a national day of mourning has been put aside for our fellow country men and women of the glorious but devastated state of victoria
the designated time for a service in melbourne is 11 a.m. a.e.s.t. on the 22nd of february (this sunday), but the whole day is set aside as a national day of mourning, I for one will acknowledge this day
I could not find a more worthy subject, to which will or should stop a nation
to just pause and think of the 200 plus innocent lives that were lost in such a senseless tragedy,
amongst that number is a canberran firefighter, who for no other reason than to try to just plain help, put himself in harms way and was lost, these people are the real heroes male and female, they dont procastinate,they dont look for praise and most times they dont receive it
they just go and do what needs doing and usually return to their own lives until needed again, but to then lose ones life as a reward is to me the saddest thing, this is a call above and beyond in my line of thinking
all I ask is that we all just stop, even for a moment and just spare a thought for the happless, I rubbish the hell out of the Vic's, stick it to them in footy and every chance I get but I would not wish this upon them or any one else, I feel greatly saddened by their loss
where was god's eyes averted to at the time, certainly not watching over us!!!
ibbo said
07:39 PM Feb 19, 2009
Hey Dave.A huge "LEST WE FORGET".Regards Martin.
Cruising Granny said
09:26 PM Feb 19, 2009
Thanks for the reminder Dave. It is a time to reflect on all tragedies this country has faced recently and in times past.
These tragedies have made we Ozzies the characters we are, and we have a lot to be proud of.
Maybe some good will come from this devastation. Maybe the decision makers will think longer and harder about the consequences of their decisons. The tree huggers may be a bit more selective in the trees they choose to hug, and the trees which present a danger to all around.
In a cruel act of man and nature these disasters being experienced around the country in the form of fire and flood, could reverse the economic deflation when all the aid money and insurance money is released, and the rebuilding begins.
I've always been taught God moves in mysterious ways. Is this one of those ways?
None of this reduces the trauma being experienced by everyone involved, the victims and the support personnel. The Australian Character has been reinforced, to carry on into future generations. Wiser and stronger for the experiences of all those involved.
From devastation wisdom grows. Regards Granny
Basil Faulty said
08:47 AM Feb 20, 2009
There is to be a non denominational service at my local theartre on Sunday. I'm going even though I'm not a God Botherer but I feel I shall show my respect by attending. I feel for those who have lost everything in the fires, however I feel more for those whose homes have been innundated by the floods as those poor buggers get no insurance or help. You can insure against loss by fire but you can't insure against loss by flooding if the damage is caused by a flooding water course.... In times past we would pull ourselves out of depression/recession by going off to fight a war, as Granny suggests the massive rebuild necessary after this should do the trick.
It still gets up my nose though that we don't learn from these disasters, we still allow build up of fuel and we punish anyone sensible enough to reduce the hazards around their own property and we (especially in the ACT) don't maintain the fire trails and block them off.... I shall mourn the loss, grief and horror with the reset of the Nation.
-- Edited by Basil Faulty at 07:48, 2009-02-20
mike and Judy said
11:16 AM Feb 20, 2009
And do not the forget the developers and the councils that allow it, they figure if it been dry for 8 years it will never flood again, so they sell the land to young kids who are desperate for a home just to pocket more rates Etc
dave06 said
11:38 AM Feb 20, 2009
the problem is this sort of thing is going to be the "norm" rather than the exception as global warming takes hold, there will be more floods, more fires, more severe weather
as we drove through Vic to Halls gap I made an observation that proved to be prophetic, I merely made an off hand comment to the dragon that the local authorities are lax with their fire prevention strategy's, the sides of the roads and as far as the eye could see and into the scrub was grass as high as 1 metre
to an untrained eye this means nothing, but the firey came out in me and seen the obvious danger lurking in that grass, it actually sent a chill up my back, and I thought to myself, "wouldn't like to fight that if it got going" but I thought nothing more of it until my return to snivilisation and of course that horrific news cast that literally took my legs out from under me
I feel for the flood victims also but not as much as I do for the fire victims, I guess because I have had far more to do with fire and it's total devastation than I have for flood,
the thing with flood is that it leaves you with something at least, alright the carpet is gone, furniture not flash and a few other things are gone but fire is just so complete, it takes everything, even the lawn and plants are gone,
I watched a man walking through his garden on some show or other and he was just saying matter of factly "yep house gone, have to rebuild the shed, lost my car and all my clothes" but when he got to a row of bloody candle pines that finished him,
he and his wife planted those trees together the day they finished building the house, his wife died of leukemia and he had lost a son to a road accident, he was on hand at the planting
I watched on as this man was visibly pole axed by the destruction of those beloved trees, he dropped to his knees and it was all released in a massive sign of grief, a big man broken
