Saturday, July 31, 2010

Kevin Rudd's Emergency Surgery





Australia came through the global financial crisis on the crest of a wave and most economists agree, both Labor and Liberal, that it was due to the strategies put in place by our Labor Prime Minister, 52 year old Kevin Rudd. Yesterday he was admitted to hospital and is recuperating from a gall bladder operation in Brisbane's Mater Private Hospital.

He was out campaigning until the eleventh hour. Suffering severe abdominal pain, he attended the open day at an Anglican College and cheefully posed for photographs with students and chatted with parents. By lunchtime, he was in hospital, ready to have his gall bladder removed.

Gall bladder removal is one of the most routine operations in Australia with more than 17,000 procedures performed in 2008/09 - more than hip and knee replacement surgery combined. Normally done through keyhole surgery, it's considered safe, with surgeons putting the risk of serious complications at about 1 per cent or slightly higher when the surgery becomes urgent, as apparently happened in Mr Rudd's case. In these circumstances, there is a higher chance that surgeons have to open the abdominal cavity and conduct open surgery.


Senior surgeons say the condition is not related to stress but I disagree. After what this man has been through in the last 6 weeks, it's a miracle he's still standing. I'll never forget the day he was sacked, he walked into the chamber and took a seat way up in the back benches, all by himself, looking terribly sad. He didn't have to be there - most people would have left the building as soon as possible after such a devastating personal coup but he did it anyway. Now he's being called a snake and a coward. When you take a close look at Kevin Rudd's behaviour, it simply isn't true.



Friday, July 30, 2010

Personal Vendettas and the Australian Labor Party

The famous handshake when bullyboy Mark Latham almost pulls John Howard off his feet prior to his defeat in the 2004 federal election




Mark William Latham (born 28.2.1961) is a former leader of the Federal Parliamentary Labor Party and Leader of the Opposition from December 2003 to January 2005. He lost the federal election to John Howard in October 2004. He couldn't wait to write a book, attacking his former colleagues and members of the media. His attacks were vindictive and very personal. Union leader Bill Shorten said that Latham had displayed "all the attributes of a dog, except loyalty".

It's hard to believe, but the Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, elected by the people, was sacked by his own party only weeks before a general election and sent to the back bench. His party colleagues were getting nervous about his perceived popularity with the electorate and were convinced that they would not win a second term with Rudd as leader. So they sacked him and elected his deputy, Julia Gillard to the top job.




The backroom power brokers were thrilled that their decision was correct - Julia Gillard is our first female Prime Minister and she sailed through the honeymoon period. There were two Labor policies that were very popular with the people. The first was paid parental leave and the other - a major increase for old age pensioners.

Out of the blue, the unbelievable happened. Someone from within the Labor Party spoke to veteran reporter Laurie Oakes and told him that Julia Gillard was against both of these proposals. When they were being disuccsed, she said the stay-at-home mothers would be angry about the paid parental leave and that the old age pensioners didn't vote for Labor anyway. All hell broke lose.


Enter yesterday's man Mark Latham. Also a Labor man, he couldn't resist kicking Kevin Rudd when he was down - he's accusing him of being the source of the leak. Yesterday he said the former Prime Minister was humiliated by the sacking and being sent to the back bench by Ms Gillard. "If he cant have it, no one else will either, there's also a cowardice to it" he said. He's convinced that Rudd is the source of the leak saying "It's the snake's way, it's unmanly and beneath an Aussie bloke to act this way". It would have been much better for them to have made Kevin Rudd Foreign Minister or Defence Minister and sent him to Afghanistan. In hindsight, he could be right.

But here's the kicker: Mark Latham said Labor could still win the election and voters would give a first-time Labor government a second chance. I can't think of any one man who has done more harm to bring his own party down.

Julia Gillard has promised to find the 'rat' within the ranks. One wonders how many other personal vendettas are going on inside the Australian Labor Party. Opposition Leader Tony Abbott must be absolutely delighted, all he has to do is sit back and watch as the one term Labor Party implodes.

Thursday, July 29, 2010

The Cruel Sport of Bullfighting





Catalonia is the first region in Spain to ban the cruel sport of bullfighting. Barcelona's main bullring, one of the oldest in the country, is the only one still being used in Catalonia. Animal rights activists presented a partition to parliament signed by 180,000 people who said the practice is barbaric and outdated. Emotions ran high in the debate as supporters said the corrida is an art form that must be preserved. But the vote was 68 to 55 against with 9 abstentions. The ban takes effect in January 2012. However, there is no significant movement to do away with bullfightint in the rest of Spain.

Animal activists are saying what we in the West knew all along - bullfighting is cruel and unacceptable and most of the spectators in Catalonia these days are tourists who are appalled by it. But pro-bullfighting groups fear that a ban could spread across the country and threaten the livelihood of thousands of people.

A bullfight typically lasts about 20 minutes and the bull is stabbed numerous times before the fatal blow is delivered with a sword thrust between its shoulder blades. The bulls are specially bred and traditionally a corrida involves six bulls and three matadors who each tackle two bulls. In Portugal and the south of France the bull is not killed in the ring.

Bullfighting is also widespread in Latin America. The Plaza Mexico arena in Mexico City is the biggest in the world, seating up to 55,000 spectators. One of the oldest is the 18th century Plaza de Acho in Lima Peru.

President of the animal rights group said he is euphoric about the outcome in Catalonia and that it's the beginning of the end for bullfighting in Spain - they will now take the debate to Madrid.

One of the most famous fans of bullfighting was the US writer Ernest Hemingway who wrote about the age-old tradition in his book Death in the Afternoon.





Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Chelsea Clinton's Wedding





There's something tacky about weddings that cost the earth and Chelsea Clinton's wedding this weekend to Marc Mezinsky will have a price tag of somewhere between $3 - $5 million. But Hillary and Bill's beloved child is getting married and naturally they want to give her the wedding of her dreams. And they can afford it - between 2000 and 2007 they earned a reported $109 million.


Just imagine it, a French-style mansion set on a private estate of 50 acres overlooking the Hudson, 90 miles north of Manhattan. They are calling it the wedding of the decade, it could even become the wedding of the century!


World leaders are invited and naturally, Oprah will be there. If you work on a budget of $3 million and 500 guests, it works out at $6,000 a head. Security for the event will be tight and expensive, especially with high profile world leaders as guests. As there is access to the venue by land, water and air, paparazzi in helicopters could be a problem - they might have to call in the airforce.


It's true what they say - money can buy almost anything - except happiness.



British Prime Minister says Gaza is a Prison Camp






The tide seems to be turning against Israel. British Prime Minister David Cameron called Gaza a "prison camp" on Tuesday, a blunt description from a major western leader. He made the comments while visiting Turkey - he wanted to show his support for Turkish membership in the European Union.


"Let me also be clear that the situation in Gaza has to change. Humanitarian goods and people must be allowed to flow in both directions. Gaza cannot and must not be allowed to remain a "prison camp" he said.


