Dear reader, a reflective piece from Cecil in which he journey’s to the core of the confusion that lies at the very heart of contemporary society. And don’t ask us, (the editors) as we’re just as confused ourselves. 

jeremiah, (Cecil) in a reflective mood. Enjoys the radiant heat of an open fireplace.

I’ve been feeling a bit grumpy of late. And I suppose that’s not surprising really, given that my name is synonymous with Lamentations, that wonderful Old Testament tome. The Lamentations of Jeremiah. Probably should be more grumpy, more often. Lord knows there’s enough to get grumpy about. I had a couple of good friends here for breakfast – I was going to say brunch, then you’d start to think mashed avocado, and I’d be labelled a latte swilling, chardonnay drink left wing yuppy elite. Well let me tell you we had no latte and no avo, mashed or otherwise. No, just a simple, but late breakfast, scrambled eggs (done the way Nero Wolfe likes them: “The client had admitted to Wolfe, in my hearing, that she didn’t know how to scramble eggs. . . He had admitted to her, in my hearing, that forty minutes was more than you could expect a (woman) to spend exclusively on scrambling eggs, but he maintained that it was impossible to do it to perfection in less with each and every particle exquisitely firm, soft and moist.) with smoked Salmon, dill, capers, all on freshly baked (by me) wholemeal bread, followed by hand ground coffee, freshly brewed. Our freshly squeezed orange juice was augmented by a touch of grated ginger and a slash of fresh grapefruit juice’.

Jeremiah warns of the perils of credit cards

As I say, just simple country fare, not an elite in sight. Then this idiot, this friend of mine starts to wind me up. The Banks, he starts, those rapacious bloody banks. Something really ought to be done about them, he says. I respond by saying they are in the business of selling money, of offering a service, and to my mind and in my experience they do it pretty damned well. If I’m late repaying my credit card they charge a very high interest rate. Well, of course they do. This is an unsecured loan and I’m outside the agreed terms and conditions. What would I expect I say, they are working in a system where it is quite important for businesses to make a profit. In fact some would argue that is the purpose of business. No, he says, they are rapacious bastards. I lie down with a damp cloth over my head and try to think. Is this “Bank Bashing” a throw back to our anti-semitic past? Of course not, these bank bashers only have the interests of the vulnerable at heart. And I now realise that Banks are ruining society as we know it with what must be a non-jewish conspiracy.

Jeremiah, holds forth at the golf club.

Then the other day another of my dear friends caused me palpitations. I called in to see this friend at her place of work before going for my weekly game of golf. (Actually I’m the only person who calls what I play “golf”, to the others it is totally unrecognisable as such.) The golf club is in fine fettle, the course wonderfully kept, by a diligent and hardworking ground staff. The club is managed by a competent administrator who seems to keep most people happy most of the time. The club has a strong competition, men and women play most days. The fees for this club are about a quarter of those at most golf clubs. This means that many more people can afford to be members and play regularly. We are talking a saving of $1500 on membership each year, that is about $30 per week. For many of us who play that is quite a sum. I regularly play with an 85 year old, this is his exercise, this is his friendship group, this is his “Mens Shed”. And it the “Mens Shed” for many others who play. I reckon it takes a lot of work away from health professionals and from counsellors, and quite probably reduces domestic violence.

Deep thinking in the “Throne room”

However there may be a problem. The Golf Club has gaming machines. It is the profit from these that subsidises the running costs of the club. My friend told me how dreadful these gaming machines were. How they absolutely ruined lives. How they prey on the vulnerable. How they were addictive. I suggested a couple of things. Firstly that gambling was not compulsory. Secondly that the staff at the Golf Club are acutely aware of their responsibilities to the gamblers, and to the reputation of the Club. The staff turnover is very low, they live locally and know most locals who gamble there. The staff feel that societal ‘duty of care’. That our Government has approved gambling and if the machine were not at the Golf Club then they would most likely be at a Pub in the town where the impacts and controls would be much more private.

