The Apple Has Fallen - A poem

The apple has fallen, the goose has left,
But we have welfare for a wealthy group,
The sky is falling the thirties are dawning,
Election rolling while the Dow is falling,
Hope is fading as the senate is debating,
The homeless are dying while a baby is crying,
Christ; please don’t let it be just me.

A rustle from a ‘Bush’ but cowering in a corner,
Caesar I don’t see; I never learned my history,
The drug company shares no empathy,
But the energy she shall run ‘free’,
My home has gone but I have loyalty,
The homeless are dying while a baby is crying,
Christ; please don’t let it be just me.

I remember it well but in a different tell,
Nineteen eighty seven; a Monday from hell,
Twenty three percent was slashed from Dow,
Could it be Orwell only by three?
Thought police in the trees peering in at me,
Lines are tapped and lines are blown,
The homeless are dying while a baby is crying,
Christ; please don’t let it be just me.

Keep me scared and keep me down,
Budget cuts are coming round,
Paranoia keeps me sane,
Zoloft, Prozac it’s all a game,
The homeless are dying while a baby is crying,
Christ; please don’t let it be just me.

Rusty
(Russell Blore)

Pouring in!

Some points to consider when deciding whether or not to let refugees into our, or any other persons country might be. Christians have to open up the borders and help anyone in need, something about loving your neighbour and their 'enemies' I believe....Agnostics have to open up the borders because they're not quite sure but I dare say they make the acknowledgment so it's probably safer to at least show some compassion; one never knows????? Athiests have to open up the borders because they tend to subscribe solely to the theory of evolution and we became the fifth ape when we split off at the genesis. We are closer genetically to the great ape than a horse is to a donkey which when cross bread produce a mule...So where does all this hatred come from and what gives anyone the right to even consider themselves better...I wonder what Darwin or God would say?

Observations from the couch on the GEC

With a remote in one hand and a mouse in the other coupled with the dexterity required to manipulate such devices one may; just may that is, be able to get something of a balanced diet of partisan reporting. Fox will occasionally take a swipe at the hand that feeds it but to counter this they produce a man like Glenn Beck who claims that because the word ‘social’ appears in the term ‘social healthcare’ then that’s socialism; a mere step away from communism.[1] Glenn Beck needs to remember that when we spend time with friends it’s called socialising with the emphasis on social. Ronald Reagan used exactly the same tactics in the fifties but why?[2] A healthy population really isn’t a threat to national security or a substantial drain on the public purse; in fact a healthy population actually benefits a society in productivity and avoiding self induced diseases. America spends more public money on health care than any other developed country but remain the unhealthiest.[3] A profit driven and largely unregulated healthcare system is just like any other ‘free market’ industry; they provide what the market demands to maximise profit and to do anything less is unethical and fails to properly represent its shareholders. But some industries need to be treated in a manner befitting its status and national interest.

It is reasonable and responsible to accept that certain industries and services need to be socialised and non-democratic, the military is perhaps the best example of this; it needs to be based on socialist principals otherwise discipline and the ability to give and take orders is impossible. Our education system needs to be run by the state for equity and universal outcomes; not forgetting it’s a human right just like healthcare. There is the police and allied emergency services, the good folk who look after national treasures from forests to museums and basic infrastructure like public roads, libraries and other cultural and critical services too numerous to mention. So why are the Americans afraid of ‘universal health care’? The simple explanation is money and funding being channelled in both directions. Why spend public money on a cure for polio or tuberculosis; it’s no longer a problem in the developed world but we seem to find treating impotency and developing a pill to lose weight more important than helping those less fortunate.

The rest of the developed world realises the importance of certain socialised industries funded by the public purse and fortunately so does America with the exception of healthcare which can be likened to cherry picking and while demand remains solid for Viagra, America will continue to be bullied by various multinationals. It is fair to say that the developed world got that way because of a ‘free market economy’ and for the most part the wealth has been unevenly distributed and carefully guarded but there is room for the occasional entrepreneur who dreams up ideas like Virgin, Microsoft, Google, eBay and Amazon; which for the most part operate in a volatile market that is speculative and intangible but they have some values.

