Angels Angst

Goodbye Mum

2011-06-14T21:52:00.003+10:00

After a gradual decline over a couple of years, and a horrific last few months she's finally gone.

She was heavily sedated and I hope she didn't feel anything. There was nothing peaceful about this death.

I will miss you Mum. Forever in my heart.

2010-09-06T21:26:00.005+10:00

From Infomation Clearing House

They're Leaving as Heroes?

Things which don't go away. Things the American government and media don't let go of. And neither do I.

By William BlumSeptember 01, 2010 "Information Clearing House"

"They're leaving as heroes. I want them to walk home with pride in their hearts," declared Col. John Norris, the head of a US Army brigade in Iraq. 1

It's enough to bring tears to the eyes of an American, enough to make him choke up.
Enough to make him forget.

But no American should be allowed to forget that the nation of Iraq, the society of Iraq, have been destroyed, ruined, a failed state. The Americans, beginning 1991, bombed for 12 years, with one excuse or another; then invaded, then occupied, overthrew the government, killed wantonly, tortured ... the people of that unhappy land have lost everything — their homes, their schools, their electricity, their clean water, their environment, their neighborhoods, their mosques, their archaeology, their jobs, their careers, their professionals, their state-run enterprises, their physical health, their mental health, their health care, their welfare state, their women's rights, their religious tolerance, their safety, their security, their children, their parents, their past, their present, their future, their lives ... More than half the population either dead, wounded, traumatized, in prison, internally displaced, or in foreign exile ... The air, soil, water, blood and genes drenched with depleted uranium ... the most awful birth defects ... unexploded cluster bombs lie in wait for children to pick them up ... an army of young Islamic men went to Iraq to fight the American invaders; they left the country more militant, hardened by war, to spread across the Middle East, Europe and Central Asia ... a river of blood runs alongside the Euphrates and Tigris ... through a country that may never be put back together again.

"It is a common refrain among war-weary Iraqis that things were better before the U.S.-led invasion in 2003," reported the Washington Post on May 5, 2007.

No matter ... drum roll, please ... Stand tall American GI hero! And don't even think of ever apologizing. Iraq is forced by the United States to continue paying reparations for its own invasion of Kuwait in 1990. How much will the American heroes pay the people of Iraq?

Iraq - 7 Years On - Shame, Shame, USA

2010-09-05T21:10:00.010+10:00

I came accross a heap of anti war slogans the other day. Something grabbed me inside, gut wrenching.

Iraq is English for Vietnam.
Bomb a child, make a terrorist.
How many lives per gallon
How did our oil get under their soil
God does not bless only America
Born to drill, born to kill

I saved the best for last. If you are not outraged, you are not paying attention.

All of these were tagged "Iraq". I didn't see much on the Gulf War, nor the deliberate use of Depleted Uranium to poisen Iraq's water supply. Not much about the horrific birth defects and cancers caused by DU and it's ever lasting effects.

The combat soldiers have now left, so we're told. Look at the bloody mess they have made, it's like Vietnam. A complete and total cockup. We promised never again to treat our soldiers like we did after that war, and as far as I know we haven't. In the West we tend to believe out Governments. Who to blame? The US Administration, and not just Bush, this goes back a long way before him.

Say what you like about Saddam, but Iraq was better off with him there. There were no suicide bombers, people were going about their daily lives, they had jobs, homes, and their children, Mothers, Fathers, brothers, sisters were alive. They lived side by side the majority of the time with no problems. Sunni, Shia, Christian inter married.

My Mum told me this while Bush was chest beating, prior to Shock and Awe, "if they remove Saddam they take the lid off Pandora's Box, and while Saddam is not perfect he knows what would happen to the country without a strong ruler". She was so right, it happened.

The US has torn her apart limb from limb, sliced and diced, destroyed her people. anarchy now rules.

Will they ever be able to put themselves together again? Will they be able to find a man to put that lid back on Pandora's Box? My heart says yes, and my head says no.

SHAME SHAME USA

One last quote from Madeleine Albright on the loss of 500,000 Iraqi children: It was worth it.

Australian Election - Hung Angel

2010-08-21T22:28:00.006+10:00

Australia with a hung Parliament?

Watching the results of the Federal Election on TV,
interesting the swing to Liberal, and most probably because of the way Kevin Rudd was disposed of.

One person called Julia Gillard "Lady McBeth in Mary Poppins" clothing. What a mess Labor have made of things.

The Labor power brokerers, including the AWU have made the biggest mistakes of their lives by stabbing Rudd in the back. You should be ashamed of yourselves.

I have always voted Labor, I did so today as well, but with trepidation. I wouldn't vote Green or Independant, because no matter what anyone says, it's a wasted vote.
They HAVE to throw their vote with either Labor or Liberal, no choice there.

There will be (they predict) in the Senate 1 Green and 3 Independants, with an equal amount of Libs and Labor Senators. So, a hung Parliament.

Either major party need 76 seats to win, and neither party's number cruncher is confident that will happen.

.................Australians wait and wonder.

Angel Tears - R.I.P. Diesel

2010-06-25T23:39:00.004+10:00

Diesel had been a bit "0ff" the last couple of months, not wanting to walk, but was eating OK. Thought he had a bit of Arthritis.

He collapsed yesterday, and was taken to the vets. They put him on a drip and did blood tests. He had Kidney failure, which effected his heart. Died 11am today.

RIP Diesel, forever in my heart.

Israel Attacks Flotilla - PIRATES

2010-06-02T20:57:00.011+10:00

How does Israel get away with all this stuff?

The flotilla was in International waters, Israel had no right to board, yet they do so in darkness and then claim they were attacked first.

Errr, that sounds to me like an act of piracy, yet it gets ignored. Why? If Sadaam had done this, you would have hanged him. Again.

If someone landed on my boat without asking, I would be hitting first and asking questions later.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article25592.htm, All at Sea. This article makes a lot of sense.

So, what were those Israeli Commando's doing landing on boats in International Waters? ABSAILING?

Geelong Cats: Stars AGAIN!

2010-05-22T16:38:00.004+10:00

You are fantstic Cats, and rose to the occasion last night against the Pies.

What an amazing game game of footy, so hard fought by the you and the Pies, 2nd and 1st on the ladder respectively.

I have a hard time watching games, I get so damn emotional, my son attended the match and lost his voice due to all the cheering.

Anyway, well done.

GO CATS

Aussie Angel - No Longer Stateless

2010-05-13T20:52:00.003+10:00

I wrote about being stateless here. http://angelsangst.blogspot.com/2008/03/stateless.html

Guess what? No longer!!!! Finally a Citizen. I'm ecstatic.

They "found" me, actually they didn't really but after all this time I guess they decided that I had earned the right. I had a lengthy interview, sat my Citizenship Test, filled in piles of paperwork, had to get photo's authenticated, etc.

Anyway, here I am. Australian. BUT I will NEVER forget my roots.

Sigrid Thornton - The Logies Fashion Faux Pas

2010-05-03T22:16:00.004+10:00

No photo and an unusual post for me, The logies. I didn't have the heart to post the pic.

It must have been the worst fashion faux pas of the night. I mean the dress she was wearing whle presenting on stage. What on earth was she thinking? 20 instead of 50? That old saying comes to mind, mutton dressed as lamb.

I know the focus is always on "younger", especially for celebs, but last night went way past ridiculous.

She looks great from a distance, but watch The Golden Mile for a good close up. She looks bloody awful.

Sigrid should sack her plastic surgeon.

PS: She does have great legs for her age!!!

Electrrifying Angel

2010-04-19T19:46:00.008+10:00

Electricity. What would we do without it?

Had a really frightening encounter with electricity on Good Friday.

Our power had been going on and off every few minutes, computers and microwave beeping all the time. We thought we were having power surges. Not so.

About 2pm we had no power to the appliances in the kitchen, then the toaster worked but not the microwave, swapped plugs and the same thing. Weird. We thought maybe the microwave have given up the ghost, the next thought was that we could be up for some rewiring, which we can ill afford.

All of a sudden the computer box in the kitchen went up in smoke. While I raced around and turned things off G got the computer outside. Next thing the monitor in G's "junk" room was pouring out smoke. This became seriously scary for me as G had to leave for a nightshift and I was by myself.

I rang the power company and was told there had been no power surges in my town since 6am when the guy had started his shift. I explained what had happened, and said I was too scared to turn on anything for fear the house would burn down. He was great and sent out 2 guys to have a look.

The repairman came to the door and said he could see a major problem from the ground, and pointed to a damaged cable running from the power pole to the house, there was about 10 inches of melted rubber, with exposed wires underneath. They replaced the wire and turned the power back on, nothing else went up in smoke, thank goodness. He placed the blame solely on that cable as they had checked everything else as well. He also said the cables in this area were quite old and it was probably the original cable, circa 1975.

I spent a really nervous night, each time I turned something on I stood and watched it just in case.

I think we were very lucky we were at home to turn things off , and that it didn't happen at night. We could easily have lost the house and possibly our lives. We do have smoke alarms, but I sleep like the dead and wouldn't hear the alarm. Burglars, that is NOT an invitation to you!!!

We lost a heap of stuff which the power company takes no liability for, but will pay pro rata, something to do with depreciation. The contents insurance was due on the 25/3, and hadnt been paid, so no joy there.

We are down a lot of dollars, but have our lives and the house. I am truly grateful.

Indians in Australia - Reverse Racism

2010-03-10T19:43:00.017+11:00

A very touchy topic at this time, never -the - less, I have a fairly strong opinion.

There has been a lot of press in India re their students being targeted by Australians, hence the title "Australians are racist". The Indian press even went so far as suggesting Victorian Police were akin to the American KKK, showing pictures of the same.

I have lived here most of my life and have only heard one person make what I considered a truly RACIST remark, and it was about me. Odd don't you think, given my background? Just one comment.

There are of course the Aussie jokes about other countries, and I'm sure every other country has their own set of jokes about Aus. Jokes aside, this is no laughing matter.

In fact I think the bad press from India has stirred the proverbial pot, and made most Aussies furious about the comments. If they were sitting on the fence kicking back before, they definitely are not now.

In one particular attack, the people were of Asian appearance, quite possibly students themselves. Also, I wonder if Pakistanis are involved, given the conditions between themselves and India? In fact statistics show Indians are far more likely to be killed in their own country, more likely to be bashed and robbed, and more likely to be blown up.

So I ask you, why are there such large Indian / Asian / Italian / Greek / Middle Eastern etc. communities in Australia? Why did these people immigrate and / or come to study here? Because conditions are horrendous? Because they are likely to murdered or attacked?

Yes, people do get targeted, every race including so called "white" people get their fair share as well. This is REVERSE RACISM by India , and most unfair.

Then we get to "no one from India commits a crime here". Bullsh*t! This week a very tragic case, the murder or a gorgeous 3 year old Indian boy, Gurshan Singh. The crime committed by? A 23 year old member of his own household, Gursewak Dhillon. I know how Gurshan's parents are feeling, as I have also lost a child.

Then we have the rape of a 40 year old woman in a Taxi committed by the 21 year old driver, an Indian student, Rajveer Singh. Also I will cite the case of the Indian student who was charged with Manslaughter and drink driving after the car he was driving crashed, killing one person. He was given bail, and fled back to India.

Do you think I would label all Indian's as murderers and rapists because of the examples shown? No, I definitely would not, and neither would the majority of Australians.

So India, get over your REVERSE RACISM.

Iraqi Writer / Blogger Hiba Al-Shamaree

2010-01-31T20:53:00.008+11:00

Hi Readers, I have just read An Arab Woman Blues, link provided.

http://arabwomanblues.blogspot.com/2010/01/urgent-update-iraqi-female.html

Please read Layla's article and support Dr Hanan Ali Ahmad Al Mashadani. ala Hiba Al-Shamaree.

We don't know how lucky we are until something like this comes to light. We need to remember the simple things we take for granted are not a "given" in other countries.

http://www.intheshadowofthepalms.com/

Shlama. (Thank you Carol and Hilda for the Assyrian Lessons!)

Christmas Angels

2009-12-21T22:20:00.003+11:00

I can't believe it's been so long since I posted. Time flies when you're having fun. Fun, definitely a question mark after that.

I couldn't find a Christmas Angel, so I picked the opposite. Very dark, a bit like the way I feel at the moment.

I did promise no more sooks, so I'm going to try and stick to that. I did say TRY.

Merry Christmas all, especiallyto Janice, B and Layla, all women of inspiration in one way or another. Also to Ian, Frank and all at the blog.

Stay safe and happy, and have a prosperous New Year.

The Last Sook

2009-09-16T20:51:00.005+10:00

The future remains uncertain. After many long hours talking with family, I have decided not to look for work. Things are too tough in this country area, there are people with Uni degrees working in takeaways, Target, Kmart etc.

Plus after the last effort, I'm hesitant to put myself through the ordeal again. Very demoralising. Of course, if a job happens to land in my lap, that's a different matter.

I've been busy in the garden though, spending a lot just in case we have to sell. I want it looking fantastic to maximise $$$. Next on the list will be the painting I still have to finish from last summer. Actually there's a long list of stuff which will keep me busy for months, including the "caves". (Sheds)

And if we don't have to sell, well I'll have a lot of time to sit and admire my handy work. Not looking forward to cleaning out the gutters though! Next door has trees on the boundary fence that hang over our roof, we now have babies (trees) growing in the guttering. Reckon they should come and clean them out, but that won't happen. We asked them to cut them back months ago. due to the high wind speeds we were / are experiencing and also the fact that they overhang my bedroom, which makes me nervous during storms. No, not going to happen.

Anyway, hopefully this is the last sook I'll be having and will look forward to posting on a more regular basis, and also some decent topics. :)

Endless Cups of Tea

2009-09-01T21:31:00.004+10:00

Am I happy, or am I sad? It seems my life will now be endless cups of tea. I got fired yesterday.

Will I miss the 1o hour days (plus some)? Nope.
Will I miss being so tired, that my bones ache? Nope. Will I miss being surrounded by other tired, grumpy people? Nope.

Will I miss the money? Hell yes!
Can we survive without me working? That remains to be seen.

Why? I'm wondering that myself. Being told my work is substandard and my customer service skills are not up to par is absolute bullsh*t. My previous employers would agree with me, as would past clients.

Maybe it's because I refused to extend my 50 hour week to 60, while being paid for 40? Or possibly because I insisted on having a lunch hour? Maybe because I put into words my concern about the amount of factory recalls on their vehicles? Possibly. Or, it might have been because I voiced my opinion on the elderly lady who was charged $1500 for 4 tyres, when she could have gone to a Tyre Service and paid $800? Or the other one, who was charged $195 to supply and fit a new battery?

I just raised my eyebrows and shook my head when given the news. I think I actually smiled, possibly from relief. I hate liars, cheats and thief's. How can you be a team player when this stuff happens?

So, buyer beware when it comes to your car, and service charges. Shop around for prices, don't just take it for granted that your local dealer is honest. Most of them are, by the way. But, this one is something else.

Getting fired is a first for me. And no, I'm not unhappy with their decision, just the lies contained in the delivery.

Wishing Well

2009-06-30T20:13:00.004+10:00

Oh my! Be careful what you wish for.

I have gone from one end of the spectrum to the other. Bored witless to frantic, in control to having no control.

I don't think I have made so many mistakes in a workplace before. It is so busy there is no time to learn the database system, it just goes over my head. The phone never stops ringing, there is always a customer in front of you waiting.

And I keep stuffing up.

They did tell me that it was busy, this is way past busy. Everyone comes into work at least a half hour early, (7.30am) trying to get things together before people start arriving.

You get an hour for lunch, but never take it because you know if you do things will back up. Fifteen minutes each for morning and afternoon tea, that just doesn't happen. Knock off is 5pm, the earliest I have finished is 5.30. We are paid 8 till 5, no extra.

