Poor indeed is the garden in which Birds find no home.

Could you be kind to an Indian Myna bird? well I have been but our acquaintance will be short lived, they just have to go.
We have many different birds visiting our garden, a dozen or more species from various parrots to pigeons magpies and noisy crows. Our front veranda hosts the occasional hand feeding frenzy of a dozen or so rainbow lorikeets.
Recently a pair of Indian Myna's took up residence in the eaves of our back shed. Having heard many derogatory yarns about these creatures I was loath for them to stay, Rosemary's maternal instincts favoured the birds to stay.
For such an allegedly harsh climate, Australia is remarkably welcoming to introduced species. The rabbit and the cane toad both thrive here and so do too does the Indian Myna, in fact the Myna may be the most successful of them all.
They are a menace to native birds and our local ecology, so people have lately taken matters in their own hands, trapping and killing thousands of these sky vermin. Problem is, the method of eradication used is considered by some to be cruel,
Considering our ecology is under threat, we are less inclined to worry about some slight pain suffered by myna's when they go to the big nest in the sky. that being said, research should continue into a kinder way of removing feathered trash.
The saga continues: Well it came to pass that the myna residents in the eaves of our shed begat a brace of minor mynas, sad to say(or possibly not) one of these was found expired on the garden footpath, Rosemary after handling this little mite unwittingly acquired a few of its lodgers prior to binning it in a plastic bag. Myself unaware of this caught its sibling which could not fly (no tail feathers), However,the big decision to dunk it in a pail of water arrived upon seeing an army of weeny crawlies covering the bird( Little wonder it couldn't fly with so many passengers). After awhile I began to itch all over. stripping down in the laundry I bathed with Dettol then showered, it seems we both copped it it has taken over a week for the bite marks to go.
So there you have it in true gospel. Those horrible creatures have to go.

January 26 Australia day. The Royal Navy calling Australia Home.

Hi Les,

A happy New Year to you. Just received this message from an Australian resident seeking info about HMS KGV. Can you help?
Best regards
Yours aye
Bill

Commodore W H J Kelly CEng FIMarEST RN (Retd)
President HMS KING GEORGE V Association

Dear Sirs,
I am the son of a veteran of HMS King George V. My father joined her in 1943. After the war, Dad married and left the UK to settle in Australia, where we all live. Dad says he has never been the returned services club type, but over the years we have heard many, many stories of his experiences serving on HMS King George V, and he is obviously quite proud of his service. Just the other day I did a little research on the net and found some info about operations she completed and Dad was eagerly pointing to each one, and I'm sure it bought a lot of memories back for him. The reason I am writing is, I wonder if any of you have any photos of the ship, and of her crew, and if so would be willing to send some on for me to show him. My Dad was relatively young, being just 18 years old in 1943 and he is now going on 86, and quite frail. He has just lost his wife, my Mother before Christmas. I have been around to see him almost daily, and after showing him the info I collected saw his spirits rise a bit for the first time in weeks. I'll tell you his name in case anyone remembers him, and would like to send a cheerio. He is Able Seaman Peter James Dennis. I will take just a moment to let you know that because of Dads' service, I have the deepest respect for the sacrifice that all you wonderful veterans made to secure us the freedom that so many seem to take for granted these days. I wish you all the best, and hope to hear from you soon.
Yours Sincerely,
Antony James D-----.

About forty ex crew members of that famous ship we served in during WW2, formed an association going back a fair while, however, we were never convinced that our small contribution to the assoc was the total number who returned to settle in Australia.
The total accrued to around fifty members allowing for natural attrition, and it would seem many more are here in Australia.
The good news is, I have been in touch with our past crew member's son, and have sent photo's and other info from the past.
Although Our association was wound up last year we still communicate with one another , that is the four of us left who are able to.

Vest LJB. RN Retd 1966.

Similar to making a silk purse from a sow's ear.

For Immediate Release
Monday, January 25, 2010
202-285-0244
www.freedomandprosperity.org





"Like Putting Perfume on a Hog"
New CF&P Video Shows Big Government
Is Not Stimulus and Not a Jobs Bill
(Washington, D.C., Monday, January 25, 2010) A new video released today by the Center for Freedom and Prosperity Foundation (CF&P) uses Labor Department data to demonstrate that the first stimulus bill did not create jobs and explains why politicians, in spite of the data, want to enact another so-called stimulus proposal.

