Barry and Patrick Lyttle return to Ireland

Barry and Patrick Lyttle from Northern Ireland were on holiday with their father.  The boys went drinking at Kings Cross and in the early hours of January 3, they started to argue outside a nightclub. Barry hit his brother just once and he fell to the ground unconscious.  He was rushed to hospital and placed on life support and remained in a coma for six days.

Barry Lyttle at the scene

Barry was arrested and when he got to jail, he was told by other inmates about our 'coward's one punch law' that can send a perpetrator to jail for a very long time. He was justifiably terrified.

However, he was let out on bail to be by his brother's bedside and has just received a suspended sentence and allowed to go home.

During the judicial process and when Patrick was finally released from hospital, the brothers stood together and Patrick asked the court to show leniency to his brother.  And it did.  In return, they both promised to speak to young people in Ireland about the consequences of violence.

The law was very kind to this family and Barry is a very lucky man indeed, not only because he's free to return home to Ireland but because his brother Patrick has forgiven him.  He will have to live with the brain injury he gave him for the rest of his life.

Patrick and his girlfriend 

Their father called the incident an "accident" but I don't buy it. You don't accidentally punch someone into unconsciousness by accident, it's a deliberate action, drunk or sober.

And because our love affair with the Irish people knows no bounds, this family should count their lucky stars.

Dr Adam Cobb arrested on child porn charges

Adam Cobb

Dr Adam Cobb had a distinguished career and the world at his feet.  He took up the position last year of professor and director of the 130 year old US Naval War College in Rhode Island.

Educated at the University of Sydney, Australian National University and University of Cambridge, Cobb built a reputation as a leading military thinker.

He has been arrested in America for uploading child pornography to Tumblr and is currently discussing a plea deal with prosecutors. Considered to be a flight risk, his bail application was rejected.

In January, the National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children discovered Cobb's internet connection at his Portsmouth home was the origin of unspeakable images of children being raped and his laptops, mobiles and videos were seized.

Cobb worked on the 1999/2000 East Timor crisis with Major General Cosgrove who gave him a glowing reference.

In Australia he was special director, strategic policy with the RAAF, senior defense advisor for the Australian Parliament, an Australian Parliamentary Fellow and Research Fellow at Australian National University's strategic and defence studies centre.  He has also worked at the Australian Embassy in Washington and was on the staff of former speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi.

Christopher Wheeler

Last Friday, another prominent figure, the former headmaster of an elite Delaware prep school, Christopher Wheeler was sentenced to 50 years in prison for the same offence - possessing child pornography.

When a judge denied his wish to suppress evidence, he waived his right to a trial by jury and rejected a plea bargain which could have resulted in him receiving just four years.

This case must be foremost in Cobb's mind, a reminder that rejecting a plea bargain can result in a lifetime behind bars.

These two men managed to climb to the top of their career hiding a dark secret but now their families, colleagues and friends finally understand who they really are. 

British drug mule Lindsay Saniford

British drug mule Lindsay Saniford 58, who is on death row in Bali, has accepted her fate and is expecting to be next in line for the firing squad after Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran.

The 58 year old broke down in tears when she learned that her close friend Andrew Chan will meet his death by firing squad within days. She said he helped her cope with jail when she was sentenced two years ago.

Saniford admitted smuggling cocaine worth 1.6 million pounds from Bangkok to Bali in 2012 and even though she took part in a police sting that led to the arrest of the syndicate leaders, her death sentence still stands.

Alys Harahap

British drug lord Julian Ponder 43 who refers to himself as Bali's Mr Big, was cleared of smuggling but convicted of possessing 23g of cocaine and is serving six years in Bali.

In an interview from his prison cell, he said he had fallen in love with Alys Harahap, a British woman married to an Indonesian.  She held the important position of vice-consul and was Britain's top diplomat in Bali. Ponder said she would visit him in Kerobokan prison and was ready to leave her husband to be with him.

After their affair become known, Harahap was sacked which leaves Saniford without the diplomatic support she is entitled to.

Ponder boasted about how he conducted the affair with Cambridge-education Harahap and knew the fallout would impact on the other prisoners who relied on her to help them.

Julian Ponder

As a consequence of the affair, Saniford has been refused funding for an appeal against her sentence by the British government.  A website and Facebook page launched in her name has only raised around $1000 and she needs tens of thousands more to proceed with a legal challenge.

