Month: October 2004

Last Sunday, K and I headed up to Caloundra. We arrived bright and early after having dropped of K’s parents at the Brisbane airport at 7:15am. We spent much of the day by the ocean lazing around and reading the Sunday paper (whose headlines were to do with the election result). I had a swim. It was a really nice day.

On the way back from Caloundra, we stopped at the Rustic Cabin, which is located at the Caloundra exit on the Bruce Highway. This place does a wonderful Devonshire tea. So here’s our review. Importantly, the jam and cream came in little pots. The scones were enormous, fluffy and suitably crumbly. One order of Devonshire tea ($8.50) comes with tea for one and three scones! Three scones were too many for just the two of us (although I was forced to polish off the third scone). The tea came in a nice big pot, and was brewed from real leaves. An extra pot of hot water was supplied for adjusting the strength of the tea. Apparently the teacups were satisfactory, but there was no tablecloth! Overall, we think the Rustic Cabin serves an excellent Devonshire tea, though the goldfish in the pond outside are very distracting. Highly recommended.

It appears that the majority of my fellow Australians care little for truth and justice, and more about the dollars in their hip pockets. I’m shocked at the extent of the Coalition’s victory. This isn’t the Australia I grew up in.

Judging by this image, somebody out there is at least as angry as I am about the election result (I dare say a lot angrier than I). Thanks to RA for sending me photo.

Just finished watching The President Versus David Hicks on SBS. It was a very interesting documentary. David Hicks’ letters to his parents provided remarkable insight into his mentality on the way to his being captured by the Northern Alliance in Afghanistan and handed over to the US. Hicks’ father, Terry, aided by his son’s numerous letters, traced David’s footsteps from Pakistan across the border into northern Afghanistan. This must have been very scary, as people are still often killed in roadside ambushes. It became clear, from his letters, that David had been deluded into believing the Taliban’s extreme interpretation of Islam. But it was never clear that Hicks ever participated in terrorism of any kind (unless one holds that the mere belief in an extreme interpretation of the Qur’an, or any religious text for that matter, is a form of terrorism). The laws and legal terms invented by the US government to subvert the Geneva Convention and the US’s own laws is laughable. Criminals should be punished, but they must first be found guilty by a court of law, where evidence gained under stress and duress (otherwise known as torture) is not admissable.

The USA is now headed by a President who was not democratically elected. The USA has passed laws such as the USA-PATRIOT act, which undermine the freedoms upon which it was founded. It now seems that due legal process is a thing of the past in that country. It isn’t entirely clear whether or not US courts have jurisdiction over the detainees held at Guantanamo Bay or not. But common sense (which seems to often be lacking within the legal system), would say that US courts have jurisdiction over any person on a naval base belonging to the US. Certainly, the idea that there exists a black hole where the US government can do whatever it wants to anybody is both scary and sickening. Anyway, all this reminds me of Benjamin Franklin’s memorable quote:

Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.

Ernie has had a new home for a while now. Now Barret the Bear keeps me company instead. :)

On Saturday evening, I watched about half of Herbie Rides Again. I’d quite forgotten how deliciously corny that series of movies is. My favourite line comes just after Herbie drives off a wharf into the ocean, and begins motoring for the shore. A shark (surprise, surprise), begins to follow Herbie, and Nicole (Stefanie Powers) says

That’s ridiculous. Why would a shark be following a Volkswagen?

Classic.

Nigel and I finished watching the Star Wars trilogy today. After all this time, it still has to be one of my favourite movies (taken as one) of all. It’s your classic story of good versus evil, but as far as those kinds of stories goes, Star Wars does it best.