Since Hamas took control of the territory after elections in 2006, residents of Gaza have suffered terribly under the Israeli blockade. Ron Prosor, Israel's ambassador to Britain reacted quickly to the prime minister's remark, saying that Hamas is responsible for the misery in Gaza. "The people of Gaza are the prisoners of the terrorist organization Hamas and it's the direct result of their rule and priorities" he said.


The ambasssador also raised the subject of Gilad Shalit, the Israeli soldier taken hostage four years ago who is being held in Gaza. "We know that the prime minister would also share our grave concerns about our own prisoner in the Gaza Strip who has been held hostage there for over four years without receiving a single Red Cross visit" Proser said.

Once Turkey and Israel were close friends but not anymore - they are furious about the May 31 commando raid against the aid flotilla.


Cameron praised Turkey's unique ability to make peace between Israel and the Arab world and that Israeli action was "completely unacceptable". He told Israel Prime Minister Netanyahu that Britain experts Israel's inquiry into the raid to be "swift, transparent and and rigorous".


Cameron said "Just as Turkey is playing a pivotal role in Afghanistan, it can also do so in the Middle East. Turkey's relationships in the region, both with Israel and the Arab world, are of incalcuable value. No other country has the same potential to build understanding between Israel and the Arab world. I know that Gaza has led to real strains in Turkey's relationship with Israel but Turkey is a friend of Israel and I urge them not to give up on that friendship" and then


"But as hopefully we move in the coming weeks to direct talks between Israel and the Palestinians, so it is Turkey that can make the case for peace and it's Turkey who can help press the parties to come together and point the way to a just and viable solution."

Wow, Cameron is really throwing his weight around, but then he is a conservative. I can't imagine what it would be like living in Israel - completely surrounded with the enemy who want to wipe you off the map. Can they possibly survive?






Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Senator Penny Wong






Senator Penelope Wong is the Labor Party Minister for Climate Change, Energy Efficiency and Water. Before entering Parliament, she was a barrister and solicitor in Adelaide and an adviser to the Carr Government in New South Wales. Born in East Malaysia to a Malasian Chinese father and an Australian mother she moved to Australia at the age of eight with her mother and younger brother Toby after her parents separated.


On returning to Adelaide, she began practising law, won a position on the ALP's state executive and also took on work as a legal officer with the Liquor, Hospitality and Miscellaneous Union. She is a practising Christian and attends the Pilgrim Uniting Church.


Last night on ABC's Q and A program, an angry young woman in the audience asked the Senator a very personal question about being gay - how could she support the Labor Party's policy on the banning of gay marriages?


Under Kevin Rudd, Labor amended laws to give gay couples more rights but they drew the line at changing the marriage laws saying the community expected marriage to remain solely for heterosexuals. The Coalition has a similar policy but the Greens want the law changed.


Senator Wong said "By virtue of whom I am, prejudice and discrimination are things I have first-hand knowledge of. When I entered parliament, I did actually think very carefully about how to handle being Asian and gay because it had never been done before". She made a decision that before entering public life, she would be absolutely open about who she was. "Part of the reason I did that was because I thought it was very important to show that you should never be ashamed of who you are" she said.


Greens Senator Christine Mile, also on the panel, took exception to her defence of Labor's record of tackling gay discrimination. "This is a lack of leadership I have to say" she said. Her party leader Senator Bob Brown, who is also openly gay said he was "horrified" by Senator Wong's position, he said political leaders needed to drag attitudes into the 21st century, rather than sweep them under the carpet. "Are we going to bring back hanging?" he said.


Graham Richardson, also on the panel leapt to Senator Won'g defence on the program. "I'm amazed somewhat by these questions really" he said. Labor's policies to help gay defacto couples would not have happened without Senator Wong's place in the government" adding that many ALP members were opposed to the measures.


Although the Senator looked a little shocked and perhaps hurt, she didn't break down and was stoic throughout and I think this little lady deserves a medal for bravery.



Monday, July 26, 2010

Sister sells brother's medals to go on a cruise




The sister of a British war hero who died in Afghanistan sold his uniform and medals on eBay so she could go on a luxury cruise. Corporal Rob Deering left his elder sister everything in his will, including four war medals, his uniform and an engraved memorial shell casing from his funeral. His sister, Elaine Deering, a single mother with a small son, sold it all for around $2000 and put the money towards a cruise around the Mediterranean. The unemployed mother said "I'm on income support and I'm very hard up, so I did what I thought best".


Now the man who bought the items - medals from Corporal Deering's service in Kosovo, Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as an International Security Assistance Force medal - has returned them to the soldier's fiancee Gemma Polino.

Gemma and the Deering family are involved in a legal dispute over Rob's estate. She and Corporal Deering had been together for four and a half years and were living together when he left for Afghanistan. She claims her fiancee drew up a second will in which he left her everything, but it was lost by Army administrators before it could be sent for safe-keeping to a documents holding centre. Unless a copy of the will can be found, Miss Polino cannot inherit anything from his estate.



The Medals



Corporal Deering, a Royal Marine with the Commando Logistic Regiment, died in December 2008 as he raced to help injured comrades whose armoured Viking personnel carrier had been blown up by insurgents. Deering was killed in a second blast as he approached the vehicle in Afghanistan's notorious Helmand province.



Gemma and Rob



His sister said she sold them because she was depressed and needed a break. 'I regret the fact that I lost the medals and would love to get them back one day. I loved my brother and miss him every day but I wanted to give my son the best'.



Rob and and his sister Elaine Deering



The man who bought the medals said 'I admit as a collector it was a once in a lifetime deal. I knew I'd get a big price for them. It's unheard of to have a full set of medals and uniforms from a soldier who has only just died'. But he decided against selling them and tracked down Deering's fiancee and gave her the medals without charge. 'I can't believe a mother and daughter could part so easily with the medals of their dead son and brother' he said.


Deering's mother, a 61 year old nurse was present when he daughter offered the collector the medals for money. She regretted allowing her daughter to sell the medals. 'Morally she shouldn't have sold them but legally they're her property and she can do what she likes with them' she said. Hard to believe that the British Army allowed this to happen. Surely every soldier should have his will safely recorded and stored in a safe place well before he sets foot into enemy territory.

Master Chef Final






For 14 weeks, six nights a week, we were glued to Channel 10 every night at 7.30 to watch Master Chef. Last night Adam Liaw, a 31 year old media lawyer became the second Australian Master Chef. Before the winner was announced, Adam said he was used to coming in second all his life which made it a sweet victory for him. He won $100,000, a cookbook deal and guaranteed media celebrity.

Twenty year old Callum Hann was runner up. He was a favourite among many - he would get so nervous, his hands would shake violently and I expected him to fold at any moment, but much to everyone's delight, he hung in there and made it all the way to the final. Both contestants were asked to identify some cooking ingredients and probably because of his youth, Callum missed out on three - he couldn't identify bocconcini, guava and hollandaise sauce. But at the end of the show he was offered a three-month apprenticeship at judge George Colombaris's Melbourne restaurants.


