Almost at the end...

I can see the light at the end of the tunnel, no not THAT light, although I am sure there are some readers who do wish that...TUFF. No, the light that will be revealed when we attend mediation this evening with the "neighbor's". That is if the gutless wonders even turn up, we have to wonder as one of the first dates given for the mediation by the other parties was the night one of them had a school meeting and when that date came, the persons partner was not even home that evening, how they were going to attend the mediation is anyone guess. So we think one ; out of the initial four; only will attend and attempt to "advocate" for the others...WHAT OTHERS??? IF THEY DON"T ATTEND,COUNCIL WILL NO LONGER ACCEPT THEIR COMPLAINTS!!!!!
We just want to know what there issue is, not that I care really, but so we can try and alleviate any further useless, frivolous, vexatious and false complaints. It is anal to write a month of info to find that only one other party wrote a diary for one of the four weeks we kept one for. But it was interesting to compare the two as we proved many of the things we thought were happening, one being that when other dogs in the area bark, they are marking it down as being our dogs the other being that people with little minds and even less IQ, think that marking down the dogs as barking after I leave my house and for the periods I am absent ( Yes, I know they watch my movements and I alternatively wave or given them a middle finger salute in acknowledgement) will leave it open to non contention that the dogs bark, after all they watch and know I left and the property is unattended, didn't they??? Or did I? Such a secluded property allows for my friends to park further down the street or in the court behind and walk undetected through the bushes at the bottom of my garden and enter my property unnoticed and unannouced. I am not so irresponsible and uneducated in the ways of the canine world as to not even consider that my dogs MIGHT bark in my absences, so when the initial complaint came about I initially set up a tape outside to record any noise in my absence, some very nice bird song and the pit pat of my dogs feet on the verandah is all I have on a one hour tape. I have also, over the past eight months, had the help of several friends, who have been parking their cars in the court, or the court behind or just walking through the he park and sitting whilst I am doing school pick ups. drop offs and general errands...Two or three times a week to check that the dogs are not barking in my absence. They ARE NOT BARKING!!! My friends have been very helpful in keeping records to ensure that there is rarely a moment when someone ;without an axe to grind, has been within earshot. They have been melding with the surrounds and as inconspicuous as the tar upon the roadway. Same cannot be said for the obvious and itinerant visits by the local members of the bombastic by laws division.
So either tonight it will be revealed what the REAL issue is, if in fact there is one. Or they will hide and not front up to the meeting. Either way, WE WIN!!!!

Working Dogs

Working Dogs

These are the dogs who companion, protect, herd, are the eyes and ears of humans, work as therapy animals, and who are the essence of a working dog. I am proud to be counted as "owned by working dogs"

Is it legal???

Have to ask how far local government with a piss poor record already of compliance, good governance, transparency and honesty is willing to go. It is now verging on harassment and invasion of privacy that they still attempt to prove complaints which we have disproved once and have had the approriate authorities make standing recommendations to in regard to acceptance and handling of complaints. Albeit ,they are probably in a quandary with phone calls from the complainants, however; we are also ratepayers, and deserving of honesty and objectivity. An undertaking was given that nothing further would be entered into by them until such time as mediation was attended or refused by the other parties, this is to take place next week. On no less than 4 occasions, various council vehicles have been sighted nearby, no doubt waiting for the incessant and constant barking of my dogs as reported by the neighbours. So sad, too bad, it never happens, as it never did and never will!!!! Twice council vehicles have blantantly been parked in full view of my property which is tantamount to HARASSMENT.

So much for honesty and transparency and hurrah for deceptive conduct and bold faced lies.

It wearing a tad thin that they constantly act under the guise of good governance whilst facilitating the harassment by some. In eight months they have been incapable of investigating or proving the claims because the complainants lodge diaries for inconsistent periods or fail to comply with requests for second diaries...Grounds for dismissal of the matter? Oh, no our local council continue to harauge us with these allegations and act infavour of the whiners regardless of information we supply to the contary. Which incidently is being relayed back to the complainants so they may adjust and modify their information..Hardly HONEST or TRANSPARENT governance.
Is it even legal that they continue to pursue the matter? I'll let you know.

Best Friends.....

