The crazy dictator - part IIVCIIXXX

How many times will history repeat itself? Don't people learn anything from the past? Written history has documented more than 3000 years' worth of good, moral lessons. Just spend a little time and read it, it's all there.

Since Cain and Abel first started bickering, every weird kind of idiot has pitched up and thought he was the new King and Supreme Ruler.

In the recent past, there were people like Hitler, Stalin, Mussolini, Idi Amin, Sadam Hussein, Pol Pot, Mao Tsetung (or whatever), and so on.

Today, we still have some of these bungling idiots around. People like old Bob the Butcher Mubabwe, and this geriatric geezer who runs North Korea.

But, the joke is on us. I've read some of the world leaders' response to the nuclear bomb that North Korea tested recently. It ranges from "were deeply disturbed, and offended, to "oh, they're just little teenagers with too much time on their hands - they won't really use the Bomb".

"The suggested list includes tightening sanctions imposed in October 2006 (resolution 1718) but never really enforced. Three Pyongyang firms (Korea Mining Development Trading Corp., Korea Ryonbong General Corp. and Tanchon Commercial Bank) are on a U.N. blacklist and more may be added. Some nations also want embargoes on Pyongyang's banking ties as well as flight restrictions and travel bans on designated officials."

The United States has created the Proliferation Security Initiative, aimed at stopping ships that carry nuclear materials or other weapons of mass destruction.

As John Bolton, the former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, told Fox News last month. "The problem for China is they're afraid if they apply to much pressure to North Korea, they'll collapse the regime entirely. There'll be reunification of the Korean peninsula, and they'll see American forces on the Yalu River. They didn't like that movie in 1950. They don't like it any better today."

This was the same response that the West gave Hitler during his early years as Fuhrer. They all decided that the Germans were a little bit crazy, but not crazy enough to start a second world war in the middle of an economic crisis. And who wants to destabilise one or two countries because of one crazy lunatic with a massive army?

Well, while the rest of the world was sleeping, this lunatic was arming his country to the teeth, and eventually managed to get everyone's attention after he practically destroyed half of the planet.

At the moment, North Korea has the fourth largest army in the world. No one cares, because Sadam used to be at Number Three at one stage of his shortened life.

So what was different in Sadam's case? Well, we all know that - OIL.

I watched a CNN special last night. The people in North Korea worship this man as if he is a god. There are golden statues of this imbecile all over North Korea, and people bow before these statues and paintings of their "beloved leader".

People with religious fanaticism like this will go to war without thinking twice.

What I am trying to say is that maybe the world's response should be a little harsher, and a little firmer. Trying to slap old Kim Jong II in the face with a tissue is not the way to force him to back off.

People like this guy respond to only one action - severe and utter violence. They're like wild animals who always need to know who is in control. The only way to make him submit is to do it by force. And keep that forceful pressure on him, because he will try out the boundaries every day.

I've read a lot of history about the second world war. One thing that is evident is the fact that Hitler continuously abused the passivity of the rest of the world in order to gain ground. He expected the west to do nothing - and he laughed about it every time. In fact, Hitler never expected England to declare war in the first place - he thought he'd just march on over Poland without firing a shot. He also abused his nation's trust and adoration - the worshipping of the Fuhrer - to make them fight a war about nothing.

Anyway, what do I know? But I think we need a really big "accident" in the middle Pyongyang - a little misguided nuclear accident. Who will ever know what really happened? This will solve a lot of problems, and the loss of lives will be less than any other option would offer.

And the same goes for Harare.

Guilderton

Guilderton is a small coastal town about 60km north of Perth (depending on where in Perth you live, of course). You just go North on Wanneroo road and turn off at Guilderton, or Moore river.

It reminds me of towns like Gansbaai, Uilkraal and those places on the South African coast. Lovely little holiday town, with many holiday homes and a road house with good hamburgers.
I definitely want to bring my family here for a holiday some day.

