Article from: The Advertiser
By ALEXANDER DOWNER
I DON'T know about you, but it's always nice to get emails. Once upon a time you'd look with pleasure at a handful of letters which dropped through the letter box. Now all you get are those threatening looking envelopes with windows. Or if you're Tom Koutsantonis, those nasty missives which tell you about passing unknowingly through a speed camera.
But this is a generalisation. At the height of the Schapelle Corby affair I received 5000 emails in one day from fellow Australians pleading with me to save "our Schapelle" from the horrors of the Indonesian legal system. Or, to be a bit more honest, the few I looked at said that.
I'm sure my successor as foreign minister, Stephen Smith, had his in box bursting last week as people demanded he save the beer mat mum, Annice Smoel, from the ravages of the Thai police.
I felt for him especially when the media started demanding he "do something" to save her.
After about 10 minutes as foreign minister I was a little surprised to learn I was "responsible" for miscreant Australians who got into trouble in foreign countries.
No, no, no, don't get it wrong - drug traffickers, drunks, kleptomaniacs and fraudsters weren't responsible for their own stupidity - I was.
It's about time that great nanny in Canberra, the Federal Government, turned around and told people they are responsible for their own decisions.
I was in Lebanon the other day and went down to the southern cities of Sidon and Tyre. They're fascinating places - old Crusader castles, bustling souks, colourful little food stalls with generous owners offering you a taste of their wares.
But I couldn't help remembering the awful events in those same places three years ago when Israel went to war with Hezbollah.
There were said to be 20,000 Australians in Lebanon at that time and a hefty percentage of them were demanding the Australian Government save them and fast.
Lebanese support groups hit the airwaves screaming that the Government was too slow getting those Australians who wanted to be evacuated to safety. But hang on, Australia's about 15,000km from Lebanon and we don't dock ships in the eastern Mediterranean ready to ferry Australians to safety.
And there was something else. We'd issued a travel advisory months earlier warning Australians of the dangers of southern Lebanon and the risks of going there.
It didn't matter - apparently we had to get them out.
We were lucky. The Australian ambassador, a petite, charming professional called Lyndall Sachs, worked day and night chartering ferries and providing comfort to the evacuees, who hadn't cared about the travel advisories, and whisked them to safety.
It was one of the great achievements of an Australian diplomat. Almost single handedly, she managed to get around 5000 Australians to Cyprus and Turkey.
We then chartered planes to take them back to Australia. I hope they built shrines to her. Some did, at least metaphorically.
But some just whinged. They felt seasick on the ferry and that was our fault. Could they get frequent flyer points for the free flight back to Australia? And all this cost around $30 million dollars - your dollars.
I'll tell you this - I didn't get 5000 emails of thanks but I got plenty of abuse because we weren't fast enough, the ferries didn't go from their port of choice and we were slow because we were racist, and so on. I mean, we'd warned them and told them not to go to the south of Lebanon. They went all the same. And when the proverbial hit the fan it was, you guessed it, "our fault".
Then there was Hurricane Katrina, which flooded much of New Orleans. A mother of an Australian who arrived in New Orleans the day the hurricane hit came to see me in Stirling and demanded I get her son out. Americans couldn't get out but I had to get her son out. I asked if he'd heard the warnings from the U.S. Government that week to avoid New Orleans.
She started shouting. He doesn't follow the news, he doesn't watch TV or read the newspapers. I see, I said. It was my fault he was in New Orleans, was it? What were we to do? Fly helicopters from Australia to America and pick up Australians and leave the Americans behind?
I didn't have the guts to say this as foreign minister but don't you think you should take responsibility for yourself when you go overseas?
If you're too dumb or idle to read the travel advisories and too mean to take out travel insurance when you go overseas then you ought to take responsibility for your own behaviour.
Sure, if there's a catastrophe like the Bali bombings or you're trapped in a corruption scam the government should try to help. But not if you're too lazy and silly to help yourself.
Remember two things when you travel.
First, there are no special laws for Australians overseas. Foreigners make the laws over there, not us.
Secondly, foreigners do things differently and they're entitled to.