Talking and laughing last night with my gym buddy and I got to wondering about what makes a friendship happen. Is it a strange aura that tells you someone is so much like you in likes and dislikes that you will hit it off auto matically.(.How boring!!) Or is it a gradual building of the relationship like exposures of photos? I cannot recall how I came to have best friends..Horrible term really implies that one friend is better than the others, not so much better but more in tune with you, I think. I am a very liberated person, I have no issues with gays, gay marriages, gays having children, I believe in freedoms , social justice, community consultation and care. I believe that Government at all levels needs to be transparent and accountable as well as answerable tot he community. I do not obey or condone all my Church, my government, my country or the world does to each other and I say so. I have been called a pinko commie lesbian Greenie bitch, I might be some or many but not all. My friends accept me and my idiosyncrasies( of which there are many) as part of the deal.

I have one friend whom is fairly strait laced in her beliefs and the Catholic Church, she is almost homophobic but I'd never place her in a position of embarrassment in regards to her beliefs. She is one of the most caring, nurturing, unassuming people you could ever met. She worries about my forthrightness and that it will get me in trouble. She understands if I don't speak up it will just build up. She worries a bit too much about what people think of her, not in a vain way, just an appearances way. But she is a wonderful person at heart. We have different views on parenting, gays, shopping but we are best friends.

Another pal, we have been friends for over 20 years and I met her through my husband( they all went to school together) she was my bridesmaid, has recently been diagnosed with MS, she has two special needs children and has a lot happening in her world. She and her husband (he was our best man) are both dog people also. Together we invented Barcardi and Raspberry as a drink, she is allergic to Coke. We enjoy a chat and a cup of tea, and when she visits its often bedlam but I can't get too angry.

My best friend is my gym and chocoholic buddy, we haven't know each other as long as I have know the other two and we had noting in common really except our girls attended the same creche years ago, we were pregnant with our second children together and she was PS and I was ex PS..Well maybe more in common than most. I left work after the birth of Mr 6, she returned to work after maternity leave, she saw me through my third pregnancy, I invited her to have a third but she was not to be had LOL. She's is a confidante, sage, and very resourceful. Who else would listen to you obsess about a topic of no interest to them, allow you to detail plans of revenge and attrition without shock nor judgment? Who else do you discuss your sex life and men with? ( Yes guys some women do talk!!!) Despite me being a stay at home mum and a late sleeper and her being a working mum and an early riser ( way too early!!!) we have a grand time and have more fun laughing at ourselves than much else. We shop together when time and funds allow, we read a lot but not always the same stuff, she likes Stephen King stuff and bios and autobios, super hero's movies and watches SMALLVILLE !!!! I like chickflics, chick lit, real literature, poetry, crime and legal novels, comic books. I watch DH and GA and CAC. She watches SMALLVILLE, Dancing with the Stars and SMALLVILLE!!! I watch ABC and SBS, she might watch them if the other 149 channels were not working. She watches SMALLVILLE!!!
Sorry, having trouble accepting this after she bought her mobile and headset to gym to watch the last 15 minutes of it. LMAO
So just my thoughts on best friends as I am lucky to have them and they all compliment themselves and me in some way. Each makes me stronger on some way and supports me in different ways. They are good to have about and I hope to have them for a very long time to come. I read somewhere once that "we could never not be best friends, as you know too much" but also that the rarest gift of all is that of the presence of a friend.

And so say all of us...........

This sums it up so poignantly I think, plus the little piccie I added:

