Warning. Politically Incorrect

Notice. Warning. Alert. Caution. Beware.

The following statement may contain words and concepts which could cause offence to religious ratbags, terrorists, control-freaks, twittering dills and other vermin. If you are a member of any or all of the aforementioned groups please avert your eyes NOW and DO NOT read ANY further.

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For everyone else, regardless of your religion, race or condition, or wherever you are, I wish you A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY AND PEACEFUL NEW YEAR.

:-)

Pinochet gone. Chi-Chi-Chi-Le-Le-Le.

Puppet president - murderer - thief - fraudster - torturer - thug - pal of Saddam Hussein (What? Don't tell me you forgot all about that cutting-edge artillery?) - the man who held Chile back for almost two decades - imitation soldier - failed national leader - incompetent bully - the devil who disgraced the Catholic Church - betrayer of Argentina .......

Thank God he has gone.

The ghosts of O'Higgins and San Martin must be rejoicing.

Satan can now reclaim his own ...... and may he rot forever in Hell.

Iraq truth endangers patriots

Those of us - Australian, British, American, Japanese, Estonian, Georgian, Bulgarian, Polish, Mongolian, whoever - who did our patriotic duty by offering good solid practical advise, wise counsel and constructive criticism when it became so tragically obvious that U.S. President George Bush and his clique did not have either the courage or the ability to defeat the terrorists and to pacify the insurgents should all rejoice now that the United States bipartisan Iraq Study Group Report has forced those in power to put their dangerous fantasies aside for the moment take a glance at the stark realities of what is really happening in Iraq. The Iraq Study Group Report shows a way forward that is an alternative to the whims and delusions of individual politicians.

There should be gratitude for those patriots who sounded the alarms and shouted the warnings ..... but the reality is that, in Australia and in the United States at least, there won't be. (The British, despite their loss of so many traditional liberties under Thatcher and because of the IRA and Islamist bombings, are still relatively tolerant of dissent).

Instead, the governments and their fanatical supporters in both countries will crack down on all those who tried to prevent or to alleviate the effects of the tragic series of follies, errors and blunders that got us into this mess.

They will never never never accept responsibility for their failures, their mistakes, their ignorance and their neglect .... but they will try to shift the blame elsewhere; it's always been the nature of such people to do so.

For instance, at the end of the First World War, those who went on to form the Nazi regime refused to accept the reality that their Kaiser Wilhelm II was incompetent, meddling and a bit loopy. They preferred the comfortable excuse of the "Stab In The Back" even though the German Army (and the KuK Austro-Hungarian Army too) was full of both Socialists and Jews who were dying in battle for their Fatherland whereas the advocates of peace actually came from right among their own social circle. They turned, with blind ferocity, on the Jews and the Socialists rather than face up to unpleasant reality and do anything practical to recover quickly from the effects of defeat and to get better results from the Versailles Peace Conference.

So hang on and get ready for deluge of lies, abuse, vilification, attacks, blame-shifting, misrepresentation and excuses from the greedy, the wilfully ignorant, the "arcade-game soldiers" and the incompetent who got us into Iraq and then "snatched defeat from the jaws of victory".

http://www.voanews.com/english/2006-12-8-voa33.cfm

Long Tan, John Howard and Vietnam Veterans

Australia has been run by the Liberal-National Party Coalition under Prime Minister John Howard for the past decade. Despite it's name and its marketing, the Liberal Party in Australia has become anything but liberal. In recent years, it has alarmed decent citizens by trampling over our centuries-old traditional rights, protections, responsibilities and liberties - all on the flimsy pretexts of fighting evil and the enemies (both real and imagined) of Mr G.W.Bush.

Anyone opposing what the Howard government has done to Australia is condemned as a "Howard Hater". Gerard Henderson's Weekly Column of 7th March 2006 gives a polite description of "Howard Haters"


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During his recent trip to Viet-Nam for the APEC meeting, John Howard visited Long Tan, near Vung-Tau, where there was a battle between Australian and Viet-Cong forces way back in 1966; he also visited a Vietnamese war cemetery.

