New Year's Eve in Sydney 2012

It's another warm, sunny day in Sydney and the weather looks great for tonight's big event.  People started camping out on Friday to secure a free top spot around the harbour.

For those who are prepared to pay - and it seems there are many - there are plenty of options to choose from, but it will cost you an arm and a leg.  You can go on a luxury six and a half hour cruise and enjoy a 5 course sit-down dinner with beer and the best wines for a mere $1000 per person.

Sydney National Parks are also in on the act, charging double last year's entry fee. Tickets for Bradley's Head, Shark Island, Goat Island, Nielson Park, Fort Denison, and Strickland House grounds are all sold out and only North Head, Manly is free.  One of their ads asks us to visit Clark Island, located off prestigious Darling Point near Double Bay and enjoy a food hamper, followed by a gourmet barbecue and a selection of fine wines for only $440 per adult.  Tickets for this event are still available.

But tonight's celebrations have been marred by tragedy when a 49 year old Sydney woman drowned last night.  She and her husband and two children were moored at Vaucluse on a 40 ft cruiser, looking forward to their bird's eye view of tonight's fireworks.

According to her husband, his wife was still up when he and the children went to bed around midnight last night.  When he awoke at 2 am and went looking for her, she had disappeared. Her body was washed up at Rose Bay this morning at 6.15am.

Pyrotechnic workers on the bridge

Police have issued a strong warning to boaties on the harbour to be careful as Detective Inspector Damon Shott said they believe she had been drinking.  "I just want to remind everyone that boating and alcohol don't mix" he said.  "We'd like any witnesses or anyone who saw or heard anything - there were other boats anchored nearby - to come forward."

Why do awful things always happen around Christmas time?

Sea Shepherd leaves for Antactica

Canadian born, Paul Watson

After skipping bail in Germany, Paul Watson's anti-whaling group Sea Shepherd is ready and waiting to confront the Japanese whaling fleet in the Antarctic.  He was too radical for Greenpeace, they couldn't handle his aggressive tactics of direct confrontation, so he left and started his own conservation group. And he drives the Japanese crazy, last season they cut short their hunt and went home early.

In July Watson was arrested at the behest of the Costa Rican government for an incident that happened in 2002.  He is accused of ramming one of their ships after they discovered the Costa Ricans were illegally chopping the fins off hundreds of sharks.  "I want to stay in the ocean, I can't do that from some holding cell in Japan" he said.

On 17th December 2012, Captain Paul Watson wrote:

It looks like the Japanese whaling fleet is ready to rumble.  They fired their opening shot today by having the United States 9th District Court issue an injunction against Sea Shepherd and Captain Paul Watson, specifically.  The court order was a single page e-mail granting the injunction despite the fact that the preliminary injunction was denied in February 2012 by Judge Richard Jones in Seattle.  In a completely unprecedented move, the preliminary injunction was granted by three judges on the 9th Circuit before a hearing has taken place and before the trial on this matter slated for September 2013.

It is a complex situation whereby a United States Court is issuing an injunction against Dutch and Australian vessels carrying an international crew, operating out of Australia and New Zealand in international waters and the waters of the Australian Antarctic Economic Zone. In addition the Court has ignored the fact that the Japanese whalers are in contempt of a court order by the Australian Federal Court and the whaling takes place in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary.

What is the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society going to do?Sea Shepherd’s position is clear: Our ships, officers and crew are 100% committed to achieving a zero-kill quota on whales. This is Operation Zero Tolerance and 120 crew members from 26 different nations are prepared to risk their lives to defend endangered and protected whales in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary. Sea Shepherd is committed to defending the integrity of this internationally established sanctuary.

What is the purpose of a whale sanctuary codified into international law if Japan can kill whales within its territorial waters while in contempt of the Australian Federal Court?

We expect that the Japanese whaling fleet was waiting for this ruling before departing from Japan. They will find when they arrive that we will still be there guarding the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary with our ships and our lives.  We will defend these whales as we have for the last eight years – non-violently and legally.

