HNY

Happy New Year everyone.

I really hope Oh-6 is a better year than 2005, on every level, and for EVERYONE.
I don't think I need to go into the whole list, we all know the main shit that went wrong, that has affected us all in one way or another this year, so I guess once we add all our individual stuff on top of that.....mine anyway and yadah yaddah; bad year, hope for a better one, starting with yaddah yaddah.

Personally, it has been a tough year, summed up by spending most of today watching a Will & Grace marathon on cable. What exactly that says about my year I don't know, but I'm sure its wrong wrong wrong.
It was bullshit hot today also...43C (approx 120-130F), so even if Will and Grace weren't on, I'd have stuck down in front of the TV anyway.

Currently deciding whether or not to go into the city and watch the fireworks tonight, but I did that last year - which was truly the beginning of a crappy Two Thousand an' Five, besides, seen 'em once yaddah yaddah. Double besides, providing the smaller fireworks are fired off around the Bay (the fire weather plus Fireworks are not a good mix), I'll see them from home.

On the other hand, it's gonna be damn hot again tonight, which of course means no sleep anyway, so I may as well do something.
But on the other hand yet again, which I think takes me to hand number four or something now, the city will be crowded and unless one has good company, it'll actually be boring as hell just waiting around for a few minutes of fireworks then getting a train home at 2 or 3 in the morning again.

So, I'm tipping I'll be staying right here.

Anyhoo, time to shower (again).

I truly hope you all have a great night and a great Twenty-Oh-Six.


UPDATE>>>>


Oh...PS

In another signal of what my year amounted to in total, I went through my wardrobe today and did a massive bunch of washing and clothe sorting.
That's all.

Glad its over!

Seriously.
Now we can get on with the other 364 days of the year.

I hope yours was all good and that you had good days' and the Santa was good and stuff, but I'm just so over it.

What I got....A ticket to Boxing Day of the Boxing Day Test at the MCG.
A Monty Python, The Meaning of Life DVD.

The Test ticket was of course used on boxing day and the DVD is still waiting to be viewed.

Boxing Day....Well, to any one from Melbourne, I'll tell you now, the new Ponsford Stand at the MCG is HUGE. And by huge I mean totally breathtaking. And surprisingly comfortable. There were 72,000 ppl at the ground on Monday, and it really didn't feel like it.
For people not from Melbourne, I'll sum up briefly.
The MCG (Melbourne Cricket Ground) just had a $435M upgrade to three of its stands. They were actually knocked down an replaced by one huge, HUGE stand - Partly for the Commonwealth Games here in March.
The groung will now hold about 100,000 again.
It was good to get back to a Boxing Day Test though, I haven't been for years.
Anyhow....

Bactracking further....Christmas Day.
How Fuckin Boring. Seriously. I was woken to open presents, went back to sleep, woke up for lunch, read/listened to music/dozed till it was time to go to my brother's place (that was cool, definately the highlight of the day), then to my horrible cousin's horrible house, in a horrible place to spend time with horrible people, get horribly bored and hate it.

I seriously dont understand Christmas.
Why do we do all this?
Like, ya go to virtual strangers homes once a year, or they come to yours (in the ten year cycle or whatever), everyone exchanges pleasantries then sits there acting all nice, wishing they were somewhere, anywhere else. The Tv is inveribly on to supply at least some sound to the otherwise 'uncomfortable' silences, then we eat, then pretend we're all 'happy happy joy joy' till an appropriate amount of time has been spent, (not to short a time, but hopefully not too long and 'overstaying the welcome' too), then the subtle cues and restlessness wash over and it's time to go home and go to sleep.
In the meantime though, we've still managed to hate the time we were their and proclaim that next year, "I'd prefer to stick my head in a hydraulic vice and just let it go".
Let's face it, if Christmas was a first date, the end of the species would surely be well on its way.

Or is it just me?

*******************************************************************

I wa gonna go on a whole big spiel on Christmas and being a Non-Christian, but, I'll do that one another day, right now I'm just sick of the actual day and stuff.

So, I guess now that I've successfully spread more of the cheery vibe, I'll leave you now feeling all cheery for the world and stuff.

Bye for now.

Inspirational Person #1

I went to see my Nanna today. Which is a rare thing to do as she lives about 2hrs away on the other side of the city, and, sadly, may well be the last time I see her.

About 6 years ago, she had the first of many strokes, which have had her knocking on "the Door" since about '99.

