Shalom

anzac day 2008

They went with songs to the battle, they were young,
Straight of limb, true of eye, steady and aglow.
They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted;
They fell with their faces to the foe.

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years contemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.

Lest we forget.

from the poem by Laurence Binyon, 1914.

the elders

I find this an interesting idea. Found at the Windfarm.

sorry

Today may well be the beginning of a new way forward in Australia. Today, the Prime Minister offered an apology for the treatment given in the past to Aborigines by the government. It was an apology refused by the previous government for many years who seemed to equate "sorry" with "compensation." It was apology and recognition of mistakes made, particularly in the removal of children from their parents. What could possibly compensate either parent or child for that evil?

There is so much I could say and I'm sure there were many who truly felt that they were acting for the good of such children. However, there were others who saw this as an opportunity to annihilate aboriginal languages and culture and to cause interracial marriages to weaken bloodlines. That discussion does not belong to today in my eyes.

I am truly glad to see this apology. I remember seeing the word "sorry" written by a skywriter after the Walk for Reconciliation across the Harbour Bridge some years ago. It caused a shiver of excitement and a huge cheer among the many thousands at Darling Harbour.

Reconciliation and moving forward will not be easy. Someone I know remarked that today grace had passed over our Parliament. Much grace from all of us will be required as hopefully together we live in this land as fellows.

APEC contd

Here's an update on that disgusting wall and also an admission from a government minister that the government fully expects that disruption to commuter and city life will be massive.

APEC

This weekend marks the beginning of the APEC meeting in Sydney. It also marks the beginning of some major interruptions and disruption for the people of Sydney.

Goeroge Bush is not eligible to stand for election aagin and there is a federal election due here. Many of us hope that this year is also the end of the road for the current Prime Minister. It seems that he has decided to host a farewell shindig for his mate, George. Possibly a knees-up do for himself too.

APEC is meeting here in Sydney.

President Bush is arriving a couple of days earlier than originally planned and bringing an entourage of several hundred. This is adding some millions to the already astronomical costs of hosting this shindig for George. The Herald has an article on some of the disruptions to the city. This fence is disgusting. There are designated checkpoints for those who need to enter the fenced area or even to cross the road. It runs alongside the Quay, around past the Opera House, up through the Botanical Gardens and through a business section of Sydney. It appals me.

The Sydney metropolitan area has been given a public holiday next Friday, supposedly in honour of the meeting. Rubbish! Sydneysiders have been told to stay out of the city. Not much honourable about that. Businesses are wondering where their compensation is coming from. Probably nowhere. The place is swarming with police, defence force personnel, security guys, whatever. Known "troublemakers" have been warned that if they enter the city, they will be arrested. Troublemakers is not my word, by the way. It comes from the government. Some buses have been converted to mobile prisons with cells. Some prisoners have been given home detentions so the gaol cells are freed for those arrested during expected protests. Fighter jests will patrol an exclusion zone over Sydney. Orders are to shoot down any plane trying to enter that zone. Major interruptions to train services and othr public transport have also been announced. I live near one of Sydney's major roads. A long section near me has been branded a clearway with long hours for over a week. How do shopkeepers and businesses get to cope with something like that?

There is obviously much more than the public has any knowledge of.

I'm glad I will be away next weekend. I'll be attending a conference in Mittagong in the Southern Highlands. This was arranged well before details of the meeting began to emerge and I'm thankful I'll not be around.

I suggested to my son that the government could have bought an ailing country property, renovated it and declared an exclusion zone around it. This could well cost less than the huge sum spent so far. It could then be run as a tourist resort and make money, instead of costing mney for the people of this state.

At the end of such a conference, the heads of state usually parade in hideous shirts or other ghastly mementos of the conference. They look self conscious, as well they might. I wondered aloud what would be produced this time. Swaggies bush hats with bobbing corks to keep the flies off? Very Aussie. My son suggested budgie smugglers. He then suggested that Howard and Bush may well not be able to fill these, a sentiment I would not normally make in public, but one I agree with.

Scroll down the page from that link or go here for a very funny video on budgie smuggling. A bit crude, but scenes like this can be seen on any Sydney beach in summer.

film archives

Australia has a long history of film making.

View some clips Here.

tsunami alert

We are used to flood and particularly fire alerts down here. However, today the entire eastern coast of Australia was placed under a tsunami alert, the lowest of three degrees of severity.

