjdQO3bB6YP3SjIJSym8ZcaFikTtaLc6k3HVOIQNPjUzvOwfBHAadNFFdscPBAgjTQoT0bp2_nSZgVG2EudYC6ugHazs4xvuy1gU6mSCeNMbwec-iQmPWWWN4lOZ9CY67CbdDrUiYm2ZcrQf9BE_Rqb_-MCufvi0ZxGe9UgY/w256-h400/jellybeans-in-the-jungle-book-cover.jpg" width="256" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>About thirteen years ago, I finished putting together a series of blog posts and converted them into a memoir, had them printed by USQ press, and published it.<p></p><p>1000 copies were printed. There are about 80 left.</p><p>Looking back on the experience is interesting.</p><p>I wrote it because it was something I'd always wanted to do. The story was in my memory and had been for years. I had also been back to Vietnam a couple of times, and those trips had put a lot of things in perspective.</p><p>The school I had retired from in my last principalship was happy to organise a book release as a fundraiser, and I undertook to provide a percentage of the proceeds to the P & C.</p><p>It was marketed through word of mouth, a couple of <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/lifematters/going-back-to-vietnam-listeners-story/3213096" target="_blank">radio</a> interviews, a website, <a href="https://7rar.asn.au/wp/?page_id=5603" target="_blank">advertisements</a> on a couple of websites, and most recently in DVA's <a href="https://www.dva.gov.au/newsroom/vetaffairs/vetaffairs-vol-39-no3-december-2023/bookshelf-vetaffairs-december-2023#jellybeans-in-the-jungle" target="_blank">Vetaffairs </a>newsletter. </p><p>I travelled to the USA in 2018, and established contacts with Vietnam veterans across the Pacific to help sell the eBook version. Selling hard copy overseas was never a possibility because of mailing costs. It was <a href="https://vvabooks.wordpress.com/2018/05/27/jellybeans-in-the-jungle-by-bob-whittaker/" target="_blank">reviewed </a>by Marc Leepson in 2018.</p><p>It has been stocked in a couple of Dymocks bookstores.</p><p>Since release, about 900 copies have been sold, and quite a few (I haven't counted) given away, mostly to fellow Nashos.</p><p>Apart from the experience of writing it, it has been a reliable minor earner, and helped keep me in coffee and beer money since released. The P & C also did OK. </p><p>I've given a few author talks at libraries. What surprised me at these functions was the deep ignorance of our Vietnam commitment demonstrated by audience members. Where these author talks were conducted with veteran groups, as a few were, the acceptance of some <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14490854.2019.1590151" target="_blank">toxic myths</a> surprised me. </p><p>This was substantially what motivated me to commit to <a href="https://sear.unisq.edu.au/view/year/2023.html" target="_blank">further research</a> about <strike>National Service</strike> Conscription at USQ. </p><p>It's still <a href="https://jellybeansinthejungle.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">available,</a> by the way. </p><p>I have no regrets, gentle reader, everybody should write a book. Have a go....</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /> </p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4203110337754630589.post-57105462222020828532023-12-11T10:39:00.003+10:002023-12-11T10:48:33.408+10:00Covid Continues<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-Dl8-WnEuCNNu3k4xQPptdakrJq5O8FW9rQkhxt50wJitj0NN86EgYy8vHmEUIlrUu5QwWeBvypSzJqO-6iCgj5PWmLuHLBgCQRan54II2mKRLTBcExm5abTwcWXCQRuoAVUQVTB6zOBrdgm2MbwnlQ-q66MVDdlQhgcUqrYh1-RGsA73Gbfm4vM-jA8/s4032/IMG_3072.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-Dl8-WnEuCNNu3k4xQPptdakrJq5O8FW9rQkhxt50wJitj0NN86EgYy8vHmEUIlrUu5QwWeBvypSzJqO-6iCgj5PWmLuHLBgCQRan54II2mKRLTBcExm5abTwcWXCQRuoAVUQVTB6zOBrdgm2MbwnlQ-q66MVDdlQhgcUqrYh1-RGsA73Gbfm4vM-jA8/w300-h400/IMG_3072.jpeg" width="300" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>It's finally caught up with me - the dreaded Covid.</p><p>It's probably my own fault because I wasn't up to date with the vaccine. I was lulled into a false sense of security, as much as anything else because the issue has been completely ignored by the media.</p><p>I had made a booking to get the most recent version of the vaccine but had come down with mild respiratory symptoms on the day of the booking, and when I turned up at the surgery was banished to the carpark.</p><p>My GP sent me off for testing, and sure enough I was positive. He was apologetic for not seeing me in the surgery, but explained (from about three metres away on the passenger's side of the car) that he'd had so many bad experiences with himself and staff going down with the bug that he was being very cautious.</p><p>What I found confusing was that the pathologist wasn't masked or gowned. I hope she doesn't contract it.</p><p>One the positive diagnosis was sent by text, I was booked for a telemedicine appointment which resulted in a course of <a href="https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/covid-19/covid-19-antiviral-medicine" target="_blank">antivirals</a>. The guidelines were pretty clear, so I've been isolating since diagnosis, which is a greater inconvenience than the virus itself. I have a few days to go.</p><p>Mind you, the first few days weren't pretty (burning eyes, sinus headaches, and sandpaper throat). I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy. That only lasted a day or two, and has cleared up. The antivirals seem to have worked for me. They have side effects, but in my case minor - a metallic taste which persists.</p><p>So far, my bride seems to have escaped, so fingers crossed.</p><p>As to how I caught it - who knows. I did venture unmasked to a large shopping centre congested by the Christmas rush a few days before onset of symptoms, so perhaps that's where it originated. The fact is, the virus is still rampant, even if mainstream media has decided to ignore it.</p><p>I's no linger a story that sells papers or attracts clics, I guess.</p><p>The statistics speak for themselves in terms of how it was handled in Australia, but the wingnuts across the Pacific (which has a death rate<a href="https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/" target="_blank"> four times ours</a>), and a few here, continue to make a big noise. </p><p>What remains unmentioned is that 135840 cases have been reported in Queensland this year, and weekly averages are around 1500 weekly. When you consider that many cases go unreported, it's likely that the real incidence rate is much higher.</p><p>Wear a mask in congested areas, gentle reader, and ignore the outrage merchants who really don't have anything to complain about.