It is remembrance day, and my mind is resisting the normal topics I enjoy perusing.
Chris Mainwaring’s dad wants to confront Ben Cousins over his son’s final hours. Ben has since gone on a bender or two, but has failed to die.
Kevin Rudd has braced himself to fulfill his promise of the ‘mother of all scare and smear campaigns.’ Rudd is planning on personally attacking Howard. I liked the Spanish King’s response to Chavez, and feel it applies to Rudd here.
A 13 yo girl has been left to fend for herself as NSW dithers over how to care for her now that her father has died. She refuses to live with her mother, who abandoned her when she was a toddler.
In London, the headlines say, parents win the right to grow babies for spare parts. I am sure that mufflers must be made else-ways.
Julia Gillard says how a union thug broke her heart a decade ago, but fails to say why she won’t change her ways.
More to the point, Remembrance day brought vandals to war graves. Sydney Journalist Adele Horin attacked the worth of soldiers in general, Australian soldiers in particular.
Both my grandfathers fought at Gallipolli, for different armies. My father's father, who fought for the Brits, fought for Australia in WW2 as part of Rodin Cutler's mob in Syria. My mother's father, an ANZAC, lost an eye at Gallipolli and was a permanent invalid until he died at age 85.
I value the sacrifice they made, and others. I think of Australians serving o/s, and I thank them. I don't find our soldiers warlike, so much as loving and giving. that is what 11/11 means to me.
Also, the sexuality of Dumbledore is irrelevant to the story of Harry Potter, but feel free, my activist readers, to disagree.
Magic lost for new Potter fans
ReplyDeleteBy Brenda Conroy
DID you know that "Albus Dumbledore" is an anagram of "Male bods rule, bud"?
No? Neither did I until I read the Los Angeles Times' coverage on the fallout from J.K. Rowling's "outing" of Albus Dumbledore.
The anagram is one of seven "clues" that Dumbledore is gay, according to Andrew Slack, head of the Harry Potter Alliance, an organisation "dedicated to using the examples of Harry Potter and Albus Dumbledore to spread love and fight the Dark Arts in the real world".
Rowling says she has always regarded her books as a "prolonged argument for tolerance".
But just watch as the Harry Potter series becomes a new front in the culture wars.
The once-innocent stories of a boy wizard are about to morph into degenerate tales of an aberrant but vulnerable orphan, consigned by his "normal" aunt and uncle to live - literally - in a closet until taken away to an alternative world where he's taught to use his wand and dress in robes by a powerful, anti-authoritarian master-wizard.
Harry's fans actually greeted Rowling's revelation at New York's Carnegie Hall with applause, prompting the author to declare: "If I had known it would make you so happy I'd have announced it years ago."
Media reports declared it a victory for gay rights.
The London Times said it was a "Magical day for gays as Dumbledore is outed".
Gay activists celebrated. "It is great that J.K. Rowling wants to make her books inclusive of gay people," Peter Tatchell told The Times.
"My disappointment is she did not make it more explicit."
But a backlash is inevitable.
A clear majority of Americans believe homosexuality is "sinful".
Further, a 2003 survey found that 73 per cent of committed white evangelicals think homosexuals "can change their sexual orientation" - that is, they can be "cured" of it.
Already, Laurie Higgins of the so-called Americans For Truth About Homosexuality has denounced Rowling's characterisation as part of a "larger strategy to normalise homosexual behaviour".
"Young children, adolescents, and even many adults fall victim to the specious syllogistic reasoning that goes something like: 1. Kindness is good; 2. Homosexuals are kind; 3. Therefore, homosexuality is good."
And conservative groups in the US are already calling for the books to be banned.
"It's not a good example for our children. I think it encourages homosexuality," Christian Coalition of America president Roberta Combs said.
In choosing the powerful headmaster as her standard bearer for gay rights, Rowling has thrown further fuel on the fire-and-brimstone of two conservative phobias: the "progressive" influence of teachers and academia, and the ignorant equation of homosexuality with pedophilia.
Parents and pastors will be poring through the seven Harry Potter books searching for evidence of Dumbledore's insidious lechery and anything that might lure children into a "gay lifestyle".
