In these dark days of misery, it is often pleasant to hear a story that has a happy ending. For me, such an event came to pass this morning. No, I did not win the lottery. In fact, it would have been strange had I done so as I never take a ticket. No, my happy ending came because a lovely lady, very close to me and my family won a battle by following the wisdom of Sun Tzu.
Sun Tzu was a Chinese military strategist, philosopher, and author of "The Art of War," an influential work on military strategy and tactics. Little is known about his life, and even the exact dates of his birth and death are uncertain, though he is believed to have lived during the Eastern Zhou period of ancient China, around the 6th century BC.
Last night, I watched a film about an American service dog whose mate had died. It was a hard slog to watch. Too much pain and suffering in one film.
On the 13th of March each year, we mark World K9 Day. The day that the world is supposed to celebrate the gift of loyalty and dedication that our four-legged friends have given to our Military men and women. Our canine friends have fought beside us and stood beside us and comforted us in times of trouble and we are increasingly, as a species, forgetting their dedication and love and consigning them into the same bin that we place our unborn children.
We are reading more and more stories of heartbroken and dispirited Veterans who are taking their own lives.
After so many decades of service to us, surely we should recognise the role these quiet companions play in a world post-war? Are dogs the answer to the real pandemic - that of Veteran suicides confronting our Nations?
It saddens me that this Worldwide day of tribute often passes without a mention on mainstream media. Let us ensure that does not happen this year.
In last week's article I wrote about the English and their food as it existed through the ages. There are those, particularly the French, who scoff and snigger at the mere mention of English cuisine.
Boring, insipid and bland are only a few of the unkind adjectives levelled against English fare. Let's not forget that it was English food that fueled the British to defeat Napoleon.
However, that was in the past and anyone with working taste buds who has travelled around Britain usually talks about the delicious fare served in pubs and country inns, not to mention some of the finer restaurants.
But, back in the middle ages the common folk, including the French, were no strangers to the gnawing pains of hunger.
As our world becomes more corrupt, complicated and seemingly hopeless, we need to use our minds to seek hope from those who have proven, beyond shadow of doubt, that good can triumph.
I saw an image today that struck me as being quite profound. I called it " white privilege. " Perhaps it should have been pioneer spirit and that, is something that new " migrants" seem to lack these days.
It made me wonder how our countries have travelled so far from reality that we are now expected to believe in this myth that we are thinking ourselves superior?
The countries that gave us birth were apparently founded on so called "white privilege". Our ancestors arrived in our nations with wealth of knowledge. That is true. The knowledge of hard earned skills and generations of hard learned lessons.
Heritage is something I care deeply about. A Manx flag flies proudly outside Redhead's home. My reluctance to spend money is seen everytime I open my purse and moths fly out. My Scottish gene is very strong, and my Manx gene is ever there, warning me about the moordie doo and the dangers of saying a word spelled R.A.T and knowing that such a thing would cause great discomfort in my genetic history.
I have a New Zealand history, and I love the memories of a childhood spent wandering the hills and green paddocks of my beloved homeland.
Yet I drink in the solitude of the Australian Outback and the heat and the rain and the sheer joy of being Australian.
No, I am not Irish. Yet there is something in me that feels the beat of a heart that must come from my Manx heritage: that of an Irish jig or a lament well sung.
In many of us, there is that seed of the Irish. That thing we cannot put our finger on. That wondrous joy of hearing a song and feeling unable to stop the tap of the foot and the song that springs suddenly into our hearts and our minds.
Once upon a time, there was a cranky old bastard who lived in the outback, now, this cranky and cantankerous old bastard, does not put up with crap for long at all, especially, the crap dished up in the outback for modern communications, called the NBN.
Some time ago, there were two drongos on a plane, and they thought it would be good, to write a brain fart called the NBN, down on a beer coaster, rather than a white board, as one of their colleagues did for funding grants, a few years prior.
This brain fart, known as the NBN, proposed a system of fibre optic cables to every home, business and government department in Australia.
At the time, the cost to do this, was considered extreme, that is, until the ConJob came along and sent our government debt soaring to the sum of around $1.7 Trillion.