Lamentations at the Golf Club post Trumpo-caust

Yet again I needed to lie down. Yet again I needed the damp cloth on my brow. Yet again I’m perplexed by people knowing what is good (or bad) for others, others more ‘vulnerable’ than themselves. Is it any wonder the despicable Donald Trump is President Elect of the USA?

NSW Premier Mike Baird. Strong leadership at work.

Late night revellers not yet accepting legislation designed for ” their own good”

NSW Streets cleansed of crime.

Dear reader, it is not often we feel obliged to give praise to a reformist government, but recent events in New South Wales compel us to give praise wherever it’s due. Crisis of confidence has galvanised the N.S.W government into a frenzy of activity. The government, long the standard in “progressive planning and policy” had to do something about drunken louts and abusive agressive behaviour on the streets. This is a fraught and complex issue. Leading planners and academics have long wrangled with the monoculturalisation of precincts in which all kinds of vices proliferate. In some, (we have been told) the drinks are horrendously expensive, and the character of the owners is shady to say the least. Added to this are the habits of club-goers. Often after consuming copious amounts of alcohol, they emerge full of fight and this atmosphere of alcohol fueled exuberance spills onto the street. The N.S.W government deliberated long and hard and arrived at a solution. Lock out laws. Overnight, the problem has ceased. Now New South Welsh, (is there such a term?) younger adults are encouraged to stay at home, play pokemon, or enjoy the infinite delights of television. There are rumours that sales of Tupperware and rubber-goods have skyrocketed since the late night curfews. And all the anecdotal evidence south of the border indicates that the live music scene is flourishing, such is the eagerness of northern bands to abandon New South Wales altogether. Either way you look at it, good, cleverly designed legislation has stopped the rot. There are no late night brawls, no horrific one punch incidents, because the venues have all closed down. As a consequence, ‘Drunk Crime’ has been eradicated.

Criminalising bicycle riders. More evidence of ‘Strong Leadership’

Similarly bicycle accidents. There were shocking incidents of horrific bicycle accidents. Some of these resulted in damage to cars. After publicly shaming cyclists by ‘radio personalities’, the New South Wales government stepped in. Rather than look at long term co ordination of bicycles as distinct from other traffic, and policies designed to integrate the transport modes the government opted for ‘Strong leadership’. In an instant, Bicycles were removed form the streets. Bicycle usage in Sydney had fallen dramatically. On a bike you can be fined for not having a bell, incorrectly adjusted seat, unattractive helmet, or in some instances “ unfashionable clothing”. As a consequence a new revenue stream has been opened, and like the backpacker tax, (for which Joe Hockey shall be justly remembered) the fines have proven staggering. Once again a demonstration of ‘Strong Leadership’ changing bad behaviour. Allegedly no one is game to ride a bicycle in Sydney at all, and as a consequence, the problem of safety and driver courtesy is solved.

‘Out with the old, in with the new’, Changing ICAC to reduce corruption.

Now these are just two small instances of good legislation solving behavioural issues. But most recently the New South Wales Government has gone further, Since the Rum Rebellion there have been allegations of systematic corruption. Some say it’s a part of NSW political Culture. As a consequence they instigated ICAC. The Independent Committee Against Corruption. ICAC was very busy, rooting out corruption. So busy it snared almost a dozen Liberal pollies in the first year of a new government. Once again “strong leadership’ was required. And by jingo they’ve done it. Now there will be three ICAC commissioners, their deliberations will be kept secret, and must defer to the government. Happy to say Corruption on NSW is Solved. Further evidence of Strong Leadership. Good governance begins with strong leadership. The federal government recognises this, and that’s why our federal attorney general will leave no stone unturned to root out corruption and conflict of interest. That’s why he’s keen to help out state governments with problems to solve, and ensure that we get in the long run the best politicians that money can buy. And isn’t that all the time?

Lionel Fogarty is a renown Murri Poet, is a great friend to this blog.