I do however like the job, at least the day passes quickly. I don't like stuffing up though, it just causes others unnecessary problems, and precious time.

They are sending me to a quieter branch next week, where I will hopefully learn the system. If I don't, I guess I'll be unemployed again.

Wish me luck.

Vindication - No More Lies

2009-06-20T00:05:00.008+10:00

Well, well. Guess what I received in the mail today?

Obviously a letter, but what sort of letter? All the "manipulated" truths (non truths) from my employer over the last months have finally caught up.

They have gone into voluntary administration, and both G and I are creditors, we are owed just under $5000 in unpaid Superannuation. The letter was from the Administrator.

Now I feel vindicated in a way, because others who called me a liar to my face, now know the truth.

I'll wait for their apologies. Yeah, right.

Do I feel sorry for my ex employer? No. Do I feel sorry for the particular staff who pointed the finger at me, the ones who are left without? No. Am I glad we made the decision to leave and face loosing everything? Yes.

I do feel for the people who are caught in the crossfire, especially since the field is AGED CARE Unfortunately I helped some of them into this position, until I realised what was happening and resigned.

But, all is not lost. After speaking a friend this weekend, he said the administrator was very positive that the particular place could be sold as a going concern, which is great for the residents. I don't know what will happen to the creditors.

I have now found employment, thank goodness and start on Monday.

Avenger - EMPLOYEES BEWARE

2009-06-07T21:45:00.009+10:00

I seem to be having one of those days, or rather months. You know the ones, where you can't be bothered or are sort of down.

I still believe this state of "un-bliss" is caused by my former employer and very "tall tales". I guess I shouldn't be saying anything about that though.

The hot topic at the moment is employees bad mouthing their employers on their web pages, My Space / Facebook etc. Apparently they are being tracked down and eventually sacked.

I think this is rather funny, seeing my former employer took his former company's board of directiors to court for unfair dismissal. It turns out his private secretary had taped hundreds of hours of private employee conversations along with secretly videotaping board meetings when he (boss) was not present. He said he didn't know anything about that in court. This is all documented in court proceedings and made headlines around Australia. He is known as a 'colourful' charactor.

At the time I commenced employment with them, I didn't know a thing about this, not being an avid news junkie. So, I get this job offer, was promised the world and got basically nothing in return. For nearly 10 months I was strung along with broken promises. I trusted them, and I was loyal.

As I said earlier, I knew nothing about the former prodeedings what so ever, until I was asked to pack up another employees belongings, in amongst the bunch of stuff was a stack of newspapers, the Age, Australian, etc. On the front page of every one were article's about my employer and what had transpired in the Court prodeedings, plus other stuff as well.

I was absolutely stunned. That night I did some research on the net and read many articles from newspapers about the above. The only one I can remember was called "On her Majesty's Secret Service", it was about industrial espionage and although not about the above in particular, it was mentioned. Anyway, the more I read, the more concerned I became.

I guess I went into panic mode, anyway a lot transpired and I handed in my resignation. My employers last words to me were, of course making sure no one else was close enough to hear : "We could sue you, you know, about the garbage coming out of your mouth". The only 'garbage' was actually true, it's in the court transcriptions, and they lost. If I had of known about this prior to being employed, I would have run a mile, and would not want to be mixed up with this mob at all.

I have left a huge chunk of this story out, so everyone remains annonymous. There are a lot of major players and recognisable 'big' names ( and I really do mean big) involved. Oh, and did I mention they did not pay into my Super for nearly 7 months, and nor have they since I resigned? Oops, but I'm not allowed to tell you anything about that, I signed a contract.

Employers have a duty towards their employees, but not this mob. They chew you up, spit you out, and don't bat an eyelid along the way. Masters of manipulation.

BROKEN WINGS

2009-05-13T00:27:00.006+10:00

Maybe I haven't moved to wordpress, after all that effort. Neo Earth doesn't advertise their product will not work on Wordpress. They will not refund you either, nor will they answer emails. Buyer beware. Waste of $40.

So, I hve moved back to blogger, but the comments have disappeared again. Why on earth do they show up on Wordpress, and disappear here????

Last night I could only see my post titles, no words. See what happens when you edit things whilst tired. I changed the background and the words disappeared.

Duh! Can't have black writing on a black page!

This seems to have turned into my diary, I hope to get back to doing some serious posting soon.

Escape

2009-03-23T22:01:00.008+11:00

I have finally escaped, but how come I don't feel any different?

It took a couple of weeks to get her face out of my head every time I shut my eyes. Now, her face only appears now and then.

I can't sleep, so tried Valarian a couple of times. I had nightmares, spiders and tigers, so decided to give it a miss. I hate spiders.

I am gardening frantically, trying to get so tired that I will sleep. It's not happening, and I dread going to bed. I used to meditate to get to sleep, but can't manage to do that any more. Some refresher meditation classes might be in order, I think.

Not working is having a very bad effect on the bank balance, not sure what will happen with the house. Can't keep paying a mortgage with no income. So...........we'll wait for a few more weeks and see what happens.

On a more positive note, I have started on the 'quit smoking pill. I'm only on day 2, and have not noticed any side effects, and so far it has not stopped my cravings. I had to set a day to stop smoking, which I have done. Saturday 18th April. Hmmm!!!

I guess it's not so bad, as B said, we're still alive, have running water and electricity. Until we are unable to pay the bills, that is. :)

Still Trapped - A Lesson Learned

2009-03-18T19:57:00.008+11:00

I haven't escaped yet, but it's getting closer. The boss sends me messages through G. Ask her to return the uniform please. What does she think I would do with it? Wear the bloody thing for fun? Yeah, right.

Actually, I send her messages through G too. Can you tell me when to expect my termination pay? I didn't get an answer.

I can feel myself retreating from the rest of the world. All I want to do is be by myself, the phone keeps ringing, I don't answer it. If someone knocks on the door, I ignore it.

One day........down the track, I'll tell you about this particular job, what I did, how people are ripped off. BUT only after I get paid out, including the 7 months worth of Super that hasn't been paid into my nominated fund.

Look at your next job offer, research the company and directors before you make the worst mistake of your lives, like G and I did. If it sounds too good to be true, it usually is. We may just go into bankruptcy because of these smooth talkers.

Denim

2009-03-16T21:51:00.006+11:00

It looks like life is back to sleeping in. I have had two interviews, and one no thank you. One more interview on Thursday afternoon.

So.......back to sleeping in, and wearing jeans. I still have not quite escaped this hell hole, but only have 4 days to go. This is pay week though, so getting paid on time or even at all, remains to be seen.

It will be great to finally go home to stay, I have really missed it, and the DOG. Fancy having him two houses away, and having visitation rights only. However, we did agree that if we were to return, they would keep the dog. Fair is fair. I have to say, I don't miss the hair. Long haired Saints are continually shedding. I swear you could spin the hair and knit a jumper out of it.

I have finally got somewhere with the Dept of Immigration, and am allowed to sit my citizenship test on the 26th May. About time too! I had a very understanding person on the other end of the phone, who showed a lot of common sense. No around and around the "what is your passposrt number", I don't have one, "what is your permanent residency number", I don't have one, etc. No arguments this time.:)

Anyway, back to sleeping in.........

Yellow Heart - Black Heart

2009-03-11T21:22:00.006+11:00

I've changed colour this time, yellow instead of black, but nothing has changed.

Well, maybe some things have changed. On reflection, a lot has changed.

This pretense we call life, struggling to keep an image, working to live or living to work, which ever one it is.

Longer hours, with nothing to show except extra stress. Everyone afraid if they don't put in extra time, a replacement will be found. The replacement will, of course endeavour to live up to your image and in turn be caught in the trap.

I got over it. The big money, the entrenched lies that go with the job, the pretend 'everything is perfect' world. Oh, forgot the blame game, the happy, joyous corporate world , where everything that goes wrong in the higher echelons is always someone else's fault.

Have you ever noticed your employer will NEVER take the blame, even though he/she made the mistake? I only had one boss that ever did that, and he was a car dealer. Just goes to show that car salesmen have more integrity than you imagined.

Annonymous

2009-03-05T21:15:00.008+11:00

Interesting day. Hmmm........ Annonymous. No faces, no names.

Today I voiced my opinion regarding the non payment of wages, and my negative outlook at the present time because of this. It ended up a total fiasco.

My husband resigned. The boss went nuts.

A little later..........I was asked to resign, I refused. She basically said she would make life very difficult, and that I couldn't do my job properly. Which I can, by the way. My performance targets are way up, on one side, the other side is unmarketable in it's present form, as has been documented in numerous meetings, by her. But, like all good bosses, she changed her mind and blamed it on me.

The thing is, unless they actually produce the product, and the purchaser pays in full, I don't get commission. People get sick of waiting, pull out, and I lose out. I reckon around $14,000 this financial year.

Black Heart - Black Wings

2009-02-28T21:56:00.004+11:00

Well, it's come around again. Payday. No wages in the bank again. Not even an email this time.

I rang H/O and asked, the person I spoke to was in the same boat as me. Exec's were not available to talk to. Remember, I changed my direct debit days? Maybe I should make it the week after??

In the meantime I had my interview, I blew it completely because I was over stressed re no wages. I could have kicked myself for giving incorrect answers to questions I actually know backwards.

The icing on the cake: An email right at knock off time!! Guess what?? Due to a technical hitch were were unable to process the payroll on Monday night, Tuesday night and also tonight. We may possibly have it sorted out tomorrow.

Crashed, Trapped & Burned

2009-02-27T21:35:00.006+11:00

Have you ever got to that place in your life, when you feel you have crashed and burned? I don't mean literally.

That place where you feel you can go no further, you are stuck. Everything seems to be at a standstill. Stuck in a job you don't like, in a place that you hate more and more each day.

You feel you will be at this place forever, no moving on. You've given up on being well off, with a reasonable house and NO mortgage. I forgot to ad the credit card, definitely NO creditcard. Well, no credit card debt, anyway.

The car, another thing I'd love to ditch. Payments, that is.

I have a job interview next week, I guess in the end it will become the same. A means to an end. It just feels as if it will never end.

I'm not sure if I have ever loved my job. I can't remember when I last jumped out of bed, and couldn't wait to get to work. I don't think it has ever happened.

The icing on the cake: Not being paid on time. Three times in a row. Can you believe they told us to move our direct debits forward 2 days, because they couldn't guarantee we'd be paid on time? I believe the words were "We'll go broke together" Can you believe that shit?

I rebelled and got to work very, very late. When asked my reason, I said if she couldn't pay me on time, I couldn't get to work on time.

On another topic, Victoria still has 15 fires buning. Different areas being threatened, more stress on families. Now they are talking about only re- building the homes that were insured, how un fair is that? Over two thousand homes lost, and two and a half thousand sheds, multiple businesses.

I guess that's my bit said for the end of the month.

Victoria Burning - Protection for the Arsonist- No protection for the Victims

2009-02-14T21:58:00.008+11:00

They are not releasing his name We should know. We need to ow. We want to know. PLEASE

What does 'fragile state of mind' mean? Does he have a disability, a mental illness? WHAT? Is he a husband, a father, we should know. He deserves to be lynched.

I went searching for a Fiery Angel pic, and found this. I thought Angel of Revenge, then realised it had one of the Psalms attached, Psalm 90. It's about protection. I guess that would be protection for the ARSONIST.

NO PROTECTION FOR THE VICTIMS.

Does that seem fair? Why should he deserve to be protected, any more than another criminal?

There must be someone out there that knows his name. We want to know. In fact, we demand to know. So, who is he?

Victoria Burning - Man Charged - Churchill Fire

2009-02-13T21:55:00.003+11:00

Source: http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/02/13/2491107.htm
A man accused of lighting the Churchill-Jeerelang bushfire in Gippsland, in Victoria's east has been remanded in custody.The fire started in plantation near Churchill on Saturday and quickly spread to nearby communities. Twenty-one people are confirmed to have died in that fire.

The man was arrested this morning and taken to the Morwell police station where he was questioned for several hours. He has been charged with one count of arson causing death, one count of intentionally lighting a bushfire and one count of possessing child pornography.
The man did not appear in court.

The court heard the man is in a fragile mental state and magistrate Clive Alsop made an order that he be assessed by a psychologist.The man will appear in the Melbourne Magistrates Court on Monday.

Assistant Police Commissioner Dannye Maloney says the man has been moved to Melbourne due to security concerns."People are pointing fingers, people are jumping to conclusions, rumours and innuendos are ebbing... we do not need that," he said. "Let Victoria Police do its role, we identified this person, we are prosecuting this person on behalf of the community."

Police are still urging anyone with any information on the fires across the state to come forward.
The total bushfire death toll stands at 181.

Victoria Burning - Devastation - No Words

2009-02-12T22:14:00.008+11:00

Victoria Burning - My Skyline

2009-02-12T21:24:00.001+11:00

If we weren't burning, the sky would be beautiful. I'm all fired out, and need something light.

I have lost all my comments, along with the line breaks in my posts. I need some help with this. Blogger doesn't help me, as my brain doesn't work in "html".

It's more than likely me that has stuffed something up on the settings. That took 5 minutes, now back to the fires.

There are 29 fires still burning in Victoria. Two major fires look like they are going to join. The Police have found two people who are assisting them with their enquiries. Someone told me an 11 year old boy was being interviewed, but I don't know if this is actually the case.

Which ever way you look at it, it's sad. They have not yet released the names of the deceased, nor are there any death notices for the fire victims. I wish I had some good news.

Victoria Burning - I Hate Greenies & Arsonists

2009-02-12T18:23:00.025+11:00

I can't begin to tell you how we are feeling. The shock has started to wear off a little, but along with that comes severe anger and frustration.

At this time, I'm so glad I don't know a Greenie. Those bloody City people, who know nothing about the bush, who have managed to get laws passed that will not allow us to cut down trees surrounding country properties, thus endangering lives. 29 fires are still burning.

Those dickheads who chain themselves to trees, professional protesters, who are paid. They have also managed to destroy a hundred odd years of tradition, Alpine Cattle Grazing, by having that banned as well, and turning it into the Alpine National Park, because of some little plants or frogs (something like that). Who frigging cares? Aren't human lives worth more than a frogs, or an endangered plant?

You say no? Then F off all Greenies and Arsonists. You deserve the Death Penalty. 181 lives lost, over a thousand homes, then we come to livelihoods, livestock. You WANKERS. The undergrowth is long, we have been in drought for 12 years. The only house left standing in one area had removed the trees around the house. They were taken to court, charged with Environmental Damage and fined. It cost them $100,000, but saved their lives.

Well Greenies and Arsonists, happy now? I suggest you go chain your selves to the trees that have cost victims their lives and others their livlihoods, enjoy yourselves.

PS: WHO IS GOING TO VOTE GREEN IN THE NEXT ELECTION, OR GIVE THEM PREFERENTIAL VOTES?

PlEASE EXCUSE MY FRENCH (SWEARING).

Victoria Still Burning

2009-02-11T19:47:00.002+11:00

Still burning. Unbelievable pictures taken by everyday ordinary Australians. We have our television channels back now, watching the utter devestation has me in tears a lot of the time.

The names of the dead are slowly filtering through, along with the pictures. I have lived here for so long, and know so many people, it's scary. I may not know the name, but the faces are familiar. You know the ones that you pass on the way to school, or the supermarket. The people you smile at when you pass them on the street, or wait in the queue at the bank with.

I'm too scared to watch, and find myself in tears often. I don't think there is a person in country Victoria that hasn't been touched by this fire in some way. Somehow there is always a smile at the end of the tears. It leaves me nearly speechless.

