Whenever I think about the Australian Federal Government or the City of Darwin Council, I’m always reminded of Slim Dusty’s song “Big Frogs in Little Puddles Laying Down The Law

Too late!   

The day you begin,   

Can be the day too late,   

To stop.   

Drugs offer    

A slippery slide,   

A roller coaster ride.   

Up, up, uppers,    

Exhilaration,   

Down, down, downers,    

Plunging despair,   

The crest crashes.     

A yawning trough,   

The pits,   

The only way is up,  

Inject,   

Ingest,     

Force the mortal flesh,   

Reach the mountain top.   

Savour brief sunshine,   

Before you slide,   

Into the abyss of soulless despair.   

That fix,   

That fleeting rise,   

Artificial joy.   

Again the fall,   

That sinking hopelessness.      

Pump your veins,    

Full of shit,   

Rise, rise, rise,   

Between the falls.   

Day,   

Slips into night,   

Until one day,   

You rise no more.   

Forever cast,   

Into nether silence,   

Beyond the grave.   

DOD.   

Poor Old Henry

We’ve come from near and afar,  

Tragic horror where we were,  

Now we are here,  

Across the oceans and the plains,  

Our home regimes were major pains.  

We pawned our jewels,  

Shelled out much money,  

For passage to a land,  

Of milk and honey.  

A land of promise   

We were told,  

Awaits those who cross   

From countries  

Whose birthrights are sold  

On sad regimes  

Which make no sense,  

Anathema to those  

With pounds and pence  

Who oppose autocracy,  

And dream democracy.  

Challenged, spurned, cast adrift,  

We left behind a major rift,    

An ideological chasm so wide,  

It casts us on the other side,  

Of a yawning gulf  

We will never bridge.    

So we arrived  

Down under,  

Was our trip a massive blunder!?  

Herded into compounds like cows,

Men typed as pigs, 

Women as sows!!  

In camps,  

Contained within razor wire.  

We yell,  

“Is Australia ANOTHER living hell??”  

“Justice please,  

Justice” we call,  

Hear us …  

Our despair quells.  

Our plea a prayer,  

Will it fall on deaf ears,  

Raising within,  

Internal fears,  

That we will be moved. 

Back. From whence we came,   

Or worse,   

Oh SHIT!!!  

RETURNED,  

From where we left,

We will face torture,  

Trial,  

And DEATH.  

Poor Old Henry

A couple  

With hungry child,  

Approach the checkout.  

In their trolley,  

Are basic necessities.  

Nothing elaborate,  

Every item one of need.  

They consult the plastic,  

Enter digits,  

Hoping to God   

For the green numbers.  

STRIKE ONE   

“Please re-enter”   

Demands that soulless terminal screen.  

Embarrassing the couple,  

Exposing their shame,  

To fellows winking,  

Thinking,  

“We’re better than them”.  

“Sometimes the card sticks …   

Have another go   

OK?”

Transaction re-entered.  

STRIKE TWO   

Declined again! … then again.

STRIKE THREE!!    

You are out.

Derision haunts the couple,   

Shoppers laugh behind their hands.   

The sad pair,   

Buy meagre items,    

With a handful of coins,    

Loose, forlorn in a bag.  

Biscuits, milk.    

The forlorn child   

Hurriedly tears the packet,  

Gnawing the nourishment,    

Like a hungry rat.   

Whither now?   

God only knows   

Toward what end     

Their forlorn destiny will lead.    

They wander from the precinct,    

Into the nether regions,   

Of near distance.   

Rain falls,   

Lightly from the sky,   

How they wish   

It was manna from Heaven.  

I am an old man and thankful that I have lived most of my life in a context where PRIVACY WAS PRIVACY. Privacy wasn’t talked about like it is these days, but it was a quality or an entitlement that we had.

No longer. There is a lot of talk about ensuring and guaranteeing privacy, but that is all pie in the sky. Governments, agencies and instrumentalities know everything about everyone. Watching and listening devices are everywhere. From cameras, to drones to satellites, there is nothing about anyone that is not discoverable.

The latest quirk is that of the Brisbane City Council wanting CCTV cameras to be enhanced or supported by listening devices, so that passers by can be both seen and heard. If that intrusion is allowed, watch it proliferate into other cities and towns and centres which are under survelliance.

George Orwell got it wrong. He only imagined the half of what it would be like in his ‘1984’ Its much, much MUCH more intrusive than he ever prognosticate.