Earlier this year he and others, including Joe Geia ran a series of workshops at a residential diversionary program for young male Aboriginal offenders, Balund – a. The program operates from land overlooking the Clarence River near Tabulam in northern NSW.

The poem chosen is Bundjalung Bigambul

You call me Aborigine but I am the original Aboriginal
of this land you call Australia
When I say let me go walkabout back to the land
Where my ancestors roamed long ago, hunting and dancing
Sitting round the campfire listening to elders talking
Of how things were when they grew up
And that’s why I’m the ORIGINAL ABORIGINAL.  My oath.

Balund – a – you can’t break me
As you are built on the land of the Whalubul tribe
As I came here to free my mind
Of the bad things that put me here
And I will change into the proud man I know
I can and will be
Balund – a – I am a proud BUNDJALUNG man of the
WHALUBAL TRIBE

My Rose may not float like a butterfly
and sting like a bee
But he will do the shake a leg
Around you and hit like a roo
That’s what he will do to you
As he is the Original Aboriginal
My LIONEL ROSE, my OATH

CLINTON T. A.

Today’s dispatch is  Feedback.  Originally dispatched on 22 August  2015\

G’day you mob,

When a microphone is aimed at a speaker into which the signal picked up by the microphone is fed, an electronic loop is created. The result is a squeal known as feedback. Jimmy Hendrix used this effect to great effect https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53JpbrxM7O0 The pitch of the sound depends on the frequency at which the signal travels around the loop. Thus a shorter loop results in a higher pitched sound.

The same principle applies to electronic devices called oscillators but instead of audio frequencies, these generate radio frequencies that sally forth into the ether as electromagnetic waves. Higher frequencies still and you get light.

“ and we all know what happens when two mirrors stand face to face… a strange and infinite loop…” (the fellow being infinitely looped is Orson Welles in a scene from Citizen Kane)

Another way to describe this is to invoke the Russian Egg Principle or some images derived from Chaos Theory.

Feedback is also used to describe what happens in conversation.

Those wonderful people at the AFN (Australian Facilitators Network) are an infinite source of mirth and inspiration:

“… Excited to be co-hosting a class on ‘How to host intercultural conversations’…Will be relevant to any kind of facilitation work and we’ll be sharing practical tools from Adaptive Leadership & Deep Democracy & drawing on knowledge in the room. (I told you, feedback is everywhere) …we are both really passionate about creating spaces for people to reflect on, develop new insights & gain useful tools to support people to feel more confident & effective when they work inter-culturally …I’ve just returned to Melbourne after 12 years living and learning in and loving the desert and the top end of the NT…”

I am also excited, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdt0SOqPJcg (Good Vibrations…. Giving me the excitation). I’ve suddenly worked out how I will be able to usefully and profitably occupy myself in my retirement. Using the Russian Egg Principle, I could end up hosting classes in how to host classes in how to host intercultural conversations.

Dr.Seuss: “…a bee that is watched will work harder you see. So he watched and he watched, but in spite of his watch that bee didn’t work any harder not mawtch. So then somebody said “Our old bee-watching man just isn’t bee watching as hard as he can, he ought to be watched by another Hawtch-Hawtcher! The thing that we need is a bee-watcher-watcher!”. Well, the bee-watcher-watcher watched the bee-watcher. He didn’t watch well so another Hawtch-Hawtcher had to come in as a watch-watcher-watcher! And now all the Hawtchers who live in Hawtch-Hawtch are watching on watch watcher watchering watch, watch watching the watcher who’s watching that bee…”

Thus within an expanding universe there is an expanding facilitators network. And an expanding justice system. And an expanding police presence. And an expanding prison system. All social loops generating feedback, ever more feedback (the noisy squealing type).