Eye See You - Tea and Sympathy

2009-02-10T21:05:00.014+11:00

Hi Readers,

You all know that I feed off others posts, especially if I see a perceived "wrong". I had an email from a friend telling me to check out a blog and particular thread. Of course, I did. I always take a hint when offered, as sometimes I don't bother to read the comments at all, or even make a comment, but enjoy reading the article.

Someone was caught out badly, and if I'm correct will be even more caught out later this week. People really should not tell fibs, especially when doing so for sympathy. You have to be very careful. I can vouch for that, personal experience talking. I tried being 3 people at once, very confusing. I told fibs AND got caught out. I found an apology was the only way to recover my otherwise unsullied reputation. HAHA. I actually no longer care, though it has taken me some time to get over the "caring" bit.

You never remember your fibs, unless you are very, very clever. Obviously I'm not that clever, and neither is the person concerned.

Me thinks a little tea and sympathy is called for. Everyone seems to take on a different persona when blogging. You can say nasty / nice things, and be tagged as exactly that for the rest of your blogging career. People remember what you said, and when you said it. There is always a time when you have a lapse from your "persona," and make a mistake. Very forgivable, if admitted.

Usually you start out on a straight line, then a little down the track it deviates. A fib here, a fib there, and you're trapped. You either have to stick with it and keep going, take on a different persona and start fresh, or apologise. I chose to apologise, that was a couple of years ago now.

As per usual after my lost comments, contact is via email.

Victoria Burning - Gippsland Monday, 6pm

2009-02-09T19:57:00.008+11:00

ABC radio has announced there are 21 dead in this area, 130 all up and they expect to find more. It will take months for investigators to sift through burnt homes. We are virtually cut off from TV, with one Melbourne channel, 10. No local channels at all, so cannot envision the rest of the State.

The Churchill fire has broken containment lines, and local communities are again on high alert. They have been told it is too late to run.

I spoke with a client in Yarram today, who told me two locals had died, she provided me with their names, I cried. A little later I gathered the courage to ring one of their relatives, right name, wrong family. I still cried.

On my way to post some mail after work, a fire truck roared past me with lights flashing and siren on. Tears again. I'm feeling sick with apprehension. I couldn't imagine living in a war zone for months on end.

Victoria Burning Sunday 4pm.

2009-02-08T15:54:00.005+11:00

We had Channel 9 back for a while, but it has disappeared again. News on the net says there are 9 dead in Gippsland so far. I hope and pray they are not amongst my friends, but they are someone's friends and family. My heart goes out to them.

Victoria Burning - Gippsland 9pm Saturday

2009-02-05T21:12:00.010+11:00

The following is the email I sent to my daughter and friend in Perth.:

Hi ******,

On alert:: Walhalla, Erica, Glengarry, Toongabbie, Cowwarr, Warragul, Drouin. Burning: Pakenham, Narre Warren, Churchill, Traralgon South, Tarra Bulga Nat Park, Balook, Jindivick, Callignee, North and South, Yarram, Won Wron, Woodside, all the beach side towns, and everything in-between, Mt Tassie transmitter towers are gone.

We watched the hills on the other side of the Valley burn from the back of Churchill to Mt Tassie, 60 K’s as the crow flies in 2 hours. All this from our front yard, along with our local CFA reps, and most of the population of Yallourn North. It was spectacular, the flames 1000 meters high.
I’ve never seen anything like it.

By 5.30pm it was as black as night, the air thick with dark choking smoke, making it hard to breathe. By 7pm, it started to rain lightly, black rain. It cleared the smoke a little. The Princes Highway is cut at Pakenham, Warragul, Morwell, Stratford, Sale, amongst other major towns, there are hundreds of road blocks, including the Walhalla Erica road from Tyers. Closer to home, 2 k’s, Strettons Track caught fire, was put out, and a couple of hours later caught again and is now contained. The wind was gusting up to 120k’s an hour, so very hot.

Right now: There are Thunder storms happening with spectacular lightening, starting more fires. No rain with it here. The smoke is thick and is making me choke, ABC Radio just alerted us that the fire has pushed through to Traralgon South which is now burning, and is moving quickly towards Loy Yang. They have put us on alert for the next 4 hours, the wind will change direction and come from the South West, pushing the fires right towards us. The radio signal is coming and going, I just heard there were casualties, but not the whereabouts. Visibility is down to 200 meters, we have been told not to drive, it’s too dangerous, hence all the road blocks.

Sunday 2pm. The smoke damage is awful, house is full of black ash. We are so very, very lucky.

Dishonest & Bitchy Bloggers - Not Angelic

2009-01-25T00:14:00.005+11:00

I've been reading quite a bit of a night, lately. The trend is a little disturbing, hence I am not going to be Angelic at all. I'll cut straight to the chase.

I'm pretty well honest, straight down the line. Above all else, I would put honesty first in any sort of relationship, be it home, work, play or blogging.

Most bloggers are annonymous, some good, some bad. Anyone who has built up a reputation cannot afford to make a mistake. For example: A regularly abusive commenter, which makes more timid bloggers less likely to comment.

I have been visiting a certain blog lately, that is showing disturbing trends, bordering on either abusive, or just plain straight out bitchiness.

I've been in that position before, where one person can basically get away with anything, whereas another who comments on this trend, is deemed a 'troll'.

Now, bitchiness is another thing I dislike. When one says something out of spite, they will probably get a reply from the recipient, who is a little upset at being antagonised for no real reason. The first party realises she has made a mistake in front of everyone on the blog, then in a completely condescending manor, makes light of it.

Then there are the people who comment under a variety of names, some very clever and adept at not getting caught out. I actually tried this out, but couldn't continue being several people at once. Too hard to keep up with the lies.

The other label, which I didn't include is Reformed Nasties. You never know if you can trust them or not. You read their posts, but decide never to comment because you don't feel secure. There is no trust, and probably never will be.

I decided to just be me. What you see is what you get. Attack with an argument, don't attack the man, don't be condescending, and never underestimate.

A friend emailed me the olther day, told me others were not euipped to deal with my straight out, down to earth attitude. He's probably right. I cut close to the chase. Deal with it.

Angels "D" Day

2009-01-24T17:10:00.009+11:00

"D" stress Day. Finally at home, for 10 days straight. No boss, no clients, phones turned off. Ahhhh! Beautiful, peaceful in my little piece of Paradise, anyway.

Things are not so well in other parts of the world. I realise there are other wars being fought, apart from the Middle East, but can't worry about them all.

Meanwhile you should watch this piece from Information Clearing House, titled Justifying War Crimes. Interesting that Israel and the US get to contravene International Humanitarian Law. How do we let them get away with this?

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article21832.htm

The Gaza war will be followed by more violence until Israelis and Palestinians create a state called "Isratine" where they can live together in peace, Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi said in remarks published on Thursday. This from http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article21827.htm

As is usual now, Iraq is forgotten by the Western News Services. We should get news, good or bad, but we all know that unless it is radical, we won't hear it. Typical.

I don't know how someone can live through this, I feel bad enough thinking about it. For these next few days I think I have to force myself to NOT think about it. "D" stress Day.

Angels Child

2009-01-19T22:39:00.008+11:00

This pic gives me the absolute creeps. The girl reminds me so much of someone that is no longer with me. Same face, same eyes, same hair. My spine started to tingle, and my senses became super alert. The air seemed to crackle with I don't know what.

Questions:

Does a parent ever forget? If they do, how long does it take? Do you ever stop feeling guilty or blaming yourself for (in this case) an avoidable accident. When does your heart stop breaking? Do the tears subside?

I wish I knew the answers. Same old story. When I close my eyes at night, all the awful things that have happened seem to just come to the fore. I can't stop thinking about them.

I learned to meditate, it took a long time but I did it. I used to imagine a house in the mountains, on top of a hill covered in snow, and a view of the valley below. I'm physically at a similar place now, but can no longer meditate.

I think I need to get back to basics, give myself a bit of leeway. We have a break of 10 days coming up. I want to go to my spiritual home and spend a few days there. Maybe that will put me on the right track, so I can save myself. Again. Thank goodness for a husband who understands.

MAIMONIDEAN CODE & TALMUD

2009-01-17T00:15:00.010+11:00

http://www.biblebelievers.org.au/jewhis.htm

Read this link. Fascinating, written by Prof. Israel Shahak, Jewish Historian. He says of his OWN Religion "a world sunk in the most abject superstition, fanaticism, and ignorance ..." Below this another review, from another source. It's worth reading.

"Does not their Talmud say, and do not their rabbis write, that it is no sin to kill if a Jew kills a heathen, but it is a sin if he kills a brother in Israel? It is no sin if he does not keep his oath to a heathen. Therefore, to steal and rob, as they do with their usury, from a heathen is a divine service. For they hold that they cannot be too hard on us nor sin against us, because they are of the noble blood and circumcised saints; we, however, are cursed goyim. And they are the masters of the world, and we are their servants, yea, their cattle...

Well, what can one say? IT IS NO SIN TO KILL A PALESTINIAN???

"In 1962 a part of the Maimonidean Code ... the so-called Book of Knowledge, which contains the most basic rules of Jewish faith and practice, was published in Jerusalem in a bilingual edition, with the English translation facing the Hebrew text. The latter has been restored to its original purity, and the command to exterminate Jewish infidels appears in it in full: "It is a duty to exterminate them with one's own hands." In the English translation this is somewhat softened to: "It is a duty to take active measures to destroy them." But then the Hebrew text goes on to specify the prime examples of "infidels"who must be exterminated: "Such as Jesus of Nazareth and his pupils, and Tzadoqand Baitos [the founders of the Sadducean sect] and their pupils, may the name of the wicked rot." Not one word of this appears in the English text on the facing page (78a). And, even more significant, in spite of the wide circulation of this book among scholars in the English-speaking countries, not one of them has, as far as I know, protested against this glaring deception."

Angels= Good Taste, Israel= Bad Taste

2009-01-15T19:36:00.015+11:00

This guy obviously has good taste. He has gone to the expense and trouble of having an Angel tattooed on his back. And, before you ask, I haven't got a clue as to who he is, but like the pic.

Talking of good taste. Israel hasn't got any, in fact doesn't have much going for it at all.

You know, I can't find anything nice to say about Israel at all. Not a thing. Their administration must have taken notes from GWB. OR, is it the other way around? They both have this inherent lack of humanity, say things with such smugness it makes you sick.

The humanitarian crises in Palestine is appalling. Israel bombed the UN for God's sake. They even said the UN compound was targeted because that's where the rockets were coming from. On top of that they apologised, and said they were mistaken. Meanwhile, much needed food and supplies for war torn Palestinians were destroyed, and more lives lost. Oops, nearly forgot that they bombed the Al-Quds Hospital.

Israel declined a cease fire. What does that say about them? After what they claim to have gone through, why are they in turn treating Palestinians like this? Don't they recognise human suffering any longer? HAVE THEY FORGOTTEN? No way. We are reminded of it at least once a week, via news, movies and endless documentaries.

ISRAEL: YOU HAVE LOST YOUR HEART. YOU HAVE LOST WORLD RESPECT. Most of all, you have KILLED INNOCENTS.

Another hand in glove with America. Why does that NOT surprise me?

You know, if this is what the God of the Israelites is all about, I don't want any part of him.

Who supports this?

2009-01-10T17:44:00.003+11:00

HOW WOULD YOU FEEL

2009-01-10T17:17:00.006+11:00

Israel, what have you done

2009-01-10T16:15:00.004+11:00

Oh, Israel, what have you done??

I found the following, apparently nothing has changed. I have tried to publish with the link included twice here, and three times on another blog. What is that telling you? Zionists not happy with the criticism?

Quest for Justice. - By Judith StoneNovember 2002 . Originally published in the Kansas City Jewish Chronicle. The editor who accepted the article for publication was promptly fired.

I am a Jew. I was a participant in the Rally for the Right of Return to Palestine. It was the right thing to do. I've heard about the European holocaust against the Jews since I was a small child. I've visited the memorials in Washington, DC and Jerusalem dedicated to Jewish lives lost and I've cried at the recognition to what level of atrocity mankind is capable of sinking.

Where are the Jews of conscience? No righteous malice can be held against the survivors of Hitler's holocaust. These fragments of humanity were in no position to make choices beyond that of personal survival. We must not forget that being a survivor or a co-religionist of the victims of the European Holocaust does not grant dispensation from abiding by the rules of humanity.

"Never again" as a motto, rings hollow when it means "never again to us alone." My generation was raised being led to believe that the biblical land was a vast desert inhabited by a handful of impoverished Palestinians living with their camels and eking out a living in the sand. The arrival of the Jews was touted as a tremendous benefit to these desert dwellers. Golda Mier even assured us that there "is no Palestinian problem."

We know now this picture wasn't as it was painted. Palestine was a land filled with people who called it home. There were thriving towns and villages, schools and hospitals. There were Jews, Christians and Muslims. In fact, prior to the occupation, Jews represented a mere 7 percent of the population and owned 3 percent of the land.

Taking the blinders off for a moment, I see a second atrocity perpetuated by the very people who should be exquisitely sensitive to the suffering of others. These people knew what it felt like to be ordered out of your home at gun point and forced to march into the night to unknown destinations or face execution on the spot. The people who displaced the Palestinians knew first hand what it means to watch your home in flames, to surrender everything dear to your heart at a moment's notice. Bulldozers leveled hundreds of villages, along with the remains of the village inhabitants, the old and the young. This was nothing new to the world.

Poland is a vast graveyard of the Jews of Europe. Israel is the final resting place of the massacred Palestinian people. A short distance from the memorial to the Jewish children lost to the holocaust in Europe there is a leveled parking lot. Under this parking lot is what's left of a once flourishing village and the bodies of men, women and children whose only crime was taking up needed space and not leaving graciously. This particular burial marker reads: "Public Parking".

I've talked with Palestinians. I have yet to meet a Palestinian who hasn't lost a member of their family to the Israeli Shoah, nor a Palestinian who cannot name a relative or friend languishing under inhumane conditions in an Israeli prison. Time and time again, Israel is cited for human rights violations to no avail. On a recent trip to Israel, I visited the refugee camps inhabited by a people who have waited 52 years in these 'temporary' camps to go home. Every Palestinian grandparent can tell you the name of their village, their street, and where the olive trees were planted.

Their grandchildren may never have been home, but they can tell you where their great-grandfather lies buried and where the village well stood. The press has fostered the portrait of the Palestinian terrorist. But, the victims who rose up against human indignity in the Warsaw Ghetto are called heroes. Those who lost their lives are called martyrs. The Palestinian who tosses a rock in desperation is a terrorist.

Two years ago I drove through Palestine and watched intricate sprinkler systems watering lush green lawns of Zionist settlers in their new condominium complexes, surrounded by armed guards and barbed wire in the midst of a Palestinian community where there was not adequate water to drink and the surrounding fields were sandy and dry. University professor Moshe Zimmerman reported in the Jerusalem Post (April 30, 1995), "The [Jewish] children of Hebron are just like Hitler's youth."

We Jews are suing for restitution, lost wages, compensation for homes, land, slave labor and back wages in Europe. Am I a traitor of a Jew for supporting the right of return of the Palestinian refugees to their birthplace and compensation for what was taken that cannot be returned?

The Jewish dead cannot be brought back to life and neither can the Palestinian massacred be resurrected. David Ben Gurion said, "Let us not ignore the truth among ourselves... politically, we are the aggressors and they defend themselves ...The country is theirs, because they inhabit it, whereas we want to come here and settle down, and in their view we want to take away from them their country..."

Palestine is a land that has been occupied and emptied of its people. It's cultural and physical landmarks have been obliterated and replaced by tidy Hebrew signs. The history of a people was the first thing eradicated by the occupiers. The history of the indigenous people has been all but eradicated >as though they never existed. And all this has been hailed by the world as a miraculous act of G-d. We must recognize that Israel's existence is not even a question of legality so much as it is an illegal fait accompli realized through the use of force while supported by the Western powers. The UN missions directed at Israel in attempting to correct its violations of have thus far been futile.