Some people just do not get it. Everyone has varying degrees of tolerance, some of my neighbour's tolerance levels are so low, if an ant were to fart in my back yard the virulent whiners would send an anonymous complaint into council. To make matters worse they did not know, that we knew they made the complaints. Now they know we know they made the complaints - ha ha. Things have deteriorated to such a degree the Council were not going to pursue the dog complaint made by the virulent neighbours, well at least until we challenged them to investigate, and if they had enough information. Finally I believe the council is starting to realise that the dogs are not incessant barkers or disturbing the peace. The laws are there to pursue owners of persistently barking dogs not the occasional barker. You know the ones that bark all night or for extended periods not say thirty seconds. Nor is "reasonably disturbing the peace" an easy one to get either. The dogs may annoy someone with an extremely low tolerance of all canine and canine friendlies but a normal person would approach the offending neighbour directly. If I approach them to discuss if they had a complaint or were annoyed - response "they are a bit noisy sometimes". Unfortunately did not have the gumption to admit or deny making a complaint nor discuss what was annoying them. Well they would if they had any intestinal fortitude.After being subjected to these frivolous complaints and pestering of the council officers have taken matters into our own hands and forcing mediation. So how do you make a complaint to council to ensure they will harass a responsible dog owner? After suspecting that someone was attempting to cause the dogs to bark from time to time we have finally caught them out. Yes that is correct if the dogs do not bark enough to make a complaint nor for the council to make a conclusive finding go out of your way to make a dog bark so you can note the times they barked and lodge a diary with the council. Throw rocks into the back yard to stir them up. Bang on the fence everytime the dogs are asleep - that will help. Annoy your dog owning neighbour after you have conditioned the dogs to barking at the noise by doing a lot of banging and thumping near the fence line until the dogs bark. When the responsible dog owner calls the dogs away stop the noise. Note the duration of the noise by entering discrete events on the minute. When they relax thinking the dogs are settled - start up again. But do not forget to make your notes in a diary for submitting into the council. Make sure you slam every car door when leaving the house - even if you are the only person traveling. If all that is not enough, note down times that other dogs are barking in the nearby properties and report against the owner you wish to make a complaint about. Make wild and unsubstantiated claims about the impact upon you. ie how it restricts the natural enjoyment of your privacy or peace in the yard or house.Why bother go to such extraordinary lengths when you can just fabricate times the dog barks and triple the length of time the noise occurs. Fill out a diary for each of you neighbours as well, if you have not already convinced them that the dogs bark too much and to submit a letter at least. But be careful here your other neighbours may just have dogs that are the noisy barkers, or own a rooster that crows at 4:00am in the morning. In other words make sure you are squeaky clean. What will happen? Well the Council will conduct an investigation and witness the neighbours dogs barking while the responsible owner's dogs are silent. Oops!!! Also make sure the diaries actually line up as well and the dogs are actually in the yard - will look suspicious.Make sure that you and your collaborators take turns to string the complaints out over a lengthy period - say 8 months to make the Council think that there is a serious problem.When you have gone to all these efforts to put forward such a good case for continued harassment of a dog owner - how frustrating it must be when a responsible (or not responsible depending upon your perspective) dog owner that has allowed the dogs to bark for awhile to bring the complaints to a head - and just when you think you have the council on side the alleged barking suddenly ceases!!!! Damn that would hurt.
Well trained dogs are such a joy.

Whew...............

School holidays have finished ( for ten weeks at least) so its back to the regime of making lunches, getting up early, doing readers, diaries signed,making sure that if its PE or Sport that they have their sports gear, forms signed, communication book ( Mr 6 only as he is special needs) read and commented if required, library bags if library day, the list goes on...Never thought there was so much in getting ready for another school day until I wrote it all down. I had to keep reminding myself to make lunches last night or else ;after a two week respite; I would have forgotten. The kids were bathed, hair washed and ready for bed by 7.00pm, boys in bed by 7.30, then the fun began...Up and down, in and out, back and forth, playing with toys, talking to the dog through the window ( he gets up to the window to talk to them, to hear them tell it) talking to each other, telling stories to each other ....GRRRRRRR and Miss 9 has been permitted to stay up to watch a series called " The restaurant" on the Food channel with us...So she was in bed by 9.30pm and began the same routine as her siblings had been demonstrating for over 2 hours now. Eventually, the boys fell asleep, Miss 9 was still up and about, chatting and reading at 11.00pm!!!!!
Needless to say, some very tired Vegemites here this morning, I let them sleep in and took them to school late...Yes, good form for first day back for the term and they were so late I had to sign them in at the office so there were some sniggers and remarks let me tell you LOL.

What are you worth in Mr Howards eyes?