There were so many good cooks on the show but judge Matt Preston said that Adam won because he was "highly skilled" and had "an intellectual approach to food". Whatever that means, I think he was just a damn good cook.


The Ten Network series was watched by an estimated 4 million people, making it the most successful local TV program ever. Both finalists were from a field of 7,000 applicants. For the final dish, they were allocated 3 hours to make a difficult desert called a "snow egg" made with guava and custard apple with ice cream encased inside a crunchy meringue egg. While Hann's dish was awarded three 8's and one 9 from the judges, Liaw received all nines which made him the winner.

Sponsors must be laughing all the way to the bank.

Sunday, July 25, 2010

Hillsong Pentecostal Church, Sydney





There was an article in the Sydney Telegraph today about the Penticostal Hillsong Church in Sydney. Brian Houston is the senior Pastor and from the stage, he told his huge audience last week "Don't give someone else the power over your financial freedom".


Brian Houston is Australia's richest cleric and presides over a $50 million global empire that the taxman can't get his hands on. They turn over $9 million dollars in tax free royalties a year. Members of the congregation are expected to tithe at least 10% of their income and the people in the audience were very generous when Brendan Hills, a journalist, sat in last week. A young woman sitting two seats up from him, dropped three $50 notes into the collection bucket and an Asian gentleman on the other side of her dropped in four $50 notes. One wonders how people can afford to give this sort of money away.

Then the Asian man passes the reporter the bucket - one of 100 doing the rounds for the collection - it has holes in the bottom large enough to discourage coins. When he didn't put anything in, people glanced at him, they noticed.


I went to a Hillsong service years ago when one of my daughters became friends with a girl at school who was a member. It was quite an experience, almost like a rock concert, so unlike the staid service conducted in my own Presbyterian church that I attended as a child. I can see why it's popular, no boring, hum drum drone of the preacher here, there are people smiling and singing and holding their hands up in the air with their eyes closed, praising Jesus. Pentecostalism is a belief that everyone can have a personal experience with God through the baptism in the Holy Spirit where one is 'born again'.

A lot of emphasis is placed on 'speaking in tongues'. Pentecost is a Greek word describing the descent of the Holy Spirit onto the followers of Jesus Christ as described in Chapter 2 of the Book of Acts where the people were overcome by the holy spirit and began speaking in strange languages (tongues). Traditionally, Pentecostals have taught that the "initial evidence" of Spirit baptism is speaking in tongues. So what happens when a new convert doesn't have the gift of tongues, is he/she less worthy than someone who has it? No problem, there are other gifts you may be granted - words of wisdom, words of knowledge, faith, healing, miracle-working and prophecy.




Brian Houston



There is also what they call a "message in tongues" for the congregation. For the church to understand the message in tongues, a person with the gift of interpretation - whether that be another person or the same one who gives the tongue - must interpret it into a language that all can understand. Pentecostals base their understanding of the gift of tongues on 1 Corinthians 14:13 and 14.27-28.







Prayer for the sick is an important practice in many Pentecostal churches. The Pastor will anoint the sick with olive oil and he/she, together with church elders, will lay hands on the person requesting prayer for healing.


It was an interesting experience but not for me. It's hard to explain but I think it was the 'speaking in tongues' that turned me off, I have a very suspicious nature and couldn't make any sense of it at all. But there are thousands of young people who not only attend regular services, but are involved with the church 24/7 - ex drug addicts and lost teens given hope and a new start in life. So as far as I'm concerned it's a good thing. So they make huge amounts of money and don't pay any tax, as long as they continue to reach out and change lives for the better, I don't care.


Saturday, July 24, 2010

America's Oligarchy







Following on from the movie "Wall Street" and Gordon Gekko's 'Greed is Good' philosophy, this is an excerpt from an article by Bernie Sanders who is a member of the Senate Democratic Caucus and the longest-serving Independent in US Congressional history. He gives us an insight into America's rich and how they are working towards becoming even richer.


The American people are hurting. As a result of the greed, recklessness and illegal behaviour on Wall Street, millions of Americans have lost their jobs, homes, life savings and their ability to get a higher education. Today some 22 per cent of our children live in poverty and millions more have become dependent on food stamps for their food.

But not everybody is hurting. While the middle-class disappears and poverty increases, the wealthiest people in our country are not only doing extremely well, they are using their wealth and political power to protect and expand their very privileged status at the expense of everyone else. This upper-crust of extremely wealthy families are hell-bent on destroying the democratic vision of a strong middle-class which has made the United states the envy of the world. In its place they are determined to create an oligarchy in which a small number of families control the economic and political life of our country.

The 400 richest families in America who saw their wealth increase by some $400 billion during the Bush years, have now accumulated $1.27 trillion in wealth. Four hundred families! During the last fifteen years, while these enormously rich people became much richer, their effective tax rates were slashed almost in half. While the highest paid 400 Americans had an average income of $345 million in 2007, as a result of Bush tax policy, they now pay an effective tax rate of 16.6 per cent, the lowest on record.

Last year, the top twenty five hedge fund managers made a combined $25 billion but because of tax policy their lobbyists helped write, they pay a lower effective tax rate than many teachers, nurses and police officers. As a result of tax havens in the Cayman Islands, Bermuda and elsewhere, the wealth and large corporations are evading some $100 billion a year in US taxes. Warren Buffett, one of the richest people on earth has often commented that he pays a lower effective tax rate than his secretary.

But it's not just wealthy individuals who grotesquely manipulate the system for their benefit. It's the multinational corporations they own and control. In 2009, Exxon Mobil, the most profitable corporation in history made $19 billion in profits and not only paid no federal income tax - they actually received a $156 million refund from the government. In 2005, one out of every four large corporations in the United States paid no federal income taxes while earning $1.1 trillion in revenue.

But perhaps the most outrageous tax break given to multi-millionaires and billionaires happened this January when the estate tax, established in 1916, was repealed for one year as a result of President Bush's 2001 tax legislation. This tax applies only to the wealthiest three-tenths of 1 per cent of our population. This is what Teddy Roosevelt, a leading proponent of the estate tax, said in 1910: "The absence of effective state and especially, national restraint upon unfair money-getting has tended to create a small class of enormously wealthy and economically powerful men, whose chief object is to hold and increase their power. The prime need is to change the conditions which enable these men to accumulate power which is not for the general welfare that they should hold or exercise..... Therefore I believe in a ....... graduated inheritance tax on big fortunes, properly safeguarded against evasion and increasing rapidly in amount with the size of the estate." And that's what we've had for the last ninety-five years - until 2010.