In Yuendumu’s Baptist church Napangardi read out from the Warlpiri bible (from 1 Peter 5. 1-7). Some extracts:

“…Nyurrurla jaajikingarduyu wiriwiri warrawarra-kangkalu-jana Kaatu-kurlangu yapa yangka jiyipikingarduyu-piyarlukuja kajana-warra-kanyi jiyipi nyanungunyangu…”
“…Warrki-jarriyalurla Kaatuku kujanya, kula talaku, lawa…”
“…Kuja kankulu-jana yapa warrawarra-kanyi jaajirla, kulalujana kulungku jinyijinyi-mani, lawa…”
“…Nyampunya wangkaja Kaatuju Payipulurlatju:
“Kaaturlu kajana yapaju mamparl-pinyi kuja kalu-nyanurla pulka-pinyi wiri-piyarlu. Kala nyanunguju ngurrju yapakuju yangka kuja kalu-jana yapa-patu-kariki wurdungu warrki-jarrimi”

Napangardi’s reading in Warlpiri was followed by her husband Jampijimpa repeating it in English:

“…Just as shepherds watch over their sheep, you must watch over everyone God has placed in your care…”
“…Let it be something you want to do instead of something you do merely to make money…”
“…Don’t be bossy to those people who are in your care…”
“… In fact, everyone should be humble towards everyone else. The scriptures say:   “God opposes proud people, but he helps everyone who is humble”

Myself I don’t go to church, but it has always struck me that the Warlpiri people who regularly attend the Baptist church are also heavily involved in Warlpiri spiritual matters.

I’ve since become aware that so much of what is written in the Bible perfectly fits the Warlpiri worldview. To be a “good Warlpiri” is synonymous with being a “good Christian”

As a non-believer I struggle with such concepts as the Holy Trinity. To Warlpiri people the Holy Trinity is a cinch. Their Jukurrpa (a cosmology most inadequately translated as “The Dreamtime”) is chock a block of sacred multiplicities.

As my mother used to say:
Ik ben niet protestant, ik ben niet Katoliek,
Maar toch ga ik naar de kerk voor de mooie muziek!

(I’m not Protestant, I’m not Catholic, but still I go to church for the beautiful music- In Dutch it rhymes)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KM2kbogwgBM

And, why not, another version from my all time favourite singer….
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NshR2v2Pqgg

See ya’s
Frank

Cricket Australia. Defending and exporting ” Australian Values’

The Australian test team stoically defending a wet pitch in earlier days

Dear reader, as you may recall yesterday’s thoroughly informative article suggested that the decline of Australian cricket had something to do with the decline of everything in this country. It’s a litmus test of sorts, and at the heart of it, was the tragic loss of direction from the selectors. They wouldn’t know if their arses were on fire, and possibly couldn’t hold a chook raffle. We’ve assiduously made no reference to brothel’s or paper bags. We believe that unlike the office of P.M or President for that matter, the office of selector of the Australian Test Team, and the most hallowed Chairman of Selectors is still held, (relatively speaking) in some high public esteem. But we are worried, the status of selector, (like politicians) seems to be declining.

Once upon a time, the Chairman of selectors, a Bradman, a Simpson, or a Chappell was looked up to as a demigod. Infinite wisdom and a sagacity bordering on all consuming, Now, we’re afraid their fall from grace makes them mere mortals. They’ve lost the power of the oracle, and their vision is clouded by management speak and the hideousness of corporatisation. Now, selectors, not only mere mortals, have the backbone of warm porridge. And where once intuition stood proud, just the words ‘moving forward’ and ‘benchmark’ instill in all of us a sense of utter dread.

John Howard. ‘Arguably Australia’s second greatest P.M’, ( Rupert Murdoch) Demonstrates skill with googly.

But there’s hope, If you think cricket is the canary in the cage, the cockroach in the terrine, the weevil in the biscuit of the Australian zeitgeist you’re absolutely right. It’s just not good enough being beaten by the South Africans. In spite of their predilection for Pic, Vim, and Pim as christian names, over out Brad’s Troy’s Nathan’s and Jason’s, their triumphalism is just too much. Got to the stage the only way we can get at them is with a Channel Nine cameraman, or wait till Peeto, (Kevin Pietersen) who used to play for Sth EEfrika, is caught not wearing a seatbelt on Warnie’s Facebook feed. Onya Warnie, you’re a bloody legend!!