Nothing wrong with that. 40 years on, it is appropriate for an Australian Prime Minister, wishing to cement good relations with a rising economic power in South East Asia, to visit both sites.

However, what disgusted me was the crocodile tear John Howard shed over the shameful way Australia's Viet-Nam War veterans have been treated in their own country.

What!!! Him???

A politician bunging on a mournful face during a photo-opportunity at an old battleground is one thing ..... but trying to spin-doctor him into someone concerned about Australian Viet-Nam War veterans goes way beyond the bounds of tolerance and credibility.

Wasn't John Howard the former Young Liberals boss who sailed into Parliament on a tsunami of fear that Australia was in grave danger of being taken over by The Communist Menace?

Wasn't John Howard the federal Treasurer during the Fraser government, where he had the power and the opportunity every day to remove all the financial penalties against war veterans trying to re-establish themselves in civilian life ..... and yet chose not to do so?

For instance, why hasn't John Howard come clean about what happened to resettlement loans for war veterans to start their own small businesses?

John Howard was a member of Fraser's Cabinet; he could have taken decisive action to stamp out the virulent anti-veteran discrimination in employment and in education .... so why didn't he?

In the decade since John Howard became Prime Minister, he has been portrayed as the great patriot wrapped in the national flag and passed off as the nicest pal of war veterans ...... and thanks to the image manipulating expertise of spin-doctors, I wonder how many gullible members of the public have the impression that Howard himself had military service (he did not!) ....... whereas he and his cronies have an ongoing disgraceful track record of failing Australia's war veterans and their families.

Visiting an old battlefield was fine .... Using that visit to deceive the public was not so fine.

No, I'm not a "Howard Hater" ...... it's just that I have much more respect for Nigel Nog and Charley Cong ..... they only tried to drive us out of their country, that's all ....

Children of Politicians not in Military

For many, many years now, whenever I mentioned the moral cowardice of politicians and other urgers in sending everyone else off to war but avoiding military service themselves, I copped a torrent of vilification

..... much of it from war heroes, men with distinguished military service..

Again, whenever I mentioned the Defence force (=armed forces) lacked the children of outspoken politicians, prominent public servants (=civil servants) and other well-known identities ..... [and yes, I am aware that a few such, like the son of Colonel and Senator Newman, have had military service] ..... I copped abuse and scorn

.... much of it from war heroes, men with distinguished military service ....

Yesterday, one of Australia's major newspapers, "THE WEEKEND AUSTRALIAN" October 28~29, 2006. page 7, columns 1 & 2., "No pollies' children in military", Roy Eccleston reported that retired Admiral Chris Barrie has asked whether the nation's politicians are more comfortable sending other people's children to war than their own.

I roared laughing when I read the last sentence of that article " The Prime Minister's office had no response to Admiral Barrie's comments". ...... and now, a day and a half since that edition of the newspaper hit the streets, there has still been no comment from all the "wardroom warriors" and "mess heroes" who had cracks at me about this over the years. Ha..ha..ha..

Anyway, .... WELCOME ABOARD, ADMIRAL .....

Hungary .... October-November 1956

It is now fifty years since the Hungarian Uprising.

And what an uprising it was ..... the great hopes and the bare-handed courage of the Hungarian people stood in stark contrast to the timidity and moral cowardice of urgers in The West and to the ruthlessness of the Soviet authorities.

We can all celebrate the bravery of the Hungarian people fifty years ago. They will go down in history and be an inspiration for generations to come.

Why Howard will ditch War Veterans

Of course he will ...... Why wouldn't he?

Despite all the dedication and the skill shown by the Australian troops themselves in Iraq, Australia's involvement in Iraq is becoming more and more unpopular with ordinary Australians. The public were well aware that going into a war without post-war plans (other than to make Bush and all the other scalliwags rich on "cheap oil") was an idiotic thing to do, regardless of how bad Saddam Hussein was. Howard and his mob have been the most enthusiastic supporters of Bush and his military gambles and follies.

