Public floggings probably not the way to go...

Is it just me or does everyone believe Gandhi was right – we’ve got to be the change we want to see in the world?

This week in London, an 11-year-old boy named Rhys Jones was shot dead on his way home from soccer training - shot in the neck by a stranger on a BMX bike.

Police have arrested a 15-year-old boy.

On the Sunshine Coast, a 14-year-old was sentenced to 80 hours of community service for his part in the bashing of a 61-year-old.

Judging by the number of outraged callers to the radio station, most people consider that punishment inadequate.

Somebody - many of us, probably - have failed that 14-year-old boy: possibly his parents, the school system and probably the government, too.

There is no point ranting that schools are too busy to deal with problem kids or that governments can’t legislate against bad parenting, because somebody has to save our lost boys, hopefully before they arm themselves with guns.

Debate about the sentence sparked all sorts of calls to Mix FM, from those expressing sadness at the sight of the boy leaving court to others with stories of similar teenage boys terrorising neighbourhoods up and down the Coast.

We even got a call from an elderly woman who thought public floggings, like the good old days, might be the way to go.

Lost, angry, defiant teenage boys are not easy to save. I know that, but we consign them to the scrap heap at our peril.

In Steve Biddulph’s book, Raising Boys, he makes the claim that 100% of teenage boys who join gangs in the United States are boys without a positive male role model in their life.

In gang neighbourhoods, the kids who 100% don’t join gangs are the ones who have a dad living at home or a grandad who loves them, a de facto, or even just a big brother.

I am convinced the little fellow in court this week secretly wants the suburban dream.
He wants parents who care about where he is at night and the chance to grow up and get a job and a car and a house like everyone else.

He just needs someone to show him the way.

So, what to do? Funny you should ask that.

There’s a program on the Sunshine Coast called Big Brothers, Big Sisters. Basically, it matches good, kind adults with troubled kids, for a catch-up once a week.

The results are incredible.

In the beginning, the adult just calls into the school on a Friday afternoon.The kid gets a pass-out to have a chat to someone who is interested in their life, to talk about the good, the bad and the ugly – simple as that.

Before long, the kid begins to trust, perhaps for the first time in his or her life.

If the relationship never grows beyond a weekly chat, well and good, but I know there are Big Brother/Sister combinations on the Sunshine Coast that have become much more than that.

I think those Big Brothers and Big Sisters are genuinely saving lives.

Big Brothers, Big Sisters is run by Integrated Family and Youth Service.

It provides training and support for the big people, so if you want to find out more, call 5438 3000.

Suffer the children....

Is it just me or does everyone think we need to re-evaluate the way we deal with teenage offenders?

A fourteen year old boy appeared in Maroochydore Magistrates court yesterday, pleading guilty to involvement, last month, in the bashing of a 61 year old man.

The boy was given 80 hours community service and placed on probation for 12 months. No conviction was recorded, the magistrate expressed concern for the fact the boy had shown little remorse for his actions.

I think we’re all familiar with this story. A group of teenagers was told to get off a concrete fence on Kawana Island…they were rude to the woman who told them to get off the fence and she and her husband chased them in a vehicle demanding to know the boys names …a dispute ensued and punches were thrown.

A little while later, the boys returned to the house on Kawana Island – reportedly driven there by the father of one of the boys. The fourteen year old, in court yesterday, first bashed on the front door, then smashed the lights on the couples vehicle. When the 61 year old home owner came out to investigate he was hit in the head, chest and ankle with the pick handle and has been unable to return to work since.

I know a lot of people will 80 hours of community service to be an inadequate sentence….I’m not sure…I just wish we were a little more creative with how that community service time is spent.

I don’t think it’s a big leap to suggest what this child needs more than anything is someone to teach him respect…respect for peoples property, respect for their safety, respect for authority and most of all, respect for himself.

I wonder if there are any decent male role models in this child’s life?

The idiot who drove those boys to Kawana Island armed with axe handles does not count. I don’t care what his relationship is to the boys….he is a fool and should play no further part in their life.