Entitled, "Stimulus II: A Sequel American Can't Afford," the CF&P Foundation mini-documentary reviews unemployment rate data as well as total employment data to debunk the notion that jobs can be created by diverting resources from the private sector to government.

"Notwithstanding the Administration's fuzzy math, America has lost more than three-million jobs as the burden of government spending has increased," said CF&P Foundation President Andrew Quinlan, who also noted that "The video uses hard data to show last year's $787 spending bill was a flop."


Links to the video: YouTube | Yahoo | Capitol Hub
"Doing another stimulus and calling it a 'jobs bill' is like putting perfume on a hog," said Dan Mitchell of the Cato Institute, who narrates the video. "Rather than come up with cute names for wasteful spending, the best option is for politicians to get out of the way. The economy hopefully is already on the path to recovery, especially since the threat of government-run healthcare and a cap-and-trade bill is diminishing. The White House probably wants another stimulus in hopes of taking credit for any future good news," he added.

Executive Summary

Labor Department numbers show that the Obama Administration's $787 billion "stimulus" was a flop. Instead of holding the unemployment rate at 8 percent or below, the jobless rate soared to 10 percent. Now there is discussion of second so-called stimulus, which politicians are calling a "jobs bill." But making government bigger, the video explains, is a recipe for long-run stagnation and lower living standards, regardless of what the policy is named.

Below are the links to the three other CF&P Foundation videos mentioned in the video:

Keynesian Economics Is Wrong: Bigger Government Is Not Stimulus
http://www.freedomandprosperity.org/videos/keynesianism1/keynesianism1.shtml

Obamas So-Called Stimulus: Good For Government, Bad For the Economy
http://www.freedomandprosperity.org/videos/obama-stimulus/obama-stimulus.shtml

Free Markets and Small Government Promote Prosperity
http://www.freedomandprosperity.org/videos/growth2009/growth2009.shtml



The following are the links to other CF&P Foundation videos including Tax Competition Primer, VAT-Hidden Tax, Global Flat Tax Revolution, Cutting the U.S. Corporate Income Tax, Promoting Prosperity, Obama's So-Called Stimulus, Obama's Deferral Proposal, Case Against Class-Warfare Tax Policy, President Obama's Dishonest Demagoguery on Tax Havens, a three part series on the Benefits of Tax Havens and a another three-part series on the Laffer Curve.
Link: http://www.freedomandprosperity.org/videos/videos.shtml



Web Links:

Youtube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=985C0uh1HKA

Yahoo
http://video.yahoo.com/watch/6842319/17794666

Capitol Hub
http://capitolhub.com/video/9247/stimulus-ii-sequel-american-can%E2% 80%99t-afford


For additional comments:
Andrew Quinlan can be reached at 202-285-0244, andy@freedomandprosperity.org
Dan Mitchell can be reached at 202-218-4615, dmitchell@cato.org

###





Web Link:
http://www.freedomandprosperity.org/press/p01-25-10/p01-25-10.shtml

Things are slackening off, I wonder why? plus the cost of child care.

Well you should do as most people have exceeded the family budget over the festive season and many will never make up the shortfall before the next ecclesiastical hallucination descends upon us. I am reliably informed that, most bloggers who are experiencing festive bloating are wisely reducing their sedentary lifestyle in order to drop the flab. But there is another way to help and that is stand on those two feet of yours and raise the keyboard, am I following these rules? 'don't ask'.
Before the busy season commenced, my family and I were inundated with calls re family history and a missing brother, all excitable stuff, however, the euphoria has now lessened to the technical details and more revelations of family history, more is the pity this info should have become known prior to our visit to the U/K last July, maybe another trip could be on the cards.

Working Mothers with pre school children who contribute to the family budget are being slugged again not by mortgage brokers but inane Govt boof heads who are insisting that carers in kindergartens cannot manage five children per carer, so the new number will be four. The decision should be reviewed. because I believe that the dollar not the number of ankle biters is the common denominator.
After all,there are many families which, at any given time during day or night , will see one parent looking after five or more children.
They seem to get by. IE, Rosemary mother of five and Vest father of five Ex Navy.