I praise the Lord that at least my thoughts are still private but fear the day will come when the innermost of human sanctums will be desecrated by intrusion

Wet roads on wet season’s first day.

SINCERITY COUNTS

Messages delivered by presenters should be from the heart. Avoid (debates excepted) speaking on issues in which you have no belief. Avoid being a hypocritical presenter, a phyyric speaker.

When speaking, use POWERPOINT and props to support speech. Don’t read verbatim from power-points. KNOW your subject in case the power-point goes on the blink. Have a fallback position.

If an AUDIENCE MEMBER, take time to THANK the presenters if you genuinely believe they delivered a quality message. Presenters value appreciation and with that constructive, skill honing advice.

Full time on Grand Final

Half time in Grand Final

There seems to be a lot of hit and miss about appointments and arrangements these days. 

Because you tee up for an arrangement that gives you a lesson in some activity every week or something every week is programmed – then the next thing, quite frequently, you are  let know that they can’t keep that appointment with you this week because something’s come up, or “we can’t keep this appointment for you this week because somebody who’s going to provide the service has rung in sick” and so it goes. So it’s really hit and miss. 

You can’t rely on anything these days. 

In the olden days, it used to be that appointments were always met and very rarely not kept. These days, it seems to be more often that arranged appointments are deferred or cancelled. And that’s par for the course. 

You don’t get any consistency or continuity of our programming that’s in place.

Problem then – Massive Now

ALCOHOL STIMULATES INTRA-TERRITORY MOVEMENT

Many remote communities in the NT have evoked ‘dry’ status. This status is conferred by the NT Liquor Commission after application by communities for this consideration.

Alcohol cannot be sold or consumed in dry communities. There are heavy penalties for those caught breaching the law of prohibition with dry communities. These penalties can include hefty fines, jail terms and the forfeiture of funds gained from illicit sales. The forfeiture of the vehicle or boat used in transporting alcohol to dry communities is generally ordered by the court.

The issue of ‘dryness’ impacts upon community residents who would prefer to have alcohol at home. Those who want but cannot access alcohol, often leave home abd move to places without this restriction.

To this end, many drinkers finish up in Darwin, Palmerston or Alice Springs. There they become itinerants who are classed as being ‘homeless’ and who generally live out in the open. They are called ‘long grassers’.  [They are not homeless in the sense that they have left home to go travelling.]

These persons often have a detrimental impact upon places to which they move, particularly shopping centres and around other facilities where they set up camp. It is held that some contribute to the spike in property crime in our urban centres. There is begging, urination and defacation in public places. The behaviour of some members of these groups is impaired by alcohol. Members of this group are often supported by charities with essentials, including food, being handed out. For some, this largese leaves more money for alcohol.

This is an aspect of the NT about which much is known but about which little is done. There is plenty of talk about correcting the issues but little us done and few changes are made.

Without criminals, there would be no need for:

Police

Detectives

Foresnsic sectionand investigative staff

Prison Officers

Sociologists

Many counsellors

Lawyers

Magistrates

Judges

Court Officers

Security staff at every shopping centre and in stores

Many Ambulance staff who are. Often called upon to support victims of crime

Staff monitoring the wearing of ankle brcelets and those onbail for crimes

Juveniles and youth following in the behaviour of their criminal elders

Liason Officer and the huge cohort of Family Services staff dealing with domestic violence issues.

Police dog handlers and trainers

The list goes on

And on

And ….

Criminals contribute to our economy through both employment and manufacturing.

This may be a distasteful fact, but it is true.

Think about this. I am not wrong.

To be continued

From Channel 7

Half time

Fremantle and Brisbane

Late to rise

Shrouded by cloud

Fading and shrinking

Lack lustre light

Henry is sad.

Having AI answer phones and asking what I want is eerily Frankensteinian. Human response is evermore impersonal and increasingly distant. We are abrogation humanity and embracing artificiality.. 

Two radio stations were broadcasting simultaneously today. On one channel—both being ABC—the Treasurer Jim Chalmers was talking about how wonderful he was and how great it happened to be that the federal budget had savings of six billion dollars. Wasn’t he a good treasurer getting that to be the case? On the other channel, at the same time, commentators were talking about how sad it was that the RBA will tomorrow raise interest rates on home loans and how desperate the Australian economy had become. So good news on one channel, bad news on the other, and both at the same time.

Australia is sadly complacent about dementia , directly and indirectly the leading cause of death in this country. A ‘ho hum’ attitude to dementia is detestable.

