Patriot Realm

Banjo Paterson is the giant of Australian literature and folk law. His exploits in this field are so extensively well documented that I would not presume to add to them.

What is less well known is his contribution to the war effort in WW1 and to a much lesser extent The Boer War. His contribution to the successes of the Light Horse brigades was outstanding.

Banjo Paterson was a newspaper correspondent intermingled with a legal practice. When the second Boer War broke out on 11^th October, 1899 Banjo was a member of the NSW Lancers and sought to sail with the first contingent for South Africa. He was rejected for active service because he had only one good arm. He was well connected with the Fairfax family and asked to be sent to South Africa at his own expense for one month to serve as a war correspondent. One month was the limit of his financial resources.

Ultimately the truth will come out and we will finally see justice. We are being ruled by cowards. We have one flag, we are one community, we are one nation, and WE want justice.

It is not a matter of IF, but WHEN.

This entire Covid debacle is exploding and imploding at the same time:  this is set to be the biggest miscarriage of justice in modern history. 

We have written here about Thalidomide, Leprosy and other horrors of medical mistakes.... is it truly possible that they will actually pale into insignificance in comparison with what has been done under the guise of health CARE and government CARING?

With the media storm that surrounded the allegations of one Liberal party staffer raping another, was there ever a chance of an unbiased trial?

The Brittany Higgins #MeToo rape trial ended this week in Canberra, with the jury failing to reach a unanimous verdict after deliberating for seven days – after concerns were raised about a juror improperly accessing research material not in evidence before the court.

If the end to the trial wasn’t sensational enough, after the jury had been discharged, the complainant, Ms. Higgins, gave an incendiary speech outside the court that has now been referred to the court and the police to determine whether it amounts to a contempt of court and/or a criminal offence.

As children, many of us read the story of the Emperor with new clothes. It was a tale about a man who walked around stark naked and the courtiers and sychophants all said amazing things about his fantastic new clothes.

Written by Hans Christen Andersen, a couple of swindlers pretending to be weavers make a special outfit for the emperor. They tell the emperor and all of his minions and followers that the clothes are invisible to people who are stupid or too dumb to see. No one can see the clothing, but no one wants to say it because they don't want to tell the truth for fear of being ridiculed themselves. Or worse still, punished. 

Why do we fear ghosts and all things supernatural on Halloween in particular? The customs of Halloween go back centuries and are so deeply steeped in religion and tradition that nothing about this tradition seems strange when you understand where it comes from. Yet, I never grew up with Halloween.

I had never really considered it as part of life until the last decade or two down under. It was something that crept into our culture and became part of every year..... why?

As a child, the end of October was simply that. It was the mark of expectation that Bonfire Night was just around the corner and the promise ( or threat) of crackers down my gumboots was with me yet again.