Aboriginal Education Revolution in Aurukun

Noel Pearson was born in Cooktown and was brought up at Hope Vale, a Lutheran Mission in the Cape York Peninsula. After primary school at Hope Vale, he became a boarder at St Peters Lutheran College in Brisbane and completed a history and law degree at Sydney University.

On 20th June 2007, Pearson argued for the intervention in relation to Aboriginal child sexual abuse that led to John Howard initiating the "National Emergency Response" when health workers and police moved in, took control and introduced a ban on alcohol.

Now there's a real education revolution going on in the remote Cape York town of Aurukun. Noel Pearson has imported a radical teaching program from America into a school where more than half the students could barely read at kindergarten level. In terms of indigenous disadvantage, Aurukun is rock bottom with NAPLAN test results 70 per cent lower than the national benchmark.

Aurukun is the Cape's most violent town, driven by gambling, drugs and alcohol. But Pearson has stuck his neck out and introduced the American-designed Direct Instruction Program. Teachers deliver scripted lessons according to a strictly prescribed, methodical program in literacy and mathematics. Now after just one and a half terms, the program is producing excellent results.

This week, the 17th week of the DI program, a year 4 girl named Imani Tamwoy became the first in the school to have caught up to her grade level in reading. The grade 5 to 7 students managed to master 76 per cent of the kindergarten program in the first 11 weeks, and the pre-kindy class of four year olds, is already 40 per cent through the kindergarten language program.

Recently, Pearson visited the school with his five year old son Charlie, a two hour charter flight from his Cairns home. He said "I'm surprised, I thought in Aurukun we'd have a hell of a time with behaviour.... I thought Aurukun would be a special case with the notoriety of the school and the community. But it hasn't been, and the great thing is we're doing it with your stock standard Education Queensland teacher. This is the biggest surprise and they're doing a bloody great job".

Pearson travelled to Oregon last year to meet the founder of DI, Professor Siegfried Engelmann. Although there was fierce resistance from some teachers and government officials, a $7 million, three year trial in Aurukun and Coen schools started at the beginning of the year with the cautious support of the Queensland Education Department.

The new principal, Geoff Higham 59, remembers how students in years 8 and 9 used to bring iron bars to school. "The senior boys were out of control. They were reading at kindy level and they hated everything to do with school. It's hard to believe the transformation in just 15 or 16 weeks. This is a wonderful system. All the children are put into ability groups so one one is failing. The teachers aren't failing. The children aren't failing.... it's a magnificent successful educational experiment". DI agrees with his personal education philosophy - that every child can learn given a disciplined routine and effective instruction. But even in his wildest dreams, he hadn't known how effective DI could be.

Principal Higham has taught in schools from Kenya to Thursday Island and described himself as an old-fashioned "chalk and talk" teacher. His previous schools have been described as places where even the grass sits up straight. "I have no doubt the pupils will be at the national level in maths and English in three years' time and many children will be one, two or three years above that level" he said.

In teacher Sarah Travers' kindy class, she wears a microphone around her neck so the kids with chronic ear infections can hear what she's saying. It seems to work because her 10 five-year-old

students sit attentively on the floor, calling out sounds as she points to phonetic symbols in a book. A 1.45 at the tail end of a busy school week, their concentration and focus is remarkable.

Colleen Page, a 24 year old teacher from the Sunshine Coast, in her third year at Aurukun says the change DI has had on her pupils is marked. "They thrive on it. It's really good to compare the last two years with this year .... previously the kids would be running around your classroom, not listening. Now they're confident about participation in class". She tells the story of the eight year old boy who came to her one morning proudly telling her how he had applied his previous day's lesson. "Miss, I saw a frog and I said "You are an amphibian. You are born in water and raised on land".

Every Thursday, 120 pages of detailed test scores and information about each student and class is faxed to a DI centre in North America to be analaysed. The following Tuesday, the school leaders have a conference call with DI experts in Oregon, about any problems. The children seem to thrive on the organised routine, even those difficult older kids in years 9 and 10 have responded and it's heartbreaking when you think about lost opportunities.

On teachers' shirts, on banners and in classrooms, Noel Pearson's motto for his education revolution is "Get Ready. Work Hard. Be Good". If this 3 year trial is successful, the mind boggles at the possibilities for other remote Aboriginal communities all over the country.

Jobs for Indigenous Youth

$480 a night top of the line room at Home Valley Station

Cassie Carlton catches a barramundi in the Kimberley

Good things are happening in the East Kimberley. Cassie Carlton wants to be a pastry chef and now, thanks to The Indigenous Land Corporation, she may well achieve her ambition. They are using their Home Valley Station in the East Kimberley to develop skills for indigenous kids that will put them into long-term employment. It's not easy for kids in remote areas to find work but now there are traineeships in tourism, agriculture, hospitality and horticulture.

The vast property of 250,000 hectares was once an outback cattle station but the ILC have upgraded accommodation into a sophisticated tourism and pastoral concern, a move strongly supported by the Aboriginal owners. In the past - distance, poor management skills and lack of commitment saw previous traineeships fall by the wayside.