But imagine 80 hours spent In the company of the victim…80 hours in his shed, in his garden, fishing together, working on cars, whatever you like…80 hours sitting watching tv together if they have to…80 hours getting to know this guy…

Regardless of what this child has done, he is too young to be put on the scrap heap

Tears of a clown...

Is it just me or does everyone suspect it’s not all that funny being funny?

Incredible news today, that actor Owen Wilson is in a California hospital being treated for a suspected suicide attempt.

According to US reports, Owen Wilson was found unconscious, at home yesterday afternoon by his brother Andrew. He had superficial wounds to his wrists where he had attempted to slit them, before overdosing on sleeping pills.

Owen Wilson is one of the most endearing funny men on the big screen. His cheesy character in the movie meet the fockers is one of my favourites of all time.

With his brother luke, to the outside world, the wilson boys could appear to have everything…good looks, great jobs, fame, fortune, a tight set of fun friends to make stupid movies with….dating Kate Hudson…it’s the stuff dreams are made of.

A friend of mine met Owen Wilson last year, when he came to Australia with Kate Hudson for the launch of their movie my friend Pete was the camera man who filmed an interview with the pair. Pete told me Kate was a darling, warm, friendly, incredibly beautiful…curious about australia and asking the crew where they lived, where they grew up….he said she just blew everyone away.

He said Owen Wilson was a massive disappointment. Pete was a huge fan, but he said in real life Owen Wilson was cranky and disinterested.

Depression is a terrible thing, it amazes me how many high profile comedians are sufferers…Robin Williams, Jim Carrey, Peter Sellers…
If you want to talk to someone about depression…call beyond blue 1300 22 4636

Exclusive Brethren

Is it just me or is everyone interested in finding out more about extremist religious groups?

A small religious sect, the Exclusive Brethren is making headlines again.

The Exclusive Brethren apparently donated three hundred and seventy thousand dollars to John Howard's last election campaign. No one knows what they’ll donate this time.

I think there are a few Exclusive Brethren who live on the Sunshine Coast, they can usually be spotted by their very conservative dress…women and girls always in long skirts with scarves in their hair.

A lot of the press Exclusive Brethren get is regarding family court disputes. If a member of the Brethren falls out of favour, they become a so called ‘leper’, completely ostracised and banned from meeting, speaking with or communicating in any way with members of their family. That means a parent who leaves the sect is told they can never see their children again.
Hence the family court battles.

Brethren are basically Christian, but they’re not much fun. Among the things they ban are television, radio, cinema, mobile phones, university education, health insurance, life insurance, membership of any union or professional association or sports club, they ban short hair for women, and long hair for men. Members are forbidden to vote, even pets are reportedly banned, because of some obscure verse in the book of Revelation.

Exclusive Brethren cannot eat or drink with non-members. That alone, I guess, is enough to ensure we don't know much about them…and similarly, they don’t know much about us either.

The bible is a complex little sucker. I read an article recently that described it as 66 books written by dozens of authors over some 1500 years. I guess you can get it to say whatever you want….including that university education, the muppet movie and labradoodles are evil…

If that’s what Exclusive Brethren want to believe, I say, good luck to them. That doesn't mean I buy what their selling…ABSOLUTELY NOT....but I could say that about a lot of groups….

As long as the Exclusive Brethren are not a threat to the wider community, as long as they operate within the law, then I think they are just part of the rich multi cultural tapestry of Australia…and I’m happy to live amongst them.

I bet you won't call...

Is it just me or does everyone have a particular hatred of gambling?

A couple of people I love have got into trouble with gambling.

I love the races. I love having a dollar each way on a horse with a cute name. I would never miss a bet on the Melbourne Cup, but I hate the pokies with a passion and I’ve been to a few casinos in the early hours of the morning and I think they are quite possibly the saddest places on earth.

Former AFL star David Schwarz yesterday revealed it was only three weeks ago he paid off the last of a $655,000 debt caused by 15 years of addictive gambling.

At one stage, David Schwarz, lost $20,000 in 20 minutes playing the pokies. He says he lost friends, a house and retired from football in 2002 virtually penniless.

He says his biggest regret is that he remembers more about the punt than his football career.
"I couldn't tell you much about the games I played but I could tell you who won the 1996 Cox Plate, and that's disgraceful."