If you go to a Muslim country and get wildly drunk and women start dressing down (if you know what I mean) it can be bloody offensive to the locals. You'll soon be in trouble.
And learn to take responsibility for your own behaviour. Stealing is wrong, even stealing beer mats. I know, I know, the beer mat mum had a few drinks but, no, she wasn't drunk and she was charmingly polite to the local police.
But she was in a foreign country with a different culture and all of us ought to respect that.
Alexander Downer was Australia's Foreign Affairs Minister from 1996 to 2007
May 24, 2009
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Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Idiot Aussies: Grow up and take responsibility
Saturday, May 23, 2009
the nail in the coffin - love story
We had sex and now he won’t call. I’m so CONFUSED!
By Kate de Brito
Dear Bossy: I have now been broken up with my ex for 4 months… not a good break up and I was shattered as he was my true first love. Anyway I have known lets call him Tom, since primary school, we have stayed in and out of contact for the last 15 or so years. We have heaps in common and we can talk for hours and hours!
About 6 months ago when I was still dating my ex, Tom and I caught up for a beer and a chat something not out of the usual for us, anyway he knew that the ex and I’s relationship wasn’t on solid ground and we were having a few problems, he sat there and listened to me and told me to get rid of him… anyways I took another 3 months for me to do so… about 2 or so months ago Tom told me that he was really interested in me and wanted to ask me out that night of listening to my upset… I told him that it would have never happened as I don’t cheat and that im flattered that he wanted to go out for a date.
Ok so here's the problem… I got a txt from him about 4 weeks ago on a Saturday night saying – you rock my world…. I wasn’t sure if he was drunk or truly meant it so I didn’t responded till the next day just saying did you have a good night last night? We caught up 2 weeks ago for a beer and a chat which turned out to be a 7 hour beer and chat… when having to say goodbye it was dragged out and the s exual tension was so thick you could pretty much slice it… we spoke through txt msgs the next couple of days both asking ourselves why didn’t we do anything at that moment… I think we were both shy or whatever???
So after much thought about the night I started realising that I was developing feelings for him, so I stupidly told him over txting (im kicking myself now coz I hate doing personal kinda stuff over txts and emails) anyway I told him in a way that I didn’t wanna freak him out, saying Tom I think you’re a rad guy and since seeing you the other night I think im starting to like you a bit more than friends… anyway his response took ages and he didn’t really say much as to wether or not he felt the same or wasn’t interested! I was so confused (and still am) about this whole situation then about 4 days after me telling him this we ended up sleeping together, was awkward in the start but then the passion and heat was just magnetic! So yes it was very hot!
Ok so since sleeping together things seem to be weirder! He hasn’t really shown any interest to see me and txts rarely I finally got to talk to him about the whole situation and that I didn’t understand why he was distancing himself or why he never gave me a real answer but wanted to sleep with me? I told him if it was just a booty call that he wanted and didn’t wanna do it again then im ok with that (which im really not) he told me he thought he responded to my admittance of how I felt towards him, he said that he doesn’t think he is ready for anything and that I want kids and marriage and all that… I told him which is completely true that yes I do want those things but not now! Im only 23 I want to travel and do so much more before I get into anything like that and oh he also said he wasn’t ready to love again… the thing is if he would have just been honest from the start and I knew where I stood I would be fine! I told him that all I wanted was to spend a bit more time together getting to know each other a little better and just take it easy??
I don’t know how else to react, I honestly think im not being to pushy or clingy but am I scaring him off? IM SO CONFUSED! Im sick of trying to organise us catching up when he keeps knocking me back.. he told me he wanted to hang out and I seem to be banging my head against a brick wall as to why its not happening? Is he just not that into me?? (you’d think I would know after seeing the movie and reading the friggen book!!)
Should I just give up on him and any hope that there may be a chance for us? Or should I try a different approach?
Thanks
Clueless!
Bossy says: Read the “friggen book” again, because you clearly missed some chapters. He wanted to sleep with you. You mistook his interest in getting you into bed for something more. When he said “you rock my world” he really meant “I think you’re hot, let’s have sex.”