Second Greatest P.M EVER, demonstrates his unique bowling skill whilst taming Afghan rebels.

But the fact remains we have the talent and great depth of skill. John Howard, (alone amongst the big three to avoid any responsibility whatsoever for invading Iraq) a self confessed cricket tragic has what it takes to be chairman of selectors. And he’s got the smarts too. He’ll know what to do, and in no time we’ll have a word beating team. Brimming with confidence and sang froid. And then, just to galvanise the smarts we could have Peter Dutton as selector. He could hold that with ‘Artful’ Arty Sinodinos and ‘Enigmatic ‘Eric, Abetz, and Corey, ‘Curveball’ Bernardii. What a selection panel!! And rather than throw out some poor bastard, as what happened to Callum Ferguson, our new players would stay and stay at the crease and stop the ROT!

Peter Dutton. Destined for greatness as Test Selector.

Peter Dutton knows what it takes to assess a man of character. And he’s on top of the job to ensure that undesirables are kept at bay, and if it’s good enough for ‘Team Australia’, it’s good enough for the first eleven. All selections will be based upon the tried and proven formula of only having players with one or two syllable names, (Exception to Corey’s). From hereon it’ll be only be Shane’s, Brad’s, Jason, Steve’s, Pete’s, Phil’s and Greg’s. All the rest are wankers and if you’ve got a really silly name like Usman, you’d just be better off playing hockey or some other fairy game. So keep the willow straight and watch success. A new era. Back to the future and heroic like .. Err…like…. Gallipoli.

The Sth Africans seem to be enjoying themselves.

Well we don’t know much about cricket, but from what we’ve been hearing and the fragments seen on television confirm is that the Australian team is just about Rock bottom. Or in sporting terms almost pure shit. Now in case you were wondering we think there’s something about Australian cricket that puts it exactly in the same spot as Australian governance. There’s a sort of kind of symbiosis at work. We know this is a crude comparison, but feel there are reasons for the decline of Australian cricket, and perhaps this underpins in some measure the triumphal return no less of South African cricket.

Test career, over in an over. Poor bastard!

Now cricket is an interesting game. Test cricket is absolutely fascinating. It requires tenacity, concentration and an ability to remain stoically at the crease, if the side needs backing up and swashbuckling our way to victory when the moment is just right. It also requires sagacity, candour and wit. Such attributes call for judgement, not just of the ball and bat, but of the opponent, and the relative strengths of your team. With such judgement tempered by experience, the day is won, or to be more precise the five days. And as often is the case the best team doesn’t necessarily prevail. That’s where the luck co-efficient prevails, the wind being in the right direction, the ‘weather gauge’, to coin a maritime phrase.

Spion Kop. Another Test series wipeout.

But the Australian team possess neither. They’re all at sea. They’re not sure if they’re slogging it out in the short form or the long form. In fact there are so many forms nowadays, and they’re not that good at either. And the selectors are fickle. It seems all the selectors are recruited from Business management 101 and Commerce (beers at $9.50 per pot). They have all the theory, but don’t possess an atom of emotional intelligence. It’s all very James Hird if you really want to know. One day you’re in as a debutant with the future ahead of you, and that very next innings you’re out. Forever!! Not much good for team morale, and it’s the sort of terror that the opposition seizes upon. Just like they did at Modder River, Colenso and Spion Kop. A weakness at the very core, which gives them the edge. And in cricket terms that’s the end. It’s a collective Fall of Singapore, a Gallipoli on a vast scale, our own little Vietnam, and as we celebrate all the battles we’ve lost, cricket itself runs the risk of being embedded in the psyche as code for failure, Glorious, inglorious, take your pick, but without stars to shine, the view is very dim indeed.

Colenso. Groundsmen removing the covers before another test disaster.

Chanel Nine Commentary team. Ritchie Benaud would be turning in his grave.