Unlike our Australian government, who have knocked themselves out trying to save Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, the British government seem to have deserted Lindsay Saniford.

Mohammed Ali Malek appears in court

Mahmud Birhit (left) and Mohammed Ali Malek

Mohammed Ali Malek was just a lowly deckhand on a fishing boat earning peanuts before he saw the opportunity of a lifetime - to take charge of a boat of human cargo looking for a better life in Europe. But it all went horribly wrong - 800 people died after being crammed into his 66 ft boat.

And he was ruthless.  Before leaving Libya, he's accused of using brute force to squeeze as many people as possible into the hold, and then locking them in.

Yesterday he appeared in court for the first time in Catania, Sicily, where he faces charges of multiple manslaughter.  His crewmate, Mahmud Birhit, a 26 year old Syrian is accused of aiding illegal immigration.

Malek lived in a run-down part of Sfax with his mother and brother and no one in the town is owning up to being his relative.  He is not married.

Fishing trawler captain Radwen Atitallah said Malek was hopelessly under-qualified to take charge of any ship, let alone one carrying so many people.  But he was poor and when traffickers offered him more money than he ever dreamed of, he jumped at the chance.

The people smugglers prowl the busy docks of Sfax, North Africa's biggest fishing port and not only find willing 'captains' to man the ships but also thousands of potential customers.

So where does this leave Europe?  Are they expected to welcome the whole world with open arms? 

Apparently not.  Only 5,000 resettlement places across Europe will be offered to refugees after an emergency crisis meeting was set up this week by EU leaders in Brussels.  The majority will be sent back as irregular migrants under a new programme set up by the EU's border agency Frontex.

Meanwhile, the human trafficking continues and many more lives will be lost.

Disgraced Queensland MP Billy Gordon

Queensland Premier

You have to hand it to the newly elected Labor Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk for doing the right thing.  When indigenous MP Billy Gordon won the seat of Cook and his criminal record was discovered, she kicked him out of the Labor party and he is now an Independent.

Nobody bothered to do a background check on him and it defies logic that he thought his past would never catch up with him.  But he's not having it.

"The Premier has previously requested that the Police Commissioner investigate whether I have transgressed any law and that process should be allowed to continue its natural course" he said. "Any other attempt to remove me from Parliament and force me to resign is a denial of natural justice."

Billy Gordon MP

But if Gordon does quit, there will have to be a bi-election in his far north Queensland seat of Cook and Labor only has enough seats to form a minority government with the support of Independent MP Peter Wellington.

So what has our esteemed Queensland MP been up to?

Breaking and entering and stealing in 1987 in Innisfail

Breaking and entering with intent, attempting breaking and entering and stealing in 1990 in Atherton

Breach of probation in 1992 in Atherton

Public nuisance in 1996 in Normanton and breach of bail conditions in 1999

Driver's licence suspened for unlicensed driving in 2004 and 2008

and the one that says it all -

Served with an Apprehended Violence Order in 2008 by his mother

But it gets worse.

        

 Last night Billy's ex partner and mother of his two children Kristy Peckham, said on A Current Affair that she suffered years of abuse at his hands and feared he would one day kill her.

When she wrote to the Premier and told her what sort of man she had representing the Labor Party - a brutal monster -  he denied everything, and still does.

He kept her prisoner in the home but with the help of her friend Heidi, she escaped.  Heidi said she arrived at the house one day to find he had cut up Kristy's clothes, smashed all her jewellery and cut the phone line.

This situation is embarrassing to say the least.  What would the world think of a country who allows a man to be preselected for office without first checking if he had a squeaky clean background.

Does the Labor Party expect us to believe that Billy was the best man for the job?  I think we all know why he was selected.

In every photo I've seen of Mr Gordon, he's smiling, and why wouldn't he, he's struck gold.  He's digging his toes in and ain't going anywhere.

William Tyrell suspect arrested

There is something very odd about this case.  When 3 year old William suddenly disappeared, you would expect to see the distraught parents pleading for his return but instead, after a long delay "friends of the family" were the ones to speak on their behalf.

Unconfirmed rumours emerged on Facebook about William's family history, they said it  was "complicated" and he could have been in the care of foster parents. 