</p><p><br /></p><p> </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4203110337754630589.post-36832441520310504612023-11-29T09:55:00.002+10:002023-11-29T10:09:51.656+10:00Hysteria in Politics<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5ry8fl39KxQSoQHhmNb_6WuQPaYtQyhXgc457KNuenLRc_zXyXX_eGckKnsPCtKWN16jvsNo7g48CofuiJCyPAqL32qwCHz5YQHRDTQTju3XII8bH4TNoZ_zVRVn-vijsdKgmGhOZeCiM_Gt9Et7CXUMeleM9lr70kB_tBqSL8RxT_mEZTdef0cqmrq4/s290/Dutton.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="174" data-original-width="290" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5ry8fl39KxQSoQHhmNb_6WuQPaYtQyhXgc457KNuenLRc_zXyXX_eGckKnsPCtKWN16jvsNo7g48CofuiJCyPAqL32qwCHz5YQHRDTQTju3XII8bH4TNoZ_zVRVn-vijsdKgmGhOZeCiM_Gt9Et7CXUMeleM9lr70kB_tBqSL8RxT_mEZTdef0cqmrq4/w400-h240/Dutton.jpeg" width="400" /></a><div> Image courtesy The Guardian<no a="" about="" acquainted="" as="" australian="" consequent="" controversy="" court="" decision.="" detainees="" div="" doubt="" gentle="" high="" media="" of="" re="" reader="" recent="" released="" the="" through="" with="" you=""><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">No doubt, gentle reader, you're acquainted with the <a href="http://ews.com.au/national/politics/unprecedented-high-court-reveals-reasons-for-releasing-refugees-from-unlawful-detention/news-story/3b6da170f69c83a53eb4ef49a325694c">recent media </a>about the High Court decision releasing detainees from indefinite detention.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">In summary, that <a href="https://theconversation.com/high-court-reasons-on-immigration-ruling-pave-way-for-further-legislation-218699#:~:text=The%20court%20made%20it%20clear,immigration%20detention%20in%20Australian%20law." target="_blank">decision </a>ordered the release of stateless detainees as it ruled that politicians don't have the constitutional power to punish. The High Court found that punishment is the role of the courts, not parliament.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">That principle is nothing new, but as a consequence of political decisions (supported by both major parties) hundreds of these people were in indefinite detention. Whether or not indefinite detention can be supported morally or legally is not the issue. The High Court found that it was illegal, and for what it's worth, I regard it as morally indefensible. In any event, they had to be released, and they were.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The people caught up in this were stateless, and the reason they remained in detention was that no country would accept them. Some of them had committed serious crimes, and all of those had served sentences as a consequence. Some had committed no crime, but they were deemed to be of poor character. Those who had been convicted of serious offences had served their time. If they had been Australian citizens, and not stateless, they would have been released into the community, just as thousands of other ex-prisioners are annually.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The opposition has lapsed into hysteria around this issue, in an attempt to make political capital, as fear of refugees has always been a politically powerful meme, and has worked well in the past.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">They seem to have forgotten that the legislation that the High Court deemed unconstitutional was strongly supported historically by the Coalition, and that it had been introduced for political reasons which were, as it turns out, found to be in breach of the Australian constitution. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Nevertheless, Dutton and fellow shadow ministers have been doing the rounds whipping up hysteria. The irony, of course, is that it was legislation introduced by the Keating government, and amended in 2001 by Howard's cabinet at the height of the Tampa incident. A further irony relates to the fact that Dutton has always been prominent at exploiting law and order issues for political capital. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">It will be interesting to see if the Coalition cooperate with Labor in instituting new legislation that puts these non-citizens back in detention. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Whether they do or not makes no difference to the fact that indefinite detention, as a concept in a civilised society, is morally bankrupt.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"> </div></no></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4203110337754630589.post-2567317647118100682023-11-23T10:03:00.004+10:002023-11-23T17:17:15.250+10:00Personal Pronoun Primer <p> </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9d9TYFuxQkbDQmmLz4C8WA3cPU4tJU3nkOxDZ3fEUs9Do20jzyHARZ3Uxx6voJg3Rfa9eoT11dfLRZjmqrxVIdyjIy3Va7-jvcxmtjgWB4VLJ7gJnTSDLazcuVWw6xV_97DF9ojU8CAkup51v6rTYIswGK3Yk7YgFG3OfTYx3YACDO0hZnvaXNJIn4rg/s275/your.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="183" data-original-width="275" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9d9TYFuxQkbDQmmLz4C8WA3cPU4tJU3nkOxDZ3fEUs9Do20jzyHARZ3Uxx6voJg3Rfa9eoT11dfLRZjmqrxVIdyjIy3Va7-jvcxmtjgWB4VLJ7gJnTSDLazcuVWw6xV_97DF9ojU8CAkup51v6rTYIswGK3Yk7YgFG3OfTYx3YACDO0hZnvaXNJIn4rg/w400-h266/your.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Image courtesy Liveabout<br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div>Perhaps my teaching background is an issue, but the misuse of common English grammar both in social and corporate media drives me nuts.<p></p><p>Even when working as an itinerant consultant in bush schools between 2007 and 2017, I frequently had to restrain myself from correcting the grammar written on blackboards by teachers that I saw from time to time .</p><p>There are two common examples.</p><p>Take "your", and "you're" for example.</p><p>"Your" is the first person possessive pronoun. Its usage is very straightforward. Yet, somehow people confuse it with "you're" which is a contraction. "You're" is a shortening of "you are". </p><p>For example - "You're late for your appointment".</p><p>Then there's "their" and "they're". </p><p>"Their" is the third person possessive pronoun. "They're" is a contraction, a shortening of "they are".</p><p>For example - "They're going to collect their wages".</p><p>It's pretty simple.</p><p>I reserve the right to correct any grammar errors that are posted in comments on this site. I will always correct them on any sites I comment on, and am, as a consequence, often accused of pedantry.