Parishioners of St. Linguine’s Basilica (well, it felt Italian enough) were left choking on incense and incensed as the Australian Hon. Chris Bowen, Energy Minister and apparent carb enthusiast, made a grand late entrance to Sunday mass … clutching a steaming bowl of gnocchi.
Witnesses say Bowen, possibly thinking the Spirit had already descended and the mass had wrapped up, parked himself in the front pew, whipped out his fork, and began communing not with the Divine... but with ricotta-stuffed dumplings.
We at Ratty News believe in forgiveness, flavour, and showing up on time. We do not, however, endorse interrupting sacred rituals for potato pasta.
Whether it was hunger, haste, or a divine misunderstanding, Mr. Bowen has cemented his place in the Ratty archives as the first minister in history to mistake a Mass for a food court.
And so it was that the isolated bush town of Dusty Gulch invited Mr Bowen and Prime Minister Albanese to enjoy a pasta meal with them....Les the Roo Shooter stated: “You turn up late with carbs to a sacred affair in Dusty Gulch? You best hope it’s your Last Supper, mate.”
Read more: Gnocchi at Mass and Net Zero Nonsense: Minister Bowen’s Blunder Goes Bush
While We’re Watching Bikinis, They’re Taking Wickets.... What’s Our Excuse? Time to Bat Like Bradman
- Details
- Written by: Op-Ed Monty
- Hits: 851
User Rating: 5 / 5
While we're distracted, they are cleaning us up. Time to stop playing defence and bat like Bradman. Read on before the umpire pulls the plug...
This is a story about a broken bikini strap, a game of beach cricket, politics, and Artificial Intelligence. Intrigued? You should be.....
Back in the late '70s or early '80s ... when Australia still had its sunburnt sense of humour intact and the beach was a place for fun, not Instagram filters .... the Aussie cricket team took some well-earned R&R in the Whitsundays.
Whitehaven Beach, in the Whitsundays of Queensland, that stretch of impossibly white sand and aqua water, was the scene. It was the kind of spot where thongs are footwear, not a social statement, and no one would’ve heard of a selfie stick, let alone cared.
- Details
- Written by: Op-Ed Monty
- Hits: 891
User Rating: 5 / 5
Memorial Day, observed on the last Monday of May, is a time for Americans to honour the men and women who have died in military service to the United States. This day is marked by ceremonies, parades, and tributes, reflecting the nation's respect and gratitude for those who made the ultimate sacrifice.
Much like our ANZAC Day, it is a day to genuinely honour those who fought and perished to defend our right to freedom.
Memorial Day in the United States and ANZAC Day in Australia and New Zealand are both national days dedicated to remembering and honouring military personnel who have served and sacrificed for their countries. While these special days share a common purpose, they differ in their origins, customs, and modern significance. Comparing these two observances provides a way to look into how different nations honour their fallen heroes and reflect on their military histories.
This post explores the history in both and how they are the same yet different.
- Details
- Written by: Op-Ed Monty
- Hits: 1011
User Rating: 5 / 5
In early 1982, two troubled nations collided on a cluster of windswept islands in the South Atlantic.
For 74 days, Britain and Argentina fought a short, brutal war over the Falklands - or as Argentina calls them, the Malvinas.
The conflict was brief, but the shockwaves rippled across both nations, exposing the ways of how political power often ignore the will of ordinary people.
At the time, Argentina was ruled by a military junta, the latest in a series of authoritarian regimes that had plagued the country for decades. Half a world away, Britain was also in crisis. Margaret Thatcher’s government faced economic turmoil, industrial unrest, and plummeting popularity. The sudden attack on the Falklands gave her a chance to show strength.
Read more: The Falklands War: Fought Over Pride, Politics and the Ghosts of Empire
- Details
- Written by: Op-Ed Ratty News
- Hits: 917
User Rating: 5 / 5
Read more: Diego Garcia: The Great Crumb Caper of the Indian Ocean
- Details
- Written by: Op-Ed Shaydee Lane
- Hits: 886
User Rating: 5 / 5
Today we’ve got a curious tale to share... part sport, part history, and part heart. It begins, as so many good stories do, with a wartime memory.
My 92-year-old Mum still remembers the first time she tasted ice cream... proper American ice cream... during World War II. The Yanks had arrived in droves, bringing chocolate, charm, jitterbug records, and a strange new summer game called softball.
That’s where this story begins: in the swirl of war, sport, and shifting summer traditions. One side of the Tasman would fall in love with softball. The other already had a national romance... in whites, with an Australian National hero..... Don Bradman. But Mum's brother, Uncle Pete, fell in love with softball.