Then we learn that the NSW Family and Community Services questioned Bill Spedding and his wife about the treatment of children in their care and three children were subsequently removed from their home shortly after.

In January, police did a thorough search of Spedding's property, they dug up his front lawn and drained a septic tank.  They also seized a computer and a mattress at his pawn shop/loans office in Laurieton. But nothing happened.

Then out of the blue yesterday, 22nd April 2015, a female relative of Spedding's made a statement to police and within an hour, they went to his home and arrested him.

He's been charged with five counts of sexual intercourse and two counts of common assault involving two little girls, aged 3 and 6.
The alleged offences were committed in Sydney in the 1980's.
But let's call it for what it really is - he's been accused of child rape.

Police have made it clear that these offences have nothing to do with the William Tyrell case.

Refugee exodus to Italy

A fishing boat from Tunisia in north Africa arrives on the southern Italian island of Lampedusa.

Mohammed Ali Malek was charged with multiple manslaughter when he arrived in Malta on an Italian rescue ship with 24 dead migrants who drowned under his control.  It's alleged that he crashed into the ship which had come to rescue him.  His accomplice, a 26 year old Syrian, has also been arrested.

Nine hundred souls drowned under his watch and a dozen survivors are being closely guarded as they become the most important witnesses in an official criminal investigation into the wreck of their boat.

Mohammed Ali Malek biting his nails

.

So far, there have been around 200,000 refugees who have made it safety to Italy, most of them rescued by the Italian Navy and Coastguard.  But with little respect for human life, there are plenty more people smugglers just like Mohammed already on their way.

A little time later, Mohammed is seen here grinning and sharing conversation with some of the survivors.

Italy's long coastline makes it one of EU's main targets for migrants and because of sheer stupidity and political correctness by the Italian government, once landed, refugees are free to go anywhere they want, and  most have their sights set on London.

In another incident, almost 1,000 illegal immigrants landed safely in Italy after threatening to throw their babies into the sea if their ship was turned back.

The 240ft Monica had been spotted in international waters during the night and when Italian coastguard boats drew alongside, the crews were shocked to see men and women on board begin to dangle their babies over the side.

"They were hanging them over the side and told the coastguards not to come any closer or they would let them go.  Our men had never seen anything like it.  They only calmed down and let us aboard when we assured them they were in Italian waters and would not be taken back to where they sailed from" a coastguard spokesman said.

The ship was towed to the Sicilian port of Catania, where 400 men, 200 women and 361 children were taken to Red Cross shelters.

Australians understand the people smuggling business very well because we suffered the same problem for years under the Labor government.  And that's one of the reasons Tony Abbott came to power - he promised to "stop the boats" and he did, saving the country millions of dollars.

And he knew that the only way to do it was to get tough and change the policy.  Nobody who sets foot on Australian soil arriving by boat will ever be allowed to settle in Australia but will be sent to another country that doesn't have the same vibrant welfare system, like Papua New Guinea.

Once they realize their fate, these "economic refugees" are then given the opportunity to return home to where they came from.

I believe Britain is about to go to the polls and hope they vote for the man who promises to fix the problem.  

The murder of Lee Allan Bonneau

Lee Allan Bonneau

It's hard to believe that a ten year old could inflict so much damage to a six year old boy, that his body looked like it had been in a shocking car wreck.

Forensic pathologist Dr Shaun Ladham said the child died from blunt force trauma and suffered multiple skull fractures - one on top of the other - like repeatedly smashing a window.  "Such fracturing of the skull does not happen easily, we are looking at considerable force" he said.

But bells should have been ringing loud and clear when it was discovered that the perpetrator, 10 year old known only as LT, was a very mentally sick child and his movements should have been monitored.  After a break-in, he killed a pregnant dog, cut the pups out of her body and then killed them all.

Social Services placed 6 year old Bonneau into the care of foster mother Mary Ramstead three months before he was murdered and on the evening of 21 August 2013, he went with her to play bingo on the Kahkewistahaw First Nation reserve.  Kahkewistahaw has a population of of around 1850 members with approximately 580 people living on the reserve.

Bonneau's foster mother saw him step outside to pet a dog around 8pm and initiated a search minutes later when he didn't return.  He was found 3 hours later in a field among gravel and tall weeds and after all efforts to revive him failed, he died shortly after midnight.