</p><p>It's weird that the same people who are bemoaning what they consider an erosion of Anglo values, are disrespecting the heritage they claim to honour by abusing the basic grammar of the English language.</p><p>Strange but true.</p></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4203110337754630589.post-24411059951589151132023-11-15T15:34:00.001+10:002023-11-16T09:35:29.391+10:00The Media Megaphone<div style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="146" data-original-width="344" height="170" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS4wdOoXZMJhH_01zl48zh7YBVzkphsR3em9DZ72X42suGUzHCtOUDiR34vOzmIaH7CX6WwCFRJt5FjWqYvcls8vD6HHLeZnWib_arQgHVK6qXs3Mo2F1HhToKd5v0NfBp-rmlsufTA6wy32Suc3KWnfNutDpXkWljW8zRckGO_iDuEOysAMhaiXRTNdg/w400-h170/Medirect.jpeg" width="400" /></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"> Image courtesy Medirect</div><br /><div style="text-align: left;">The State of israel was proclaimed on May 14th 1948, so that makes it one year younger than I. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: center;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: center;">Since that time, there have been <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_wars_involving_Israel" target="_blank">eighteen different episodes </a>of conflict that Wikipedia classifies as "wars" involving Israel and its neighbours, including Six-Day war in 1967 and the Yom Kippur War in 1973. There have been many other episodes besides these two which resonate in my memory, but many of them have rumbled along in the background without making the news, routinely killing and maiming the participants. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: center;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: center;">In the course of these wars or skirmishes, around eleven thousand members of the IDF have been killed, and approximately 4000 Israeli civilians have also died. During the same period, reliable statistics recording Palestinian casualties have not been kept, but some <a href="https://www.statista.com/chart/16516/israeli-palestinian-casualties-by-in-gaza-and-the-west-bank/" target="_blank">data is available </a>since 2008 indicating that over 120000 have died. This figure does not include those killed by the current Israeli activity in the Gaza strip.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: center;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: center;">The war in Vietnam was the first conflict televised daily into western living rooms, and many historians insist this exposure of the horrors of war to everyday citizens was largely responsible for the loss of support in both the USA and Australia which began to <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/figure/5-Support-for-the-Vietnam-War-declined-nearly-every-year-after-the-official-US_fig2_265944988" target="_blank">decline measurably </a>in 1968. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: center;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: center;">This pattern of weariness with the conflict does not seem to have been reproduced in the Middle East. Those wars have endured throughout my lifetime. Perhaps we have become accustomed to them. I doubt that the people involved (Israelis and Palestinians) have.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: center;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: center;">And this tolerance for the slaughter by both sides, gentle reader, is a conundrum that I can't get my head around. Both sides of the conflict use the media megaphone to advance their respective causes. All this seems to achieve is division on the streets of our capital cities, and political point scoring. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: center;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: center;">Perhaps it's time to try a novel approach. Rather than using confronting imagery as a means to attract eyeballs and clicks, both corporate and public media could agree to help</span><span style="text-align: center;"> resolve conflict or at the very least, move it from a violent to a non-violent phase.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: center;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: center;">This, of course, will never happen so long as the media is conceptualised as a market, and the story will need to be sold to the highest bidder.</span></div><p></p></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4203110337754630589.post-58824343264394267252023-11-05T11:57:00.004+10:002023-11-05T13:04:41.086+10:00Australians at War Film Archive ..<p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCmLphLRTk6ewJfDGoZUYFOQrF6aX5EAL6dbXitGS5K_Xfe7C5SUPHo4hiluTzV-vZqOK3ftVRmKoXb6rFw9ggW-sDbwav5-RXbUX648o9Aw3_E1FdkrxWsSCgu_vWOYZFUHzW_hjreXM_HLsDAr_GA_BZuIP-BNxTxJYhQ4DpqaKOd1IYL458xytCLJo/s500/Voices.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="500" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCmLphLRTk6ewJfDGoZUYFOQrF6aX5EAL6dbXitGS5K_Xfe7C5SUPHo4hiluTzV-vZqOK3ftVRmKoXb6rFw9ggW-sDbwav5-RXbUX648o9Aw3_E1FdkrxWsSCgu_vWOYZFUHzW_hjreXM_HLsDAr_GA_BZuIP-BNxTxJYhQ4DpqaKOd1IYL458xytCLJo/w400-h400/Voices.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pic courtesy Marlowes Books</td></tr></tbody></table><br />In the process of completing my master's thesis I encountered this<a href="https://www.unsw.adfa.edu.au/special-collections/explore/AAWFA" target="_blank"> archive of videotaped interviews</a> prepared in the early 2000s by the University of New South Wales.<p></p><p>The collection was commissioned through the Department of Veterans Affairs and is a diverse and exhaustive collection of personal military histories. </p><p>It is also a remarkable historical resource of information about Australian social and cultural life.</p><p>Anybody with any interest in military history will find it of enormous value in understanding the political and cultural history of the time, as the men and women interviewed were encouraged to describe the context of the era, and their place in it.</p><p>What fascinated me were the interviews with people who had served in Vietnam across a range of units and corps. Almost to a man (or woman - as there were a few nurses and one physiotherapist interviewed), they described the disillusionment they felt when they compared what they had been told before disembarking with what they encountered in country.</p><p>Also consistent within the hundreds of interviews were the reports of the consequences of service on participants for the decades that followed. There was a clear pattern. Initially, on return to Australia, most simply put the experience behind them, and in most cases were happy not to admit their veteran status.