If you are a carer, ill, disabled, single parent,unemployed, gay or a pensioner: NOT MUCH!!!! The recent budget and legislation clearly shows the state of play for many of our society, in other words you aren't much to him and his Government if you don't work and contribute to his and his Government massive self regulated pay increases. The Government spouts idealically about family values with all the inanity of a 1950s commercial of the perfect nuclear family, yet tells the single parents of our society that they must find work when the youngest child attends school whilst enforcing IR changes that effectively ensure the parents no rights when it comes to their families needs and requirements. If you are lucky enough to get a part time job that suits school hours, fine and good, have to leave work early because your child is sick at school and has to be collected...Too bad you just lost that job and under Centrelink rules, you quit unless your employer gives you a separation certificate...No $$ for you for a while. Women and men who can or choose to be stay at home parents are worth the same as those who choose or have to return to work, we care for and nurture our children in a home environment and socialize them with other parents via community playgroups and kindergarten. Our children are growing up to be the medicos, service personnel, teachers, tradespeople, sales clerks, artists, writers, media personalities who one day may be responsible for your life, your wellbeing, your biography, your grandchildren, your safety...Treat them and the people who raise them with the respect they and we DESERVE.
Same variant applies to the elderly, they have fought wars , gone without , survived the Depression, traveled to the new world for a new life, started businesses, worked the land for generations, developed inventions that are world reknown, been part of medical breakthroughs and then in the time of their life when respect and thanks by the Government should be lorded upon them they are given a measly increase in pensions, the Department of Veterans Affairs strings out matters for such a period that many die before thay receive full entitlements and then they make it just as hard for those left behind, whilst fat cat pollies who retire early and then go on the speaker circuit or write self indulgent memoirs with a ghost writer are entitled to free travel, golden tickets and a myriad of other perks the public know little of. When Government treat the elderly of society with such contempt and with little or no support mechanisms in their twilight years, why would any one in community be any different to their plight? Government is elected by the people, they should lead by example, this is not a don't do as I do, do as I say situation and never should be.
The recent changes to the ACT laws in regards to the recognition of same sex relationships show that at least some of our society can move forward and accept diversity, alas the man with the mandate believes his views are those of the rest of Australia and passed laws excluding the recognition of same sex relationships as a definition of family. Seems it wasn't long ago that de facto relationships and single motherhood were scorned upon and unrecognised except under common law. Times moved on and regardless of what the old farts of the old Dart of our political system think ;the gays of our society have a right to be recognised for not only their contributions to society but recognised and acknowledged as being part of a family unit or relationship not defined by the old school of uneducated and prejudicial attitudes.
The Government need to realise that they are supposed to represent the PEOPLE, I am rehashing a point here, I know, but PEOPLE are not defined by big business, media monguls, financial institutions or multi national corporations, people is a collective noun not a singular. If they are not representing the views of the people, they are not governing effectively. Or with a mandate.

School Holidays ...Still going

Well, as we round the corner for the final days of school holidays...I must say I have been enjoying them to date( touch wood) There have been fights and yelling and hitting, but there has also been the soccer competitions with the soccer dog and Mr 6, who is neither left or right footed but manages to keep his balance, run and kick a moving ball whilst ;mostly, dodging a pup who thinks the soccer ball is his.
There have been games on the PC and games in theyard, pasting and cutting, cooking and eating, dinosaurs roaming about our lounge with Supermanin tow. Buzz Lightyear and Batman have been flying about in Lego ships and I have about a dozen socks without parteners thanks to the frequent indoor vists of the pup. His indoor siorees are usually predestined by the collecting of all socks from the floor and the picking up of stuffed toys from the bedroom floors, he usually makes a bee line for my teddy bear collection in the front lounge anyway.
Its nice to sit and watch Dora the Explorer with Mr 3 or Disney with all of them or to heard Miss 9 explain maths on the PC to Mr 6 or teach Mr6 how to use a beater or help him crack eggs into a bowl for a cake. I have to admit theses are probably the first holidays I have'nt dreaded, maybe I am mellowing.

School Holidays...ho hum

I think every time I begin the dread school holidays, I am more surprised at the relaxing(sometimes) time with my kids that the holidays turn out to be. Every time I cringe at the thought of mess, the fights and the screaming; I am surprised by the relative harmony the three can play together in, or separately or ultimately the boys ganging up on Miss 9 and harassing her to a tizzy fit...But I digress from the good parts. The sitting together to do art work, Miss 9 conducting classes for Messrs 6 and 3 , helping Mr 6 to read and reading to them, the building of houses with the couch cushions **frowns** the spaceships of Lego and the train lines that surpass the Ghan, all leave me with little doubt that they can play nicely together.

Miss 9 went to the pictures with a friend, the idea came about from the other mum who could not afford to take all three of her children and her self to the movies so opted for asking if Miss 9 would be permitted to go with her daughter. Readings are very amenable to this, they allow the parent to seat the children and even keep an eye out on them, my friend dropped the girls off and them returned later to collect them. Miss 9 had a friend over on Tuesday to play and will be going for a play date their next week, I will have Mr 6's friend from kinder over that day so he is not left out. He has made friends at school but to quote his teacher " not the preferred group" for him. They play chasey and guess who is "IT"??? And he is constantly asking for R to come to play, R is a little girl who is actually 7 but due to time overseas couldn't go to school last year so attended kindy, Mr 6 knows her from a few years ago when I hosted a morning tea for mums from EIP and their children and siblings. R has a younger brother who has special needs. She and Mr 6 get on like a house on fire and really compliment each other in the way they play together.

I have managed to clean up a bit about the place but the ultimate clean out of the toy and video cupboard has fallen by the wayside as the initial attempt was met with "that's mine" "I've been looking for that" and "Can you find the other bit of this, the green bit?". SO that little task is now relegated to when the kids are at school or such,whatever made me decide to attempt it when they were home is beyond me.