If conservative Christians railed against the Teletubbies because one of the creatures sported a handbag, how will they react to a re-reading of the sixth book, Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince, when Harry steals out of the school with Dumbledore in search of one of the Horcuxes?
In chapter 26, Dumbledore says to Harry: "Take off your invisibility cloak - there is no need for it now - and let us take the plunge."
It continues: "And with the sudden agility of a much younger man, Dumbledore slid from the boulder, landed in the sea, and began to swim with perfect breaststroke toward the dark slit in the rock face ... 'This is merely the antechamber, the entrance hall,' said Dumbledore after a moment or two. 'We need to penetrate the inner place."'
Where before Rowling's choice of words just seemed odd, now they appear deliberately cheeky, if not downright provocative.
In chapter 35 of the fifth book, Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix, Rowling writes: "Directly above them stood Albus Dumbledore, his wand aloft, his face white and furious. Harry felt a kind of electric charge surge through every particle in his body."
Then in chapter 37: "Harry remembered the feeling that a dormant snake had risen in him, ready to strike in those moments when he and Dumbledore had made eye contact."
While some Christian commentators won't be provoked, arguing instead that Rowling has been wilfully misinterpreted by a liberal media, or that Dumbledore may have been "same-sex attracted" but that doesn't make him gay, others see the news as confirmation of the books' evil.
"Behind that innocent face is the power of satanic darkness. Harry Potter is the devil and he is destroying people," said Pastor Jack Brock of the Christ Community Church before a book-burning in 2001.
Long-time anti-Potter crusader Laura Mallory told America's ABC News last week that the Potter series has "an anti-Christian agenda" and "this only further supports that".
So, what was Rowling thinking?
"I go to church myself," she declared before the Dumbledore revelation.
"I don't take any responsibility for the lunatic fringes of my own religion."
Ironically, Rowling used an earlier media conference on this North American tour to speak openly for the first time about the Christian influences in her work.
"To me (the religious parallels have) always been obvious," she said.
"But I never wanted to talk too openly about it because I thought it might show people who just wanted the story where we were going."
So, why did she make the Dumbledore revelation?
Was it a crusade, a publicity stunt, a genuine attempt by an author to illuminate her characters?
Whatever her motives, the consequences are now beyond her control.
The adventures of Harry Potter, that so many parents and children have shared, will be pilloried and, in some places, banned.
As an adult, I'm quite pleased that there's a gay character but, as a mum, I'm sad that my children won't get to read these books with the innocent wonder of earlier readers.
Some of the magic has been lost.
Sartor's housing horrors
ReplyDeleteBy Jim Dickins
DELAYS of as much as six years and complications for developments as minor as a cubby house are among a catalogue of complaints about Sydney's clogged planning system.
Even government ministers and senior bureaucrats have fallen foul of slow council approvals, according to the collection of horror stories seen by The Sunday Telegraph.
One applicant ended up in hospital with heart problems.
Leichhardt and Ku-ring-gai are the most commonly complained-about councils.
Among the plaintive pleas for assistance to Planning Minister Frank Sartor was one addressed from the coronary unit at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital.
Its author was recovering there after acute heart troubles he attributed to a long battle over minor renovations to his 1880s cottage.
A State Government minister, whose identity was not revealed, encountered similar problems over a 1.3m extension to her bathroom.
Mr Sartor, who has received dozens of unsolicited cries for help so far this year, said they had galvanised him to reform the system.
Under changes revealed to The Sunday Telegraph, Mr Sartor plans to radically increase the number of so-called complying developments - smaller projects under $1 million that can be approved without a development application.
Legislation to go before Parliament by June will introduce targets for complying developments of 50 per cent by 2012, up from their existing level around 10 per cent.
The father of five wanted to carry on his podiatry practice at his Westmead home.
The most significant physical alteration involved a 8m by 4m shed to house his car, a kayak and his son's bicycle.
"It certainly took its toll,'' he said. "I'm not normally the sort of person to bear a grudge - I like to just move on - but it left a mark.''
However, Local Government Association president Genia McCaffery said decisions needed to consider the wider community.
"(Mr Sartor) only seems to be hearing the applicants, but every applicant has a neighbour,'' she said.