The Caravan park in Guilderton

A storm on it's way - always a waste when it rains into the sea, isn't it?

On the way back, the storms were coming for Perth again, and I took some awesome photos. I nearly got blown away by the storm winds when I got out of the car to take these shots.

I'm sure I saw a cow flying by - but it could've been my imagination...

Some more about the Hiroshima story

I read up some more about the bloke who survived the two atom bomb blasts in Japan, and found this story.

This seems to have been written by the original writer who wrote the story after interviewing the persons involved.

It makes great reading, I just love real-life stories like these. It truly is an amazing story, and has been told in a wonderful way. One of those "can't put it down" stories, like a John Grisham novel.

As I was walking along I heard the sound of a plane, just one. I looked up into they sky and saw the B-29, and it dropped two parachutes. I was looking up into the sky at them, and suddenly … it was like a flash of magnesium, a great flash in the sky, and I was blown over.”

The American B-29 bomber ‘Enola Gay’ had flown from the Pacific island of Tinian 1500 miles away. It had dropped a 13 kiloton uranium atomic bomb, nicknamed ‘Little Boy’, which exploded 580 metres above the centre of Hiroshima at thirty seconds after 8.15am.

....

"When the noise and the blast had subsided I saw a huge mushroom-shaped pillar of fire rising up high into the sky. It was like a tornado, although it didn't move, but it rose and spread out horizontally at the top. There was prismatic light, which was changing in a complicated rhythm, like the patterns of a kaleidoscope.

...

"We saw a mother with a baby on her back," said Mr Iwanaga. "She looked as if she had lost her mind. The child on her back was dead and I don't know if she even realised. There were some things I couldn't look at - internal organs hanging out, the tongue or the eyes hanging loose. If you have a normal set of nerves it's very difficult to look at something like that."

...

Mr Sato was also in the shipyard, standing by the quayside. "People were asking me what happened in Hiroshima, because they had heard rumours," he said. "I was just explaining when I saw the flash of light. Instinctively, I knew what was happening, so I jumped immediately into the water." He trod water for an hour, and escaped without a scratch.

I've got a lot of my own real-life stories, but I'm extremely glad that I'm not the one telling this story.

How lucky can you be?

This story fascinates me. It's about a Japanese man who survived BOTH of the atom bomb blasts in 1945.

He was idly humming along, doing his stuff, when he heard a slight commotion outside, and saw a white flash. At first he thought the light bulb in the kitchen had blown, but he soon realised what was going on. He was 3 kilometers away from ground zero, where the first atomic bomb fell in Hiroshima. And while Enola Gay was gayly flying back to base, he was dressing his wounds and waiting for a train.

He took the train to Nagasaki. Of all places in the world, that was the worst destination anyone could choose, especially after you just survived the first aggressive atomic bomb blast in the history of mankind.

At Nagasaki, his wounds were bandaged, and he reported for work at the factory. This in itself is already "wow", but the story gets better. He was telling his boss about a bomb that blew away the whole city of Hiroshima, and his boss wouldn't believe him.

(I assume that the Japanese government at the time tried to hide the facts of this event from the general public - how else is it possible that someone in a city next door did not know that a Big Mushroom Cloud appeared on the horison just a few kilometers away?)

Anyway, while he was telling his wide-eyed story to his boss, who apparently did not want to approve his compassionate leave, the next bomb hit Nagasaki, and his boss was severely injured. He survived this blast as well, and is still alive and kicking today, although the radiation had caused cancer that is now claiming his life.

I have told this story in a very light-hearted manner, but in fact I am amazed by it.

He should have at least blogged about it. It's quite a story.

NO to Daylight savings

Thank goodness, the result of this referendum was a resounding NO from sandgropers all over the state.

Now, to illustrate to you what politics is like in WA, see this reaction:

Reacting to claims by a voter that she would leave WA if daylight saving did not become a permanent way of life in WA, Mr Barnett said: "I think they need to get a life and not be so serious about it."

