There is Silly, then There is Stupid, and then There is Matt Nicholls...

This post needs to be premised with a disclaimer of sorts. It is based on facts currently available to me. I reserve the right to amend this post should "other" facts come to light which force we into a back down and apology to Mr. Nicholls.

Here we go!

There was a recent shooting death in Sydney of a NSW Police Officer. Constable William (Bill) Crews was involved in a raid on a house in Bankstown (Southwestern Sydney). The raid was drug-related. During the raid Constable Crews was shot in the head and subsequently died. One man has been charged with discharging a firearm with the intent to kill. Another has been charged with the possession of an illegal firearm.

The charges in themselves are interesting in that they highlight the forensics team is still trying to work out who fired the fatal bullet. There is current speculation that Constable Crews may have been shot by a fellow officer. Ultimately, forensics will reveal all with respect to who fired the fatal shot.

However, I digress. Constable Crews is from a reasonably small rural town in NSW called Glen Innes. I passed through there not long back on my way to Moree for a practicum placement. The editor, Nicholls, of the local newspaper, the Glen Innes Examiner, has updated his Facebook status to suggest that the paper can capitalise on the death of Constable Crews and the devastation of the family he has left behind because of his history with the town of Glen Innes.

For Nicholls, the death meant that it was a perfect opportunity to boost the circulation of the Fairfax-owned tome. Not content to leave it there, Nicholls decided that it was worth noting on Facebook that the paper must be looking at exploiting the death for all it is worth by making the most of the tragedy.

Now, Nicholls has denied that he made the offending Facebook posts. Nevertheless, he has been stood down effective immediately. Fairfax has issued an apology for any offense that has occurred to the Crews family.

Here is the commentary part to this post. Even if you were thinking that, and even if you believe that, where was the common sense kick in that said, "do not post this publicly on Facebook?" If we were to be perfectly honest about this whole thing, then it is fair to say that papers, as do magazines and television, endeavour to capitalise on the tragedy that befalls people and their subsequent suffering. That is the nature of the game, is it not?

What is not done is confessing this in public spaces such as Facebook within 24 to 48 hours of the tragedy unfolding. We as people, as consumers of news, are a little more savvy, perhaps cynical, than this. We certainly do not need the editor of the Glen Innes Examiner to be telling us this on his Facebook page.

Final point. The alleged Facebook posts of Nicholls are disrespectful more than anything else. The decision to become a police officer and dedicate your life to the protection of others and the community as a whole is one very few men and women take. Perhaps it is because, for some of us, we are not prepared to lay it all on the line and make the ultimate sacrifice as Constable Crews has done. Maybe this is what we should be considering in this case.

My condolences to the Crews family on your loss.

Armenia: The Case For A Forgotten Genocide...

Truth be told, I am packing my bookshelves into boxes in preparation for a move later this year or early next year, once I have finished my masters. It is a long process, not only because there are thousands of books to be packed away, but because I find myself stopping ever now and then to read a few pages or more of a book before putting it into the box.

I came across a photocopied version of "Armenia: The Case For A Forgotten Genocide" by Dickran H. Boyajian (LLM) in my collection of books. The original version it seems was once held by the Permanent Mission to the United Nations of the Republic of Indonesia. I guess, this means that I probably picked it up through my previous work.

Anyways, it is a book I have read a number of times before. I read it and used parts of it in an honours thesis that I wrote for my LLB (Bachelor of Laws). Although for some reason it never ended up getting graded and the rest is history so they say. The book is a challenging read and makes a compelling case. Nevertheless, there are always two sides to any interpretation of history, and this is certainly the case here.

The fact that the Armenian genocide is still so contentious after almost a century having passed is testament to the passionate opinions and interpretations held on each side of the genocide claim.

The purpose of the post is not really to review the book. It is really more to recommend it to anyone that might have an interest in matters such as these. I have been doing some reading on the holocaust of the Jews during World War II. Having read Boyajian's book it has certainly provided a lot of food for thought as to how I might go about teaching subject matter that relates to genocide more generally with respect to people's ability for inhumanity against their fellow human beings.

So, if any one has a fascination for learning in this area or about the history of the Armenian genocide, then this book might be a good jumping off point.