We have had another series of complaints ( those who know, know what about, those who don't perhaps should leave now) so we decided to go to mediation about it, bit of a reverse from the norm for the Justice Department as they usually get the request from the complainant not the recipient ( read VICTIM) of the complaint. Nevertherless, they complied and despite us not having any knowledge of whom the complianants are, we "guessed" them correctly barr the 4th entrant in the quest whom we didn't know about anyway. Now it seems that with the invite to discuss their issues, openly, face to face and honestly, No4 has withdrawn from the matter as it not an issue, no 3 has also withdrawn; again ;because it is not an issue...Then there were two. Time will tell.
Maybe something is an issue whilst you can SUPPOSEDLY remain anonymous and faceless to the people who you are complaining about but when it comes to the point that , the guise of protection called anonymity is removed, the line is drawn in the sand and you have to justify yourself face to face; that the matter is no longer an issue. Anonymity is a fallacy, it perpetuates the myth that you will not be found out and that authorities will protect and habour your fictitious stories....YOU ARE SO WRONG!!!!

dog

What can I say it emcompasses all I love, musicals, Grease and dogs...ENJOY

Heading in what direction??

Honestly, some people must think all and sundry are absolute idiots when it comes to politics. We have a "give State Government a try" rallying about the flag of furphies like "Sunbury Needs a Hospital" and "Farce Rail", "Sunbury Out Of Hume" and other Sir Eric Pearce and the late news repeats; who is attempting to get Brownie points with the locals for the upcoming State election which they are contesting. Then along comes a phantom in the guise of an never heard of before member of a regional health service whose occupation is self employed consultant which covers a miriade of things I am sure, none of which would relate to the average Joe or Joanne Blow. She will "put in place a process for a referendum.." on the Sunbury Out of Hume issue...SURPRISE SURPRISE SURPRISE ** Use your Gomer Pile voice here, works for me***LMAO

Seems ironic that for weeks the local letters section and forums have been inundated with topics regaling the pros and cons of these matters. Seems equally ironic and fallible that the local independent candidate has advised that their pref "will swing depending on the stance taken by each party on Sunbury succeeding from Hume council" Set Up or game, set and match? Time will tell, although I would bet on the prefs and where they will go but betting on elections is amoral.

Wonder if the Liberal candidate falls into the catergory of social justice junkie being a member of a local health service which no doubt aides substance abusers, ex criminals, JD's and such or the category of old bags as did members of another health service board?

Time will tell, as we draw closer to the election, the letters to the local rags will get full of more hyperbole and hysteria. They will do all and sundry to get their names into the local media...I see no merit in your name and mosh being plastered week after week in the local media only serves to cement the ideal that some people have an inflated opinion of themselves and their own net worth in this community.

High School Musical and Cars

Having been a long weekend, I saw both of the above. High School Musical is a great show for kids and adults alike.
It encompasses tweens and teens fascination with all things American, school angst, fame, sport and the subtitles of boy/girl relationships. It has the ever present nasty girl, Shar Pey and in lieu of the mucho bully you have her over achieving, lime light seeking brother, Ryan. You have song, dance and music, sport, competition, and songs linked to dialogue...Very Grease, very The Wiz, very Joseph and His Technicolour Dreamcoat. The songs have been in the top 10 on Billboard for a few weeks and snippets have been playing for three weeks now in Australia as a promo. We downloaded the album for Miss 9 on Sunday plus the lyrics from the Disney site...Needless to say that the entire family know the words off by heart to many of the songs and they are not too bad either. I enjoyed the film, found little wrong with it...But the IMDb site lists boo boos for movies and the link above goes to that site, look at the boo boos if you are so inclined. I also don't mind singing the songs in the car with Miss 9!!!! Any one whose interested, the show replays this Friday 7.30 pm on Disney with a karaoke version ...yIPPEEE!!!!

CARS
We saw this together at the cinema on Monday, what a blast. Amidst many other families with kids, it was a real atmosphere. With the car races reminiscent of NASCAR and Days of Thunder, characters that stole your heart and one liners which; as with other Pixar movies; are way over the kids heads and require 2nd, 3rd and 4th viewings to catch them all; I LOVED IT!!! The detail that these imaginative people put into their work is beyond belief, flies in window panes that are VW cars, car garages that are like houses, every conceivable action and utensil that would be used by a "live' car was adapted and modified in such a rainbow of imagination that they must be geniuses!!!!!You need to stay about for the end credits, as with any Pixar movie; to see the drive ins showing "Toy Car Story" and other Pixar car adapted movies, best last line is Mack's ( John Ratzenberger of "Cheers") commentary about how they use the same actor for all the voices in Toy Story, Bugs Life Monsters Inc, etc ROTFLMAO.

