In his latest speech today, the one about Iran and the nukes and good old Mr El Baradei, President Obama said “talk is no substitute for action.” Well, you could have fooled me because all we have witnessed from the U.S President is talk, talk and more talk and he’s correct when he says it’s no substitute for action. So where is the action?

He is talking with everybody and with all this talk comes a sense that he’s unwilling to act. He’s the sort of person who keeps threatening his opponents with more dialogue and it’s as if he’s playing for time. Is he really that naive to think that Iran is going to stop producing weapons-strength uranium? Is he hoping that something bad will happen to the Iranian leadership so that he will not have to act?

Perhaps he’s just going to bore the opposition to death with his speeches and jingles and slogans. Can he do that? Yes he can. The speeches are pretty, Mr President, but it’s enough already because you are appearing weak and hesitant and that’s not good.

Iran will not take Obama seriously because the Iranians have sussed out that this is a talking president and not one who acts. Once that impression has been made no amount of warnings will change anything. Iran will simply build more secret nuclear reactors and thumb its collective noses at the U.S President.

Pity about that when we hoped something good would come from this new U.S government.

The American wholesale company, Costco, has finally opened in Melbourne. We took a while to visit because it’s downtown which is not easy to get to…traffic and construction at Docklands are not very inviting. Nevertheless, we were curious.

Not that we were going to buy anything. We were just coming to have a look. Continue reading →

The quadriplegic who was at the centre of a right-to-die controversy recently has passed away. Christian Rossiter died of a chest infection after winning the right not to be fed artificially.

Mr Rossiter was only 49 and could not bear the thought of spending the rest of his life on life support.

Sadly, we don’t have a choice in when we are born and who will be our parents. I believe the ultimate freedom is the right to decide when we will die and how, if that can be arranged. That is what I call real self-determination.

It’s a shame that Mr Rossiter had to fight to starve to death and finally succumbed to a chest infection. It could not have been an easy death for him, but then, his life was intolerable. Too bad he could not have had any compassionate and actual medical assistance to depart with relief.

Perhaps one day we will give the same consideration to human beings as we do to our beloved pets.

I was having a quiet break from blogging when President Carter came out with more drivel. This time it was about people objecting to President Obama’s policies because of racism. According to the nutty farmer who was one of the worst presidents ever, people disapprove of Obama because he is black. What a load of rubbish! Why can’t someone disagree with Obama without being labeled a racist?

In my opinion, Obama’s election was due in part to his being black. Not too black, but a nice latte blend of black and white which was an attraction at a time when Americans wanted change. Not only in political party but as different as possible from the white Republicans of the past. So Obama fit the bill perfectly.

On balance, Obama’s colour was a plus rather than a disadvantage and still is in the eyes of the Europeans and the Middle Easterners. This is an important point since the Democrats want to distance themselves from the previous administration and Obama’s physical appearance is now a symbol of change in both policy and provenance.

Of course, there are racists in America just as there are racists in the rest of the world, and there always will be. But Carter is barking up the wrong tree if he accuses critics of Obama’s initiatives of being racist. That is just a cheap shot and, as usual, Carter is way off the mark.

Just when you thought that our intrepid Minister for H₂0 couldn’t embarrass himself more than he already has, Tim Holding admitted that after slipping down a mountain for 200 metres, he was offered help from passing mountain climbers, BUT refused. These climbers wanted to lend him some snow shoes.

Not for him a beacon and other mandatory safety precautions for solitary adventurers. He was going to do it his way.

What is his way? Well, may you ask. His way is to go alone, lose his footing when he became confused, refuse sensible offers of help from other trekkers and then risk the lives of 80 rescuers.

Some adventurer! If it weren’t for the efforts of the Australian Federal Police who used a special plane to seek him out, he would still be there freezing his butt off. When asked if he would go a wanderin’ up a mountain in below freezing temperatures again, he said yes, but he would take a safety beacon with him next time.

Of course he would have to take lessons on how to switch it on, no doubt. It was noted that he did not even suggest making a donation to the rescue mission.

Do we really need politicians who are so inconsequential and are willing to risk the lives of others just because their brains originated in a pickle jar?

I have to confess that I didn’t even know that Tim Holding existed until he got lost on a solitary climb up a mountain in the alpine region of Victoria this weekend. Apparently, the wandering minister is Minister for Water in the Australian state of Victoria.

We don’t have much water in Victoria and we don’t have much of a minister either, it appears.

Holding is an experienced mountain climber, we are told, but he went off on his own in below freezing temperatures without a GPS device. I would have thought that a GPS device was crucial if you are into frolicking on dangerous terrains on your own.

Holding seems to have become lost and failed to return on Sunday afternoon. So now we are endangering the lives of 80 rescuers who also have to spend the nights on the mountain in order to retrieve the lost minister.

It’s an expensive and dangerous exercise. We have had irresponsible people go adventuring before and when they were lucky enough to be found they sold their stories to newspapers. I hope that our errant minister will not do that.

I also strongly believe that adventurers should repay the cost of their rescue by taking out insurance before they embark on their follies. Why should their behaviour incur a cost to the community when they didn’t take sensible precautions in the first place?

Accidents are one thing and they are bound to happen but irresponsibility is another. If Tim Holding is found alive I hope that the voters will remember his stupid, risky and inconsequential behaviour when election time comes.

p.s.

Tim Holding is a very lucky man. He has just been winched to safety by courageous rescuers. Hope he gets sent to his room without dessert!

For the past year I noticed that my facial complexion was peeling constantly. It was very irritating. I put it down to Melbourne weather as one does. Finally, I went to a beautician and asked her why my skin was peeling all the time. She asked me what I use on my skin and I told her “mineral makeup”. Her eyebrows shot up, her eyes widened in horror as if she’d just been offered treatment from Michael Jackson’s personal physician.

It turns out that mineral makeup is only suitable for teenagers with oily skin. I am not a teenager. According to her, mineral makeup should be avoided by anyone over the age of 20 as it is very drying. I am well over the age of 20 and until I used mineral makeup had never had a problem with peeling skin.

So I decided to read up on it on the internet. Here is a hyperlink to a health site about mineral makeup.

I wonder how many women out there are suffering dry skin problems because they fell for the hype.

Since giving up mineral makeup a few days ago my skin has stopped peeling. There’s definite improvement there. Can’t say the same for Melbourne weather, though.

I can’t be the only person in the world who is utterly and totally and completely bored with discussions about climate change and ETS. I’m so fed up with it all that I’m actually looking forward to the world running out of everything and exploding in one big bang so that’s it’s over and done with already.

This gloom and doom is making me switch off–if only. So it was with great joy that I heard about an orchestra in Scotland which is lousy. It knows it is lousy and it likes it that way. You can hear the Really Terrible Orchestra on You Tube and believe me they are more entertaining than the bleating about global warming and carbon balloons and giant footprints and all that rot.

The orchestra website describes its mission as follows:

“The Really Terrible Orchestra exists to encourage those who have been prevented from playing music, either through lack of talent or some other factor, to play music in the company of similarly afflicted players. The policy of the orchestra is to make no distinction between the various grades of ability and the various forms of music, or time signature. The RTO looks forward to a further lowering of standards, in order to underline its commitment to accessibility and relevance.”

Now isn’t that refreshing! We need a laugh in this miserable world or we will get to the stage of not giving a damn if the world boils over. I’m already at the stage where I feel aversion when politicians talk. I bristle when I hear the words Afghanistan or Iraq. Africa is a basket case which will not be solved in our lifetime. Nor will the Middle East be at peace in the foreseeable future. So thank goodness for the Really Terrible Orchestra and what it stands or does not stand for.