LT is too young to go to jail or even charged.  The inquest heard that a psychological assessment was being done because he said he was hearing voices.

The forensic evidence pointing to LT's guilt was overwhelming, including at least one bite mark on Bonneau's body which was linked to him by a dental expert.

The Ministry for Social Services defended their decision regarding Bonneau's care, but said policies for case work weren't always met.

Council calls for Aussie women to wear hijab

Victorian Dandenong Council has gone completely mad.  They want women to wear the hijab for three hours today as part of its plan to celebrate National Youth Week.

Institute of Public Affairs spokesman said "This doesn't encourage integration, this encourages separateness.  This is not what multicultural Australia is all about."

Islamic Friendship president Keysar Trad said it was a way for people to positively engage with the Muslim community and gain a different perspective.

Greater Dandenong Council is becoming famous for the wrong reasons. They were last in the news for holding public swimming pool sessions for Muslim women only.  How they think this is helping to integrate Muslims into the community is hard to understand.

Last week Reclaim Australia organized a number of protests across the country opposing sharia law, halal tax and Islamisation. When opposing anti-racist supporters turned up, police had a hard time separating the two groups.  

Two women were seen burning the Australian flag. National RSL President Ken Doolan said "the RSL is appalled that anybody, regardless of their cause, would desecrate the Australian flag under which our forces have fought and continue to fight for the freedoms we are all privileged to enjoy."

Protesters attempting to set fire to Australian flag

It is not illegal to burn the Australia flag.  Two bills in 2003 and 2008 put forward to outlaw the practice failed to pass the Senate.

Words fail me.

Serial welfare cheat and wife beater

Mohammad Hasan

Some people will do anything to get out of work and Mohammad Hasan is very good at it. He arrived in Australia in 2000 and is still on the dole.

He saw Centrelink as his future source of income and last week a Sydney court found him guilty of bashing his wife in November last year because his dinner was "too salty."

Two weeks before the attack he pleaded guilty to forging six medical reports to qualify for a range of welfare benefits for himself, his wife and his son, and was placed on a good behaviour bond.

As well as the baby bonus, Hasan applied for the Disability Support Pension, essential medical equipment payments, a carer payment and also carer allowance for his son who he lied had congenital heart disease.

Last week he pleaded not guilty to two assault charges against his wife but was found guilty and placed on a good behaviour bond for two years.  A two-year apprehended violence order was ordered to protect his wife, who still lives with him and their two children at Lakemba.

Hasan tried to get his wife to withdraw the charges and she made an attempt to do so, and it strikes me that she has placed herself and her children in extreme danger living under the same roof with this man. 

Hasan's explanation for the beating?  He was on medication and couldn't remember what happened.

Luke Shambrook found alive

The news put a dampener on the Easter break when 11 year old Luke Shambrook walked away from his campsite after breakfast on Good Friday.  There was real concern for his welfare when it was discovered he is autistic.

Luke likes to hide and has a fascination with water so wombat holes and mine shafts had to be checked and police divers searched the nearby lake.

After four days and four cold nights, things were looking grim when acting Sargeant Brad Pascoe in a police helicopter, spotted something in the bush.

"Out of the corner of my eye, I caught a little flash of something" he said.  "It wasn't much but it was enough to make me get the guys to turn the aircraft around."

He was dehydrated and hypothermic, but very much alive.

Helicopters, the Dog Squad, police motorcycles, mounted branch horses, four wheel drive vehicles and hundreds of volunteers gave up their Easter break to look for Luke.

And the joy of finding him alive, knows no bounds.

Jehovah's Witness dies with her baby

Another Jehovah's Witness has died because of her religious beliefs, but this time, she also took the life of her unborn baby.   The effect on staff at the Sydney hospital was horrific, as both were considered to be avoidable deaths.

Had she agreed to the transfusion, she would have gone into remission and the unborn baby had a very good chance of survival.

The 28 year old was diagnosed with leukemia seven months into her pregnancy and doctors told her that she could give birth via a caesarean section and undergo chemotherapy, but both would require blood transfusions.  She refused both options.

The baby died in utero and the woman died 13 days after she was diagnosed when her organs shut down and she suffered a stroke.

