Patriot Realm

Can you believe it? Another weekend has rolled around. I was speaking with Redhead this morning and we got to talking about Niggles. No, not the current Premier of Queensland known as Giggles because of the supercilious grin he constantly has. Not the WW II flying Ace Biggles James Bigglesworth, wartime air ace and peacetime Sergeant in the Special Air Police, known to his friends and some of his enemies as 'Biggles'. Not the Wiggles either. 

No, not them I am talking about Niggles.

So, what exactly is a niggle? Picture a tiny stone in your shoe. It’s not big enough to really hurt, but it’s definitely annoying. Now imagine the stone is made of worry, or doubt, or maybe a creeping feeling of irritation. That’s what a niggle is.....a minor but persistent source of discomfort. It doesn’t exactly ruin your day, but it sure does like to hang around and poke you in the ribs now and then.

And we talked about who would we swap places with?  Is there anyone who does not have a niggle or two these days? And, in truth, are our niggles that bad anyway? 

 As the 2025 expiration date for Gaza's lucrative offshore gas rights approaches, the future of the Gaza Marine field hangs in the balance.

With billions of cubic metres of natural gas at stake, regional powers are vying for control over the untapped resource.

Yet, political instability, the ongoing Israel-Palestine conflict, and escalating tensions with Hezbollah and Iran cast a long shadow over the field's potential. What will the expiration lead to?  Will the gas remain locked beneath layers of conflict and bureaucracy?

As the deadline nears, the stakes have never been higher. 

So it is rabbit hole time again. One that leads to Gas, Gaza and Golden Opportunities. And it all started with the Oslo Agreements. 

The Jarrow March, also known as the Jarrow Crusade, is one of the most significant protest movements in British history. It took place in October 1936, during a time of deep economic depression in the United Kingdom.

The march symbolised the desperation of working-class communities and their demand for government intervention. The 200 men who participated in this long, grueling trek from Jarrow to London sought to highlight the plight of the unemployed and the collapse of their town's industry.

Jarrow, a small town in northeastern England, had long been reliant on the shipbuilding industry. However, by the 1930s, this once-thriving sector was in a steep decline.

On the evening of October 12, 2002, the peaceful tourist destination of Bali, Indonesia, was thrust into chaos as one of the deadliest terrorist attacks in Southeast Asia unfolded.

A series of bombings rocked the popular resort area of Kuta, leaving a path of destruction and horror in its wake. The attack killed 202 people, including tourists from over 20 countries, with the largest contingent being from Australia.

The event not only devastated families but also sent shockwaves across the globe, marking a critical point in the fight against terrorism.

Much like the devastating attack on America only a year previously, the Western world got a warning shot over the bow. So what did we all do? Hell, we invited them in to join us!

It is hard to imagine how our governments could be so foolish as to see the emergence of global Islamic terrorism and then decide that the best way of protecting us is to import the very people who tried to destroy us. It was almost as if they wanted more of the same..... like a woman who gets battered and then invites her abuser to bring his mates to come and live with her....... 

Much of Australia’s early slang comes from the convict culture of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Australia was established as a penal colony, with convicts from Britain, Ireland, and other parts of Europe bringing their own slang terms with them.

The working-class origins of many early settlers meant that language was often informal, and humour and making the best of a bad lot became central to the Australian identity.

Convicts and settlers alike used slang to defy authority and express camaraderie. Words like "larrikin" reflect a rebellious, cheeky attitude that became part of our national character.

Slang became a way to survive and thrive in tough, often harsh conditions, helping people bond and deal with adversity. And boy, it must have been tough back then. 

So I hope you enjoy the first part of a series on slang around the world. And where better to start than here in Aussie?  

Daylight Saving – the dumbest idea since the invention of dehydrated water.

What an idiotic and stupid concept: Turn the clocks forward one hour and your miraculously save daylight? Well, no, you don’t. It is still daylight for exactly the same amount of time and it is still dark for precisely the same amount of time as it would have been before you changed the clock.

So what are we actually “ saving “?

Daylight saving is like Jetlag on steroids. It messes up our natural body clocks and is as confusing to our bodies as an appointment with a gender therapist who votes democRAT….