</p><p> As time went on, many found that they succumbed to a range of problems, which in many cases meant that they were no longer able to function well enough to live productively. </p><p>The temptation to continue with research, advancing to a Ph D proposal is strong. This time, I'd like to examine the stories of Nashos who remained in Australia for the duration of their service. </p><p>These soldiers were indeed the<a href="https://nashofairgo.com.au/" target="_blank"> men Australia forgot.</a></p><p> </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4203110337754630589.post-21729465332400861932023-10-27T17:53:00.005+10:002023-10-28T06:32:45.397+10:00Winning Friends and Influencing People (Not)<p></p><div style="text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKiVCXsv-RMEktCY_D-dYYKKn9scNSPcuWKvFN2kQpg8dGig9rTnxwLtvP6RCzyE3D2zaYD7_ZQNq1UruMSIg87ouSxTB3dFqejkV-pGqm89UD58dQbSfXYka9BMexm6H1E57GxCsMs3w6d-yiShGGDoV6Agy9c52Ltoy_rYMFYQRV7BimfhCksFYgUB4/s286/Gaza.jpeg"><span style="color: black;"><img a="" border="0" class="tr-caption" courtesy="" data-original-height="176" data-original-width="286" height="246" image="" ndtv="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKiVCXsv-RMEktCY_D-dYYKKn9scNSPcuWKvFN2kQpg8dGig9rTnxwLtvP6RCzyE3D2zaYD7_ZQNq1UruMSIg87ouSxTB3dFqejkV-pGqm89UD58dQbSfXYka9BMexm6H1E57GxCsMs3w6d-yiShGGDoV6Agy9c52Ltoy_rYMFYQRV7BimfhCksFYgUB4/w400-h246/Gaza.jpeg" style="text-align: center;" width="400" /></span></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> Image courtesy NDTV</span><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;">One of the most enduring memories of my service in Vietnam is the experience of being on the wrong end of a misdirected artillery strike. In May 1970, during operations with 7 RAR, <a href="https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C1074885" target="_blank">American self-propelled M110 howitzers</a> firing just on dusk from the Horseshoe sent two salvos into our night platoon harbour which went within a whisker of cleaning us up. Fortunately they landed in front of our position, and the shrapnel went forward, away from us. The worst we endured were the seconds of sheer terror as we heard it coming, and the shards of split timber from the trees it hit flying about.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Fortunately we were on stand-to and hadn't put sentries out at the time, as any digger out in front of the position would have been mincemeat. The fact that we discovered later that the gun crew was high on marijuana at the time didn't improve our lack of respect for Americans in general, and US artillery in particular. They had forgotten to check the position of "friendlies" and we were ambushing a track junction. The Yanks were firing H & I (harassment and interdiction) missions and this same track junction was a juicy target. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I mention this to explain that I know what it feels like to be attacked with high explosives designed to kill and maim. The last few seconds involve an eerie whistling sound that I can still hear, fifty-three years after the incident.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Imagine the terror of civilian populations subject to this hi-tech carnage daily and consider how they might react.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">There's plenty of history. Let's examine World War Two, gentle reader. First there was the London blitz, and then the area bombing of the Ruhr, and cities such as Hamburg, Dresden, and Cologne. Earlier in the war, the Japanese bombed <span style="text-align: center;">Chongqing in China </span><span style="text-align: center;">a total of 268 times in an effort to terrorise the population. Our own country was bombed on 19th February 1942, when Darwin was attacked, and Broome followed on 3rd March the same year. Neither the Londoners, the residents of these German cities, or of Chongqing or Darwin became enamoured of those doing the bombing. In fact, the civilians involved typically got behind their armed forces after these incidents. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: center;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: center;">The bombing of Hiroshima and </span><span style="text-align: center;">Nagasaki cost about ninety-four thousand deaths. This</span><span style="text-align: center;"> loss of life was justified by the Americans using the argument that it saved hundreds of thousands of GIs who would have died in a conventional maritime invasion of the Japanese homeland. Hiroshima nd Nagasaki stand out because of the use of nuclear weapons, rather than the number of civilian casualties, which were actually less than those resulting from the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombing_of_Tokyo">fire bombing of Tokyo</a>. This justification has been disputed by <a href="https://blog.nationalarchives.gov.uk/soviet-japan-and-the-termination-of-the-second-world-war/" target="_blank">some historians </a>who claim that the Japanese surrender was precipitated by the Soviet declaration of war two days after Hiroshima and one day before Nagasaki.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: center;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: center;">Between 1965 and 1970, the Americans dropped </span><span style="text-align: center;">2,756,941 tons of ordnance on Cambodia, destroying most of the minimal infrastructure in that country, and terrorising the population. There is a <a href="https://gsp.yale.edu/sites/default/files/walrus_cambodiabombing_oct06.pdf" target="_blank">strong argument </a>that this terror drove the population into the arms of the Khmer Rouge, and the killing fields followed as a direct outcome a few years down the track. After patrolling </span><span style="text-align: center;">in areas of Phuoc Tuy where B-52 strikes had been conducted in 1970, and coming across the vast overgrown craters left by these raids, I can well understand the reaction of any civilian population to indiscriminate bombing, and the desperation they must have felt.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: center;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: center;">Then there was the "shock and awe" unleashed by US forces on Iraq in 2003. It was followed after the American withdrawal by the rise of ISIS, which reached its zenith in 2015. That was twelve years after "shock and awe". The Killing Fields were perpetrated by the Khmer Rouge between 1975 and 1979, ten years after the bombing. These are two very similar examples in recent history of the long-term outcomes of attempting to bomb a population into submission. The result in both situations seems to have been the rise of the most evil of terrorist groups. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: center;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: center;">Now we are seeing the Israeli bombing of Gaza. Let's hope that the outcome will not be the strengthening of the existing Hamas hold on the Palestinians. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: center;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: center;">One thing I am sure of, gentle reader, is that the residents of Gaza will not feel any sympathy for the Israelis killed and captured on October 7th. </span><span style="text-align: center;">Getting bombed has that result. If</span><span style="text-align: center;"> history is a guide, the bombing will have a long term effect that will remove any likelihood of peace in the Middle East in my lifetime. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: center;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;">Bombing people does not win their friendship, nor does it ever influence them to hold a favourable view of those responsible. That simple and understated historical message seems to have completely escaped the military leaders involved.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: center;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: center;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: center;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: center;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div></div><br /> <p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4203110337754630589.post-7421185741730850922023-10-16T12:38:00.002+10:002023-10-19T06:12:06.912+10:00Australia, the Nation with a Hearing Impairment<p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOwIHpzHJzWPQZgfVQJ5WZ2k51o7ZFDmpFEasJ_TOcKlpvMgObokaB6L5XZNSwOQmSRJb8BktfYVlc0-_tvT-uXqCUtyM7-GLUUprVOz4a7WT-RdDK7mY-CDRmaXQz5I2mrAQHyxumD27fqA0U4-cT_I17SHeLUZgosWzC35YiybweC-oZwLdyAEl0bxs/s230/disregard.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="219" data-original-width="230" height="381" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOwIHpzHJzWPQZgfVQJ5WZ2k51o7ZFDmpFEasJ_TOcKlpvMgObokaB6L5XZNSwOQmSRJb8BktfYVlc0-_tvT-uXqCUtyM7-GLUUprVOz4a7WT-RdDK7mY-CDRmaXQz5I2mrAQHyxumD27fqA0U4-cT_I17SHeLUZgosWzC35YiybweC-oZwLdyAEl0bxs/w400-h381/disregard.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Image courtesy Depositphotos</td></tr></tbody></table><br />Now that the referendum is done, gentle reader, it's time for an analysis - or maybe a post mortem.<p></p><p>The proposition was dead from the day that Littleproud, looking over his shoulder at the 5% of PHON voters that stalk the Nationals in Queensland, scurried away from the idea like a rabbit on the run.</p><p>This left Dutton with the possibility of blowing up the Coalition agreement if he supported the "Yes" case, and although many <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/it-s-okay-to-vote-yes-meet-the-liberals-campaigning-for-the-voice-20230603-p5ddn4.html" target="_blank">in his party </a>were supportive, he also took the coward's option.</p><p>From that moment, given the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Referendums_in_Australia#:~:text=Of%20forty%2Dfive%20referendums%2C%20there,a%20majority%20in%20three%20states.">history of referenda </a>lacking bipartisan support, the enterprise was doomed.</p><p>The <a href="http://1735099.blogspot.com/2023/09/the-ugly-underbelly.html" target="_blank">disinformation </a>spread on social media by the keyboard warriors didn't help, but probably wasn't a decisive issue. Disregard, complacency, and general disengagement were complicit. Unfortunately, much of the casual nascent racism that persists on the edges of our culture emerged in this media. Some of it was also apparent on what is called<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/may/23/news-corp-denies-it-played-a-part-in-stan-grants-decision-to-leave-qa-amid-racist-attacks" target="_blank"> mainstream media.</a></p><p>We used to have a saying in Vietnam - "Thumb in bum - brain in neutral". It was applied to soldiers who had become so complacent, patrolling in a "switched-off" state of mind, that they were a risk to themselves and other soldiers.</p><p>This complacency exists in perhaps half our voting population. If they're not affected, they really couldn't care less. The same cynical political principle applied fifty years ago when 1/12 of twenty year olds were conscripted to fight overseas in a civil war in peacetime. Despite that fact that the policy was morally bankrupt and anti-democratic, it persisted for about ten years until Australian voters woke up.</p><p>So that's the "why". </p><p>Let's look at the "what".</p><p>First up, indigenous Australians were supportive. This is evident when you examine <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/booth-by-booth-indigenous-australians-backed-the-voice-20231015-p5ecc7.html" target="_blank">voting patterns </a>in the remote mobile booths in Lingiari, and on Palm Island. Mornington Island, Hopevale and Yarrabah showed a similar pattern.</p><p>Secondly, the<a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-10-14/how-your-electorate-voted-on-the-voice-results/102956942#QLD" target="_blank"> electorates </a>that the Coalition lost in 2022 to Green and Teal independents voted solidly "Yes". This means that voters in these electorates are feeling more than a little aggrieved. What are the odds that they will return to the Coalition next federal poll? </p><p>Dutton may have begun a journey towards the complete demise of his Coalition.</p><p><br /></p><p>Update - This map of the voting patterns in indigenous communities gives the lie to the statement from Jacinta Price that they didn't support it. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmRb2BOwuesC6Re68JnAHzR_4cItGxe6qHbOe5zANyNYqWDLjugdnQTe-TGAvlr7RmKXUEG6Kkq-OKAlDQCo3usu0WIHXY9C5OdOKbB2mMi24L00jCsJ2AXHpuerTTQoii-vIuzw5o46MrfAVgPNHq8N1Vo9uWUrlbKrSyu8atL5EV_08kyfJzSDKO9QI/s854/scatter.