However, typical to her nature, she will not give in.
Even as recently as the last few days, she has fought her way back to relatively good health. In the six years, she's had countless further strokes and a few heartattacks - No-one knows for sure how many, as some have gone undetected, but every year or so, she'll have one worse than the rest. A fortnight or so ago, she had another bout of serious illness and another heartattack, which sent all her blood pressures way down and badly affected her blood, organs etc. She was unconcious for over a week and was not expected to see this Christmas - She was moved to palliative care - the last step.
However, as I said earlier, true to her tough fighting spirit, she fought back, and has recovered to a relatively good point, although she is still unwell.
She probably won't see next Christmas, although, again, we've been saying that for 6 or so years now.

But, with her life history, we are lucky to even have her.

Y'see, she's Russian.
Not that that condemns one to an early death; but, my Nanna was part of a fairly wealthy Russian family pre-Stalin. So of course, when Stalin got into power, my Nanna's family had to split up and run for survival. They were the prime candidate material for Stalin's purges. With that instinct for survival, a heap of wit and even more luck, they survived the onslaught of the Stalin era Russia.
Then came WWII. My Nanna was captured by Nazi's and sent to either Aushwiz or Dacau concentration camp (I can't remember which), where, she saw the horrors of WWII, Nazi Terror and just the general worst 'humanity' has to offer. It goes withtout saying that this is a time of her life we don't know much about, as she is understanderbly hesistant to relive and talk of these times. As many stories do tell though, the best of humanity also was seen in the camps.
After a time there, she somehow managed to escape.... a rare enough feat on it's own.
Apparently during her escape, with about a dozen others, she was shot in the leg by Nazi soldiers. With the only alternative being to stop and be caught, ana therefore returned to the camp, she continued to somehow just keep running.
Eventually she was found by American soldiers....I don't know the details, and rescued. She was saved from the war. I'm not sure, but I believe she was one of only a couple of survivors from the dozen.

So, after the war, she was homeless. She couldn't get back to her native Russia, or even Poland where she'd lived for quite some time before the Nazi invasion. In 1952, and with two children (my Dad and his Sister), she (meaning the family-herself, her Polish husband my Dad and Aunt) were moved to Australia, where she settled and after a no doubt torrid time, made a home and family, including a set of twin daughters.
In 1973, one of those twins, my Aunty, was killed in a car crash. This was a month or so before I was born. This is something no parent should ever have to do, bury their own child, but she did.

Then, after 26 years of 'normal' life, including finding the remnants of her Russian family after the demise of Soviet Russia, plus and the ups and downs of normal life she had the first of those strokes.

This is where that old fighting spirit and stubborness has resurfaced and dug in...that tough fighting spirit that warded off Stalin and Hitler, and not only survived, but thrived on the move to not only a foreign country, but for a Russian in the 1950's moving to Australia with its heat and dry and unrecognisable culture and language, would have been a foreign world, and all the daily pressures of raising a young family.

One is proud to be of her bloodline. It is old tough blood and more than that, it connects one to a person who has lived an extrordinary and inspirational life through some of history's toughest challenges.

I look at my Nanna, and think to myself, "Wow!"

I only wish I could do her justice in my words.

ARGHHHHHHHH! I HATE SPIDERS!

I found this huge mutherfucker of a spider in my room last night, about the size of a handspan, and it was taunting me, so I had to go on a killing rampage. That took about 20 minutes....worst thing - The little bugger was RIGHT ABOVE MY BED.
That left me no option, and failure was NOT it. That spider had just made the BIGGEST (and last) mistake of its life.

ARGHHHHHHHH! I HATE SPIDERS!

Sure, it was only a Huntsman Spider, nothig drastic, I mean it'll hurt if it bites, but won't kill ya, but it was IN MY SPACE.

And I hate killing things, even spiders, but this is how I see things:
If I were to put my hand in an ant or spider's nest, it/they would undoubtedly bite me, and most likely (if it was a Redback or something), cause me a great deal of pain, misery, illness or even Death; all in the name of defending it's nest.
For example, if I'm Whipper Snippering the yard (which reminds me-I gotta get a life), and I hit a BullAnt nest, which I have done; well, you should see those little critters go. For those who don't know...... BullAnts are an ant we have here, about an inch long, black and red and shiny, with pinchers big enough to see and a stinger like a wasp, extrememy aggressive, and HURT LIKE HELLFIRE IF THEY BITE. Fortunately, they do there bidding singularly rather than as an army, so to see them race out to defend the nest is quitet a sight actually, but you'll run a mile if you do see it. Anyhow, I'm getting of the topic....
So, the way I see it, that little bugger, the spider from last night, didn't just put it's hand in my nest, it invaded my nest with ALL of itself.
That left me that "no option" situation. I had to act, and act quickly. So I killed it.