News pic of the week, Kiki. The rescued Haitian child from the Island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean, there is hope and relief in Kiki's face saying "Never ever give up".....Reach out and help.

As I sit here today a light southerly breeze is moving the curtains, a temp of 22C prevails all around the house whereas yesterday and the previous day the Air con and fans battled furiously to beat the heat of 40C plus. It may be Sunday but the sun has yet to appear, global warming is taking a day off.
That's about the lot for now, no departures disruptions or pregnancies, just contented normality, hope yours is the same.
Lunch time, and off to watch the Paki's trash the cocky Oz bludgerygalahs..Vest.
Have a rewarding day.

Countering the 'Threat of Terrorism'.

Post No 588.

The English are feeling the pinch in relation to recent terrorist
threats and have raised their security level from "Miffed" to "Peeved."
Soon, though, security levels may be raised yet again to "Irritated" or
even "A Bit Cross." The English have not been "A Bit Cross" since the blitz
in 1940 when tea supplies all but ran out. Terrorists have been
re-categorized from "Tiresome" to a "Bloody Nuisance." The last time the British
issued a "Bloody Nuisance" warning level was during the great fire of 1666.

The Scots raised their threat level from "Pissed Off" to "Let's get
the Bastards" They don't have any other levels. This is the reason they
have been used on the front line in the British army for the last 300 years.

The French government announced yesterday that it has raised its
terror alert level from "Run" to "Hide". The only two higher levels in
France are "Collaborate" and "Surrender." The rise was precipitated by a
recent fire that destroyed France 's white flag factory, effectively
paralysing the country's military capability. It's not only the
French who are on a heightened level of alert. Italy has increased the
alert level from "Shout loudly and excitedly" to "Elaborate Military
Posturing." Two more levels remain: "Ineffective Combat Operations" and "Change
Sides."

The Germans also increased their alert state from "Disdainful
Arrogance" to "Dress in Uniform and Sing Marching Songs." They also
have two higher levels: "Invade a Neighbour" and "Lose".

Belgians, on the other hand, are all on holiday as usual, and the
only threat they are worried about is NATO pulling out of Brussels .

The Spanish are all excited to see their new submarines ready to
deploy. These beautifully designed subs have glass bottoms so the new
Spanish navy can get a really good look at the old Spanish navy.

Americans meanwhile are carrying out pre-emptive strikes, on all of
their allies, just in case.


Meanwhile...The Worldwide Gay Communities will stay neutral and avoid losing face on Face book by introducing the Bum and Suck Manual.

New Zealand (NuZillend)has also raised its security levels - from "baaa" to
"BAAAA!". Due to continuing defense cutbacks (the air force being a
squadron of spotty teenagers flying paper aeroplanes and the navy some toy boats
in the Prime Minister's bath), New Zealand only has one more
level of escalation, which is "Shit, I hope Australia will come and
rescue us". In the event of invasion, New Zealanders will be asked to
gather together in a strategic defensive position called "Bondi".

Australia, meanwhile, has raised its security level from "No
Worries" to "She'll be right, mate". Four more escalation levels
remain, The 'Fat Tuesday Madi gra's will will gaily march on Anzac day to boost dwindling numbers, "Crikey!', "I think we'll need to cancel the barbie this weekend" and
"The Barbie is cancelled". So far no situation has ever warranted use of the
final escalation level.

FACE BOOK. Resurrected.

I wrote this post in Dec 2007, it was not published, this was due to a more comical explanation on face book formed on the opinions of 'Jay' a Canadian lady, her version was published instead of this one.
I will apologise for any affront this may cause to my dear relatives and friends who I love and respect, and are urging me to get on to this face book thingy, and so no further explanation will be forthcoming for security reasons.


Face book status updates 'is' no more.

Face book, the social-networking site beloved of twenty- and thirty somethings, has caved into user pressure and announced it is removing the mandatory "is" from member's status updates.