A severe earthquake in the Honduras has killed at least fifteen people and cause a considerable amount of damage to buildings in the area. The tsunami was triggered by this underwater quake.

By the time the wave reached here it was only a few centimetres high and no damage was casued by it. However, it was strange to hear of the warning. Although I live reasonably close to the harbour, I am well up a hill and there is quite a bit of obstruction before anything could reach here. However one son lives in a flat area, much closer to the water on the Central Coast about an hour north. I found my reaction strange. I was concerned for the Honduras and concerned for my son, although realistically, I did not expect anything adverse to happen.

short sighted policy

Vaccination of school girls against the papilloma virus causing cervical cancer started today in south Australia. It is hoped that this vaccine, developed in Australia, will cut the incidence of cervical cancer by up to 70%

Schoolgirls and women up to 26 will get the vaccine free, but those over this age will need to pay.

This is very shortsighted policy. One of my daughters-in-law had pre-cancerous cells discovered by a routine smear test in early pregnancy. Some weeks ago she had these removed and should be fine, although a close check will be kept. She's thirty. Because she has had these cells removed, she is eligible for free vaccination, even though she is older than the cut-off point. Her friends will have to pay several hundred dollars. Surely preventative treatment is preferable to having cells develop. Usually such preventative treatment is also cheaper than the actual treatment.

Short sighted policy.

My mother had the same thing happen to her but with osteoporosis. An effective drug against this in older people can not be prescribed by a doctor here, unless that patient has already had a broken bone from osteoporosis. Mum's tests showed good levels of bone density, but the docotr dredged up a minor break from a fall on a large stone from many years ago. He used this to justify prescribing the drug for mum. Again, an example of shortsighted policy. Osteoporosis in elderly people, particularly women, often causes hip fractures, needing replacement surgery. Loss of mobility and therefore more risk of osteoporosis is a result of this. Why not stop it before it happens?

happy birthday

Our bridge, turns 75 this weekend. The Sydney Harbour Bridge, known to some as the Coathanger, turns seventy five and has been given a heritage listing by the government as a present.

Here is a picture from the top of the bridge by the Federal Minister who announced the award.

Built in the Depression, the bridge provided some money for otherwise unemployed workers at a time when there were many community tensions. The government was sacked a few weeks after the openng of the bridge over financial matters.

It's been a symbol of Sydney over the years. Not really known as the Coathanger to locals, it's usually just called "the bridge." There may be Gladesville Bridge, Iron Cove Bridge, Taren Point Bridge, even the Spit Bridge, but the Harbour Bridge is just "the bridge" and we all know which is meant.

There are many celebrations planned for today, although there are no fireworks this time. New Years Eve fireworks are well known for using the bridge as a central prop in the staging of the show. A couple of hundred thousand people have booked to walk across the bridge from north to south over the day. There are many other events planned as well.

Traffic across the bridge was shut at 4:30 this morning for almost 24 hours, although the harbour tunnel will remain open.. I'm somewhat concerned about getting to church this morning. Public transport has been chaotic several times this week and several trains were stuck on the bridge for almost four hours at afternon peak only a ew days ago after a breakdown. Authorities assure us that extra arrangements are in place to handle the number of people expected. We'll see.

Here are more pictures, some of the fireworks and more stories about the bridge, its construction and current uses, including the bridge climb wich was once done as a birthday present by a 99 year old woman..

a visit from her majesty

There are currently two queens in Sydney Harbour. I'm speaking of the Queen Mary 2 on her maiden voyage and her sister ship the QE 2.

The Queen Mary, the largest cruise ship ever constructed and the largest vessel to enter our harbour, arrived a few minutes before sunrise this morning. She sails late tonight for HongKong. The QE2 arrived about an hour ago and will stay here till Thursday.

Traffic around the harbour roads has been very busy and many are taking advantage of our summery evening to have a picnic whle they watch the two ships. The Queen Mary is too big to berth at Circular Quay and is tied up at a nval base. Her sister ship is birthed at Circular Quay as she is much smaller.

The last time these two queens were together in our harbour was in 1941 when they were being used as troop ships. I can just imagine troops being billeted in the suites which today cost several thousand dollars per person per night.

Picture here of the welcome Sydney gave to the Queen Mary.