When you think of it, the world in all its parts has been raggedly stitched together by war, after war, after war ad Infiniti.

SCORES LEVEL AT HALF TIME

My heart wants Fremantle to win today’s AFL Grand Final at the MCG. It would be absolutely wonderful if this could come to pass.

But my head tells me to be realistic. And this is Brisbane’s game for the taking. I think that I will.

The relationship between the Albanese Leftist Government and the Australian Community at large, is one of adversalarianism.

From one day to the next can seem like an eternity if the travails of life are pressing so hard that one feels wedged.

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY  (I.T.)  

I.T.,  

Idealogue,  

To you our alter ego,  

We sacrifice our souls.  

Baal,  

Of the modern era,  

To you all things are beholden,  

Then servant,  

Now master,  

Bowing low in supplication,  

We are putty in your hands.   

Seven headed hydra,  

Your resource appetite is enormous,  

Knowing no bounds,  

Barely satisfied   

By the dollars,   

The explosion of dollars,  

Poured into your thirsty gap.   

Venus Flytrap,  

Your scent entices,  

Your jaws snap shut.   

You suck our vitality,  

Eschew our energy,  

Spitting out,  

Our dry, skeletal remains.   

Quickly forgotten,  

We blow away on the winds of change,  

While you seek,  

Your next victim.   

Praying Mantis,  

Upon us you prey,    

Grabbed!!  

Our heads serrated by your pincers,  

You feast upon our brains,  

Injecting numbing belief,   

That YOU,  

I.T.,  

Are ALL that counts.   

Prince of Modern Darkness,    

You command attention,  

We look upon you,   

Falling like blind souls   

At your technological feet.  

Stunned by your intensity   

We let all things    

Other than YOU   

Slip from peripheral vision.  

Plunging,  

All considerations but I.T.,   

Into an age of eternal darkness.   

I.T.,   

You are a drug,  

Seared into our psyche.  

You are an aphrodisiac,   

A demigod,  

Exciting our desire,  

Driving us to worship at your alter.   

Nothing else matters.    

Pied Piper,   

You have lead your rats to the brink. 

Stand smilingly aside,    

Witness from your screens,   

As we sink,   

Deeper, ever deeper,   

Into a hopeless abyss,   

Of eternal servitude,   

From    

Which we,   

Will NEVER emerge.   

Poor Old Henry

And now we have AI on the verge of controlling the world.

What do you think when the Minister for Energy and Climate Change, smiles?

To date….

THANKING THE LARRAKIA

City of Darwin Council

City of Darwin is proud to operate on Larrakia country. We acknowledge the Larrakia people as the Traditional Owners of the Darwin region and pay our respects to Larrakia elders past and present. We are committed to working with all Larrakia people to care for our community and this land and sea for our shared future.

City of Darwin acknowledges the Larrakia people as the Traditional Owners of the land and waterways now known as Darwin. Council pays respect to Elders past, present and emerging, and values the ongoing contribution to enrich and appreciate the cultural heritage of Darwin. Council acknowledges and respects Australia’s First Peoples as Traditional Owners of lands and waterways across Country, and encourages reconciliation between all. The City of Darwin also values the contribution made to Darwin over the years by people of diverse backgrounds and cultures.

I am privileged to work and live on the lands of the Larrakia (Gulumoerrgin) people of the Darwin region (Garramilla/Garrmalang). I thank them for their ongoing protection of country, and acknowledge elders past, present, and emerging.

Coles dockets

Charles Darwin University

 acknowledges all First Nations people across the lands on which we live and work, and we pay our respects to Elders both past and present.

Imprints Booksellers 

is located on the land of the Kaurna people, and we respect their people and culture.

ACEL

 acknowledges First Australians, the traditional custodians of country throughout Australia. We recognise their continuing culture, their contribution and connection to land, waters and community, and we pay our respect to elders past, present and emerging.

NT News

We acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the land in all states and territories on which we work and report. We pay our respects to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elders past, present and emerging, and honour

their history, cultures, and traditions of story telling.

We acknowledge the Traditional Owners and Custodians of Country throughout Australia. We pay our respects to all First Nations peoples and acknowledge Elders past and present.

Woolworths

Woolworths Group acknowledges the many 

Traditional Owners of the lands on which we operate, and pay our respects to their Elders past and present. We recognise their strengths and enduring connection to lands, waters and skies as the Custodians of the oldest continuing cultures on the planet. 