Sascha Callaghan, an expert in ethics and law at the University of Sydney, said the law as it stands today allows the mother to make decisions that affect the fetus, even if it were likely to survive outside her body.

"This woman had a long-held commitment to the Jehovah's Witness faith and that's how she chose to die.  We are all entitled to die with dignity and when your fetus is in utero, it is inextricably tied to your life."

Freediving - it can kill you

Freediving is the latest craze that is a deadly trap if you are not aware of the dangers.

There are so many freedivers currently appearing in underwater videos and photos, people are jumping straight in without any instruction.  

Last month in Queensland, a 19 year old and his three friends were competing to see who could dive the deepest.  When he blacked out and sank in 30 metres of water, his friends brought him to the surface but he couldn't be revived.

The founder of international free diving body Apnea International, Erez Beautus said free divers should always have a "safety buddy" whose job it is to watch you all the time.  "If we dive deeper than 10 metres, the sole responsibility of the safety diver is to take care of his buddy at that moment in time."

"It's very depressing to hear about young people that lose their lives and in my career as a free diver instructor, I've had a few to deal with."

"Since we are young and jumping in the water, in the pool, and trying to swim lengths underwater, - that's free diving - snorkelling, under-water photography, that's all free diving."

You can actually hold your breath for quite a long time, without any damage - it's quite a safe activity, to be honest."

"I think the press wants to tout it as an extreme sport, and we don't think it's that kind of sport at all" he said.

Jack McMillan

Tell that to 12 year old Jack McMillan's mother.  Her son died from "underwater blackout" - doing underwater laps in his pool in 2013. He challenged himself to see how many he could do.

His mother said "He thought it was great, it was something he'd been doing over the Christmas holidays with friends and family in the pool.  I looked back and saw him at the bottom of the shallow end, his knees were bent up in a foetal position and I thought - is he playing?"

But he wasn't.

Australian travel company ruined couple's holiday

We've all seen the ads on TV, beautiful people sipping wine on board a luxury boat, cruising through the picturesque French and German countryside.  Thousands of Aussies have already been or are planning to go, but if you haven't already booked, you need to read this article by Louise Hall in the Sydney Morning Herald this morning.

Is this about two hard to please, unhappy people who happened to strike bad weather, or is it a legitimate whinge?

David Moore and Janette Howell

David Moore and Janette Howell spent their life savings – $26,200 – on what they expected to be a relaxing river cruise through the picturesque French and German countryside.

Instead, they spent hours on substandard coaches, including one without a working toilet and air conditioning, and missed out on much of the promised sightseeing. 

They are leading  a class action against leading Australian travel company Scenic Tours, claiming its "expensive, luxury river cruises" turned into "cheap, second-rate bus tours" because of extensive flooding in Europe.

Up to 1300 people who travelled with Scenic Tours and Evergreen Tours in Europe between 10 May 2013 and 14 June 2013 will be invited to join the class action being run in the NSW Supreme Court.

Have you had a similar experience? Email us

Heavy rainfall in France and Germany in April and May 2013 caused extensive flooding and water levels on the Rhine, Saone, Rhone and Danube rivers rose so high that cruise boats were unable to operate as scheduled for about six weeks. The affected tours included Amsterdam to Budapest, Amsterdam to Basel and the rivers of southern France.

Mr Moore, a Lake Macquarie school teacher, said Scenic Tours did not give passengers any warning of the significant changes, disruption or delays to the itinerary necessitated by the weather. 

He said given his chronic back problems, "no way in this lifetime would I have booked a bus tour".

In a statement of claim, the group said Scenic Tours breached Australian Consumer Law by failing to cancel or delay the cruises, offer alternative tours, or warn of expected disruptions, particularly to passengers who travelled to Europe from Australia.

Instead of visiting cities and sites via the river and spending nights on a boat, the passengers said they endured very long bus rides and in some cases stayed overnight at "low-budget hotels". 

Sydney firm Somerville Legal initiated the class action after founding partner Tim Somerville and his wife Julie were passengers on a cruise in southern France that began on May 19, 2013.

More than 120 people have signed up and the firm will be writing soon to all passengers from the 16 affected cruises asking them to join.

"Passengers chose to book these holidays to enjoy a relaxing cruise along rivers, not a second-rate bus tour. Many chose to cruise because of limited mobility or other health problems. Travelling long distances by bus was the last thing they expected, and nothing like what they paid for," Benjamin Hemsworth, from Somerville Legal, said.