Airline 'fat tax' call
ReplyDeletefrom news.com.au
OBESE airline passengers should be forced to pay a "fat tax" to cover the cost of transporting their excess weight, according to a controversial proposal by health experts.
Calls for the tax - which would be determined per extra kilo, in the same way as excess baggage - come as obesity rates and fuel prices surge to new highs in Australia.
But the radical proposal has also attracted a backlash from those who argue it discriminates against people with weight problems.
Passengers are routinely charged hundreds of dollars for excess baggage and sports equipment, but their own weight is not measured.
Dr John Tickell, an Australian expert in nutrition and weight-control, believes obese passengers should be liable for a penalty.
"If you are going to charge for excess baggage, then charge fat people for excess weight,'' he told The Sunday Telegraph.
"Airlines are buying fuel, and if you are carrying a heavy weight on a plane you have to pay more for it. But, instead, the rest of the public is paying for it. It's got to be restricted.''
Budget airline Jetstar has fitted extra-wide seats to cater for the expanding size of customers, who have the option of buying two seats, or upgrading, if the space is too small.
"Flight attendants in the US have to go down the aisle handing extension seatbelts out like headphones,'' Dr Tickell added. "And it's starting to happen here, too.''
Dr Tickell told of being charged $100 to check-in golf clubs on a flight, despite an obese passenger outweighing him and his golf clubs.
Airlines are being forced to revise their projected passenger loads to calculate extra fuel needs.
The Civil Aviation Safety Authority bans obese people from sitting in emergency exit rows on flights, as they could block other passengers from evacuating in an emergency.
But Obesity Society chief Dr Tim Gill believes obese people should not be singled out for penalties.
"Obesity is something airlines are taking very seriously, primarily because higher passenger loads affect their fuel consumption,'' he said.
"But I think it would be inappropriate to put all the burden of those issues back on people who have the problem and to say you have to lose weight or buy two seats.
"It's not fair to single out those people who have a problem, which is already impacting greatly on their life, and make them feel like pariahs.''
He suggested installing a few extra-large economy seats on each flight to cater for obese passengers.
Jetstar spokesman Simon Westaway said airlines were monitoring changes in the population's weight.
Adriano "Adro'' Sarnelli, a former winner of Network Ten program The Biggest Loser - who lost more than 50kg - is against introducing a fat tax.
"It's hard enough that they carry that extra weight, physically and emotionally,'' he said.
Home alone at 13 after dad dies
ReplyDeleteTHE 13-YEAR-OLD girl raising herself alone in a Sydney apartment following the death of her father has refused repeated offers of assistance, the New South Wales department responsible for children has said.
The NSW Department of Community Services has allowed the year 8 student to stay in the community housing apartment on her own for almost four weeks.
But DoCS - which claims to have offered the teenager financial assistance to buy groceries - has given the teenage girl just $50 over the past month.
Her parents separated more than a decade ago and she has seen her mother only a handful of times since. Her father died in hospital last month.
She is visited sporadically by her 24-year-old stepsister - who lives in community housing almost 30 minutes drive away. Sometimes her sister stays overnight.
'Crushing loneliness'
But most mornings, the teenager gets herself up about 6.30am and gets dressed before catching a train and bus to her school.
To avoid the crushing loneliness following her loss she also sleeps over at her friends' houses.
"It has been tough with my dad not being here," she told The Sunday Telegraph. "We have lived together since I was three years old."
DoCS said yesterday that it knew of the girl's plight but she refused to live anywhere else.
The Government has waived the rent on the apartment for four weeks to allow the teenager to continue living there.
"Case workers from the NSW Department of Community Services have been working to support this young girl," a DoCS spokesman said.
"DoCS case workers have visited her at home, provided financial assistance for groceries and have been working together with her family, the Department of Housing and the school to ensure her safety and well-being."
NSW Premier Morris Iemma today said DoCS were doing everything they could to help the 13-year-old.
"This is a really troubling case," Mr Iemma said.
"It highlights the difficulty of the job that DoCS workers grapple with every single day."
Mr Iemma said it was crucial Amber was found a suitable home - but it had to be one where she felt safe, secure and supported by the people designated as being responsible for her wellbeing.
"You've got to be careful that we don't, in our rush and desire to place her in a caring environment, that she doesn't end up on the street," Mr Iemma said.