It’s a story you hear over and over, end of season footy trips/basketball trips - parties to Las Vegas. It’s all about the punt….and these are guys who live in a high pressure environment…it’s very dangerous.

David Schwarz can recall his last bet, May 3, 2005, made from the garage of his home during son Cooper's christening. He sneaked out to make a phone bet and lost $1000.
Gambling is a business – not a charity - and it’s not about making the punters rich.

If you think you need to talk to someone about gambling – whether you’re worried about yourself or someone close to you…a good place to start is www.gamblersanonymous.org.au ….or just give them a call… 1800 156 789

Raising children...

Is it just me or does everyone think parents these days need all the help they can get?

Yesterday, the federal government released a dvd called raising children. It’s full of celebrities giving parenting advice…which, incredbly, doesn’t annoy me as much as I thought it would…

It’s something I wish I had when my kids were little. But you know what? I jumped on the website, just to have a look (www.raisingchildren.net.au) and some of the parenting tips
are good for kids of all the ages.

Here are some of them…

1. Children do as you do. Your kids watch you, if you don’t want them to swear…don’t swear. If you want them to be kind... be kind.

2. Show how you feel. If your can tell your kid honestly how their behaviour affects you, for instance, don’t say "You’re noisy!" Calmly say, "I can’t talk on the phone when you’re being noisy" By using the word 'I' you should get them to see your point of view.

3. Catch them being ‘good’. This simply means that when your child is behaving well, make sure you notice. In fact, for all kids, there is a scientific ratio - for every six positive comments, you can cope with one criticism - that’s a healthy relationship…no matter who you are, daughter, sister, mother, friend, wife, employee...six to one.


4. Get down to your kids level. If you’ve got something important to say, kneel or squat next to your kids, make them look you in the eye.

5. Listen to your kids, tell them ‘I hear you.’ Little kids get frustrated really easily. When that happens, let them explain to you why they're angry, and then and repeat their story back to them. You know yourself, it helps to know that people understand where you’re coming from.


Anyway, heaps more on the website, and even if you're not about to have a baby, the federal government is offering the dvd to all parents for a limited time....just check out the website.

Kevin .07

Is it just me or does everyone feel pretty disinterested in Kevin Rudd’s visit to a strip club?

I’m not a big fan of strip clubs. I think they're pretty skanky and not incredibly respectful of women. I also suspect a lot of blokes who go to strip clubs wouldn’t like their daughters working there, being leered at by old drunk blokes…

So I’m not a big fan.

However, I think it's possible for people to have too much to drink and go a little off the rails.

Am I glad that Kevin Rudd has had too much to drink at least twice in his life? I am actually.
And not just because I like to get loaded…but because I don’t like my leaders too squeaky clean.

I don’t judge leaders on minor moral indescretions. Bill Clinton, Peter Garrett smoking pot, when John Howard was accused of sitting next to a porn king at a liberal party fundraiser – I couldn't have cared less. Stuff happens, everyone can make a mistake – it’s how you handle that mistake that matters.

I don’t want to be like the US where politicians are forced to lie or behave like monks to qualify for public office. I like my leaders with a little life experience.

Having said I don’t care, that doesn't mean I don't think it's funny. Will I know Kev as Kevin Rude from now on? Absolutely...What about Kevin .07? Hilarious! Kevin Stud? Stop, I'm getting a stitch.....

Say tata to fake tata's!

Is it just me or does everyone wonder how to keep their daughters safe?

You probably heard this week about a magazine competition urging men to send in photos of the inadequate cleavages of their girlfriends.

Apparently, the girl who “deserves it most” will win breast implants worth $10,000.
Plastic surgeons say the contest is unethical and possibly illegal.

I don’t want to be a narc about fake boobs. I’m sure they make some girls feel really good about themselves. But is anyone else concerned that fakes are almost becoming compulsory?
I know numerous girls under the age of 22 who have gone under the knife for a new set of “tatas”.

I can honestly see the day when having time off school for visits to the cosmetic surgeon will be as common for teenagers as trips to the orthodontist for straight teeth.
And maybe there is nothing wrong with that; I don’t know. But I just hope my girls don’t sign on.

