In this Bulletin:-
• Is “Dubya” being fair dinkum or pulling the wool over our eyes. This ex-CIA man reckons it’s the latter
Quote of the Bulletin-
" Now, when your weapons are dulled, your ardor damped ,your strength exhausted and your treasure spent, other chieftains will spring up to take advantage of your extremity. Then no man, however wise, will be able to avert the consequences that must ensue.” – Sun Tzu (Art of War), written 2500 years ago __
Tony Fountain Auctioneer & Professional Speaker PO Box 897, BOWRAL NSW 2576 Australia tony@fountainandco.com
ON THE WALLABY – 28th December 2007
• Goodbye 2007- G’day 2008
"Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future. - John F. Kennedy, President of the Unites States of America
ON THE WALLABY – 20th November 2007
• “Sunday morning coming down” – what type of Australia will we awaken to next Sunday?
"No country can be well governed unless its citizens as a body keep religiously before their minds that they are the guardians of the law and that the law officers are only the machinery for its execution, nothing more.”- Mark Twain
Tony Fountain Auctioneer & Professional Speaker PO Box 897, BOWRAL NSW 2576 Australia
ON THE WALLABY – 26th September 2007
• Drought- Australia’s nemesis strikes again
"The success of ones life should not be judged by the levels to which they rose but by the obstacles they overcame in getting there”- Booker T Washington
ON THE WALLABY – 24th September 2007
• Never judge a book by its cover
"People will forget what you said. People will forget what you did. But people will never forget how you made them feel". – Malcolm Forbes, Publisher of Forbes Magazine
ON THE WALLABY – 29th August 2007
• How a 98 year old wheeled the Bank- gotta love her!!
”Name me an Emperor who was ever struck by a cannon ball”- Charles V
ON THE WALLABY – 15th August 2007
• “Stay hungry, stay foolish” – Steve Jobs address to Stanford University, 2005. A must read for anyone who wants to get ahead in life
”And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle.”- Steve Jobs, founder of Apple Computer Inc
ON THE WALLABY – 9th August 2007
• Our money worries are not here but in the USA
”The borrower is a slave to the lender”- King Solomon
ON THE WALLABY – 29th July 2007
• C’mon Iraq and Cadell Evans tonight!
”If you’d like to know a man, find out what makes him mad”- old drovers saying
ON THE WALLABY – 26th July 2007
• A real estate auctioneers views on the why’s about the Australian housing market and affordability
”If ambition doesn't hurt you, you haven't got it.” ~ Kathleen Norris
ON THE WALLABY – 22nd July 2007
• If Iraq is about oil (as Brendan Nelson at last agrees), why would the Iraqi provinces agree to the proposed Oil Amendment Bill?
• How do you get peace in Palestine without Hamas involvement?
”They won an election we insisted on having. And so, unpleasant group as they may be and as unsatisfied as I find some of their positions,I think through some means Hamas has to be engaged” – Colin Powell, former US Secretary of State on the exclusion of Hamas from Middle Eastern peace talks
ON THE WALLABY – 18th July 2007
• Can the Wallabies win their third Rugby World Cup?
”The rugby is the story of a ball with some men around . When you finish with the ball, the men and the friendships are still there. Everyone who plays rugby has gold on his fingers afterwards. We want to show to the kids this golden powder that is left on the fingers when you play rugby” – Jean-Pierre Rives, legendary French Rugby captain and player
ON THE WALLABY – 15th July 2007
• As Sun Tzu wrote 27 centuries ago “know they enemy” – that is the lesson we still have to learn with Iraq ands Afghanistan.
”The tenets originally professed by the Wahabees have been described as a Mahomedan Puritanism joined to a Bedouin Phylarchy, kin which the great chief is both the political and religious leader of the nation .With the Soonnees the Wahabees are on terms of tolerable agreement, though differing on certain points, but from the Sheas, they differ radically, and their hatred, like all religious hatred, is bitter and intolerant. But the most striking characteristic of the Wahabee sect, and that which principally concerns this narrative, is the entire subservience which they yield to the Peer, or spiritual guide” - William Taylor Our Crisis: Or Three Months at Patna during the Insurrection of 1857,1858
Tony Fountain Auctioneer & Professional Speaker PO Box 897 Bowral NSW 2576 Australia
ON THE WALLABY – 4th July 2007
• Pax Romanus and Pax Americus – if only the latter had observed and learnt from the former.
”Smoking is a custom loathsome to the eye, hateful to the nose, harmful to the brain, dangerous to the lungs, and in the black, stinking fume thereof, nearest resembling the horrible Stygian smoke of the pit that is bottomless” – King James 1, 1604”
ON THE WALLABY – 28th June 2007
• Tony Blair as a Special Middle East envoy? Eminent Middle Eastern journalist Robert Fisk has his say
”Throughout history, it has been the inaction of those who could have acted; the indifference of those who should have known better; the silence of the voice of justice when it mattered most; that has made it possible for evil to triumph”: Haile Selassie – former Ethiopian Emperor”
Tony Fountain Auctioneer & Professional Speaker PO Box 717, MONA VALE NSW 2103 Australia
ON THE WALLABY – 24th June 2007
• Sharks- can they withstand the Asian economic boom?
“ Sharks: [reciting] I am a nice shark, not a mindless eating machine. If I am to change this image, I must first change myself. Fish are friends, not food.”- Bruce- “Finding Nemo”
ON THE WALLABY – 18th June 2007
• Two charity auctions re-enforce in me just how lucky we are as Australians
“I swore to myself that I would never again take another human being and their friendship for granted ever again” – Nelson Mandela, former President of the Republic of South Africa and truly a man amongst men
ON THE WALLABY – 15th June 2007
• Paul Keating – spot on with leadership comments
“Leadership only ever had two ingredients- imagination and courage – and it’s no use having imagination and no guts , and no good having all guts and no imagination” – Paul Keating, former Australian Prime Minister
ON THE WALLABY – 11th June 2007
• Tupaia – the overlooked hero of Captain Cooks Endeavour voyages
“If you don’t know where you are going, any road will get you there”- Lewis Carroll (1832-1898) - author “Alice in Wonderland
ON THE WALLABY – 30th May 2007
• A mother who has known the cost of war- with her son’s death -throws in the towel. Cindy Sheehan’s final post.
“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing"- Edmund Burke, 18th century Parliamentarian and libertarian
ON THE WALLABY – 29th May 2007
• How to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory- look no further than Iraq
"Never, never, never believe any war will be smooth and easy, or that anyone who embarks on the strange voyage, can measure the tides and hurricanes he will encounter. The statesman who yields to war fever must realize that once the signal is given, he is no longer the master of policy but the slave of unforeseeable and uncontrollable events."--Sir Winston Churchill (1874 - 1965) Tony Fountain Auctioneer & Professional Speaker PO Box 717, MONA VALE NSW 2103 Australia
ON THE WALLABY – 28th May 2007
• Infrastructure- have we the will to push politicians to start being fair dinkum about infrastructure investment?
”Sound, sound the clarion, fill the fife! To all the sensual world proclaim, One crowded hour of glorious life Is worth an age without a name.” - Sir Walter Scott,(1771-1832) Scottish poet
ON THE WALLABY – 2nd May 2007
”If you want to test a man’s character, give him power” – Abraham Lincoln Tony Fountain Auctioneer & Professional Speaker PO Box 717, MONA VALE NSW 1660 Australia
ON THE WALLABY –14th April 2007
Lee Iacocca, one of America’s great businessmen and speakers, calls it as it is.- “Where have all the leaders gone he asks?”
”If you want to test a man’s character, give him power” – Abraham Lincoln Tony Fountain Auctioneer & Professional Speaker PO Box 717, MONA VALE NSW 2103 Australia
ON THE WALLABY –11th April 2007
• Charlotte’s world- what will we have left her and her generation?
