As any old person who has been interrupted by a checkout assistant at a do-it-yourself supermarket scanner would agree, there is a general perception among the younger members of the community that we oldies are senile and useless. While refusing to let the unwelcome interloper scan for me, I always remember the great poem Ulysses by Lord Tennyson, which ends with the following lines:
This topic has been prompted by comments from knitters on my last dissertation “The Men Who Saved Australia”. I was surprised that it arose in the way it did because the role of the Japanese escort with the first ANZAC fleet was touched on in my series on the first HMAS Sydney and its fight with the Emden.
The history of Japanese and British alliance is a maze that keeps going back at each stanza of the relationship but in the interests of brevity and completeness, I am starting with the Anglo-Japanese treaty of 1902.
Growing trees need three essentials – radiant energy from the sun, CO2 and rain from the atmosphere, and nutrients and minerals from the soil. Climate alarmists correctly claim that burning forest products in thermal power stations is “net-zero emissions” because burning the wood just puts the same CO2 back into the atmosphere. Identical reasoning applies to grazing cattle.
Read more: Our Children First or Last... that is the Question.
As our world descends into a chaotic shadow of its former moral self, I have been thinking about finding a way out of this maze of cancel culture, identity politics, sexual dysphoria and narcissistic self gratification. Our governments are herding us into lockdown, exile and social isolation whilst assuring us that it is for our own. good. So many people are happy to receive an unemployment payment, sit home and take selfies - as long as there is food and drink and a roof over their heads.
Yet the sage words of John Steinbeck and John Calhoun are increasingly in my thoughts these days. Will we ever find our way out of this maze?
Almost 200 years ago this expression was first used … “bolt hole”.
It has a few meanings, … a hole in an animal's den, or through a wall or fence, used for escape or emergency exit; i.e. a hole the animal may bolt through, or (figurative) a second home, etc. where a person can go to escape the stresses of everyday life.
If you are suspected of being a bit naughty in Australia, your mates in power can spy on your social media and email accounts and you won't even know it. By " you " I mean "us " and this makes me feel a bit uncomfortable and dare I say violated.
Seriously, have we truly come to this? Being spied on by our federal police if they suspect that we are up to no good?
From sleepless nights to stubbed toes and nightmares, tangled hair and sniffy noses, Mum always had a remedy. Yet these days, governments are preventing mothers from doing what Mums do best - loving and caring for their children without stifling their ability to grow and thrive.
Rapidly approaching the big NINE O, along with many others at the same stage of life’s interesting and sometimes troubled journey, I should be relaxing contentedly with friends and relations, enjoying the mind boggling range of new sights and sounds and knowledge not previously encountered, reliving with them the many wonderful experiences of past years, rejoicing in the journey to maturity of children and grandchildren who have grown up so rapidly, having left behind the childhood years seemingly in the blink of an eye … and yet …
When I was a lad, life was simpler, harder yet straightforward and honest. As the world is flooded with newfangled gadgetry and newfangled woke spoke, I find myself looking back on the post war years with a strange regret. Life is so newfangled that it is a complex place of ever-increasing innovation, and gratitude for the simple things in life is a far distant memory. We should consider how imprisoned we have become in this newfangled world which has rewarded us with so much and yet taken even more by stealth.
Read more: I remember... when newfangled stuff didn't exist - summer wine was not some whine
Please donate to
Swiftcode METWAU4B
BSB 484799
Account
Reference PR |
Please email me so I can thank you.
patriot@patriotrealm.com
Between the mid-19th and early 20th centuries, more than a hundred thousand British children were…
134 hits
Picture the scene. It is the ACME desert, Somewhere in the MIDDLE of nowhere.......... somewhere…
228 hits
As young folk, didn't some of us feel like rebels without a cause? I am…
237 hits
The Battle of Britain ended on 15th September, 1940 but the Blitz continued long after that. Following…
205 hits
In 1984, Sir Alec Jeffreys, a British geneticist, made a groundbreaking discovery that would forever…
241 hits
As our countries are collapsing under the weight of wokeism, social and communist ideology, who…
205 hits
How often do we lament that we do not have visionaries and forward thinkers in…
228 hits
Yesterday, one of our community members spoke about a film he watched called " Black…
207 hits
43 hits
A perfect storm of crises has been building. It comes from still bubbling rage with…
276 hits
Recently, the internet has gone crazy over the issue of pets being eaten by illegal…
250 hits
When I was a child, my teacher taught us the story of Grace Darling, a…
245 hits
“The stupidity of democracy. It will always remain as one of democracy’s best jokes that…
261 hits
Henry Lawson managed to capture the heartbeat of The Bush. And that heart is under…
274 hits
"The Prisoner," a British television series created by Patrick McGoohan, first aired on the 29th…
281 hits
It is strange that there is no discussion of it, but in two weeks and…
252 hits
During the early years of World War II, the British Army encountered difficulties in advancing…
278 hits
Just as is the case in many countries around the world, Australians are increasingly confused about…
272 hits
In 1929, Joseph Stalin was hell-bent on getting the farmers to forfeit their rights to…
221 hits
Today, I want to talk about Laughter. Humour to be exact. Today, we are talking…
306 hits
The following article was published in 1993. Over 30 years ago. Does the modern bureaucratization…
300 hits
The Weimar Republic was born out of the ashes of World War I, following Germany's…
297 hits
57 hits
Until people learn that the same propaganda they see in media, schools, and entertainment today…
282 hits
I have had a pretty colourful life one way or another. And it got me…
251 hits
“Some of us may forget that, of all the Allies, it was the Australians who…
261 hits
The Emu War is one of Australia's most curious and bizarre historical events. It took…
302 hits
Of all the magnificent units and regiments of the Australian Army I doubt if any…
296 hits
The 1951 waterfront dispute in New Zealand, often referred to as the "1951 Waterfront Lockout,"…
293 hits
During World War II, Australia was a key player in the Allied war effort, providing…
310 hits
The first occupants of the Olympics village in Paris quickly taught the caterers that athletes…
244 hits