Last night I was watching, Natural Mysteries: killer whale attack. I was absolutely dumbfounded by the stupidity of the commentary on the show. It was about a pod of killer whales in a particular bay in California. The killer whales would separate a gray whale mother from its calf and then kill and eat it. This apparently was unheard of behaviour.

What a bunch of fucking bullshit. They are called killer whales because like all other animals they need to eat and their choice of food is: other whales. Unfortunately, before a whale can be eaten it needs to be killed. It isn’t exactly a mystery when a killer whale kills and eats a whale. Or you can’t be bothered using your brain today it can be boiled down to 2 words: killer and (wait for it) whale.

This sort of thing really explains the ignorance of some young people these days. Kids who don’t know who Gandhi is or that the Lord of the Rings movies were based on a book (true story).

I guess you can’t expect an 18-year-old to know everything, but when a person has been through university, risen up the ranks, created their own documentary and are still not aware of the simplest fact, that is something else.

I laughed when a friend of mine said our civilisation was crumbling, but now I wonder…

I was wondering what it would look like if I switched all the u’s in English language with i’s and all the i’s with u’s. Would it sound similar to a New Zealand accent? Well the result is just as amusing. Merry Chrustmas and happy New Year!

U Wandered Lonely as a Cloid

U wandered lonely as a cloid
That floats on hugh o’er vales and hulls,
When all at once U saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffoduls;
Besude the lake, beneath the trees,
Flitterung and dancung un the breeze.

Contuniois as the stars that shune
And twunkle on the mulky way,
They stretched un never-endung lune
Along the margun of a bay:
Ten thoisand saw U at a glance,
Tossung theur heads un sprughtly dance.

The waves besude them danced; bit they
Oit-dud the sparklung waves un glee:
A poet coild not bit be gay,
Un sich a jocind company:
U gazed—and gazed—bit luttle thoight
What wealth the show to me had broight:

For oft, when on my coich U lue
Un vacant or un pensuve mood,
They flash ipon that unward eye
Whuch us the bluss of solutide;
And then my heart wuth pleasire fulls,
And dances wuth the daffoduls.

Wulluam Wordsworth and Chrustopher Fryer

I haven’t been able to blog for the past week because I’ve been busy setting up my new computer. The excitement of getting a beast of a computer is sort of ruined by the pain of installing all the software, getting all the drivers working and setting the preferences so the computer is just right.

Here is my new computer:

Windows 7 Professional 64-bit
Intel Core i7-870 CPU
Antec 900 Advanced Gaming Case
4 GB of RAM (needs more, 16 GB maybe)
NVIDIA GTX 295 graphics card
Seagate 1.3 terabyte HDD

A very nice machine.

One good thing about setting up my new computer is it forced me to go through the my documents folder to find what I wanted to keep and wanted to throw away. I have got into the habit of writing comments I leave on other blogs in Word before I submit them. In this way I don’t lose the comment when I accidentally hold down backspace or the cat decides to jump onto the keyboard, but it also allows me to keep a record of comments. Look at these few gems I dug up. I don’t know the blogs I left them on and I don’t know when I left them.

In this one I was obviously having a discussion about the health system with a bunch of libertarians. They believe in a user pays system and that the government should but out on any kind of regulation at all.

Ra, SB, Yobbo,

I have spoken to many people who have lived in the US. Their number-one complaint is the nonexistent public health system. You really want to live in a country where you have a car accident then have many operations to get put back together then receive a $50,000 bill?

You’re a moronic, uncaring fool if you want the same for us.

Yeah I know you’d rather the money spent on public health care went back into your pocket. I don’t know how greedy people like you sleep at night.

I know for a fact that I wouldn’t be alive today if it wasn’t for our public health system. If you don’t like the way things work in Australia go live somewhere else. We happen to be a caring nation. Deal with it.

Can we still be considered caring with Kevin Rudd’s refugee policy?

This next one is from when I made the mistake of leaving a comment on an ultra-right-wing site. As I found out they don’t like having their views challenged.

“…site for leftoid scumbags or pretentious wannabe intellectuals to strut their pathetic wares.”

The problem for someone like me who visits a site like this is that none of you want to engage in a legitimate discussion. What happens to so many people who have firm views is they engage in personal attacks, instead of defending their views using reason. How can you hope to convince anybody of your beliefs if you are unable to defend them without verbal violence.

Of course all of you are entitled to your opinions and I would fight for your right to have them even though I disagree with them. I believe that opinions should have a firm foundation if they are to mean anything. This means a lot of discussion a lot of thought and argument.

I would really love you guys to make me think. Tell me what is actually wrong with what I have said and why.

See you, I probably won’t be back.

I seem to be really good at getting into fights on my blog. I dared to write a post about the protests in Tibet just before the Chinese Olympics in 2008 and a Chinese person by the name of Yun really didn’t like what I had to say. This started a very heated discussion in this post that just degenerated into pointless insults. I agreed to disagree, but this wasn’t enough for Yun and he started to spam my site with copyrighted material supporting his views. I was forced to ban him.