I don’t like fake boobs for lots of reasons.

Bodacious tatas used to be something that chubby girls had over their skeletal rivals. In the lottery of life, you used to have to make the best of what you got.
Some girls got slim hips, some got good skin, some got big boobs and some of us just got a lovely smile.

That was the lottery. Of course, some girls got the lot, and good luck to them.

I realise my kids wear braces, and I accept that I’m the queen of fake tan. But fake boobs just seem like cheating to me.

More disturbingly, last week a study published in the Annals of Plastic Surgery reported that women who have cosmetic breast implants are almost three times as likely to commit suicide as other women. So it turns out a new set of boobs may not be the self-esteem cure-all some women are hoping for.

What worries me most, however, are the parents of young girls who seem happy to pay for new breasts for their babies.

I don’t ever want to look at my daughters and wish they were built differently.

They are the sum of John and me.

In the lottery of life, that might not be the jackpot, but I think it’s what makes them so beautiful.

The King is Dead!

Is it just me or does everyone still feel a little sad about the demise of Elvis?

I have never really understood what happened to the King. How could someone so young, so fit and handsome change so dramatically?

I guess, as well as being at the forefront of rock and roll, he was at the forefront of drugs too. His problem was almost entirely prescription drugs, sleeping pills to go the bed, uppers to get going in the morning, pain killers during the day, and that’s where the weight gain came from….and ultimately the heart failure.

It’s the 30th anniversary of the death of Elvis…here are some bits of trivia you might not have known about the King.

· Elvis had an identical twin. Born stillborn, the twin was named Jessie Garon.

· Elvis wanted a bike for his 11th birthday, he got a guitar instead.
He taught himself to play a few chords, strumming away to blues and gospel songs, and the rest is history.

· Elvis’s first job was as a truck driver, earning $1.25 an hour. His real ambition, however, was to become an electrician and he started evening classes to gain the necessary skills.

· Elvis had to pay for his first song recording - forking out a fee of around $4. He had wanted to record to see what his voice was like

· An appearance by Elvis on the Ed Sullivan show became famous for the first censorship of its kind - Elvis was only shown from the waist up because his hip-wiggles were considered too inflammatory for a mass audience.

· Aside from three concerts in Canada, Elvis never performed outside the United States.

· Elvis once wrote a letter to President Nixon in which he asked to be appointed as an undercover narcotics cop. Bizarrely, Elvis hated street drugs and was will to dob in people in the music industry who were peddling narcotics. Interesting when you consider how Elvis died.

· More than 20 million Elvis Presley records were reportedly sold on the day after his death.
'His kind of music is deplorable, a rancid smelling aphrodisiac… It fosters almost totally negative and destructive reactions in young people.'Frank Sinatra, 1950s

'There have been many accolades uttered about Elvis' talent and performances through the years, all of which I agree with wholeheartedly. I shall miss him dearly as a friend. He was a warm, considerate and generous man.'Frank Sinatra, 1977

'Before Elvis, there was nothing.'John Lennon

Can't breast feed? Bad mother!

Is it just me or does everyone think breast is best for babies?

I know it is. I’m not arguing that. But you know what? Not everyone can do it.

I don’t really know why I wasn’t a good 'cow' (as my Mum put it) but my milk just never came in.

All my babies ended up being 'comp fed', which means, when my milk didn’t materialise and my screaming little tykes started losing weight, the mid-wives told me to start giving them small amounts of formula to ensure they kept having wet nappies. Of course, once I did that, it wasn’t long before the howling baby and the teary hormonal mother were both pretty keen to make it all bottles, all the time.

Over three children I was made feel pretty bad by other mothers, infant health nurses and absolutely anyone I came into contact with from the Australian Breast Feeding Association.

Apparently, every single woman can breast feed, there is no such thing as can't, and had I not been so selfish and instead laid in bed with my crying non-attaching baby for a couple of weeks, and never given it/them a 'comp' bottle - I would eventually have been successful.

One woman, who actually made me cry, told me she was 'exasperated' by women who weren't prepared to make sacrifices for their children.

Getting a bottle out at playgroup made me wish I had a note from my midwife, assuring any breast feeding nazi's in the general vicinity that 'this woman has tried and tried'….