But now the ILC employs experienced team leaders to get the kids motivated and onto the right track and most importantly, teach them a trade. Aboriginal employees now number almost half the station staff and that number is growing. Anthony Campagna is one of the team leaders, he's just signed a three-year contract with ILC to run Home Valley's restaurant. He used to work at Peppers and a fancy Melbourne golf club but he hopes he'll be replaced one day by Cassie or another indigenous youngster hungry for success. Dedicated people like this are making a huge contribution to our indigenous youth.

Cassie has almost finished her Certificate 3 in Commercial Cookery and loves her work. "It's a great environment to work in and I love my boss - he never shouts at me, even when I overcook some things. But I'm getting better... I know I can't rush things, I've got a long way to go but that's okay.

Go Cassie!

Apple Factory in China

There's something terribly wrong at Foxconn Technology - the thirteenth person tried to kill themselves at the massive Apple/Sony/Hewlett-Packard factory in China. Another worker decided to end it all and cut himself in his dormitory room, he's now surviving in hospital. The 25 year old man is from out of town and started work at the Foxconn two months ago. The 12 previous suicide attempts were workers who jumped from buildings and only 2 survived.

Foxconn Chairman Terry Gou said he promised to work harder to prevent more deaths. He said he couldn't sleep at night and dreaded answering his phone after hours, fearing more news about suicide. His way of handling the situation was to install safety nets on buildings to catch would-be jumpers.

So what's going on in this factory, what's the problem? Labour activists accuse the company of having a rigid management style, a too-fast assembly line, and overwork. Naturally, the company denies this.

Foxconn, part of Taiwan-owned Hon Hai Precision Industry Co, is the world's largest contract maker of electronics. Its long list of big names include Apple, Sony, Dell, Nokia and Hewlett-Packard. So the next time you use your iPod or iPad, spare a thought for these people who make them on the human assembly line from hell.

Fuel Prices in Australia

The world will eventually run out of oil. Peak oil means there comes a time when the maximum rate of global petroleum extraction is reached and then production enters into terminal decline. We all know how important the price of oil is and today, 7-Eleven have agreed to buy 295 Mobile Service Stations from Exxon Mobil Corp which will make them the largest independent fuel retailer.

The Australian 7-Eleven is a family owned business held by the Withers and Barlow families which brought the brand to Australia in 1976 through a licence agreement with the US company, then known as Southland Corp. This new deal will take the number of 7-eleven stores in Australia from 400 to 650.

Caltex wanted to buy 302 service stations from Texas-based Exxon Mobil for $330 million but the ACCC knocked them back and thank God they did. Finally, the ACCC has done something right for a change by allowing more independents into the mix. We need more independents because they have to be aggressive on price to survive and volume is paramount so pricing can be cheaper.

Shell supplies Coles and Caltex supplies Woolworths. Between them and the oil companies they have - wait for it - 93% of the retail market between them. Since Australian wholesale and retail petrol prices are calculated by an international price benchmark in Singapore, our petrol prices go up and down. But the thing that really drives us all mad is that when a rise occurs in Singapore, it's passed on to us straight away but when it falls, it takes much longer to flow through. I smell a rat somewhere and I bet you do too, we are simply being ripped off. An example, the benchmark in Singapore fell by $10 a barrel during the past 3 weeks but the price of petrol has fallen very slowly over that time. It's called getting screwed.

Up to now, the ACCC has been sitting back and watching it all go on but now with 7-Eleven's 295 independent servos in the pipeline, it should become a bit fairer, not much, but a bit.

New Tax Hits Rich in UK

Everyone knew it would happen, the newly elected British government would have to make some drastic, unpopular changes. And they've decided to hit the wealthy - hard, the Brits are preparing to offload second homes and shares in a bid to escape a capital gains tax. There are an estimated 250,000 second-home owners in the UK, not a whole lot when you think of the entire population - 61 million. One estate agent said he has had a 40% increase in valuation inquiries over the past 10 days.

The Treasury is desperately looking for other ways to soften the impact of the tax. The Coalition document says that it will only target "non-business assets". But a Tory supporter said "If you have one holiday home, that isn't a business asset but what if you have three and get rental income? Or you have one, and then a relative leaves you another. These are the questions that must be sorted out.

We are indeed living in uncertain times.

Proposed 40% Tax on Mining Profits

There's a crucial debate going on in Australia at the moment, the Labor Government wants to introduce a 40% tax on the mining sector's super profits and use the money to fund important improvements like our health system and other major beneficial projects.


I thought it was the wrong move. To my mind, if you penalise a billion-dollar industry too much, they might just move somewhere else. The other important factor is that working families are paying into superannuation funds that are likely to include mining stocks and over recent days, what with the awful situation in Europe and people getting edgy about their shares, prices have fallen quite alarmingly. As one elderly gentleman said on the 7.30 report last night, "I was a lot richer yesterday than I am today".


Now to confuse the whole issue, a group of 20 leading academics and economists has backed the tax, saying that the sector should fork out more of its profits and former Chairman of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission Allan Fels is one of them. He says the debate has been dominated by misinformation.