In Hertzl's "The Jewish State," the father of Zionism said, "...We must investigate and take possession of the new Jewish country by means of every modern expedient." I guess I agree with Ehud Barak (3 June 1998) when he said, "If I were a Palestinian, I'd also join a terror group." I'd go a step further perhaps. Rather than throwing little stones in desperation, I'd hurtle a boulder.

Hopefully, somewhere deep inside, every Jew of conscience knows that this was no war; that this was not G-d's restitution of the holy land to it's rightful owners. We know that a human atrocity was and continues to be perpetuated against an innocent people who couldn't come up with the arms and money to defend themselves against the western powers bent upon their demise as a people.

We cannot continue to say, "But what were we to do?" Zionism is not synonymous with Judaism. I wholly support the rally of the right of return of the Palestinian people.
Originally published in the Kansas City Jewish Chronicle. The editor who accepted the article for publication was promptly fired.
(CX5256)

Back to Normal Angel

2009-01-06T20:13:00.007+11:00

Back to a normal template after a few weeks. Thank goodness. That thing was way too 'busy' for me. I think I may do some color co-ordinating, back to my previous look. Except for the comment section, have no idea why they are not showing up.

Back to normal at work too, after the holiday 'cruising' mode, in the land of answering machines and no-one home.

Gee, did I get into trouble at work today. Not technically my fault, but I am in the line of fire, because of the economy. I have people backing out of deals left, right and centre.

Not little deals either, although I agree that if I sold Mobile Phones, those deals would be just as precious to me.

Today I lost $1,352,420.07 worth. Yes, it does have 6 zero's. I think I may have to kiss goodbye to my annual leave, starting on 23rd. I don't think I am game to let go for 2 weeks. Very scary stuff.

This is the first time the state of the economy has affected me, in any way. Talk about creditcard crunch time, and a pay packet with no commission. Now there is a scary thought.

Angels Silent World

2009-01-05T22:35:00.007+11:00

In case you're all wondering!

Silence is Golden. I am very p'd off with the world at the moment, but will no doubt get over it in a few days.

Please remember:

DON'T USE HALOSCAN: THEY "DISAPPEAR" YOUR COMMENTS IF YOU DON'T PAY FOR A BLOG UPGRADE.

Nearly two years of "disappeared" comments. Grrrr!

Angel of Peace

2009-01-04T23:20:00.008+11:00

This last weekend has been peaceful (for me). Three days off. Four mobiles turned off, didn't log into work emails at all. No TV, no 6 O'clock News to make me cry. Again.

We went home to our house in the hills. The view from the front looks into the valley below, the rear view is straight to Mt. Baw Baw, not a house in sight. It is a magical place to heal your heart and soul.

I often think we should rent the house out, help pay the mortgage, also help pay the creditcard off. In reality, I don't know how I would feel if I couldn't escape from the house at work to the house at home. Would renters look after it like I do, would they enjoy being away from towns? Would they like talking to the Fox that sits on the end of my porch every night? Or feed the King Parrots that flock to the yard most days. I even have a resident owl. I forgot the Kookaburras, the big gum is their feeding place most evenings, around 7.

I had been extremely ill for 2 months prior to moving in, and spent 3 weeks in critical care a couple of weeks after moving in. This was the second scare and major surgery in 6 months. When I came home from hospital, all I could do was walk a few steps, and either sit or lie down. I gravitated to the back porch, where I sat and smoked, (yes, I know) and looked at the view for a couple of months. I firmly believe the house had a lot to do with my recovery, both physical and emotional.

At that time I had unpacked boxes everywhere, it took me months to unpack the majority. To this day 4 years later, there are still some unpacked boxes. I wonder what's in them? More stuff I don't need, or treasures I thought I had lost?

At peace, for now.

Angels Hell

2009-01-02T20:23:00.012+11:00

This morning when I woke up, I wondered where the fun in my life had disappeared to. When exactly, did life become all work and no play? Did it just happen? Or did I work myself up to it?

The realisation came a couple of days ago, the catalyst I believe, was when I couldn't find my favourite white shirt.

I turned the wardrobe upside down, looked in the washing basket, and in the dryer. The fairies must have nicked it, along with by black heels.

I decided to clean the wardrobe ( two wardrobes) and drawers out, with a strict policy, if I hadn't worn it for a year, out it goes.

Washing and ironing done, everything hanging in color coded order. Shoes in the same order on the rack, bags lined up on the shelves. Knickers and bras folded neatly, along with socks and stockings.

Since when did I need 18 white shirts and only wear 3, and how come I have 22 pairs of knickers? As if I didn't do the washing a couple of times a week! So many pairs of shoes, of which I wear only a couple, because the rest kill my feet. And, the bag I had to have, which I bought 3 months ago, and cost the best part of $200. I loved it in the shop, I don't like it any more, so it is lined up with the other 11 bags. To top it off, I haven't used it.

When did this happen to me, how could I let it happen? My credit card bill is $17,000. No wonder I work long hours and hardly get a spare minute to myself. I'm too busy being an over spender, over achiever, making sure my team never fails to meet their monthly sales target, and being a "can do, no problem" person for the boss. When did I start working 12 hour days? Can't remember, it just sort of happened along the way.

I get stressed and mail order. Work stresses, family stresses, they have merged and become one. I can no longer draw a line between the two. There is no time to de-stress, no time to sit and do nothing. No time for my favourite things, reading, blogging, gardening, I can't dance either, it isn't 'productive'.

I say no time because I have to be busy, I can't relax, have lost the art of reading for pleasure, and doing nothing. When was the last time I had fun, without shopping? I can't remember, it's too long ago. When was the last time I didn't feel pressure, from one source or another, and when exactly was the last day I didn't have a headache?

How did I turn into this person? When did I start to look at the world from the outside, instead of joining in? How do I find my way back home?

The Angel Sleying - Gaza

2008-12-31T20:51:00.004+11:00

We had to expect it again. Innocents slaughtered once more. What will it take for this to stop?

Scrolling through the articles on Gaza, I found the following article at Information Clearing House by Nir Rosen, titled The Logic of Colonial Power.

As so often, the term 'terrorism' has proved a rhetorical smokescreen under cover of which the strong crush the weakBy Nir Rosen December 31, 2008 "The Guardian" -- I have spent most of the Bush administration's tenure reporting from Iraq, Afghanistan, Lebanon, Somalia and other conflicts. I have been published by most major publications. I have been interviewed by most major networks and I have even testified before the senate foreign relations committee. The Bush administration began its tenure with Palestinians being massacred and it ends with Israel committing one of its largest massacres yet in a 60-year history of occupying Palestinian land. Bush's final visit to the country he chose to occupy ended with an educated secular Shiite Iraqi throwing his shoes at him, expressing the feelings of the entire Arab world save its dictators who have imprudently attached themselves to a hated American regime.

Once again, the Israelis bomb the starving and imprisoned population of Gaza. The world watches the plight of 1.5 million Gazans live on TV and online; the western media largely justify the Israeli action. Even some Arab outlets try to equate the Palestinian resistance with the might of the Israeli military machine. And none of this is a surprise. The Israelis just concluded a round-the-world public relations campaign to gather support for their assault, even gaining the collaboration of Arab states like Egypt.

The international community is directly guilty for this latest massacre. Will it remain immune from the wrath of a desperate people? So far, there have been large demonstrations in Lebanon, Yemen, Jordan, Egypt, Syria and Iraq. The people of the Arab world will not forget. The Palestinians will not forget. "All that you have done to our people is registered in our notebooks," as the poet Mahmoud Darwish said.

I have often been asked by policy analysts, policy-makers and those stuck with implementing those policies for my advice on what I think America should do to promote peace or win hearts and minds in the Muslim world. It too often feels futile, because such a revolution in American policy would be required that only a true revolution in the American government could bring about the needed changes. An American journal once asked me to contribute an essay to a discussion on whether terrorism or attacks against civilians could ever be justified. My answer was that an American journal should not be asking whether attacks on civilians can ever be justified. This is a question for the weak, for the Native Americans in the past, for the Jews in Nazi Germany, for the Palestinians today, to ask themselves.

Terrorism is a normative term and not a descriptive concept. An empty word that means everything and nothing, it is used to describe what the Other does, not what we do. The powerful – whether Israel, America, Russia or China – will always describe their victims' struggle as terrorism, but the destruction of Chechnya, the ethnic cleansing of Palestine, the slow slaughter of the remaining Palestinians, the American occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan – with the tens of thousands of civilians it has killed … these will never earn the title of terrorism, though civilians were the target and terrorising them was the purpose.

Counterinsurgency, now popular again among in the Pentagon, is another way of saying the suppression of national liberation struggles. Terror and intimidation are as essential to it as is winning hearts and minds.

Normative rules are determined by power relations. Those with power determine what is legal and illegal. They besiege the weak in legal prohibitions to prevent the weak from resisting. For the weak to resist is illegal by definition. Concepts like terrorism are invented and used normatively as if a neutral court had produced them, instead of the oppressors. The danger in this excessive use of legality actually undermines legality, diminishing the credibility of international institutions such as the United Nations. It becomes apparent that the powerful, those who make the rules, insist on legality merely to preserve the power relations that serve them or to maintain their occupation and colonialism.

Attacking civilians is the last, most desperate and basic method of resistance when confronting overwhelming odds and imminent eradication. The Palestinians do not attack Israeli civilians with the expectation that they will destroy Israel. The land of Palestine is being stolen day after day; the Palestinian people is being eradicated day after day. As a result, they respond in whatever way they can to apply pressure on Israel. Colonial powers use civilians strategically, settling them to claim land and dispossess the native population, be they Indians in North America or Palestinians in what is now Israel and the Occupied Territories. When the native population sees that there is an irreversible dynamic that is taking away their land and identity with the support of an overwhelming power, then they are forced to resort to whatever methods of resistance they can.

Not long ago, 19-year-old Qassem al-Mughrabi, a Palestinian man from Jerusalem drove his car into a group of soldiers at an intersection. "The terrorist", as the Israeli newspaper Haaretz called him, was shot and killed. In two separate incidents last July, Palestinians from Jerusalem also used vehicles to attack Israelis. The attackers were not part of an organisation. Although those Palestinian men were also killed, senior Israeli officials called for their homes to be demolished. In a separate incident, Haaretz reported that a Palestinian woman blinded an Israeli soldier in one eye when she threw acid n his face. "The terrorist was arrested by security forces," the paper said. An occupied citizen attacks an occupying soldier, and she is the terrorist?
In September, Bush spoke at the United Nations. No cause could justify the deliberate taking of human life, he said. Yet the US has killed thousands of civilians in airstrikes on populated areas. When you drop bombs on populated areas knowing there will be some "collateral" civilian damage, but accepting it as worth it, then it is deliberate. When you impose sanctions, as the US did on Saddam era Iraq, that kill hundreds of thousands, and then say their deaths were worth it, as secretary of state Albright did, then you are deliberately killing people for a political goal. When you seek to "shock and awe", as president Bush did, when he bombed Iraq, you are engaging in terrorism.

Just as the traditional American cowboy film presented white Americans under siege, with Indians as the aggressors, which was the opposite of reality, so, too, have Palestinians become the aggressors and not the victims. Beginning in 1948, 750,000 Palestinians were deliberately cleansed and expelled from their homes, and hundreds of their villages were destroyed, and their land was settled by colonists, who went on to deny their very existence and wage a 60-year war against the remaining natives and the national liberation movements the Palestinians established around the world. Every day, more of Palestine is stolen, more Palestinians are killed. To call oneself an Israeli Zionist is to engage in the dispossession of entire people. It is not that, qua Palestinians, they have the right to use any means necessary, it is because they are weak. The weak have much less power than the strong, and can do much less damage. The Palestinians would not have ever bombed cafes or used home-made missiles if they had tanks and airplanes. It is only in the current context that their actions are justified, and there are obvious limits.

It is impossible to make a universal ethical claim or establish a Kantian principle justifying any act to resist colonialism or domination by overwhelming power. And there are other questions I have trouble answering. Can an Iraqi be justified in attacking the United States? After all, his country was attacked without provocation, and destroyed, with millions of refugees created, hundreds of thousands of dead. And this, after 12 years of bombings and sanctions, which killed many and destroyed the lives of many others.

I could argue that all Americans are benefiting from their country's exploits without having to pay the price, and that, in today's world, the imperial machine is not merely the military but a military-civilian network. And I could also say that Americans elected the Bush administration twice and elected representatives who did nothing to stop the war, and the American people themselves did nothing. From the perspective of an American, or an Israeli, or other powerful aggressors, if you are strong, everything you do is justifiable, and nothing the weak do is legitimate. It's merely a question of what side you choose: the side of the strong or the side of the weak.

Israel and its allies in the west and in Arab regimes such as Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia have managed to corrupt the PLO leadership, to suborn them with the promise of power at the expense of liberty for their people, creating a first – a liberation movement that collaborated with the occupier. Israeli elections are coming up and, as usual, these elections are accompanied by war to bolster the candidates. You cannot be prime minister of Israel without enough Arab blood on your hands. An Israeli general has threatened to set Gaza back decades, just as they threatened to set Lebanon back decades in 2006. As if strangling Gaza and denying its people fuel, power or food had not set it back decades already.

The democratically elected Hamas government was targeted for destruction from the day it won the elections in 2006. The world told the Palestinians that they cannot have democracy, as if the goal was to radicalise them further and as if that would not have a consequence. Israel claims it is targeting Hamas's military forces. This is not true. It is targeting Palestinian police forces and killing them, including some such as the chief of police, Tawfiq Jaber, who was actually a former Fatah official who stayed on in his post after Hamas took control of Gaza. What will happen to a society with no security forces? What do the Israelis expect to happen when forces more radical than Hamas gain power?

A Zionist Israel is not a viable long-term project and Israeli settlements, land expropriation and separation barriers have long since made a two state solution impossible. There can be only one state in historic Palestine. In coming decades, Israelis will be confronted with two options. Will they peacefully transition towards an equal society, where Palestinians are given the same rights, à la post-apartheid South Africa? Or will they continue to view democracy as a threat? If so, one of the peoples will be forced to leave. Colonialism has only worked when most of the natives have been exterminated. But often, as in occupied Algeria, it is the settlers who flee. Eventually, the Palestinians will not be willing to compromise and seek one state for both people. Does the world want to further radicalise them?

Do not be deceived: the persistence of the Palestine problem is the main motive for every anti-American militant in the Arab world and beyond. But now the Bush administration has added Iraq and Afghanistan as additional grievances. America has lost its influence on the Arab masses, even if it can still apply pressure on Arab regimes. But reformists and elites in the Arab world want nothing to do with America.

A failed American administration departs, the promise of a Palestinian state a lie, as more Palestinians are murdered. A new president comes to power, but the people of the Middle East have too much bitter experience of US administrations to have any hope for change. President-elect Obama, Vice President-elect Biden and incoming secretary of state Hillary Clinton have not demonstrated that their view of the Middle East is at all different from previous administrations. As the world prepares to celebrate a new year, how long before it is once again made to feel the pain of those whose oppression it either ignores or supports?
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article21588.htm

Guardian Angel at Christmas

2008-12-23T10:40:00.005+11:00

Merry Christmas everyone, especially PHD, if he reads this. Always believe in your Guardian Angel. She is the one who loves you always.

Where we live has embedded electricity, phone and internet. The company buys the utilities at a cheaper price, and sells to us, also at a cheaper price.

The embedded supplier has gone into receivership, and the receiver has cut our internet, thankfully left the power on, and downgraded our phone lines to bare minimum.