Heeeeerrrrrreeeeessss...GUESS WHO?

OK, I cannot stand the emptyness any more , everyone needs to go and read this blog.
And then place it in your list of blogs visited or whatever and look in about once a week or so. I think it will work like Field Of Dreams..if you build it, they will come. So if you visit, comment and read, more will get written.

This person spends many hours formulating their posts and loading pictures and hogging the PC, so show some mercy and read, COMMENT and keep visiting if you enjoy the walk on the wild side.

Work choices or justice at Work?

Communities, unions and churches creating a fairer future. Weds 7th June Melbourne Town Hall.
6.30pm for 7.00pm-9.00pm(close 10.00pm)

Informative speakers discussing:

The new workplace and welfare laws The moral dimension-impacts on the most vunerable Building solidarity in the community

MC: Fr. Bob Maguire

Supported by Trades hall Council ( Vic) AMWU, Brotherhood of St Laurence, Melbourne Citymission, ETU, Melb. Catholic Commission for JUstice, Development and Peace,Angicare,Maritime Union Of Australia, Fairwear, Justice and International Mission Unit: Uniting Church Of Australia,Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union, VCOSS, AEU, Federation Of Community Legal Services (Vic),ACTU, Union Solidarity, NTEU, Jobwatch, Victorian Council of Churches, TCFUA(Vic) Rail, Tram and Bus Union, AEA, UFA, Good Shepherd, Youth and Family Service, Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance, ASU,CEPU, Emilys List, Australia, Yourrightsatwork.

Something which will affect us all at some stage and certainly will affect our children, I know I want my kids to grow up with a choice of being an employee with choices or an employer who values the rights their forebearers worked for.

With so many vast and varied bodies and advocacy groups involved a clear message is being sent via this meeting, it affects many in many ways and much of the impact will not be felt for many years after the instigators have long gone and are living high on the hog of tax payer funded pensions, superannuation and benefits.

We need to speak now and learn more about this mass social change.

Politically Me

Economic Left/Right: -5.38
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -7.08

I took a Political Compass test courtesy of Guruann.
Apparently I am in good company ,right in there with Gandhi and Nelson Mandela, couldn't ask for more.
Interesting, that I have never really had complete satisfaction with any political party since Hawke 's ALP and before that I was known as a Greenie Boshie at school. I supported Bob Brown and the Greens for the saving the Franklin in 82/83, I argued politics and policies with several members of the Young Libs continually in Legal Studies class much to the amusement of many as I was one of a few who supported things like Greenpeace, communal property, environment issues and social conscience and responsibility in secondary school.
I often do not vote as such but have my name ticked off in the roll and proceed to write a tirade about what is wrong with the candidates and/or their policies on my ballot card, thereby creating an invalid vote which cannot be counted; if you are not worthy, you cannot expect me to give you my confidence in ruling me and mine. My mother did the same for many years also.

I guess you could say I am a self related cause activist for want of a better term, if the subject is against my beliefs, my ideals, infringing on my rights or just plain wrong, I will speak out against it, refuse to support any thing to do with it ( EG: MBF closed the local hospital 4 years ago, I refuse to do business at Terry White chemists as they are a subsidiary of MBF) I act on principle and if it emits a response so be it, but I am happy enough to know I am doing what I know is right. Puddles form from little raindrops and rivers from them do flow.

I have been a unionist and shop steward and State representative of a union, I believe unions have a important place in our society to educate, promote safety and act as advocates of many. I have been in student unions, workplace unions and more advocacy groups I can to recall. I believe in the basic good in all people before I believe the bad. I do not agree with capital punishment, religion in politics, governing without accountability, perceived mandates without referendums, incarceration of asylum seekers and refugees, the holding without trial of peoples at Guatamalo Bay, the absolute governing of the USA and the apathy of the people to accept such governance when they have the power to veto it. I despise the killing of animals as sport, the joke that is Japanese whale research, the rape of the forests for the sake of profit and the commentary made by many uninformed about the benefits of nuclear power, etc.