The group said that mining is different to other industries in that it uses and depletes natural resources and some return on those resources should flow to the Australian public. Dr Fels said "There's no reason at all to think that the tax is going to affect the world price of these minerals and therefore that's not going to feed in any way into Australian consumer prices. It certainly is depressing to see this sort of scare tactic put up, it really is just distorting the debate".


Now the Minerals Council of Australia have also backed the new tax. Chief Executive Mitch Hooke said "We agree with the economists that the concept's fine". Their beef with the government was with "the practical implementation" and design of it and accused them of rejecting the mining industry's attempts for genuine consultation and implementation. Mr Hook doesn't like their approach and said that he had never seen any government in his 20 years experience in Canberra "pontificating from the mountain top" without consultation with industry.


This leave us, the little people who don't have a good grasp of how it all works, struggling to make sense of it all. All we want to know is - are the big miner's being taxed to little - will the tax lead to lost jobs and will it deter future investment in Australia. It's not really a lot to ask.

Sarah Ferguson

Sarah Ferguson commited the lowest act imagineable in front of the whole world - she promised to organise an introduction to her ex-husband for $100,000. The trouble is the Prince is the British Business Ambassador and people are worried whether his position has been compromised by his wife before and what deals did it lead to, if any?

A spokesman for small business said "The timing of this couldn't be worse, and this whole affair may effect the ability of the Prince to clinch those vital deals. When the pound is so weak and following the recent uncertainty about the election, his job is more important than ever." The Prince does not receive a salary.

How is Fergie ever going to explain what she did to her two girls and what a tragic way to end her career.

North Korean Crisis

The Korean crisis worsens. After the north sank one of their warships, the Pentagon has backed the south and announced that the US will hold anti-submarine and other military exercises with them very soon. The South have frozen all trade with the north, even though they were threatened with retaliation if any sanctions were put in place.

With the backing of the US, President Lee said in a televised program that Seoul would no longer tolerate "any provocative act by the North and will maintain a principle of proactive deterrence". I think that means "Watch it mate". The measures announced by the south were:

. Stopping all inter-Korean trade

. Banning North Korean ships from using their waterways or shortcuts

. Resuming psychological warfare

. Referring the case to the UN

Beijing is the only real friend Korea has these days and their reaction to the crises is critical. Seeing the Americans sailing along happily with the South Koreans on anti-submarine exercises isn't going to bode well with them and it will be interesting to see what their influence will be. The madman from the north needs his wings clipping badly, let's hope China, as their closest ally, can bring some common sense to the situation. The North depends on South Korea and China for up to 80% of its trade and 35% of its GDP.

To suggest that the situation is grave, is a gross understatement.

World War III

I stumbled upon this the other day. It's about World War III and lists the events leading up to it, including 9/11. Of course it's just an idea out of someone's head and not to be taken too seriously but it's an interesting concept.

Act 1 - the Middle East. Widespread conflict to bring the entire region into the flames of war - possibly triggered by Iran or militants in Pakistan using North Korean supplied nuclear arms. The first scene in this act is the US invasion of Iraq on March 20 2003.

Act 2- Israel at war - against her Arab neighbours, possibly Palestine. A Palestinian state will be established so that all Israelis will be fully separated from Palestinians only for Israel to viciously attack Palestine shortly thereafter.

Act 3 - Far East. Hair-raising nuclear confrontation that threatens mankind's existence. Peter Lemesurier, author of The Armageddon Script p.223, written in 1981. Includes China invading Taiwan and a nuclear eruption on the Korean peninsula.

Act 4 - Erosion of confidence in the system so severe, citizens will be panicked into giving up liberties and constitutional form of government. The plan for the dissolution of the US Constitution, triggered by a significant enough "terrorist" attack. The ultimate intent is to introduce one global government and one-world religion.

Act 5 - The collapse of the US and other western economies and morals.

Act 6 - Significant population reduction using natural and man-made disasters. Curtain. Of course, no one know how the story ends.

Both Biblical prophecy and the Illuminati plan state that Israel is the key. The Third World War is planned to begin when Israel goes to war against her Arab enemies. Then and only then, will all other elements begin to occur and they will do so in rapid succession. The plan is to have one disaster following another in such rapid succession that, before people can mentally and emotionally handle one disastrous news event, they will be hit with another. It is also accurate to say that until all of the elements for WWIII are in place, the plan will not commence.

Global Financial Crisis Mark II

Are we headed for Global Financial Crisis Mark II? I don't know if you have a local Clive Peeters store in your area, they are just up the road from me in a huge complex with Harvey Norman and lots of other retailers. We've bought things there over the years and the shop is always full. So how come they went broke owing $140 million? Some financial experts are saying that Clive Peeters is just the first of many to go to the wall with fears of a GFC Mark II.

There was a rush on their stores last week and you can't blame people for panicking. When customers got wind of the story, people who had paid large deposits on TV's, fridges and washing machines were told they couldn't get their goods all hell broke loose. Thankfully, a spokesman for the store has since promised that everyone will in fact receive their items afterall, what a relief.