More than anything else, for me this time it was really about wanting to get away from the compulsory reading I have had to do to complete assessment tasks of late. But, in the end, I still find myself thinking about ways and means to teach the material and content that my reading illuminates for me.

Ho hum...

Women and Men -- What Women Really Want...

I could not resist posting this little tid bit of information on a little piece of research that suggests that men and women are not all that different after all when it comes to choosing a partner.

D & M Research have done some research (kind of seems appropriate considering their name) by surveying 2800 women and have found that the majority of women look for looks and sex appeal when looking at a man.

I am not sure that a sample of 2800 will convince the vast majority of people out there that women really do look at men as sex objects and as man bags (accessories). But, at least, it will give us men something to chat about over coffee down at the pub!

So, women of the world, your secret is out. There are much more base and primal instincts at play than you have been caring to admit, huh?

The survey results actually revealed most of what was expected, namely women will say things like honesty, trustworthiness, love, respect and humour are important. But, when it gets down to the nitty gritty, what really matters is a hot bod that you will feel comfortable with taking to bed, and a little masculinity thrown in as icing on the cake.

Johnny Depp, George Clooney, Hugh Jackman, and Rob Baiton rated well as the type of men that women were looking for. However, Kyle Sandilands, Shane Warne and Tiger Woods rated pretty poorly with respect to what women were looking for in a man.

So, there you go!

But, as a final point (and tongue in cheek for all you literal types out there), how do the ugly blokes get laid again? Is it lots of beer and spirits?

The mind boggles at the human condition.

Ho hum...

Sheyla Hershey and M-Cup Breasts...

Yep, I make this post for no other reason than I found myself shaking my head when I read this story (and I can post a few photos).

This post is not exclusively made to be eye candy for the men who might pass by here. Maybe this post is for my female readers as well, in that perhaps they can provide some insight as to why a woman wants, or what drives a woman, to feel the need to have an M-cup size set of breasts. My philosophy has always been that anymore than a handful is tending to the wasteful side of the equation.

Nevertheless, and back to the Sheyla Hershey story.

It would seem that the continual process to enlarge her natural breasts to the M-cup size has left Hershey constantly battling staph and strep infections. Both of these can be fatal blood infections. So, as a young mother with young children, Hershey has decided to get the implants removed and go with a much smaller version of herself. To be honest, with an M-cup starting point it is not going to be too hard to get a smaller version happening.

She has her own website at sheylahershey.net, if anyone is interested in seeing the rest of the happy snappies.

Just a question to end this one...why?

Birthday Letters -- Ted Hughes...

This post is not designed to be an in-depth review nor an expose for anyone studying them in Module C of Advanced English for the 2010 HSC. Rather, just a short note to note that I have enjoyed reading them. I really should get back into the habit of reading much more poetry. I used to read poetry almost every day but a masters degree has certainly put a dent in the time that I used to spend reading for pleasure. Oh well.

Ted Hughes was married to Sylvia Plath. Sylvia Plath committed suicide. The Birthday Letters apparently is a collection of poems that Hughes wrote on Plath's birthday every year after her death. There are 88 poems in the collection. As a collection, it is an interesting look at the Hughes / Plath marriage and relationship. It is without a doubt Hughes' take on that relationship, which leaves many feeling unfulfilled if they were looking for some kind of cathartic moment where Hughes purges his soul, admits some wrong doing or contributing to the early death by suicide of Plath.

I think my favourite was Fulbright Scholars. It is simple in the sense of being simply deceptive. Any one who reads it with any prior knowledge of the Hughes and Plath relationship and marriage will read so much into this poem.

Enjoy!