I do believe in the right to a fair trial by ones peers, the right of freedom of speech, the right to support any one political party or candidate without repercussions, that elected officials need to be accountable and all actions of government be transparent and permitted to be questioned without limit. I support social justice and believe society has a resposability to care and support others in the community, NOT MATTER WHAT. No one person is more superior in rights than another. I believe in religions right to support and comment on political matter for debating and social conscience reasons, but not laws created from religious diatribe. I believe it is a woman's right to chose and government has no place in a woman's womb. I believe same sex marriages and relationships need to be recognised with the same rights as heterosexual relationships, inclusive of support benefits, tax breaks, superannuation allotments, etc., politicians were never elected to be the moral bullyboys of the minority.

Q: When is a grub, not a grub?

A: When it is Tony Abbot that uses the term in Parliament.

Duplicity and inconsistency dwells within many facets of our society, duplicity in declared alliances and true allegiances, inconsistency in what people say they are when it suits them and what they hide from the community when they feel it will affect a favorable outcome. Such factors are oft beyond the control of the average John or Joanne Citizen...However when it comes to the House Of Representatives, the so called Peoples House where the representatives of our electorate speak for us and in our stead the tone of equality and consistence needs to be unquestionable.

This was not the case on May 25th when Mr Abbott decried Mr Thompsons attempt to pass a motion in regards to debate about AWB shares held by and sold by John Anderson. Abbott requested moved a motion "that the snivelling grub over there be not further heard" and after outrage by the Opposition ,Abbotts response was "If I have offended grubs, I withdraw unconditionally". This set a precedent for motions about "snivelling grubs" and lowered the tone of the peoples house considerably,some action or reprimand shouldd have been made by the Speaker but he accepted the withdrawal of "If I have offended grubs, I withdraw unconditionally" WHAT A JOKE.

Yesterday, in a test of the objectivity and equalityty afforded in the House of Representatives; Julia Gillard, bravely and unbeatablyly, passed the exact same motion in regards to "snivelling grubs"and with the exact same worded withdrawal, she was consequently, suspended from Parliament for 24 hours.

Whilst I do not want to advocate the drollness or disdain with which the motion was primarily made nor do I wish to heap platitudes on the actions which have succinctlyly pinpointed the inadequacieses of the House of Representatives speaker; I feel it is fair to say that a point has been taken and made. The Speaker needs to address the issue of the inequality of the decisions he makes, the Government need to act as adults, and govern with transparency and honesty, they need to accept that the questions and motions put to them are for the people by the people and the use of terminology such as "snivelling grubs" they are encompassingng all constituentsts in that realm. They are showing disrespect for the people they have been elected to govern and lead, they are showing ill regard for societes rights to question the roles and interests of their elected officials in illegal and clandestine activitieses.

Elected officials at any level need to be sorely reminded that their place is but by the grace of the people who elected them, forget factional in fights, branch stacking and the ever present corporate interest groups. It is the PEOPLE you govern and decide for, not petrol companies, big business, multi national corporations or the USA. We need people ,such as Julia Gillard, to stand up for what is right, what is unequal and to prove the inequalities, inadequacies, inconsistencies and duplicity where ever it is.

I went to church...And the place is still standing!!!

I went to church yesterday and it did not fall down about my ears, actually I went last week too and a few weeks ago before that...No I have not seen divinity rather setting an "example" for my kids( example of what, you may ask...Well...Me too but we digress) As Miss 9 is making her first communion this year, they tend to like you to attend Mass a bit ( funny about that) and yesterday was to celebrate the arrival of the Message Stick which was arriving in Sunbury yesterday, it is to commemorate the 1986 speech by Pope Johnnie Paul 2 in Alice Springs when he "called for all Australians to respond to the challenges of justice and reconciliation faced by our indigenous people" (OLMC newsletter 24/5/06)
Strangely enough, I found the incorporating of the indigenous culture and the catholic mass very relaxing and insightful. The Prayers of the Faithful included a prayer of sorry and apology for the historical wrongs against indigenous people, a prayer for world leaders to accept mistakes and apologise ( ARE YOU READING THIS JOHNNIE HOWARD!!!!!) Whilst religion and politics should remain separate, their is nothing wrong with religion making political comment. This was done so yesterday, as a community we have a responsibility to ensure social justice for all...Call me a social justice junkie but I think it is more than a religious belief but a grounding in being a person. It was interesting to see who was there representing the indigenous of our community and who wasn't. Miss 9 was in the choir singing the indigenous "Our Father" and she was presented ( along with every other child in the Parish who are undertaking their First communion this year) with a copy of the Our Father but which also has a copy of the indigenous version which goes as follows:

Our Father,
You are in heaven May we talk your name in a good way,
May you be boss in our lives,
May we follow your feelings here as they do above
Give us bread today
We have hurt your feelings;feel sorry for us
Others have hurt our feelings we feel sorry for them
Stop us from doing wrong
Save us from the evil one
Amen

I am 100% sure this was about years ago but can't be too sure where I read it. But I also thought it apt that we prayed to the points of a compass which represent different things indigenous people and for the sign of peace we used the local word for peace which escapes me. It was a learning experience and a welcoming experience and in so far as my limited visits to Church go over the past ...(ah ah thought I 'd give a number then, didn't you?) few decades it was one of the better experiences of my lapsed belief.