It's hard going in retail at the moment. Gary black, executive director of the National Retail Association said the current sentiment within the retail sector was grim. "It's not uncommon for retailers to tell me that their sales have slumped by as much as 25 per cent and those losses are devastating."

Now they are saying that Kevin Rudd's $900 Christmas present for everyone in December 2009 didn't help them. It is now characterised by retailers as an aberration, a "blip in the radar" that shouldn't have happened. They are ignoring 2009's figures and are looking back to 2008 and finding that the current climate is even worse.

Figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics have shown spending on household goods, clothing and footwear and on department store products is now lower than it was 12 months ago in the midst of the GFC. Because the retailing sector relies on a casual and part-time workforce, we probably won't hear about the job losses that are going on but many employees are not being replaced.

That's all we need, another GFC. All these interest rate rises are having a dramatic effect on family spending. There's a lot of depressing world news around at the moment and this is just another bad news story that we could well do without.

Woman shoots at religious police in Saudi Arabia

The religious police are becoming more unpopular every day in Saudi Arabia. This is the second incident involving women and the men who prowl the cities checking up on their virtue. She was caught in "moral seclusion" with another man and this time, a gun was involved and the lady in question was married to someone else.

She shot at the officers to distract them while her companion got away. But now she's in big trouble because her husband has filed an official report asking for his wife to be punished and stripped of her Saudi nationality. She was born in Syria and recently got her Saudi citizenship after living for years in the kingdom. Her punishment could be a flogging, jail, or both.

These police are hated by women in Saudi Arabia, they patrol shopping malls to make sure women are fully veiled and keep a watchful eye to ensure that no woman is walking unaccompanied by a male member of her family. They have been embarrassing people for years and now the anger against them seems to be spilling over. King Abdullah has tried to weaken their authority and soften the nation's fundamentalist Wahhabi Islam, but obviously hasn't tried hard enough.

The Pet Detectives

Seven months ago, Sue Machen lost her beloved cat Oliver. His picture went up everywhere for miles around but no one has seen him. That's when Sue sent for the Pet Detectives. She's paid 1000 pounds so far for a crack team from Animal Search UK to co-ordinate Britain's biggest and most expensive missing moggy hunt. It's even gone global, with pictures of Oliver on the organization's website as well as ads in the local newspapers. They've even brought a physic in, Sarita Gupta, to help out.

The tiny rural village in Lincolnshire has a population of 392 and after much ado, the pet detectives are concentrating on Oliver's disappearance date - one Saturday last October. Sue has already clocked up 1000 pounds at 15 pounds an hour plus VAT and expenses but says she's prepared to blow all her savings if necessary to bring Oliver home.

Sue, a 56 year old nurse took on the 5 year old cat after a relative of one of her patients said they could no longer care for him. Apparently the psychic comes highly recommended. The pet detectives did a search in Birmingham recently and she said the cat would be found where children play. Sure enough, they eventually found the cat trapped inside a childs playhouse. Now on this current case, she's had a vision of Oliver in a house where the man is away a lot, possibly on RAF duty so the team are visiting RAF bases to see if any new cats have turned up lately.

So far, Oliver is still missing but the devotion this woman has for her pet is amazing. What is it with women and cats, they seem to go together.

Doomsday cult leader on the run

It had to happen, the nutters have started to come out of the woodwork. With impending doom predicted for December 2012 when the Mayan calendar runs out, a doomsday cult called Agape has been discovered in South Australia.

Four men were arrested and charged with firearms offences but police are still hunting the sect's leader Rocco Leo and two of his senior members. The Christian sect has lost some of its popularity recently, it used to have hundreds of members but now there are only an estimated 40 to 60 followers. Their goal was to collect enough money to buy a Pacific Ocean private island and set up a colony there.

About 90 police searched 12 properties in Adelaide used by Agape Ministries and found guns, fuses, detonator cords and 20,000 rounds of ammunition - some were hidden in the steel frames of bedheads - how very sneaky. However, it's not clear why the group is amassing all these weapons. I think Rocco and his mates may be reclining on a beach somewhere with a pocket full of cash.

I wouldn't be the least surprised if this sect isn't a spin-off from an American ideal, if true, imagine the arsenal they'd have over there.

Saudi Woman Beats up Policeman

A young Saudi woman is being called a hero after an altercation with a member of the 'Virtue' police. He made a bad decision when he decided to stop her because he thought she was walking like a man. Not exactly a compliment for any woman. The Saudi cop was from the - wait for it - Commission for the Virtue and Prevention of Vice. Unmarried men and women are not allowed to mix under the strict Islamic laws. The young man she was with was obviously not the heroic type because he collapsed for reasons not made clear, but his lady friend started throwing punches. The cop was punched repeatedly about the head and upper torso and his injuries were so severe, he had to be taken to hospital. What a little champion!

If charged with assault, she could be faced with a long prison sentence or a lashing, or both, but the people are on her side so hopefully, that won't happen.