Until the company sorts this out with the receiver, we are stuck. I am doing this at work. So to everyone, have a great Christmas, and a safe and happy New Year.

By the way, no net is driving me NUTS!!!

Angels Treasure

2008-12-09T20:07:00.011+11:00

An emotive portrait by itself, without taking into account the memory of a child that is lost to you.

The meaning of lost doesn't necessarily mean dead. There are many ways to lose a child, death is one that I have already experienced. Drugs and alcohol are two more, but you love them always, no matter what.

I've been told to implement "tough love", a strategy for a parent to use in times of crises. I don't think I can do it, I'm not that strong.

I keep waiting for a call that says he is dead, or one that says he has had another heart attack, due to drug and alcohol abuse. Note: I said 'another'.

For months I have been unable to sleep, except on rare occasions. For months every time my head hits the pillow, I have panic attacks. Every time I shut my eyes his face appears. I don't know what to do any more. In my own way, I am as lost as he is.

I have had this pic for months, I have written about it many times and not published anything. It's to damn hard.

NO ANGEL HALOSCAN COMMENTS

2008-12-07T20:36:00.008+11:00

A word of warning about Haloscan. Several really: Don't use their system.

I went looking for my old comments at Haloscan and found you can't access them because they are archieved. How do you access your comments? This is where the almighty $$$$$ come in. You have to pay for an upgraded account, then magically, they become UN archieved!

Don't ask for help in their forum's, you get ridiculed, and definitely won't get any help at all.

How do you uninstall Haloscan? Next to impossible if you have used the auto install method. I went searching for help and found something that was supposed to work, went into edit html, and the bit I was suppose to clip (in 3 different places) was the 'blogger' original html. Haloscan html wasn't there.

I went searching again, and after reading half the night, came to the conclusion it was impossible. There are literally 2,020 questions asking how to UN INSTAll Haloscan.

I found the only way to do it is to install a new template, which is what I did, but all the comments have gone.

Anyone know how to get them back? HELP Yes, I did back up my blog, but have no idea about how to get my comments back.

A Special Day for Angel - Revised

2008-11-14T23:21:00.013+11:00

It is definitely a special day for Angel.

I met my cousins for the first time. They are both gorgeous, and down to earth. We have so much in common, it's eerie!

They're AMERICAN, and have never voted for Bush, don't you just love 'em?

Anti war, anti OIL, anti Middle East meddling, anti Bush, and pro Obama. What more could a girl ask for? I'm in heaven.

I won't say more at the moment, we have another 2 days of talking to go, so a whole lot more info to come.

Just one thing. They speak funny!!! Not really, they were both surprisingly easy to understand, unlike another US rellie.

We talked and ate, talked and ate. I think we were all worn out!

It was very different for me, having someone related, apart from Mum. It was special, I guess you could say. Overwhelming, more people to love and again leave.

To my beautiful cousins:

Shlamee oo khoobee. Gatee pesgeenee t'kharro deeman'e.

http://wwwyesterdayschildrenbook.com/

Angel the Ice Queen

2008-11-09T21:23:00.008+11:00

There are many times in my life where I have been called the "Ice Queen.

The reason? Because I don't show emotion. I never react at the time disaster strikes, it's always behind closed doors, when everyone is tucked up, and fast asleep.

I guess the posts going back to The Bag in the Cupboard, parts 1, 2, and 3, are the one's to hi light the reason behind the name.

I can tell a story as the 'third' party looking in, although in fact I am usually one of the main characters. Most of my posts are real life experiences and looking back, I know when the pattern commenced.

I know exactly how long it will take me to react to a disaster, pinpoint to the hour that I will allow myself to cry, and know when I will have the required repercussion to the event, a panic attack or two, maybe three.

I have the ability to be involved, yet remain apart at the same time. Until that particular time comes, when I fall apart. Hence the title, "Ice Queen". Do I deserve the title? I struggle to keep everyone together in a crisis, when they are falling apart, I sacrifice a part of me to keep them together.

I have been asked to read a Eulogy. I don't think I can do it, in fact I know I cannot. Not only that, I don't want to do it. The reason? I will lose my title, and cry. People will make a fuss, I'll get comments like "that's a first", or "look, she's crying."

I want to keep my title intact. The question is, at what cost?

I might add that "Ice", the word, is much closer to my family than I would like it to be.

http://wwwyesterdayschildrenbook.com/

Blogocracy - Farewell

2008-11-04T00:21:00.009+11:00

Blogocracy was the first blog I made a comment on. I read and watched for weeks before I had the nerve to write something.

I met some great people there, some of whom I keep in touch with. One of my "blue" friends, Grandfanali, took his own life. I cried my heart out when I heard. We had some great conversations, funny and sad.

John McP was great with facts and figures, you could always count on orang for backup on ME topics, Elise with a level head, Often Bark has :) bad taste in music, (sorry) sometimes, although he, orang and Tim gave me lessons on great guitarists, it didn't work. There is always a nasty pasty, I won't mention names, who gave me grief. Two of them. There are so many names there, without faces, that are 'friends' of a kind. A part of my life for such a long time.

Of course, it all would have been impossible without Tim. Thankyou Tim, for giving me some great entertainment, serious discussions on topics close to my heart. I didn't stop reading, I stopped commenting on everything that was serious. There was, and still is a reason, but will keep that to myself, for the time being.

Anyway, thanks to everyone. It was my pleasure to be a part of it.

http://wwwyesterdayschildrenbook.com/

Catching the Falling Angel

2008-10-21T20:20:00.015+11:00

Some of us fly high and some of us fall. This is a falling time.

I had never heard of Polycystic Kidney Disease or Pernicious Aneamia, until yesterday. Today I was educated. I really didn't want to know, prefer to bury my head in the sand. It's autosomal dominant.

One phone call said it all. I was shocked, didn't believe what I was hearing, this is not happening, can't be happening.

At this time, she has refused Dialysis, and she is having an allergic reaction to the B12 injections, therefore needs blood transfusions. For the rest of whatever life she has left. There is no quick fix, actually there is no fix at all.

"Hello?" Her: " I want you to do something for me" Me: "Hmmm, does it need to be done today? Oh, you better tell me what it is first." Her: "I want you to organise an Enduring Power of Attorney" Me: "A what?" Her: "An Enduring Power of Attorney" Me: "What is it, and what's it for?"

The explanation was hard, the implications worse, the prognosis shocking. What do you say after hearing that? Of course I'll do it, no problems? She's basically telling me she's dying, and needs someone to take care of all aspects of her life. She doesn't want anyone else to do it. I am really angry with her. Go and get another opinion, do something. I don't want to do this, it's not my job, give it to someone else.

Me: .....................................................................................silence. Her: "Helloooo!! Are you listening?" (Of course I'm bloody listening, I'm dying inside, I don't know what to say) Me: "Um, OK. When do you want me to do it?" Her: "As soon as possible. Don't procrastinate, just organise it". Me: "Of course I'll do it, I'll get to it sometime this week, as soon as I can organise a day off". Her: "Allright, I'll hear from you soon. Bye".

The next day: Me: "Hi Mum" Her: "Hi Angel". Me: "How are you?" Her: "I'm well, and how are you?" (What do you mean, you're well? You're not well, you just told me yesterday that you weren't) Me: "I'm good". Her: "I forgot to tell you yesterday that Dr P said I needed to let you know that the PKD is autosomal dominent, and you need to tell your Doctor as soon as possible". Me: "And that means what, exactly?" Her: "It's hereditary, there is a 50% chance you have it, your Grandmother had them and both your Aunts, as well.". Me: "When did you find out all of this?" Her: "Oh, years ago, but I didn't take much notice, I used to call them 'polkadots on my kidneys, and they have spread to my liver and pancreas as well". Me: "When did you know it was hereditary?" Her: "Yesterday, Dr. P thought I already knew because I've had it for such a long time, before he became my Doctor. Me: OK, thanks. I'll make an appointment to see Dr. C .

I'll be in touch as soon as I've sorted somethign out".

http://wwwyesterdayschildrenbook.com/

The Opposite of an Angel

2008-10-12T22:16:00.016+11:00

I wasn't ready to write on the topic of Assyrians, Iraq or the Middle East, and I'm still not right. But...... if ever there was one, this is it.

It seems the Turks are at it again. Will they never let go of the Assyrians? Like a Bull Terrior with a vice like grip. I'm not saying all Assyrians are Angels, but there has to be a limit of endurance somewhere down the line.

The historical persecution of Assyrians through the centuries, especially by Kurds and Turks is very well documented. To this day, the Kurds ignore it, and the Turks deny it. There is still living proof of long gone massacres, yet they may as well not exist.

According to the UN, and it's Indigenous People of the World Council, Assyrians are the indigenous people of Iraq. Yet they are ignored, again and again, and for what purpose?

Total control. They have been trying for centuries, yet they can't quite get there. The "poor" Kurds are unable to whip the Christians into submission, so they kill them instead. Bravo.
http://wwwyesterdayschildrenbook.com/

Believe in Angels

2008-09-29T21:56:00.003+10:00

Angels are everywhere? Oh,you poor things. I have enough trouble with just me, let alone any more Angels.

I had the pits of a weekend. I did a major stuff up at work, actually I didn't do it, but I didn't check something I should have, instead I assumed. I got my backside kicked, too.

I deserved it, but I don't like being wrong. Therein lies the problem. Like a naughty child, I answered back. Because "she, who can do no wrong" is always right. That's not me, by the way, that's one of the other employees. She is always right, even if she's wrong.

After all these years of multiple people complaining about her, being fed up with the lies coming from her mouth, she is still believed. Customers complain about her, and she gets away with it.

Why? She makes money for the company, that's why. She's loyal, and they own her, body and soul. I could give names of at least 60 people who have made a verbal complaint against her, but because of the industry I work in, will not formalise in writing. They are, I guess you could call them vunerable. They are not at a strong point in their lives. is the only way I can put it without telling you exactly what industry it is.

Apart from that, I don't want to get into any more trouble!!! I email the boss now and then, but have to make sure I use my other email address, just in case she happens accross my ramblings here.

My team lost the Grandfinal on Saturday, but they weren't humiliated. They played a good game most of the time, but why did they send Gary Ablett to the back line, instead of forward at the beginning? Never mind, there is always next year.

Next post I hope to be back to 'normal', although I am told 'normal' is a cycle on a washing machine.

Angels Eye (RAQ)

2008-09-05T20:54:00.007+10:00

For the first time in ages I am starting to feel good, like my old self, with out the old bit.

I've read the comment sections on 2 blogs, instead of just reading the article. I haven't done that in ages, and I remember why I stopped.

Some people make the most inane remarks. I wonder if they can see their lack of sensitivity on certain topics, you know, the one's close to my heart

For instance on Last of Iraqis, the following: Iraq is not a major conflict. Is that supposed to be a joke, or is the commenter just a clutz?

I have yet to read Arab Woman Blues comment section. Who knows what one will find there.

In other news, my Mum's book has been reviewed and made front page news here, and has also been reviewed in the USA. Many thanks to my cousin, who's hard work has paid off. Mum received her first Royalty cheque today. Not much, but better than nothing.

Janice is missing again, but I have found B. I have been very neglectful of my blogging friends, and sites I usually comment on. Apologies to all. Sh*t happens in your life that you have no control over, when that happens I don't talk, or should I say don't write and/or communicate.
http://wwwyesterdayschildrenbook.com/

Pretending Republican Angel

2008-08-17T23:05:00.012+10:00

Hello Cousins!

The rellies are coming to visit. All the way from the USA. Two cousins I have never met, one of which I talk to via email, and the other doesn't have a computer, as far as I know. They will arive on the 18th of November.

The Democrats did it! It wasn't me, honestly. I didn't write all that insulting stuff, it was someone else.

It was one of those Democrats. Truly. No, Cranium Departus (Republican)

They are only staying a few days in the sticks. I don't know their views on the Middle East. I only know one cousin's views, but she isn't one of my visitors. One holds a similar viewpoint to me, regarding 'alternative' beliefs. I know she is a brilliant editor, and very clever with words.

Time to be nice, I think. :)
http://wwwyesterdayschildrenbook.com/

Angry Mad Angels

2008-08-04T21:01:00.004+10:00

Have I or haven't I? Gone mad, that is .I have taken down more posts about work. Decided if I kept putting things in the public eye, I would end up ????. Somewhere I shouldn't be.

So, a different topic for a while. A particularly nasty comment about Middle Eastern Christians/Iraqi Christians on Last of Iraqis blog. In fact, I am truly offended by the attitude.

The person has been shocked by comments made by ME Christians. Apparently we don't hold Christian values. How rude and obnoxious.

What about the KKK Christian values? Home grown terrorism, right in their own back yard. Are Americans proud of that and have the KKK values rubbed off on ordinary Americans? Rape, shoot, hang and burn. Hmmm, I may have a point there, shall we turn our heads towards Iraq for a few minutes?

What about the Christian values of militant groups in Northern Ireland? They make bombs, kill, and burn. That must be different sort of terrorism, because there are no Muslims about.

What a load of BS.
Apologies to Ian.
http://wwwyesterdayschildrenbook.com/

Angels Feathers Falling Out

2008-07-25T20:21:00.007+10:00

I think my wings are falling off, from lack of use. Something is very weird and strange. What is it? NOTHING, that's what's strange.

Everything is flowing smoothly, see what I mean? Think I like it, and could get used to it very easily.

The job seems to be working out, the car is great, I have the whole weekend off, and I am not homesick. I have even got used to not seeing Diesel.

See what I mean? NORMAL, well nearly. Janice has gone missing, along with B, and I hope they are OK.

I have got hooked on a game, which is not like me at all. It is mesmerising, and all I do all night is shoot balls. It is Absolutist Bubbles. I haven't blogged, nor opened my email for a couple of weeks.

Maybe it is me who has gone missing? Probably. I have tried not to play, but I have to, it's like a drug. Not that I take drugs, well only prescription one's.

I danced in front of an audience for the first time in 4 years, it was impromptu, but fun. I have lost a little of the 'flow' with the movement. Something that was a little different for me, I didn't have a glass of gin and half a tranquiler beforehand. That was probably because it wasn't planned, and I didn't agonise over it prior to. Anyway, the best thing was everyone had a little fun, and we all need fun in our lives now and then.

This is Amazing

2008-07-18T01:04:00.004+10:00

Angel's Bellydancing.

2008-07-11T22:30:00.008+10:00

Personally, I like the Toad. She (I am assuming is it a she), looks like she has the weight of the world on her shoulders and is not smiling! I wonder why?

Maybe she is doing a belly roll, it's hard to smile while you are concentrating on belly rolls, especially one's that are timed to the drum, eg: a sharp drop from the diaphragm to the pelvic bone.

On the other hand I feel as though a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders. I haven't danced in weeks, not since this mess started, but I am now in the mood, and it feels fantastic.

It feels good to be back to normal, or as normal as I can get it. G is suffering from cabin fever though. It's funny that his starts as mine lifts. That's possibly because I have been here 4 weeks longer than him.

I still don't know what to do with the house, G wants to sell. I am not sure about that, and want to wait a much longer period. House prices are down, and mortgage rates rising. I think we owe too much to make a sale worthwhile.

Anyway, I'm off to dance practice. Yea!

Angel Sitting Pretty

2008-06-23T22:04:00.004+10:00

As my regular readers will have noticed, some of my posts have disappeared. If you are wondering why, think back to those posts and you will understand the reasoning behind "WHY".

Everything has been turned around, except for one point which will be clarified tomorrow. Signed documents have been faxed. Hence, sitting pretty.

I bought a new car, pick it up on Wednesday. Not the preferred colour, but the deal was too good too miss. It goes like the clappers, and with me living on site, it will take 2 years to get to the first service!