Today, not content with huge tax breaks on their income; not content with massive corporate tax loopholes; not content with trade laws enabling them to outsource the jobs of millions of American workers to low-wage countries and not content with tax havens around the world, the ruling elite and their lobbyists are working feverishly to either eliminate the estate tax or substantialy lower it. If they are successful at wiping out the estate tax, as they came close to doing in 2006 with every Republican but two voting to do, it would increase the national debt by over $1 trillion during a ten year period. At a time when we already have a $13 trillion debt, enormous unmet needs and the highest level of wealth inequality in the industrialized world, it is simply obscene to provide more tax breaks to multi-millionaires and billionaires.




Friday, July 23, 2010

When Love is Blind


Desmond Campbell was found guilty of killing his new bride by pushing her over a cliff. On the 18th May 2010, after a 4 week trial, a Sydney jury convicted the 52 year old of murder. He took her camping, and pitched the tent conveniently close to the edge of a cliff and told police that she had fallen to her death when she went to the toilet during the night. The Crown said that she was pushed. It's hard to believe that he expected people to believe such a ridiculous story.
Desmond Campbell liked women and women liked him - he had other girlfriends during his short marriage to Janet. Crown Prosecutor told the court that Janet Campbell was "worth more to her husband dead than alive" because he needed her money to pay off his debts. Janet fell passionately in love with Campbell when they met - she was a widow who had inherited property worth more than $500,000 from her late husband. She was so enamoured, she bought a house at Otford near the National Park, away from her family and friends in Deniliquin. The court heard that one of Campbell's girlfriends stayed with him at the Otford home bought by his wife and moved out the day before Janet moved in. He also posted a profile on the internet dating site PSVP immediately after her death, did not go to her funeral and locked her family out of the house when they drove from Deniliquin to collect her things.
Another former girlfriend June Ingham, said she had to sue Campbell to get back some of the money she had once given him to buy a house.
Campbell's defence counsel Sean Hughes conceded Campbell might be regarded as a "philanderer" but reminded the jury of the need to "give him a fair go" and judge him according to the evidence. "He's not on trial for being a philanderer - he's on trial for murder."
The victim's brother, Kevin Neander, said he always knew Campbell was guilty. "We had suspicions about him before he ever pushed Jenny off the cliff. We tried to warn her but she was madly in love with him and she just couldn't see what the man was like. Both my sisters, Therese and Mary got into Jenny's ear but she was just besotted by him. She just thought he was the man. She couldn't see it, she said everyone's entitled to a second chance. Love is a powerful thing, love is blind they say".
Campbell did not give evidence at his trial and showed little emotion. Only once did he break down when he heard a tape of his police interview which was played to the jury. In it he described how he used a rope from his backpack to climb down the cliff and find his wife's body. "It looked like she was sitting in a chair but she was on the rocks" he said. He also told police Ms Campbell's family were "controlling" and interfered in his marriage.
Sentencing submissions begin today, 23rd July, 2010

Thursday, July 22, 2010

Donald Farquharson deliberately drowns his 3 sons






This must be the worst case of revenge in Australian history. After an outing on Father's Day in 2005, Robert Donald William Farquharson deliberately drove his three sons into a dam and left them to drown to get back at his wife. Although he managed to get out of the car himself, he made no attempt to rescue them.


After nearly five years and two trials, a jury this afternoon found the 41 year old guilty of killing Jai 10, Tyler 7 and Bailey 2 on September 4 2005 by driving into a Winchelsea dam and leaving them to drown. His only defense was that he had a coughing fit which caused him to lose control of the car which left the road, crashed through a fence, crossed a paddock and plunged into a dam. He said he had blacked out and woke up in the dam.









His first conviction in 2007 which led to a life sentence with no parole was overturned by the Court of Appeal. Today's verdict came after an 11 week re-trial and three days deliberation by the jury.

Farquharson met his future wife Cindy Gambino in February 1990. In 2006 he took a redundancy package from his employer and bought a lawn-mowing franchise. They married in 2000 and had three children together by 2002. The pair separated amicably in 2004. Farquharson suffered bouts of depression and sought the assistance of a psychologist and later a psychiatrist to deal with the separation. He was prescribed the anti-depressants Zoloft and later Avanza.


The generosity of the mother of the boys astounds me. Cindy Gambino told the court she did not believe Farquharson intended to kill their children and said "I believe with all my heart that this was just an accident and that he would not hurt a hair on their heads."


Sageant Glen Uruhart gave evidence that the steering wheel of Farquharson's vehicle would require a 220 degree turn to veer as it did on the highway to leave the road. There was no evidence of braking before the car entered the dam. The vehicle's headlights, heater and ignition system were all in the 'off' position. The body of the oldest child Jai was found protruding half way out of the vehicle's front door. The other boys were discovered in the back seat.

Greg King, a bus driver, testified that he recalled a conversation with Farquharson two months before the accident outside a fish and chip shop. He said his friend spoke of seeking revenge on his ex-wife and of wanting to "take away the things that mean the most to her", meaning the children.

Another witness Shane Atkinson who discovered Farquharson on the side of the road, said he twice refused to call the 000 emergency number, preferring instead to travel to Winchelsea to tell his wife of his children's fate.

Associate Professor Matthew Naughton, a specialist in sleep and respiratory medicine, told the jury it was highly unlikely Farquharson had suffered a coughing fit in the moments before the accident. He further testified that coughing to the point of blacking out is an extremely rare condition, known as cough syncope and that he was unlikely to have suffered such an attack while driving, given the warmth of his vehicle.

The day before the verdict came in, Farquharson arranged for flowers, three red tulips, to be laid at the grave of his sons. Attached was a card reading 'Dear Jai, thinking of you on your birthday, love you, dad'. Jai would have turned 13 on that day.


After 3 days of deliberations, the jury found him guilty on 5 October 2007 and on November 16 he was sentenced to three terms of life imprisonment without parole. Protesting his innocence, he said that he would appeal and on December 17, his conviction was unanimously overturned by the three appeal judges and on December 21, he was granted bail and released into the care of one of his sisters.

After learning of the re-trial, a shock new witness came forward with damning claims that Farquharson had not been coughing moments before his car veered off the road. Motorist Dawn Waite told the jury that he was not coughing but was driving slowly and veering left and right moments before he swerved into the dam. She had not come forward with her evidence earlier because she had been ill battling cancer.

At the end of the day, his ex-wife said that after the evidence of the new witness, she finally believed that he was guilty and was pleased that justice was finally done for her three little boys.


Edit 7 December 2012:  Three Victorian Court of Appeal Judges today dismissed Farquharson's final appeal against his conviction and he will be in prison for the rest of his miserable life.


Wednesday, July 21, 2010

How did Julia Gillard become Prime Minister?






It's not every day a popular elected Australian Prime Minister gets booted out of office by his own party just months before a general election. It would probably rate as the second most shocking event in Australian political history, beaten only by Labor Prime Minister Gough Whitlam being sacked by the Governor General.







I wonder if Julia will ever live down the accusation that she 'rolled the Prime Minister' or 'stabbed him in the back'. When veteran reporter Laurie Oaks asked her those tricky questions, she never faltered - although unsmiling, she answered them calmly and looked him straight in the eye. But we all want to know what happened and by being elusive and refusing to tell makes us all the more curious.