I know, I know. An Eye for an Eye is fuckin obscene, especially when it comes to a creature that has no conciousness (sorry to go on about that too, I shoulda had a nap), but it was a spider. I had to pre-emptively strike.

I'm so tired and sleepy today for some reason. Maybe the weather? Maybe the half-a-can of Mortien it took to kill that little bugger. I feel sooooo bad for killing spiders.

Now its gonna get all its mates onto me.

ARGHHHHHHHH! I HATE SPIDERS!

NUMBER 50

That's right.

POST NUMBER 50.

I don't believe i've made a blog last this long. Oh wow. I'd like to thank Mom, Dad, my agent, my manager, my label, my family, my version of the omnipotent being-whether or not He/She exists, and most of all, YOU, my loyal fan(s) without you, I just wouldn't even exist.

Actually, maybe I don't.
Maybe my posts, these posts that you read, or stumble upon by accident, like this one for example, are machine generated. Maybe they are generated somewhere out here in CyberSpace, and they just appear on your screen.

Maybe, they don't exist at all, and you think they exist, and I along with them, because I am a small part of your conciousness, appearing in your singular reality from time to time as a construct of your deep, inner self; a deep inner self that you are unable to grasp on a surface level, which is why maybe, it (that deep inner self, too substantial to grasp), manifests itself in the "blogosphere", or on a train or whatever you percieve to be the reality outside and independant of yourself.

Yeah, I reckon that's it. I'm just a part of your conciousness. Nothing more and nothing less. Just as you are a part of mine.

Anyhow....

HERE is post #1 from way back in July 2005

In other news....Today, I cut the grass in the yard. Now, if you remember, I had more than a little trouble with the Whipper Snipper/Brush Cutter last time I went to do the lawns.

Here is the post that explains this in more detail.

Well, the Ol' Man went out and bought a new monster of a machine and the job that took 5 or whatever hours and a hell of a lot of rude words last time, took only an hour and a half and NO rude words.
I know a good tradesman is never supposed to blame his tools, but lets face it, A peice of shit is a peice of shit. Besides, I never went to Trade school and therefore am NOT a tradesman, so I reserve the right to blame whatever problems I have on whatever machinery/tools I like. AND I will.
Suffice to say, the new Whipper Snipper is a dream to use, especially on our steep, rugged block of land.

Any hoo, ppl out there in the realm of MY conciousness are probably getting bored now with my ravings about a glorified lawnmower, and my exploits of glorified lawn mowing, and are no doubt thinking, "Dude, get a life. It's only cutting grass..."etc, so I will now be leaving you to your own explorations of YOUR conciousness.
Oh, and be sure to laud me on my efforts of reaching this incredible milestone, and check back in for number 51.

Catch.

Bored Bored Bored

Nuh, that's it. Just
Bored
Bored
Bored

Gibberish #6

Y'know? One thing I've rarely written about here is music, and my love of it. Which is quite strange, as there are people out there in the world who know me only as a musician, well who used to know me as a musician anyways, as since I left my last band nearly a year ago, I haven't been around those traps and seen those people.
So just some backstory on me. I played bass in a few bands.
So, now I'll cut to now....

Really, all I have to say today is that I am sitting here listening to

Tool

and surfing random blogs....
And loving it.
That's all I have to say for today.

Oh and this.....
Be cool to each other!

Degrassi High and Growing up

HeY peeps.
How is ya? Me is, well ....

Coincedences are a funny thing sometimes. I got a comment the other day from the delightful Miss A, about my post last week, in which I mentioned Gilmore Girls.
In it she told me she thought it was better that I was watching Gilmore Girls rather than Degrassi: the next Generation.

Well it just so happened, that whatever night it was this week, I switched on the Tele and low and behold, to my astonishment, there was Snake. I was amazed. Actually, I'd seen one episode ages ago with Snake in it as a teacher, but paid no more attention to it than that really.
But then a curious thing happened in the story line, both of the show, and my post for today. Someone mentioned "Joey". So I looked a bit harder, and sure enough, it was Joey, the real Joey, from the original series. Not only that, he had just asked Caitlin to move in with him.
So there it was right in front of me, Snake, Joey and Caitlin; all from "old Skool" Degrassi. And yes, I believe it was also the real Caitlin.
Now, this may not seem a terribly great deal to anyone who strays upon my li'l blog by random, BUT, to me it did.