Member for Fairfax Alex Somlyay and has tabled a report in parliament, with 22 recommendations to make it easier for women to breastfeed exclusively for the first six months of their child’s life.

I think it’s great, of course I fully support they need for babies to get the best possible start in life. Alex Somlyay's committee has recommended everything from more advertising to sell the benefits of breastfeeding to more practical support for new mothers. Bravo! But you know what? Some women just can’t breastfeed, and I think they should be left alone.

100 things to do before you die....

Is it just me or does everyone wonder what they’re going to do next?

My name is Caroline and I am 39. That’s right, 39 years old. If you’re older than me, you probably get it. 40 kind of sneaks up on you. Deep down, you know, I don’t think I ever really believed I’d be 40…and I know I’m not just yet, but it’s only a hop skip and a jump!

If you’re younger than me, don’t get too cocky tiger…it happens to the best of us….

Anyway, what have you done lately?

There’s a show on channel nine at the moment, it’s called things to try before you die and as 40 looms large, I thought I should get my own list together.

I can cross off the Sydney city to surf, did that on Sunday. Loved it…

I’ve jumped out of a plane a couple of times (not that keen)…been on a reality tv show…(loved it)…

I did the Mudjimba to Mooloolaba Charity swim…had three babies…backpacked around Europe, wrote a book! They’re all good, I know but I have to grow the list.

So here it is…I’ve actually done some of these – I googled the list, but I thought it was pretty good….
Swim with a dolphin.
Skydive
Spend the whole day naked
Watch the launch of the Space Shuttle
Walk the Great Wall of China
Listen to the Dalai Lama Speak
Ride a camel into the desert.
Get to know your neighbours.
Learn to ballroom dance properly.
Fall in love - unconditionally.
Write a novel.
Ride the Trans-Siberian Express across Asia.
Stay out all night dancing and go to work the next day without having gone home
Learn to play a musical instrument
Work a night in a soup kitchen
Walk the Kokoda Track
See a lunar eclipse
Ask someone you've only just met to go on a date.
Sleep under the stars.
Touch a Tiger
Drove slowly around Australia
Be the boss.
Learn to juggle with three balls.
Wear the best costume at a party.
Drive a convertible with the top down and music blaring.
Buy your own house and then spend time making it into exactly what you want.
Grow your own vegetables
Spend a whole day eating junk food without feeling guilty.
Give a speech in public
Scuba dive off the Great Barrier Reef.
Go up in a hot-air balloon.
Give to a charity -- anonymously.
Make love on the kitchen floor.
Go deep sea fishing and eat your catch.
Create your own web site.
Make yourself spend a half-day at a concentration camp and swear never to forget.
Create your Family Tree.
Learn to Ski.
Walk to the crater of a volcano
Run a marathon
Have a baby…and watch him grow up.
Reflect on your greatest weakness, and realize how it is your greatest strength.
Make a hole in one
Pull a beer
Get drunk and kiss a stranger.
Visit the Holy land
Have your portrait painted
Tell someone the story of your life, sparing no details
Be an extra in a film
Attend at least one major event, The Olympics, The World Cup
Learn another language
Learn not to say yes when you really mean no
Send a message in a bottle
Be on a TV show
Buy a round-the-world air ticket and a rucksack, and run away
Plant a tree
Witness the birth of a baby
Shower in a waterfall
Live in a share house
Sit on a jury
Shave your head
Make love on a forest floor
Drink beer at Oktoberfest in Munich.
Ride a motor bike through Mexico
Write down your goals and then do something about them
Experience weightlessness
Make friends with a famous person
Own a Porsche
Write your will
Attend the Anzac memorial at Anzac cove
Visit new York
Learn to camp
Fly First Class
Go Whale watching
Draw on a wall
Set off a fire extinguisher
Win an Award
Win a trip
Queue for something for at least 24 hours
Fly a kite
Make a complete and utter fool of yourself
Wake up on a beach
Learn to surf
Be interviewed on TV
Stage Dive
Release an Album
Go to confession
Make someone cry of happiness
Participate in a protest
Ride in a military jeep
Be debt free
Sponsor a child
Have a coffee on the sidewalk in Paris
Be a guest in a VIP tent - ANYWHERE
Visit ground Zero
Visit Area 51
Buy your Mum flowers and tell her you love her
Visit Machu Picchu
Live in another country for a while

Nature or nurture....