"It's troubling, it's far from ideal (Amber living alone), and it's not satisfactory but everyone's doing the best they can to help her and find a permanent solution for her."
'Climbing in and out of the window'
One neighbour - a mother of three - said DoCS told her it would do nothing because the child was not at imminent risk. "You see her climbing in and out of the window," the neighbour said.
"She's got a key now, but for the two weeks before her father died, and even after, she couldn't open the front door."
The neighbour said she reported the problem to DoCS on October 19, 29 and 30 before she was finally given a case number. She said she drove the teenager to school some days.
Opposition Community Services spokeswoman Katrina Hodgkinson said the young girl deserved better care from DoCS. "She is a minor and is at real risk of being taken advantage of," she said.
"This girl is dealing with trauma and tragedy on a personal level, and then DoCS leaves her out to dry. She is only 13 ... surely she is worthy of being cared for."
Living off family handouts
The teenager told The Sunday Telegraph she was given $250 by her grandfather - whom she last saw four weeks ago - and has been forced to borrow more money from her sister. She said that DoCS checked on her about every 10 days.
However she said that she had only met her case worker three times since the recent death of her father.
She described the visits as brief and said the workers never checked to see if there was food in the fridge, nor had they checked on anything else.
She said: "They come by about every couple of weeks. They just ask if I am okay."
'Pretty dangerous around here'
The girl's stepsister said she feared that her young sibling would grow up too fast. "She's pretty much looking after herself most of the time," she said.
"It can be pretty dangerous around here ... I just can't be here all the time."
DoCS said it had contacted the girl and her family members 10 times. It was currently trying to secure the girl a home with a permanent guardian.
The teenager, whose fridge was virtually empty when The Sunday Telegraph visited last week, has been relying on the generosity of friends and neighbours, who have been inviting her over so she can down to a home-cooked meal.
At other times, the young girl cooks simple meals with whatever is in the fridge and relies heavily on takeaway food when she can afford it.
The teenager does most of her own washing and cleaning and has friends over in the apartment some afternoons when she returns home from school.
Her afternoons are spent either watching TV or doing homework, or meeting friends near the local shops.
The young girl fell ill with an ear infection last week, which resulted in her missing some school time, but her sister spent some time at the apartment to nurse her back to health.
The school she attends declined to talk to The Sunday Telegraph about her plight.
- With The Sunday Telegraph and AAP
Parents win right to grow babies for 'spare parts'
ReplyDeletefrom news.com.au
PARENTS of sick children in Britain will be allowed to use IVF to create "spare-part babies" under controversial laws published yesterday.
The legislation will dramatically relax rules on IVF clinics creating "saviour siblings" who can help cure their older brothers and sisters of medical conditions such as leukemia.
Experts said that one day they could create a "designer baby" with kidneys perfectly compatible with a sibling suffering renal failure.
More immediately, saviour siblings could give umbilical cord blood or bone marrow to family members in the hope of treating conditions such as sickle cell anaemia.
The Government's Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill will be debated in British Parliament and is expected to become law in 2009.
The Daily Mail, in The Sunday Herald Sun
Memorial vandalised on Remembrance Day
ReplyDeletefrom news.com.au
TWO youths have been charged with damaging a north Queensland war memorial site on Remembrance Day.
Police said officers were called to the Anzac Memorial Park on The Strand at Townsville about 4.40am (AEST) today following reports of vandalism.
Two 17-year-old boys were apprehended after allegedly repeatedly ramming shopping trolleys against an audio speaker at the memorial site.
They have been charged with wilful damage and will face Townsville Magistrates Court at a date to be fixed.
Nation mourns sacrifices of war
ReplyDeletefrom news.com.au
JOHN Howard has honoured the two Australian soldiers killed in Afghanistan in recent weeks as Australians paused for a minute's silence to remember the sacrifice of all those soldiers who have died fighting for the nation.
At the 11th hour on the 11th day on the 11th month Australia, and other countries around the world, marked the anniversary of the armistice, which ended The Great War in 1918.
The Last Post was sounded at shrines and cenotaphs throughout Australia just before 11am and was followed by a minute's silence.