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="854" data-original-width="644" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmRb2BOwuesC6Re68JnAHzR_4cItGxe6qHbOe5zANyNYqWDLjugdnQTe-TGAvlr7RmKXUEG6Kkq-OKAlDQCo3usu0WIHXY9C5OdOKbB2mMi24L00jCsJ2AXHpuerTTQoii-vIuzw5o46MrfAVgPNHq8N1Vo9uWUrlbKrSyu8atL5EV_08kyfJzSDKO9QI/w301-h400/scatter.jpeg" width="301" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p> </p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4203110337754630589.post-24632691887150550852023-10-06T16:15:00.001+10:002023-10-06T16:15:48.821+10:00Autonomy<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-MIG7o4G5Ex4FNuLWmgH_1T26tayDvpHpfZTdJz5Db3gfWH3cXoXnoo2fi234gNyLv6NOksCLXVYUjpRW0UNHrB4lE4PIt5KhVwQnVJxpPlyXrmtrQSK2PyM_ya7opyw6yaq5VwaKqm1EJnCsulRdq-DWy-gaRo9mqH7ljCTQzxpF_osMgL1v2niUIrQ/s332/autonomy.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="152" data-original-width="332" height="184" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-MIG7o4G5Ex4FNuLWmgH_1T26tayDvpHpfZTdJz5Db3gfWH3cXoXnoo2fi234gNyLv6NOksCLXVYUjpRW0UNHrB4lE4PIt5KhVwQnVJxpPlyXrmtrQSK2PyM_ya7opyw6yaq5VwaKqm1EJnCsulRdq-DWy-gaRo9mqH7ljCTQzxpF_osMgL1v2niUIrQ/w400-h184/autonomy.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br />There are a number of different dictionary meanings for this word, gentle reader.<p></p><p>They include "freedom from external control or influence", or "the power or right to act, speak or think as one chooses", or "the state of not being subject to or affected by something".</p><p>To me, the vital element of true autonomy lies in an individual or society's capacity to control, manage, develop and/or improve quality of life. </p><p>This element is particularly vital to people living with disability. In that case, personal autonomy is often dependant on the capacity to live without relying on others. Of course, for many the disability (which could be related to age or physical impairment) makes it impossible to get by without some form of external help, and the way in which this help is applied can make all the difference.</p><p>In other words, true autonomy means that the person being helped is in control and has the power to choose what kind of help is most useful and important. He/she should always be in charge.</p><p>And this is often when, with the best of intentions, it breaks down. By that I mean that well-intentioned people, often paid to help, will almost subconsciously begin to exert power and control over the individual or group. Once this happens, the relationship between the those being helped and those helping becomes a co-dependency. </p><p>This is unhelpful, and creates a situation which prevents any growth or development on the part of the dependent group or individual. This is what <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/boyerlectures/who-we-were-who-we-are-and-who-we-can-be/14095284" target="_blank">Noel Pearson</a> often talks about. At the root of it all is resistance to the transfer of power from the helping agency to the target group, or individual.</p><p>And this, gentle reader is the main reason behind the lack of progress in improving quality of life for people in remote communities, indigenous or otherwise, and is what the Voice is all about.</p><p>Opponents of this transfer of power are often not aware of this issue, and are fearful of a change in the status quo.</p><p>Now I have often been admonished by Murris when I point out a similarity between the plight of people with disabilities, and people in remote communities, but I'd always insist there is a valid case to be made that the problem is about a transfer of power. </p><p>Until these people gain control of their own destiny, nothing will change. </p><p>Will the Voice achieve that?</p><p>I don't know, but it's a good place to start...</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4203110337754630589.post-59733920709360398002023-09-30T16:31:00.004+10:002023-10-09T18:44:34.365+10:00Same Old, Same Old...<p> </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie8n4C4Mr7k73VX2-c9sliIqQqRRoO3ga-u3S7fAN8oEoNU3Ft0PKhqIfXk0SypWCjR9wa5FXSJMEiZi1eMC9QFRv6oygxHcUlkLljmfmbueCFZ2ovEvdoIbnDb_tJULO09IYi-K9Fh13j1IS-a2GMMgOprJABE9QXP041DFGAp1upacsDDQhqEP-vE7M/s358/RC.ipg.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="141" data-original-width="358" height="158" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie8n4C4Mr7k73VX2-c9sliIqQqRRoO3ga-u3S7fAN8oEoNU3Ft0PKhqIfXk0SypWCjR9wa5FXSJMEiZi1eMC9QFRv6oygxHcUlkLljmfmbueCFZ2ovEvdoIbnDb_tJULO09IYi-K9Fh13j1IS-a2GMMgOprJABE9QXP041DFGAp1upacsDDQhqEP-vE7M/w400-h158/RC.ipg.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pic courtesy Montrose Services</td></tr></tbody></table><br />The Disability Royal Commission has just <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-09-30/disability-community-responds-to-royal-commission-report/102917604" target="_blank">released its findings.</a> <p></p><p>There are over two hundred recommendations. Enacting them will be a monumental task. </p><p>The last Royal Commission with as many recommendations as this one was the 1991 inquiry into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody. </p><p>Of *RCIADIC's 339 recommendations, a <a href="https://www.niaa.gov.au/sites/default/files/publications/rciadic-review-report.pdf" target="_blank">Deloitte Access Economics review </a>in 2018 found that, 64% have been
implemented in full, 14% have been mostly implemented, 16% have been partially implemented and
6% have not been implemented.</p><p>It's to be hoped that twenty-seven years down the track, the disability royal commission has a better outcome.</p><p>Somehow, although I won't be around to see it that far down the track, I believe that the result for people with disabilities will be similar to that for indigenous people in custody.</p><p>I write this because everything I saw in my 40 year career in special education points in this direction. Ironically, the five years I spent in aboriginal education in remote North-West Queensland confirms it.</p><p>Both are areas of enormous challenge, and both are shaped by the general population's disregard, sprinkled with a fair amount of fear and ignorance.</p><p>It is dismaying to note the disagreement about recommendations for the future of both special schools and group homes reflected in the findings. The commissioners were divided.</p><p>It's profoundly depressing, that in the year 2023, we are stuck in the worn out debates about provision, with the argument cycling around binary concepts, of one style of organisation opposing another.