Changing status: Face book users will now no longer be restricted in their profile status
Status updates are one of the most popular features on the site, allowing users to inform other people in their social network what they are doing at that moment. For instance: "Mary is: writing an article about Face book".
However, because the word "is" is included as standard in all status updates, users are forced to either get creative with their status alerts or indulge in very grammatically incorrect sentences (Mary is: likes to bonk).
But according to the Face book fan site allfacebook. a blog wankers guide to greater wanking, Face book has told developers of third-party applications for the site that new verbs can be added to Face book status updates in future.
It is not yet clear when the change will take effect, but it's sure to be massively popular with Face book users. Most members regularly update their status throughout the day, and a Face book group set up on the site to campaign for the dropping of the mandatory "is" has more than 165,000 members. The word member conjures up other meanings of the word such as the penis is sometimes referred to as one's member, another connotation is 'Of parliament' - another bunch of intrusive pricks. so we can safely assume F B users are a complete bunch of dickheads.
It seems that Face book fans will still have to write in the third-person for a while longer, though, as there currently appear to be no plans to change this element of the status updates.
This is great news for the ghouls into Face book, whose sole reasons for being exposed, are influenced by the sexual gratification intake-those desperately seeking affection from some vague horny creation-wank wank.

The need to spew is brought about by the knowledge that 87 percent of Face book users are female and the most priceless info is the impressive figure of 71 percent for the number of lesbian bloggers. That being the case for Face book , could clear the way for 'ARSE BOOK to hit the blogs. Kin ell "What next"?....VEST. archives, 2007/11/21. draft only.

This one for the Ladies. From Graeme our man from Windsor.

King Arthur and the Witch:

Young King Arthur was ambushed and imprisoned by the monarch of a neighboring kingdom. The monarch could have killed him but was moved by Arthur's youth and ideals. So, the monarch offered him his freedom, as long as he could answer a very difficult question. Arthur would have a year to figure out the answer and, if after a year, he still had no answer, he would be put to death.

The question?...What do women really want? Such a question would perplex even the most knowledgeable man, and to young Arthur, it seemed an impossible query. But, since it was better than death, he accepted the monarch's proposition to have an answer by year's end.

He returned to his kingdom and began to poll everyone: the princess, the priests, the wise men and even the court jester. He spoke with everyone, but no one could give him a satisfactory answer.

Many people advised him to consult the old witch, for only she would have the answer. But the price would be high; as the witch was famous throughout the kingdom for the exorbitant prices she charged. The last day of the year arrived and Arthur had no choice but to talk to the witch She agreed to answer the question, but he would have to agree to her price first. The old witch wanted to marry Sir Lancelot, the most noble of the Knights of the Round Table and Arthur's closest friend!

Young Arthur was horrified. She was hunchbacked and hideous, had only one tooth, smelled like sewage, made obscene noises, etc. He had never encountered such a repugnant creature in all his life. He refused to force his friend to marry her and endure such a terrible burden; but Lancelot, learning of the proposal, spoke with Arthur. He said nothing was too big of a sacrifice compared to Arthur's life and the preservation of the Round Table.

Hence, a wedding was proclaimed and the witch answered Arthur's question thus: What a woman really wants, she answered....is to be in charge of her own life.

Everyone in the kingdom instantly knew that the witch had uttered a great truth and that Arthur's life would be spared.. And so it was, the neighboring monarch granted Arthur his freedom and Lancelot and the witch had a wonderful wedding.

The honeymoon hour approached and Lancelot, steeling himself for a horrific experience, entered the bedroom. But, what a sight awaited him. The most beautiful woman he had ever seen lay before him on the bed. The astounded Lancelot asked what had happened The beauty replied that since he had been so kind to her when she appeared as a witch, she would henceforth, be her horrible deformed self only half the time and the beautiful maiden the other half.

Which would he prefer? Beautiful during the day....or night?

Lancelot pondered the predicament. During the day, a beautiful woman to show off to his friends, but at night, in the privacy of his castle, an old witch? Or, would he prefer having a hideous witch during the day, but by night, a beautiful woman for him to enjoy wondrous intimate moments?

What would YOU do?

What Lancelot chose is below. BUT.....make YOUR choice before you scroll down below. OKAY?



Noble Lancelot said that he would allow HER to make the choice herself.

Upon hearing this, she announced that she would be beautiful all the time because he had respected her enough to let her be in charge of her own life..

Now....what is the moral to this story?



Scroll down










The moral is....
If you don't let a woman have her own way....
Things are going to get ugly

Archaic Muslim Extremists Firebomb Christian Churches

Two more churches in Malaysia were firebombed Sunday, bringing the total to six since a court ruled that non-Muslims can use the word "Allah" as a term for God.

