Looters

Having just experienced a Major flood that devastated a large part of Brisbane, it’s disgusting to learn that many cases of looting are now coming to light. This to me is one of the most despicable acts that anybody can commit against his fellow man. Most people are already suffering shock and depression at losing so much, and the last thing they want is to have what few belongs they might have salvaged to also be taken from them.

I’m not blaming the police as there are just not enough of them to go around. Although that’s another problem. However, being an ex serviceman and having served in a few countries around the world, I’ve witnessed a far better way of dealing with Looters and that’s to shoot them on sight.  To my way of thinking this helps the community in a couple of different ways, because A ) it gets rid of people that most believe do not contribute to the community in any way what so ever,  B) they can sleep a little easier at nights and C) at least their property will be safer during the next disaster.

Now watch the do godders come out of the wood work slamming me for what I have just written. Telling us that they are as good as you and I, that they are good in tensioned people who just happen to come from a broken home (where have I heard all that before). They might be as good as the do-gooder, but they sure as hell are not as good as the average citizen.

The only time I would agree with people breaking into premises for food is after they have not been helped with aid after a few days. But during Cyclone Yasi, up in Townsville they were looting while the storm was still raging around them.

A member of my family has a relation who owns a Café on the Townsville water front and luckily it came through the storm completely untouched. Image the relieve on the owners face to hear the news.

Only to be told the bad news a couple of days later that Looters had smashed the front windows of the Café and made off with all the food that was stored there.

Apparently while most people in Townsville were not allowed to leave their homes and move around the town during the first day after the storm.  The looters seem to have had a free hand.

Why don’t they declare Military Rule and shoot them, the only thing they contribute to society is heart break and stress.

If the government says they can’t afford to, I’m sure a passing of the hat would soon be filled, to pay for the bullets.

Peace The Old Fashioned Way

 

 

Photo taken from <www.military-today.com>

Another Tax

Having experienced and witnessed the Brisbane floods first hand a week ago (January 2011), I’m a little concerned as to where we go from here, regarding the re-build of the entire east coast  of Australia

Many times I felt sorry and upset after watching on Television other peoples miss fortunes, as their houses were swamped and destroyed by flood water. But I guess it’s a price we have to pay knowing that our forefathers built many of Queensland towns on the banks of river.  Unfortunately, in the end we have to expect floods as a way of life at some time in our life time.

Although after the devastating 1974 Brisbane flood, you would have thought that our State and Federal governments would have put in place a few laws and recommendations to stop a disaster like the 1974 one from ever happening again.

Well you would be wrong, all they did was to use the 1974 level as a high level marker and as long as you built just above that line you were fine. Wrongly believing that no future flood would reach that level.

Well Mother Nature has a way of biting us in the bum a few years further down the track, by dumping a little more rain on us. They must have been naive to think that the 74 flood was the highest amount of rain we would ever receive.

So now once again a vast amount of the city will have to be rebuild, but who will pay??

Well that’s becoming the topic of conversation right around Australia.

When the Labor party took over from John Howard he left a very very large sum of money stashed away for a rainy day (excuse the pun). However the Labor government soon blew that lot with crazy un-thought out schemes, like roof insulation for all, that was abused by many and in some cases so badly managed that a few people were electrocuted and died. Schools had facilities built for them that they did not want, and were unable to divert the money into projects they did want. However, the Government has tried to justify all their spending as Australia fought its way out of a recession.

Well the end result is that the wallet is now empty and so both the Federal and State governments now want to charge us all a levy. I always thought we had one wasn’t it called Income Tax. (And that’s another subject to be blogged about later).

They are always trying to Conn us that we are one of the lowest nations paying income tax. Well I’ve lived in a couple of other counties and they are once again telling the country porky pies (lies). They have fiddled the books to change the wording on some items that I strongly believe are taxes, but they now call them levy’s. Then there is the case of GST being charge on GST, can’t see how that one’s even legal let alone that they are still being allowed to carry on charging it.

Problem 1 how long will the levy be on us, if it’s like other things the government brings in, it will be many many years before it’s taken off. I would not mind betting that it will stay on as a permanent levy to help for future disasters. Funny how Howard managed to put aside for these disasters without the use of a levy.

And before you ask no I’m not a member of any particular party. But I doubt I’ll see good government in my life time. The only way I can see that we might have a chance is to change the government completely, but how the hell can we do that. Pauline Hansen proved that nobody will ever be able to form a new party to try and make changes. Tony Abbott and his slush fund that was financed by both major parties will see to all that.

I’ve often wonder if Abbott ever declared it to the Taxation office?

Medals

It has just been announced that another brave Australian soldier has been awarded the Victoria Cross medal while serving in Afghanistan. This brings the Australian tally to two while serving in this conflict. It has to be noted that all service men serving on active service are brave young men, and in some circumstance many more would and should have been given medals for bravery. However, they do not hand medals out very lightly and many acts of bravery go unrewarded. It must also be remembered that all out serving servicemen volunteered to join up, and to go and fight for our country.

How different the Afghanistan conflict is compared with what our Australian soldiers went through while serving in the Vietnam War way back in the late1960’s. A time when almost all of our serving soldiers were called up by the government and forced to fight.

They were selected by having their name and birth date drawn out of a hat and forced to go and fight in an alien country that many did not even know where it was on the map. At least New Zealand allowed their servicemen to stay at home if they thought they could not coup with the rigors of war.

However, it is now coming to light that many many soldiers in the Vietnam War should have been awarded medals and that there was a cover up, that stopped them getting the full recognition they deserved. There are now stories of officers getting together to award themselves medals while denying the national service man such honours. There is even a case where an officer who was a  postman was awarded a medal. I would love to read the citation on that one. Sorry this is a serious subject.

Surly now is the time to have an enquiry into this rort and to put the record straight once and for all. Although sadly many are now dead and have nobody to fight their case. While many others have chosen to take their own lives, not being able to get horrors of war out of their head.

Even as a returning soldier they should have been welcomed home by a cheering crowd recognising and thanking them for what they had just been through. No there was no parade, and to rub salt into the wounds the ‘Returned Soldiers League’ even refused them entry to some of their clubs, and civilians even spat on some of them in the street. I’m betting that some of those undertaking those horrible despicable deeds against OUR servicemen might have been some of the lucky ones whose names did not come out of the hat.

Terry Aspinall