Remembrance day affects people. Some have family connections with loss. Some not connected with a direct action, and yet all are part of a larger body which has endured loss. Endurance suggests continuity, and there is the rub. For we who stand, now is the time to reflect on those who cannot. Australians who participated in the First World War were volunteers. And yet not all so, for civilians got caught in the battles too. Some of the great poets of the age arose from the war. Some lost to it. All sacrificed much. Ginger Mick was a fictional character who asked for nothing from me. Yet I would give him his life if I could. He didn't want to be called a hero. Yet he died one.
What can be said in such a sacred day of former PM Paul Keating branding ALP with a speech writer's words to associate with Remembrance Day? He did not write those words "He is one of them. He is all of us" for the unknown soldier. ALP don't have a proud history of governance with serving troops. Sacrificing many in Singapore, abandoning POWs, Union strikes organised to hinder troops, shaming soldiers who chose to fight. In recent years, Australia has been involved in her longest armed conflict in Afghanistan. Six years under the conservatives, and six years under the ALP. Forty deaths under the ALP, none under the conservatives. It is a compelling soccer score for people like Keating who view lives as a game through which ALP must triumph in memory. Probably it best to view Keating in paraphrased terms "He is one of them, against all of us"
Australian troops achieved much in WW1, but were quite humble. They didn't treasure awards, possibly disgusted at the reality and the cost which such things entailed. And what award compensates for the loss? I thank those who were awarded. They definitely earned it. As did many who never were given one. Some complain of the atrocities committed. Such things happen in war, but overwhelmingly, Australians fought with honour. I write 'Australians' and many might point out so many weren't, being from NZ, England, South Africa, PNG, India .. I know not the full allegiance, but I give them this gift. For the war ended at 11am on the 11th day of the 11th month on 1918. Today, Australia has wounds from her local petty battles. We don't really know who is ridgy didge. Our future is clouded. And yet in freedom and liberty, we rule. People come to our land from places thousands of years rich in history. Risking all. Because of the sacrifice of those soldiers. They might not have had Australia in mind, and yet they gave her this rich gift. A bowl, drenched in their blood, giving us a drink of hope for tomorrow.
Jingle bell, jingle bell, jingle bell rock
Jingle bells swing and jingle bells ring
Snowin' and blowin' up bushels of fun
Now the jingle hop has begun
Jingle bell, jingle bell, jingle bell rock
Jingle bells chime in jingle bell time
Dancin' and prancin' in Jingle Bell Square
In the frosty air
What a bright time, it's the right time
To rock the night away
Jingle bell time is a swell time
To go glidin' in a one-horse sleigh
Giddy-up jingle horse, pick up your feet
Jingle around the clock
Mix and a-mingle in the jinglin' feet
That's the jingle bell rock
Jingle bell, jingle bell, jingle bell rock
Jingle bell chime in jingle bell time
Dancin' and prancin' in Jingle Bell Square
In the frosty air
What a bright time, it's the right time
To rock the night away
Jingle bell time is a swell time
To go glidin' in a one-horse sleigh
Giddy-up jingle horse, pick up your feet
Jingle around the clock
Mix and a-mingle in the jinglin' feet
That's the jingle bell
That's the jingle bell
That's the jingle...
David Daniel Ball calls himself the Conservative Voice.
I'm a teacher with three decades experience teaching math to high school kids.I also work with first graders and kids in between first grade and high school. I know the legends of why Hypatia's dad is remembered through his contribution to Math theory. And I know the legend of why followers of Godel had thought he had disproved God's existence.
I'm not a preacher, but I am a Christian who has written over 28 books all of which include some reference to my faith. Twelve blog books on world history and current affairs, detailing world events , births and marriages on each day of the year, organised by month. Twelve books on the background to and history of Bible Quotes. One Bible quote per day for a year. An intro to a science fiction series I'm planning, post apocalyptic cyber punk. An autobiography with short story collections.
I'm known in Australia for my failure as a whistleblower over the negligence death of a school boy. ...
In Tanami’s red sands where spinifex grows,
Where waterholes gleam ‘neath the sun’s golden glare,
Lived Yaparla, sweet maid, with a heart pure as snow,
Her kindness a light in the desert so bare.
Her father, a wise man, kept songs for the land,
To guard the soak’s waters where life held its sway.
But drought gripped the earth with a merciless hand,
And he sought a new spring to ease their dismay.
Deep in a gorge where the rocks hid the sky,
He found a clear pool with fish dancing free.
But a voice shook the stones with a thunderous cry,
“Who steals my sweet water without leave of me?”
Out slid the Wanyarra, half-man, half a snake,
His scales flashed like opals, his eyes cold with pain.
“For your kin’s life,” he hissed, “one price I must take—
Send Yaparla to me, or your land drinks no rain.”
The father returned, his heart heavy with woe,
And told his dear daughter the serpent’s demand.
“I’ll go,” said Yaparla, her voice soft and low,
“For my people, my country, I’ll walk that red sand.”
She came to the gorge with her digging stick strong,
Singing songs of her kin ‘neath ...
AI adapted
To adapt the story of Bambi to the Dreamtime of Warlpiri culture in the Tanami Desert, we’ll reimagine the tale with respect for Warlpiri storytelling traditions, cosmology, and the desert environment. The Dreamtime (Jukurrpa) is a sacred framework where ancestral beings shape the land, law, and life, so Bambi’s journey will reflect Warlpiri values like kinship, connection to country, and survival in harmony with nature. I’ll keep the essence of Bambi—a young creature’s growth amid loss and discovery—while grounding it in the Tanami’s ecology and Warlpiri worldview. Since Bambi is a specific narrative, I’ll translate its core themes rather than reproduce the original text verbatim, ensuring cultural sensitivity. The story will be concise yet vivid, as requested.
Bambi in the Jukurrpa of the Tanami
In the Jukurrpa, when the Tanami Desert glowed under the first stars, the ancestral beings shaped the land. From the spinifex and red sand, they formed Jampijinpa, a young red ...
Created with Grok, Pictory, And Topmediai
Content from listening to podcasters Hunley and Groubert of America's Untold Stories. They tell it better than me
Folk Song: "The Ballad of Lee Harvey Oswald"
Verse 1
Oh, Lee Harvey Oswald, a man they did frame,
The deep state and CIA, they tarnished his name.
They said he went to Mexico, a lie they did spin,
While he fought for his service, his honor within.
Chorus
Sing for Lee Oswald, innocent and bold,
Framed by the shadows, a story untold.
With courage he stood, though the truth they denied,
A patriot’s heart in a nation that lied.
Verse 2
On that dark day in Dallas, they said he shot Tippit,
Left a wallet behind, but the tale didn’t fit.
Arrested with his own in hand, the proof was right there,
But the deep state kept spinnin’ their web of despair.
Chorus
Sing for Lee Oswald, innocent and bold,
Framed by the shadows, a story untold.
With courage he stood, though the truth they denied,
A patriot’s heart in a nation that lied.
Verse 3
They trained him in Russian, sent him off to the East,
A ...