A final thought; the only truth that came out of the ‘Global Economic Crisis’ is that for a ‘Free Market Capitalist Economy’ to survive and continue, totally relies on a ‘Socialist Framework’! In every country affected it is the tax payer who is funding the recovery from the corner store to multinational organisations like ‘Citi Bank’.

Rusty
(Russell Blore)
[1] Glenn Beck, Fox News.
[2] Michael Moore, Sicko.
[3] World Book, cia.org.

Another kind of Black Day

The very day Arthur Freeman murdered little darling Darcy by throwing her off the Westgate Bridge will go down in history as the day that we all failed because we don’t want to get involved; vulnerable children were given to a psychotic father costing the life of a little treasure, the Family Court has failed again and we let it. On the same day a Madam faced charges for allowing a 14 year old girl who lied about her age using forged papers so she could work as a prostitute meant again we have failed. We failed both the Madam who was never removed from her own childhood nightmare and for her whole life we have ignored the 14 year old; I have no doubt that both come from very similar backgrounds as appears to be the case in court documents. Again, on the same day three girls were killed on the road after a nights partying and one of those ‘girls’ was a mother herself at only 18, why?

It is highly unlikely the 14 year old won’t have any future and we will all feel sad for her until she turns 18 then we will turn on her and throw her to the wolves because of her birthday and when she is 18 she risks being killed through stupidity.

It is indeed a very tragic and solemn day which is beyond words and there will be so many victims born out of today’s sustained barrage on the ‘family’ that I can only hope we respond to this disaster as we did the Tsunami with both funding and care because this is the worst kind of ‘national’ disaster. Remember the two little boys and their mum but for god sake remember the little girl and all other victims of a society that doesn’t seem to care. We need to deal with this with more urgency than ever before because quite clearly we have lost our moral compass and just don’t care anymore.

Change Australia Day

26 January has and always will polarise our nation and makes no sense; we need to unite the country and celebrate us all on one specific day. It’s a bizarre irony where the privileged live 20 years longer but are envious of the disadvantaged. Wasn’t ‘the apology’ going to cause a ‘Tsunami’ of litigation? People detest the smallest victory of a disadvantaged group who judging by various ‘poll results’ suggests 85% of Australians harbour prejudice views but if the true meaning is to bring ALL Australians together then perhaps 19 April is a thought, it is the day Endeavour arrived but this too could be divisive. In a vote I would choose 1 January being the anniversary of Federation but it’s already a holiday; our forefathers lacked the foresight and appreciation of the long weekend but I’m sure we can work something out. Federation has been one of the most significant events in our combined history because it’s when we grew up, proved we were capable of taking care of our own affairs, united Australia opening up borders and trade, the list goes on. What happened on 26 January 1788? The second place getter finally arrived; 18 years after Cook! It needs to be a celebration for all Australians and unify everyone no matter if they have just arrived or took the trip 40,000 years ago.

Violence Escalates in the Eastern Suburbs

As an itinerant worker I have on occasions had the need to visit Centrelink which I did this morning; I made two notable observations since my last visit. The people in the ‘Looking for Work’ line had a median age of approximately 48; at the time there were about 10 people in the queue.

My second observation was the presence of a security guard; I had previously noticed a sign specifying appropriate behaviour for ‘customers’ and the chairs had been secured after they had been used as a weapon. I queried the staff member and was advised an incident had occurred the previous week. This is the eastern suburbs.

I told him last year in my workplace I experienced several violent outbursts including groups of young people illegally coming onto the grounds and into the buildings for the purpose of violence and I had first hand knowledge of often quite serious violent incidents in the workplace experienced by many others. Before I left Centrelink I said to the staff member, “At least your employer is doing something about it, mine chooses to ignore it.” Is this really what we want at the beginning of a millennium?