For the whales, Sea Shepherd Conservation Society Captains, Crew, Directors and Staff

This month, the Sam Simon was unveiled in Hobart.  Los Angeles-based philanthropist and co-creator of "The Simpsons" donated funds to buy the ship that bears his name.  The irony is the Sam Simon is an ex Japanese so-called "Research" ship.

Sam Simon

Today, 29th December 2012, we learn that three Japanese vessels have left for the Southern Ocean but Japan refuses to confirm their departure.  Their goal - by March 2013, they hope to kill 935 Antarctic minke whales and 50 fin whales.  The US court has ordered the group to stay at least 500 metres away from Japanese ships after a complaint from Japan.

Bow damage

This season, the group have one helicopter, drones and four main vessels - the Steve Irwin, Bob Barker, Brigitte Bardot and Sam Simon. The drones will be used for surveillance, reconnaissance and documentation.  They are military-quality and can fly hundreds of miles ahead of his ships.

Stranded fin whale

Watson said it's unlikely he'll return to the US because he believes American authorities would turn him over to Japan.

Good luck Paul Watson, our hearts and minds are with you, all the way.

Wild Oats XI wins Sydney-Hobart yacht race

Winners are grinners

Skipper Mark Richards is a happy man.  After her superb start in Sydney Harbour, Wild Oats XI took line honours for the sixth time with a new race record of one day, 18 hours,  21 minutes and 17 seconds.

Mark Richards

When questions were asked about the modifications and if the same boat would run again next year, Wild Oats owner Bob Oatley said "Yes it will be the same boat, you can't do better than this boat, it's not possible and without a great crew, you are wasting your time completely - they're one of the best crews in the world, if not the best" he said.

Mark Richards with Adrienne Cahalan

Navigator Adrienne Cahalan holds the record for the fastest woman to sail around the world and America's Cup Skipper Iain Murray is also a crew member.

In a race for the finish, Richards hoisted their biggest reaching sail - 600 square metres, designed to capture every whiff of a breeze.

The longest surviving skipper from the inaugural 1945 race, died on 23 September 2007 aged 92 and was the last of the original sailors who pioneered the event.  His yacht, Wayfarer, still holds the record for the slowest elapsed time.

Skipper goes in the drink this morning

Tragedy struck the race in 1998.   At the start, there were 115 boats yet only 44 made it to Hobart.  We were horrified to learn that five yachts sank and six people died.  A coronial enquiry was critical of management and the Bureau of Meteorology for not issuing a warning about the treacherous storm with hurricane-like winds that resulted in so many deaths.  From then on, all crew must be seasoned sailors.

Robert Oatley

Chairman of Robert Oatley Vineyards is reported to be worth $860 million.  His eldest son, Sandy, runs the company in Mudgee and his other son, Ian, runs the olive oil business. A grandchild runs events for his Hamilton Island luxury resort on the Great Barrier Reef, and another does graphic designs for the wine labels. Mr Oatley sold Rosemount Estates in 2006 and is now in his 80s.  

Beautiful Hamilton Island

Wild Thing out of Sydney to Hobart yacht race

Owner-skipper Grant Wharington was heartbroken and in tears yesterday when he found out at the eleventh hour, that he was denied permission to start in the Sydney to Hobart yacht race.  It seems the former Melbourne carpenter didn't have the necessary construction and rating certificates needed to cover the modifications made to his yacht.

Wharington chopped the last 30 feet off the hull earlier this year and replaced it with a longer, wider section that increased the yacht's length from 98 feet to the maximum allowable 100 feet and increased its beam at the stern by three feet.  

When Wharington left his Queensland home to sail down to Sydney, new sails and equipment still hadn't arrived from America and he only went sailing with the new mainsail and titanium rigging on Thursday afternoon.  "I'm all good" Wharington said "The paperwork is in and I'm right to start on Wednesday."  The chairman of the Sydney-Hobart committee, Tim Cox, confirmed that Wild Thing was clear to start.

Commodore Howard Piggott

Wild Thing is no stranger to bad luck.  In  2004, when in the lead, the canting keel fell off in Bass Strait and skipper and crew had to be rescued.  The yacht was recovered and rebuilt. 