I never thought I would buy one of these, but I was hooked after 5 minutes of driving. Don't like the colour of the body (black), but it's better than red. Nor do I like the red and black leather seats, which I will hide with seat covers. I do like the nice sleek lines and the sunroof.

What is it? It's Korean, made by the 5th largest vehicle manufacturer in the world.

Guess!

Angel Disconnected

2008-06-05T21:41:00.004+10:00

Disconnected, that's me. For a few days at least. We make the big move tomorrow. Well G does, really. I have to work.

Interesting scenario, a man packing! What will he leave out?

Knickers, I bet. Makeup, hair brush, toothpaste, toilet rolls, I can see myself travelling back and forth every day for a week.

Never mind, I love him any which way.

Anyway, I definitely will be back, just not sure when.

And what happened at today's meting? You'll have to wait and find out!

Angel Spies

2008-06-01T22:17:00.007+10:00

I spy with my little eye, something starting with ......
Really, I don't know, but I will think of something!

I got the following quote from one of the Information Clearing House Newsletters. It seemed appropriate.

"The nationalist not only does not disapprove of atrocities committed by his own side, but he has a remarkable capacity for not even hearing about them": George Orwell

This is so obvious, it nearly slaps you in the face. I'm referring, of course to that bunch of people who refuse to see the US Admin. for what it is. A bully.

The following, an email I received from a family member. I couldn't believe what I was reading, the Democrats get the blame.

The economy is cyclical and has nothing to do with Bush. Oil prices have been high all over the world and the democrats, who are living the life of Riley, haven't allowed us to drill for our own resources which we have and want us to hound everyone else in the world for their resources. It is ludicrous. This is a planet that we live on that has it's own evolution. Resources are diminished and then there are none left. By not allowing us to drill for our own resources, while we are working on other methods of energy, has now put us in a situation that we are at the beck and call of the middle east. People here are complaining as well about energy prices but do you think the congress and the governors will reduce the high taxes they have added to the fuel costs. Nearly 40% of our per gallon gas cost is taxes for the government who is just pissing away money on ridiculous pork barrel spending. Actually are largest oil importer for the US is Canada and then Mexico...not the middle east.The economy will turn around this year for everyone.

When I went to ****** last year, I was surprised how negative the news is about the US. Much of the news was biased and inaccurate. Everyone loves to hate the big guy. We do more for poor countries than any other country. For example when the tsunami happened a few years ago, there was much comment in the international news about the US not giving money. Here it is different. The people give the money as well as the government. It is our culture. The amount of money donated between the people and the government was statistically higher in percentage than any other country in the world. Some here say we should just stopped loaning and giving money away and let us here what the complaint is then.

I don't believe in protectionism but I do get tired of hearing how bad we are. The world hears about Hollywood which is a fraction of a percent of what the rest of the country is like.

So, I went looking for Tsunami money, and this is what I found at http://www.virtual/ library.com

Donations in absolute terms, showing that Norwegians donated the most per head of population ($13.20) followed by the Swedes ($12.04), the Dutch ($9.16) the Australians ($5.23) and so on, down to the Americans with a donation of $1.08 per head, and the French, whose per head donation amounted to 80 US cents. The Observer table places Saudi Arabs in the middle of the pack, at No. 6 with a donation of $4 per head, but still outranking Canadians, Austrians, Brits, Greeks, Americans and French in their generosity.

Well, I guess that is one myth busted, and the following is another. http://gravmag.com/oil/html who have some great statistics about US oil. Funny, isn't it? The US SELL 10,000 barrels of oil a day. Who would have thought it?

Now for the Democrats, I have no idea about US politics, but I'm pretty sure that the Republicans have been in power these last 8 years. I'm also sure that the American public voted Bush in twice. And it's the Democrats fault? Hmmmm.

I'll leave you with that thought. It's not Bush's fault, nor the Republicans, it's the big bad Democrats, Just got to love that logic.

Apologies to family member! We all have an opinion.

Angel of Sorrow

2008-05-31T17:07:00.006+10:00

As the time draws closer for me to leave, I am in turmoil. On the outside I have a 'stiff upper lip', on the inside I am devastated.

What will I take with me, what will I leave behind?

I have a great idea! Can I leave myself behind? I am thinking about this quite seriously.

Meanwhile, I think I have found Diesel a good home. The people 2 doors up had two Saints that died of old age, and are buried in their back yard. I approached them a couple of days ago, and they have been taking Diesel for 'visits', to see if he gets on well with their dog. So far, so good.

The cat is taken care of. My next door neighbour has offered to adopt her, which is great. I didn't even have to ask, she approached me.

I have bought furniture for the new place, bed, dining, TV, recliners, fridge. It cost a small fortune, but what the heck, I have a credit card. I did however, look for bargains, and I found them. There is a lot on offer at the moment, as traders are feeling the credit squeeze.

Meanwhile, my co worker has decided she is going to take a long weekend, included in that are my 2 days off, which I have to cover. How am I supposed to move and work at the same time?

I have discovered lots of little things. EG: She will work a public holiday, to get a day in lieu. Monday is her allocated day off, which is a public holiday, so therefore, she is working. I did a bit of spying on our competitors, on my day off. She came along as well, and we met at the site. She said she had to go early, as she had an appointment, but what didn't she say? That it was my client. So, SHE got $1000 commission, and I missed out. This is the second time.

I was also told to watch out with what I say in front of her, as she has been employed there for so long, and she sabotages her co-workers. She does this my being intentionally rude, deliberately misinterpreting an innocent remark, and telling tales about their misdemeanours, until they have had enough, and leave. She then complains that she has to do it all by herself, and wonders why no one likes her.

The staff that she considers are in the "lesser" dept. ( I can't tell you what or where),absolutely hate her. None of those people have said a word directly to me, but they say it to their Manager, who in turn tells me to watch out, and we never had this conversation.

Well, I am learning my lesson. She has made the odd remark now and then, which I have been suspicious about. I don't trust her, and it is making me nervous about the whole moving thing. I mean, there are now two jobs at stake now. If I stand up to her re my clients, what is her position on G going to be? Actually, I don't have to ask that question, I already know the answer.

I am just about ready to put my tail between my legs, turn around and hi-tail it out of there.

Now I remember why I have usually chosen a male dominated workplace. What a BITCH!

Up Side Down Angel

2008-05-27T23:43:00.004+10:00

This Angel is up side down. Not just the picture, that's me, upside down, back to front, in side out, and sideways. My world has reached a fork in the road, and is about to change big time.

Bye bye house with no neighbours, my stunning unbroken view of the mountains, my peace and quiet, and my privacy.

My beautiful Diesel, and the cat we inherited when we bought the house, both have to go.

Why? G has a new job. He has to live on site, no animals. So, weigh it all up on the scales, my husband or Diesel and the house? Husband, of course.

I have decided to keep two houses going for a while, just in case I hate it, or I have to get away, or............for whatever reason. I don't want to sell it, or rent it out, it's my piece of heaven, my retreat and half of my world.

It's thrown me. I have to support G in is career move. Really I don't have a choice, he has supported me through all my life choices and changes. It's about time he had some good stuff developing, especially after everything that has happened to him this year.

He handed in his resignation at work yesterday afternoon. The wheels of a Government department have been put into motion, no turning back now.

So, I have been feeling pretty awful since last night, unsettled, and today I'm freaking out. I thought I'd be fine, but I'm not. I don't want to move my furniture either, that would put the seal of finality in place. I have no idea what to do.

Bush Talking with the Lord.

2008-05-24T21:08:00.012+10:00

NO ANGELS HERE. PIN THE TAIL ON THE DONKEY
I have been trying to link a video from owned.com, called Some George Bush Moments. It keeps coming up as Blacklisted.

If you manage to find the clip, it's well worth while. It's more like Bush Bloopers. In the first bit he's trying to deliver the State of the Union address, and he can't remember what it's called, and says "Call it whatever you want".
This one is reasonably close to the one on owned.com:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nh4s6i4-7dg
Here's another to go on with:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Ux3DKxxFoM

Persian Angels & Wankers

2008-05-18T23:55:00.011+10:00

There are a certain set of gents that love to dribble, from the mouth (and nether regions) about naked Middle Eastern women.

Quite possibly about any women, but they do point out in particular, mostly Iranian women

Apparently it is OK to associate the lack of Chador, and Petroleum Jelly, for use in a particular ritual.

The "ritual" seems to suit them down to the ground. I gues they could be called, and aptly so, wankers in the real sense of the word.

For a crew with a large 'central' blogroll, who repeatedly stress the importance of themselves and their site, 1400 hits a week (apparently) , it is definitely not professionalism that comes to the forefront of this particular article called Hot Persian Babes. http://jarrarsupariver.blogspot.com/

Angels De'ja' vu

2008-05-15T21:36:00.000+10:00

I am liking the new job, sort of.
It's very different, which is good.
I am always busy, also good.
There is no where to smoke, which I am used to.
There are no seats outside, again used to.
There are no tea breaks, v. bad.
There is no lunchtime, again v. bad.
The person I am working with has been with the company for 14 years.
I was told by "A" manager not to trust C.
C has been the cause of several good people leaving the company.
C has run to the boss for every little nuance.
The staff had not been fired.
They had all left because of the attitude of C
She was like this (fingers crossed) with the big boss.
The "A "Manager told me this conversation didn't happen.
And, if it did, "A" would deny it.
C lives on site.
C has no life outside work.
The big boss does not like smokers.
C knows I smoke.
My hours are 8.30 to 5.30
I actually work 8.15 to 6.30

Have I been here before?

Split Personality Angel

2008-05-10T22:41:00.000+10:00

The good me is good, I mean really good. I work hard and don't play hard. Hell, I don't even have time to play! I am cool and calm, with not a hair out of place. I meet and greet, the epitome of graciousness. Mrs. Perfect, that's me.

The bad me only comes out now and again, and everyone knows about it. They all breathe a sigh of relief when she has gone.

Remember, I am female. I hord all the little slights, the odd comment here and there, you know the ones. They cut you to pieces on the inside, but you don't let them see it on the outside.Those little twists and turns of life that I sort of stockpile ,saving them until one special day comes along, that forces me to morph.

Into the second me, maybe I should say, the secret me. It was one of those days yesterday.

The funeral, flights out, kids out of their own environment and routine, a house full of people you are related to, but really hardly know, new job,............all that sort of stuff, caused me to morph.

Why is it that after a death, the closest to the deceased need to fight? Why argue over the smallest things? He had told them exactly who was to get what, and they still fight tooth and nail over it. She did this, he said that.

Well, they don't love me any more. I told them exactly what I thought of them, their bad behaviour, and disrespect, especially toward the deceased's Mum, whom they pretty much ignored.

I doubt they will be returning any time soon. Thank Goddess for that. I don't even like them.

Lazy Angel's

2008-05-06T22:01:00.000+10:00

Maybe there is someone who could benefit from reading this blog. You know who you are, read from start to finish. Then you may have a clue, but see your Therapist first.
First day, and I am absolutely stuffed, my head is filled with cotton wool, and I can't remember a thing.

Text message just after lunch "he just died". We knew this was coming, Cancer again. Funeral on Friday. I hate funerals. I decided not to go, and gave the excuse of 'new job'. Sorry family, I just can't do another one so soon.

I have told G, that when I die I don't want a funeral at all. Nope, not me. He can get me cremated somewhere on the sly, and scatter my ashes on top of my favourite mountain at Walhalla. http://www.bawbawshire.vic.gov.au/Page/Page.asp?Page_Id=1075&h=1

Anyway:

Second day is a little better, I have remembered a few things, but need to keep notes. Lots of them! Monday 12/5 will be my first day by myself! Goddess help me! She doesn't answer me though, so that means my approval rating goes up, right? Well, in this case, maybe not. http://arabwomanblues.blogspot.com/2008/05/bloggercom-and-google.html

Day Three, meeting with the Culture & Quality Manager and Operations Manager, and things are looking better. It's going to be the same as the last job though, from 8am to 5pm really means 8am to 8pm. But, and a big one at that, I do get 2 days off, back to back. What a delight!

I am going to try and find someone who can come and do 2 or 3 hours of housework per week for me. That will take a load off, and give me time to spend with the family, and maybe enjoy a few hours of 'nothingness'.

I feel great for the first time in ages, and about time too! I hope my mind is in the right place, and I can be 'immoderate' now and again.

Don't Ban the Blogger

2008-05-05T18:37:00.000+10:00

The Blogger Buzz at the moment seems to indicate that if Google doesn't like what you say, you are either stopped from publishing, as with An Arab Woman Blues, or are not included in Google News Index, ditto Uruknet. This is censorship and completely unfair.

There is, of course a tab to enable you to flag a blog as inappropriate, but really it's quite simple. If you don't like the content:

GIVE IT A MISS, DON'T READ IT. SIMPLE.

Personally I love the Middle Eastern writers, blogs, and news sites. It gives a different perspective on our predominantly Americanized news. Ergo we get views from both sides of the fence.

I don't leave many comments, but I enjoy reading the comment sections. I am not a fan of comment moderation, even though some may be tedious or out right rude. You get to know the commenters, and if you don't like what they say, skip it. Simple.

I have taken a tip from peacepalestine, and a commenter, earthheal, by using BlogBackupOnline, link available on right side of screen.

Christianity and the Angel of Death

2008-05-04T00:08:00.001+10:00

Iraqi's are sick of the fighting and the killing. There should be a mandatory mass evacuation of Iraqi's to the US, who would welcome them with open arms. Yeah, right! What a joke, except it's not in the least funny. You know Bush and Co., lied 530 times about WMD? It's fact.

Christians these days do not associate themselves with being the cause of death and destruction. That is strange, given our history of invasion and colonisation. Here is a little example of Christian Terrorism, how very apt for this to turn up, via Layla, at this time.
http://uruknet.info/?p=m37419&s1=h1

It was us, was it not, that invaded the "Holy Land" first? What do I hear to that? No comment. We have a long history of invasion, destruction, and death. We cannot see it. That was back then, right? Yes, but it is still happening now. No, I'm not talking about Iraq, amazing!

We are often reminded by the media and the USA, of the age old feud's in the Middle East, between Sunni and Shia, Palestinians and Jews, Turks and Kurds, the list goes on and on. "They are killing each other" Unfortunately, that is partly true.

Do we ever associate the rivalry with current day events in the West? The answer is no, of course. Now, a reminder. The Hell's Angels and the Gypsy Jokers, as an example, are tribes that are warring. The rival gangs we hear about in Western cities, are tribe's of a sort. These people are raised as Christians, or at the very least, in the so called "civilized" West. These "civilized" people are killing each other with guns, knives, and whatever else they can lay their hands on.

If one of them is killed, there is a revenge killing, or a savage brutal beating. What would you call this? Gang warfare. In tribal terms, or even soldiers terms, it would be "looking out for your family", or "watching your mates back".

An Americanism, "we blood, bro, you kill my blood, we kill your blood". This is all out war, yet no-one can see it. Why? Because it is part of everyday life. There are none so blind as those who cannot see. What we refuse to see, is that this IS tribal, it IS war.

Did I hear you say they don't blow each other up? Really? Dare I mention Northern Ireland? Or are they all Muslims too?

Finished Business

2008-05-01T22:58:00.000+10:00

Yes! I finished a day early. Four days to clean my wardrobe out, dump the uniform, kick back and relax.

Well, maybe not relax too much, there is still the gardening and I need to pick up Dino Droppings, and clean the Dino while I'm at it.

The Dino (Diesel) now weighs 82 kilo's, and is all grown up. I haven't clipped under his paws for 6 weeks, it's been pouring and the white is now black, and he has that wet dog smell.

I'll have to find some recent pics of Diesel. He really is massive. I was lying on the floor the other day, when G let him inside. He had the cheek to sit on top of me, and I could'nt move! He thought I was playing.