”This above all- to thine own self be true; And it must follow, as the night the day; Thou canst not then be false to any man." William Shakespeare, 'Hamlet,' Act I, Scene iii Greatest English dramatist & poet (1564 - 1616)
ON THE WALLABY – 5th April 2007
• What appears to be the difference between Muslims and “us”?
"Ask the American public if they want an FBI wiretap and they'll say, 'No.' If you ask them do they want a feature on their phone that helps the FBI find their missing child they'll say, 'Yes.'" – Louis Freeh - (1950- ) FBI Director (1993-2001) Source: Testimony on the Digital Telephony bill, 13 September 1994
ON THE WALLABY – 2nd April 2007
• Ever heard of the Iraqi Hydrocarbon Law? You will soon, so read on here.
" The power of the Executive to cast a man into prison without formulating any charge known to the law, and particularly to deny him the judgment of his peers, is in the highest degree odious and is the foundation of all totalitarian government whether Nazi or Communist."- Sir Winston Churchill - (1874-1965) Prime Minister of England - November 21, 1943 __ Tony Fountain Auctioneer & Professional Speaker PO Box 717, MONA VALE NSW 2103 Australia
ON THE WALLABY – 25th March 2007
• Blind Freddie could have won it! – how Liberal Party ineptitude cost NSW dearly
" When your neighbour quotes scripture, brand your calves early” – an anonymous quotation that sat on my late uncles desk Tony Fountain Auctioneer & Professional Speaker PO Box 717, MONA VALE NSW 1660 Australia
ON THE WALLABY – 21st March 2007
• The core of what it takes “to make it”
" The greatest country, the richest country, is not that which has the most capitalists, monopolists, immense grabbings, vast fortunes, with its sad, sad soil of extreme, degrading, damning poverty, but the land in which there are the most homesteads, freeholds-where wealth does not show such contrasts high and low, where all men have enough-a modest living-and no man is made possessor beyond the sane and beautiful necessities."- Walt Whitman (1819-1892):
Tony Fountain Auctioneer & Professional Speaker PO Box 717, MONA VALE NSW 1660 Australia
ON THE WALLABY – 20th March 2007
• The political landscape in Australia generally, and NSW in particular. Has it ever sunk so low?
" The parties recruit people who are docile and compliant rather than people with real talent. Labor are tired and venal, and the Liberals are run by religious cretins who are just interested in stopping people have sex. There is a complete lack of vision. If this Parliament was a company, it would go broke” - Hon Dr Arthur Chesterfield-Evans MLC, Leader of the Australian Democrats, NSW Parliament Tony Fountain Auctioneer & Professional Speaker PO Box 717, MONA VALE NSW 1660 Australia
ON THE WALLABY – 15th March 2007
• The venerable Royal Navy – how some terms came into existence
" The boldest measures are invariably the safest” – Horatio, Lord Nelson Tony Fountain Auctioneer & Professional Speaker PO Box 717, MONA VALE NSW 1660 Australia
ON THE WALLABY – 11th March 2007
• Rural depression and suicide – the “dark dog” of the bush
" "If we don't get three inches, man/ Or four to break this drought/ We'll all be rooned" said Hanrahan/ Before the year is out"- words of John O’Briens classic Australian bush poem “Said Hanrahan Tony Fountain Auctioneer & Professional Speaker PO Box 717, MONA VALE NSW 1660 Australia
ON THE WALLABY – 7th March 2007
• A shot duck before it even had a chance to fly- Vanity Fair’s article on how the US Generals “came out” against the Iraq War and their reasons for doing so
" Cry 'havoc,' and let slip the dogs of war.?(Julius Caesar 3.1.275) -William Shakespeare Tony Fountain Auctioneer & Professional Speaker PO Box 717, MONA VALE NSW 2103 Australia
ON THE WALLABY – 5th March 2007
• Is it the end for one of the worlds oldest religious groups ? - a further insight into the tragedy that is Iraq
" Education is when you read the fine print. Experience is what you get when you don’t” – L.Botts ,Loose Talk, 1980) Tony Fountain Auctioneer & Professional Speaker PO Box 717, MONA VALE NSW 2103 Australia
ON THE WALLABY – 2nd March 2007
• “Have Americans lost their country?” – a thought provoking article by a former Assistant Head of Treasury under the Reagan Administration
" For the great majority of mankind are satisfied with appearances, as though they were realities, and are often more influenced by the things that seem than by those that are." Niccolo Machiavelli - (1469-1527) Italian Statesman and Political Philosopher - Source: Discourses, 1513-1517) Tony Fountain Auctioneer & Professional Speaker PO Box 717, MONA VALE NSW 2103 Australia
ON THE WALLABY – 28th February 2007
• Cobb & Co (replica) rides again – in aid of Breast cancer awareness
"The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe. To be your own man is hard business. If you try it, you will be lonely often, and sometimes frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself." Rudyard Kipling - (1865-1936) Tony Fountain Auctioneer & Professional Speaker PO Box 717, MONA VALE NSW 2103 Australia
ON THE WALLABY – 21st February 2007
• President Eisenhower’s farewell address on the 17th January 1961- boy, did he see the future!
”We now stand ten years past the midpoint of a century that has witnessed four major wars among great nations. Three of these involved our own country. Despite these holocausts America is today the strongest, the most influential and most productive nation in the world. Understandably proud of this pre-eminence, we yet realize that America's leadership and prestige depend, not merely upon our unmatched material progress, riches and military strength, but on how we use our power in the interests of world peace and human betterment. Throughout America's adventure in free government, such basic purposes have been to keep the peace; to foster progress in human achievement, and to enhance liberty, dignity and integrity among peoples and among nations. ?To strive for less would be unworthy of a free and religious people” – President Dwight D Eisenhower in his farewell speech to the American people, 17th January 1961. ? Tony Fountain Auctioneer & Professional Speaker PO Box 717, MONA VALE NSW 2103 Australia
Understandably proud of this pre-eminence, we yet realize that America's leadership and prestige depend, not merely upon our unmatched material progress, riches and military strength, but on how we use our power in the interests of world peace and human betterment.
Throughout America's adventure in free government, such basic purposes have been to keep the peace; to foster progress in human achievement, and to enhance liberty, dignity and integrity among peoples and among nations. ?To strive for less would be unworthy of a free and religious people” – President Dwight D Eisenhower in his farewell speech to the American people, 17th January 1961
ON THE WALLABY – 19th February 2007
• The Sydney real estate market- which way and when?
”What does a man need - really need? A few pounds of food each day, heat and shelter, six feet to lie down in - and some form of working activity that will yield a sense of accomplishment. That's all - in the material sense, and we know it. But we are brainwashed by our economic system until we end up in a tomb beneath a pyramid of time payments, mortgages, preposterous gadgetry, playthings that divert our attention for the sheer idiocy of the charade. The years thunder by, The dreams of youth grow dim where they lie caked in dust on the shelves of patience. Before we know it, the tomb is sealed. Where, then, lies the answer? In choice. Which shall it be - bankruptcy of purse or bankruptcy of life?"
Which shall it be - bankruptcy of purse or bankruptcy of life?"
ON THE WALLABY – 12th February 2007
• “Compassion” – is this a word that has left the Australian and American vocabulary?
” The success of someone’s life should not be judged by the level to which they rose but by the obstacles they overcame in getting there” – Booker T Washington, (1856-1915)?Lecturer, Civil Rights/Human Rights Activist, Educational Administrator, Professor, Organization Executive/Founder, Author/Poet
ON THE WALLABY – 5th February 2007
• “Your Australia” – the release of a game that lets you travel around, and get to know, Australia without having to leave your home!