Read more: Cricket, Softball and a Yank Invasion: A Tale of Two Summers
Page 19 of 249
-
The Men We Chose…
From Whitlam to Bondi Beach, how moral evasion became cultural habit Australia has woken up…
by Op-Ed Shaydee Lane253 hits
-
Comfortably Numb: Ten Years…
At 9:41am on Monday, 15 December 2014, Man Haron Monis forced Tori Johnson, the manager…
by Op-Ed Monty399 hits
-
Lindsay Fox - The…
Recent news in Australia has sparked debate: a ban on social media for under-16s. The…
by Op-Ed Monty322 hits
-
The Duck, the Diva…
Dusty Gulch Gazette – Special Scandal Edition By Roderick (Whiskers) McNibble – Foreign Correspondent, Rodent…
by Op-Ed Ratty News317 hits
-
Has the ‘Woke’ movement…
Back in 1904, H. G. Wells published a short story called “The Country of the…
by Op-Ed Monty358 hits
-
Young Minds Under Siege:…
Education, often celebrated as a beacon of enlightenment and progress, can also become a potent…
by Op-Ed Monty353 hits
-
White Island - A…
On December 9, 2019, New Zealand's White Island erupted .claiming 22 lives and leaving survivors…
by Op-Ed Shaydee Lane372 hits
-
Drawing Blood With Ink
They say the pen is mightier than the sword, and nowhere is that truer than…
by Op-Ed Monty339 hits
-
Pearl Harbor - a…
Before the sun had fully risen over Hawaii, a chain reaction had begun — one…
by The PR Blog449 hits
-
Little Johnny Outsmarts eSafety:…
“Minor Problem: I Identify as a 73-Year-Old Tabby, Therefore I’m Legally Entitled to X (and…
by Op-Ed Little Johnny462 hits
-
Town Ticks 'Duck' en…
Dusty Gulch Gazette – Special Duck Census Edition By Roderick (Whiskers) McNibble – Foreign Correspondent,…
by Op-Ed Ratty News359 hits
-
You'd Have to be…
Flysa spent some of the early years of his life managing construction projects in the…
by Op-Ed Flysa408 hits
-
From Gold Fever to…
In the heart of Ballarat in 1854, a ragtag coalition of gold miners took a…
by Op-Ed Monty509 hits
-
The Bhopal Gas Tragedy:…
The Bhopal Gas Tragedy: Forty-One Years On — A Legacy That Still Breathes, Bleeds, and…
by Op-Ed Monty376 hits
-
Henry Kaiser - The…
Henry J. Kaiser: The Self-Made Miracle Worker and the Legacy of Vision This article builds…
by Op-Ed Monty435 hits
-
Australia’s Iron Ore Industry…
The birth of Australia’s iron ore industry wasn’t just an economic milestone - it was…
by Op-Ed Monty422 hits
-
Meet Lee Hanson: One…
The Quiet Hanson: Why Lee Sherrard Might Just Save One Nation (and Why She Might…
by Op-Ed Monty606 hits
-
" The Burka is…
Dusty Gulch Gazette – Emergency Midnight Edition November 27, 2025 – Vol. 147, No. 320…
by Op-Ed Ratty News437 hits
-
Raise a Glass, America…
From a disease-ravaged ship anchored off a windswept coast… to thirteen scrappy colonies telling the…
by Op-Ed Monty397 hits
-
The Prime of Miss…
In Muriel Spark’s The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, a charismatic Edinburgh teacher enchants her…
by Op-Ed Monty563 hits
-
Elon Musk - Reaching…
Elon Musk is more than a billionaire tech mogul...he’s a disruptor, a visionary, and a…
by Op-Ed Monty408 hits
-
It's Time to be…
Yes, let’s be honest. The days when the Irish, Scots, Italians, Greeks, Poles, Hungarians, Poms,…
by Op-Ed Monty428 hits
-
Prohibition didn’t make Teetotallers:…
Picture this: You’re sitting down for a family dinner, and instead of chatting about school,…
by Op-Ed Monty426 hits
-
CROW SHOT, CLOUDS CRASH…
Dusty Gulch Gazette November 21, 2025 – Vol. 147, No. 312 By Jedediah "Dust" Harlan…
by Op-Ed Ratty News448 hits
-
Bullet Pops Digital Duck…
by Roderick (Whiskers) McNibble - Chief Correspondent for Ratty News - Aeronautical and Ornithological Division…
by Op-Ed Ratty News441 hits
-
Tynwald, the Isle of…
A green hill in the Irish Sea has stood for 1,045 years. It has seen…
by Op-Ed Monty452 hits
-
Lost With All Hands…
There are many ships of the Royal Australian Navy that are dear to the hearts…
by Op-Ed Happy Expat423 hits
-
A History of Whiskered…
In military history, there are countless tales of bravery, valour, and unwavering dedication from soldiers…
by Op-Ed Shaydee Lane438 hits
-
Year 3399: Cavemen Reject…
After the Great Green Reset wiped out civilisation back in the 2020s, the surviving humans…
by Op-Ed Monty412 hits
-
When Fiction Becomes Reality:…
On the night of 30 October 1938, millions of Americans leaned close to their radios…
by Op-Ed Monty453 hits
-
Is it Lights Off…
Oil & Coal: The Twin Engines That Built Our World – And the Greens Want…
by Op-Ed Monty433 hits
-
Black Dye, White Lies…
Identity crisis cured by $2.50 DNA kits, cold beer, and one large crocodile By Roderick…
by Op-Ed Ratty News451 hits
Who's online
We have 435962 guests and no members online
Online
We have 435964 guests and no members online
Hmmm....