It’s got to the stage when the worst cricket commentary of all, the Channel Nine team of uber mates, Warnie, Slats, Tubby, Peeto, (when Sth Africa plays) and Heals, cant be bothered wearing seat belts and that’s the NEWS! All the towel flicking and jock puling, and self absorption, they don’t understand how they’ve contributed to the failings of the national game. Sound familiar? Hmm could just be the press gallery and the turnstile of recycled and newish politicians, who stand for very little are monosyllabic in their commentary and possess no imagination whatsoever.

Not a game, but boredom. A predictability borne by the selectors, (either party would do) and the anticipation that there’s no stomach for the long term. All hopes are on the short term and the luck will follow. It’s complacency in action. Still it aint all depressing. It’s not often that you see test careers start and finish in a single over. Bit like government all round really. But for the commentators at Channel Nine it’s all gravy. They’re just observers, and we the public, join in. Though test team selection is a national pastime, no one has the stomach to be on a losing side. Winners are grinners, and the rest is history. Or in other words. Our cricket performance is where we’re at on the real issues. Good thing Turnbull got to speak to Trump. Another example of the ‘Innovation Boom’ at work. The disconnect is palpable. Bowled team Australia.

Turnbull on the blower to Donald about Test selection.

Guy Fawkes. Replaced by Halloween. You’ve got to be joking!!

Dear reader, after some considerable delay, the pcbycp computer has at last tallied all the nominations for the ‘hatful of arseholes’ comp and come up with a clear winner. These have been difficult days, because as you would well understand, we at Pcbycp have a policy of even handedness. Some of the submissions were unprintable, and in keeping with the policy of mainstream political parties we were only able to accept nominations in the end that contained substantial donations. These donations have been put aside to assist us in our quest to have the Australia Wide ban on fireworks lifted, and the possible re-instatement of Guy Fawkes night as the most anticipated date in the yearly calendar.

Ray Hadley and Phil. Out of nowhere to claim Orange!! And (reputedly) big fans of bringing back Guy fawkes Night

Sorting the votes in the hatful comp. A Hurculanean task. ( as pompeii was ineligible)

In this respect we feel emboldened. You may say, “but surely that is a single issue catering to a very narrow spectrum of community interest”?. Yes indeed you could say that, but you would be wrong. Recent global events suggest that single issue interests can be election winners, and we at pcbycp have a view as to why. It’s not about ‘limousine liberals’ and the ‘chardonnay socialists’ yoke of political correctness being lifted. It’s not because of the all consuming wowserism of the nanny state and all the narrowing that it entails. But something much more significant. More significant even, than the commercialised sludge, (Halloween) foisted on the community as a sop to removing Guy Fawkes night, so that corporates can squeeze, the dumb, willing and compliant further. It’s a new re-allignment focused on having FUN. And it’s happening here.

From the backblocks of New South wales, The leader of the ‘I actually think shooting is great fun’, party Mr Phil Donato, was as pleased as punch to accept his historic occupation of a NSW lower house seat of Orange. Though he was unable to make comment as he was out on a kangaroo shoot his thoughts are anticipated just as soon as he’s finished cleaning the carcasses and visiting the dog food processor later in the afternoon.

Ordinary poor people having fun.

Unable to describe the jubilation felt by the members of the Orange community, the Prime Minister was able to give a quote at the latest Apec summit. ‘In a world changed since the Trump Presidency and the realignment of economic and intellectual boundaries the election of the IATSIF Party represents a seismic shift.

Small business and Phil, ( of the shooters) not big fans of Free Trade deals either.

‘I’m still rapt to the teeth in free trade and economic rationalism. Ordinary people out there, (and I really mean ordinary) just don’t know what’ we do for their own good. That’s why the free trade deals are done in secret. And now that same public, unemployed, unskilled and uneducated, clear winners of an open global capitalist system are unhappy. Why’s that? I have no idea? You just cant please all of the people all of the time, and in some instances that’s really is all of the time. if you are rich, have vast wealth, and have nothing of interest whatsoever in what poor people do, (incidentally that’s me), free trade is fucking awesome!! Without it we wouldn’t have a Bunnings, and land fill sites across the country would be empty. The “I actually think shooting is great fun’, party got in because we banned grey hound racing, Grey hound racing, though cruel, vile and unsupervised gave joy to lots of poor, uneducated simple folk. We hate poor uneducated simple folk. And the fact that they’re still trying to have fun, is just the last straw’.