I always have a towel for him inside, but I was trapped. He doesn't lick you, but he did have shoelaces at that point.

I love Diesel, but there are times when he pushes the boundaries. This was one of them.

Guess Who?

2008-04-30T23:24:00.000+10:00

Men and their muscles. Show off's, every last one.

I have been tracking this clip for over a year. I still have a giggle now and then because, after all this time they are still doing the guessing game thing. Guess what? I know exactly who this is!

The New Me

2008-04-24T23:37:00.000+10:00

It has finally hit home. I no longer have a job. After resigning in February, I am finally leaving on May 2nd.

I don't know if I actually want another job, I think I just freaked out about having nothing to do except gardening. I did the mandatory soul searching thing, "will I be happy just staying at home?" etc. and still couldn't make up my mind, so I sent off 5 applications with CV attached via email last Wednesday evening.

Anyway, I have had 3 calls and scheduled 3 interviews. An offer was put on the table which I accepted, because I liked the environment, product, and employers. Plus my retainer and commission rocks! I also get to work a 5 day week, which will be great.

I signed a contract and confidentiality documents today, and start on Tuesday 6th May. Now I am getting really nervous. I have to wear a suit, and 'elegant' (uncomfortable) shoes (no Ian, not clear heels), and have public speaking engagements.

What have I got myself into this time? Public speaking? Me? Time will tell.

The Day a Town Stood Still

2008-04-21T18:39:00.000+10:00

Thursday was a very emotional day. The ashes of the Birthday Boy were placed in the coffin with his Mum. At peace, finally. Because of the suicide, he was unable to be laid to rest in consecrated ground, so they sneaked him in. Bravo to the family!

Every person in their community was at the funeral. The school closed it's doors, as did the shops while the funeral was conducted. I guess it goes to show how much respect the locals had for their District Nurse.

Rest in Peace.

Death of P

2008-04-14T20:22:00.000+10:00

G was home on Friday, naturally upset. The sight of his sister struggling for life was hard for him . He spent time with her each day, as did his siblings. He told me she would not let go of his hand, and her low wisper was hard to hear.

She has clung to life for the last 12 months, enduring the unendurable. Chemo every Tuesday, Blood transfusions every Wednesday. A lesser person would have given in, she wanted so much to live. I know I would have given in. She did not believe in Euthenasia.

I hope her husband and kids are somehow able to cope, for the dead know nothing, It is not the dead that grieve, but the living left behind.

The Funeral is on Thursday, picked especially by her kids. The 17/4 is the birthday of a brother, who committed suicide a few years ago.

Trish died on Saturday 12/4 about 5 pm. I think, in the end it was a blessing for all concerned.

Patricia.

2008-04-12T00:03:00.000+10:00

G. is interstate tonight. He has gone to say goodbye to his sister. She has cancer, and her major organs are shutting down. All chemo has been stopped. There is no hope left.

The Dr.'s are keeping her pumped full of morphine to make her as comfortable as possible. She is slipping in and out of consciousness, but has her faculties.

She is skin and bones, the tumor in her peritoneal cavity is pregnant like in it's enormity, and is blocking her bowel and her kidneys. Her body is toxic, and when they lay her down, she vomits, so they have her strapped into a chair.

She is surrounded by her 6 children, Parents, and 9 of her 10 siblings, also her husband, a Doctor, who can do absolutely nothing.

It's just a matter of hours now.

Au' Revoir Trish.

Eight Steps to a Sex Worker

2008-04-07T22:50:00.000+10:00

1. The Husband
2. Government Department
3. Disability Sector
4. New Supervisor
5. Sector Manager
6. Regional Manager
7. Client of All of the Above
8. Sex Worker

Link the Eight Steps to SEX with the following words.
Instrucions for linking;
1 : Works for
2: Works for
3 : In
4: Has a
5: With a
6: And
7: Who have
8: Who needs a
SEX WORKER

The Husband: Would rather face the sack.
The New Supervisor: Couldn't deal with it and passed it on to the husband.
The Sector Manager: Says he has no choice, must do. Fired.
The Regional Manager: Rescinds all the above. Wrong, wrong and wrong.
The Sector Manager: Apologises for causing severe emotional stress.
The New Supervisor: Is a a moron.

CARS

2008-03-30T21:10:00.000+11:00

Grand Prix press release for Lotus and Angelo Lazaris promised a lot but didn't deliver on the day, McLaren took it all the way.

Meanwhile, Alfa has and upcoming new release, the Mi.To. It is a cross between a mini and an Alfa 147, somewhat cheaper than their normally high price, and is relying on the youth market to top up it's falling sales figures.

If you are dreaming about an Alfa, try not to. You will be spending a lot of time on the side of the road, although your Alfa dealer will lend you a car while yours is being fixed. It is not uncommom for you to have a loan car for 3 months.

Available here is 1.9 Tdi, 1.4 TP, also a new 184kw for it's GTA. That's pretty funny when you consider a Kia Carnival has 184kw of power.

Yesterday I had a special treat, and drove a Lamborghini Gallardo. Absolutely amazing torque. A great shame there wasn't a track near, so I could floor it. Very smooth gearing, but still drove like a sports car. A slightly bumpy ride on our roads.

Also, in the last of week 1 have been able to give an Impreza WRX a nice workout. I have decided the car is more myth than legend, and very over rated. The suspension is too hard, and gives a rough ride. Nice power, but lacking in other areas. I was able to blow the clutch by the third burnout. Bye bye Impreza!

They have a totally new model coming soon, new shape, new everything. Hopefully that will pick up the slack in the backward body styling, suspension and clutch.

Toyota's new V8 Cruiser Tray, released some months back, has a waiting list of round 5 or 6 months. Happens every time a new model is released, but this is definitely worth waiting for. I don't think there is another 4x4 that stacks up to it.

I often see stickers on Patrol's that say "Pajero" Recovery Vehicle, which is quite funny. I think a Cruiser recovers everything!

Considering everything that has happened in the last week or so, cars made for a good topic. They can't talk.

Resurrected by Demons in Disguise

2008-03-27T21:39:00.000+11:00

This thing has got way out of control. Please don't point the finger at Layla, we were all conned.

I was absolutely horrified when I saw Redacted. (I could not believe people could do those things), I dissolved completely.

I had no idea the video clip was not real footage. When I found out it was a movie with actors, I grabbed the lifeline.

Soul in Torment posted "Angel may be going through a "grief rejection crisis". Soul in Torment is correct.

What I didn't know, at the time of posting, was that the movie portrayed real life attrocities committed in Iraq, in a very clear and concise manner.

Who ever originally sent that video clip out. did so to divide and conquer, to make us look like idiots. Just so they would be able to say "Layla Anwar has to resort to movies to make Iraq look terrible".

Well "whoever" you are, it backfired. Now we all know the real truth of "reality" based TV".

2008-03-25T23:39:00.000+11:00

BANG BANG

Winter Soldiers Sound Off

2008-03-24T01:53:00.000+11:00

Hi, Lookers,

You should have a good look at this http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=8421 .

Some of your servicemen have integrity, all be it after the fact.

An Iraqi was once selling soda out of a motorcycle to soldiers in a waiting convoy,” says Moon. “In the side-car was his seven-to-eight-year-old child. When the man refused to go away, the MP on patrol put him to the ground with a gun to his head and started stripping his vehicle and searching it.

They then took the child, picked it up into the air, and threw it full force onto the ground. I didn’t see the child get up.”An Iraqi was once selling soda out of a motorcycle to soldiers in a waiting convoy,” says Moon. “In the side-car was his seven-to-eight-year-old child.

When the man refused to go away, the MP on patrol put him to the ground with a gun to his head and started stripping his vehicle and searching it. They then took the child, picked it up into the air, and threw it full force onto the ground. I didn’t see the child get up.”

This is one of heaps. I listened to the broadcast of Winter Soldier. It was awful. How can I be pro USA? Absolutely impossible.

Forgery

2008-03-23T16:23:00.000+11:00

Well, look what I have come accross, an article written by former UN weapons inspector, Hans Blix. I would like to think BushCo is honest enough to admit their mistakes. As a leader, Bush says, "you can never admit to a mistake". Bush has also stated, “I’m driven with a mission from God. …God would tell me, ‘George, go and end the tyranny in Iraq…’ And I did.”

Maybe God will see fit to talk to each and every one of us, in this direct manner, or is he only pro American?

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article19582.htm

Quoted directly from Hans's article named: A War of Utter Folly.

By then, Unmovic inspectors had carried out some 700 inspections at 500 sites without finding prohibited weapons. The contract that George Bush held up before Congress to show that Iraq was purchasing uranium oxide was proved to be a forgery. The allied powers were on thin ice, but they preferred to replace question marks with exclamation marks.

They could not succeed in eliminating WMDs because they did not exist. Nor could they succeed in the declared aim to eliminate al-Qaida operators, because they were not in Iraq. They came later, attracted by the occupants. A third declared aim was to bring democracy to Iraq, hopefully becoming an example for the region. Let us hope for the future; but five years of occupation has clearly brought more anarchy than democracy.

The following is clearly the most terrifying of all ,in Hans Blix's statement:

In the 2004 presidential election campaign, Bush ridiculed any idea that the US would need to ask for a "permission slip" before taking military action against a "growing threat". True, the 2003 Iraq invasion is not the only case in which armed force has been used in disregard of the charter. However, from the most powerful member of the UN it is a dangerous signal. If preventive war is accepted for one, it is accepted for all.

That is probably the most frightening thing of all. They need no permission, they are accountable to no-one, they ignore the United Nations, and they don't hold to the Geneva Convention.

The worst forms of tyranny, or certainly the most successful ones, are not those we rail against but those that so insinuate themselves into the imagery of our consciousness, and the fabric of our lives, as not to be perceived as tyranny: Michael Parenti .

WAR

2008-03-21T16:53:00.000+11:00

In some respects, the thing is a very transparent dialectic: war for peace; killing to protect life; destruction of freedoms to safeguard freedom; glorying in killing as a means to prevent killing; turning those who are killed into the enemy; naming the enemy as apt for killing; naming an innominate enemy as a threat while threatening and killing to create more enemies to manifest the sense of threat. And so it goes.

Legion Thu 20 Mar 08 (05:03pm) Blogocracy.

Still Peacocks

2008-03-21T15:46:00.000+11:00

After yesterdays post, I thought I may have been slightly harsh on those concerned, after all they are flesh and blood.

Unfortunately, this flesh and blood being takes things personally, and I decided I was no "Hitler's Angel".

The response to the youtube US Marine dog shooting video I posted yesterday, was so very immature and thoughtless.

The response was:

"If you're an animal lover,shouldn't you be disparaging PETA Angel? After all,they do try to help animals".

A simple "that was awful" or "he shouldn't have done that" would have sufficed, just to show a spark of humanity in this insane world.

That's what I mean about arrogance, the inability to take any criticism what so ever on behalf of their military.

Puffed Up Peacocks

2008-03-20T23:59:00.000+11:00

I have been visiting some American blogs lately. It has been an interesting experience, with an awfully rude awakening for me. My US cousins, who all have differing opinions on Iraq, tell me that a lot of Americans are ashamed of what their administration has done to Iraq. They also tell me some, including a couple of them, have exactly the opposite opinion.

I am usually a moderate blogger, don't make too much noise, and keep a low profile. I read a lot, but usually don't comment. But, in this instance, I will tell you exactly what I think.

The particular blogger I am referring to seems like a nice guy. http://iraqimojo.blogspot.com/.
I don't always agree with him, which is fair enough, it's his blog, and he has the right to say anything he wants. He is quite humble, which makes me appreciate his opinions all the more.

On the other hand, some (not all) of his commenters are the most arrogant, self opinionated, pompous puffed up little Peacocks I have come accross in blogger land.

They cannot stand criticism of the USA in Iraq, in any shape or form, and that is where arrogance comes into opinions. The arrogance does not do any favours for their cause, in fact it detracts from the validity of their statements.

A particular blogger also accused me of airing a Fake Video of Dog Abuse. That is being investigated, according to Pentagon News. Well, just for him this one is definitely not fake. There is also another little snippet at the bottom.

Low and behold, it's not just animals. At least the other soliders in the above video had the temerity to express their disgust at the shooter. In this one, they cheer when they kill a wounded Iraqi on the ground.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3yLLibNYhog&feature=related.

Soldiers in war are disgusting, which ever side they are on.

2008-03-20T18:39:00.000+11:00

FOR THE RECORD

I WANT IT KNOWN

THAT I DO NO SUPPORT

SECTARIAN MILITIA

I DO NOT SUPPORT AL QAEDA

I DO NOT SUPPORT SUICIDE BOMBERS

I DO NOT SUPPORT MURDER IN ANY FORM

NOT FROM IRAQI'S

AND NOT FROM AMERICANS

IS THAT CLEAR ENOUGH FOR YOU?

What Have I Done?

2008-03-18T15:05:00.000+11:00

I can't believe I resigned from my job, that I actually went through with it.

The Boss is really the Big Boss, the Manager is below him, and the Boss's brother is Hitler in disguise, because he is the boss's brother, and abuses his position. I also work a full 6 day week which is really draining.

I must admit, I had planned to leave last year, in early October, but a few weeks later decided not to go through with it. Departing from my money source was making me uneasy. I had spoken to the Boss in September about the hours being too long and having too many "Chief's". He told me to sort it out, and left me to it. In the meantime, he went on holidays. Hitler gave me an absolute blast about a perceived wrongdoing. He was yelling so close and loud, his spit was landing in my face. He would not let me speak a word, everytime I tried, he yelled louder. If he had bothered to ask me, I could have given him a very simple explanation.

I had been due for leave in November, but the Boss cancelled it because of low staffing levels. I just didn't want to hear it, you know how it is when you need time off. Being close to breaking point is uncomfortable, especially when it is stretched out and out.

Two days before I was due to go, I had a heap of stuff to do, unfortunatly I am the only one who knows how to do it. My bit involves a government dept. user id and password. I was feeling quite ill, which is unusual for me. I had eaten Beef in Black Bean Sauce for dinner the previous night, maybe that was the cause, or possibly just stress.

I am really a conscientious employee, and don't take sickies often, but this day I should have stayed home. I had the Boss yelling in one ear to do something, and then when he was out of sight, the Manager would tell me to do something completely different. I am really intimidated when men yell at me, just can't help it.

By this time I was close to tears and decided to have a coffee and smoke. When I had calmed down a little, I went back upstairs. The Manager had another go at me, and I really don't know what came over me in those few seconds in time. I threw the cup of coffee and it smashed on the wall, grabbed my bag and keys and left. I retreated to the park around the corner, where I spent the next couple of hours in tears.

When I got myself back together, and being a loyal employee, I went back to work.. I was obviously looking upset, red eyes etc. Low and behold, the Manager had another go at me. That was it, I lost the plot and wrote a letter of resignation stating: I hereby resign from my position as xxxx, effective 1 month from today, due to bullying and harrassment in the workplace, and non negotiable working hours, as dscussed with you in September 2007. I signed it and walked out.

My husband works shift, so when I arrived home he was pretty surprised. I told him I had resigned, and went to bed, with a bucket in hand, just in case.

My phone kept ringing, so I turned it off. In the evening, the home phone rang, and I didn't answer that either, but my other half did. I could have killed him (not really killed), I didn't want to speak to the Boss, but I did. I told him everything, and guess what he said? "I don't know anything about it, I thought everything was fine and you had sorted it out". What do you think about it? Is he Deaf, blind or stupid, or all three? A case of "Ostrich", burying his head in the sand, and ignoring everything.

He got such a shock, he sent me on leave at the end of the following day. No-one said boo to me, which was pure bliss, and I was able to complete the balace of paperwork.