No matter how justified the overthrow of the so-called "Taliban" regime in Afghanistan may have been, the way in which Howard's mob got us into - and keeps us in - Afghanistan is also becoming unpopular.

Our military involvement in Timor Leste and in Solomon Islands should have been a dream run for any politician but both are turning into political nightmares.

Then, to compound their troubles, there are all the scandals involving the Australian Defence Force and the Defence Department that have popped onto public view despite all the spin-doctoring, all the intimidation and lies and all the attempts at cover-up.

Even getting rid of that troublesome priest, Archbishop Peter Hollingsworth, as Governor-General and replacing him with a genuine Army Major-General hasn't helped a bit.

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All in all, the excursions into military adventures by Prime Minister John Howard and his cronies, which started out so wonderfully, are now going horribly wrong. Only the feeble-minded and utterly gullible believe we are safer now because of Bush and Howard's failures.

Long before official reports were leaked and British and American officers spoke the truth about the real situation, ordinary Australians were well aware that there was a worsening credibility gap between what Howard's mob and the news media were saying and what was happening in the real world.

This set of problems, which would have been a challenge for a political leader who had actual experience of war and personal familiarity with military affairs, was exacerbated by the lack of military service of Howard and his cronies and their consequent dilettante approach to complex military and geopolitical issues; relying on the advice of experts is not enough if you don't comprehend what that expert advice really means out in the dusty noisy real world.

Since what started out as a terrific vote-winner has turned into something that will not only lose votes but put an end to the so-called Liberal Party itself. Military adventures are now seen as a LOSER! and the further Howard and his cronies distance themselves from them, the better will seem their electoral prospects.

Get ready for an abrupt change in political stance.

My guess is that Prime Minister John Howard and his cronies will unwrap themselves from the Australian flag so fast that they'll get carpet-burns.

Then get ready for rapid distancing of themselves from their bestest buddies - Bush, Cheney and that gang. Australia won't downgrade its relations with the United States of course but I'll bet the Chinese Ambassador will get fed up with being pestered day-in day-out by China's newest truest nicest pals.

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So where do war veterans fit into all this?

Once more, they will become highly unfashionable.

And, given the so-called Liberal Party's disgraceful track record of spite and neglect, attacks on war veterans and on their entitlements will start up again.

War veterans - hitherto very useful for bolstering the prestige of Howard and his cronies - will again be seen as something to do with political failure.

It does not matter that the war veterans themselves had nothing to do with the political decisions that sent them to war; it is the perceived connection that is important even though such a perception is irrational.

For example. just look at the way the so-called Liberal Party, the supposed Anti-Communist political party, betrayed and cheated and maligned the Australian war veterans who had actually risked their lives in combat against real Communists.

They've got the template; they'll use it again.

Totally and Permanently Incapacitated war pensioners had better get ready for a whole truckload of lurid stories in the news media, especially on the shock-horror TV shows, exposing TPI "malingerers" who have "obviously nothing wrong with them"and who are "as fit as a fiddle". The inference being that everyone on a Veterans Affairs pension is an out-and-out bludger and deserves nothing.

Untrue?
Of course .... if you want to put an alternative point of view then buy yourself a TV station.

Unfair?
Naturally ..... if you want fairness and justice then be prepared to squander millions in legal actions that drag on for decades (for instance, look at the monsterous injustices committed against the survivors of the sinking of HMAS Voyager).

Not only would this help Howard and his cronies to shift blame for their own blunders and to distance themselves from perceived failure ..... but by turning many of the public against war veterans it will be so much easier to slash the entitlements of war veterans and their families, perhaps easier to abolish outright even more of these entitlements.

And , of course, the lack of unity of purpose among ex-service organizations as well as their ingrained fear of "rocking the boat" and of causing an undignified fuss would make the double-crossing of veterans so much easier to carry out.

As for the righteous expectation that no government would ever dare do anything so nasty to those whose lives were permanently harmed whilst serving their country, think again. Does anyone seriously expect ruthless political operators to be grateful or honest or kind?