”I love a sunburnt country/A land of sweeping plains,/Of ragged mountain ranges, /Of droughts and flooding rains.”- Dorothea McKellar’s classic poem “My Country” Tony Fountain Auctioneer & Professional Speaker PO Box 717, MONA VALE NSW 2103 Australia
ON THE WALLABY – 4th February 2007
• A Mississippi “River Rat” shows us what life is really all about
” Even though we live in an artificial world, we belong to the natural world” – Ken Salwey – “Tales of a River Rat” – ABC television last night Tony Fountain Auctioneer & Professional Speaker PO Box 717, MONA VALE NSW 2103 Australia
ON THE WALLABY – 31st January 2007
• Iraq – just why should the Iraqi’s like us?
” White man speak with forked tongue” – old cliché used by hundreds of Hollywood cinema “Indians”
ON THE WALLABY – 30th January 2007
• Water – the current situation is an object lesson on the incompetence of politicians and a massive underestimation of Australia’s natural patterns
” Whisky is for drinking and water is for fighting over” – a 19th century Californian gold fields saying Tony Fountain Auctioneer & Professional Speaker PO Box 717, MONA VALE NSW 2103 Australia
ON THE WALLABY – 20th January 2007
• People and recognition of them as that and not commodities
• David Hicks – how about the Government has the courage to tell President Bush “enough is enough”
• Sir James Killen KCMG – a lost link with another age of politician/parliamentarian
”Economic rationalists often label people as human resources, assets, intellectual capital and so on. They fail to recognise that people are individuals and deserve to be treated as such. A $1 coin has the same value as any $1 coin. People are different” – Dr Allan Hawke Chancellor of the Australian National University
ON THE WALLABY – 3rd January 2007
• Ballaarat (it’s original spelling) – we visit the home of the legendary Eureka Flag and the Eureka Stockade.
” We swear by the Southern Cross to stand truly by each other and fight to defend our rights and liberties – The Diggers Oath, sworn at Bakery Hill, Ballarat on the 30th November 1854, 4 days before the Eureka Stockade rebellion” Tony Fountain Auctioneer & Professional Speaker PO Box 717, MONA VALE NSW 2103 Australia
ON THE WALLABY – 1st January 2007
• The Treaty of Versailles – how a piece of paper still impacts nearly a century later
• Justin Langer – “it’s the little things people do that tell you all about them”
” Destiny deals the cards, but we play them” - Bernard Moitessier, one of the giants of modern day sailing and author of the wonderful book “The Long Way”
ON THE WALLABY – 19th December 2006
• Goodbye 2006 – hello ‘07
• The poem – “The touch of the Masters Hand”
” All men dream, but not equally for the Dreamers of the Night awaken to find it was merely their vanity. The Dreamers of the Day are the dangerous ones, for they dream with their eyes open and they make things happen”. – Lawrence of Arabia in his classic book “Seven Pillars of Wisdom”
ON THE WALLABY – 4th December 2006
• Can Kevin be the rudd-er to steer Labor to government?
“The people of England have been led in Mesopotamia into a trap from which it will be hard to escape with dignity and honour. They have been tricked into it by a steady withholding of information. The Baghdad communiqués are belated, insincere and incomplete. Things have been far worse than we have been told, our administration more bloody and inefficient than the public knows. It is a disgrace to our Imperial record, and may soon be too inflamed for any ordinary cure.We are today not far from a disaster”- Lawrence of Arabia in a letter to The Sunday Times, August 1920.
ON THE WALLABY – 30th November
• Iraq- at what stage does the Saudi (Sunni) cavalry come over the hill?
“Justice denied anywhere diminishes justice everywhere” - Martin Luther King, Jr. 1929-1968
ON THE WALLABY – 26th October 2006
• Ever wondered just how real estate auctions work and how you, as a vendor, can benefit? My e-book, “The Vendors Guide to selling Real Estate by Auction” is now available from the internet
__ “The reasonable man adapts himself to the world. The unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself . Therefore , all progress depends on the unreasonable man” _ George Bernard Shaw, Irish dramatist__
ON THE WALLABY – 19th October 2006
• Peter Costello’s call to Asian nations to diversify their US financial interests- and a VERY sobering article on that subject by the former head of the Phillipines Armed Services and Intelligence Service- it is a must read!
__ "America did not invent human rights. In a very real sense, it is the other way around. Human rights invented America." - Jimmy Carter - (1924- ) 39th US President
ON THE WALLABY – 18th October 2006
• My two real estate auction books (one for potential vendors and one for real estate agents) are now available on the Internet.
”Man your ships – and may the Force be with you” – Star Wars 1977
• Drought – Mother Nature’s nemesis for Australia. It’s toll will be enormous across the nation.
"Whiskies for drinking and water is for fighting over” – 19th century Californian goldfields saying.
ON THE WALLABY – 16th October 2006
• “If only George Bush had been Amish”- a thought provoking view
"In order to rally people, governments need enemies. They want us to be afraid, to hate, so we will rally behind them. And if they do not have a real enemy, they will invent one in order to mobilize us." - Thich Nhat Hanh - Vietnamese monk, activist and writer.
ON THE WALLABY – 4th October 2006
• “America goes too far”- a fascinating interview with noted historian Paul Kennedy, author of “The Rise and the Fall of Great Powers”
" My Lords, this ruinous and ignominious situation, where we cannot act with success, nor suffer with honour, calls upon us to remonstrate in the strongest and loudest language of truth, to rescue the ear of Majesty from the delusions which surround it. You cannot, I venture to say, you cannot conquer America. " What is your present situation there? We do not know the worst; but we know that in three campaigns we have done nothing and suffered much. - You may swell every expense, and strain every effort, still more extravagantly; accumulate every assistance you can beg or borrow; traffic and barter with every pitiful German Prince, that sells and sends his subjects to the shambles of a foreign country: Your efforts are forever vain and impotent-doubly so from this mercenary aid on which you rely; for it irritates to an incurable resentment the minds of your enemies, to overrun them with the sordid sons of rapine and of plunder, devoting them and their possessions to the rapacity of hireling cruelty! If I were an American, as I am an Englishman, while a foreign troop was landed in my country, I never would lay down my arms—never—never—never.” - William Pitt, Earl of Chatham (1708–78) On Affairs in America 1777.
" What is your present situation there? We do not know the worst; but we know that in three campaigns we have done nothing and suffered much. - You may swell every expense, and strain every effort, still more extravagantly; accumulate every assistance you can beg or borrow; traffic and barter with every pitiful German Prince, that sells and sends his subjects to the shambles of a foreign country:
Your efforts are forever vain and impotent-doubly so from this mercenary aid on which you rely; for it irritates to an incurable resentment the minds of your enemies, to overrun them with the sordid sons of rapine and of plunder, devoting them and their possessions to the rapacity of hireling cruelty! If I were an American, as I am an Englishman, while a foreign troop was landed in my country, I never would lay down my arms—never—never—never.” - William Pitt, Earl of Chatham (1708–78) On Affairs in America 1777.
ON THE WALLABY – 29th September 2006
• So what happened to the “Free” bit in The Land of the Free?
"The power of the executive to cast a man into prison without formulating any charge known to the law, and particularly to deny him the judgment of his peers, is in the highest degree odious, and the foundation of all totalitarian government whether Nazi or Communist.” – Sir Winston Churchill
ON THE WALLABY – 20th September 2006
• The sad passing of Common Sense
"In the country of the blind the one-eyed man is king”- Erasmus c.1469 - 1536
ON THE WALLABY – 18th September 2006
• “A drovers life has pleasures that townsfolk never know”- maybe Banjo got the view of life right?