Hannah Muirhead, 27, said yesterday she and her partner James Davidson would leave WA if daylight saving was not introduced on a permanent basis.

"We won't want to live here. We won't want to bring up our children here," she said.

Can you believe this? Some of us moved thousands of kilometers away from our families and friends, because of serious issues in our home countries. Issues like:

Violent crime
Incompetent governments
Corruption
Decaying infrastructure
Rascism
Terrorism
Genocide

...and so the list goes on.

I know people from SriLanka who fled for their lives. I know people from Zimbabwe who were forced off their land. Just the other day, the Australian navy had captured boatloads of illegal immigrants on their way to Koalaland.

I can tell many stories about immigrants who moved here in search of a better future. And a better future it is, indeed.

But for local people, who were born in this place, the great WA lifestyle sometimes has no meaning. They would rather leave this great state because of a stupid thing like daylight savings.

There's no place else that I'd rather bring up my kids.

I agree with Premier Colin Barnett - get a life, Hannah. Please.

The Big Vote

Here in WA the whole state is engaged in an extremely important referendum. People's futures depend on it, and it's like a real election - only worse.

See, around here, politics is not about which corrupt official will become the next machine-gun waving, dancing iPresidenti. It's about important stuff, like daylight savings time.

I remember when Namibia started applying daylight savings time. There was no referendum. There were no ballot papers. There was no debate about the issue. We were just informed that this was how things would be from now on. The new regime has taken over, and they have decided. No one likes it, but everyone does it every year.

But not in good ol' WA. Here, everyone has a right to decide. In fact, it is illegal for Australian citizens NOT to vote in this referendum. They can be fined $20 for not voting - can you believe it? Unfortunately, I am not a citizen yet, and I cannot vote. I am given over to the mercy of other voters.

The ballot paper will have one "simple" question:

Are you in favour of daylight saving being introduced in Western Australia by standard time in the State being advanced one hour from the last Sunday in October 2009 until the last Sunday in March 2010 and in similar fashion for each following year?

All the voter has to do is answer YES or NO. Maybe some ticks, but no crosses. Just Yes or No. This issue has also caused confusion amongst the masses. Why can't I make a cross? Why does a tick count? Someone explained the whole thing on the radio this morning, and all I can say is "Huh?"

Here is an explanation to avoid confusion:

To make things easier for electors they need to put yes or no on the ballot paper.

"A tick will also be classed as a formal vote but a cross will be classed as an informal vote.

Whatever. Thank goodness I don't have to vote - I'm too stupid to understand the rules.

"While the WA Electoral Commission is urging voters to write the words "yes" or "no" on their ballot papers, it says a tick will also constitute a yes vote.

But a cross will be ruled an invalid vote."

See?

The masses are strongly divided about the issue.

Even on the SA-Australia Forum, we had our own little African-Australian election, and the last result I saw was an exact 50-50% split - right down the middle.

Today I saw a tradie's tralier with big YES written all over it. Reminds me of the days in South Africa when they used the red STOP sign and said "Stop FW"!

In all honesty, this state should probably have three time zones. It's larger than Zimbabwe, South Africa and Namibia thrown together. It's what I like to call "the better half of Australia".

Anyway, I hated "winter-time" in Namibia, and I won't vote for daylight savings if I had the option. All these companies who claim that they do a lot of business with the eastern states can change their working hours if they really need the extra hours. What happened to emails and voicemail, anyway?

That's my humble opinion. I hate the effect of daylight savings on the human body clock, the transition always messes up your body for at least two weeks. For me, anyway. It's nearly like jetlag, only worse.

For those who can vote - think before you do. Good luck.

Some good stuff from the most isolated city in the world

I've been reading Rachel's blog for quite a while now, and I just have to share it with all my faithful followers.

Read her latest blog entry here. It is brilliant.

This lady deserves a nobel prize or something similar.

Enjoy.