Woolworths Group supports the invitation set out in the Uluru Statement from the Heart to walk together with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. We are committed to actively contributing to Australia’s reconciliation journey through listening and learning, empowering more diverse voices, caring deeply for our communities and working together for a better tomorrow.

An individual

I acknowledge and pay respect to the Widjabal people of Bundjalung Nation on whose Land we work, meet and study. I recognise the significant role the past and future Elders play in the life of the University and the region. I am mindful that within and without the buildings, the Land always was and always will be Aboriginal Land

AFL

Acknowledgement of Country

In the spirit of reconciliation the AFL acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their Elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.

Peoples Choice

We acknowledge and honour the Traditional Custodians of the land on which we meet, work and live. We pay our respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and to Elders past, present and future. We acknowledge and honour the Traditional Custodians of the land on which we meet, work and live. We pay our respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and to Elders past, present and future.

Luke Gosling

 I acknowledge the Traditional Owners of country throughout Australia and their continuing connection to land, sea and community. I pay respect to them and their cultures and to elders past, present and future.

AEU NT

We acknowledge that our office operates out of the traditional lands of the Larrakia people in Garramilla (Darwin) and acknowledge the many lands across the Territory upon which we all teach, work and learn. We pay our respects to Elders past, present and future.

Jingili Primary School

Woolworths second edition

Woolworths Group acknowledges the many Traditional Owners of the lands across Australia, and pay our respects to their Elders past and present. We recognise their strengths and enduring connection to lands, waters and skies as the Custodians of the oldest continuing cultures on the planet.

We are committed to actively contributing to Australia’s reconciliation journey through listening and learning, empowering more diverse voices, caring deeply for our communities and working together for a better tomorrow.

Woolworths in more detail

Our Vision for Reconciliation

Woolworths Group acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the Lands and pays respect to Elders past and present.

As one of Australia’s largest retailers, we have the honour of serving thousands of communities and millions of people across rural, remote and metro areas. Representing the communities we serve, Woolworths Group has a unique opportunity to make positive and tangible changes to the lives of all Australians, including First Nations peoples.

Our latest RAP tells the story of our Reconciliation journey. Supported by our strategic focuses across Indigenous education, employment, sourcing and health, our RAP plays to our organisational strengths in the belief that our actions will make a meaningful contribution toward reconciliation and Closing the Gap within Australia.

Led by our values of ‘we care deeply’, ‘we listen and learn’, and ‘we do the right thing’, our RAP stays true to Woolworths Group’s purpose of creating better experiences for a better tomorrow.

Our vision for reconciliation is an Australia where First Nations peoples have equitable access to the essential products, services and opportunities they need to truly thrive for a better tomorrow.

A brave heart for a better tomorrow.

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Regis

Regis acknowledges the Traditional Owners of Country throughout Australia and recognises the continuing connection to lands, waters and communities. We pay our respect to Elders past and present.

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ARRCS respectfully acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of the lands on which we work and live and connect to Australia’s First Nations Peoples. We acknowledge Elders both past and present, whose ongoing effort to protect and promote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures will leave a lasting legacy for future leaders and reconciliation within Australia.

  the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the first inhabitants and the Traditional Custodians of the lands where we live, learn and work

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I acknowledge Aboriginal people as the Traditional Owners of the country I work on, and their connection to land and community. I pay my respect to all Traditional Owners, and to the Elders both past and present.

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• The National Indigenous Times acknowledges and pays respect to past and present Traditional Custodians and Elders of this nation. We recognise Aboriginal Community’s continuing connection to their lands, waters and stories and acknowledge that sovereignty has never been ceded.

Footer

McGrath Foundation 

In the spirit of reconciliation, the McGrath Foundation acknowledges the traditional custodians of the lands on which we work and live. We pay our respects to elders past, present and emerging who have nurtured these lands and cared for each other for thousands of years. May we learn from their experience and be guided by their wisdom.

Acknowledgement of Country

Trove acknowledges First Australian peoples as the Traditional Custodians of this country and their continued connection to land, sea, and culture. Trove pays their respects to the resilience and strength of Ancestors and Elders past, present, and emerging and extends that respect to all First Australian peoples.

AFLW

Acknowledgement of Country

In the spirit of reconciliation the AFL acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their Elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.

ACEL

ACEL acknowledges First Australians, the traditional custodians of country throughout Australia. We recognise their continuing culture, their contribution and connection to land, waters and community, and we pay our respect to elders past, present and emerging.