"Once you have done a bit of droving you are not much good for anything else” – Mick Eldridge, 30 years a drover along the NSW and Queensland stock routes
ON THE WALLABY – 17th September 2006
• So maybe Lawrence was nearly right after all?
“"Every collectivist revolution rides in on a Trojan horse of 'emergency'. It was the tactic of Lenin, Hitler, and Mussolini. In the collectivist sweep over a dozen minor countries of Europe, it was the cry of men striving to get on horseback. And 'emergency' became the justification of the subsequent steps. This technique of creating emergency is the greatest achievement that demagoguery attains."- Herbert Hoover (1874-1964), 31st US President
ON THE WALLABY – 4th September 2006
• Slim Dusty and Johnny Cash- three years on and a big night to celebrate their music in Canberra
• Vale Steve Irwin – an Australian icon dead in diving tragedy
Food for thought.... One evening an old Cherokee told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people. He said, "My son, the battle is between two wolves that dwell inside each of us. One is Evil. It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt,resentment, inferiority,lies, false pride, superiority, and ego. The other is Good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith." The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, "Which wolf wins?" The old Cherokee simply replied, "The one you feed."
One evening an old Cherokee told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people.
He said, "My son, the battle is between two wolves that dwell inside each of us.
One is Evil. It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt,resentment, inferiority,lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.
The other is Good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith."
The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, "Which wolf wins?"
The old Cherokee simply replied, "The one you feed."
ON THE WALLABY – 29th August 2006
• Vale Don Chipp –a man who changed Australia forever
”When we lose our love for our fellow man less fortunate than ourselves, then we cease to be a Democrat” – Don Chipp, Australian Democrats 25th anniversary Dinner, Melbourne 1992
ON THE WALLABY – 2nd August 2006
• What cost our liberties and freedom?
”The will of man is not shattered, but softened, bent, and guided; men seldom forced by it to act, but they are constantly restrained from acting. Such a power does not destroy, but it prevents existence; it does not tyrannize, but it compresses, enervates, extinguishes, and stupefies a people, till each nation is reduced to nothing better than a flock of timid and industrious animals, of which the government is the shepherd." – Alexis de Tocqueville Charles Henri Maurice Clerel, le Comte de Tocqueville (1805-1859) French historian
ON THE WALLABY – 26th July 2006
• My OTW on terrorism gains many responses
"I have fought against white domination and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society where all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunity. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and achieve. But, if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die” – Nelson Mandela at his trial for treason and as a terrorist, South Africa 1961
ON THE WALLABY – 23rd July 2006
• The term “Terrorist” - what differentiates the ”terrorists” who threw the tea into Boston Harbour and founded the USA, those who founded Haggenah that led to modern day Israel, to Nelson Mandela in 1961 and to those fighting for their beliefs today?
Tony Fountain Auctioneer & Professional Speaker GPO Box 5200 Sydney Australia 2001
ON THE WALLABY – 18th July 2006
• So where are the statesmen and women now ????
• The Middle East in 40 years with no oil-who’ll give two hoots then?
"Nothing doth more harm in a state than when cunning men pass for wise."- Sir Francis Bacon 1561-1626”
ON THE WALLABY – 5th July 2006
• The 4th of July- what would George, Benjamin and the others think now?
"If the author of the Declaration of Independence were to utter such a sentiment today, the Post Office Department could exclude him from the mail, grand juries could indict him for sedition and criminal syndicalism, legislative committees could seize his private papers ... and United States Senators would be clamouring for his deportation that he ... should be sent back to live with the rest of the terrorists.": – Frank I. Cobb (1869-1923) American Journalist -Source: New York World”
ON THE WALLABY – 28th June 2006
• “Thanks for the memories”- an era in my life ends
"All men dream, but not equally. For the Dreamers of the Night awaken to find it was merely their vanity. But the Dreamers of the Day are the dangerous ones, for they dream with their eyes open, and they make things happen: - Lawrence of Arabia, “Seven Pillars of Wisdom”
ON THE WALLABY – 26th June 2006
• C’mon Azzurri- the Socceroos can wheel you!
• DU- ever heard of it? If not, you’re about to!
"If once people become inattentive to the public affairs, you and I, and Congress and Assemblies, Judges and Governors, shall all become wolves. It seems to be the law of our general nature, in spite of individual exceptions." – Thomas Jefferson to Edward Carrington, 1787
ON THE WALLABY – 21st June 2006
• The greatest gift of all
• South West Sydney braces for Australia/Croatia World Cup game
"Those that are afraid of dying, never learn to live”- The Rose.
ON THE WALLABY – 11th June 2006
• Guantanamo Bay, David Hicks and Australian principles
"Always stand on principle, even if you stand alone.": - John Quincy Adams - (1767-1848) 6th US President.
ON THE WALLABY – 30th May 2006
• The Worlds fastest Indian - a movie to inspire!
” Unless you’re chasing your dream you are just a vegetable” – Sir Anthony Hopkins when portraying Bert Munro.
ON THE WALLABY – 11th May 2006
• Courage- a quality shown in spadefuls this week in Australia
” The success of ones life should not be judged by the level to which they rose but by the obstacles they overcame getting there” – Booker T Washington, US emancipist and educator.
ON THE WALLABY – 8th May 2006
• Water- the time bomb facing Australia
• Our country- Kangaroo Valley (NSW) – including photos.
• Are these “the worlds greatest pies”??
” Whiskies for drinking and waters for fighting over” – old axiom from the 19th century Californian goldfields
ON THE WALLABY- 8th May 2006
”Whiskies for drinking and water’s for fighting over” - 19th century Californian goldfields saying
ON THE WALLABY – 2nd May 2006
• Matthew Ryan – another young Australian dies needlessly.
” How well I have learned that there is no fence to sit on between between Heaven and Hell. There is a deep, wide gulf, a chasm, and in that chasm is no place for any man” – the late Johnny Cash, country music legend and the subject (along with his wife June Carter) of the hit movie “Walk the Line”
ON THE WALLABY – 30th April 2006
• The passing of Jimmy Sharman, one of Australia’s greatest showmen and reminiscences of my youth.
” He who has something to sell should never whisper down a well”- a saying that ran in the Fairfield Grange Merino stud advertisement in the now defunct, but which was Australia’s pastoral bible for generations, “The Pastoral Review”
ON THE WALLABY – 25th April 2006
• Anzac Day 91 years on-what message does it carry for today’s society?
” My sincere view is that commitment of our forces to this fight was done with a casualness and swagger that are the special province of those who have never had to execute these missions – or bury the results” – US Marine Lieutenant-Colonel Newbold”
ON THE WALLABY – 24th April 2006
• Oi- how come “we’re” selling the Snowy Mountains Scheme?
” Nothing is easier than self-deceit. For what each man wishes, that he also believes to be true: Demosthenes”
ON THE WALLABY – 17th April 2006
• So what did he actually say? A full transcript of Iranian Presidents Ahmadinejad’s speech regarding Israel and Iran’s nuclear program. They must have different interpreters in Washington and Canberra!
"The high minded man must care more for the truth than for what people think. "Aristotle
ON THE WALLABY – 15th April 2006
• Professor Marie Bashir-a woman who puts respectability back into public and political life
" Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has” – Margaret Mead, Anthropologist
ON THE WALLABY – 12th April 2006
• “Take care of our children” – a Benedictine nun writes about the tragedy of Iraqi children- a poignant line of thought at Easter
" That is a number in which I have absolutely no interest whatsoever.” – former US Secretary of Defence Colin Powell when asked did he know how many Iraqi’s had been killed or injured up to that stage of the Iraq invasion
ON THE WALLABY – 3rd April 2006
• The Graham-Schumer Bill. Never heard of it? I think you are about to!
