The concept of Mother’s Day as we know it in Australia began in the United States in the days of the Civil War by two ladies who were Peace advocates and suffragettes. They started a campaign to care for wounded soldiers from both sides by creating Mother’s Day Work Clubs to improve public health.
They made a Mother’s Day proclamation in 1870 and called on mothers of all nationalities to join together and promote the amicable settlement of international disputes. The movement did not succeed. The lady’s name was Anna Jarvis but she persisted with the idea of setting aside a special day to honour all mothers because a mother is "the person who has done more for you than anyone in the world".
Read more: Mother's Day - a history
I remember the days before computers changed our lives. When I was a lad, I first trained as a civil engineer in the late 1950s to early 1960s. There were no electronic calculators, and all calculations were performed either manually, by trigonometric tables, or by using a slide rule.
We used to analyse the stresses and bending moments in structural elements using advanced mathematics based upon first principles, knowledge of which has long faded from my aged brain. The Sydney Harbour Bridge is a classic two-pinned arch design which we studied. If you drive past both abutments, you will see the huge supporting pins which take the entire load of the bridge.
Read more: I remember when.... computers hadn't changed our lives. Fings ain't what they used to be
Born 111 years ago, Douglas Bader would grow up to be a Royal Air Force (RAF) fighter pilot and flying ace responsible for more than 20 aerial victories during the Second World War. But his success stalled in August 1941 when he was forced to bail out of his plane over France, and he was subsequently captured by the Germans, ending up at Colditz prisoner of war camp until its liberation in 1945.
Read more: Douglas Bader - hero, flying ace and inspiration to reach for the sky
I was driving home today when I remembered a phrase I had heard/said many years ago. “Life really sucks BUT the alternative sucks worse”.
The present state of the Planet can easily lead all the residents thereof to believe that Life and the Future really sucks.
As Empire Day, 24th May, approaches it is timely that we remember one of Australia’s greatest and mostly forgotten sporting heroes. Les Darcy, The Maitland Wonder.
Les Darcy is a name that will not ring a bell for most of you unless you are a keen follower of boxing or you have your roots in the Maitland, NSW, area.
In just a few months, the World Health Organization received approximately 20,000 reports of new eye disorders that occurred post covid-19 vaccination. These reports include 303 cases of blindness and 1,625 cases of visual impairment! The European drug monitoring agency had never recorded such a severe spike in eye injuries until after the experimental vaccines were launched. These reports were collected by VigiBase and analyzed by the Uppsala Monitoring Centre in Uppsalla, Sweden.
About half of the new eye disorders were additionally reported to the U.K.’s Yellow Card adverse event reporting system, which was set up to monitor the influx of adverse events that were anticipated during this live, experimental vaccine study. Back in 2020, the vaccine makers had already entered into liability-free contracts with governments around the world. This has enabled mass vaccine injury with no recourse or accountability and set up the framework for a historic, worldwide holocaust.
The Battle of the Coral Sea is regarded by some as the action that saved Australia in WW2. That is an over-simplistic view in my opinion. It was certainly a major factor in turning the tide against Japan but it was one of a conglomerate of successful campaigns which, together, stopped their advance in the Pacific.
The Battle of the Coral Sea was fought between the Japanese Navy and the combined naval forces of the Allies but heavily dominated by the US carrier based task force. Together with the success of the Australians at Milne Bay and the Kokoda Track these three events were instrumental in the eventual defeat of the Japanese in the Solomon Islands and New Guinea.
The battle was fought between the 4th and 8th May, 1942.It was the first sea battle between forces built around aircraft carriers and fought by aircraft rather than ships.
I grew up in the era where Cancer was a word you never used unless it related to a star sign in the daily horoscopes. It was referred to as a euphemism - The Big C. As a Cancer survivor, I have learned to say the word and also to confront the cancers that pervade our society under the guise of " it is for our own good. "
Today, we are being invaded by the slow but ever persistent creeping wave of destruction that will inevitably overwhelm us. UNLESS we start to build some walls, push back and stop the incoming tide of cultural and societal corruption ( another " C " word we could do without ) we will be swamped and will drown in the incoming wave of the letter C out of control.