Ok, so recently, as some may know, I have been going through one of those little patches one hits from time to time in one's life. Y'know the one, the money is all gone (ie ALL), no job/income, no cigarettes etc, and way too much time; one of those times where you have a real, REAL good look in the mirror and stuff.....Have a good look around, check the co-ordinates, wonder about the future, question the past, have internal committee meetings and working parties of all kinds evaluate the outcomes of all the policies and decisions so far, what to change and not change, how to implement change and new policies and all that yummy kinda self reflective critiquing etc.
SO, yes, I've been doing all that lately... plenty of questioning the past, asking myself if the decisions I've made were the right ones etc, what would I do differently, what have I learnt; the simple stuff really.
And wondering about the future...Where AM I going? What Do I want to do when I grow up? What do I still want to do before I grow up? How to reconcile the two, now and being grown up, and maybe do something I like in life that I like, something more than a job, someting to live for; How to do what I love to, and make enough from it to pay the rent and keep my belly warm? How to ..... You get the picture.


So, here I am, asking myself all this, when I switch the Tele onto Degrassi: The next Generation (Couldn't they come up with a better name? It's all a bit too Star Trek to me).
And that's when I see Snake, Joey and Caitlin, all the same age as me, having gone through their "lives" since High School. I insinctively wondered, "What have they been doing all these years"? I mean, I know they're fictional characters, but we (as in the characters and myself) are all the same age and ended High School around the same time. (Co-incedently, there was a fire at the school in the episode I saw the other night, oh and Caitlin actually left Joey and is moving away - I'm so glad I got to see her just the once, and that she was still looking great...Yes I had a crush back then).

It was strange to see these TV characters, old friends in a sense, as grown up adults. So, naturally, I projected my concerns about my life onto them..."What were the last 15 or so years since High School like for them, and what did they do with those years"? and "Where are they going in their lives now"? I know I know... it's only TV. "Are they happy? Are they going where they want to?"

So I sat there, on my bean-bag, and just watched Degrassi, wondering.
The weird part though, is that they really did seem to be grown up and making the decisions that influence their futures, and I, well I was still just sitting there watching Degrassi, just as I was 15 or more years ago.

With so many things to do, and so many other things to do, and a living to be made, I guess probably the biggest question to answer really, is...
"How does one start answering the questions?" and "How does one take those first steps of action?"

Anyhow,
Ciao.

Sydney Riots.

Sydney Riots!

An Eye for an Eye is Fuckin Obscene.


I never thought I’d see the day Race riots happen here in Australia. Actual Riots, between two races, with the police in the middle.

We’ve had civil unrest before, two major and recent instances that spring to mind are the riots in Sydney’s Redfern a couple years ago – the local Indigenous community were outraged and took out that anger on police after a 14 year old boy was killed while being chased by police– similar circumstances to the trigger of the recent riots in France; and on Palm Island in Queensland about a year ago, when another Indigenous man died after being bashed in police custody (not an uncommon occurrence here, in fact another major problem in its own right, but I can write about this another day), the local community took out that rage on the Island’s police station, Court and a few other Government buildings.
One will argue that in both of these cases, genuine grievances were being dealt with by the local communities who were trying to make the rest of us hear their call for help in the only way they had at their disposal at the time.


Tensions have been rising now between Anglo Australians and Muslim Australians for quite some time though. 9-11, the mainstream media and our right wing Government fuelled paranoia have helped that schism widen. The problem we now have is between Aussies and Lebanese, not a grieving local community and the police.

9-11, as we all know, was the beginning of the “war-on-terror”. It was also the beginning of the wholesale marginalisation of Muslims and people of “Middle Eastern appearance” in the west, including Australia.
This marginalisation not only formed the divide between White Australia and Muslims, but ALL people of “Middle Eastern appearance”; that is Persians, Christian Lebanese and others that aren’t Muslim but are from Middle Eastern countries. Anyone else who has Olive skin, an accent and possibly a beard fits into this current stereotype of “them”.
For example, two young fellas set upon by a mob of Aussies yesterday in Sydney were in fact Bangladeshi; not even of “Middle Eastern appearance”.

On the other hand, the Lebanese have threatened and attacked people going about normal domestic tasks; one man was beaten in front of his ten year old while taking the rubbish bin out. A restaurant owned by a Chinese lady was attacked.

There is no need for any of this behaviour….An Eye for an Eye. Our blindness only leads us further down a dark, dark path.