" In the beginning of a change, the patriot is a scarce man, brave, hated, and scorned. When his cause succeeds however, the timid join him, for then it costs nothing to be a patriot." - Mark Twain
ON THE WALLABY – 22nd March 2006
• Iraq- how no exit strategy led to awful consequences!
“ Power tends to corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely” – Lord Acton (1834-1902)
ON THE WALLABY – 19th March 2006
• Dolly Parton- Country Music queen AND book lover supreme!
”I thought, wouldn’t it be wonderful to let kids learn how to love book? We (her Imagination Library Project started in 1996) now give books to at least 500 Counties in 42 States in the USA and last year we sent out more than two million books” – Dolly Parton, Country music singer, actress and legend
ON THE WALLABY – 16th March 2006
• “Let the Games begin” and Britains legacy to the world shows through?
”The success of one life should not be judged by the level to which they rose but by the obstacles they overcame in getting there – Booker T Washington
ON THE WALLABY – 14th March 2006
• The “what are Australian values” OTW creates comment?
"You have no need to worry, I.Saydi, as most of us only ask that you live a good life and show respect for our ways. You do not have to adopt the practices of people who cheat Centrelink, throw things at other people and ignore those who need help in the street, because most of us abhor those things to. You say you have some wonderful Australian friends, so stick with them and ignore the recalcitrants and you will be “Australian”.- Ronda Boyd, Hunters Hill (Sydney) in a Letter to the Editor, Sydney Morning Herald,14th March 2006
ON THE WALLABY – 13th March 2006
• What are Australian values? Is Peter Costello right?
"I do not believe that worthwhile values start and stop at a country’s border. I believe they live in the hearts of good people of all countries and cultures wherever they may travel and live” – I.Saydl, a Brisbane resident recently escaped from Afghanistan
ON THE WALLABY – 8th March 2006
• Labor in shackles- has Kim Beasley the courage to break them?
"Before you can persuade Australians of your credentials to run the country, you have to show that you can run your political party. And to do that we must unshackle our party from factions."- Julia Gillard, Labor Shadow Minister for Health
ON THE WALLABY – 7th March 2006
• Time is the currency of life- how many of us spend it unwisely?
”Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma, which is living with the results of other peoples thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voices. And most of all, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition”- Stephen Jobs, Founder and CEO of Apple Computers
ON THE WALLABY – 6th March 2006
• India- at last we awaken to the sleeping giant
• Hans Christian- the worlds classiest cruising yacht now available in Australia
“A person who won't read has no advantage over one who can't read”- Mark Twain
ON THE WALLABY – 4th March 2006
• Orwell’s scenario- is it well and truly here and what are the myths of “we’re from the Government and we’re here to help you?”?
"Big Brother in the form of an increasingly powerful government and in an increasingly powerful private sector will pile the records high with reasons why privacy should give way to national security, to law and order, to efficiency of operation, to scientific advancement and the like.": Justice William O. Douglas - (1898-1980), U. S. Supreme Court Justice
ON THE WALLABY – 1st March 2006
• The Australian tragedy- a woeful and pitiful Labor Opposition
• The Royal Australian Navy and Australian Army- 105 today
"God help this country when somebody sits at this desk who doesn't know as much about the military as I do." –President Dwight D Eisenhower, former Supreme Commander Allied Troops, World War Two
ON THE WALLABY – 19th February 2006
• George Clooney, take a bow!
“Oh, East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet,
Till Earth and Sky stand presently at God's great Judgment Seat;
But there is neither East nor West, Border, nor Breed, nor Birth,
When two strong men stand face to face,
tho' they come from the ends of the earth!
Rudyard Kipling “The Ballad of East and West”
ON THE WALLABY – 16th February 2006
• Abu Graib – do its walls see any difference between America and Saddam Hussein?
"Few are willing to brave the disapproval of their fellows, the censure of the colleagues, the wrath of their society. Moral courage is a rarer commodity than bravery in battle or great intelligence. Yet it is the one essential, vital quality for those who seek to change a world that yields most painfully to change. Each time a person stands up for an idea, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, (s)he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centres of energy and daring, those ripples build a current that can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance." – Robert F. Kennedy
ON THE WALLABY – 12th February 2006
• Multiculturism- has it worked here in Australia?
"Occupants of public offices love power and are prone to abuse it."- George Washington , First President of the United States of America’s Farewell Address
ON THE WALLABY – 8th February 2006
• Are we seeing the sun set on the American Empire?
• “Walk the Line” – a great movie and tribute to Johnny Cash
“The truth is quite simple. An empire increases the danger for the American people, as empires always make more enemies than friends, not to mention inciting envy and hatred. Maintaining an empire will eventually break us, as it has every single empire of the past.”- Theodore Roosevelt, President, United States of America
ON THE WALLABY – 3rd February 2006
• An Israeli response to my Hamas “OTW”
“"It is weakness rather than wickedness which renders men unfit to be trusted with unlimited power." – John Adams, 1788
ON THE WALLABY – 31st January 2006
• The irony of the democratic process – Hamas gets the peoples support and the West bucks!
“The abuse of buying and selling votes crept in and money began to play an important part in determining elections. Later on, this process of corruption spread to the law courts. And then to the army, and finally the Republic was subjected to the rule of emperors” - Plutarch - Historian of the Roman Republic Tony Fountain Auctioneer & Professional Speaker GPO Box 5200 Sydney Australia 2001
ON THE WALLABY – 26th January 2006
• Captain Arthur Phillip RN, Australia’s first Governor and the “forgotten man” of Australia Day
“I love a sunburnt country, A land of sweeping plains, Of ragged mountain ranges, <br Of droughts and flooding rains. I love her far horizons, I love her jewel-sea, Her beauty and her terror The wide brown land for me! “My Country” by Dorothea McKellar 1904 (part only) Tony Fountain Auctioneer & Professional Speaker GPO Box 5200 Sydney Australia 2001
ON THE WALLABY – 20th January 2006
• The full text of Osama Bin Ladens latest missive to the West- read it and make up your own mind.
“Liberty can not be preserved without general knowledge among people." (August 1765) John Adams
ON THE WALLABY – 19th January 2006
• Iraq- the imbroglio deepens. Maybe President Bush should have read Robert Fisk’s words?
"The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe. To be your own man is hard business. If you try it, you will be lonely often, and sometimes frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself." - Rudyard Kipling - (1865-1936)
ON THE WALLABY – 7th January 2006
• “Two on the Tasman” voyage – what did we learn?