In 2009, the yacht lost its mast and the skipper had another one flown in from France and fitted the day before the race but had to retire early because it was unsafe.

In 2010 they collided with a media boat at the start but managed to finish fifth across the line.

In 2011 they had to pull out because of sail damage and now this latest disaster.  Warrington's new American partner will not be pleased.

The decision to axe the boat was made three hours before the start of the race after the committee failed to receive some documentation regarding modifications.  

Wharington slammed race director Tim Cox and accuses him of having a bias against big boats.  He pointed out that Cox made unsuccessful post-race protests against the last two line-honours winners, Wild Oats XI (2010) and Investec Loyal (2011).  "I don't know whether there's any kind of conspiracy going on but unfortunately, I think this particular race director seems to be a serial offender of trying to get big boats out of the race" he said.

Tim Cox

Cruising Yacht Club of Australia Commodore Howard Piggott said the boat's owners had failed to provide the necessary statements that Wild Thing was designed and built in accordance with the American Bureau of Shipping guide.  "The race committee has worked with the owner of the boat Grant Wharington, to allow him up to three hours prior to the start of the race to provide the documentation required.  However, this has not been forthcoming and the race committee has no option but to not accept the entry of Wild Thing."

Wild Oats XI was first through the Heads

Seventy-seven yachts left Sydney yesterday, Boxing Day, to race 628 nautical miles to Hobart.

Christmas fatwa an innocent mistake

Head of the Lebanese Muslim Association, Samier Dandan, said the comment that Muslims should not have anything to do with the Christian celebration of Christmas was "an innocent mistake" and not representative of the Mosque's views.


A youth worker copied the text from another site and posted it after he received messages from members asking for guidance about celebrating Christmas.  A message "Merry Xmas" later appeared in the sky above the mosque.


But Mr Dandan strongly denied that Sheikh Safi delivered a similar message during Friday prayers, yet one member of the congregation, who did not wish to be identified, disagrees.  He maintains that Sheikh Safi said it was an act of "disbelief" for a Muslim to have a Christmas tree in their home and forbade celebrating New Year's Eve.  He insists that the Sheikh's words were hotly debated outside the mosque.

The Grand Mufti of Australia Ibrahim Abu Mohammad and the spokesman for the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils, Keysar Trad were shocked by the post and said the foundations of Islam were peace, co-operation and respect.

Sydney mosque issues fatwa against Christmas

It seems that Muslim priests are still peddling their hatred towards Australians and our way of life.  During Friday prayers at Lakemba Mosque, Australia's biggest, Sheik Yahya Safi told his congregation that "disbelievers are trying to draw Muslims away from the straight path" and Christmas Day and associated celebrations are among "the falsehoods that Muslims should avoid... and therefore a Muslim is neither allowed to celebrate Christmas Day nor is he allowed to congratulate them." 

The same message was posted on their Facebook site on Saturday but has since disappeared.

Nice one fellas, and a Merry Christmas to you too.

Bess Price nominated for US International Courage Award

This picture of the Prime Minister and Opposition Leader running away from Aboriginal activists last Australia Day still makes me mad.  The Labor government formally apologised to the stolen generations and brought about long overdue land rights, yet Julia Gillard was fair game that day, losing a shoe in a bizarre dash for safety.

Every Australia Day, dedicated Aboriginal activists work themselves up into a frenzy of hate.  They want it renamed "Invasion Day" and the Prime Minister to sign a treaty of sovereignty, which would grant ownership of Australian land to indigenous people.


Last January 26, when the Aboriginal Tent Embassy heard that Tony Abbott and Julia Gillard were attending an Australia Day function at a restaurant just down the road, they got all fired up, rushed the building, starting banging on the windows and scared the daylights out of everyone.  Abbott and Gillard were trapped for about 20 minutes until bodyguards gave the okay to make a dash for safety.