Hmmm, The PM for thought bubbles my be right. This concept of the poor, the unwashed, and the tracksuit wearing as a constituency is just what Donald sided with and look at the result. Happiness for rustbelts. Happiness for those who yearn for the return of Guy Fawkes night, and bad news, really bad news for Puritans, wowsers and cultural elites everywhere. Who know about as much as having fun, as what to do with a hatful of arseholes!

Yesterday we linked to Ali Cobby Eckermann’s Sydney Review of Books Essay, “The place of Terrorism in Australia”.

Having watched the Four Corners (ABC) exposé of Residential Foster Care in Australia,  we republish one of Ali’s poems about family.

Kumana

There is no life
but family

When I am young
I live with my family

When I grow up
I leave my family

When I am lonely
I miss my family

When I am drunk
I reverse charge my family

When I pass away
I unite family

There is no life
but Family

Ali Cobby Eckermann  

Before we dispatch let us refer you to The Sydney Review of Books and a remarkable essay by Ali Cobby Eckermann titled “The place of Terrorism in Australia”  If you’ve not read a single dispatch then this essay is for you. If you’ve read every dispatch then this essay is for you.  This immensely sensitive writer, artist and poet yet again trains the blow-torch of inquisition on the soft underbelly of white Australia’s racism.  (Tomorrow we publish more from Ali’s award winning work “Ruby Moonlight”.

Read today’s dispatch, read Ali’s essay and sleep soundly.  If you can.

Now for today’s dispatch, which is  Poor Fellow My Country. Originally dispatched on 17 August  2015

Japanangka was arrested for “drinking in public” and subsequently died on 21^st May. Excerpts from the Coroner’s report:

“…died in a Darwin Police watch house cell, on a concrete bench with two strangers he had been housed with that evening…”

“…He was not causing any disruption before or during his arrest and at all times he was polite and cooperative…”

“…although the offence carried no term of imprisonment, Kumanjayi was handcuffed in public, placed in an iron cage in the back of a police van, transported away from family and friends, presented at the watch house counter with his arms still handcuffed behind his back, searched, deprived of his property, sat down and made to take his shoes and socks off and detained for some hours in a cell built to house criminals…”

“…In the last years of his life Kumanjayi didn’t work. He was always sitting down with the old people, having a cup of tea and talking to them. He also spent time with the young people. He would sit under the tree and the young people would see him and come and sit down. He talked to them and shared stories that had been told to him. We would call this tree, “the tree of knowledge.”…”

The “tree of knowledge” is less than thirty metres west from where I sit writing this. It is a large Athel Pine, classified In accordance with the Weeds Management Act as a: Class A weed “to be eradicated in all areas of the NT”. Where it stands, the possibility of it spreading are zilch. Over the years we have saved it several times from the tree police.

Six weeks before Japanangka died I introduced him (under the “tree of knowledge”) to a tourist called Joshua. Japanangka told Joshua about the Battle of Jericho in some detail. When I emailed Joshua about Japanangka’s death he replied: “What a sad news… he was such a gentle and knowledgeable person. I’m so sorry to hear this… “ This after a short single meeting.