Get ready, too, for valiant old Diggers, true war heroes, to be replaced in the news media by more convenient subjects for the Prime Minister's photo-opportunities.

It's sad ..... but again, the Bad will triumph and the Good will be vanquished.

North Korean Army - a modern-day Honve'dse'g in the East Asia grand strategy?

History does not repeat itself .... but there are patterns that do seem to recur.

What if we are all sitting on the brink of a cataclysm, such as faced the world in the summer of 1914?

If that is so then a coming together of unlikely forces is possible.

And taking that further, could the Chinese Peoples' Liberation Army soon mobilize so as to protect and further China's interests? Perhaps then, a comparison might be made with the highly efficient, well armed German Army under Kaiser Wilhelm II.

Being strong enough and ready to fight a war alone is good but having well armed allies standing shoulder-to-shoulder with you is even better.

So, stretching the 1914 analogy further, it would be useful to China to have the Koreans as allies, with the ROK Army being like the Austro-Hungarian Empire's Landwehr and the DPRK Army like the Honve'dse'g.

And just for the hell of it, the Japanese Self Defence Force might be equated with the army of old Bulgaria or Roumania in this analogy.

(Of course the analogy falls apart when we look for a modern-day equivalent of the old Ottoman Empire ....... or does it?)

More of Australia's Heritage at risk

Over the years, I've had the good fortune to visit some of the world's great museums - the Smithsonian in Washington, the British Museum in London,
the National Palace Museum near Taipei and so on.

Since I am interested in Military History, I have visited, among many others, the Imperial War Museum in London, the Junshi Baowuguan in Beijing, the Heersgesichtlichen Museums im Arsenal in Vienna, the Australian War Memorial in Canberra and the Yasukuni Jinja in Tokyo ((b.t.w., many of my own family members fought against the Japanese Empire; I had no qualms at all about going there)) .

Each of these museums has impressive budgets, outstanding buildings, researchers and curatorial staff of the highest calibre and, of course, the support of eminent and influential people (for example: the Friends of IWM
in London, Forum Viribus Unitis in Vienna).

Right over at the other end of the spectrum from these great museums are the community or unit museums, run on a shoestring budget by hard-working volunteers. They are museums that have usually started with a few people donating or loaning books, artifacts and memorabilia which they feel should not be lost forever and which they feel would interest a rising generation. More often than not, these collections are housed in old buildings; far from perfect conitions for conserving such collections but it is whatever housing for them that the local enthusiasts can afford.

Such a public-spirited group is the
Central Queensland Military & Artifacts Museum,
Bolsover Street, Rockhampton, Queensland 4700, Australia.

This small group has done a mighty job in bringing together an excellent collection for the public to see. Some of the collection was donated by the families of deceased service personnel, entrusted to the Museum by loved ones who knew that what was donated would be handled with care and respect. Some of the collection was rescued from garage sales and second-hand shops by dedicated members who selflessly used their own time, effort, money and fuel over several years to search for items to add to the collection. Display cabinets have been scrounged, recycled, repaired or whatever and filled with all sorts of irreplacable memorabilia. Models and dioramas have been created out of the most unlikely raw materials.

Although the main themes of this community museum are military, naval and air force, the displays are non-judgemental; neither war veterans nor anti-war activists alike would be offended at all by the displays. The memorabilia of former enemy are treated with as much respect as those of our own armed forces or those of our allies and neighbours. No political points are made, no ideology is promoted or despised - where items of wartime propaganda are displayed, they are done so without comment and simply show what things were said in those days. War and military service are not glorified or belittled; they are simply presented as things that have affected the lives of ordinary people.

All in all, this is an excellent community museum and a fine example of how a community's heritage can be saved.

The whole community too has appreciated the efforts of this small band of volunteers: When a Petition was given quite limited circulation for the acquisition of the historic and no longer used wooden barracks of the renowned 42 Battalion from the Department of Defence as a new home for the Museum, there were not dozens or even hundreds of signatories, there were THOUSANDS! Such is the respect these volunteers have earned.

