Australia has just suffered and is still suffering from the biggest natural disaster it has ever had. The bushfires have killed almost two hundred people so far, people who perished in the most awful way.

The government representatives, the Governor-General of Australia, and even the cricket teams have visited the disaster centres. All sorts of volunteer groups are giving a helping hand.

So who is missing from all this? Who is conspicuous by her absence? Whereas John Howard’s wife would have put in an appearance to offer a shoulder to weep on, Mrs Rudd, (Therese Rein the multi-millionairess businesswoman) is nowhere to be seem. Is she overseas busy growing her millions? Yep, that’s where she is all right, in London giving interviews. And yes, she says she’s been thinking about the bushfires.

The most flippant explanation is that she doesn’t have an appropriate outfit to wear–something sombre and suitable instead of the flamenco fiascoes she usually inhabits.

Seriously, though, I bet that Michelle Obama would have been around to console those who were shattered by the natural disaster. Somehow, I just don’t see Mrs Rudd in that comforting role.

The Fructis ad for some hair treatment says “Why wait 3 minutes for a miracle treatment? You have better things to do with your time.” Have we become so shallow and so busy that we can’t even spare three minutes, the time it takes to go to the loo, to condition our hair? Continue reading →

Following another incident in which Hamas stole UN relief supplies the UNRWA has announced that it will suspend further supplies into Gaza.

It is Hamas’ aim to distribute food and provisions only to its supporters and pretend that they, Hamas, are the benefactors. It sells these on to the population and uses food as a bribe. This, of course, is no different from using human shields and murdering anyone who objects to their rule in Gaza.

Let’s face it, Hamas is at war, not only with Israel, but also with Fatah and so any Palestinian who does not support Hamas will be excluded from receiving vital supplies. That is why the UN wants to be in charge of distribution. It doesn’t trust Hamas.

Hamas has described this theft as a “mistake.” A MISTAKE! Now there’s an understatement! But only because they were finally caught doing it. Israel has been claiming for quite a while that Hamas was selling relief provisions which had been donated by the rest of the world and the UN to be distributed for free. And now, at last, Hamas, “the big saviour of the Palestinians” has been found out once again for being cruel to its own people.

So now, even the UN is temporarily fed up with Hamas. It would be interesting to ask Christopher Gunnes, who heads the UN relief agency in Gaza and usually accepts Hamas propaganda, what he thinks of this “mistake”.

I have just listened to the Australian TV news broadcasts and there is no mention of Hamas’ deplorable action. Can you imagine what would have happened had the Israelis stolen those vital UN provisions? It would have made headline news in every broadcast! On the other hand, the media expects this kind of reprehensible behaviour by Hamas and that’s why it’s not headline worthy.

It won’t happen, but I would like to see the Reserve Bank leave interest rates as they are. Cutting them only makes people lose more confidence in the economy and what we need now is a boost to confidence. That is why leaving interest rates as they are would create a positive effect on our psyches.

All this talk of gloom and doom may make Rudd and Swan feel better because they can blame someone else for the economic woes we are experiencing. And to be honest, it is not the fault of this government. But in the end what will save the economy is not a stimulus package which so far has done little.

In my opinion, our economic woes are greatly influenced by our perception of how well we are doing.

We should not ignore the impact of negative messages on our psyche.

First, we were told that China’s economy will protect us, so we will be fine. Now we are told that even China is experiencing less growth and that we cannot rely on it. So when we hear that twenty million Chinese are losing their jobs we cannot remain upbeat.

It’s only logical that people will be afraid to employ new staff if the prognosis is so gloomy. It’s also logical that people are reluctant about spending more when their incomes are at risk. Tell us that we do not need a drop in interest rates and that will give everyone a boost.

Even if the interest rates were lowered by Two Hundred points it would not help matters and, in fact, it would aggravate the problem.

I have noticed a trend lately in Israel which I applaud. It’s about time that Israel realised that no matter what it does or does not do, it will be criticised.

Israel could stand on its head with humanitarian deeds that no other nation would dream of performing and it would still be lambasted for being a pariah.

My message to Israel is that since you are going to be a scapegoat for everything that goes wrong in this world, you might as well do what you think is best for your people.

When Israel left Gaza to the Palestinians in 2005 it was for the sole purpose of living in peace with the Palestinians. Did this happen? What would you call a daily barrage of rockets fired from Gaza into Israel? A friendly gesture?

How about the official declaration that Hamas wants to annihilate the state of Israel? That is written in blood in their Charter and they mean every word of it.

During the war against Hezbollah, Israel was very considerate of world opinion and tame in its response to the kidnapping of two of its soldiers on the border. This was a mistake, in my opinion, because what ensued was a flurry of bad publicity anyway for Israel accusing it, as usual, of being cruel to the civilian population of Lebanon.

What is conveniently forgotten is that it is the Arab militants who always start it and Israel is forced to retaliate. And please don’t say Israel should turn the other cheek, because everyone has a right to self-defence.

It is the militant Islamists who always disguise themselves as civilians and, in fact, during this recent Gazan conflict, Hamas again removed their jihadist uniforms so that they could blend in with civilians. This is the method of fighting of cowards who use their own families and babies as ammunition. Israel once again restrained itself and targeted military installations, tunnels and caches and Hamas depended on Israel’s higher ethical standards.

Let’s be quite frank, Israel could have carpet-bombed all of Gaza but chose not to do so out of consideration for the genuine Gazan civilians.

There are now stories coming out of Gaza about atrocities committed by the IDF. This is what the media relishes. The bullshit is piled high in Gaza and is fed to the reporters.

We know who stands to benefit from such accounts. But at long last, Israel has decided that no matter what gross and vile acts Hamas commits, these will be overlooked by an overtly and covertly anti-semitic world while whatever Israel is doing will be analysed ad infinitum and condemned.

So what should Israel do? Listen to the critics who align themselves with the Arabs no matter what the truth of the situation is?

Appeasement does not work and I am pleased that Israel is now declaring that it has had enough of the blatant unfairness of the media, the prejudice of some world leaders and the double-standards of organisations such as the U.N which is overloaded with Arab members.

Israel has had it with the vested interests and I support its decision to stand up for itself and shout “Stuff the lot of you!”