At the Australian War Memorial in Canberra, Mr Howard singled out the deaths of David Pearce and Matthew Locke as showing the dangers Australian troops still face.
"That both of these deaths should have occurred at the time of an election campaign that celebrates, in a sense, the great democracy not only here but around the world, that they and others who've fallen in battle have died for," he said.
"(Their deaths have) reminded us in a real way of the nature of sacrifice in war."
The RSL has said today provides a chance for the courage of servicemen and women past and present to be considered.
"We are asking all Australians to pause in memory of the servicemen and women who have died and suffered in past conflicts and think about those overseas now," RSL national president Major-General Bill Crews said.
Mr Howard is expected to resume electioneering in the marginal seat of Eden-Monaro this afternoon.
Opposition Leader Kevin Rudd this morning laid a wreath at the Perth's King's Park war memorial during a Remembrance Day service.
The Opposition Leader was accompanied by West Australian Premier Alan Carpenter, federal Education Minister Julie Bishop, Labor's education spokesman, Perth MP Stephen Smith and a representative of the state's Liberal Party.
Earlier, Mr Rudd attended church at Perth's Anglican cathedral, St George's.
Mr Rudd is expected to leave Perth later today.
In Sydney, NSW Premier Morris Iemma, federal Defence Minister Brendan Nelson and Lieutenant Governor James Spigelman will attend a service at the Cenotaph in the city centre.
Labor set to take on John Howard in campaign shift
ReplyDeletefrom news.com.au
IN a dramatic switch in strategy, Labor will use the last two weeks of the federal election campaign to personally target John Howard.
The change in tactics follows internal research showing voters are already factoring the Prime Minister out of the election because of his announcement that he will retire during the next term.
The election campaigns head to Brisbane this week for the official launch of both major parties. Kevin Rudd needs to pick up seats in his home state if Labor is to have a genuine shot at winning the election.
Both parties can be expected to roll out headline-grabbing announcements at their launches. It has been reported that Mr Howard will unveil a maternity leave package at the Liberal launch on Monday.
But Finance Minister Nick Minchin has said the Coalition's spending commitments will be "well targeted" but "suitably modest and conservative". "Our whole focus is how to keep the economy strong," Senator Minchin has said on Network 10.
Despite Senator Minchin's assurances, Labor's Wayne Swan has predicted Mr Howard will go an a vote-grabbing spending spree at the launch. "Quick fixes aren't going to wash with the Australian people," Mr Swan has said on ABC TV.
He has said Labor would not match Mr Howard in a money fight at its launch on Wednesday.
Mr Howard announced a new spending measure on YouTube this morning - promising $500,000 to help orangutans in Indonesia.
Play the man
Labor research shows voter reaction to Mr Howard's retirement plans has become a "blocker" to the Coalition's campaign messages, devaluing Government promises and policies in all key areas.
It is also causing swinging voters, who have stuck with Mr Howard in the past, to question whether it is worth voting for the Coalition again.
The research will drive a new Labor advertising campaign, featuring an untrustworthy-looking Mr Howard with the words: "He's retiring" - then a stamp stating: "It's official".
A confidential report to Labor's campaign director Tim Gartrell, from the party's campaign research and analysis team, dated November 10, says: "Retirement a negative for Howard - blocker for Government future messaging; working through the focus groups is a growing sense of the ridiculous in the situation: Howard is saying 'vote for me, I'm better able to manage the future', but that he will then retire. Swinging voters are struggling to see the logic in Howard's position".
The report then quotes swinging voters saying, variously:
"I can't figure that out", "He's not being serious. Is he going or not?", "That can't be right - that's outrageous!", "He talks about things in the future, but he's leaving" and "What's the point in voting for him? He's retiring, he's not hanging around. It's 'see you later Howard'."
According to the ALP research, the Prime Minister's retirement is now seen as one of the top "worries" among swinging voters, when it comes to a possible re-election of the Government.
Voters were asked to rate the issue on a scale from 0 to 10, with an 8 to 10 rating as "intense".
Forty per cent of voters rated the Prime Minister's announced departure as an "intense" concern, putting Mr Howard's retirement in the top bracket of voters' worries about supporting the Coalition. The fact that the survey only includes swinging voters - excluding Labor voters - only adds to the strength of the findings.