Is it just me or does everyone love a little crazy research?

Did you know, that more than 50 per cent of players in the English premier league soccer were born in the first three months of the year?

Apparently, someone at Cambridge University was the first to notice the phenomenon, and decided to check it out.

For a comparison, they took a look at the European national youth teams, which provide talent to the English Premier League, confirmed it…half the elite players in ALL English teams were born in January, February or March.

The birth dates of others are spread over the other nine months.

As a little control, I took a look at the Bronco’s website…same again, more than half of first grade were born in the first three months of the year.

Apparently, there’s a pretty mundane explanation.

The cut off date for most sports is December 31.

So, when kids first get into sport, a player born in January is likely to be physically stronger and more likely to impress than one born later in the year.

And that’s the moment it starts, when people start noticing the child and commenting on their skills.

The January-born player then gets more attention from coaches and positive re-inforcement from parents and peers….and sometimes, that’s all it takes to transform them into superstars.

Now, this might sound like bad news for the mere mortals born between April and December…but it’s the opposite.

What the experts are saying, is that natural talent is in fact over rated… elite sportspeople, whether they play AFL football, netball, soccer or cricket, are nearly always made, not born.
As all it takes is a glimmer of hope and someone to believe in you…so there you go.

Letter from Inspector Owen King....

Inspector Owen King is based in Byron Bay and was the first on the scene of last year’s accident that killed 4 teenagers from his town. Owen is tired of the waste of lives and has written this letter to all teenagers.

Owen King’s letter to a teenage driver :


Car smashes are democratic. They do not discriminate. Good kids die as easily as ratbags.

One moment’s lapse can kill you. That moment when you reach over to change the CD from The Herd to Cat Empire, that flicker of time with your eyes off the road is all it takes. And then there will be no Big Day Out, no more Splendour in the Grass. If you want to hear music again that ain’t harps, keep your eyes on the road and your hands on the wheel.

Wake your parents if you need a safe lift. They’ll be tired and cranky but that’s their job. Wake them up to come and get you. They’ll crack up a little but that’s nothing compared to a lifetime of grief.

Chill out. Every day on the roads some dropkick may cut you off, try to drag you off, give you the finger or dare you to do something stupid. They are everywhere. They have big egos and little brains. Let them go. Chill out.

How much are you willing to trade for that one moment? It takes just one mad moment to be killed on the roads – speed, distraction, drink – and you lose so much. You won’t get to take that overseas trip, you won’t get to have that huge 21st party, you won’t get to go to that grand final with your mates and you won’t get to do that surfing safari around Australia – All that – Gone.

Cars take two hands to drive. Not one hand for driving and one for texting on the mobile phone or putting on lipstick. Not one for driving and one on your girlfriend’s leg. Not using knees to drive while writing down a phone number. It takes two hands to drive a car.

Seatbelts are made to stop your body exiting the car headfirst. Heads are not designed for this and split like melons. Wear your seatbelt.

The boot of the car is for the spare wheel. No matter what’s happening – you urgently need a lift, it’s not far, the car is full – don’t climb into a boot. It’s like willingly climbing into a coffin. You are made of soft flesh and bone. In a rollover or bad smash, it is like food in a blender.

You love speed? Go surf the face of a big wave down at Burleigh. Go bungee jump. Get your kicks that way. Because if you love to speed on the road, sooner or later you will take a corner too fast and some big gum tree will get in the way and end the love affair.




The road toll only shows the dead. Modern car technology means more people are surviving bad car smashes but with horrific injuries. Brain injury wards are filled with young women trying to learn how to feed themselves and young blokes who believed they were unbreakable trying to master wheelchairs. You may survive but the life you once knew has effectively ended.

If you drive a car full of passengers and cause a bad smash, grief and guilt will wrap you up like a skin. Minimise the chances. Lighten up. You probably learnt to drive with only one passenger. When all your mates pack into the car, that’s an extra 320kg and the car will brake, corner and handle completely differently because of it. So, slow down, for their sake. Better still, carry just one mate.