You thought he meant “let’s go cuddle up on the couch and read poetry together”. He knew you didn’t just want sex but he went ahead and had sex with you because he’d been wanting to for a while and knew it would take very little to seal the deal. Once the deal was sealed he sensed even more strongly that you wanted poetry on the couch, so he scambled to get away. He keeps telling you he wants to catch up because it’s easier than telling you he’s lost interest altogether.
“I’m not ready to love again”? That’s the worst of the worst. That’s even worse than “it’s not you, it’s me”, or “I don’t want to lose you as a friend.” That’s just the nail in the coffin. Give up. It’s finished.
news.com
Friday, May 22, 2009
Monday, May 18, 2009
'tea set' party
From today's email for all of those
Daddy’s little girls…
One day my mother was out and my dad was in charge of me. I was maybe 2 1/2 years old and had just recovered from an accident. Someone had given me a little 'tea set' as a get-well gift and it was one of my favorite toys.
Daddy was in the living room engrossed in the evening news when I brought him a little cup of 'tea', which was just water. After several cups of tea and lots of praise for such yummy tea, my Mom came home.
My Dad made her wait in the living room to watch me bring him a cup of tea, because it was 'just the cutest thing!'
My Mom waited, and sure enough, here I come down the hall with a cup of tea for Daddy and she watches him drink it up.
Then she says (as only a mother would know)...
"Did it ever occur to you that the only place she can reach to get water is the toilet?"...
Monday, May 11, 2009
The boomerang
Hold 'rang nearly vertical with flat unpainted side away from you. Face into the wind. Then turn about 45° to the right if you are right-handed, or about 45° to the left if you are left-handed.
Cock arm back, with wrist bent backwards. Aim at a point just above the horizon.
Throw with a smooth body motion and a snap of the wrist. Release the boomerang in a nearly vertical plane so that it cartwheels forward.
But there are few hiccups to consider; wrong movements, not enough arching of the wrist, not the right angle to throw it, too much strength when throwing out, the mighty wind, etc etc…
But one thing you can be assured, the boomerang returns to you, broken if the throwing was not handled properly or if you are not aware of what you have thrown out it might decapitate the thrower… that would be catastrophic.. right?
Well the boomerang always returns during a game and also our thoughts are invisible powerful boomerangs that return to us, if not within micro seconds, sometimes during our lives, but they always return to us to enrich our lives or to hunts us…
What we send out must return to us in the same measure plus 10 times more at times…
*-* A person that sends out love, love returns to this person 10 times more
*-* A person that steals $1, gets $10 stolen maybe more
*-* A person that sends out hate, is hated ten times more if not by the same person maybe from others.
*-* A person that sends anger out (like the writer), also runs the risk of receiving 10 times more of the same or maybe stronger negativity from another person…
What we send out returns to us like a boomerang. 
We share knowledge, experiences and that sharing keeps coming back in many ways, like rewards or opportunities to develop into another learning or beneficial experiences, well if the experiences are positive.
Allowing others to take our power place us in the position of sending negativity to others. Finding our way back into alignment with our inner essence helps us to find and reach that rewarding peace of mind and spirit that we all need especially in these times.
I’m thankful to all the (-)experiences I have received as I now realize that I was left open to send the unwanted in the past months.
Forgiveness? I am only responsible for my own actions, yes, politeness takes a good place in our lives too but I feel others feelings are their responsibility as well, they are to be responsible for their own feelings and their doings. I only did what I wanted at the time, whether it made me happy or not it was my own creation, it taught me that I must keep working to achieve that inner peace I much enjoy in good times, I only want good times for the rest of my life.
What do you expect your boomerang to bring you at its return?
Have a nice week… my week has started perfectly great.
More on sport-boomerang throwing at: Gel-Boomerang
Thursday, May 7, 2009
A short taste of Burma
feel the air,
feel the sun,
feel the green,
mother nature at its best,
if only Ghia could return it us,
it would make us almost
divinely complete...
Home...
this is what we left and
hopefully what we return to sooooooon...