To those of us who live down under, Summer is a coming in and , for our friends in the Northern Hemisphere, the winter chill is well on its way.
The strange thing is that the smells associated with our seasons are woven into our memories, like snapshots from the past.
As a child, I grew up in the country and, to this day, the smell of freshly mown grass or newly harvested hay takes me back to a time of happiness and security.
Unlike any other sense, the sense of smell seems to trigger my mind more than any of my other senses.
Read more: The Scent of Summer and the Wonderful waft of Winter
After months of misery and sticking to our homes like glue, just in case we get the dreaded lurgy, it gets to the stage where you have to bite the bullet, get in the car and hit the road. Not on a holiday or heading off to somewhere windswept and exotic; just a trip to the other side of town. What, less than a year ago, was a normal part of day to day living has become a chore and an unwelcome one at that.
Going to public places is now a voyage into a foreign land. A place where it is no longer fun or familiar. It has become a chore and, like ironing is to me, an an unpleasant one at that.
For the last 7 months, I have seen much of the western world descend into chaos because of the " Virus "
This was just the excuse for the closing down of freedom and taking over our lives under the illusion that it is for our own good. It conditioned us to get used to being told what to do, when to do it and be grateful for our Governments caring and responsible destruction of our lives.
We have seen places like Victoria and Queensland supposedly applaud the prison guards for locking us up and taking our freedom, livelihoods and futures. APPARENTLY, we voted in unison for more Nanny State and reduction in our individual right to dictate the terms of living our own lives.
Read more: The Stealth Virus - 7 months descent in to the chaos of hell
The birth of an airline – from humble beginnings in the vast Queensland Outback , the now iconic flying kangaroo has bounded across the skies of the world for 100 years.
Back in 1920, in the small town of Winton, the airline company QANTAS was born. The Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services Ltd was created and would be known as QANTAS from that day forward.
I read Redhead's article about the Lord's Prayer and it struck me on so many levels. The idea that we are all looking in to the dawn of a new day and praying that it will be a better day... what has happened to us as a People, as Nations?
What have we done that has culminated in 2020, the year that the world went mad? Well, I will tell you what we did wrong. We allowed them to trespass against us.
Green alarmists are fanning a firestorm of fear about man-made global warming.
Earth always cycles between warmth and cold. Every recent warm period (Medieval Warming, Roman Warming etc) was a time of plenty for all life on Earth, whilst cold periods like the Little Ice Age saw crop failures, famine, migrations, invasions, disease and death.
I woke early this morning, around 4.30 am . I arose and headed to my TV room. This is where, if you remember reading about my Magic Chair that the family gave me for Christmas last year is my Massage chair.I relaxed into the soothing motion of the massage , looked out of the window , dawn and the sun rising and everything looked lovely. The Lord's Prayer popped into my mind. So I began to say it. You have to remember I am old school... we had a different upbringing to most of the kids today. We had morning prayers before classes began. On Sunday morning we went to Sunday school. We recited and knew the different prayers. My children followed the same routine, the biggest difference was the Queen and standing "for a Lady on a Horse" before the movie began. Sunday school the same , the Lords' Prayer the same.
This year’s presidential election is the fourth since 2000 to be marred by either widespread allegations of voter fraud or of foreign interference. Politicians and pundits have long counted on elections to wave a magic wand of legitimacy over the reign of whoever is designated the winner. But Americans are increasingly wondering if the endlessly-trumped “consent of the governed” has become simply another sham to keep them paying and obeying.
Years ago, as a child, I was told a story about a man who changed the world. He had the crazy idea that if you treated people well, they would prosper. He talked with people at rallies and, as time went by, his gatherings grew and he became well known for his words, his deeds and his love of and for his fellow human being.
He didn't give a toss about whether someone was black or white; rich or poor; he didn't even care if someone was sick or diseased. All he cared about was making people better. In making individual people better, he believed that his world would become better, kinder, richer and more equality based.
What a situation we are in , both here and New Zealand where farmers who have done their bit by producing food and fruit are having no one to help pick and collect it. Result ... being ploughed back into the ground or left in the case of fruit to rot under the trees or bushes.I can understand no foreign backpackers or seasonal pickers arriving because of the Virus restrictions. But surely we have enough unemployed younger and fit people who can join with others to help harvest the food the hard working farmers have worked so hard to produce.