Yun, you are setting a marvelous example to the rest of the world of the quality of people in China. In case you can’t realize, I’m being sarcastic.

This is my favourite quote of yours, I feel it demonstrates your true character: “I will lay back and enjoy more of the terrorists masterpieces in the years to come. And I will have no sympathy for you westerners at all. YOU GUYS WELL DESERVE IT!” In Mao’s day, they would line someone like you (a nationalist) up next to a mass grave and stick a bullet in the back of your head (see, I can be nasty too).

I hope to hear more from you in the future.

I am a bit ashamed about my reaction. Suggesting that someone deserves a bullet in the back of the head is not a worthy thing for anyone to say. I find it very scary that there are people around with views such as his.

You have no doubt heard about the war between the Tamil Tigers and the Sri Lankan government. According to recent reports the Tamil Tigers are all but defeated. Of course this war is taking a terrible toll on the ordinary Tamil population.

Recently, Tamils around the world have been calling for a ceasefire in northern Sri Lanka. Whenever I see these protests on the news there are people holding up a particular flag. Of course all protest groups have flags. A flag represents who you are. But have a close look at the flag of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.

There is a fierce tiger in the middle surrounded by a halo of what look like bullets above crossed rifles with bayonets attached. And if this wasn’t enough the background of the flag is red. Which just happens to be the colour of well…. you know.

What is an ordinary person, who knows nothing about the conflict, supposed to think when they see protesters waving a flag such as this? Do they immediately write to their local member and say: please tell the Prime Minister to support a ceasefire? Or instead do they think it is the cynical last gasp of a terrorist organisation? It is beyond ironic that people who wave of flag like this would ask for a ceasefire.

There are many Tamils who are suffering tremendously because of this war. If you want help from the international community you need to persuade them to your cause. A flag of such violent symbolism is not going to convince people that your cause is just.

There is a new type of spammer in the world. They take advantage of people’s good nature to spread vicious lies designed to manipulate public opinion.

There are two e-mails that I have received the recently that have greatly angered me. The first I have talked about in my previous post. It is an e-mail titled: That History Does Not Repeat Itself.

In this e-mail is a PowerPoint presentation that really tugs on the heartstrings. It shows terrible photos of the Holocaust. This is followed by the lie that the English school system is forbidden from teaching the Holocaust for fear of upsetting the Muslim population who, supposedly, believe the Holocaust never happened. It is of course completely untrue that the curriculum does not include the Holocaust. In fact teaching of the Holocaust is compulsory in England.

Here is the story that inspired the e-mail. Mid way down it states:”Teaching of the Holocaust is already compulsory in schools…”

Ironically this e-mail uses the Holocaust to stir up racial hatred against Muslims.

There is another similar e-mail on a smaller scale, but almost as nasty. It states:

It is interesting that the federal government provides a single refugee with a monthly allowance of $1,890.00 and each can also get an additional $580.00 in social assistance for a total of $2,470.00.

A single pensioner who, after contributing to the growth and development of Australia for 40 to 50 years, receives only a monthly maximum of $1,012.00 in old age pension and Guaranteed Income Supplement.

Maybe our pensioners should apply as refugees!

What this e-mail asserts is total bullshit. Media watch has debunked this particular e-mail three times in the past few years. According to centrelink refugees are eligible to receive the same benefit as other Australians. Remember they are refugees who came here fairly and squarely – not illegal immigrants. E-mail such as this are also designed to stir up hatred of the least fortunate in our society.

In an age where the dreams of terrorists, nationalists and racists are all, but shattered e-mails such as these are the last effort to make public opinion reflect the baser natures of humanity. Be very suspicious of messages that promote a message of hate – do not send them on instead stick them in the trash where they can join their authors in miserable obscurity.

What is happening in Burma at the moment brings images for me of the massacre in Rwanda the killing fields in Cambodia and the Holocaust. The Burmese government is using the cyclone as an opportunity to kill off their enemies. They are doing this by severely limiting international aid efforts. Killing is still killing it doesn’t matter how you do it the result will still be the same.

We can prevent this crime against humanity getting any worse than it has already. We should be giving the Burmese people aid whether there government likes it or not. The world has not had the courage in the past to prevent these massive man-made tragedies. Human beings are capable of incredibly brutal crimes on a massive scale. I believe human beings can be better than this. It is time we grow up as a race, and act with speed coverage, determination, and the will that we can do better.

Please for humanity sake, Don’t Let It Happen Again.

There is consternation in the feminist movement – women just don’t seem to have caught up to men yet. This shows up most in the field of sports and mostly in the Olympics. I’m talking about things like – men play baseball and girls play softball. In swimming women do 800 m men do 1500 m. The women’s race walk is only 20 km compared to separate 20 km and 50 km events for men. In the tennis finals only the men play to five sets. Only men do ski jump.