Laurie Oaks put it to her that on the night of the leadership challenge, that she did a deal with Rudd on the leadership handover - one that she reneged on later that same night.


"Can I ask you is it true that Mr Rudd told you that night that he was working towards an October election" Oaks asked. And then


"Is it true that Mr Rudd indicated to you that if closer to the elction polling showed that he was an impediment to the re-election of the government, he would voluntarily stand aside."


Her response was "I've made it very, very clear that I will never be speaking publicly about my discussions with Kevin Rudd on that night, I think that's an appropriate mark of respect between colleagues. It's not my intention to canvass any of the matters that were discussed in that room. We went into that discussion on the basis that it was a confidential discussion between colleagues and I intend to respect that confidence for the rest of my life". Wow!


Julia is now Prime Minister but she wasn't elected by the people. I think we have the right to know what happened and bugger professional confidences.




British Prime Minister Pleads for Pentagon Hacker

Gary 44 and his mother




Gary McKinnon has Asperges Syndrome and has caused an international dilemma. He admits hacking into the Pentagon and Nasa computers looking for evidence of 'little green men'. US authorities have said it was the biggest military attack ever and cost a million dollars to fix the damage. Naturally, the Americans want him extradicted to stand trial in America but his family and lawyers say it could trigger psychosis and even suicide because of his mental condition. British MP's have asked the Americans if he could stand trial in Britain and serve any sentence in his own country and that's the question Prime Minister David Cameron put to President Obama yesterday when they met in Washington.


Mr McKinnon's mother watched President Obama and David Cameron speaking about her son's case at a press conference on television and believe the two leaders could save her son from the terror of a trial in the US.


She said "I'm absoslutely thrilled. I think it's amazing that David Cameron was prepared to stand up and do this during such a tremendously important meeting. I am extremely encouraged that these two powerful men were prepared to take time out to discuss a vulnerable man who has endured eight years of fear'.

Ashed if she would accept a compromise of a US trial and an assurance that McKinnon would serve any time in the UK she said "No. Gary has a terror of travel and they know that".




Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Brtiain Refuses to Ban the Burqa


I can't understand Britain's attitude to the burqa. They refuse to follow France by introducing a law banning women from wearing it. Immigration Minister Damian Green says it's "rather un-British" and contrary to a "tolerant and mutually respectful society". It would be "undesirable" for Parliament to vote on a burqa ban and there was no prospect of the Coalition government proposing it, Mr Green said.
I thought it was the Labour Government who were over-tolerant regarding some Islamic displays of hatred towards the British population, but now realize it's a bi-partisan issue. It's obvious they don't listen to the people because a survey last week found that 67 per cent of British voters wanted the burqa banned but they won't be moved. Last week the French voted 335-1 to outlaw full-face veils, including burqas, in public.

Bank Manager goes missing with $3 million




This is a real life story straight out of a novel - middle-aged bank manager disappears along with $3 million. Last Tuesday, Colin Carleton left home around 8.30am to go for a trail bike ride on his red Honda in Atherton, just south of Cairns in Queensland. But he didn't come home and hasn't been seen since.


But the cruelest part of the story is that his wife and three adult children are left confused and trying to cope with the fallout. There had been no formal complaint about any missing money at the bank but when he still didn't turn up after a couple of days, the bank wondered if they should look and see if there were any irregularities, and there were - $3 million worth. They have hired forensic investigators to pour over thousands of transactions and accounts.


There are lots of theories flying around town. Did he take off with the money, was he having an affair, did he have an accident? I can imagine how his wife must be feeling - how could he leave his family in such a mess.


His wife Anne and adult children Megan, Kelly and Dan are going through hell, not knowing where he is and the State Emergency Service's search for him has now been suspended. "He loved his family to death. He was always talking about them. This is just so out of character." a close friend said.
Mr. Carleton had been the bank's manager for more than 10 years and lived in Atherton most of his life. It seems that he was one of the most popular men in town. Until now!




Monday, July 19, 2010

Release of the Lockerbie Bomber and BP






The Scottish government has said it will help the US inquiry with new information into the release of the Lockerbie bomber. It's been alleged that the previous Labour government made a deal with Libya - send al-Megrahi home in exchange for a $1 billion oil exploration deal for BP.

The Sunday Times disclosed this month that Megrahi could live for another 10 years and was never likely to die within the three months that doctors predicted at the time of his release. If he were to die in custody, it was feared that the deal to allow BP to drill for oil off Libya would be cancelled. British Foreign Secretary William Hague wrote to Hillary Clinton on Saturday confirming his belief that it had been a mistake to release Megrahi and that the newly elected government had opposed the release at the time. However, he said there was no evidence to prove that BP was involved in the Scottish Executive's decision to release him - Scottish ministers insist it was their decision alone to release him on compassionate ground after he was diagnosed with terminal cancer.

Last year, son of the Libyan leader Colonel Gadaffi said the Lockerbie bomber was "always on the negotiating table" when oil and gas contracts were discussed with Britain". So someone is telling porkies.

BP admits warning the British government of a potential "negative impact on UK commercial interests" but insists they had no talks with London or Edinburgh over Megrahi's release. The new Prime Minister, David Cameron is set to visit Washington tomorrow.

Saturday, July 17, 2010

Sydney Ghost-Busters

Janine Donellan





David is a 33 year old construction manager whose life has been turned upside down by what appears to be some sort of ghost in his house. He's flat out all day and when he gets home at night, he's so tired but can't get to sleep because of this 'thing'.

It all started four months ago when he suddenly became aware of another presence in his bedroom. There was an indentation left in the mattress as if someone was lying on it and there was a dent in the pillow where a head would have been. At other times the bed would shake. Then it started following him around the house, sitting next to him on the lounge, lying on top of him but never speaking and only visible as a fleeting shadow across the ceiling.


David lives in an inner-city cottage in Sydney and he became so frightened that he called the local ghostbusters - Soul Searchers. The group's leading paranormal investigator Janine Donellan said David's was one of five hauntings they had been asked to investigate this year. Ghost hunting has become big business in recent years and it's only natural to suspect these so-called psychics are ripping people off but Soul Searchers don't charge for their services which gives them more credibility than others. The volunteers include psychics, spiritualists, a couple of people with scientific backgrounds including a zoologist and two sceptics. "They bring the logic, it's very important to have sceptics" said Ms Donellan, herself a Pagan "eclectic witch" and founder of Spheres of Light which became Soul Searchers. They have a strict set of rules to follow. First, never investigate alone. Second, look for an obvious explanation - one woman reported lights flickering mysteriously and the group discovered it was caused by the off-peak hot water system switching on and off. Seances or ouija boards could be dangerous and should only be used by those who know what they are doing.
"You are opening a portal into the lower levels of the astral and you don't know what you will get coming through" said Ms Donellan who doesn't frighten easily. It takes a lot for people to ask for our help, they might be hearing noises or voices or things are moved around. Some people have visions manifest in front of them. Most people think they are crazy but after a period when the disturbances don't go away, they realise that there is something there". She said most hauntings are caused because the ghost had not "passed over" to the other side but was caught between two worlds. "We don't do exorcisms" Ms Donellan said "We just call on higher beings than ourselves, guardians or guides and ask them to help hese people over to another place. In 99 percent of jobs, that works the first time".
But it didn't work for David, the group has been back to his house three times. Each time, David said his house settled down but then the "thing" returned. I have a feeling that whoever cracks the case will become famous. With our biggest Sydney newspaper (The Daily Telegraph) involved in the story, I think David will have people lining up for a chance to prove they can get rid of his ghost. The only other logical explanation is that David is pulling everyone's leg.