-
The 4th of July…
Independence Day, also known as the Fourth of July, is one of the most significant…
by The PR Blog999 hits
-
The Aussie Election -…
In a rare confluence, Canada, Britain, and Australia held elections within a week of one…
by Op-Ed Guest Post1058 hits
-
Operation Downstream: The Rise…
RATTY NEWS EXCLUSIVE Operation Downstream: The Rise of the Feathernet Underground By Roderick (Whiskers) McNibble,…
by Op-Ed Ratty News1129 hits
-
The Easter Bunny and…
Magic happens everywhere and goodness, wonder and delight can be found alive and well throughout…
by Op-Ed Ellan Vannin1174 hits
-
Diego Garcia and the…
Tucked away in the remote heart of the Indian Ocean lies a tiny archipelago that…
by Op-Ed Monty1252 hits
-
Operation Wombat: Dutton’s Downfall…
Factional ferrets, backstabbing bandicoots, and the great Teal tango - how the Libs turned on…
by Op-Ed Ratty News1300 hits
-
The Australian Climate is…
The latest State of the Climate Report is out to scare everyone with plucked esoteric records based…
by Op-Ed Guest Post1740 hits
-
Why Tucker Carlson remains…
The Fox News star gives voice to the concerns of millions – the part of…
by Op-Ed Guest Post1758 hits
-
Taiwan, Pelosi’s Attention Getting…
It is beyond belief that the speaker who tore up the copies of Donald Trump’s…
by Op-Ed Michael Bresciani1760 hits
-
My Son Hunter -…
I want to share this with you because it has to be one of the…
by The PR Blog1760 hits
Australiana
- View all
- Australiana
- View all
- collection
- eddie
- feature
-
Thursday February 08
Shearing in Australia -…
In the 1880’s shearers wielded a lot of influence on our country. Despite us not…
4723 hits
-
Wednesday March 01
Ned Kelly's Mother -…
At the beginning of March, 2023, I join Monty in celebrating Irish month. There are…
6490 hits
-
Thursday December 29
Ned Kelly
One of the most famous and best known characters in Australian folk lore, Ned Kelly…
6963 hits
-
Saturday January 14
John Monash - the…
General Sir John Monash is one of the truly great Australians. He was an Australian…
6453 hits
-
Friday July 14
Eddie and Me -…
Nearly 30 years has flowed under the bridge since I last owned a dog. That…
5620 hits
-
Monday March 04
Against The Wind
These are episides from Against the Wind , a 1978 Australian television miniseries. It is a historical drama…
4919 hits
Help cover our monthly costs
Search
Collections
-
On Board the Wunderlust…
I think it’s safe to say that adventures of the more daring kind are often…
by Op-Ed Chaucer15186 hits
-
Orthon of the Azores…
Speckled about the steep slopes are clumps of small, fieldstone cottages. Their crumbling mortar and aging stones are victim…
by Op-Ed Chaucer2772 hits
-
Eddie and Me -…
Nearly 30 years has flowed under the bridge since I last owned a dog. That…
by Op-Ed Chaucer5620 hits
Latest Posts
- The Men We Chose to Admire: The Myths We Protected — and the Price We Now Pay
- Comfortably Numb: Ten Years After the Lindt Café Siege
- Lindsay Fox - The Legend that just keeps rolling
- The Duck, the Diva and the Dodgy Honeymoon
- Has the ‘Woke’ movement finally awoken the slumbering Saxon?
- Young Minds Under Siege: Who Owns Your Child’s Mind? The Seaside Town That Learned the Hard Way in 1939