Rusty
(Russell Blore)

Family Court and Values

I have two comments I’d like to make, the first being the Family Court in Australia which is based on very recent and personal experience and the second is really an example of our nation’s values and one of its obvious recent shifts. We must accept that every decision made by a judge is subjective and based on their own values; I refuse to believe judges strip themselves of a lifetimes conditioning by slipping on a robe. In no other profession are we asked to dismiss our values prior to work, in fact they are what an employer looks for; will you fit the ‘corporate culture’? Our values are learnt and not innate hence my very expensive case which has financially ruined me fell apart on the trial day because my female barrister said, "He's conservative so we need to negotiate." In other words after all the money, examinations and humiliation it all came down to the values of the judge not the weight of the evidence. Secondly, last year during a teacher student goal setting session a young girl said to me the only thing she wants in life is a family and to bring up children. I told her that although there is no greater reward in life than being a parent, it just doesn't fit into the 'BOX' because unfortunately we don't recognise parenting as a legitimate occupation; it simply doesn't fit the label of career/employment as reflected by Centrelink and Legislation based on ‘values’.

In addition to my former comment, I would add that the party with the deepest pockets will always win; I suppose this is true for anything in life and to think otherwise is naïve. At one of my many hearings a barrister said at law school the Family Law lecturer said, “Family law is all about the children; mine go overseas every year, go to the best school, live in a beautiful home and wear designer clothes.” Mine must now go without while hers live the high life on my labours! But, more importantly let’s try not to forget the kids; I would gladly do anything possible if I could spend more time with my children. I sacrificed financial security for poverty while my ex-wife and her partner used their combined financial muscle to wear me down to the point where I simply ran out of funds. I was advised I may qualify for legal aid and my lawyer said that was fine but I would need to settle my account with them before they ‘can’ release my file. I hate clichés but I was stuck between a rock and a hard place and am now the property of a law firm.

Rusty
(Russell Blore)

Sound Economic Strategy

I’ve been considering the pros and cons of another cash grant to taxpayers in a time of economic uncertainty, the last payout according to some, recorded about a 3% net benefit in retail sales which appears to have the hallmarks of a failure but what happened to the other 97%? Money doesn’t disappear into thin air so it must have gone somewhere as will be the likely scenario this time. I confess to using my grant to mostly pay bills which enables the service provider to pay expenses including wages; if we don’t pay our bills a business, no matter it’s size can’t reinvest and grow thus the need for labour declines, so who benefits? The cost of living is on the increase including ridiculous petrol prices and unless one is born into a life of privilege we all face some form of financial hardship in our lives and with uniformed economic commentary, we get scared and look for the mattress. Some will place there’s into a bank or other investments thus injecting cash back into the community to stimulate growth in virtually every industry. Just because the retail numbers may be low we need to look at the bigger picture.

Good Bye and Good Riddance to the Torch Relay

With the ‘Olympic Torch Relay’ now being restricted solely to the hosting country; I can only hope this is the first step in the ultimate demise of an evil tradition that was born out of hatred, murder, naïve and not so naïve criminal behaviour.

The ‘Berlin Games’ of 1933 was the very first to have a torch or any form of long distance relay and has no link with the ancient games. Coincidently the carefully planned path chosen by the Nazi’s commencing in Athens, travelling across ‘Eastern Europe’ and finally into Berlin, later bore witness to a path of destruction and all the horrors of war including the mass murder of millions of Jews and many other minority groups. History was yet again used to distort the truth to serve the narcissistic fantasies of a perverted and destructive dictator.

Hitler’s most notorious and hypnotic rallies were conducted at night by ‘flammable’ torch light; he was a master of theatre and used this for his own evil will. Why do we hang on to this insidious tradition that was instituted to exert power and influence and gather military intelligence thus allowing a mad man to be surrounded by yes men who turned the world upside down and all but wiped out a race of people. Do we really wish to continue the celebration of such hatred?

Rusty
(Russell Blore)

Bra Boys Film - Look at the real story of hope!

I recently read some of the comments regarding the ‘Bra Boys’ of Sydney that hit me like a metaphorical sledge hammer; I couldn’t get over of the absurdly uniformed judgemental opinions but then I realised why. It’s simply ignorance and a typical middle class response to a subject where the entire knowledge base is drawn from tabloid journals with their own agenda.

