As people all around Australia see a few more dollars in their pay packet, spare a moment to learn how it all began - with a combine harvester.
This week, Australia's minimum wage will increase by 8.6 per cent, and award workers will get a 5.75 per cent pay boost, in a Fair Work Commission (FWC) decision.
The new national minimum wage will be $23.23 per hour, and $882.80 per week, based on a 38-hour week.I wonder how many people know that the concept of a minimum wage began when the Arbitration Court made what became Australia's National Minimum Wage in the Harvester decision of 1907.
Read more: The Sunshine Harvester - the machine whose legacy lives on
The modern phenomenon of ‘woke’ is hard to pin down. Is it a movement, a religion, an attitude, or a lifestyle? Here we offer our own definition that places woke in the broader historical and political story of the West.
We start with a list of attitudinal elements that most people would agree should count as part of woke. In this we are spoiled for choice, with a whole smorgasbord of examples from the personal, political and corporate spheres from which to discern the core elements. Here are our top five:
Today, it is fashionable to be Woke. It is fashionable to be " gay ", " transgender ", " black ", " climate change aware ", vaxxed " and vegan.
Nothing appears to stop these dedicated disciples from following the latest fashion trend of being completely dedicated to being complete dickheads in order to gain approval from the twitter trolls, leftie luvvies and the woke brigade.
If mutilating your teenage body to become accepted is the latest fashion, thousands of young people are jumping on the bandwagon. If gluing yourself to a road will get applause from your online chums, then do it. If blowing up our coal-fired power stations gets you a seat on the tik tok train, then who can blame you? After all, you are simply a dedicated follower of fashion.
This last week has been a very unique time in our nation's history. So many of us have watched in disbelief as elements of the media have taken a defamation case verdict to launch waves of attack against Ben Roberts-Smith - without any criminal charges being laid, let alone conviction recorded.
I have spoken about this publicly, stemming from my first actions in the media now nearly three years ago - calling for these most serious allegations of war crimes, or any incidents on military operations, to be afforded the due process our service personnel respect. Due process that should only ever see such serious allegations tried to the criminal standards of truth beyond reasonable doubt, and in a manner that protects the identities of our service personnel and their families - given the real possibility of reprisals and dangers to them and their families for simply being identified as serving in Afghanistan at a time when it is now under Taliban control.
Read more: Ben Roberts Smith Defamation Case and the Media Chaos
On June 6, 1944, the world witnessed an extraordinary event that changed the course of World War II. Known as the Normandy Landing, or D-Day, it marked the largest amphibious invasion in human history.
The Normandy Landing was the result of months of meticulous planning and preparation by Allied forces. Under the command of General Dwight D. Eisenhower, a multinational coalition consisting of American, British, Canadian, and other Allied troops including Australian, came together to devise an audacious plan. The objective was to establish a foothold in Nazi-occupied France and initiate the liberation of Western Europe.
“I’m sick and tired of hearing Democrats whining about Joe Biden’s age. The man knows how to govern. Just shut up and vote to save Democracy.” — Rob Reiner, Hollywood savant
Perhaps you’re aware that the World Health Organization (WHO) is cooking up a plan to impose its will over all the sovereign nations on this planet in the event of future pandemics. That means, for instance, that the WHO would issue orders to the USA about lockdowns, vaccines, and vaccine passports and we US citizens supposedly would be compelled to follow them.
Meanwhile, big ears had abandoned his fun and was now neatly sitting and staring intently at me, as if waiting for a command, or food. “Looks like he was crossed with a fruit bat with those ears,” I laughed and at that he barked at me, seemingly with indignation, and then took off through the fence and disappeared in the bush. ( re read part 1 )
“Do you think they might want to get rid of that one?” I asked Al as “big ears” vanished into the scrub.
Why did I bother with that question? I certainly did not drive all that way looking for a dog. I wanted a 3/4 inch adjustable reamer, an object of beautiful steel precision. Besides, I had absolutely nothing for a dog. And, the cost of keeping a dog was...well…expensive! My dear Mother reckoned my Father spent more on his dog’s vet fees than both of them did on doctors—and they were both in their eighties.
I grew up in a small rural community in the hills of New Zealand. My early life was shrouded in mist and the ever-present wind that pummeled our hilltop community and we loved every wet windy second. So much so that even today, all these decades later, my definition of a perfect day is a misty drizzly soggy one where I can snuggle down and take life off the hook and feel perfectly justified in being a sloth.
As kids, we roamed the paddocks, built campfires and fought incredible wars.
Read more: Trench Warfare. Pinecones and Pantry Raids for Rice
War is a battlefield and often, men are merely men who find themselves in untenable situations where they live or die because someone, somewhere, ordered them to do something.
Warfare or War Fair? That is the question. We used to say that all is fair in love and war. Apparently, in these woke days, it's only fair if you ask your enemy to be nice and ( if he or she isn't ) you are likely to be stripped of your medals and stripped of your reputation. Being mean in war is just no longer the done thing. Winning is no longer an option in this new woke world. In fact, working for the good of your country will only land you in the shit.
In the video below, John Campbell, Ph.D., a retired nurse educator, reviews the proposed amendments to the 2005 International Health Regulations (IHR), which is the instrument that empowers the World Health Organization to declare a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC).
If these amendments go through, however, the WHO will be empowered to do a whole lot more than that. It will become the de facto governing body of all member states, including the U.S.
Now, according to so-called “fact checkers,” the WHO will have no authority to dictate U.S. health policy under the amended IHR or the proposed pandemic treaty, nor will nations be stripped of their sovereignty.1 But they’re completely wrong. The only reason they’re denying these truths is because they don’t want the public to pressure government to reject these proposals, as they should.
Read more: The WHO Will Have Authority To Mandate Vaccines Globally
In the annals of history, certain events stand out as extraordinary displays of human resilience and solidarity.
One such event is the evacuation of Dunkirk during World War II.
Against all odds, the allied forces executed a remarkable rescue mission that saved hundreds of thousands of lives and altered the course of the war. The operation, known as the "Miracle of Dunkirk," remains etched in our collective memory as a testament to the indomitable spirit of humanity in the face of adversity.
Read more: The Miraculous Evacuation of Dunkirk: Triumph Amidst Adversity
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