Our Government is far from blameless in all this too. Their policies, the new Anti-Terror laws for example aggravate the racial divide. We all know who they are directed at.
Then there’s “Our Illustrious”, J.W Howard telling the World the riots are not based on race.
What exactly are they based on then Johnny? You’re policies on Social Equity then? Hmmm, I doubt that.
You’re stance on Iraq then? Sending troops over there to protect us and make us safer? Safer from who, what?
Maybe you’re use of wedge politics has paid off then, you have divided Australia.

All this, as it just so happens, on the Eve of the ASEAN Summit in Malaysia and the WTO meeting in Hong Kong. Australia needs to be seen as a tolerant country, especially during this of all weeks, and to admit that we have racial problems here would be pretty bad PR. So, “Our Illustrious” simply denies a problem.
Then there’s Opposition Leader Kim “Rollover” Beazley, saying that the riots are “embarrassing” Australia.
Embarrassing? They’re a DISGRACE, not an embarrassment. I turn a funny shade of red when I’m embarrassed, then a little later, I’ll see the funny side and have a chuckle. Right now, I’m hanging my head in shame.

As for the Media, well I won’t be able to say enough here about just how well they’ve towed the Government line. Very few of our media outlets openly and seriously question the government here anymore. And why should they? Murdoch owns something like 70% of our media now.
In this current crisis, Blind Freddy could almost see how slanted the coverage is of the crisis. Well, if it weren’t for the anger the media were blinding him with that is. ABC and SBS seem to be the only two of the televised news services trying to offer a fairly balanced view, however, the majority of Aussies have already had their views formed for them by Ch 7, Ch 9 and Ch 10. All are looking at the crisis though, and I fear none are looking at the issues involved, the reasons behind.
Granted, that the main and most pressing issue at the moment, particularly for the NSW Police force and the State Government is to regain order and control of the streets of Sydney.
One wonders though, in the fallout of the riots, what sort of honesty, and how critical the media will be of its own part of the bigger picture. Same goes for State and Federal Government.


Also, earlier this evening (our time) Stanley “Tookie” Williams was killed. He was murdered by the State of California, under the guise of Capital “Punishment”. Apart from never admitting to killing the 4 men he was accused of killing, he left his admitted violent ways behind and reformed.
However, discounting the possibility he may actually be innocent, the “Governator”, Arnie, an ACTOR was the final person to look over all of the evidence and make the final decision about whether Tookie should live or die.

Not just for these reasons, the death penalty should be abolished wherever it is part of Law. It is no more than Murder by the State.

An Eye for an Eye is Fuckin Obscene.

Sad news, Bad news and a Statement of HOPE!

Well, first of all for today, I gueass we're all seddened by the passing of

Richard Pryor

He passed away this weekend of a heart atack at 65 years old. Had suffered MS for most of the 90's, but previously had changed the we look at many many things.

To the Bad news. I found some disturbing images last night, that I am NOT going to link to, from Iraq. These were imsges of dead Iraqis, that had been killed by American troops. The photos that were displayed on the website, showed the bloodcurdling injuries, with captions such as "All iraqis should look like this" or, as one caption proclaimed (under the image of a badly mutilated body) "Don't mess with the US Army".
The pictures themselves, as bad as they were, I could just handle - yes, hours later my skin was crawling - The most disturbing part was the captions. Not just the words - words are just that , words - but the fact that human beings can actually do this to each other, THEN BRAG ABOUT IT.

Fuck War. ALL War should end, not just the war in Iraq.

I also found some images, as they are starting to pop up also, of "Willie Pete" injuries.
Willie Pete = White Phosphour, a incendiary device the US Army apparently uses to light target areas in battle. This is of course, not to be confused with actual weapons, that kill and maim. Using White Phosphour as a weapon would be using it as a chemical weapon, and that wouldn't happen would it.
Have you seen these pictures too? The ones where White Phosphour "hasn't" been used as a weapon?
Well don't! Because, apart from anything else, it hasn't been used as a weapon, so these photos, obviously don't exist. If they did though, and WP had been used as a weapon (which again, has not happened), the photos (DO) show a violent painful death.
Again......Fuck War. It all has to end.

All this and don't forget....Depleted Uranium.
Fucking War.

And now, here is the bit I promised about HOPE!