All this sort of crap is so early last century. It is 2008, I honestly thought all this sort of stuff would be fixed up in the future – now it is the future and what are they going to do about it? Oh, women don’t have the stamina – what do you call having a baby dickhhead? Oh, but women don’t look pretty when they’re sweaty – you don’t call a fit shiny women hot?

It is time for male and female sportspeople to put a stop to this sexism. The signal it sends to young women is that they are the lesser sex. Many prepubescent girls cannot throw a ball as far as boys the same age even though there is no physical or anatomical difference. In our society women equals weak. Don’t deny you know it’s true – even I call my brother a girl when he is being a whingeing little prick. Girls are given the impression that they are physically weak, emotionally weak, lack stamina and are in need of protection by a man. If a women even has a hint that any of these things are true it may negatively affect them all the way through their life. They are going to get bullied by the boss that doesn’t want to give them a pay rise. They will not complain when someone is rude or abusive. They will be unable to defend themselves when set upon by a male assailant.

In this world it doesn’t really matter how big you are or how strong you are, it’s what you do with what you are given. I know what it’s like to be physically weak in a harsh world I’ve always been much weaker* than all of my friends. Once when I was about seven an idiot who was much stronger, bigger and older than me picked a fight – so I bit him and he ran off crying.

Women are slightly smaller and maybe just a little bit weaker than men, but there is no conceivable reason for the sexist way women are treated by the International Olympic Committee and many other sporting bodies.

It is after the year 2000 I wish the world would feel like really is a new millennium.

* If you are new to my site: I have muscular dystrophy and went into an electric wheelchair only a few years after this incident. I could barely walk let alone fight.

It really puzzles me why there is all this so-called controversy over a single word. I say sorry all the time, my brother would say it’s because I fuck up all the time. We say sorry when our actions hurt another person. Sorry is about acknowledging the damage done with the promise that you will never do it again.

Sorry is not about admitting weakness. In fact saying sorry demonstrates the strength of your character. You are able to admit that you are not perfect without damaging your ego. Saying sorry also allows the other party to put past grievances behind them and look to the future. Saying sorry should also not be about winning and losing. The person saying sorry is not the loser.

Saying sorry can become complicated. Such as when an organisation is at fault. In this case the organisation can be taken as the entity that is saying sorry. It makes no difference if the people that make up the organisation are different now to the time when the incident happened. Organisations can say sorry and have on many occasions.

When Parliament comes back Kevin Rudd will be making an apology for the stolen generation on behalf of the Australian government. This is not a personal apology by Kevin Rudd or any other member of the Australian Parliament – this is something John Howard was unable to get his head around.

As I said earlier there are no winners and losers when saying sorry. Therefore, according to my definition of sorry, compensation is not part of it. Sorry has probably been closely linked by court cases where compensation plus an apology is part of the final settlement. Needless to say compensation can be a useful addition to an apology and the stolen generation do deserve compensation.

Compensation will be the major political problem when saying sorry. Compensation has also been used in the past to avoid saying sorry – or just to make someone shut up and go away. Linking compensation directly to the apology would cheapen it. Trying to divorce compensation from the apology will be an almost impossible task. If he takes the easy route he is in danger of upsetting the John Howardites who will be offended by aboriginals receiving money and aboriginals who primarily want an apology.

This is the first real test of the Rudd government. I think this is going to be really hard for them not to fuck it up – as this has really become overly complex issue. It’s going to be incredibly shameful if he doesn’t use the actual word “sorry.” This would be downright bloody embarrassing to Australia as the apology would literally be spat directly back into Rudd’s face.

There are still many people standing in the way of an apology. There are those who believe it was not our doing and think it should be another country apologizing such as England. There were those in the media who believe an apology is incredibly controversial – these people are trying to cater to the lowest common denominator of our society.

Some people argue that there were far more white children taken from their families during the stolen generation era. They say to focus only on aboriginal children is unfair. The thing is white children were not taken from their families on the sole basis of the colour of their skin. Some children will always be taken from their families in order to protect the child – no other reason is acceptable.

Yesterday I went to The Big Day Out music festival. Just before The Hilltop Hoods came on a welcome to country ceremony was performed on the behalf of the traditional owners of the land. I find it extraordinary that aboriginals have forgiven Australia for what was taken from them and even more extraordinarily welcome us to use the land. Let’s accept this forgiveness, say sorry and move on to a brighter future.

Thanks to Ken from The Road to Surfdom – a comment I left there led to this post.

When I heard they discovered a dinosaur with a vacuum cleaner mouth on the news this morning I didn’t think it would actually have a mouth that looked exactly like a vacuum cleaner.

Check it out.

I do wonder how the Nigersaurus taqueti ground up its food? Maybe it had some sort of gizzard that processed the food before digestion.

According to NationalGeographic.com this 100 million-year-old dinosaur was a relative of one of my favourite dinosaurs, Diplodocus.