Can you believe that in 2010, Saudi woman are not allowed to drive. Nor can they divorce, inherit, or gain custody of their children and must always be accompanied by a male member of the family wherever they go. That's what these moral police do - they enforce these stupid laws.

The internet has changed the world forever and I sense that women in the Arab world are getting more and more fed up with these ancient laws imposed on them way back in the dark ages.

Pregnant Soldiers Sent Home

Women in the British Army in Afghanistan are getting pregnant at an alarming rate. So much so that the Ministry of Defence has launched a campaign to encourage female soldiers to carry condoms. The Army's official magazine Soldier warns the women that there are about 50 men to every woman so for heavens sake, wear a condom.

Officially there is a no-sex rule at the front in a war zone but naturally, nature will take its course. Last year 102 British servicewomen were flown out of Iraq and 31 sent home from Afghanistan. Over 100 pregnancy tests have been shipped to the war zone.

Fifty men to one woman? Now that's enough to make any girl join the Army.

Man on Facebook lures young woman to her death

Facebook was in the Australian headlines yesterday. Eighteen year old Nona Belomesoff made friends with a man on the social networking site who promised her a job with the popular WIRES animal rescue organisation. She wanted desperately to work with animals and saw this as a great opportunity. He told her they would have to go on an overnight camping trip first which would be her initial training for the job. She told her family all about it and they also believed the job offer was genuine. But they made the fatal mistake of not going with her because two days later, her body was found in a creek bed.

Police have arrested Christopher Dannewig 20, who set up a bogus profile posing as an animal rescue worker. Another young woman also met Dannewig online and can't believe how lucky she is when at the last minute, she changed her mind about meeting him at the same railway station.

Dennewig also had profiles on My Space and Bebo as well as Facebook and was in contact with numerous young women. Police are reiterating their plea to parents - please get involved with your kids and find out what they are saying and doing online. The internet is crawling with predators and perverts and there are other tragedies, like this one out there, just waiting to happen.

Homosexual Hatred in America

Hatred towards homosexuals in America by religious zealots is getting out of hand lately. This letter by a mother from Vermont was written on 30th April 2000 and I found it a very moving experience. I hope you do too.

by Sharon Underwood

For the Valley News (White River Junction, VT)

Many letters have been sent to the Valley News concerning the homosexual menace in Vermont. I am the mother of a gay son and I've taken enough from you good people.

I'm tired of your foolish rhetoric about the "homosexual agenda" and your allegations that accepting homosexuality is the same thing as advocating sex with children. You are cruel and ignorant. You have been robbing me of the joys of motherhood ever since my children were tiny.

My first born son started suffering from the moral little thugs from your moral, upright familities from the time he was in first grade. He was physically and verbally abused from first grade straight through high school because he was perceived as being gay.

He never professed to be gay or had any association with anything gay but he had the misfortune of not to walk or have gestures like the other boys. He was called "fag" incessantly, starting when he was six.

In high school, while your children were doing what kids that age should be doing, mine labored over a suicide note, drafting and redrafting it to be sure his family knew how much he loved them. My sobbing 17-year-old tore the heart out of me as he choked out that he just couldn't bear to continue living any longer, that he didn't want to be gay and that he couldn't face a life without dignity.

You have the audacity to talk about protecting families and children from the homosexual menace while you yourselves tear apart families and drive children to despair. I don't know why my son is gay, but I do know that God didn't put him, and millions like him, on this earth to give you someone to abuse. God gave you brains so you could think and it's about time you started doing that.

At the core of all your misguided beliefs is the belief that this could never happen to you, that there is some kind of sub-culture out there that people have chosen to join. The fact is that if it can happen to my family, it can happen to yours and you won't get to choose. Whether it is genetic or whether something occurs during a critial time of fetal development, I don't know. I can only tell you with absolute certainty that it is inborn.

If you want to tout your own morality, you'd best come up with something more substantive than your heterosexuality. You did nothing to earn it, it was given to you. If you disagree, I would be interested in hearing your story because my own heterosexuality was a blessing I received with no effort whatsoever on my part. It is so woven into the very soul of me that nothing could ever change it. For those who reduce sexual orientation to a simple choice, a character issue, a bad habit or something that can be changed by a 10 step program, I'm puzzled. Are you saying that your own sexual orientation is nothing more than somethine you have chosen and that you could change it at will? If that's not the case, then why would you suggest that someone else can?

A popular theme in your letter is that Vermont has been infiltrated by outsiders. Both sides of my family have lived in Vermont for generations. I am heart and soul a Vermonter, so I'll thank you to stop saying that you are speaking for "true Vermonters".

You invoke the memory of the brave people who have fought on the battlefield for this great country, saying that they didn't give their lives so that the "homosexual agenda" could tear down the principles they died defending. My 83-year-old father fought in some of the most horrific battles of World War II, was wounded and awarded the Purple Heart. He shakes his head in sadness at the life his grandson has had to live. He says he fought alongside homosexuals in those battles, that they did their part and bothered no one. One of his best friends in the service was gay and he never knew it until the end, and when he did find out, it mattered not at all. That wasn't the measure of the man.