Scenic Tours is defending the case. It said the standard terms and conditions of the contract allowed it to make changes to itineraries, including because of road, river or weather conditions. It said it was not liable for any loss, cost or damage, including the failure to perform its obligations because of a force majeure event such as high water levels.

Furthermore, it said the river cruises were not operated by it but by independent contractors, including Scenic Tours Europe AG, and any claim must be pursued against them.

Scenic Tours chief operating officer Damien Thomas said the company's aim to provide the "highest-quality service and travel experience ... does not alter in circumstances where a change to an itinerary is unfortunately required due to prevailing weather or river conditions, such as those experienced in northern Europe in April/May 2013".

After taking redundancies from their government jobs, Alan and Charmaine decided to take the "trip of lifetime" and paid $20,000 for a 15-day cruise between Amsterdam and Budapest. But after just four days cruising, the boat docked and passengers were bussed to and from attractions for the remainder of the tour.

Alan said other cruise companies cancelled or delayed tours, but Scenic carried on as if it was "business as usual".

"I appreciate they can't control the weather but it's the way they handled it, which to me seemed to be disdainful of their passengers," he said.

Once home the couple complained and were offered a "paltry" $500 refund or $1000 off their next cruise.

Other passengers have taken Scenic Tours to consumer tribunals and been offered $2500. Somerville Legal said those people were not prohibited from joining the class action.

The plaintiffs are seeking compensation and/or personal injury damages for inconvenience, distress and disappointment and the lost opportunity to cancel.

If successful, the litigation lender will take its fees and a percentage of the settlement.

The case returns to court in July and the substantive hearing will take place in April 2016.

Supporters of rapist Luke Lazzarus

Luke Lazzarus thought he was special, daddy owned the prominent Sydney club Soho and he was king of the walk.  With an inflated sense of entitlement, he lured an 18 year old woman into an alley behind the club and anally raped her when she tried to escape.  He then bragged about it to his mates.

But this really isn't the point, what everyone needs to know is that Waverley Mayor Sally Betts, a friend of the Lazzarus family, wrote Luke a character reference, and pleaded with the judge not to jail him.

Sally Betts

But she wasn't the only one.

The Consulate-General of Greece Tsambico Athanasas and South Sydney Rabbitohs rugby league club chairman Nick Pappas also vouched for Lazzarus' character with glowing references.

Nick Pappas

The parish priest at the Greek Orthodox Christian church at Rose Bay Father Gerasimos Koutsouras said "the possibility of imprisonment is completely undeserved for this promising young man" and said the charges against him were "an injustice". 

Parents

There are now calls for Mayor Betts to step down.  She responded by saying that she did not write the reference on official Council letterhead or on behalf of the council.  Big deal!

These so-called pillars of Sydney society should hang their heads in shame.  There is only one tragic side to this story. Lazzarus only got a maximum of five years, and knowing how our parole system works, he'll be out before you know it.

Anti-ageing doctor guilty of professional misconduct

Julie Epstein

Dr. Julie Epstein, a consultant physician practicing at Artarmon in Sydney, was found guilty of medical misconduct for prescribing five anti-ageing drugs - anastrozole (Arimidex) human chorionic gonadotrophin, human growth hormone, nandrolone deconoate and testosterone.

Prescribing drugs "off label" for use other than reasons approved by the Therapeutic Goods Administration, is illegal.

Dr Epstein, an anti-ageing crusader came to the attention of the Health Care Complaints Commission over her treatment of 40 patients at her rooms between 2007 and 2009.

On Monday the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal found Dr Epstein repeatedly prescribed anabolic steroids and human growth hormone "off label".

Body builders, boxers and ordinary folk who want to turn back the clock, beat a path to her door but she is accused of not exercising responsible medical judgement.  She didn't measure weight or body mass index and took everything her clients told her at face value, without verification of scans or tests.

Her barrister Philip Greenwood SC, said some studies supported her theories but the tribunal found that because she chose not to conduct physical examinations, sanctioned excessive doses and prescribed more than two or more hormones at the same time, she did not conform to acceptable medical practice.

"I treat my patients with a view to preventing health decline, lost function and loss of mobility and cognition that is common in the last decades of life today" she said.