• The Coastal Patrol and Coast Guard- unsung heroes of Australia
"Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just.": Thomas Jefferson
ON THE WALLABY – 3rd January 2006
• “Two on the Tasman” voyage – not what we expected
• 2006 – may it be your best year yet
“So let's call a colony a colony, let's call occupation what it is, let's call a wall a wall. And maybe express the reality of war by showing that it represents not, primarily, victory or defeat, but the total failure of the human spirit.”- internationally acclaimed journalist and Middle East history expert Robert Fisk Tony Fountain Auctioneer & Professional Speaker GPO Box 5200 Sydney Australia 2001
ON THE WALLABY – 19th December 2005
• “Two on the Tasman” voyage –we depart 0900 Wednesday for Nelson New Zealand
“All men dream, but not equally. For the Dreaners of the Night awaken to find it was merely their vanity. But the Dreamers of the Day are the dangerous ones, for they dream with their eyes open and they make things happen” – T.E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia) “Seven Pillars of Wisdom” Tony Fountain Auctioneer & Professional Speaker GPO Box 5200 Sydney Australia 2001
ON THE WALLABY – 18th December 2005
• “Two on the Tasman” voyage update including photos
Quote of the Bulletin:
"To be truly challenging, a voyage, like a life, must rest on a firm foundation of financial unrest. Otherwise, you are doomed to a routine traverse, the kind known to yachtsmen who play with their boats at sea... "cruising" it is called. Voyaging belongs to seamen, and to the wanderers of the world who cannot, or will not, fit in. If you are contemplating a voyage and you have the means, abandon the venture until your fortunes change. Only then will you know what the sea is all about. "I've always wanted to sail to the south seas, but I can't afford it." What these men can't afford is not to go. They are enmeshed in the cancerous discipline of "security." And in the worship of security we fling our lives beneath the wheels of routine - and before we know it our lives are gone. What does a man need - really need? A few pounds of food each day, heat and shelter, six feet to lie down in - and some form of working activity that will yield a sense of accomplishment. That's all - in the material sense, and we know it. But we are brainwashed by our economic system until we end up in a tomb beneath a pyramid of time payments, mortgages, preposterous gadgetry, playthings that divert our attention for the sheer idiocy of the charade. The years thunder by, The dreams of youth grow dim where they lie caked in dust on the shelves of patience. Before we know it, the tomb is sealed. Where, then, lies the answer? In choice. Which shall it be: bankruptcy of purse or bankruptcy of life?" Sterling Hayden, “Wanderer” Tony Fountain
Auctioneer & Professional Speaker GPO Box 5200 Sydney Australia 2001
ON THE WALLABY – 17th December 2005
• “Two on the Tasman” voyage update
Quotes of the Bulletin:
Brahmanism: This is the sum of duty: Do naught unto others which would cause you pain if done to you.: Mahabharata 5:1517
Christianity: All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them.: Matthew 7:12
Islam: No one of you is a believer until he desires for his brother what which he desires for himself. Sunnah
Buddhism: Hurt not others in ways that you yourself would find hurtful.: Udana Varga 5:18
Judaism: What is hateful to you, do not to your fellowmen. That is the entire Law; all the rest is commentary.: Talmud, Shabbat 31:a
Confucianism: Surely it is the maxim of loving-kindness: Do not unto others that you would not have them do unto you.: Analects 15:23
Taoism: Regard your neighbour’s gain as your own gain, and your neighbour’s loss as your own loss.: Tai Shag Kan Ying Pien
Zoroastrianism: That nature alone is good which refrains from doing unto another whatsoever is not good: for itself. : Dadistan-i-dinik 94:5
Question then is if this is the concept of all of the above, where is mankind going wrong? Tony Fountain
ON THE WALLABY – 15th December 2005
“There is no greater incentive for success than the winds of disaster blowing up your arse” – Anthony Fountain
ON THE WALLABY – 14th December 2005
• David Hicks – a blot on the Australian character
“Don't ever let them pull you down so low as to hate them.” (also cited as: I will permit no man to narrow and degrade my soul by making me hate him.) Booker T. Washington
ON THE WALLABY – 12th December 2005
• “Two on the Tasman” voyage update, including photos
• The Cronulla riots- a resident’s (mine) view of the situation
• School Cadets- has their time come again at last?
“Our job is not to make soldiers out of them but to make them better people. If they go on into the Army then that is a bonus” – Major Bill Collidge, OIC Four Platoon (Banksia Hill Juvenile Detention Centre, Perth WA)
ON THE WALLABY – 10th December 2005
• “Two on the Tasman” voyage update • John Howard’s amazing week
"You can't hold a man down without staying down with him." : Booker T. Washington - (1856-1915) Author and Humanitarian
ON THE WALLABY – 8th December 2005
• I auction a house for $11,800,000 – still some kick in the Sydney market (photos included)
“The success of one’s life should not be judged by the levels to which they rose but by the obstacles they overcame in getting there- Booker T Washington,
ON THE WALLABY – 5th December 2005
• Vale- George Best, Ireland’s most brilliant footballer and Belfast Lad
• Vale- Van Nguyen, a tragic story
“ The hardest thing I ever did was give up women and the booze. It was the worst twenty minutes of my life” – the late George Best, footballer extraordinaire
ON THE WALLABY – 29th November 2005
• Looking to buy art for Christmas? Maybe the works of Kurt (samples shown) are what you are after?
“ Anthony, why be ordinary? The world is full of ordinary people”- Bettina, my adopting mother talking to me as a young boy.
ON THE WALLABY – 26th November 2005
• The 2005 Wallaby European Tour- why did we go?
• Sydney’s desalination plans- maybe Mr Scully should live aboard a yacht for a while and learn about reverse osmosis processes
“The history of liberty is a history of resistance. The history of liberty is a history of limitations of government power, not the increase of it”. – USA President Woodrow Wilson, in a speech in New York City, September 9, 1912
ON THE WALLABY – 20th November 2005
• “Two on the Tasman” – late December we set sail in “Seerauber”, my 24 foot yacht, for Nelson NZ and return to raise funds for The Royal Far West Children’s Health and Aged Care Scheme
“Man cannot cross oceans until he has the courage to lose sight of the shore” - anonymous
ON THE WALLABY – 18th November 2005
• “You pay peanuts- you only get monkeys”- the difference between business and politicians remuneration
“Throughout history, it has been the inaction of those who could have acted; the indifference of those who should have known better; the silence of the voice of justice when it mattered most; that has made it possible for evil to triumph”:- Haile Selassie, Emperor of Ethiopia
ON THE WALLABY – 12th November 2005
• Will the ”wannabee a Wallaby” cry now be replaced by the ”wanna be a Socceroo” after Australia’s entry into the 2006 World Cup?
• AWB sales to Iraq- maybe the crop is about to be reaped?
"I know no safe depository of the ultimate powers of the society but the people themselves; and if we think them not enlightened enough to exercise their control with a wholesome discretion, the remedy is not to take it from them, but to inform their discretion." Thomas Jefferson, September 28, 1820
ON THE WALLABY – 1st November 2005
• When a Texan Republican Congressman says it, I think we’d better listen. “We have been warned” he says
“We have been warned. Prepare for a broader war in the Middle East, as plans are being laid for the next U.S.-led regime change – in Syria.” Congressman Ron Paul (Republican-Texas)
ON THE WALLABY – 30th October 2005
• The Australian Parliament- how about it decides the new anti-terrorism laws instead of Executive Government?
• Northern Australia- a case of “use it or lose it”?
"Ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free" - John 8:32
ON THE WALLABY – 28th October 2005
• The United States of America – the greatest empire the world has ever seen? This article makes some startling revelations based on history and economics
"Those who refuse to learn from history are doomed to repeat it." - George Santayana
ON THE WALLABY- 28th October 2005
ON THE WALLABY – 24th October 2005
• 200th anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar and the Australian National Maritime Museum Nelson and Trafalgar Seminar
• “ It is upon the Navy under the Providence of God that the safety, honour and wealth of this realm does chiefly attend” – Preamble to the Acts of War, 1652
• “It is because of Nelson that every time the Royal Navy goes to war, it expects to win” – Admiral Sir Alan West, First Sea Lord, 28th June 2005.
ON THE WALLABY – 20th October 2005
• 200th anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar and the Australian National Maritime Museum has “the weekend” for Nelson and Trafalgar buffs.... Read more
“England expects every man will do his duty” – Nelson’s legendary signal flown from his flagship, HMS Victory as he engaged the French and Spanish Fleets on the 25th October 1805.
ON THE WALLABY – 19th October 2005
• The death of Rommel , arguably Germany’s greatest warrior– 61 years ago last Sunday
• 31st October- the British Government finishes paying the bill for US made equipment for World War 1
“Kreig Ohne Hass..... a war without hate”- Field Marshall Erwin Rommel, Commander of the German Afrika Korps when asked about their battle with Montgomery’s 8th Army (including the Australian “Rats of Tobruk” 9th Division) in the Western Desert of North Africa.