You religious folk just can't bear the thought that as my son emerges from the hell that was his childhood, he might like to find a lifelong companion and have a measure of happiness. It offends your sensibilities that he should request the right to visit that companion in the hospital, to make medical decisions for him or to benefit from tax laws governing inheritance.

How dare he, you say. These outrageous requests would threaten the very existence of your family and undermind the sanctity of marriage. You use religion to abdicate your responsibility to be thinking human beings. There are vast numbers of religious people who find your attitudes repugnant. God is not for the privileged majority, and God knows my son has committed no sin.

The deep-thinking author of 12th April Valley News who lectures about homosexual sin and tells us about "those of us who have been blessed with the benefits of a religious upbringing" asks: "What ever happened to the idea of striving ..... to be better human being than we are?"

Indeed sir, whatever happened to that?

Saving the Euro

German anger is growing over the 750 million Euro bailout to defend the debt crisis from spreading to Portual and Spain. Today, the headline in one of the country's biggest newspapers reads "We are Once Again the Smucks of Europe". They are very worried that the underlying problems of the countries with the worst debt will not be addressed and fear the bailout isn't going to fix the problem.

Germany has a floundering coalition government and taxpayers are being asked to make more sacrifices to save a currency they never wanted in the first place. Britain's bill for the bailout could be up to 43 billion pounds but there is no doubt that Germany is picking up the lion's share of the bill. On Monday Angela Merkel said Germany's share would be 123 million Euros for its bankrupt neighbours. That leaves no money for promised tax cuts which must now be shelved.

Voters are spitting chips and in a regional election last Sunday, they showed their disgust by kicking her party out and there are rumours that the right-wing of her conservative CDU party are plotting her demise.

"It's the biggest 'all in' in the history of poker" was how one economist called the massive aid bailout to save the Euro from collapse. But unfortunately, many people see it as delaying the end of the Euro, and not preventing it.

Scary times in Europe affect us all, even us Aussies, way down under and so far away.

Scott Rush and the Bali 9

On the 17th April 2005, Scott Rush was arrested by Indonesia police and found to be carrying 1.3kg of heroin strapped to his leg under his clothes. He was 19 years old. He was sentenced to life imprisonment. On the 5th September 2006, he appealed, and was sentenced to death.

Now Rush has been circumcised by a man who snuck into Bali's Kerobokan jail and secretly performed the procedure in an Islamic prayer room. This is normal practice when a man converts to Islam.

Rush started using canabis when he was 15 and has also used heroin, ecstasy and prescription drugs. He said that his method of use has always been intravenous. A warrant for his arrest in Australia is still outstanding for money stolen from the Commonwealth Bank.

The medical officer at the prison yesterday confirmed the circumcision in a telephone conversation and said that the wound was healing nicely. Rush refused to make any comment. An unconfirmed report says that Rush has been given the name Suleiman and has been spending a lot of time with a small group of Muslim prisoners. After five long years, Rush is waiting for his final legal appeal to come up which happen this year.

Rush said "I'm still looking for forgiveness. I just feel so bad about everything, especially what I've done to my parents and family". Circumcision is recommended when converting to Islam but not compulsory. What is compulsory is Shahada. A person must state before reputable Muslim witnesses that there is no God but Allah and that the prophet Muhammad is his messenger.

Dignitas Scandal

Trotte Bay lies on what the Swiss call their Gold Coast - ten miles of villas owned by the rich and famous - bankers, European royalty and celebrities like Tina Turner. Not far from Ms Turner's magnificent mansion, an underwater cemetery has been discovered. Hundreds of brown urns filled with human ashes have been found on the bottom of the lake.

Each urn bears the emblem of a lion with a raised paw - the logo of the Nordheim Crematorium in Zurich. The suicide clinic Dignitas sends all their bodies to Nordheim for cremation. People from all over the world come to Dignitas to end their lives - they swallow a lethal cocktail of Nembutal and die peacefully within half an hour.

Ludwig Minelli is a Swiss lawyer and human rights activist founded Dignitas in 1998. One of his nurses Soraya Wernli 53 has caused a sensation by saying that she was actually with Minelli when he took urns out of the boot of his car and put them in the lake. When she asked him why he said the clay urns would eventually dissolve in water over time.

Most of the relatives from countries outside Switzerland usually leave as soon as their loved one passes away and receive a small box of their ashes in the mail a few days after cremation which could take up to a week. Naturally, a large urn would be too big to send through the post so a small box makes sense. But what do they do with the rest of the ashes, do they go into an urn and end up in the lake? It seems that Dignitas has lost some of its dignity.

It makes me wonder what happens at Australian crematoriums, do they give you all the ashes to take home or just a small amount, and what do they do with the rest?

Where is Peter Falconio Buried?

Peter Falconio's body is buried somewhere in the Australian outback but Bradley Murdoch isn't going to tell us where it is because he still maintains he's innocent. Murdoch 51, was shifted from the old gaol in Darwin to Alice Springs in 2007. There was a rumour going around at one stage that he would disclose the location of the body if he got a transfer to Perth to be closer to his family. The Northern Territory police offered to fix it for him if he told them where the body was but he refused and there was no deal.

