Close to home

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Mt. Cooroora, one of the several fascinating extinct local volcanic plugs revered by the indigenous people of the Sunshine Coast, is the site of the dreaded yearly King of the Mountain race at Pomona, not far from our place. Since the aboriginal people considered, we have heard, this mountain as a place of sacred women’s business … unsurprising considering its breast-like shape … the race is perhaps inappropriate. Every fourth Sunday in July, bevies of fitness addicts grunt their way to the top and hurtle down. We choose to climb the mountain only on special occasions – the last time was at the turn of the millenium.

Fantastic Catho kitsch

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Scavenged from Pharangula, this delightfully symbolic piece from the planet’s premier throwback fertility cult stimulated gales of laughter in the Fringe residence. We do try always to look on the brighter side of life 🙂

Some of the hysterical captions proposed thus far:

“Jesus is the way, the wang, and the light.”

“Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me.”

“Flip my switch and be enlightened.”

“Jesus loves the little children….”

“Suffer the little children to come unto me.”

“Children turn me on.”

“Jesus was hung so that we may see the light.”

For more delectable examples of primitive Catholic folk art and wonderful satire knifing credulous Catho devotees visit the seminal Madonna of the Toast site. The most recent post, examining the divine significance of peculiarly shaped pretzels is funny! There’s easy eBay bucks to be found in your local supermarket.

Alien fungi visitation

fung3.jpgAlien fungi 1Alien fungi 2

They came with the torrential rain during the past month to inhabit the bush and compost heap on our property. We’ve never seen these species before … anyone who knows what they are, we’d love to know. The pink tentacled monstrosity is particularly weird.

The second two could be stinkhorns? The red specimen also looked a bit like this fungus – Aseroe rubra. There’s more info about the bizarre Australian stinkhorns here.

Oz says no to cluster bombs

Despite the lack of attendance by the usual major human rights abusing nations including the United States, China, India, Pakistan, Russia and of course habitual, brazen, unapologetic user of the disgraceful anti-civilian weapons, Israel, Australia has signed the Wellington Declaration banning the use of cluster bombs.

82 countries signed the declaration which affirmed a ban on the use, production, transfer and stockpiling of the bombs, and called for a framework to care for survivors of cluster munitions.

Australia was accused of trying to water down the declaration to appease the United Stupids, yet an Australian delegation head, Caroline Millar, claimed they would have liked to have gone further.

Outstanding concerns Australia hoped to have addressed in Dublin included restrictions on defence forces working with allies such as the USA, which had not signed up.

Other matters included defining what a cluster bomb is, and how to deal with stockpiles used for testing and training purposes, she said.

Now that wouldn’t have happened under the US fawning leadership of little Johnny Rodent! Once again and very sensibly, Australia is taking prominence internationally against weapons of idiocy pushed like drugs by the most powerful, hateful industry lobby in the world.

Thus, no longer need we term our country Whorestralia … it’s back to good ole Oz. Not so with the uber state, who remain the United Stupids.

With typical disregard for the welfare of people of other countries and cossetting of their own and Israhell, the United Stupids expressed their ongoing repulsive commitment to cluster munitions, seeing them as useful for military purposes.

With armaments being a primary Stupids export and the Stupids exporting more weaponry than any other nation with rapid exports growth under the cover of the delusional ‘War on Terror’, any limitation on military production would naturally shoot their already corrupt and sagging economy in the foot. In desperation the US Reserve lowers interest rates, and ours goes up. Who pays for the maintenance of US environmentally destructive, greedy living standards and culture of selling death? everyone else in the world.

With love from a sorry lot

The absence of joy and applause from the Opposition (how pleasant it is to write Opposition meaning the Liebs at last) following Kevvie’s very pleasant healing speech of apology to the Stolen Generation was striking.

With manners we have come to expect of ignorance and mean-heartedness, several notable rightwing twits boycotted the event including Wilson Tuckey, Don Randall, Alby Schultz, Dennis Jensen, and Sophie Mirabella.

Questioned in Parliament later over two of Rudd’s staffers turning their backs on Brendan Nelson during his inadequate, typically miserly and patronising speech wherein he attempted vainly to absolve the government from responsibility for the Stolen Generation, Kevvie insisted the staffers apologise. Why apologise for shunning a bigot with a track record like Nelson’s (recall his woeful attempts at improving Aboriginal health when he was Health Minister)? So Kevve can insist on a sorry from everyone – he has a boat to keep afloat.

For the record, we here are sorry … very sorry and look to the day when an apology is extended for the seizing of Australia and the specious imperial Terra Nullius justification. Let the healing begin and we all live with the land sustainably in peace.