If I was employed in a larger work place, I may have taken it further. That was my thought at the time, but after a lot of soul searching, I realised the experience would be extremely traumatic. I had had enough of that already.

The Boss has rung me a couple of times during my leave, to see how I am going, and also asked me to come in and see him. Guess What? "I am short staffed, can you fill in from the 25/3 until the end of April?" I said yes, I guess that's loyalty again.

Grand Prix Weekend

2008-03-15T20:00:00.000+11:00

What an interesting few days we had.

It's just about the end of 4 weeks Rec. Leave. We have had a great time, mostly in our own back yard (Victoria).

We decided to drive to Melbourne last Saturday, after spending a few days in the City last week, there was way too much to see and do in such a short stay.

We went to the Eureka Skydeck, 88 stories high. Because it is Grand Prix weekend, we were treated to an awesome display from the Airforce F/A 18 jets. At 88 stories high, let me tell you, the view was truly amazing. The jets noise output is absolutely phenomenal.

http://www.eurekaskydeck.com.au/cool-tower-facts.asp

We also visited the Art Gallery, one particular exhibition by an Asain photographer, whose name I don't remember. I don't think we are the arty types. While everyone was deadly serious, we were trying to stop laughing. It was a series of photo's on nude men, just backsides with private parts extending, here and there.

They were all talking about 'light and shade', and other expressions of artiness. I honestly couldn't see the point. Anyway, I was disappointed in the exhibition, we must have stayed a whole 2 minutes.

We moved on to the Middle Eastern Artifacts, and then I got angry. Little typed up cards saying "This was removed from the tomb of "whoever", and that was the seal of "so and so". I had to leave, although I was terribly interested. How dare they take someone else's heritage?

Sunday we did a day hike in the Mountains, with backpacks. Round 20k's or so. We met up with two snakes, a Red Bellied Black on one side of the hill, and a King Brown on the other. It was so hot, and they were sluggish. Lucky for us! We just rattled stones around until they moved out of our way.

It has been so hot over the last few days, into the evening as well. Usually at this time of year, the evenings are cool. Can't wait for winter and cool crisp days, with bright moonlight at night.

Stateless

2008-03-12T23:16:00.000+11:00

I arrived in Australia at 8 months of age, on my Mum's British Passport, have never left the country, and have never considered myself to be anything other than an Aussie. Imagine my shock when I found out I wasn't one!

I am apparently stateless, and cannot get a passport. To gain citizenship here, I have to have a Permanent Resident’s Visa, which I don't have. To gain a Permanent Resident's Visa, I have to provide my Passport, which I have never had.

I thought I'd try the British Consulate, and get a Passport that way, so I am able to gain Citizenship here. I can't do that either, my Birth Certificate means nothing unless I can provide my parents certified British Marriage Certificate. No can do! They were married in Iran, Dad was working as an Engineer for Anglo Iranian Petroleum and my Mum an English Interpreter. I'm pretty sure England would not have a copy of an Iranian Wedding Certificate. I was going to ring them, but baulked at paying $1.10 per minute to listen to an automated voice and $2.65 per minute to speak to a human.

My Dad died here, I have been married, divorced and re-married, had 4 children, buried one of them, received Family Allowance for all of them, had a Centrelink number, have held an Australian Driver’s Licence since I was 18, worked most of my life, have a mortgage, voted, and paid my taxes. During this time I have spent 9 years as a volunteer Foster Parent with Anglicare, received a Victorian award for services rendered to Foster Care, and been an instructor in Bellydance for the local Neighbourhood House.

According to Immigration, I do not exist, but I do have an appointment with them on the 24th of April, where I have the privilege of doing a Citizenship Test, and if I pass, will be able to state my case, but am not guaranteed anything. I am not entitled to vote, although I have done so since I was 18. I am not allowed to do Jury Duty, but have been called upon to do just that on several occasions. Legally, at this point if I were to apply for a Tax File Number, I could not do so, because I can’t provide my Passport.

A conundrum, I am not in Australia, but also cannot get out of her, neither am I British, even if I was born there, neither am I Iranian. I feel totally alienated that I don’t count for anything, that my life in Australia, or anywhere for that matter, may as well be nonexistent. .

The Bag in the Cupboard Part Three of Three

2008-02-24T23:30:00.001+11:00

The bag in the cupboard has been there for years. I have never opened it. It taunts me every time I open the door.

I have scrutinised it for a long time, several years in fact. I have stared at it for hours on end. It sits there begging to be opened.

At first, I didn't want to put it in there. I wanted to hurl it away from me, but I couldn't. I tried, time and time again. It has a hold over me like nothing else ever has.

I hate that bag, but at the same time I love it, and touch in tenderly.

If I hold it tight, it makes me cry. Damn bag. Throw it away, my mind tells me. Keep it, my heart tells me.

Which one do I listen to?

I even know the contents of that bag, I have seen them before. Damn that bag and damn it again.

If I open the bag, the contents will tear me apart. If I do not open the bag, it remains there taunting me, teasing me.

She wore what is in that bag. I can't bear to look. I can't bear not to look

The Bag in the Cupboard. Part Two of Three.

2008-01-27T00:22:00.001+11:00

The funeral arrangements were made by the Mother on auto pilot, she had no help. She planned the wake, complete with sandwiches, tea and coffee. The husband was no help, completely useless by being perpetually drunk.

The funeral was hard on the family. The viewing of the body distressing, the Grandmother collapsed and was taken to hospital. The dead girls favourite song was played, her older sister devasated. The husband, still drunk, thanked everyone sincerely for coming and sharing HIS grief. The Mother did not cry.

The Grandmother was put on a plane, to be consoled by family living in the USA. The Mother breathed a sigh of relief. The husband, still drunk, refused to return to his business, the couple became bankrupt. The Mother still did not cry.

The family moved to a neglected old farm, miles out of town, where they did odd jobs and lived rent free. The elder daughter was put on the school bus every day, and came home in tears every afternoon. The Mother investigated and found the dead girls favourite song was played frequently by the bus driver She spoke to the driver, he did not play the song on the bus again. The Mother still did not cry.

The Grandmother returned from overseas, only to remember the horror of the past. The Mother now had another member of the family to look after. She supported her family by propping them up mentally and physically, always with the veneer, a smiling face. The Mother still did not cry.

In time, she gained a reputation. They called her the Ice Maiden. She did not celebrate the anniversaries of the death, she did not place Memorial notices in Newspapers. She did not visit the Cemetary. She still did not cry.

Two or so years later, while visiting an area hundreds of kilometes away, the Mother saw an acquaintance from the small girls pre school days. The woman asked, "How is ****** and *****? The Mother stared in horror. She answered " ****** is well and ***** is dead", turned her back and walked away.

Some years later, the couple divorced. The Father still drunk, moved to another State. The Grandmother still griefstricken, pulled herself together and started to live life once more. The Sister fared a little better, until becoming a Mother herself.

And the Ice Maiden? With no-one to support and prop up, she had time to think. She suffered a nervous breakdown, gave up her job, and was housebound for two years.

To be continued.

The Bad in the Cupboard. Part 1 of Three.

2008-01-23T22:28:00.001+11:00

Five children, aged between 7 and 10, playing, laughing, enjoying a day full of sunshine. Two live there, three are visitors.

One of the three comes accross a well, this is a cause of great excitement. He has never seen one before, and calls the others over. Between them they manage to lift the lid, and peer down into the gloom, unable to see the bottom. It is 120 feet deep.

One older boy gives one small girl a shove, she looses her balance and starts to fall. The girls sister, 2 years older, grabs frantically at her clothes, unable to gain purchase. Finally, she manages to hold on to a foot encased in a sneaker, her little sister dangling precariously over the edge. Both girls are screaming for help. The other children do not come to help, they stand mesmerised, staring. As if in slow motion, the shoe and the foot part company.

There is no initial splash, just a dull series of empty sounding thumps echoing, as the small girls body bounces from one side of the shaft to the other. Eventually, after what seems like many minutes, there is a loud thump, and a small splash. She has reached the bottom of the well, and the end of her young life.

A little after 2 hours, her body was recovered and bought to the surface, smashed to pieces like a broken porcelain doll. The skull in 3 pieces, with one beautiful eye completely missing.

The parents identify the body. It is an horrific sight. The father suffers complete nervous collapse, and has never spoken of the event since. The grandmother blames herself, as she was minding the two girls. She still cries every night. The sister's life is never the same again, she blames herself because she let her sister fall. The event will haunt her to the end of her days. The family are never able to live in the house again. The well was their water supply. The eye is still down there. The marriage dissolved under pressure.

Finally, we get to the mother. She was working that particular day, satisfying the craving for money, to support her Western lifestyle. She also blames herself, of course.

This event was I hope, done in the innocence that comes with childhood, in a land where there is no war.

It is bad enough a child dies, let alone being killed in war.

To be continued.

Yesterday's Children

2008-01-21T22:38:00.004+11:00

This is subject to copyright and written by my Mother, the book is Yesterday's Children by Elizabeth Yoel Campbell, and the 2nd edition is being released later this month. The book has been edited by Carolyn Karam-Barkley, who has done a brilliant job. http://wwwyesterdayschildrenbook.com/

"Although I am not quite 80 years old, I have yet experienced life as it must have been lived in the Middle Ages. For the first few years of my life I lived in a walled city with great iron studded gates and narrow cobblestoned streets, flanked by two storey high adobe walls. Small latticed windows pierced the walls at the highest level and strong solid doors, always locked, barred entrance to the stranger. What goes on behind those doors is impossible to tell. Is it a rich man's abode, light and airy inside, with priceless hand woven carpets, silk cushions, golden ornaments, perfumed lamps and bejewelled harem wives, or a poor man's home, a warren of dark rooms and darker passages, where maybe twenty families live, four, five, six to a room? No, no one can tell from the outside. For one does not want to attract the evil eye, nor the attention of the greedy and fierce tribesmen, who from time to time and without warning, descend on the hapless inhabitants of un-walled cities, to sack and pillage, then withdraw to their mountain tops, where no government troops dare to follow".

"Our town walls are as thick as they are high, and when all the visiting caravans bringing in their wares from far off places like Samarkand, Bukhara, Isfahan, Khoisan, Baghdad, Basra and places further to the East are safely in, the gates clang shut and afterwards only a special permit from the Governor, or knowledge of the password can let you in or out".

"Inside those thick walls are granaries and storage's for all the necessities of life to feed the inhabitants in times of siege or famine, and barracks for the soldiers who guard the walls twenty four hours a day, always on the lookout for trouble, inside or out".

"By sunset the caravans have arrived at their destinations in the great caravansaries to seek food, shelter and rest for the night, after their arduous day long journey from their previous night's shelter across the desert and the interminable mountains. They open out on to the great bazaars to give easy access to travelling merchants to barter or sell their goods, purchase local wares and make ready to set off with the caravan next morning".

"There are acres and acres of bazaars crisscrossing each other, covered and vaulted, the only daylight coming in from the skylights set 25 feet or more at the apex of the arches. To us children, the bazaars are an enchantment, a wonder filled Aladdin's cave, a visit there to be prayed for, to be dreamed about".

"Just before sunset, after the caravans are out of the way, the streets are swept clean and water from goatskins is sprinkled on the parched ground to cool and settle down the dust, in readiness for the call to evening prayer. I can still smell the fragrance of water on parched earth and the Petunias growing inside private gardens...and then, thin and sweet in the evening air, comes the lilting voice of the Muezzin from his high perch in the minaret towering over all other buildings".

"By now everybody is heading for home and wherever he is, on hearing the Muezzin's call "Lah, Lah el Inlah, Mohammad Rasul Allah" ( Allah is great and Mohammad is his messenger), a Muslim spreads his prayer rug, which he has carried with him all day, to answer the call to prayer several times during the day, turns towards Mecca and performs the rituals of his faith without embarrassment. The prayers over and the Muezzin now silent, he picks up his rug, shakes and folds it reverently and goes home to his waiting family".

"At our home, as in every other house, oil lamps are being lit now. Some are very beautiful, gold and ruby glass, others in poorer families are made of tin. In warm weather, most people have their evening meal and then sleep on the flat roofs of their houses, for the city is malarial and troublesome mosquitoes stay close to the ground, in the damp vegetation of the garden".

"Out in the street all is quiet now, gates locked and barred against the evils of the night. But on the roof tops all is light, alive with laughter and expectancy, for this is the time for the main meal of the day and the man of the house, having toiled all day, is eager for his dinner and time with his family. This is the time for fragrant pilaf, spiced yearling lamb, chilled sherbet and yoghurt and many delicious fruits of the land. The lamps and lanterns are alight, tablecloths laid, and dishes set out in readiness. The roofs have high parapets for safety and to guard privacy, but you know that people are on their rooftops all over town, because you hear laughter and whispering voices nearby, and see the reflected light from lanterns on parapet walls in all directions stretching in to infinity, or so it seems to me".

"It is quite dark now, the voices around us stilled in sleep. The servants have cleared the remnants of the meal and gone down to their own quarters somewhere in the depths of the house. Finally, we are sent off to bed to sleep under the stars, which is absolutely magical. The deep silence of the night descends and wraps us round in slumberous peace. For a while I lie awake on my back gazing at the stars in all their glory, so far, far away. But tonight they do not seem so far away. To me it seems that I could stretch out and pick one and keep it for my very own. I gaze and gaze, fighting off sleep, wondering if somewhere out there among those millions of worlds, there are other little girls who would like to be my friends and come down to play with me. As far as star gazing goes, I am a true daughter of those far off Assyrio-Babylonian forebears who first turned star-gazing into astrology and then into a science".

"Something wakes me up. Not a sound, (apart the perennial chatter of Sufi Chai, (the river) outside the city gates) light or whisper anywhere. I listen and listen and then-yes-it is the sound of donkey hooves on cobble stones down below. I run to the parapet and climb on to a chair. In the pitch dark I see a lantern bobbing up and down as it approaches and then just for a brief moment a man comes into my line of vision, running ahead of his master astride his donkey, to light the way. The master is a Mullah on a mission of mercy, perhaps to be at the bedside of a dying man. For no-one (except on illicit business) would be out at this time of night without a pass, or knowledge of the password. Papa, being a doctor, knows the password, which is changed every few days. The 'word' is passed on directly to Papa by the Governor himself, the two being close friends. Papa is at the Governor's compound almost every day, for there is always someone sick in his large household."

"As the Mullah's light is swallowed up by the night, I hear the Town Crier's voice approaching and every few metres he stops and calls out at the top of his voice 'It is now ...O'clock and all is well. Sleep well all of you true believers, for Allah is Great'. Then he too vanishes from sight. I still do not want to go back to bed for I am waiting for something special. Then I hear it, clippity clop, clippity clop, the sound of horses hooves of cobble stones and the chink of weapons on metal. They too come into view and by their lanterns I see they are armed to the teeth, fierce looking men - and they have to be. For this is the Night Watch and because of them we all sleep more soundly. They too vanish in the velvet darkness, the noise of their passage gradually diminished by the distance".

"There is a hush now and all the world is sleeping. The silence is so deep and eerie that I seem to hear dim, unintelligible fairy voices singing the songs of Arabian Nights Sirens and calling me from the stars above. Suddenly I am afraid and very lonely, I no longer like the night. Finally I find Mama and Papa's bed and climb in to be held in their arms and comforted, before being carried back to my own bed. I am happy now for the night holds no more terrors".

"The night is warm, the breeze has dropped and the poplar leaves which have been rustling all night as if singing a lullaby to the children of the land, are quiet too. All nature seems suspended, waiting for the rising of the sun and the renewed life it brings with it. That is good and I am happy, for I like playing in the sun".

Visit the website: http://wwwyesterdayschildrenbook.com/