Murdoch was eventually transferred from Darwin to Alice Springs because he knew how to get on the right side of prison guards as well as inmates. He was seen as a good bloke by everyone and his fame gave him celebrity and power. Of course, his size also helped. Police said he is well behaved and knows how to play the wardens to get what he wants.

Former inmates who have spent time with Murdoch in Darwin and Alice Springs gaol say he's happy to chat about his past with the Gypsie Jokers bikie gang and his drug running experiences. But when the subject turns to Joanne and Falconio, he shuts down and denies everything.

It's claimed that Murdoch was off his head on amphetamines when he shot Falconio, he had followed the young British couple and his focus was on his prize - Joanne. In 2002, he kidnapped a young woman and her mother in South Australia, but was aquitted of the charge, even though the same home-made handcuffs he used on Joanne were also used in the kidnapping.

Murdoch comes across as a good bloke and easy to get on with. He swears he is innocent but has lost all his appeals and now faces a 28 year slog. He's worked his way out of maximum security and is a resident of the medium security K block. He works in and runs the mechanical workshop and teaches young Aboriginal men how to MIG weld. He was also responsible for the construction of a four wheel drive water trailer for the prison and is admired as a clever mechanic. He's spent happy hours working on the Correctional Services' dirt buggy entered in the annual Finke River desert race. Eighty per cent of prisoners in the Northern Territory are Aboriginal and they call prison guards "boss". They say "Boss, can I use this hammer?" Murdoch doesn't do that.

In 1995 Murdoch fired into a crowd of Aborigines who were celebrating an AFL grand final in a riverbed at Fitzroy Crossing. He also has KKK tattooed on his forearms which is impossible to hide. It makes no difference, he gets on well with the Aboriginal population in gaol. But he's no fool either, as one inmate said that if he ever attacked a black brother, most of his family, who are also in prison, would quickly sort him out.

A police spokesman said "He's very big and powerful and I suppose that, aligned with his lack of emotion - no warmth, no emotion - he's like a brick wall. I certainly felt some depth of presence tagged to a very sinister atmosphere about him."

Incredibly, outside the fence, on the 280 kms stretch between Alice Springs and Barrow Creek, you'd be hard pressed to find anyone, black or white, who thinks he's guilty. But Falconio was shot after 8pm and Murdoch was caught on video refuelling at Alice Springs about 12.45 am - he had plenty of time to dispose of the body.

Murdoch now has his hopes pinned on a review of DNA evidence found on the gearstick and steering wheel of the Kombi and on the inside of the hand-made cuffs. But there is no doubt about the spot of blood found on the back of Joanne's t-shirt - it matched Murdoch at 16 sites.

Murdoch currently receives lots of fan mail. He's due to apply for parole in 2033 but they won't grant it unless he shows remorse and tells them where he buried Peter Falconio. I think we are in for a long wait.

Edit 18 December 2013:  Today Murdoch officially launched an appeal against his sentence.  It is understood that he is basing his appeal on an assertion of misconduct by the Crown prosecutor at his original trial.

Greece and the EU

On the first of January 2007, twenty seven nations came together to make the European Union - they all signed a marriage agreement to stick together through thick and thin. But they had no idea what the future would hold. Ilias Lestaris is a Greek travel agent and he's not very happy because business is not good. His phones have stopped ringing and there are few customers these days. He's been in business for a long time but now he can barely cover the rent of his office and he's a very angry man.

He's angry about his government's failure to release true deficit figures - his country has been in deficit for years and the people had no idea. But he's also angry because his EU cousins now see Greece as a nation of lazy people who earn lots of money and then squander it only to ask for help from their neighbours when things get tough.

Although the EU and the International Monetary Fund (the IMF) have agreed to float Greece a $145 billion dollar loan over the next three years, the Greeks are furious with Germany's Frau Merkel for stalling tactics before the bailout agreement was reached last weekend. A comment from a 39 year old woman who sells handbags in Athens said "Greece is the cradle of European culture, has Frau Merkel forgotten that?

Some economists suspect the Greeks won't be able to cope with the rigid austerity measures Athens has imposed, like a freeze on wages and pensions and suspect the recession will only get worse. Emou Street in Athens is the major up-market shopping boulevarde for weathy customers and is now full of shops fronts with "For Rent" signs in the windows. And they don't trust banks either, the people have withdrawn millions of dollars to hide at home or transfer to foreign banks.

I can understand Germany's reaction to the Greek crises. Why wouldn't they be upset when they are obliged to pay the largest European loan to patch up Greece's mismanagement when their own economy is ticking along nicely - it wasn't their fault that Greece couldn't manage their books properly.

The Greeks seem don't be handling the situation well, today 3 people died after protestors threw a fire bomb into a bank building. And it's not over yet.

Time Square Bomber

The son of a retired high ranking Pakistani official, Faisal Shahzad almost got away. His plane was on the runway ready to take off for Dubai when they managed to turn it around just in time. Now Pakistani authorities have arrested at least seven more people in connection with the Time Square bomb plot and more could follow.