CARERS AUSTRALIA

Carers Australia acknowledges Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and communities as the traditional custodians of the land we work on and pay our respects to elders past and present. As an inclusive organisation we celebrate people of all backgrounds, genders, cultures, and abilities.

Monash University

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander viewers are advised that this website may contain images, voices and names of deceased persons. Access to certain digitised materials may require adherence to cultural protocols or have restricted permissions to ensure respectful engagement with Indigenous knowledge systems. Some materials may also contain offensive images, sound recordings, words, terms or descriptions. Such material does not reflect Monash University’s viewpoint, but rather the contemporary beliefs, social attitudes and circumstances of the period.

The website also contains some copyright protected works that must only be used for research, education and study. They must not be used for any other purposes and may not be transmitted or shared with others without prior permission. Always check the License for details on the permitted use of each individual work.

Dementia Australia acknowledges the Traditional Owners and Custodians of Country throughout Australia, and their continuing connection to land, sea and community. We pay our respects to them and their cultures, and to Elders both past and present.

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.

I wonder if the Australian Government would like us all to be like Dolly the Sheep – clones?

What a bastard of a journey has been assigned to growing numbers of sufferers and carers. It IS a day of sorrow and sombre realisation.

The PM at the UN spending millions to try and get a two year temporary seat on the Security Council.

What an abysmal waste with the big boys permanently there, able to veto and block any recommendations or proposals from the floor.

All that ‘Handsome Boy’ can expect is an occasional pat on the head.

• Dementia takes away foundations of thought and makes everything shaky.

• Dementia carers internalise reservoirs of tears.

• Dementia opens the door to truculent aggressiveness.

• Values education has swung 90 degrees to the left in schools.

• Dementia saps vitality and drains all the energy from carers

The path to hell is paved with good intentions

Mark Doolan

Don’t be so open minded that your brain falls out

Caleb Bond

———————-

Can I apply for the position?

I possess many of the skills required for such a position, not the least of which is my adherence to, and over many years of leadership, the practice of Concentric management. I’d have a fair crack at helping overcome CDU shortfalls and establishing priorities.

All staff and all students would know who I was, and I would get to know them well.

My attendance at all these conferences held in such plentiful quantity would be by Zoom or phone conference, and I would be where I should be – at my place at my work at the CDU in Darwin.

I wouldn’t demand or expect an exorbitant salary, and my personal expenses claim would be minimal, because I believe in paying my way. My CV is available to confirm my suitability for the position.

The pontifications, the power of his words and the regard paid on the worldwide stage to our Prime Minister, remind me of the mouse that roared.

Today’s reading

I try to remember to visit them every night. Dash with the camera on my iPhone. This was my visit last night. The moon is certainly growing in stature as we reach toward its fullness for the month of September.

According to Mark Butler, the Federal Minister for Health, the National Disability Insurance Scheme, NDIS, is “a cherished institution.” It certainly is an institution that’s cherished—by the thousands and thousands of providers.

From Berrimah Kebab and Pizza Shop

Thoughts

Having AI answer phones and asking what I want is eerily Frankensteinian. Human response is evermore impersonal and increasingly distant.

AI might be one of the seven last plagues prophesied in Revelation as leading to the end of the world.

Precipice Ever Looming

There is significant fragility and growing uncertainty around educational leadership in 2026. Indeed, that uncertainty extends to all organisations and all branches of leadership. Nobody in the top echelons of leadership trusts the perceptions of those whom they lead. They feel insecure, and their tenure seems to be ever more uncertain. 

They feel that those looking up toward the positions they occupy hold for them anything from indifference to downright hostility for the job they are doing.

 The interactions between leaders and subordinates are based on uncertainty, a great deal of suspicion and jealousy of others that often simmers just below the surface.. The unanimity and one-man-ship have gone by the by. There is no trust. There is ever more distrust. There is no certainty.

As an eighty-year-old man, I reflect and write a lot. I so often yearn for the transparency, honesty, and straightforwardness that were part of my earlier decades and have now vanished from the world.

Humour, genuine laughter and mirth have also been submerged in the boghole of straitened expectation and serious, monitored workplaces.

These days authorities and organisations try as hard as they can to make things as difficult as they can for people to transact their way through life particularly if you’re a couple who have been together for a hell of a long time. If one of you has Dementia and the is their carer,  any obstacle that they can throw in the way for both the person with the Dementia and their carer is put there so that you have to jump through hoops and over hurdles in order to try and manage the situation which so increasingly complex. 