"The retirement is a huge blocker to any message that they can manage the future and mutes their ability to keep the sliding number of Howard loyalists voting Liberal," one senior Labor source said.
The secret internal report noted: "Swinging voters are now seeing much of the Liberal campaign through the prism of John Howard's self-interest. There is a strong and growing awareness that John Howard will not be around for long after the election - even if the Coalition win.
"This fact is now looming over swinging voters as they consider their vote and who is best able to deliver on their future plans".
- with the Sunday Telegraph
Mainwaring's dad wants answers from star
ReplyDeleteBy Joe Spagnolo, Peta Hellard and Liam Houlihan
THE father of the late West Coast Eagles legend Chris Mainwaring wants to confront his disgraced former teammate, Ben Cousins, over his son's final hours.
Hub Mainwaring has vowed to launch an investigation into his son's death on October 1.
Mr Mainwaring believes Cousins can shed light on the events leading up to the premiership wingman's death in a haze of a drugs cocktail.
"I have no problems with Ben, but I'd like to have a word with him," Mr Mainwaring said.
"He might know something. Somebody knows something. I am sure they do.
"There is something missing from when Ben was with him to those last three hours.
"And we are going to find out one way or another what happened.
"I am going to dig up the truth - whether I cause trouble or not.
"I want to know what got Chris into that state. Something got him into that state of mind."
As Mr Mainwaring vented his frustration, Los Angeles police warned Cousins might face criminal charges as a result of an alleged cocaine binge that caused him to be rushed to a hospital, where he stayed almost three days.
Sgt Paul Wolcott, of Hermosa Beach police said that Cousins case remained open.
"I would say there is the potential for a follow-up," Sgt Wolcott said.
Cousins allegedly spent five days on a cocaine binge holed up with mystery LA blonde friend Susie Ela.
Ms Ela, 39, yesterday emerged from her multi-storey, million-dollar beachside apartment in which Cousins collapsed, but she refused to speak about her time with the fallen Eagles star.
Looking composed, she left her home to shop at a local convenience store.
"I am just trying to live my life as a normal individual and I hope people can respect that," Ms Ela said.
"I have nothing further to say."
Asked how she knew Cousins, she replied: "That's none of anybody's business."
Ms Ela is not likely to be charged over the LA incident.
Police said they had no evidence connecting her to drugs.
Her brother-in-law, Frank, said her family was shocked at the episode and had never heard of Cousins.
"We've seen her quite a bit and I have no idea about her and drugs," he said.
"This has come as a complete shock to us."
Cousins was last night believed to be a patient at a private drug rehab clinic at Bronte, in Sydney's east.
His latest drama in the glare of publicity has almost certainly ended any hope the Brownlow medallist had of resurrecting his AFL career.
Cousins "lost" five days in LA began when the disgraced former Eagles golden boy was picked up at Los Angeles airport on Saturday, October 27 by Ms Ela and another woman.
He is said to have met Ms Ela in Las Vegas last year while on an end-of-season football trip.
Cousins spent the next five days at her upmarket home.
Ms Ela called an emergency police telephone number soon after 5am on Wednesday, October 31, asked for an ambulance and said a five-day cocaine binge has left the 29-year-old scared and paranoid.
She told the operator the man was "not being violent, is just scared".
The ambulance, based 200m from the apartment, arrived at 5.18am, five minutes after being called. Ms Ela requested no lights or sirens.
Paramedics who attended said Cousins "seemed OK", but was "a little paranoid".
Cousins was admitted to the Little Company of Mary Hospital, a small medical centre with no drug rehabilitation component.
He checked out on Friday, November 2.
He then belatedly checked in at the Summit Medical Centre, Malibu, where he spent almost a month earlier this year.
Cousins stayed at the rehabilitation centre for two days before returning to Australia.
Neighbours at the apartment complex were unaware of the footballer's presence, his notoriety or his apparent binge.
But the neighbourhood may well have been familiar territory for Cousins. Nearby Pier St, with its restaurant and bar strip, is a notorious party hub.
A local resident said "folks around here are a cashed-up, hard-partying set who can keep going all night long".
"IT'S not the place to come if you want to straighten out or get dry," he said.