Friday, July 16, 2010

Bob Hawke and Paul Keating




In a television interview this week, Blanche d'Alpuget described Bob Hawke and Paul Keating, as being two bulls in one paddock. It was thought that Paul and Bob had called a truce and while not exactly friends, over the past few years, they at least seemed to tolerate each other.


But this week Paul Keating was on a plane and read an excerpt from Blanche's new book "Hawke: the Prime Minister" and got a shock. She wrote: "With little formal education, his intellect led him to hobbies, one after another, all his life: car engines; budgerigars; the life of Winston Churchill; rock music and as his taste matured, classical music and its visible sister architecture." He was outraged and couldn't believe his eyes. "The book is even stooping so low as to say that because I had no university education, I was incapable of absorbing complex documents and that I did not even read them" he said.


Paul Keating retaliated with an accusation that he "carried Bob for years" and said "Hawke went missing from 1984 to 1987 of his prime ministership due to long years of depression and executive incapacity."


But Bob Hawke's finance minister Peter Walsh remembers things differently and says that Keating's claim is an exaggeration. The book details Hawke's depression on learning in 1984 that his daughter Rosslyn was a heroin addict. He was debilitated as a leader for six months or a year but was back in control by the 1985 tax summit, where he pulled the rug on Keating's broad-based consumption tax proposal.


Blanche insists she said a lot of nice things about Keating in her book. "I've said he's brilliant rhetorically, marvellously intuitive, affectionate and kind to staff, a wonderful father and beautiful in appearance. I have always liked him and his portrait in the book is very recognisable".


In a letter Keating wrote to Hawke this week which was leaked to The Australian, he said "Yours and Blanche's rewriting of history is not only unreasonable and unfair, more than that, it is grasping."


Both former Prime Ministers will be invited to Julia Gillard's launch of the imminent election campaign.



Thursday, July 15, 2010

Bob Hawke and Blanche D'Alpuget





Blance D'Alpuget's biography Hawke the Prime Minister has been released to coincide with the telemovie Hawke to be shown on Channel 10 this Sunday night. Blance and Bob were at the star-studded book launch this week. Bob now 80, is looking his age, as he should, but I suspect Blanch 66, has been having botox injections because her forehead never moves. Bob and Julia Gillard wrapped their arms around each other and she almost swooned when she described him as her role model.


Blanch gushed "He is the love of my life" while Bob said "It's impossible to describe the bonds we have, the physical love, the intellectual companionship, the joy we have in one another's company."


Blanch added "I know that when I'm dead and when Bob's dead, what people will remember was that this was a very great love. And it's the love story that will be remembered." Oh really, you think so? Not me, I'll remember that Hazel was discarded like an old shoe after 39 years of total love and devotion and she supported him every step of the way to the top. She's now living in a north shore nursing home with advanced Alzheimer's disease.


Actress Rachael Blake who plays Hazel in the telemovie said Hazel's dream was of growing old with Bob. "It was to have a house, on a hill, and to have the grandchildren there. And I don't know that she ever got that."

As Blanch tells it, Bob and Hazel's days at The Lodge were the happiest of their marriage. "It had been the fulfilment of a long-shared dream.... but once the dream was behind them, their relationship began to deteriorate." And then "Couples need a dream and Bob and Hazel had a dream of the prime ministership and The Lodge and in a sense when that was over, the dream was over and the marriage was over. It wasn't just the fact he'd fallin in love with me, and I think very understandably, she felt a great liberation from a marriage that had achieved its purpose." I don't think so. That's not how Hazel's autobiography reads, she was heart-broken and her daughters wore black in silent protest at their wedding.

Bob says "Love is not something you can control, the only significant other woman in my life while I was Prime Minister was Blanche, the only significant one (does that mean there were others?) Once you fall in love, which I had with Blanche... that involves falling out of love with your wife. This is not something to be apologetic about. My love for and with Blance has been the greatest thing in my life and I don't apologise for it."

How sweet.

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Gaza City






In Gaza City, 28 year old Jamalat Wadi has eight children and an unemployed husband who gets through the days on sedatives. She has no water or electricity and she's worn out trying to cope. Her husband hasn't worked for years and he's frustrated and angry. The house is hot and dark.

Jamalt and eight other women are at a stress clinic listening to the mental health worker. "Our husbands don't work, my kids are not in school, I get nervous, I yell at them, I cry, I fight with my husband" she says. "My husband starts fighting with us and then he cries "What am I going to do" What can I do?"

There's enough to eat in Gaza, goods are brought over the border or smuggled in through the tunnels. That's not the problem - Jamalt's husband and her family are despondent and depressed because they can't see any future for themselves or their family.


The Palestinian people have two governments, the Fatah-dominated one in the West Bank and Hamas in Gaza. And they hate each other. Ms Wadi said that when she visited her mother, her two brothers fought bitterly because one backed Hamas and the other Fatah. Recently they threw bottles at each other and her mother had to tell them to leave the house.


The current problem is electricity - there isn't any. Part is supplied by Israel and paid for by the West Bank government which is partly reimbursed by Hamas. But the West Bank says that Hamas is not paying enough so Jamalt and her large family have to struggle on without it. A UN spokesman said the latest electricity problem "is a sad reflection of the divide on the Palestine side." He added "They have no credibility in demanding anything from anybody if they show such disregard for the plight of their own people."


Today Hamas has no rival in Gaza. It runs the schools, hospitals, courts, security services and - through the tunnels from Egypt - the economy. They took over full control by force three years ago, a year after it won an election. While Hamas has no competition for power, it has a surprisingly small following. Most of the people interviewed weren't prepared to praise either government. "They're both liars" Waleed Hassouna, a baker in Gaza City said. Ask Gazans how to solve the Palestinian-Israel conflict - two states? one state? - and the answer is mostly to drive Israel out. A public school teacher said "All the land is ours. We should turn the Jews into refugees and then let the international community take care of them."