No one has been hurt in the attacks, which began Friday. They follow a high court's ruling that Christians can use the word "Allah" in literature printed in the country's official language, Malay.

In Malay, the word for God is "Allah," as it is in Arabic.

But many in the predominantly Muslim country, including the government, believe the word should be exclusive to Islam.

The government has banned the use of the word in Christian literature, saying it is likely to confuse Muslims and draw them to Christianity.

The bombings may be an attempt to intimidate judges to overturn the decision.
Political leaders from a range of parties deplored the attacks on the churches.

Prime Minister Najib Razak visited one of the targeted churches on Saturday and called for calm.

Emphasizing his resolve to maintain ethnic and racial harmony in society, Najib also said the Muslim faith prohibits insulting other religions or destroying their sanctuaries.

In recent months, authorities in Malaysia have seized more than 20,000 Bibles because they refer to God as Allah.

The seizures have fed fears among minority groups, which see signs of encroaching Islamic fundamentalism in the predominantly Muslim but multiracial country.

A Roman Catholic weekly newspaper, The Herald, challenged the ban in court after the government threatened to revoke the newspaper's license for using the word in its Malay edition.

Hearings on the case went on for two years before the high court's ruling last week.

Malaysia has some of the tightest government restrictions on religion in the world, according to a study published last month by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life. The country was among the 10 most restrictive countries out of 175 in the survey.

But it had relatively low levels of social tension between religious groups, the report found. The Pew study covered events from mid-2006 to mid-2008. However, my studies going back 56 years to the time of the British Raj can relate to the ongoing tolerance and low level tension between religious groups.

Getting down to the nitty gritty, My wife and I lived in Johore Bahru 53-54 for 20 months,we lived next to Malays at 1B Jalan Storey. Their daughters would stay and sleep in our house when I was on night duty. We attended the social functions - weddings of other races and religions, combo's of R/Cs, Muslims, c/of/E, Chinese and Sikhs were quite common, We had Muslim friends a-plenty, Catholic Malays too. Our great friend Abdul Karim Bin Anang,from the Survey dept in JB wrote to us in his own style of copperplate writing for thirty years until his passing. I met up with him again in 1960 and finally when he was dying aged 72, this was in Aug 1986, when Rosemary and I with Tim our son called into Singapore en route from U/K.

Sadly, we do not communicate with his family since the letter from a Indian person an associate member of the Johore Cricket council confirmed his passing and journey to the great Mosque in the sky Sept 1986.

Pic (1) Rosemary with baby Chris and myself. 1954.
(2) Abdul Karim and I, Bukit Tima road S-pore. 1960.
(3) Rosemary 20 with *Anging,(*anging Malay for dog).1953.
(4) Rosemary, Abdul Karim, baby Chris. 1954.
(5) Me at Abdul Karim's Daughter's wedding. 1960.
(6) Abdul Karim at the Sultans Palace, The guy in front in the civvies and sunnies. 1960.

Faith Industry Followers Fuming Following First Sales of Easter Eggs in U/K Shops.

SUPERMARKETS have begun filling shelves with chocolate eggs more than three months before Easter.
Tesco and Somerfield in the UK are accused of pressuring hard-up parents into spending more cash just days after splashing out for Christmas.

Customers furious at seeing egg promotions so far ahead of Easter Sunday on April 4 have launched a series of online attacks.

One raged: "We celebrated Jesus being born on December 25 and just days later we're being sold chocolate to celebrate Easter."

Another fumed: "If people have Easter eggs pushed into their face then they will believe they need them and will buy, buy, buy.

"I'm sure no one is naive enough to believe that the supermarkets 'simply sell people what they want'."

A unknown Tesco spokesperson not wishing to be identified for fear of ridicule said: "A small selection of Easter eggs are on sale in response to customer demand."

What a load of crap, who are those people, wishing to buy choc-eggs 14 weeks prior to Easter. so far none have come forward to face ridicule.

Ah well never mind Australians are not lagging behind, not so much with Choccy eggs but my local 'Coles Store' a large super market in Bludgewoi - 'sorry' Budgewoi in NSW has been flogging 'Hot Cross Buns' for the past eight days, this hardly gives 'J C' time to hop out of his cradle for a pee before being nailed up.