Some windows from my world

Term 1, 2006 artwork notice the Letterland characters? Annie Apple, Dippy Duck, Harry Hatman and Clever Cat.
This is the lake nearby with some of the homes that are being built on it ...YUK!!
This is a picture of some parkland nearby where 2IC takes the dog/daugher/Dad bike ride/walk on Sundays and his days off. nice is'nt it? He's so going to kill me when he finds I have lifted his pics LOL


This is the vision as seen by my boys most mornings when they open their curtains, if he's not there, he soon is after being called. He will lick the glass to kiss you and paw at the window to get in. For a working breed, he loves to be inside laying about being scratched or chasing the kids about. He is now able to clear the couch in one bound, from floor on one side to floor on the other. I am so glad we got Lawson as I truely understand the love I had for my friends Koolies/Coolies and why they are such a masterfully intelligent breed. You can see my kids cubby, yellow in the background which was green like the fences ( YUK) I painted it and painted a garden with craft paint, everyone says it is nice, I don't think 2IC has ever like the yellow LOL. The verandah runs the length of the house and is very wide, when it is rainy or wet the kids happily play on their bikes undercover.

Done it, Did it.

Well I completed my little tete a tete at the early intervention groups "Starting School" info night, there were three of us, one whose child has gone to Western Autistic School, another whose child goes to Sunbury and Macedon ranges Specialist school and me, whose Mr 6 who attends a Catholic school with funding for special needs. There were many questions and as in the years I have attended as a audience member and not as a speaker; the questions on their lips is always HOW DID YOU MAKE THAT DECISION? I was honest, had Mr 6 been diagnosed earlier and his sister not had started school at 4...I would have honestly looked to the State school system. Primary factor in the decision being I could not envisage Mr 6 without Miss 9 there to look out for him but nor could I pull Miss 9 out of school after 4 years there and ask that she cope in a new school. Secondary factor was size, it is one of the smaller schools in Sunbury. There was a lot of emphasis placed on the DET testing, an IQ score is not relevant to a child diagnosed with autism and if the child's "intellect" falls within the range for acceptance to a specialist school, the score is not reported to the parents. Too much emphasis is placed on such numbers, Mr 6 then only 5 scored IQ of 74 with deviation of 5 points which means he was possibly a 68/69 which is known as "dream line". His expressive and receptive language skills are below the WHO standard of 70 but not the Australian standard of 74...What makes Australia a world authority of language skills I will never understand.
So hopefully, the parents and grandparents present got something from the evening, I know that the counselor was trying to get one speaker to stop talking as she went on for over 45 minutes but people were listening and asking questions, there is so much you learn in that year before school and if you can help save someone some heartache, stress or just time I think it is worth being there for 2 hours talking. LOL

How do you.....

I have been trying to put into salient, unbiased and informative notes my experiences with Mr 6's long process of being placed in the school we chose. I have been asked to speak at the early intervention group information night, one is held monthly and has various speakers and information sessions; tonight's is preparation for primary school. Very well timed as schools commence intake and information nights this month and information is power ,I always say.

But how do you put the past 12 months into a condensed version whilst informing and (hopefully ) advising? I have done the presentation courses, chaired seminars, fluent in Powerpoint, overheads , you name it I have done it in the presentation format..How can I really make them see that apart from the seeming never ending frustrations, the insurmountable phone calls, the in decision that drives you crazy, the tests, the tests, always the tests...That there is a place in the education system for your child where they will prosper, learn and continue to grow and you WILL make the right decision regardless of what you may think or feel now.
I think I will do some point form notes and wing it, that along with Mr 6's speech book, some info I got from the principal of his school, Mr 6's writing and work books, will go a long way to showing that whatever decision you make will be the right one for your child. I am not going as a promo for the Catholic Ed system but as an advocate of a child funded in the Catholic Ed system, some people mistake the two but I know the differences of the two: my son recognises "god" as something akin to Buzz Lightyear, he goes through the process of "prayer" because he learns by rote and because it is a group activity and he may never fully comprehend the relevence of Catholicism which is fine by me, if he can speak his mind.