Tent Embassy in 1972

The fury was sparked by a comment made earlier that day by Tony Abbott about the embassy, an ugly eyesore of makeshift humpies and tents, yet allowed to remain on the lawn of old Parliament House for 40 years.  Abbott said "Look, I can understand why the tent embassy was established all those years ago, but I think a lot has changed for the better since then."   

Bess and husband Dave Price

Bess Price should be a hero to her people but she's not.  She made a lot of enemies last year when she went on national television and said that the government's "Intervention" was working and because of it, children were now being fed and young people were learning how to manage their lives.

Professor Behrendt

In April 2011, Professor Larissa Behrendt, who identifies as Aboriginal, even though she looks white, saw Bess on the television and made a disgusting tweet, "I watched a show where a guy had sex with a horse and I'm sure it was less offensive than Bess Price."   

In a debate about Aboriginal identity recently, Bess addressed a fair skinned university graduate in the audience who insisted she was Aboriginal, despite having a Scottish mother.

"Why don't you acknowledge the other heritage you have, and be proud of it, and not just go one way?" Bess asked.  

The girl replied "I can stand up and say I'm a blackfella and I've got one blood and that's it." 

"But my daughter, whose white father is sitting next to me, acknowledges her father and the other heritage she has, she doesn't say she's just a blackfella...  I didn't know you were a blackfella as well, because I'm sitting here and you look like a whitefella to me" Bess said.

Bess Nungarrayi Price was born and raised in a humpy and is now a newly elected Northern Territory Member of Parliament.  Last Monday two US State Department officials came to Alice Springs to see her. They wanted to nominate her to become the first Australian woman to receive the US International Women's Courage Award.  It's given to women around the world who show leadership, courage, resourcefulness, and willingness to sacrifice for others, especially for the promotion of women's rights.

On ya Bess.

British lout burns Remembrance poppy

Linford House

Nineteen year old Linford House burnt a poppy on Remembrance Day, November 11, and posted the picture on Facebook.

But instead of prosecution, it was decided that he meet some of the people he had mocked - an ex naval marine, a sergeant major, members of the Royal British Legion any Army window, Nikki Scott whose husband died in Afghanistan.  The meeting took place yesterday.

Just hours after his burnt poppy picture went online, English Defence League members tracked him down and released his real name and personal details and he had to move out of his home in Aylesham, Kent. They also released the naked pictures of himself he posted on social media sites.

The irony is that House has a proud heritage.  His grandfather, a merchant navy seaman, was awarded a workers' VC for diving into icy water to save a sailor near the coast of Newfoundland in 1954.

Speaking at the face-to-face meeting yesterday House said "I think about it every day and it's always in the back of my mind.  I've lost friends over what happened, but I didn't want to hide away, I wanted to make things right as much as possible."

Widow Nikki Scott, who was disgusted by the image, said "It was good to see Mr House talk to us and apologise and hopefully he will be able to go some way to making up for some of the offence he caused.

Mal Brough is a very bad loser

Malcolm Farr

Malcolm Farr wrote an interesting article a few days ago that gives us an insight into Mal Brough's character. He's the man the LNP will put up against Peter Slipper in next year's election.


Farr relates an incident that happened back in 2001 when he was umpire at a social cricket match in Canberra between the pollies and the press gallery.  Brough came into bat confidently and started well, but when a fast ball from Mark Ludlow hit his pads right in front of the stumps, there was a shout from the wicket keeper and others, and Farr called him out.  He writes:

He stormed off the ground in a loud fury, suggesting there was a plot to get him off the pitch.  He threw his bat and pads to the ground and demanded his wife follow him to the car.  He took off in that car at great speed, leaving behind stunned team mates and opponents.  Some 30 minutes later, he and his wife returned.  Brough made an announcement to the spectators which was so extraordinary, it can't be repeated here.  He then set about heckling the umpire - me. He did it in such an unacceptable fashion, that Ian Causley, an old-school gentleman and National Party MP apologised to my wife who had to listen to it all.  It was a remarkable display of self-indulgence, bad temper and contempt for the social occasion.

Mal Brough

Brough was 40 years old when this incident occurred, old enough to know better, and was still talking about his dismissal two weeks later. Little did he realize that people were still talking about his disgraceful dummy spit.