Read more: Covid, Climate Change and the Big C of Cancel Culture
Last week, we saw the passing of Judith Reisman, aged 86. Her death came 10 days after she received the second corona virus “ jab.” We will probably never know what her cause of death was, other than it was put down to natural causes. We will probably never know if it was a result of the vaccine or because she had existing health issues.
Or some other nepharious reason.
But this, for the moment, is not the matter of her death that makes her extraordinary, but the matter of her life.
Judith Reisman was the woman who exposed the dark side of the man who is seen as a prophet and a devil, depending upon which side of the moral fence you sit. His name was Alfred Kinsey.
As a kid, there was no room for sooks or cry babies. We played in the mud, we dropped food on the floor and picked it up and ate it. And, if we got hurt, our mother would shove some iodine on it, tell us to stop our moaning and go outside to play.
I remember when I was told, when having a tantrum or a hissy fit “ if you want to cry, I’ll give you something to cry about. “
We weren’t tougher back then. We just weren’t allowed to get away with shit.
It is hard to believe that twenty-eight years have passed since the world lost Diana,…
221 hits
Few figures divide Australians as sharply as Ned Kelly. To some, he is a larrikin…
450 hits
Paddy’s Golden Mischief: A Rat’s-Eye View of Dusty Gulch By Roderick (Whiskers) McNibble, Chief Correspondent…
357 hits
We are told it’s all under control. Markets are managed, energy transitions are planned, and…
402 hits
In the shadow of a shattered empire, the Weimar Republic rose in 1919, promising democracy,…
392 hits
“Some of us may forget that, of all the Allies, it was the Australians who…
501 hits
When 5 Ducks Take on Snakes, Dusty Gulch Prepares for Bloodshed By Roderick (Whiskers) McNibble,…
461 hits
" Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it…
473 hits
In early 1951, New Zealand’s waterfronts weren’t just bustling ports - they had become battlegrounds.…
500 hits
Ratty News Special: “From Gondwana to Dusty Gulch: The Ostrich Problem” By Roderick (Whiskers) McNibble,…
517 hits
During World War II, Australia was a vital cog in the Allied machine, sending troops…
606 hits
Of all the magnificent units and regiments of the Australian Army I doubt if…
551 hits
The Emu War is one of Australia’s strangest historical events. In late 1932, the government…
488 hits
For nearly a decade, I’ve poured my soul into this blog. Twelve hours a day,…
440 hits
The Battle of Long Tan took place on August 18, 1966, in the Phuoc Tuy…
506 hits
We live in a strange age where even computers can sound like they care. AI…
394 hits
RATTY NEWS EXCLUSIVE: DIGITAL DINGO’S BIN BONANZA By Roderick (Whiskers) McNibble – Chief Correspondent, Dusty…
502 hits
On 6 and 9 August 1945, the United States detonated two atomic bombs over the…
466 hits
Democracy: Now With 97% Less Majority Rule Because who needs the will of the people…
578 hits
NEWSFLASH FROM DUSTY GULCH By Roderick (Whiskers) McNibble – Dusty Gulch Bureau Chief Hold onto…
467 hits
Between the “Scrap Iron Flotilla” and “the Rats of Tobruk,” turning insults into a point…
469 hits
Before Xbox and iPads, we had mist, mud, and pinecones - and we waged battles…
437 hits
Picture trench warfare, and you’re probably seeing World War I’s muddy, rat-infested ditches, with soldiers…
496 hits
Digitally Removed in Shocking Duck Directive - Trevor the Wallaby Victim of “Knee-Free” Policy – Gulch Governance…
562 hits
How my father’s final hour barefoot in the sun taught me what it really means…
468 hits
What a healed bone, the smell of leather, and a soldier’s burden reveal about who…
459 hits
Thomas Pritchard, Australia's last "Rat of Tobruk" passed away at the age of 102 on…
632 hits
In a thoughtful historical essay published on this blog, John Ruddick celebrated the British discovery…
519 hits
From immigration policy to identity politics, energy to ideology - the erosion of Western society…
533 hits
In the 1970s, listening to Pirate Radio was more than entertainment - it was defiance.…
649 hits
DUSTY GULCH IN TURMOIL AS SOCIAL MEDIA MELTDOWN HITS MULTI-SPECIES SCHOOL By Roderick (Whiskers) McNibble,…
550 hits
“Every tyrant must begin by claiming to have what his victims respect and to give…
633 hits