Anyone can drive fast. It just takes a heavy foot. No great driving finesse needed. It takes no great brains. Not everyone has restraint and control and maturity to drive to the limit. That takes more guts, especially when others are speeding.

The police, firies and ambos are tired of dragging broken young bodies from wrecks. They are tired of the smell of blood and despair and hot engines at car crash scenes. They are tired of knocking on front doors at 2am to parents dressed in pyjamas and bone-pale faces. They are tired and it is not even the start of the mad Christmas season. They are tired of the waste. Give them a break.

Living is the best revenge. You want to rebel against the system, against your parents, against authority. Great. Survive. Outlive them all and enjoy life.

You’re precious to so many. Act it. You’re someone’s son or daughter, much loved grandchild, best mate. Act it. You’re potentially someone’s great love. Act it.

What have we learned?

Is it just me or does everyone wonder why peace seems so hard to achieve?

Yesterday was the 62nd anniversary of the world’s first nuclear attack on Hiroshima.
Nagasaki will commemorate on Thursday.

JAPAN remains the only country to have nuclear weaponry used against its citizens. They have been pacifists since the end of the Second World War.

Some 45,000 met in Hiroshima at 8.15 am yesterday – the exact moment on August 6, 1945 that the Enola Gay dropped her bomb, instantly killing more than one hundred and 40 thousand people.

The world went kind of silent, after the bombs were dropped. I’ve asked my mum about it. She had only just turned 6 when the bombs were dropped, but says her impression is that people were glad the war was over.

What was happening to the citizens of Hiroshima and Nagasaki was not foremost in their mind.
The truth is, there was never much information available in the US or Australia about the devastation wrought on Japan – the US government, in particular, wanted to pretend it had never happened.

In the past few years though, more and more stories have emerged, thankfully, before the last witnesses and survivors have passed away.

They tell stories of how the six rivers of the Hiroshima delta were so swollen with bodies that you couldn't see the water.

140,000 dead within days, 100,000 more dying; everything within two kilometres irradiated; 13 square kilometres burned to the ground. Drinking the water was deadly. Small fleshy body parts, like ears and noses, melted long before the people themselves died.

Yesterday, the Japanese prime minister called once again for world wide nuclear disarmament and left us with a chilling statistic.

The world's current storehouse of nukes is 400,000 times more powerful than the weapon that destroyed Hiroshima.

It reminded me of an old quote from Albert Einstein:
"I know not with what World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones."

We love you too Russell...

Is it just me or does everyone believe in love above everything else?

Russell Crowe is causing a bit of a stir at the South Sydney Rugby League Side, the Rabbitoh’s..

A couple of years ago Rusty was approached to help pay the players wages at South Sydney…according to one report, he was asked to write a cheque for one hundred thousand dollars to cover wages. Apparently that was when Russell talked to his friend, businessman Peter Holmes a Court, and together they bought the club.

My jury is still out on Rusty, he's not all good, not all bad…. (google 'I was Russell Crowe's Stooge but I love what he’s doing a at Souths..

You might have seen an ad Russell and Peter Holmes a Court put in the paper earlier this season. It basically said rugby league is for Australia and it’s for families and they made a promise that their players would conduct themselves with dignity on and off the field.

Tomorrow night on the ABC a six part series will get underway…it’s called 'South Side Story' and it starts at eight o’clock…

It tracks the take over at Souths and what has happened since, in episode two there is a bit of 'love in', when Rusty pulls player Dean Widders out of the pack, in front of all the players and tells him he loves him…

It’s caused a ibt of a stir – I know some old school rabbitoh’s hard men are horrified, calling it 'bullshit'…

But I love it, I think Rusty and Pete are just trying to build a culture people can admire, much like Wayne Bennett has acheived at the Bronco's.

"The thing that will make the difference is love . . . actually accepting the family environment, the brotherhood. I don't see everything has to be about crash, bash and negativity. We're going to achieve a lot more if you actually have higher ideals."

Good on you Rusty, I love you too. I think.