Yesterday, the 10th Decamber, was the 57th Anniversary of the signing of the

Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Here it is in its entirety:


Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Adopted and proclaimed by General Assembly Resolution 217 A (III) of 10 December 1948

Preamble
Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world,

Whereas disregard and contempt for human rights have resulted in barbarous acts which have outraged the conscience of mankind, and the advent of a world in which human beings shall enjoy freedom of speech and belief and freedom from fear and want has been proclaimed as the highest aspiration of the common people,

Whereas it is essential, if man is not to be compelled to have recourse, as a last resort, to rebellion against tyranny and oppression, that human rights should be protected by the rule of law,

Whereas it is essential to promote the development of friendly relations between nations,

Whereas the peoples of the United Nations have in the Charter reaffirmed their faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person and in the equal rights of men and women and have determined to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedoms,

Whereas member States have pledged themselves to achieve, in co-operation with the United Nations, the promotion of universal respect for and observance of human rights and fundamental freedoms,

Whereas a common understanding of these rights and freedoms is of the greatest importance for the full realization of this pledge,

Now therefore: The General Assembly Proclaims this Universal Declaration of Human Rights as a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations, to the end that every individual and every organ of society, keeping this Declaration constantly in mind, shall strive by teaching and education to promote respect for these rights and freedoms and by progressive measures, national and international, to secure their universal and effective recognition and observance, both among the peoples of member States themselves and among the peoples of territories under their jurisdiction.

Article 1
All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

Article 2
Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.
Furthermore, no distinction shall be made on the basis of the political, jurisdictional or international status of the country or territory to which a person belongs, whether it be independent, trust, non-self-governing or under any other limitation of sovereignty.
Article 3
Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.

Article 4
No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms.

Article 5
No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment or punishment.

Article 6
Everyone has the right to recognition everywhere as a person before the law.

Article 7
All are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the law. All are entitled to equal protection against any discrimination in violation of this Declaration and against any incitement to such discrimination.

Article 8
Everyone has the right to an effective remedy by the competent national tribunals for acts violating the fundamental rights granted him by the constitution or by law.

Article 9
No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile.

Article 10
Everyone is entitled in full equality to a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal, in the determination of his rights and obligations and of any criminal charge against him.

Article 11
Everyone charged with a penal offence has the right to be presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law in a public trial at which he has had all the guarantees necessary for his defence.
No one shall be held guilty of any penal offence on account of any act or omission which did not constitute a penal offence, under national or international law, at the time when it was committed. Nor shall a heavier penalty be imposed than the one that was applicable at the time the penal offence was committed.

Article 12
No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to attacks upon his honour and reputation. Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks.

Article 13
Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each State.
Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country.

Article 14
Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution.
This right may not be invoked in the case of prosecutions genuinely arising from non-political crimes or from acts contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.

Article 15
Everyone has the right to a nationality.
No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his nationality nor denied the right to change his nationality.

Article 16
Men and women of full age, without any limitation due to race, nationality or religion, have the right to marry and to found a family. They are entitled to equal rights as to marriage, during marriage and at its dissolution.
Marriage shall be entered into only with free and full consent of the intending spouses.
The family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society and is entitled to protection by society and the State.

Article 17
Everyone has the right to own property alone as well as in association with others.
No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his property.

Article 18
Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.

Article 19
Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.

Article 20
Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association.
No one may be compelled to belong to an association.

Article 21
Everyone has the right to take part in the government of his country, directly or through freely chosen representatives.
Everyone has the right to equal access to public service in his country.
The will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of government; this will shall be expressed in periodic and genuine elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and shall be held by secret vote or by equivalent free voting procedures.

Article 22
Everyone, as a member of society, has the right to social security and is entitled to realization, through national effort and international co-operation and in accordance with the organisation and resources of each State, of the economic, social and cultural rights indispensable for his dignity and the free development of his personality.

Article 23
Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favourable conditions of work and to protection against unemployment.
Everyone, without any discrimination, has the right to equal pay for equal work.
Everyone who works has the right to just and favourable remuneration ensuring for himself and his family an existence worthy of human dignity, and supplemented, if necessary, by other means of social protection.
Everyone has the right to form and to join trade unions for the protection of his interests.

Article 24
Everyone has the right to rest and leisure, including reasonable limitation of working hours and periodic holidays with pay.

Article 25
Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.
Motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care and assistance. All children, whether born in or out of wedlock, shall enjoy the same social protection.

Article 26
Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be compulsory. Technical and professional education shall be made generally available and higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of merit.
Education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. It shall promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations, racial or religious groups, and shall further the activities of the United Nations for the maintenance of peace.
Parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children.