And local police said they were often called to quell wild partying on Friday and Saturday nights.
While Cousins was in hospital, the footballer's father made a statement in Perth denying reports his son had gone missing.
"He is currently receiving treatment in Los Angeles at an appropriate facility," Bryan Cousins said.
Cousins and his father flew into Sydney on a Qantas flight from Los Angeles on Wednesday.
Fallen Melbourne lawyer Andrew Fraser, who was jailed on cocaine charges, said Cousins would have been in a very sad "head space" after such a binge.
"He would be immensely paranoid, peeking out through curtains, fearing the police were out there, fearing the bogyman was there," Fraser said.
"It is an awful, awful thing to be on.
"Don't worry about his football future. His physical wellbeing is on the line now."
Fraser said Cousins needed someone to help him get through his problems.
"It's got to the stage now where it's sad - not spectacular," he said.
"He needs some real help, not people covering up for him."
Traumatised diggers - the never-ending legacy of war
ReplyDeleteAdele Horin
Of the eight major conflicts of the 20th and 21st centuries, Australia is the only country to have participated in every one of them. We have been in the Boer War, World War I, World War II, Korea, Vietnam, the two Gulf wars, and Afghanistan.
Australia is unique in its enthusiasm to fight war on distant shores. The explanation is simple. Successive governments have used troop deployment to curry favour with first Britain, then the United States. Our leaders see it as a premium on an insurance policy that may need to be claimed one day. In some hypothetical situation of threat to Australia, they imagine the great protector will pay up, come to our aid, and make the Australian lives lost and ruined over decades worth the price.
In the meantime, the propensity to fight other people's wars has unleashed a silent plague. The recent accounts of Australian soldiers who have committed suicide, or tried to, is the tip of an iceberg. Lifelong mental health problems are likely to plague many of the men and women who return from overseas duty. Many will never be the same again.
How war can emotionally cripple combatants and blight their families is never a consideration, it seems, when governments send the troops off in a blaze of patriotic fervour. It should be. There is enough evidence now to show war is more likely to break, than make, the man. Certainly it puts servicemen - and now women - at risk of psychological problems that can last a lifetime.
Major research on the health of Australian veterans of the first Gulf War shows their mental health years later was strikingly worse than that of other defence force personnel not deployed to the Middle East. They were much more likely to suffer post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, depression and problem drinking.
The study, published by the Department of Veterans Affairs, and undertaken by Monash University and others, found the risks escalated with the number of difficult military experiences. Rather than the soldiers becoming battle-hardened, more exposure heightened their risk of psychological problems.
How enduring these problems can be is highlighted in another study commissioned by the Government - of Australia's Korean War veterans. More than 50 years after their wartime experiences, the veterans were significantly more likely to suffer psychological problems than a control group. They were also three times more likely to suffer alcohol-related problems. Only 18 per cent felt "pleased about their life" compared with 40 per cent of other elderly men. Again the problems were worse among those who experienced heavy combat, and among the lower ranks.
The problems of returned Vietnam veterans are well publicised, though often attributed to their poor reception on homecoming rather than to their experiences in combat. The Federal Government is funding a health study of the veterans' children due to concerns the psychological problems of the fathers have rebounded onto the next generation. The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare has already reported these children are at three times higher risk of suicide than the general population.
Many baby boomers could testify to how their father's experience in World War II reverberated down the years. These men were the strong, silent types who seemed to get on with life. But families bore the brunt of their black moods and difficult behaviour. Decades later the children might discover the roots of their father's temper, drinking problem, anxiety attacks, depression or nightmares were buried deep in his wartime experience.
Australia has been extraordinarily lucky recently in the low casualty rate among its troops. But the troops have not escaped damage. Mental illness, rather than injuries, is already proving to be the biggest threat to our soldiers in Iraq. The Sunday Age newspaper reported more have been discharged on mental health grounds than have been hurt in combat.
Australia has also been involved in peacekeeping operations that expose troops to atrocities and feelings of helplessness. Of the 900 who had served in Somalia, at least 20 per cent had serious mental health problems, a 1997 study found. Hundreds from the East Timor deployment have lodged compensation claims with the Department of Veterans Affairs.