The NT News under the headline “Booze law not to blame: AG”, reports that the NT Attorney General “has rebuffed criticism from the NT Coroner over his government’s controversial Alcohol Mandatory Treatment policy and paperless arrest laws saying two indigenous people who died in custody would have otherwise died in the “gutter”. What gutter would that be? [Remember? “…transported away from family and friends… “]

The AG is furthermore quoted as saying:

“…was brought to  Darwin to receive medical attention but instead went on a “taxpayer funded binge”. “Over the last 50 years the Australian community has shown enormous good will towards Aboriginal people” “Despite enormous  efforts…little has improved…” “Aboriginal lives will not improve until they , like anybody else, choose to improve their own lives individually”

In the Alice Springs News a prominent Alice Springs councillor wrote a lengthy comment criticising the Coroner. An excerpt:

“…the same kind of thinking that in the past has seen serious offenders, murderers, rapists, receiving lenient sentences and returned home to communities simply because they were of that origin without the slightest regard for the hellish effect that outcome had on those trying to live a normal peaceful civilized life within those communities.
The Coroner is requesting the removal of paperless arrest because they capture more Aboriginal people than other Community members, this apparently being discriminatory and divisive. Has it occurred I wonder to the Coroner, that these same laws may also “protect” more Aboriginal people, more women and kids from the results of drunken behavior?…”

[Remember?: “He was not causing any disruption before or during his arrest”]

These are the attitudes of those that have the power over and control life in the Northern Territory.

To paraphrase Xavier Herbert: “Poor Fellow my Territory”

Amazing Grace… how sweet the sound…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3G72NucLEGM

Dear reader, submissions have been pouring in from our “Hatful of Arseholes” competition. From as far afield as the Kimberley and Cape York, the submissions keep coming. It just goes to show how strong is the desire for ordinary people to be heard. That’s a very real litmus test of where we now stand post U.S election.

This hat was way way too small. What was she thinking!!!

There’s been a lot of talk about the Trump ascendancy being the death knell of political correctness. We at pcbycp are not quite sure. Though it’s hard to assess the flow on effect of this competition already, even at this early stage, indicators suggest there are strong and sustained regional themes. From South Australia, amongst the numerous thousands of submissions we’ve received, there’s a strong case for “a Labyrinth of Lesbians” and a “Clerestory of Cross- Dressers”. From Queensland, “a Catafalque of Cantaloupes, (we think cantaloupe could be Queensland idiom for greenie), and ‘Panoply of Poofters’, which points to some recurrent deep seated homophobia. From the more progressive states of New South Wales, there seems to be a tight race between, and ‘Ossuary of Obeid’s’, or a ‘Crown of Cronies’, whilst in Victoria, a ‘Waffle-board of Wowsers’, and ‘Pseudo-sphere of Smug’s’ seem to be uppermost on the list. We’ve had a recurrent theme of a ‘Grunge of Greenies’, and “Ruckus of (very closely related) Relatives’, from Tassie. But the stand-out seems to be from W.A, where a ‘Miscellany of Moguls’ and a ‘Oligarch of Ore-Gatherers’ is gaining in every measurable way, Not much from the N.T yet, some indecipherable scrawls would suggest at the very least from some sector that a ‘Polymorph of Prisons’ seems to be out in front.

Big-noting hat.

Sad thing about Hillary losing the election, because she really cared about poor people . Barnaby on the other hand is doing what his lobbyists pay him to do. Warning Victorians against the perils of renewables. ‘Renewables will mean cheap electricity and cost jobs’. He’s quite right. Which consumer would want cheap electricity and see filthy archaic coal mining jobs go in favour of renewable industry jobs? Onya Barnaby. Working well for big coal and from what we see in the U.S of A, the strategy works.

This hat must’ve been ” Just Right”!

But the best standout winner from the entire U.S Circus Royale is from the P.M for innovation, thought bubbles, and ideas, Malcolm Turnbull himself. He reckons, Trump’s victory is an endorsement of his vision, which is singular, for ‘Jobs and Growth’. Onya Malcolm, you and your mates from the IPA justified nuking the entire fucking manufacturing industry so that highly trained, skilled technicians could work in call centres or wipe old bastards arses in nursing homes. You’re dead right. There’s gold to be made, (for a few) in the booming arse wiping industry. And that just goes to show. If you had a hat, as Barnaby does, you be able to fill it, with your very own hatful of Arseholes.

Malcolm’s own Innovation Boom Moment. ” Fuck! I thought it shone out my arse’!