Hamza and Muhammad Ju'bas are brothers, aged 13 and 11. They sell chocolates and gum on the streets after school to add to their family income. Once they make about $5, they go home and play. The boys were asked about their hopes. "My dream is to be a worker" Hamza said. He remembers stories about the good times in the 1990s when his father worked in Israel as a house painter making $85 a day. The family live in Shujaiya, a packed eastern neighbourhood of 70,000 made up of narrow, winding alleys and main roads lined with small shops. The shops have generators chained down outside.

The Palestinians have big families. From 1997 to 2007, the population increased by 40 percent to 15 million. Mr Ju'bas and his wife Hiyam have seven boys and three girls. Two of their children have disabilities. For six years Mr Ju'bas worked in Israel and with the money he bought a house with six rooms and two bathrooms. In 2000, when the uprising called the second intifada broke out, Israel closed the gates. After that he found small jobs round Gaza but with the blockade, they soon dried up. His only source of work is at the United Nations relief agency, where two months of the year he gets work as a security guard. He admits that at times he lashes out at his family. Domestic violence is on the rise. The strain is acute for women. Men can go out and sit in parks, in chairs right on the footpath or visit friends but the women are expected to stay off the streets. A child said that the previous night, his father had hit his mother. The washing machine had broken and he had no money to fix it. He told his wife to use the neighbours but she was embarrassed and stayed up all night crying.

The women at the stress clinic gathered about 10am. They speak of sending their children to work just to get them out of the house and of husbands who grow morose and violent with no work to go to. And they blame Hamas for their misery, for seizing the Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit which led to the blockade. But they also blame Fatah for failing them.


Mr Wadi's house was next door to the stress clinic and she ran over to check on her family. She found her eight children wandering around unsupervised and her husband unconscious, his arm over his head and his mouth open. "He sleeps all the time" Ms Wadi said.

But what of the younger generation? Seventy five percent of the populaation of 410,000 are under the age of 25. Mahmod Mesalem 20 and a few of his friends are university graduates and they all despair about the future. "We're here, we're going to die here, we're going to be buried here" said 22 year old Waleed Matar. They have started a company to design advertisements and they write and produce small plays. Their first performance was in front of several hundred people and recounted the horrors of the last war with Israel. Their second play which they are rehearsing, is a black comedy about the Palestinian plight.


Israel holds the key to their fate and while most view them as the enemy, they need to work. Jamil Mahsan 62 is a dying breed, he worked for 35 years in Israel and believes in two states. "There are two peoples in Palestine, not just one and each deserves its rights" he said. He used to attend the weddings of his Israeli co-workers and had many friends there.


Abdel Qader Ismail 24, a former employee of the military intelligence service said "We believe in Israel's right to exist but not on the land of Palestine. Maybe in France or in Russia, but not Palestine. This is our home.




Roman Polanski





I saw Roman Polansksi in Switzerland last night being applauded and treated like a hero. But here's the facts. When he was 44 years old, he drugged and anally raped a 13 year old girl while she begged him to stop and pleaded for her asthma medication. Some hero.

He actually admitted his crime and boasted about it while in exile saying that he just did what every man wanted to do. I can't imagine why Switzerland is protecting this man, he should be sent back to America to pay for his crime but I guess being a movie film director somehow makes him special. Shame on you Switzerland.



Tuesday, July 13, 2010

BP's Bold Tough Stuff Policy








It takes a tragedy like the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico for the truth to emerge about just how oil companies - and BP in particular - operate. It was after Hurricane Dennis on July 11, 2005 when a passing ship spotted BP's huge $1 billion oil platform, Thunder Horse, listing precariously to one side, looking like it was about to sink.

A valve was put on backwards and caused flooding during the hurricane before any oil had even been pumped. There was also a dodgy welding job that left underwater pipelines brittle and full of cracks. Had they started pumping the oil, it would have been another Deepwater Horizon catastrophe.


Thunder Horse was a warning of just how unwilling BP were to learn from their mistakes. "They were very arrogant and proud and in denial" said Steve Arendt, a safety specialist appointed by BP to investigate the company's refineries after a deadly 2005 explosion at its Texas City facility. "It is possible they were fooled by their success."


And successful they were. BP grew into the industry's second largest company, behind Exxon Mobil with soaring profit, fat dividends and a healthy share price. They were bold and Tony Hayward once said they do "the tough stuff that others cannot or choose not to do".

When Tony Hayward became BP's chief executive in May 2007, he promised to get the company back to basics. A plain-spoken geologist and longtime company man, Mr Hayward dispensed with the limousine used by his socially prominent predecessor, John Browne, and closed the concierge desk in the lobby that organised dry cleaning and theatre tickets for the BP employees.


Tony Hayward promised to fix the safety problems that contributed to the downfall of his predecessor John Brown. Brown led the company from 1995 to 2007. Though the company would continue doing the "tough stuff" it would make safety its "No 1 priority". But they didn't.

In 1995, the British government sold the last of its stake in BP to a member of the English upper crust, John Browne, who took over. He transformed the company into a global giant, buying properties all over the world. Under him, BP's share price doubled and its cash dividend tripled. He was knighted and became a member of the House of Lords. But he was ruthless, to cut costs, he outsourced many operations and fired thousands of employees, including many engineers.

But his fall from grace started when 15 people died and 170 were injured in a huge fire and explosion at Texas City on 23rd March 2005. The facility was built in 1934 and was poorly maintained. Two months before the accident, a consulting firm hired to examine conditions said the idea that 'I could die today' was very real. To add to his troubles, Brown's reputation was sullied by a lie he told in court papers about his relationship with a male companion and he resigned under pressure in 2007.

A year later, 167,000 gallons of oil leaked from BP's pipelines in Alaska and once again, the cause was preventable. Investigators found corrosion in under-maintained and poorly inspected pipes. BP eventually paid more than $20 million in fines and restitution.


Meanwhile, serious problems were developing offshore at BP's Thunder Horse platform. The engineering consultant who worked on it said BP bosses rushed its construction. They moved it to the gulf before it was ready, to show shareholders that the project was on time and on schedule. Gordon Gekko would have been proud. They had to rip it out, retrieve and fix heavy pieces of equipment lying on the sea floor, some weighing more than 400 tons. Altogether, the blunders cost BP and its minority partner Exxon Mobil hundreds of millions of dollars in repairs and set back production by three years.


Revisiting Texas City in 2009, inspectors from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration found more than 700 safety violations and proposed a record fine of $87.4 million - topping the earlier record set by BP in the 2005 accident. Most of the penalties were because BP had failed to live up to the previous settlement, they hadn't fixed the problems.


Accidents continue to happen in Alaska. On May 25, a power failure led to a leak that spilled about 200,000 gallons of oil. Mr Waxman whose committee is investigating the Deepwater Horizon accident said "BP cut corner after corner to save a million dollars here and a few hours there and now the whole Gulf Coast is paying the price".


But what's this? Gordon Gekko isn't smiling, the shareholders are not happy. BP stock is falling every day and there's no dividend. His "Greed is Good" philosophy has backfired - cutting corners for profit didn't work this time. And we look at the aftermath and weep.