From blaming "nervous breakdowns" among troops on predisposition and cowardice, the Australia military has progressed to trying to provide the right help.
The best cure is prevention. With peacekeeping there is often a pressing moral reason to participate. But Australia's eagerness to send troops abroad should be tempered by the knowledge that the human cost of war is not counted in coffins alone.
We know infinitely more about the effects of war than we did a century, or even 30 years, ago. We know war can profoundly affect those who fight, and their families, for decades after the peace is declared.
Of the 7000 deployed each year on six-month stints to the Middle East, Afghanistan, East Timor and elsewhere, many may never be quite right again.
They suffer a much higher rate of psychological problems and alcohol damage than the norm.
Vandals smash memorial
ReplyDeleteEmma Gumbleton
A SENSELESS attack on an Ipswich war memorial has marred preparations for today's Remembrance Day services.
Vandals broke the arm, gun and slouch hat from a post-World War I statue of a soldier at the Ebbw Vale Memorial Park on Friday.
The re-dedication stone, etched with the names of fallen servicemen from the area, was also broken into two.
Newtown resident and RSL sub-branch secretary Phil Bailey, who served in Malaya from 1962-65, said the mindless act was an insult to past and present service men and women.
"When you think of all the guys serving their country so grubs like that can do what they do, it's a sad day for everyone -- not just the soldiers," he said.
"Maybe the one positive thing is that it draws everyone's attention to Remembrance Day, and I'm sure lots more people will want to show support after this."
RSL state president Doug Formby said the attack would not stop this year's commemoration for all current service personnel and those who have served the country.
"The RSL encourages all members of the public to pause for a minute's silence at 11am to honour the great debt we owe our service men and women for the hard won freedoms we enjoy today," he said.
More than 102,000 Australians have died fighting for the nation over the past 107 years, including two servicemen killed in Afghanistan in October this year. There are currently 3500 servicemen and women serving overseas. The Brisbane service and wreath-laying ceremony starts at 10.40am at the Shrine of Remembrance.
Countries around the world will pause at the 11th hour on the 11th day on the 11th month to mark the anniversary of the armistice which ended World War I in 1918.
Conman 'broke Gillard's heart'
ReplyDeleteBy Glenn Milne
JULIA Gillard fell in love with a former union official and fraudster, who broke her heart and threatened to destroy her political career.
Ms Gillard, 46 - who is poised to become Deputy Prime Minister if Labor wins the federal election - yesterday confirmed she was a union lawyer when she fell for the conman.
As a solicitor acting on instructions, she set up an association later used by her lover to defraud the Australian Workers Union (AWU).
But she has strenuously denied ever knowing what the association's bank accounts were used for.
Ms Gillard, who in her early thirties was a lawyer with Melbourne-based Labor firm Slater&Gordon at the time of the fraud, acted for the AWU.
She met Bruce Morton Wilson, then the West Australian AWU secretary, while representing the union in the Industrial Relations Commission.
A 'very distressing' relationship
Wilson later moved to Melbourne, where Ms Gillard lived, to become Victorian secretary of the union.
"These matters happened between 12 and 15 years ago," Ms Gillard told The Sunday Telegraph.
"I was young and naive.
"I was in a relationship, which I ended, and obviously it was all very distressing.
"I am by no means the first person to find out that someone close turns out to be different to what you had believed them to be. It's an ordinary human error.
Hurt by 'false accusations'
"I was obviously hurt, when I was later falsely accused publicly of wrong-doing.
"I didn't do anything wrong and to have false allegations in the media was distressing.
"The whole thing has taught me some lessons about life, generally, and (about) the slings and arrows of public life, in particular.
"I think I have emerged a stronger person as a result."
The relationship was briefly mentioned in the Victorian Parliament in 1995 and resurfaced in September this year when rogue WA CFMEU union official, Kevin Reynolds, referred to the affair at a union meeting.
Accusing Ms Gillard of hypocrisy, Mr Reynolds told his members that it was just one of many secrets he would reveal about Labor's inner circle.
Now hundreds of pages of new documents, held by the AWU, have been leaked, detailing the extent of Wilson's fraud.
Ms Gillard, now dating hair products salesman Tim Mathieson, also dated fellow Labor Party frontbencher, Craig Emerson.