The Olympic Games were held in Melbourne between 22nd November and 8th December, 1956. The first time they had ever been held in the Southern Hemisphere. Australia’s sporting prowess was well known world-wide through the triumphs of out tennis players and cricketers but when it came to Olympic sports we were virtually unknown despite our success in all Olympiads since the inception of the modern era. The simple fact was that generally speaking Olympic sports were not huge spectator sports in Australia so the world wondered what this little nation of 9 million people and 170 million sheep at the bottom of the world was thinking about when it had the audacity to apply to stage the Olympic Games.
Read more: I remember when.... Melbourne hosted the 1956 Olympics
When the Picasso exhibition was showing at the Art Gallery of NSW a number of years back, I accompanied Mrs Flysa despite my misgivings, which proved to be well-founded. The abstract paintings were stereotyped and uninspiring, and the relatively few attempts at portraiture appeared amateurish. The term sacred cow came to mind, It was a relief to escape and view the magnificent works of the masters in nearby rooms. By comparison, The Sons of Clovis by Evariste Vital Luminaisand The Defence of Rorke's Drift by Alphonse de Neuville, were as day is to night compared to Picasso.
Claiming to save the world from the global warming ghosts, climate alarmists are smashing our future with Green Wrecking Balls.
One day, when sanity returns to the world, we will be able to tell a future generation, “We were here when science lost touch with reality. We were here when the medical profession lost its mind. We were here when feelings displaced biology.”
Yes, we will get to tell the shocking story unless, of course, our society completely falls apart and self-destructs. Otherwise, we will get to bear witness to these days of societal madness and insanity.
For over 100 years our country’s economy was wrought from gold. The gold that was mined from the ground and the gold that came from the golden fleeces of our unique strains of merino sheep. The common expression was that Australia rode on the sheep’s back.
The 4th of August marks the 6th anniversary of my father's passing. He was married to Redhead for 65 years and they enjoyed a marriage that was firey, fulfilling and fun. It was a marriage of two Geminis and, to those of you who follow the stars, that portends a rather tempestuous and exciting relationship.
Redhead and Raymond F Peters were and are individual characters of a calibre rarely seen these days. They have and had determination, self-will and a strong belief in what is right and what is wrong.
While we celebrate the life and death of people who have the conviction and self-confidence to stand up for what is fair, then all is good in the world.
When that strength is stifled and the voices suffocated, we must hear alarm bells ring and the church bells tolling the death knell of our civilisation.
Read more: Peace Love and Harmony - even when it takes a shovel
Over the past few days, we have had issues with disqus deciding that certain people are banned, or unable to log in.
We have experienced posters being banned because a third party has decided that our comments sometimes offend someone.
Threats of being banned from the platform...
Things are not good.
I read with great delight the article on Saturday from Possum Nana about her wonderful childhood memories of a caring and loving mother and how her fondest recollections were of this saintly Florence Nightingale figure sweeping in and out of her life and how she has memories of this idyllic angel.
Well, let me tell you, that. as a child and adult, I share those memories. But with one big difference. Redhead was and is a fierce woman. A giant of a woman ( dispite her diminutive stature without high heels ) and how mothers can be both the Florence Nightingale and the Queen Bodicea all rolled into one. My Mum Redhead is just such a woman.
You do NOT cross Redhead!
" I have many vices but thankfully gambling is not one of them."
I wrote this as a comment on the blog a while ago and I was alerted to the fact that this was, in actual fact a strange thing to say.
I had to step back and consider this statement. A comment, made in haste, suddenly put under the microscope of public opinion.
The keywords of course are vice and gambling.
So, what is a vice and what is a gamble?
When, on 20th April 1653, Oliver Cromwell blasted the Rump Parliament in Britain, he gave a speech that could well be delivered in Parliaments around the world today. His passionate words were those of a man who had had a gutful of the lying, self-serving people who were betraying their country to get a slice of a very corrupt and tainted pie.
When I re-read this speech this morning, I could not help but think that it is time for a global cleanout of the cesspits we call Parliament and how our Politicians are overfed vultures feeding on the Carcass of the People they were elected to protect and represent.
When I was a kid ( and I don't mean baby goat, I mean a small child of the human variety) my mother was some kind of demi-god. She was the person who ensured that my bed was snug and warm, clothed in crisply washed sheets that smelled of sunshine because they had been hung on the clothesline and swung in the breeze on a lazy summer's day.
I remember when I was a kid and she tucked me in at night, often so tight that I was cradled in a tight jacket of sorts and she would kiss me on my cheek and whisper " sleep tight , don't let the bed bugs bite " and the light chord would be pulled and I would wonder what a bed bug was and why it might bite me.
But the sandman would come and before I knew it, I would wake up, stretch and wander out to the smell of hot porridge and warm milk, sweetened with honey.
Critical Minerals: The Deal That Could Turn Australia Into the World’s Quarry There’s a new…
244 hits
In 1775, the U.S. Marine Corps was established to safeguard American ships and interests. …
257 hits
We stopped teaching goodness. Now we’re living with the consequences. There was a time when…
290 hits
In an Australia grappling with division and a search for identity, it’s time to rediscover…
301 hits
Ratty News: Dusty Gulch Dispatch — “When the Ghosts Came Rolling In” Filed by: Roderick…
307 hits
Eighty-one years ago this week, in October 1944, a tall, thoughtful barrister from Victoria gathered…
517 hits
On the evening of October 12, 2002, the peaceful tourist destination of Bali, Indonesia, was…
306 hits
Queensland and much of northern Australia are overrun with cane toads - an invasion so…
304 hits
Some time ago, a young boy visiting Redhead’s house asked to use the “dunny.” The…
344 hits
Have you ever wondered how and why the Youth of today are holding rallies , their…
328 hits
Over the last few weeks I have noticed that people are losing their sense of…
344 hits
By Roderick (Whiskers) McNibble, Ratty News Bureau Chief There’s panic, pandemonium, and political puffery in…
366 hits
Try herding cats sometime. You’ll crouch, whistle, wave treats, and for one delusional moment, think…
354 hits
From Network to today, the prophecy is clear: truth has been turned into a commodity,…
559 hits
I am personally horrified by what has happened since October 2023. This wasn’t just a…
399 hits
Much of Australia’s early slang comes from the convict culture of the late 18th and…
434 hits
In 1925, a small courtroom in Dayton, Tennessee, became the stage for a battle over…
591 hits
Ratty News Exclusive By Roderick (Whiskers) McNibble, Special Correspondent (aisle seat, back row) Reporting from…
390 hits
Back in 2002, an anonymous person sent an email from a disposable email address to…
329 hits
“We are perishing for want of wonder, not for want of wonders.” G. K. Chesterton Leonard…
374 hits
Albert Facey’s A Fortunate Life is more than a memoir. It is the voice of…
763 hits
A Journey Through Time: From the Suez Canal to the Speculative Ben Gurion Canal Let’s…
459 hits
I recently watched the film " Captain Philips " on Netflix. I had resisted for…
604 hits
By Roderick (Whiskers) McNibble, Special Correspondent (aisle seat, back row) The Prime Minister has officially…
402 hits
Those who are not familiar with this title may be excused for thinking that it…
429 hits
It was back in the early 80's that Redhead and her late husband bought their…
427 hits
During the early years of World War II, the British Army faced many obstacles. Chief…
463 hits
When people think of World War II, they often picture D-Day, the Blitz, or the…
473 hits
I asked the question " What makes good government? " on a forum I belong…
521 hits
Imagine the joy of discussing life's great mysteries or the simple art of cooking a…
473 hits