America's Mid-term Elections





President Obama is between a rock and a hard place. His spokesman Robert Gibbs, knows there is deep frustration with the American economy and is worried that the Democrats could end up with a majority in the 2nd November mid-term election. All 435 seats in the House and 36 out of 100 Senate seats are up for grabs and the Democrats 75-seat majority in the lower chamber could be wiped out and the Republicans could quite possibly gain control.


If this should happen, President Obama will find it hard to push through his major reform of energy and immigration before his re-election bid in 2012. He's trying to convince impatient Americans that his economic policies are working and that improvements will take time.


Mr Gibbs said "The President is frustrated that we haven't seen greater recovery efforts, but that doesn't stop us from doing what we know is right." He said that Americans should think carefully before "handing back the keys" to Republicans who had "driven the car into the ditch" when the economy crashed in late 2008.

The President's overall approval rating is 46 per cent - a year ago, his approval rating was 56 per cent.

David Axelrod a senior White House advisor said "On the other side of the ballot in November will be a party that has an economic theory and it was tested and it led to catastrophe.

"We lost three million jobs in the last six months of 2008. The financial market almost collapsed. They turned a $237 billion that Bill Clinton left into a $1.3 trillion dollar deficit. And they're running on the same policies".
I hope the President gets the chance to push through the rest of his reforms but it's fairly obvious that the American people dislike this President and will ultimately reject him.

Monday, July 12, 2010

Australia's Commitment to Afghanistan





I find it strange that coming up to a Federal Election, Prime Minister Gillard and Opposition Leader Tony Abbott both agree on one thing - supporting the war in Afghanistan. Ever after the death of another Australian soldier was announced yesterday, Julia Gillard said she intended to stay and fight and was immediately supported by Tony Abbott. Why is it so when the polls tell us that 61 per cent of Australians oppose the war? In this instance, our pollies don't care about the polls and are in complete agreement with each other.


"There will be Australians today who are asking themselves in the face of this loss why as a country do we continue to pursue our mission there "Gillard said. "We pursue that mission because Afghanistan is a safe haven for terrorists." Really? There was a recent report that said there were very few terrorists left in Afghanistan and it's general knowledge that Pakistan is where most of the terrorist training takes place.


Michelle Grattan was the first Australian woman to become editor of a daily metropolitan newspaper - The Canberra Times - and is now political editor for The Age. She puts it like this: Australia will stay in Afghanistan for as long as the Americns want us to, which means as long as the US is there. It is one of those commitments to the alliance. We do it even though the prospects of "victory" are probably bleak. The real reason for Australia's involvement is maintaining the close alliance with the US. Given our real reason for being there, we are more likely to score points with the US if we accept a prominent role, rather than hiding behind someone else's possibly less competent leadership."

Remember Mark Latham? He wrote "The US alliance is a funnel that draws us into unnecessary wars". He added in a radio interview promoting his book "I think we should have a look at how New Zealand has made itself the safest country in the world. There's no terrorist threat to New Zealand that has been identified but one here because if you go supporting bad American policy, you make yourself a bigger target".


So whatever the reason, it seems we will be in Afghanistan until America tell us that we can go home. I'm all for looking after your friends but I wonder if this is taking loyalty a little too far.


Sunday, July 11, 2010

UK Fugitive Raoul Moat - Steroid Addict






On the 1st of July Raoul Moat is released from Durham Prison in the North East of England. He updates his Facebook profile with a chilling message "I've lost everything ...my lass of six years has gone off with the copper ..... watch and see what happens."


On the 2nd July staff at Durham Prison warned Northumbria Police that Moat planned to cause grevious harm to his partner, former girlfriend Samantha Stobbart. But the police didn't heed the warning and the next day he shot Miss Stobbart at her home in Gateshead and killed her new boyfriend Chris Brown. He also shot a policeman who is still in a serious condition.


Raoul Moat, father of 3, was addicted to steroids and now the question is - did they send him over the edge? Young men looking for that perfect body image are turning to the drug in their thousands in the UK. According to drug counsellors, those injecting steroids now outnumber users of heroin and other drugs combined and they are getting younger and younger. In the past five years, official figures indicate that users aged 11 to 15 have doubled.


The law in the UK is confusing - it's illegal to supply them but it's not illegal to have them in your possession. Because of this, they are regarded by the general population as harmless but in fact they are linked to sterility, liver damage and violent mood swings. They can only be legally sold on prescription by a doctor but are freely available at most gyms. You can also buy them on the internet from foreign websites who will deliver them to your door within a few days. Drug workers say steroids have become the drug of choice for many professional people, including solicitors and bankers.


Raoul Moat 37, had a great body and once said he felt like the incredible hulk. He was addicted and had been injecting steroids for years to achieve his over-sized muscles. His friends said at times he could be irrational and paranoid and had a hair-trigger temper. He had what they call 'Roid Rage'. Although their main use is to build muscles, steroids flood the body with a modified version of testosterone which causes aggressive and violent episodes and a change in personality.


Dan Brown 23 from West Midlands says he had a personality change from steroids. He was worried about his appearance. "I've always been a fairly slim guy. As I've got older, it's started to bother me a bit more. My ex-girlfriend had started making comments as well, she was moaning about how thin she thought I was and how she'd love it if I bulked up like other guys". So Dan headed to the gym.


"I got the impression that almost everyone was using them. It didn't seem to be a big deal. I was getting frustrated that my training wasn't giving me great results so I decided to give them a go. So for 60 pounds Dan bought a course of injectable steroids from someone at the gym. "Once my first course finished, I didn't want to take a break because I was worried I might lose the muscle I was putting on. It was that quick."

"This time I bought a pack of 100 pills for 25 pound. You're supposed to take just one a day but the other guys all take five a day so I decided I should do that as well." Dan noticed that his personality was starting to change. "I'm normally a fairly calm guy who can get on with most people but I became moody and irritable almost overnight. If I was in the car and another driver was irritating me, I'd wind down my window and start shouting across the street at them. It really wasn't like me, amost as if I was watching someone else in my body turning into this monster."


Three months later, Dan realised that the steroids were to blame for the person he was becoming. "It had got to the point that I couldn't trust myself not to get angry at people if I was in a bad mood. I knew it was time to stop before something bad happened so I decided not to buy anymore. It's taken a while to get them out of my system but I'm getting back to my old self".


After days of being chased by hundreds of police, Moat finally lay exhausted in the rain and was losing the will to live. When he began talking about telling the kids he loved them, police new the end was near. A police spokesman said "I genuinely think if it hadn't rained, we might have had a chance to end it peacefully. Lying there on the ground, he just got very demoralised. Today we feel a sense of failure but I think in all honesty that the combination of the rain and the dark and the cold and his mental state and lack of sleep, all made the result inevitable.


So did steroids contribute to this man's violent acts, including shooting himself in the head? I guess now we'll never know.