I have always had a compassion for those who haven’t had the same opportunities as I but admit I too have been judgemental; this fundamentally changed when I became a teacher, forty and a single father of two. I started off in middle class schools but I had a burning desire to work with kids who don’t have the same opportunities as my own. It was quite a shock; I worked in schools which were virtually ‘white’ to schools that were ‘Asian’ and everything in between. I was at one particularly challenging school which on occasion’s experiences events and situations which were totally new to me; namely violence and gangs.

Australia isn’t all leafy eastern suburbs where kids go on to do better than their parents. I think the class system is no longer so much about money but values; I suppose even where we live bring us back to values because of similar ideals and we feel awkward in an environment that doesn’t resemble our own. I’m not saying this is judgemental; it’s just who we are and the values we were brought up with. I detest violence and until I commenced working in ‘known’ areas had never experienced it. Amongst several violent experiences I have been assaulted while walking to get lunch because I didn’t get off the crossing fast enough for a speeding driver.

What I want people to try and understand is that we are a product of our environment and parents; it’s called socialisation. But now all the fuss is about a group of surfers labelled a ‘gang’ which is trying to lift itself from these stereotypical labels we give them and the vulnerable young who may have parents who on occasions have also failed them out of what they realised was a perpetual cycle of an underclass. I also encourage anyone to do some reading on ‘generational poverty’. These ‘Bra Boys’ are showing some of the most at risk that a ‘gang’ does not have to be about crime, poverty and some kind of despot group who inflict harm on the community. If they were middle class they would be a club or society, even a ‘surf club’ but because of who they are and where they come from they are a ‘gang’. We need to be better informed and understanding.

Rusty
Russell Blore

ANZAC Lives On

As a former member of 5/6 RVR B Company, I wish to use this forum to gratefully acknowledge the sacrifice of my former young ‘Brother in Arms’ Private Greg Sher. Greg joined the unit about 10 years after I departed but there is a ‘Brotherhood’ amongst soldiers that time and history only add to rather than act as a mechanism that allows the memory to fade. Many will ask themselves why Greg chose to serve in Afghanistan but they will never find the answer until they look inside of themselves and strip bare their prejudices, preconceived and often biased understanding of what motivates an Australian Soldier. Greg came from South Africa and is of Jewish faith fighting for the safety and security of not just the greater world but the Muslims who live in Afghanistan. Please excuse the cliché but an Australian Soldier is very different from most others; perhaps it has something to do with our young history which was born out of something very cruel.

When men are faced with a crisis they generally have two options; to submit and accept or make a stand for righteousness and time and time again the Australian Soldier has taken the path of righteousness. In every theatre of war the indelible memory that is left behind is one of compassion and charity even when hell is raging around, the Australian Soldier will see the vulnerable child and protect that child as if it were his own.

In Vietnam, Australia was handed Vung Tau which was a hotbed of enemy activity the Americans had been unable to suppress. Upon taking command Australia’s leadership immediately set about clearing a safe zone between the taskforce and the enemy of approximately five miles radius. They then went into the villages to win the hearts and minds of the local population by providing desperately needed services such as healthcare and food. The enemy’s idea of winning hearts and minds was at the deadly end of an AK47. The SAS set the benchmark in establishing positive and constructive relations in this theatre of war; being the quintessential professionals they have learned through history and a legacy we identify as ANZAC that the fire fight is just one small part of winning war. It is interesting to note that the UN have tried but failed many times to employ the values of the Australian Soldier onto their own peace keeping missions but have never enjoyed the success of Australia. An interesting fact of the actual warfare in Vietnam is that the enemy initiated nine out of 10 contacts on the Americans being their enemy but the opposite is true of Australia including the amazing National Service Soldiers. I’m not prepared to go into the politics of this just as I won’t with us and WWI which was more or less politically identical, even WWII was until December 7th 1941.