Article 27
Everyone has the right freely to participate in the cultural life of the community, to enjoy the arts and to share in scientific advancement and its benefits.
Everyone has the right to the protection of the moral and material interests resulting from any scientific, literary or artistic production of which he is the author.

Article 28
Everyone is entitled to a social and international order in which the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration can be fully realized.

Article 29
Everyone has duties to the community in which alone the free and full development of his personality is possible.
In the exercise of his rights and freedoms, everyone shall be subject only to such limitations as are determined by law solely for the purpose of securing due recognition and respect for the rights and freedoms of others and of meeting the just requirements of morality, public order and the general welfare in a democratic society.
These rights and freedoms may in no case be exercised contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.

Article 30
Nothing in this Declaration may be interpreted as implying for any State, group or person any right to engage in any activity or to perform any act aimed at the destruction of any of the rights and freedoms set forth herein.


No doubt, one of th e most important documents ever written in the history of th especies.....Lets hope it goes part way to saving us from ourselves.

For more Info etc...

Amnesty International

You can find your nearest Amnesty here.

Any hoo, I'm going now.......We can change the World and make it a better place, in fact, its entirely up to us; WE have to. No-one else will.
Bye for now

Gibberish and randomness and whatever else Springs to mind in No Particular Order.

Hi. How are Ya's? Me is ok.

Before you read on, I'd like to take a moment to mention that none of this post (as opposed to my "normal" posting) makes any sense what-so-ever.
SO BE FORE-WARNED.
(and, if you're lucky, I'll aft-remind you too).

Anyways, here "we" go............

First of all, it's 25 years since the assination of John Lennon. A man no doubt sorely missed for both his music and his political stance.

Well, I haven't smoked a single cigarette since Wednesday or whatever and IT SUCKS. Hardcore. As I've explained before, it is not through choice that I have not smoked, so if anyone out there has "spare" cash, get in touch, I'll happily give you my PayPal details and I'll be happy and the world will be all the better for it.

I just finished a new short-short story a few moments ago, that I now will look for a publisher for....No I don't like to publish fiction here, although I AM starting another blog over there (-->
------------------------------------------------------------->>>>) somewhere to put up some custom, blogworld fiction.

I am hungry, I think I will go fix myself something in a minute. Again though, if anyone would like to donate to my Paypal account, so that I can dial up a nice big "Upwey Pizza" pizza, that would also be well appreciated.....If anyone has eaten my food, you'll agree.

Looking at/Cleaning up my Cameras earlier tonight too. YAY. Except, my old Canon A1 has decided to die. I knew it was in the "dying way" for a while though. Sad really....It is by far my Fave Camera and easily has given me the best quality shots I have....For B&W anyway.
My old Ricoh seems to be ok though, in need of a new battery, but ok. It's an ok Camera for Colour, but not as good for B&W. Also, the Canon has a 28mm lens (Wide Angle), one of the many reasons I love it so, whereas my old Ricoh has not. I have a 70-210mm (which I'm not a fan of), for the Ricoh, so the ol' standard 50mm will have to do for now.

Oh, while I think of it, CH 7's TodayTonight and CH 9's ACurrentAffair Current Affair programs BOTH broke my poor little heart by not getting back to me.
I guess NO-ONE likes me at all. If you have no idea of what I'm talking about, and I imagine you don't click on

This link to catch up.

The Liberals' VSU as gone through.....I'll save all this for a big post for during the week. Suffice to say though, NOT HAPPY, JAN.
NOT HAPPY AT ALL.
In the last two weeks...IR changes have gone been passed, Welfare To Work, VSU and the Anti-Sedition laws have all been passed. NOT HAPPY.

Any how. I promised myself I wouldn't get all political today, but I did. So I am gonna get going now. To do what? I hear you ask. Or is that just the voices in my head being all cynical of my own behaviour? Hmmm. Good question I hear, well, someone asking.
Well, just in case it was you asking, being the lone stray reader of my less than humble blog, I will tell you.
I am going to eat. Then, and I guess I can admit this here, as no-one reads this, or admits to reading it,.....or something; I'm going to watch Gilmore Girls. I know I know. And yes, I know it probably sounds Gay too.
But I assure you I know all that, and no I'm NOT Gay.

Ah well. I told you today was going to be a mass of gibberish.
Anyhoo, I'm going.

GONE!

Actually, before I do go, and I nearly forgot this, in a bout of boredom I had earlier this afternoon, I found

....this blog. I don't know if it's comical or sad, but it IS disturbing.

