Remembrance Day
This year, as usual, at Remembrance Day ceremonies we heard a lot about how so many of our servicemen and women died to save our way of life and to keep us free. Also as usual, there was not a word about how they achieved this.
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In 1918, they did it by winning a war. In 1945, their sons and daughters did it by winning another war. But today we don't give a hoot about that.
For the 1918 victory, Australian forces won several battles in northern France. At the time, these battles were so important, so game-changing, so war-winning, that Australia's General Monash was decorated for them by King George V himself. Does anyone now know or care about those battles?
For the 1945 victory, Australia earnt itself a place in world history. With no British or American help in the fighting, we alone won one of the five battles on which World War Two turned. Before these battles, the other side was winning. After them, the question was: how much more war will it take for the other side to admit that it has lost?
Four of those battles were Midway, El Alamein, Stalingrad and Guadalcanal. The fifth, the Australian one, was Kokoda. It ended on 2nd November 1942, and was the first time the Japanese had been defeated in a land campaign. It was this battle, not the Coral Sea, which saved Australia. The anniversary of this vital victory was last week, of course, but nobody has ever cared about it.
As everyone knows, the first time the Japanese were defeated at all was also by Australians, at the Malayan town of Gemas in January 1942. The appalling result of the campaign in Malaya has tended to overshadow this. But there is no excuse for us not commemorating Kokoda or the victories of 1918.
Instead, in effect, we say to our servicemen and women, "If you die, we'll cry, but if you achieve anything, we'll ignore it." This is a national disgrace. We should be ashamed.
G.T.W. Agnew, Coopers Plains Qld
Climate change bill
It is disappointing, however not surprising that Mr Joyce is not in support of the 'Climate Change Bill' presented by Zali Steggall to parliament on the 9th of November (Barnaby weighs in on petition 10/11).
The petition seemed to be the main focus of Barnaby's comments, however I would like to shift the focus to the main point of the campaign which is the bill itself.
The 'Climate Change Bill' is designed to be a way forward for Australia - the whole of Australia - regardless of demographics and whether they are labelled as 'white' or 'blue' collared regions.
The bill is a proposed law that would enable us to work together to ensure a just transition and that nobody is left behind especially in relation to the economy and jobs.
I encourage everyone to read the bill, it is nothing to be feared but rather to be embraced. It's connecting the dots between scientific research and the need for policy change to ensure a more sustainable future for our future generations.
Australia has done so well with listening to our scientists and professionals in relation to the Covid-19 crisis.
Compare us to other countries and we are miles ahead. Unfortunately, it is the opposite with the climate crisis and in time we will see other countries leading the way while we suffer the consequences of our inaction.
Let's hope our local MP will change his mind before it's too late.
Eliza Weekes, Tamworth
Political views
Nicole Hemmer ("It's time to restore American democracy") shows the best the Democrats can do in trying to paper over the cracks in democracy to legitimise a Biden presidency.
It's nice to see her following the Democrat tradition of pre-judging court decisions with her declaration that Trump's declaration of himself as the winner of the election was false. This follows their tradition of the George Floyd protest movement, eventually spreading riot to 48 US cities. Chauvin faces trial in March 2021. Her suggestion of Trump being the one behind violence for sending in the National Guard to try and stop it is familiar doublespeak to which the Democrats have dragged democracy down, Hello 1984, but, in fairness, only along a path that has been followed for decades. Australians think politics stinks, even worse in the US.
Nicole's whining about Trump's bailing people when Mike Bloomberg reportedly did the same for thousands, and her tears for the changed Dept of Justice, if it has changed, suggest she may need a little help. Trump is a narcissist. Of course, my Psychology major doesn't qualify me to say that, (especially if I send my degree from USyd back) but that won't stop people who have never done an analysis session with Trump or even had a Psych lecture.
But it brings us to the point. We have leading journalists in our national newspaper, Greg Sheridan, Paul Kelly, etc, decrying the decadence of our Western democracy, at the same time deploring Trump's imperfections. The journalists' position is hopeless. They're mainstream (not community) media, who Trump has called out. To their credit they continue to provide useful commentary and make every effort to shed the MUTH'S tag (media un-elected talking heads) with exhaustively factually researched material and discussion of analysis serious enough to generate a book (Christopher Lasch, Yuval Levin, Anne Case, Angus Deaton, Ross Douthat).
Their contradiction is: What sort of person was going to tackle the Republicans, the Democrats, the media, and win the presidency? When you get someone who has dragged kicking and screaming into the light that you can't have democracy with a media that's biased, in alliance with a major political party, and universities who won't teach the history of Western civilisation or uphold free speech, largely staffing the other two, and that democracy is a fairly quiet, simple system governed by the policies - we all remember Trump's - of the winning presidential candidate, the "executive Power" according to the US constitution, do we then complain that he doesn't carry out the revolution they consistently say or imply is needed, nicely?
No, you realise that the kind of person who takes on the whole system is bound to fall foul of many of its niceties, including some laws. Did he obstruct justice by trying to shorten Mueller's 18 month investigation? Who cares? And what about withholding money from the Ukraine until they investigated whether Hunter Biden, US citizen, was criminal? Aww, boohoo. Impeach!
Nicole's right that it's time to take back democracy, hopefully within 50 years. Given the typically long historical process of its decline, one would think her notion that it will happen tomorrow was a joke, if she wasn't obviously covering for the decadence in the democracy and its Democrat party consistent with her position with the Obama Presidency Oral History Project at Columbia University.
We do "face a difficult road ahead", Nicole, and you're right to be nervous, especially of the truth. "Now comes the hard part."
Stan Heuston, Oxley Vale
Power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely
Australia can lead the world in the production of cheap non-polluting natural energy and reverse all our contributions to self-imposed global warming like coal and gas power generation.
A good rule of thumb is that about one-third of the heat in the coal or gas becomes energy, two-thirds is low-grade waste heat which is dumped into our water and air, warming our planet. The plants also require vast quantities of water for cooling, which is better for human use, like household water or for irrigation to help feed a hungry world.
Diesel powers our railways and above 90 per cent of our ships as it is more efficient than steam. It doesn't need vast quantities of water and a diesel-started lever or button beats stoking a boiler any day.
The thermal inefficiency of our heat engines - be it coal, gas, oil, or atomic power - and our astronomical increase in the use of these is our contribution to global warming. The emissions are a small by-product.
Power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely. To quote the King James Bible "the love of money is the root of all evil". That's capitalism, which puts money above people.
We can have much more prosperity in a really free enterprise system.
Lindsay Bridge, Qurindi
DA for McDonalds North
Tamworth currently is the most obese city in Australia with the highest per capita concentration of McDonalds
Approving the DA for McDonalds North will ensure we stay in first place!
I am sure the retirement village next door that has had the vegetation and trees removed from near the fenceline would rather have a park than the smell of cooking fat and the noise as it plans to be open 24 hours!
Lyn Allen, Tamworth
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