as a volunteer for basically any worthwhile purpose (you name it I'm probably there some where) I have attended many floods and many fires, of the two I would prefer a flood, I am also a senior intrastate councilor for devastation affected persons, (meaning I receive calls from all over Australia from persons in difficulty) fire is the one that brings the most suffering and causes the most long term debilitation
be that as it may, I feel for all affected (fire and water) and will attend all ceremony's in and around my area, and observe the day of mourning,
my pay this week has already been sent to the fire fund as well as all my spare cash for the foreseeable future, Vegemite on toast for us for a while, but if it helps some bugger then I am happy (broke but happy)
anyway off me soapbox and back to work,
dave06 said
02:32 PM Feb 21, 2009
further to this if you have a minute just go to youtube and place in search "dear arsonists" interesting how all of australia feels the same about these people!!!! except the goody two shoes who would have me up for murder if I did what everyone wants to do to these lowlifes
he/she/they will get off on a technicality probably temporary insanity, not right,
Basil Faulty said
06:42 PM Feb 22, 2009
dave06 wrote:
further to this if you have a minute just go to youtube and place in search "dear arsonists" interesting how all of australia feels the same about these people!!!! except the goody two shoes who would have me up for murder if I did what everyone wants to do to these lowlifes
he/she/they will get off on a technicality probably temporary insanity, not right,
Dave it's the standard defence these days for horrorific crimes even Ivan Milat had his sentence mitigated due to his mental capacity, very hard to prove the lowlifes who lit those fires had full command of their faculties, IT STINKS....I'd brink back the lash, or public stonings for offenses like this...
Basil Faulty said
06:47 PM Feb 22, 2009
Rather than go to church today to mourn I decided to help out at the CMR where all proceeds were for the fire victims, Far better than becoming emotional and over wrought.... The 11 am service to Chakola stopped for a minutes silence as a mark of respect, Gracie had a good day, so many people to meet & greet she was buggered at the end of it....
look honestly, the people that died so horrifically in the fires would not want everyone howling and wailing, they would just like to be remembered nothing more nothing less, they were people just like us
I stopped for many minutes today and felt uneasy, and shed a couple of tears, but I have felt that way since I heard about the tragedy, making one day above another as a day of rememberence doesnt make the others any easier
all I asked is that we just thought about them for a little while, thats all, nothing more nothing less
go about your day as normal but every now and then just send a thought over to victoria
I didnt attend a church and I thought the telecast was a joke, the speakers were not serious and did not have compassion for the everyday person, I did not watch too much of it
gracie doesnt know about the fires, she just enjoyed the day, as we all should enjoy everyday, not the "live every moment as if its your last" type day but just enjoy life while we have it, it can be taken from us at a moments notice
just spare a thought now and again is all I ask
a national day of mourning has been put aside for our fellow country men and women of the glorious but devastated state of victoria
the designated time for a service in melbourne is 11 a.m. a.e.s.t. on the 22nd of february (this sunday), but the whole day is set aside as a national day of mourning, I for one will acknowledge this day
I could not find a more worthy subject, to which will or should stop a nation
to just pause and think of the 200 plus innocent lives that were lost in such a senseless tragedy,
amongst that number is a canberran firefighter, who for no other reason than to try to just plain help, put himself in harms way and was lost, these people are the real heroes male and female, they dont procastinate,they dont look for praise and most times they dont receive it
they just go and do what needs doing and usually return to their own lives until needed again, but to then lose ones life as a reward is to me the saddest thing, this is a call above and beyond in my line of thinking
all I ask is that we all just stop, even for a moment and just spare a thought for the happless, I rubbish the hell out of the Vic's, stick it to them in footy and every chance I get but I would not wish this upon them or any one else, I feel greatly saddened by their loss
where was god's eyes averted to at the time, certainly not watching over us!!!
I feel for those who have lost everything in the fires, however I feel more for those whose homes have been innundated by the floods as those poor buggers get no insurance or help. You can insure against loss by fire but you can't insure against loss by flooding if the damage is caused by a flooding water course....
In times past we would pull ourselves out of depression/recession by going off to fight a war, as Granny suggests the massive rebuild necessary after this should do the trick.
It still gets up my nose though that we don't learn from these disasters, we still allow build up of fuel and we punish anyone sensible enough to reduce the hazards around their own property and we (especially in the ACT) don't maintain the fire trails and block them off....
I shall mourn the loss, grief and horror with the reset of the Nation.
-- Edited by Basil Faulty at 07:48, 2009-02-20
Dave it's the standard defence these days for horrorific crimes even Ivan Milat had his sentence mitigated due to his mental capacity, very hard to prove the lowlifes who lit those fires had full command of their faculties, IT STINKS....I'd brink back the lash, or public stonings for offenses like this...
The 11 am service to Chakola stopped for a minutes silence as a mark of respect, Gracie had a good day, so many people to meet & greet she was buggered at the end of it....