Anyhooooo,I'll leave youwith it, because I AM going now.
Bye.

One of my Favourite of Aesops Fables.

MERCURY AND THE WOODMAN!

A Man was felling a tree on the bank of a river; and by chance let his hatchet slip out of his hand, which dropt into the water, and immediately sunk to the bottom. Being therefore in great distress for the loss of his tool, he sat down and bemoaned himself most lamentably.
Upon this MERCURY appeared to him, and, being informed of the cause of his complaint, dived to the bottom of the river, and, coming up again, showed the man a golden hatchet, demanding if that were his. He denied that it was. Upon which, MERCURY dived a second time, and brought up a silver one. The man refused it, alleging likewise that this was not his. He dived a third time, and fetched the individual hatchet the man had lost; upon the sight of which the poor wretch was overjoyed, and took it with all humility and thankfulness.
MERCURY was so pleased with the fellow’s honesty, that he gave him the other two into the bargain, as a reward for his just dealing.
The man goes to his companions, and giving them an account of what had happened, one of them went presently to the river’s side, and let his hatchet fall designedly into the stream. Then, sitting down upon the bank, he fell a weeping and lamenting, as if he had been really and sorely afflicted. MERCURY appeared as before, and diving, brought up a golden hatchet, asking if that was the hatchet he lost. Transported at the precious metal, he answered, Yes; and went to snatch it greedily. But the god detesting his abominable impudence, not only refused to give him that, but would not so much as let him have his own hatchet again.
THE END.

I’m not going to pontificate over it. I like it and that’s that.

24 Hrs and no Cigarettes. NOT by choice, but by financial (or rather lack of) reasons. No job either. All the interesting ones, that I'd like and be good at, are all like "you need 12 months of this and 2 years proven experince of that" etc. GRRRRRRRRRRRRh. What will one DO? oh well. I'll work something out.


While you're here though, check

THIS OUT.

If this don't scare the pants off ya, nothing will. (IT did me, even though, strangely, I already knew it)...Will be adding it to links soooooooooon.

Catch.....

More Gibberish

Ok. Christmas is well on its way and there's nothing we can do about it. Just hang on tight I guess and open our eyes up in a couple weeks, maybe it'll all be over by then and we can get on like normal.

I am out of cigarettes. I guess I have no hope in Hell of conning Mum into buying me more......That leaves one option. I gotta get me a job. A job? I hear you ask. Good question. No, seriously, cos I have no idea.

Cashless Society?
That's what the whole idea was of having all our money on plastic was right? If that's the case, then I have the CashLess bit down to a tee. However, I am real short of plastic. I need plastic, not money, not a job. I have a plastic cup. Can I trade that for a pack of Marlboro Lights? How 'bout the plastic bit of a pen, cos I got heaps of them. It seems to me the whole casless society thing was a con. Damn. And I bought it too.
Not only did I buy it, but I thought I was leading the way.
"Follow Me People," I was calling, "I will lead the way to the New World, The Cashless World."
Fuck I'm dumb.

Catch.....

December

Being the first of the month, and being a man of Tradition, I must do,
THIS................................

Oh YAY. December. Just L-O-V-E-L-Y.
God, I HATE December.
With a vengeance too. Seriously. Christmas? - Blah-de-fuckin-BLAH!
I hate warm I hate hot. Gimme winter and gimme cold and gimme rain ANYday.


I hate Christmas lights.
Why do people insist on that? Why don't people do something WORTHWHILE with that money, including the money that goes on the next electricity bill? Why not hand it over to the Salvation Army? Or Oxfam? Or the local church for their community lunches? Or any number of other organisations that WILL do something worthwhile with that money? Y'know, maybe like, feed, clothe or shelter some of the people who have absolutely nothing. Give THEM a bit of a break once a year too. Make Christmas mean something to them. Hand over some change to - no better yet; buy a "bum" a meal. Spend an hour with "them".
Donate to LifeLine or something; it’s not only retailers and hospitality workers who are at their busiest this time of year, but crisis workers too. Spending and "good cheer" go up, but so do suicide rates. For most people it is the best time of year, but for some, it is the most painful and the hardest time of year.
So, before spending up big on lights and all that crap, think about the "others", people who don't have it as good as you.

Ahhh, there are SO many things I don’t like about this time of year. It is so wrong wrong wrong.
And it’s more than my tradition of paying out on whatever new month it is too. There are so many things to write about this month. You’ll see my mood change a lot too.

Anyhoo, a pinch and a punch, for the first of the month.

Catch ya’s.