ON THE WALLABY – 18th October 2005
• Are we really any better than the terrorists? Reading this Sunday Herald (UK) article really makes me wonder.
"But this is slavery, not to speak one’s thought."- Euripides - (480-406 B.C.) - Source: The Phoenician Women, 411-409 B.C.
ON THE WALLABY – 15th October 2005
• “Nicole”- an amazing travel story direct from nature
• Mr Costello- I thought Liberal Party thinking was all about “incentives”- and yet you can your flat tax scheme?
• The vasectomy market is tested by one of my auctions
“In the face of terrorism, one of the most useful things that Australia and Indonesia can do together is to sustain their co-operation by promoting interfaith dialogue. Such dialogue amplifies the voices of the Muslim moderates and empowers them. When the moderates speak loud enough, they can help silence even the bombs” – Wiryono, former Indonesian Ambassador to Australia (1996-1999) and now a Senior Fellow at The Centre for Strategic and International Studies in Jakarta.
ON THE WALLABY – 7th October 2005
• Terrorism- How are you reacting to it?
"Those who perpetrate these brutal acts against innocent people should know that they will not change our way of life."- Queen Elizabeth 2nd’s message following last July's bomb attacks on Londoners .
ON THE WALLABY – 3rd October 2005
• Terrorism- so what is the main game in Indonesia following more Bali bombings?
“This is, below the surface, a civil war. In the eyes of the bombers, the great crime of the Balinese people is to have successfully resisted the march of Islam. Bali is largely a Hindu-Buddhist island in an Islamic sea. It is thus a haven for infidels .Its greatest industry, tourism ,serves Western infidels. Bali must be brought to its knees” – Paul Sheehan – Asian correspondent The Sydney Morning Herald Newspaper.
ON THE WALLABY – 2nd October 2005
• Terrorism- how a humble pig could make Bin Laden look like chicken meat!
“It is better to let them do it themselves imperfectly than do it yourself perfectly. It is their country, their way, and our time is short” – Lawrence of Arabia,when asked in 1918 about training Arab soldiers
ON THE WALLABY – 18th September 2005
• Mark Latham’s Diaries-will Labor even read, let alone address, the important message he had in them?
• Go the Tigers- yet another example of how self belief can move mountains
“Now you know what it felt like to be a Pom”- a Letter to the Editor last week in the Sydney Morning Herald commenting on Australia’s loss to England of the “holy grail” of international cricket, The Ashes.
ON THE WALLABY – 9th September 2005
• Hurricane Katrina- Warnings were loud and clear- but still the city drowneda ( a must read report)
“When you put pressure on people, you find out all about them” – Clarrie Fountain
ON THE WALLABY – 5th September 2005
• President Bush- like a startled rabbit in a spotlight- yet again!
• Where has the decency gone in Australian politics?
“When we lose our love for our fellow man less fortunate than ourselves, we cease to be a Democrat”- Don Chipp, Founder of the Australian Democrats 1995.
ON THE WALLABY – 24th August 2005
• Multi-culturism- I think Brendan Nelson has “the bull by the teat”!
"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bow lines. Sail away from the safe harbour. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." - Mark Twain
ON THE WALLABY – 16th August 2005
• Elvis- 28 years today since Elvis "left the building" but he's going as strong as ever
• Bob Menzies was right- a cabbie conversation can be MOST illuminating
“I don't know anything about music. In my line you don't have to.” - Elvis Presley
ON THE WALLABY – 15th August 2005
• VP Day- maybe gone but certainly not forgotten
• Vale David Lange- a great New Zealander
“Honour is the gift you give yourself” - author unknown
ON THE WALLABY – 9th August 2005
• Iran- a case of “here we go again?”- a thought provoking article on the ramifications of “firing from the hip”
“ I can understand you don’t mollycoddle people, but that’s light years away from mistreating them. You don’t descend to that level - you’ve lost if you mistreat people . Whatever we do, whatever we gain from people, we have to do it in a way which leaves our morality, our integrity, intact”- Retired General Peter Cosgrove, former Australian Defence Force Chief when commenting on what he saw as the low point for coalition forces in Iraq, the revelations about Abu Ghraib prison.
ON THE WALLABY – 7th August 2005
• 'BOK BLITZ- again! Can Eddie Jones and the Wallabies “digitus extractum” and wheel the All Blacks?
“My favourite Rugby team is the Wallabies. My next favourite is anyone playing South Africa” – mine and many other Aussie Rugby supporters view.
ON THE WALLABY – 4th August 2005
“Evil prevails whilst good men remain silent”- Edmund Burke, 17th century English libertarian
ON THE WALLABY – 2nd August 2005
“Too bad the only people who know how to run the country are busy driving cabs and cutting hair.”- George Burns
ON THE WALLABY – 28th July 2005
An English Plea For Peace With The American Colonies
“My Lords, this ruinous and ignominious situation, where we cannot act with success, nor suffer with honour, calls upon us to remonstrate in the strongest and loudest language of truth, to rescue the ear of Majesty from the delusions which surround it. You cannot, I venture to say, you CANNOT conquer America.
What is your present situation there? We do not know the worst; but we know that in three campaigns we have done nothing and suffered much. You may swell every expense, and strain every effort, still more extravagantly; accumulate every assistance you can beg or borrow; traffic and barter with every pitiful German Prince, that sells and sends his subjects to the shambles of a foreign country: your efforts are forever vain and impotent-doubly so from this mercenary aid on which you rely; for it irritates to an incurable resentment the minds of your enemies, to overrun them with the sordid sons of rapine and of plunder, devoting them and their possessions to the rapacity of hireling cruelty! If I were an American, as I am an Englishman, while a foreign troop was landed in my country, I never would lay down my arms! -Never! Never! Never!: William Pitt - - November 18th 1777
ON THE WALLABY – 23rd July 2005
“ I never cease to marvel at the fact that I can fix my position on the surface of this small planet by spying on something so distant as the sun or so infinitely distant as the stars, and at such times my predicted landfalls work out satisfactorily. I feel humble and most grateful to the men who have made such a thing possible” - the late sailing legend and author , Eric Hiscock, skipper of the Wanderer series of yachts.
ON THE WALLABY – 19th July 2005
• Vale Captain Matthew Flinders RN - 191 years ago today passed away the man who named Australia and who was one of the world’s greatest navigators.
"The history of our race, and each individual's experience, are sown thick with evidence that a truth is not hard to kill and that a lie told well is immortal" - Mark Twain (1835 - 1910), Advice to Youth
ON THE WALLABY – 8th July 2005
• Maybe if George Bush had played rugby he wouldn’t be in his (and our) current pickle?
• The Londoin bombings- reprehensible but will “:the powers” make the right moves to remove the core of the terrorism problem?
“Would the child you once were be proud of the person you have become”- a question we should all ask ourselves from time to time
ON THE WALLABY – 6th July 2005
“Find something you like to do so well you'll do it for nothing, then learn to do it well enough to be paid for it." – Leroy Van Dyke, American auctioneer and Country Music star and who’s song ”The Auctioneer”, was a prime driving source for me becoming one.
ON THE WALLABY – 4th July 2005
“When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. --That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.” – the first two paragraphs of the American Declaration of Independence”
ON THE WALLABY – 29th June 2005
"Majority rule only works if you're also considering individual rights because you can't have five wolves and one sheep voting on what to have for supper." (Larry Flynt)
ON THE WALLABY – 28th June 2005
“A ship is safe in harbour, but that is not what ships are for” –Anonymous
ON THE WALLABY – 26th June 2005
“ When we lose our love for our fellow man less fortunate than ourselves, we cease to be a Democrat” – Don Chipp, Founder of the Australian Democrats
ON THE WALLABY – 23rd June 2005
“Cowardice asks the question - is it safe? Expediency asks the question - is it politic? Vanity asks the question - is it popular? But conscience asks the question - is it right? And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular; but one must take it because it is right” - Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
ON THE WALLABY – 19th June 2005
• Could John Howard , Tony Blair and others face an international court over the invasion of Iraq? This eminent QC thinks so.