What is it with these well-heeled, well-educated young Muslim men? His family live in a large house in a well-to-do suburb of Peshawar. But of course everyone says he's as pure as the driven snow and all his relatives are "shocked" and swear he never had any connection with a political party of jihad group.

It must have hurt the Americans when they learnt that he was a naturalised citizen but there's a humorous side to the story. He recently attended "bomb-making training in Waziristan" but he couldn't have been paying attention because the bomb he left in Time Square didn't go off. He left his wife in Pakistan and returned to the US in February this year after a five month visit and we now know what he was up to.

Now America has had two recent failed bomb attempts - one on Christmas Day when a bomb went off in a man's lap and now this one which failed to go off at all. Thank God for small mercies.

Where are all the bees?

Where have all the bees gone, have you noticed any in your garden lately? A study in America has found that bees are in decline for the fourth year in a row and more than one third of the colonies didn't survive the winter. And it's not only in America, it's happening all around the world and scientists don't know why.

It's estimated that one third of everything we eat depends on the honey bee and this serious sitution is a threat to crops. Because of the empty hives, it's been dubbed the "Mary Celeste Syndrome" referring to the merchant ship in 1872 found abandoned and its entire crew missing, regardless of the fine weather.

Although they don't know for sure yet, scientists believe that "there are some subtle interactions between nutrition, pesticide exposure and other stressors". I'd put my money on poisonous chemicals any day and wonder what they could be doing to us as we spread honey on our crumpet.

Dave Hackenberg, an American commercial beekeeper was the first to raise the alarm and said that last year had been the worst yet for bee losses with 62% of his 2,600 hives dying between May 2009 and April 2010. He also says it's getting worse.

If this situation continues, commercial beekeeping won't be economically viable anymore so what do we do then? It will be a serious threat to world agriculture and scientists need to find the answer quickly.

Taking Care of our Paramedics

You have to be tough to be a Paramedic. Al Qvist has been working as Paramedic for five years and seen some horrific sights. But there was one particular call out that helped to send him over the edge. It was 1995 when he attended the scene of a man with Aids who had jumped in front of a train in Sydney - the man's body was cut in half but when he shone his torch on his face, he was still alive and spoke to him. He was covered in blood and was naturally frantic to find out if he'd contracted the Aids virus. Two weeks later he was severely beaten by two patients. When he asked for counselling, the Ambulance Service was unsympathetic but did send him to a psychiastrist. Shortly after, he slowly slipped into a deep depression and tried to kill himself.


His wife says he felt totally helpless and alone and desperately needed time off but was refused. "He was a mess and for a while after that he went down into very dark places" she said. He can't be interviewed because staff are not allowed to talk to the media.

I would guess that the bottom line in this story is that his Workers' Compensation claim was rejected. "They said it wasn't their fault" his wife said. "I find it unbelievable, the Ambulance Service is an important part of the health system, yet it just doesn't understand mental health".

In 2007, he almost drowned saving an elderly woman in the Newcastle floods. He has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and is currently on a high-dose of anti-depressants. He is due to receive a bravery award this month for the flood rescue.

There are so many negative reports coming out lately about how the Ambulance Service treats their employees - bullying, violence, surely it's time to have a proper investigation to find out just what's really happening. We need to take care of our Paramedics better than this.

Steve Irwin's dad longs to see his grandchildren

It's a terrible thing when families fall out and as a result of a tiff between Bob Irwin and his late son's wife Terri, he hasn't seen Bindi or Bob since November 2008 and it's breaking his heart. He thought Terri may have weakened and sent the children to see him when he had his near fatal heart attack in March. But a statement released by Terri said that the family was in America when Bob was hospitalised and "Bindi hopes that this will be the catalyst to encourage her poppy to quit smoking as Bindi is very worried about her poppy". I bet that went down like a lead balloon.

I don't doubt for a minute that Bob Irwin is probably a tough old boy and could be difficult to deal with but no matter what the argument was about, Terri should bite the bullet and give both children the opportunity to spend what little time is left with the man who helped make their father one of the best known animal lovers in the world.

"This is not about Bob Irwin the wildlife warrior or Bindi Irwin the television star - this is about a grandad and his grandchildren" Bob said.

Steve's affection and respect for his father was well known, he even called his son after him and it's a pity things have turned out this way.

Brititain has lost the plot

I can't understand the British judicial system, it seems there's a lot of insanity among their ranks. They let Mr Shah, a 21 year old Muslim man walk free after he wrote "Islam will dominate the world" and other insults on the most hallowed ground - a war memorial. He also wrote "Obama is on his way" and "Kill Gordon Brown". He was arrested after his DNA was found on the discarded spray can.

But his lawyers said his actions were not motivated by religious hatred - they were "politically motivated". Apparently there's a loophole in the law and he walked away with a two-year conditional discharge (whatever that means) and an order to pay the council $1000 to clean up his mess on the war memorial. The court heard that Mr Shah had shown no remorse.

I wonder how our Australian judicial system would have handled this situation if happened to one of our Anzac memorials - a lot better I hope.