Fulbright Scholars
Where was it, in the Strand? A display
Of news items, in photographs.
For some reason I noticed it.
A picture of that year's intake
Of Fulbright Scholars. Just arriving -
Or arrived.  Or some of them.
Were you among them?  I studied it.
Not too minutely, wondering
Which of them I might meet.
I remember that thought.  Not
Your face.  No doubt I scanned particularly
The girls.  Maybe I noticed you.
Maybe I weighed you up, feeling unlikely.
Noted your long hair, loose waves -
Your Veronica Lake bang.  Not what it hid.
It would appear blond. And your grin.
Your exaggerated American
Grin for the cameras, the judges, the strangers, the frighteners.
Then I forgot.  Yet I remember
The picture : the Fulbright Scholars.
With their luggage?  It seems unlikely.
Could they have come as a team? That's as I remember.
From a stall near Charing Cross Station.
It was the first fresh peach I had ever tasted.
I could hardly believe how delicious.
At twenty-five I was dumbfounded afresh
By my ignorance of the simplest things.

Real and Fake Tattoos...

Kat Von D vs. Rihanna...

I wonder who has the real tattoos?

My personal preference is always going to be Kat. She is an awesome artist and I love her work (and the work she has had done on herself).

LA Ink all the way!

Idul Fitri...

To all my Muslim family, friends, colleagues and acquaintances...

Selamat Idul Fitri and Happy Eid ul-Fitr!

Mohon Maaf Lahir dan Batin / Minal Aidin Wal Faidzin!

Ramadan -- A Time of Peace, Harmony, and a Little Reflection...

There must be something in the water or air out Lombok way this Ramadan. It seems that foreigners and the local populace cannot find any common ground upon which to co-exist peacefully.

The latest incident saw another expat home trashed. Stephen Alexander, a German, complained to the local Village Head of Lembah Sari that someone had destroyed his garden statues (presumably they were not gnomes).

His manner of complaint, and a suggestion that the local Muslim populace were poor imitations of good Muslims inspired the local Muslim populace to show him how good they were, and they trashed his house.

One has to wonder whether the matter of principle here was really worth the ultimate outcome? A few statues for a whole house, hmmmm? The statues allegedly resembled Hindu figures and Alexander had been asked to remove them. The Jakarta Globe is reporting that Alexander is a Muslim. Maybe he now wishes that he had just moved them into the backyard or out of plain view.

I am all for a little peaceful co-existence, some harmony, and a little reflection. However, all of these things seem to be premised on a little bit of tolerance. Expats have to understand there are ways and means in Indonesian society where you can express your displeasure and get results in your favour. And, there are ways and means that will only enrage and facilitate a response that will only serve to escalate any tensions present. That said, Indonesians also need to develop a little bit thicker skin and appreciate that no matter how long the expat lives in Indonesia that sometimes the expats just cannot help but to revert to what they know or who they are.

When it is all said and done, jumping up and down on the spot and yelling is not likely to see the outcome you want eventuate. Alexander has learned this the hard way.

The moral of the story here...tolerance. We all need to learn a little bit of it. Surely among adults this is a dispute that could have been resolved without insulting the local populace or the trashing of someone's house.

Ho hum...

Is Tommy Soeharto a Murderer?

Tommy Soeharto (aka Hutomo Mandala Putra) has decided that he needs to sue an Indonesian magazine for printing a phrase that in essence says, "Tommy Soeharto is a convicted murderer". The magazine, Garuda",  published the alleged offending phrase in December 2009.

The problem as Tommy sees it is that the article was about his business interests in a resort in Bali, and therefore there is no correlation with any previous actions of his. I thought that "Garuda" was the in-flight magazine that you get when you fly with Garuda.

It would seem that Tommy and his legal representatives have forgotten that he is in fact a convicted murderer. He did ten years for the premeditated assassination of a Supreme Court judge. This, if I am not mistaken, is a fact of life; a fact of Tommy Soeharto's life that he cannot escape.

Nevertheless, Tommy seems to think that he deserves a public apology, and that the apology should be published in a national newspaper. Perhaps at the same time he can instruct his lawyers to place a public apology in the same paper noting his remorse over his criminal activities, including an apology to the family of the judge, Syafiuddin Kartasasmita, who he ordered murdered for having the courage to sentence Tommy Soeharto to prison for breaking the law; graft I believe. If not, then Tommy should take his lawsuit and shove it where the sun don't shine. As a matter of fact he should just take his frivolous little suit and shove it where the sun don't shine.

To be perfectly honest, the title of murderer should, and must, follow Tommy wherever he goes.

The original news on this one comes from Detik (in Indonesian).