On November 11th, 1918, at 11 o'clock in the morning, the end of the First World War was announced: Germany surrendered to the Allied Forces. After 4 long years of bloodshed, the final Armistice was signed...
In this time of turbulence and upheaval, we must not forget the battles fought for us and how the sacrifice of others has given us the freedom to protest, the freedom to speak out and the freedom to vote and have those freedoms protected.
As we move through this period of upheaval, please take time out to remember this. Were it not for those brave men and women, this debacle over who won or lost an election would not be on the table. In fact, the word " freedom " would have long ago been erased from our dictionaries.
Read more: 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month - never forget
In early 1951, New Zealand’s waterfronts weren’t just bustling ports - they had become battlegrounds.…
205 hits
Ratty News Special: “From Gondwana to Dusty Gulch: The Ostrich Problem” By Roderick (Whiskers) McNibble,…
408 hits
During World War II, Australia was a vital cog in the Allied machine, sending troops…
483 hits
Of all the magnificent units and regiments of the Australian Army I doubt if…
451 hits
The Emu War is one of Australia’s strangest historical events. In late 1932, the government…
373 hits
For nearly a decade, I’ve poured my soul into this blog. Twelve hours a day,…
350 hits
The Battle of Long Tan took place on August 18, 1966, in the Phuoc Tuy…
418 hits
We live in a strange age where even computers can sound like they care. AI…
314 hits
RATTY NEWS EXCLUSIVE: DIGITAL DINGO’S BIN BONANZA By Roderick (Whiskers) McNibble – Chief Correspondent, Dusty…
394 hits
On 6 and 9 August 1945, the United States detonated two atomic bombs over the…
401 hits
Democracy: Now With 97% Less Majority Rule Because who needs the will of the people…
474 hits
NEWSFLASH FROM DUSTY GULCH By Roderick (Whiskers) McNibble – Dusty Gulch Bureau Chief Hold onto…
405 hits
Between the “Scrap Iron Flotilla” and “the Rats of Tobruk,” turning insults into a point…
405 hits
Before Xbox and iPads, we had mist, mud, and pinecones - and we waged battles…
376 hits
Picture trench warfare, and you’re probably seeing World War I’s muddy, rat-infested ditches, with soldiers…
425 hits
Digitally Removed in Shocking Duck Directive - Trevor the Wallaby Victim of “Knee-Free” Policy – Gulch Governance…
468 hits
How my father’s final hour barefoot in the sun taught me what it really means…
412 hits
What a healed bone, the smell of leather, and a soldier’s burden reveal about who…
401 hits
Thomas Pritchard, Australia's last "Rat of Tobruk" passed away at the age of 102 on…
527 hits
In a thoughtful historical essay published on this blog, John Ruddick celebrated the British discovery…
453 hits
From immigration policy to identity politics, energy to ideology - the erosion of Western society…
474 hits
In the 1970s, listening to Pirate Radio was more than entertainment - it was defiance.…
566 hits
DUSTY GULCH IN TURMOIL AS SOCIAL MEDIA MELTDOWN HITS MULTI-SPECIES SCHOOL By Roderick (Whiskers) McNibble,…
479 hits
“Every tyrant must begin by claiming to have what his victims respect and to give…
544 hits
The sea doesn’t warn you. It doesn’t care who you are, what rank you hold,…
463 hits
National First looks into how compulsory voting shackles true democracy. Australia likes to pat itself…
478 hits
At nine years old, I felt the silence of the lambs, long before I knew…
470 hits
While the new aces argue about the runway, the old crew still knows how to…
475 hits
When a lifetime isn’t enough to be believed I know a person... in her older…
553 hits
RATTY NEWS SPECIAL BULLETIN By Roderick “Whiskers” McNibble, Editor-in-Cheese It has been a busy week…
454 hits
Before he was a U.S. Senator, Vice President, or bestselling author, J.D. Vance was just…
516 hits
From the rat-hunters of age-old sailing ships to the black-cloaked Catalinas prowling the Pacific skies,…
500 hits