Beside Private Greg Sher’s sacrifice and the other fine men of the ADF we recently witnessed another moment in history when Trooper Mark Donaldson was awarded the Victoria Cross. I sat mesmerised in front of the television with my nine year old son as Trooper Donaldson received his VC and was moved when the Chief of the Defence Force, Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston saluted Trooper Mark Donaldson. It was truly an amazing moment and the fact that I could share this real life history with my son was something truly very special. When it was over my son and I googled Trooper Donaldson to learn more about his story; we were told he received it for among other things causing the enemy to bring fire down on himself this enabled his wounded comrades to be evacuated but he also gave total disregard to the enemy firing on him when he identified a comrade lying motionless out in the open after being shot. Trooper Donaldson allowed himself to be exposed to sustained fire while saving the life of this man; an interpreter.

Unfortunately we only see US soldiers on the news unless it involves the ultimate sacrifice and act of gallantry but this is what we are; we don’t boast we just go about our job and do it in the best possible way. Is it any wonder that one of the main reasons Trooper Mark Donaldson received the VC was for saving the life of another while exposing himself to a barrage of enemy fire? What makes this story even more remarkable is the man he saved wasn’t a fellow soldier; he was an interpreter, an Afghan. Trooper Donaldson and Private Greg Sher are what ANZAC was, is and will be forever and this is what makes the Australian Soldier a truly unique and valuable asset.

The Burqa Debate

I personally believe the Burqa is a tool of submission but what concerns me is the erosion of anyone’s human rights and the way in which people with an agenda hijack an issue where naturally emotions are high. Can someone please publish the crime figures because there’s something going on I know nothing about and we need to divert away from this xenophobic diatribe into an informed and objective debate. Some points to consider might be; not so long ago I was paying for my petrol when another customer entered wearing a helmet which alarmed no one nor did the need arise to hit the ground and take cover. The console jockey didn’t bat an eyelid but and may I say I have never experienced it but I bet if it was a woman or anyone for that matter wearing a Burqa that all eyes would be on them. The Burqa is about as inconspicuous as Bin Laden strolling around the Pentagon. Airports are very different places to the $2 shop or even Chadstone and strangely enough the last ball I went to, all the men were in black tie not beachwear because it was not appropriate and acceptable! Why must one set of generic values be imposed on everyone; the only reason we can have such a public debate is because we are secular and have enviable freedoms which were paid for in blood. Yes you must wear a Hijab in an Islamic State but you would have found if you went to Iraq when Saddam Hussein was in power you were free to walk around in bathers if that’s what you wanted because it is secular; Iraq never forced anyone to wear anything so why should we; after all aren’t we better than them? Look for solutions, not exclusions, in multicultural suburbs solutions are found for all sorts of things but I can’t recall the last time I saw a woman wear a Hijab in Eastland let alone a Burqa.

Agents of Puissance

I like many millions of others, sat up all night for the chance to view what is easily the most historically significant event in world politics; the inauguration of Mr Obama. Now I think most of us aren’t naïve enough to believe that tomorrow will see the beginning of world peace and an end to poverty. The Republicans have been dealt a savage blow and they are bleeding and angry thus any chance of worldwide reconciliation is simply a pipe dream because such values will cost these people their ultimate hold on power and the ability to make money through selling and developing weapons.

 

The agents of puissance have already set the wheels in motion; for one they left a legacy of debt that will take some 100 years to pay off, a couple of overt wars and god knows how many covert. They have crawled back into their spider holes to regroup but already the ‘brokers of depredation’ are coming out to undermine and harass the Obama administration. In his usual typically paranoid and obsessive partisan state Rush Limbaugh said, ‘he hopes Obama fails as president because he will usher in socialism.’ This man needs serious medication; Ronald Reagan peddled this sort of propaganda back in the 50s to fight the evils of a free national health service because once healthcare is free then naturally the ‘Dominos’ will continue to fall and he actually said, “The next step is communism”.  America spends approximately 15% of GDP on healthcare and we spend about 9% on ‘Universal’ healthcare; such is the price of a ‘Free and Market Driven Capitalist Economy’. The only thing this form of capitalism has proved is that it can only survive in a ‘Quasi-Socialist Economy’.