</p><p>Here's a simpler solution. All schools should be special schools, and all accommodation universal. By that I mean that the lock-step, highly graded and hierarchical organisational structure of conventional schools doesn't really suit anyone, let alone students with disabilities. </p><p>Schools should be ultimately flexible, and organised around the learning needs of the enrolment, not the classroom spaces and timetable. It can be done, and has been successful. The Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership has released a<a href="https://www.aitsl.edu.au/docs/default-source/default-document-library/literature-review---student-centred-schools-make-the-differenceba338e91b1e86477b58fff00006709da.pdf?sfvrsn=fadbea3c_0#:~:text=In%20student%2Dcentred%20schools%2C%20this,identify%20and%20address%20these%20needs."> paper </a>that is well worth a read. </p><p>State governments in this country are generally responsible for schooling, and I can't see any of the current governments with the requisite courage and foresight to change the fundamentals. This is, of course, because governments are run by politicians, not teachers, and education is one of the most politically sensitive aspects of government. It was ever thus...</p><p><br /></p><p>*Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody</p><p> </p><p><b>Comments closed.</b></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4203110337754630589.post-13747045850853851452023-09-22T11:35:00.005+10:002023-09-29T11:23:21.487+10:00The Story of Thomas Samuels<p> </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi67_V-13o2Tpt2da4vqg5mUJU7JHMoUB0Rvk8IiPEVJksUyKNbtnJCG9mA1yl9gma4JZ8JBiIttIZzr1mJVziC5PRW0mkFLdpMO9yg1kxaY9fL9K4yPEQ6JMK-JNwrATup4wU9pov8378TTP9KNlAZEfYSynoNLIihZgCj5u53dc5b1kbYzCOIiRoKXMM/s900/AWM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="724" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi67_V-13o2Tpt2da4vqg5mUJU7JHMoUB0Rvk8IiPEVJksUyKNbtnJCG9mA1yl9gma4JZ8JBiIttIZzr1mJVziC5PRW0mkFLdpMO9yg1kxaY9fL9K4yPEQ6JMK-JNwrATup4wU9pov8378TTP9KNlAZEfYSynoNLIihZgCj5u53dc5b1kbYzCOIiRoKXMM/w321-h400/AWM.jpeg" width="321" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pic Courtesy AWM` </td></tr></tbody></table><p></p>Thomas Samuels was an indigenous man who attempted to enlist in the AIF at Innisfail in October 1917. <div><br /><div>This <a href="https://www.awm.gov.au/articles/blog/thomas-samuels-and-the-first-world-war#:~:text=Thomas%20Samuels%20wanted%20nothing%20more,reason%3A%20Thomas%20Samuels%20was%20Indigenous." target="_blank">post from the AWM</a> tells the full story, and reminded me, gentle reader, of the indigenous men I had the privilege to serve with in 7RAR in Vietnam.<div><br /><div> <a href="https://nominal-rolls.dva.gov.au/veteran?id=1283525&c=VIETNAM#R" target="_blank">One was WIA* </a>when we hit bunkers in April. He was returned to Australia and died in Alice springs in 1992. The other is living in South Australia. </div><div><br /></div><div>This surviving digger remains one of the funniest men I have ever known. </div><div><p>He was interviewed in 2005 ago by the State Library of South Australia. <a href="https://digital.collections.slsa.sa.gov.au/nodes/view/4198" target="_blank">It's worth a listen. </a></p><p>The unfortunate part of this story is that Thomas Samuel's experience was far from unique. Many indigenous men shopped around from depot to depot until they found one that would allow them to enlist, and went on to serve. </p><p>It also demonstrates the disrespect held for our indigenous Australians back then. Aboriginality was classified on his documents as a disease. </p><p>Not much changed between 2017 and 1965. Many indigenous men who were called up in the second national service scheme were treated with similar disrespect. The bottom line was that the <a href="https://books.google.com.au/books?hl=en&lr=&id=aZEXBQAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PA203&dq=indigenous+men+and+national+service&ots=J0a65-pSdi&sig=PLmQATuchJTUv-h9kgJxRAg30Qw#v=onepage&q=indigenous%20men%20and%20national%20service&f=false">Department of Labour and National Service </a>really wasn't sure of their status.</p><p>Unfortunately much of that disrespect remains as can be seen by <a href="https://1735099.blogspot.com/2023/09/the-ugly-underbelly.html" target="_blank">what is appearing</a> on social media.</p><p>Read it and weep.</p><p><br /></p><p>*Wounded in action</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Comments closed.</b></p><p><br /></p></div></div></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4203110337754630589.post-80968419879207215382023-09-17T13:11:00.001+10:002023-09-29T11:25:15.401+10:00The Ugly Underbelly<p> </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpe8s-Ms7PqmGbra7lbncHoj02WRAzHwguBxK6J7DUGwIHfgVzDmVOKet-oc21oTiljbnK3ZxGPphAYLEV-BRU7Gs8eloJ6yNy2mNEsE20aE2Gg450gF0uSL9qIksgp_QcCXFptFUI1Zb30Ky75uO2Dt-utxqk3z8csa73CmLh1ajoMeWOumIuLS1DG7s/s257/KAW.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="257" data-original-width="196" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpe8s-Ms7PqmGbra7lbncHoj02WRAzHwguBxK6J7DUGwIHfgVzDmVOKet-oc21oTiljbnK3ZxGPphAYLEV-BRU7Gs8eloJ6yNy2mNEsE20aE2Gg450gF0uSL9qIksgp_QcCXFptFUI1Zb30Ky75uO2Dt-utxqk3z8csa73CmLh1ajoMeWOumIuLS1DG7s/w488-h640/KAW.jpeg" width="488" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A cartoon doing the rounds in the first conscription referendum over 100 years ago.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p>There has been recent media accusing proponents of both sides of the Voice debate of racism.</p><p>I decided to do my own investigation of what's appearing on my feed over the last few weeks. I almost wish I hadn't.</p><p>Below are a collection of posts that appeared in a group supporting the "No" case. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhHiPFIj0d72s2XKP7eIIUTK1SYvq5c0TjFzZW26aElAGgn-WmtHLJpnj5gxvRAi0nDv6Ylni0mw65fVI-LhaG-G_3RjEeeKa6XHv5fFul2_1MlBVt1DjrAjF1hJvgcjZeDunUbjJGbU1VnSJ7QfYM215P6YHp4SoqHV0kscc9twnYUw-s6UT1xkJVAbsU" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="627" data-original-width="468" height="690" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhHiPFIj0d72s2XKP7eIIUTK1SYvq5c0TjFzZW26aElAGgn-WmtHLJpnj5gxvRAi0nDv6Ylni0mw65fVI-LhaG-G_3RjEeeKa6XHv5fFul2_1MlBVt1DjrAjF1hJvgcjZeDunUbjJGbU1VnSJ7QfYM215P6YHp4SoqHV0kscc9twnYUw-s6UT1xkJVAbsU=w514-h690" width="514" /></a></div><br />This is just one day's collection.<p></p><p>I won't attempt to categorise them, but as you can see, gentle reader, they encapsulate the stereotypes and cliches that are held by some of the "No" supporters.</p><p>Now I'm not suggesting that the "Yes" supporters are all sweetness and light, but these tropes (aborigines are violent, greedy, lazy and wasteful) don't appear on their supporters' pages.</p><p>The accusations of cruelty and violence are interesting put in the context of the colonial practice in the UK of hanging drawing and quartering at the time. It wasn't until 1870 that it was abolished.