Now this Museum, this priceless collection and these volunteers face a grave problem.

The Central Queensland Military & Artifacts Museum has been temporarily housed in the old Capricornia Electricity Commission office building ..... the building has been sold. The commercial reality is that they must move out very very soon!

Moving into the 42 Battalion barracks in Archer Park is the optimal solution ..... but a major problem has emerged: Over $ 400 000 (AUD = about $ 300 000 USD) in mandatory/compulsory repairs and associated costs is a bit beyond the resources of a small band of volunteers committed to preserving Australia's heritage.

Another solution might be having the Department of Defence donate the use of two of its steel buildings in the Weston Street Depot, Rockhampton, for the use of this military museum but non-military decision makers down in Canberra might fear a terrorist attack or have other compelling reasons and so they might prevent this happening in time. Yet another solution might be to make the repair of the historic 42 Battalion Barracks a week-long exercise (=manoeuvre) for an Australian Army Engineer squadron .......

What can you do to help this band of volunteers? I'm sure all suggestions (and donations too) would be welcome.

Moderation and dissent

Dissent is very welcome here. We cannot learn by refusing to listen to those whose views differ from our own.

I have just started this blog ......
Over the years I have made some rather nasty enemies and I have had my fingers burnt before. So, for the time being, until I gain confidence in dealing with real problems (as opposed to mere abuse) in this format, moderation will have to stay a little longer. The sooner I can get rid of moderation the better.

Apologies for any inconvenience caused by this to anyone who makes honest comment in good faith.

Australian Aborigines - justice and hope

I was going to write a long wordy piece about how we all would benefit from Aboriginal Reconcilliation .... but then I was upstaged .... and I'm glad I was upstaged .... because it was by NSW MP Linda Burney who presented the 7th Vincent Lingiari Memorial Lecture which was broadcast on ABC Radio National's "Awaye" program on Friday 1st September 2006.

You can find it at http://www.abc.net.au/rn/awaye/stories/2006/1721722.htm

There's a Transcript there or you can download the Podcast.

Brilliant. Anything I could have said would have been trivial by comparison .... so I urge you to read it or listen to it.

Farewell Don Chipp, a great Australian

A great Australian has gone.

I never met him face-to-face but he restored my faith in democracy as a real political force.

Don Chipp was a loyal member of the Liberal Party (Australia's major "conservative" and "pro-big-business" party); he became the Minister (= Secretary) for the Navy and later Customs Minister. Then, when his loyalty was repayed with treachery (nothing new for the Liberal Party) instead of skulking away to lick his wounds he struck back by resigning from the Liberal Party and forming a real alternative party, the Australian Democrats.

Don Chipp had a beneficial influence on Australian politics way beyond the mere number of votes and seats the Australian Democrats have won over the years. He inspired thousands of Australians to become engaged with the political process - no matter how imperfect that process may be - and to follow his example and ...... "Keep the bastards honest!"

Don Chipp will join the gallery of great Australians: Sister Kenny, Simpson and his donkey, "Weary" Dunlop, Henry Lawson, Bill Harney, Albert Namatjira, ....... Thousands of school students will write essays about him.

We are all the poorer for his passing.

Hill-Billies and Intelligence

The film (= movie) "Oh Brother Where Art Thou" is listed among my favorites. It was one that probably outraged some people but seemed to be a rare sympathetic portrayal of a section of American society usually held up to ridicule. The hero was shown to be clever, resourceful, dynamic, honourable, honest (well, almost), well-groomed .... and very lucky!

Many of us, outside the United States, grew up with the old Hollywood stereotype of Hill-Billies: lazy, deliberately ignorant, singing loudly but not particularly well, illiterate, racist, always drunk on illegal spirits (= moonshine), incestuous, dishonest, following all manner of weird fundamentalist cults and all-in-all rather stupid ....... not a very nice picture at all.