A hearing will be held in mid-April to decide if she is to have her registration cancelled.

There are now thousands of Australians with the knowledge and determination to keep old age at bay. Do they know is could be harmful to their health?  Yes.  Do they care?  No.

So there you have it, a public with a manic desire for drugs that will keep them young and vigorous and the Health Commission's responsibility to make sure we don't get them.

Aspergers isn't just a 'male condition'

Article by Kay Kerr, Sydney Morning Herald, 1 April 2015

There is a calm that comes with truly knowing yourself. It's a quietness I have only recently encountered after 27 years of noise.

The noise came to a deafening crescendo on a holiday to New York last year. I'd been looking forward to the trip immensely, but I wasn't able to enjoy myself when I got there. The smell of garbage made me want to throw up, the bright lights gave me a pounding headache, and the sound of traffic made me feel disorientated and overwhelmed. I didn't sleep more than two hours in three nights.

When I got home I started looking up 'light sensitivity' and 'sensory overload', and when I read the symptoms of Asperger's Syndrome I cried for three days. Everything I had struggled with my entire life was summed up in a dozen dot points. Asperger's is part of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and I was officially diagnosed at the beginning of this year.

 Of everything I have read about 'aspies', the most important piece of information I have taken away is this: when you meet one person with Asperger's Syndrome, you've met one person with Asperger's Syndrome. According to Autism Awareness Australia, one in 100 people is diagnosed on the autism spectrum. So right now that's more than 230,000 people in Australia. This is only one story.

As a child I had an intense love of reading and would often mourn the end of a good book, as it signalled my reluctant return to real life. I lacked the nuance necessary to succeed in precarious female friendships and often found myself on the outer. Who could have known that young girls would not like having their flaws pointed out right to their faces? It seemed perfectly logical for me to tell Samantha* she was bad at math and had a big nose in grade two, because both of those things were true.

But it wasn't long before I learned the art of imitation as a survival technique. I took part as an observer, a mimic. This continued through to high school where I discovered the sweet release of alcohol. This magical liquid gave me the ability to converse freely, to live in the moment and to take a break from my own mind.

Unfortunately I had two settings when it came to alcohol – drinking and black out drunk. I drank not for enjoyment, but to feel like a 'normal', fun, social person. Vodka was liquid courage. If a little bit gave me a little courage, then a lot would give me a lot of courage right? But really, while drinking helped to ease social anxieties in the moment, it in turn made those anxieties worse.

Alcohol and I are now more like old school friends than co-dependent lovers. We run into each other a couple of times a year, but no longer have anything left to talk about.

There were many years of this before New York, when I finally started to connect the dots.

Heightened sensitivity to light and sound? Check. Fixated with numbers, terrible with social settings? Check, check. Deep love of animals and nature? Check, check. Trouble making eye contact? Check. I am also obsessive about being on time, and I hate surprises so much I have to Google the ending of a movie and read the last page of a book first. I suffer social hangovers and regularly need time to myself in a quiet place.

Asperger's has typically been considered a 'male' condition, with a ratio of 4:1 males diagnosed compared to females, but as my psychologist explained, this is because females are often better able to adapt and mimic social cues, just like I did, to seem 'normal'. But it's exhausting trying to keep up and play a game when you don't know the rules.

Since my diagnosis I feel more myself. The missing puzzle piece has slotted into place and I feel authentic rather than defective. This is worth so much more than 'normal'. In telling people, I've been met with different reactions, from the deeply supportive, to the non-believers and minimisers. "You're just a little quirky," some have exclaimed. I'm not a Zooey Deschanel character though; I was born with a complex neurological condition.

I guess the misunderstanding comes because I am not what people expect when they hear the word autism. I've been a journalist for the past six years, I'm married and I love being around my friends and family. That's the thing about a spectrum though, it's made up of a rainbow of different colours.

Autism Spectrum Australia explains: "The word 'spectrum' describes the range of difficulties that people with autism may experience and the degree to which they may be affected. Some people may be able to live relatively normal lives, while others may have an accompanying learning disability and require continued specialist support."

Tomorrow (April 2) I'll be dressing in blue and doing my part to raise awareness for World Autism Awareness Day. 

Famous people with Aspergers 

http://www.asperger-syndrome.me.uk/people.htm