"We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light." - Plato
ON THE WALLABY – 12th June 2005
• Lieut-Colonel Tim Collins pulls the pin on the British Army- and we lose a valuable man
• The ALP- destined to never-never land for a long while (much to Australia’s cost)
“It is a cultural issue and the historical tradition of America is to subjugate. We saw it with the American Indian, in Germany, Japan, Afghanistan and now Iraq. The tradition of Britain and the Commonwealth nations is to work in partnerships and act in concert. That has proven to be much more successful.” British Lieutenant Colonel Tim Collins (Rtd)
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ON THE WALLABY – 10th June 2005
* Kostya Tszyu- a gem of a man and a genuine role model for us all
“Until lions have their historians, tales of the hunt shall always glorify the hunters”- African Proverb
ON THE WALLABY – 2nd June 2005
• Vale Eddie Hackman- bush sculptor extraordinaire and the man whose dream led to the creating the Australian Stockman’s Hall of Fame.
"Never forget that everything Hitler did in Germany was legal." - Martin Luther King, Jr (American Baptist minister and civil-rights leader. 1929-1968)
ON THE WALLABY – 15th May 2005
• Today’s architecture- are we really any further ahead? A visit to Moree has me questioning.
“The Roots of Violence:- Wealth without work, Pleasure without conscience, Knowledge without character, Commerce without morality, Science without humanity, Worship without sacrifice, Politics without principles” - Mahatma Gandhi, Indian leader, 1869-1948
ON THE WALLABY – 14th May 2005
• HUMPBACK WHALES – now it’s our turn to defend them
"Power always thinks it has a great soul and vast views beyond the comprehension of the weak; and that it is doing God's service when it is violating all his laws." -John Adams
ON THE WALLABY – 12th May 2005
• SEERAUBER- on the water and under sail at last
"It is a very great mistake to imagine that the object of loyalty is the authority and interest of one individual man, however dignified by the applause or enriched by the success of popular actions.": Samuel Adams (1722-1803), was known as the "Father of the American Revolution."
ON THE WALLABY – 10th May 2005
• Pedometer- how the little thing has changed my life!
"Live your life that the fear of death can never enter your heart. Trouble no one about his religion. Respect others in their views and demand that they respect yours. Love your life, perfect your life, beautify all things in your life. Seek to make your life long and of service to your people. Prepare a noble death song for the day when you go over the great divide.
Always give a word or sign of salute when meeting or passing a friend, or even a stranger, if in a lonely place. Show respect to all people, but grovel to none. When you rise in the morning, give thanks for the light, for your life, for your strength. Give thanks for your food and for the joy of living. If you see no reason to give thanks, the fault lies in yourself.
Abuse no one and no thing, for abuse turns the wise ones to fools and robs the spirit of its vision. When your time comes to die, be not like those whose hearts are filled with fear of death, so that when their time comes they weep and pray for a little more time to live their lives over again in a different way. Sing your death song, and die like a hero going home." by Tecumseh -(1768-1813) Shawnee Chief
ON THE WALLABY – 1st May 2005
• Vale Sarah Henderson- an amazing lady
“A day at sea in a storm will do more for communication with the Almighty than a month of Sundays sitting in Church”- a thought that occurred (frequently) to Tony Fountain whilst sailing in a 70 knot gale crossing Bass Strait in 1991
ON THE WALLABY – 25th April 2005
• ANZAC DAY – have we really learnt anything?
“ Hamilton (Sir Ian Hamilton, the British General in charge of Gallipoli operations) wrote approvingly that a wounded British officer had said it was worth ten years of tennis to see the Australians and New Zealanders go in (Cape Helles). This must have been comfort for the widows of Ballarat and Nelson”- Les Carlyon in his outstanding book “Gallipoli” (page 250)
ON THE WALLABY – 20th April 2005
• Captain of my own ship again- Seerauber arrives tomorrow (pics)
“To be truly challenging, a voyage, like a life, must rest on a firm foundation of financial unrest. Otherwise, you are doomed to a routine traverse, the kind known to yachtsmen who play with their boats at sea... "cruising" it is called. Voyaging belongs to seamen, and to the wanderers of the world who cannot, or will not, fit in. If you are contemplating a voyage and you have the means, abandon the venture until your fortunes change. Only then will you know what the sea is all about.
"I've always wanted to sail to the south seas, but I can't afford it." What these men can't afford is not to go. They are enmeshed in the cancerous discipline of "security." And in the worship of security we fling our lives beneath the wheels of routine - and before we know it our lives are gone.
What does a man need - really need? A few pounds of food each day, heat and shelter, six feet to lie down in - and some form of working activity that will yield a sense of accomplishment. That's all - in the material sense, and we know it. But we are brainwashed by our economic system until we end up in a tomb beneath a pyramid of time payments, mortgages, preposterous gadgetry, playthings that divert our attention for the sheer idiocy of the charade.
The years thunder by, the dreams of youth grow dim where they lie caked in dust on the shelves of patience. Before we know it, the tomb is sealed.
Where, then, lies the answer? In choice.
Which shall it be: bankruptcy of purse or bankruptcy of life?"- Sterling Hayden in his book “Wanderer”
ON THE WALLABY – 3rd April 2005
• Why are human beings the only creatures on earth to crap in their own nests??
“The only difference between horses and people is that the horses are invariably smarter”- Clarrie Fountain, my late father
ON THE WALLABY – 31st March 2005
• Where has accountability gone on both domestic and international actions?
“If the Nuremberg laws were applied, then every post-war American president would have been hanged” : Noam Chomsky -
ON THE WALLABY – 25th March 2005
• So what happens when we have no Air Force defence for 3 years???
“I don’t think the US will go into retreat. Superpowers, especially if you are the only global super power, you don’t- you not only don’t, you can’t-go into retreat” Senator Robert Hill, Australian Minister for Defence
ON THE WALLABY – 21st March 2005
• The Macquarie Fields riots- whatever happened to good old fashioned Policing?
"The Constitution was made to guard the people against the dangers of good intentions.": Daniel Webster - (1782-1852), US Senator
ON THE WALLABY – 13th March 2005
• Vale Irish comedian Dave Allen -“may your God go with you”
• 3rd Endurance Bred Arabian Horse sale
“I’m an atheist, thank God, because I don’t believe in Him. But I have a grudge against all the evil things that are done in His name, certainly, and a grudge against the way that they tried to get inside my head whilst I was a child”- Dave Allen
ON THE WALLABY – 7th March 2005
• the penny finally drops with the government and Australians on the over emphasis on university education.
“Surround yourself with the right people . The secret to my success is to get all these people around me who are exceptional at what they do. People always stick with good people and it’s not always because of the money”- Gerry Harvey, billionaire Founder of the now international Harvey Norman retail store chain.
ON THE WALLABY – 23rd February 2005
• Cricket in Sierra Leone- the follow up to my par on Sunday
• Infrastructure and the work force
"Find out just what people will quietly submit to, and you have found out the exact measure of injustice and wrong which will be imposed on them, and these will continue till they are resisted with either words or blows. The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress.": Frederick Douglass, African-American slave, and later abolitionist.
ON THE WALLABY – 22nd February 2005
• The spirit of Gordon Gekko lives on. It couldn’t happen in Australia... or could it?
“Leaders are dealers in hope”- Napoleon Bonaparte
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