This month marks the fourth anniversary of one of the most disastrous assaults on human rights in American history. It was on March 16, 2020 that the President Trump issued "guidelines" for "15 days to slow the spread" which stated that "Governors of states with evidence of community transmission should close schools in affected and surrounding areas." The administration instructed all members of the public to "listen to and follow the directions of your state and local authorities."
It was at this time that an American president, for the first time in American history, introduced the idea that it was possible—and perfectly legal—for government institutions to "close down" the economy by forcibly shutting, en masse, countless businesses, schools, and churches. Trump stated repeatedly in press conferences that it was up to government officials to decide "if we open up." It quickly became standard procedure for health bureaucrats, governors, and media figures to casually speak of "closing the economy" or "opening up" as if we were talking about a coffee shop deciding on closing time.
The Castle Hill Rebellion, also known as the Second Battle of Vinegar Hill, occurred on March 4th and 5th, 1804, in New South Wales, Australia. It was a pivotal moment in Australia's early colonial history, driven by a mix of political unrest, social inequality, and the desire for freedom among the oppressed convicts and Irish political prisoners.
The catalyst for the rebellion was the oppressive conditions endured by convicts and the lack of rights they faced under British rule. Many convicts were transported to Australia for petty crimes, yet they were subjected to harsh treatment, limited freedoms, and forced labor. Additionally, Irish political prisoners, who were often leaders in rebellion, added fuel to the growing discontent.
Under the leadership of William Johnston, a former Irish rebel, and Philip Cunningham, a convict, a plan to overthrow British authority was devised. The rebels aimed to seize control of key locations, including Parramatta and Sydney, and establish a free settlement.
At the beginning of March, 2024, I join Monty in celebrating Irish month.
There are many men and women who hail from Ireland and have made lives in other countries over the decades. We are a few days short of St Patrick's Day, but we must start with a bit of a shout out to one of the most intriguing women in Irish and Australian history.
Today, I celebrate one woman of Irish heritage and the men who made her life notorious.The woman who was Ned Kelly's mother. I can think of no more fitting person to start our journey.
It is a story of a very hard life, probably almost typical for many women of that era but a story worth the telling on its own merits.
Ellen Kelly was born Ellen Quinn in the town of Ballymena on the northern tip of Ireland in County Antrim, not far from The Devil’s Causeway, in 1832. She died in 1923, aged 91.
In the dying days of Julia Gillard’s government, her communications minister, Steve Conroy, brought in two bills to regulate the media, or more succinctly, to nobble the Murdoch press.
After all, the 2013 election was only months away and the Murdoch stable much more often than not gave Labor a hard time.
Murdoch’s cheeky Daily Telegraph mocked up a picture of Conroy in Stalin’s uniform. Outraged progressives demanded an apology. The Tele apologised, but to Stalin not Conroy:
… we would just like to say: We’re sorry, Joseph.
Yes, it is true that Stalin was a despicable and evil tyrant who was responsible for the death of many millions. However, at least he was upfront in his efforts to control the media instead of pretending he supported free speech and then suggesting that cheeky, satirical or provocative newspaper coverage might be against the law.
We also note that, despite his well-documented crimes against humanity, Stalin at least managed to hold a government together for more than three years. Nonetheless, we pay tribute to our new Commissar Conroy and stand ready to write and publish whatever he instructs us to.
If your purse can survive the price of admission the world of gastronomy is open to all. Given advanced technologies in farming, food processing and kitchen know-how, most of us eat particularly well. Especially when compared to our ancestors, ancient and not quite so.
Stone Age Englishmen survived essentially from hunting and fishing. Neolithic remains found at Whitehawk Hill near Brighton, East Sussex, England, suggests that our distant brethren probably ate each other from time to time and washed the meal down with a type of beer.
It wasn't until 3,000 years BC that the concept of farming drifted across the channel from Europe. The breeding of cattle, pigs, and sheep began about the same time.
Although the last Roman soldier left Britain in AD 407 they left behind a legacy of new foods, the concepts of some would last to the present day.
Apples, cherries, anchovy sauce, and wine were a few. Join me on a journey down history's byways and enjoy a course in historic dining.
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“Loyalty to country ALWAYS. Loyalty to government, when it deserves it.” ― Mark Twain