Mal Brough was named by Judge Rares to be deeply implicated in the Peter Slipper/James Ashby sexual harassment affair yet so far, he hasn't made a comment about that damning indictment. His leader, Tony Abbott is looking silly by saying he hasn't yet read the  Judge's report and is standing firmly by his man.

By the time next year's election comes around, Peter Slipper probably won't stand and Mal Brough is likely to win the Queensland seat of Fisher.  And his constituents may never know that their MP is a petulant, arrogant man who has no concept of how to lose gracefully.

Image of Bryan Curtis on cigarette packets

Australia is the only country in the world to require tobacco products to be sold in plain packaging.  It was a long, hard road for the Labor Party but they fought the mighty tobacco industry and won and all cigarettes on sale since the 1st of December carry a shocking picture of someone dying from a terrible disease caused by smoking cigarettes.

I saw a picture of Bryan Curtis for the first time on the weekend at a Christmas function.  There was one lone smoker among a group of ex smokers and the pack was passed around.  It wasn't a pretty sight, poor Bryan looked to be already dead, but the interesting thing was that the group agreed that his image wouldn't stop people from smoking.

There are seven different images, but Bryan's picture is the one smokers don't want to look at. When they buy a packet of cigarettes with his picture on it, some hand it back and ask for another one.

So who is Bryan Curtis?  The Department of Health will only say that he is a US citizen who died of lung cancer and was keen to spread the word that smoking kills.  The Department entered into a confidential agreement with his family to use his picture.  He was a construction worker and smoked 2 packs of Marlboro Reds for 20 years until he died, aged 34.

A Gold Coast company called Boxwrap is now selling stickers to hide those gruesome images.  The General Manager said "We're in business to make money but essentially, I think it's important for Australians to have freedom of choice."

Quit Victoria Executive Director Fiona Sharkie said "We are hearing a lot of avoidance behaviours but that doesn't mean they're not working.....the fact that people go to the trouble to not see it is a very positive thing from our perspective."

End of the Mayan Calendar

The Mayan Long Count calendar which began 5,125 years ago in 3113 BC ends on 21 December 2012.  Most of us think it's another internet hoax to frighten people into believing something terrible is going to happen, that an apocalyptic event will occur and it's only three days away.  Mayan inscriptions are reported to refer to a god associated with war and the underworld 'descending from the sky' on that day.

Mexico is one of five countries preparing to observe the date and for many in the region, it will be a day of celebration.  The tourist industry is aggressively promoting the date as a new beginning and fireworks and concerts will be held at more than 30 archaeological sites.

It is estimated there are now over three million Preppers in America who believe a doomsday prophesy is imminent and the makers of nuclear and chemical weapon-proof bunkers are doing a roaring trade.  They are not only reasonably priced, but come complete with flushing toilets.

One bunker manufacturer, Ron Hubbard (Scientology connections maybe?) said he used to sell one unit per month but over the last year, he's been selling one unit every day.  He said he would go to his underground shelter on the 21st, simply because he has one, but doesn't believe anything will happen.  Hunters are also interested in his bunkers as they make very comfortable weekend retreats.

You have to hand it to the Americans - wherever there is a hole in the market, some clever person will quickly fill it.  Here is an ad for Mr Hubbard's bunkers.

Our designs allow for the survival of your family in any sort of disaster with the ability to live in an underground shelter, complete with sleeping quarters, kitchen, restroom, under-the-floor storage and our trademark undetectable escape hatch in case intruders discover your main hatch.  You do not feel like you're in a small submarine, in my shelters, they are very roomy, and dog friendly.  Our backyard bunker is the most affordable 3-4 man underground survival shelter on the market for $35,900 (limited offer) that includes an NBC air filtration system, blast door, and under floor storage.

When you come to think of it, Preppers are a pretty selfish lot, making sure their neighbours can't get into their bunker and keeping an arsenal of guns nearby to shoot anyone who tries to come in. I think I'd rather take my chances out there with everyone else.





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