During my service with the Australian Regular Army in the Viet-Nam War, I had to spend several weeks in a U.S. Army camp, surrounded by hundreds and hundreds of Yanks, among whom were quite a few Hill-Billies. There were indeed a few Hill-Billy soldiers whose interests did not go much beyond booze, fast cars, slow women and not much else above the belt but these were very much in the minority. The rest of the Hill-Billies seemed quite intelligent, perceptive, full of curiosity, brave, hard working, neat and tidy, open-minded, progressive, utterly reliable, interested in classical music and in serious literature, keen to use their GI Bill Of Rights to go to College, friendly to all regardless of race, with a good sense of duty and and a good sense of humour.

Years later, passing through a few "Hill-Billy" states in the United States, the rural poverty in some parts was obvious but I just didn't see anyone with two heads, unshoed, swigging whiskey out of rough jars; nor did I notice any child-brides with a herd of kids, dilapidated houses, rusty rifles or any signs of laziness and stupidity. There were houses kept in good repair with hard work and no money; there were vehicles still running well but years and years past their trade-in date. But not a stereotypical Hill-Billy in sight, not even one.

So ..... just what is the origin of this very unfair and nasty stereotype of Hill-Billies? What is its purpose? Why does it persist? Why aren't, say, Cajuns or residents of Brooklyn or members of specific Native American first-nations subjected to similar negative stereotyping? Is it anything to do with the Civil War of 140 years ago? Is there something shameful way back in history about which everybody knows but nobody speaks?

Just wondering, that's all.

Death Penalty for David Hicks?

Today, it was revealed that the Australian, David Hicks, who has been held, in contravention of international laws and conventions, at the notorious Bush Regime prison at Guantanamo Bay for several years, may face the death penalty.

He is an Australian and if he has a case to answer for his actions, then he must face justice in Australian courts; if he has no case to answer, then he must be set free immediately ..... no ifs, uts or maybes.

The excuse trotted out by the Australian federal Attorney-General for leaving David Hicks in the hands of the Americans is that he cannot be charged under Australian law ..... and leaving it up to the imagination of the dull, the stupid and the gullible to see David Hicks blowing up country dunnies all over the place if he was released from American custody. Yeah, right; you can just see that happening, can't you.

My own feeling, and that of many others, is that if David Hicks was charged with anything at all then he could be charged under Australian laws such as the Crimes [Foreign Incursions and Recruitment] Act but if he could be so charged then decency and compassion would call for such charges to be not laid or, if laid, immediately dropped. He has already endured American politically-ordered torture .... that is punishment enough for whatever he might have done. And we have neither seen nor heard any credible evidence that he has done anything wrong except to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

The ordinary American public .... and especially Republicans .... had better get it through their heads right now that if David Hicks is a terrrorist then he is OUR G*d-d*mn m*tha-f*kkin terrrorist and WE will deal with him according to OUR laws so they had better start moving very smartly to have him returned to Australia and IN GOOD HEALTH too.

The David Hicks case has shown, in absolutely crystal-clear terms, the real contempt America has for Australia. There is nothing in the long history of friendly contact between the United States and Australia that has caused such widespread grass-roots loathing for everything American here in Australia that this case has. The news media can churn out as much propaganda as they like about how Australians would be happy if David Hicks were executed; such beat-up stories and faked surveys would be no more credible than any Communist propaganda.

The Americans are either with us on the side of justice and truth ...... or they are on the other side. It's their choice.

Hello. My initial post

After all sorts of delays, here is my first attempt at a blog.

I shall call in a few times each fortnight (= 2 weeks) to see if anyone has had anything to say so don't expect an instant response. After all, I grew up in an age when letters took a few days to arrive and a few more days for the reply to get back.

Be as robust as you like with any of your comments .... but ..... it would be better if you attacked the standpoint of somebody you disagreed with rather than the person themselves.

Taking an unpopular standpoint is fine (even if it is a standpoint that infuriates me) ...... but incitements to commit acts of violence will not be tolerated.

That said, if you wish to leave a comment, please do so.