</p><p>If, as appears likely as this is written, the referendum goes down, it may deliver outcomes that Dutton and Littleproud may live to regret.</p><p>George <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/conversations/george-megalogenis-statistics-the-voice-referendum/102768718" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Megalogenis </a>explains it pretty well in this podcast.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Comments closed.</b></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4203110337754630589.post-27873415980818808282023-09-10T16:19:00.004+10:002023-09-29T11:26:47.940+10:00Boundaries<p> </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpnvk4DBZVMOtCHDLyKOMwM6RxL616kOob4jbn8unhRGZUNAfkinAKR3cldWP7UtexBdBliGGF-D9hZx2xtRI7t6sD8h4qZ3A1mmTi_U0CcKzWIfUWjoZovDthnyRYVKb13NZnVLLZ8JzuZ5ZmLCe5iOWjqXSJNH1ZsHB-_C87_ed3J8ONocZGiCrDkUI/s299/boundary.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="168" data-original-width="299" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpnvk4DBZVMOtCHDLyKOMwM6RxL616kOob4jbn8unhRGZUNAfkinAKR3cldWP7UtexBdBliGGF-D9hZx2xtRI7t6sD8h4qZ3A1mmTi_U0CcKzWIfUWjoZovDthnyRYVKb13NZnVLLZ8JzuZ5ZmLCe5iOWjqXSJNH1ZsHB-_C87_ed3J8ONocZGiCrDkUI/w400-h225/boundary.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pic courtesy News.com</td></tr></tbody></table><br />This is another post which references the Voice, but is more about the history. <p></p><p>I've lived all over Queensland, and every reasonably sized town that I've known has a Boundary Street or Boundary Road. That includes Rockhampton, Townsville, Toowoomba, and of course, Brisbane. </p><p>Try entering "Boundary St" or "Boundary Rd" into Google Maps, and see how you go.</p><p>I've never really wondered why this was the case, but <a href="https://www.slq.qld.gov.au/blog/aboriginal-boundary-posts">recent reading </a>has revealed some interesting (and harrowing) history. </p><p>These <a href="https://au.sports.yahoo.com/the-dark-history-behind-brisbane-street-names-085139596.html#:~:text=The%20streets%20mark%20the%20spot,post%2C%20known%20as%20boundary%20posts.">streets and roads </a>mark out the perimeters beyond which indigenous people were not allowed to venture at night during the week or on Sundays. They were common in Queensland towns and settlements and were usually marked by a wooden post (boundary posts).</p><p>In Brisbane, since the early 1850s, Aborigines had been allowed into the town during the day, but could be driven out by the police using regulations that came into force about that time. </p><p>They were allowed to come in beyond the boundary during the week where they performed menial tasks in exchange for tobacco, flour and other rations. By the 1870s, organized groups of police would round up any aborigines inside the boundary and used stockwhips to move them out. They would be removed to camps on various watercourses in Dutton Park, Fairfield, Annerley and Coorparoo.</p><p>Strangely, in a mid-twentieth century reprise of this process, the boundaries were reinstated to keep African-American servicemen on the "correct" side of the Brisbane River. White Americans were allowed on the north side of the river, but the blacks were expected to confine themselves to the south. This was one of the situations which triggered the famous <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Brisbane">Battle of Brisbane</a> on 26th and 27th November 1942, when an Australian soldier took exception to an American Military Policeman's attempts to arrest a black soldier with whom he had been drinking presumably because he was on the wrong (north) side of the river. </p><p>The MP used his truncheon on the Australian, and all hell broke loose. There had been simmering resentment of the Yanks for months, but race was the trigger.</p><p>Given the vituperative nature of discussion about the Voice on social media, it seems not much has changed since 1942.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Comments closed.</b></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4203110337754630589.post-83546183512886600172023-08-30T12:20:00.003+10:002023-09-29T11:27:43.408+10:00Review - Our Vietnam War<p> </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrZxUENpGzd49JBBieXO2hHTobKBE-xXX7qC4bQxgkLHFTqotM9b7Tw1FbVZr8SHBohTTZ5ju9xrDJ0DpVmbCL5wbj3GHoQRZ23iVDGI8EJEuXk2Yj-KS8l2iP1TMMtKeP6OWAgYKhzZPCqBh7v1xMwMToZK3ECxUHhFgSjtFUtp-6RHUBg1MrbWzx5tE/s300/ABC.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="168" data-original-width="300" height="224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrZxUENpGzd49JBBieXO2hHTobKBE-xXX7qC4bQxgkLHFTqotM9b7Tw1FbVZr8SHBohTTZ5ju9xrDJ0DpVmbCL5wbj3GHoQRZ23iVDGI8EJEuXk2Yj-KS8l2iP1TMMtKeP6OWAgYKhzZPCqBh7v1xMwMToZK3ECxUHhFgSjtFUtp-6RHUBg1MrbWzx5tE/w400-h224/ABC.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Image courtesy ABC iView</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p></p><p>This ABC programme has been broadcast on Tuesday nights for the last three weeks. It is also available on ABC iView.</p><p>It should be compulsory viewing for all Australian high school students, as it offers a comprehensive, factual and unbiased narrative of the conflict. It is also exquisitely made, featuring interviews with historians (some of whom served during the decade of the war), together with ex-service personnel, of both genders, and Vietnamese refugees. The music of the era provides a sound track, and contributes to an understanding of the time.</p><p>The interviews with people like Graham Edwards (ex-7RAR, who lost both legs in a mine incident in 1970), Harry Smith (D Coy commander Battle of Long Tan), Ashley Ekins (ex chief historian at the Australian War Memorial), Mark Dapin (author of <i>The Nashos War </i>and <i>Australia's Vietnam: Myth vs History</i>) and a couple of anti-war activists and Vietnamese refugees, provide an unrivalled cross section of recollections and perspectives.</p><p>The topic is covered comprehensively, beginning with the history of the French defeat and concluding with the long shadow created by the war in the lives of so many Australians.</p><p>I found it deeply moving, and would recommend it.</p><p>It can be found on <a href="https://iview.abc.net.au/show/our-vietnam-war" target="_blank">ABC iView.</a></p><p>Here is a <a href="https://iview.abc.net.au/video/MP2333H147C00GN1" target="_blank">link </a>to the trailer.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Comments closed.</b></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0