It used to be simple once upon a time when trust and love were part of the equation but these days there so much legalese  about everything that the whole issue  just becomes bloody  impossible and incomprehensible to understand. 

If doesn’t help much when you’re dealing with people on the telephone whose level of  English is just not there. It’s all bloody hopeless.

The Australian Government is a yoke, a heavy burden around the Australian neck. “The government is marching us into darkness”. (David Elliot)

Greed and an unquenchable thirst for power by all political leaders will supplant reasoned and rational reality.

China will become number one as it blows the world sky-high.

What a celebration!

The insatiable population growth of 370, 000 will have already tilted Earth’s axis because of people volume and weight, placing Earth on a new annual orbit that will take us closer to the Sun.

That will fulfil the prophecy of Recelation that the world will be destroyed by fire.

developer, not a punisher

• We are so blessed in Australia to have a Prime Minister who prefers to reposition colleagues into more appropriate portfolios if they find it hard. He is not into sacking but instead developing them. He is an aware and empathetic leader and an outstanding captain of the Australian political ship.

Cigarette smoking should be prohibited when weather bureau fire bans have been declared. Cigarettes start bushfires.

A careful constructor of body language

Our PM is most careful to ensure that the messages he offers are not distracted from their import by his body language.  In terms of matter, manner of delivery and method of appeal, he is top drawer. If a member of Toastmasters, he would be certificated as a gold standard communicator

I am totally and thoroughly disenchanted with the major parties. Even in the NT, I am starting to doubt the credibility of our CLP Government after its crass handling of a totally inadequate and woeful Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill – legislation so poorly and deliberately minimised that its passage is tantamount to a broken election promise.

Humanity and humans are degrading themselves to a point of being almost indistinguishable from predators of the so-called animal kingdom. The bad are outnumbering the good. We are sinking fast.



So often bad the governments are voted back into Office because voters have very short-term memories and quickly forget the arrogance of government in terms of the way it operates. They are also fooled by believing and promises of government’s make about what they will do to reform the situations after eviction occur therefore nothing changes and bad governments are constant particularly in Australia at the Federal level 

While most formal education takes place in classrooms, learning opportunities beyond the ‘four walls’ can add to student development. The part excursions play in furthering awareness should be appreciated.

Excursions extend normal teaching and learning contexts and are planned to support development and knowledge of the world beyond school boundaries.

In primary school, the child’s first extended educational experience may be an overnight camp at school. By the time children are in year 3 or 4, excursions often extend to provide for overnights of one or two days at places away from home. Berry Springs Wildlife Park is a top end example of where children camp and learn about animals, birds and nature.

Children in upper primary years may spend up to a week at the Batchelor Outdoor Education Centre, Outbound Adventure at Wallaroo (on the Arnhem Highway) or at similar places. These programs build confidence, introduce students to new skills and allow them to develop a sense of living that goes beyond the home. Sometimes exchanges between schools take place, with students being able to learn about other places in the Territory, for example Katherine, Jabiru and other Territory towns and communities.

Extending knowledge

In recent years, senior primary students have travelled interstate on extended excursion programs. One of the most popular destinations is Canberra where the War Museum, Parliament House, the National Art Gallery and other places of significance are visited. Education officers working in each place offer key learning and understanding opportunities. Some school groups, while down south, also visit Australia’s snow fields.

Destinations for some primary and secondary school excursion groups include overseas countries as near as Indonesia and as far away as Japan.

‘Living’ learning

Excursions add value to learning, enabling students to extend their knowledge and understanding. After reading, visualising or being told about elements of the curriculum studied, they get to ‘live’ in these environments beyond home and school.

Learning outside the classroom enables students and staff to build on positive relationships. Often those participating come back to school with added appreciation and respect for each other. Excursions are exercises in team building. They certainly help those taking part to understand and know each other as people. They come at a cost to parents and often engage schools in fundraising. However, the value added to student learning outcomes makes the preparation and expenditure fully worthwhile.

Note: Extended excursions are often referred to as ‘camps’.

Published on September 12 2017 in local newspaper

• NT VAD Bill – a sham and a credibility lacking disgrace.

• NDIS is being undone by govt ignoring gouging and rorting

• Dementia means life’s sky is always overcast.

• ‘A Daisy a Day’ for what has been stolen by savage dementia.

• Dementia is  piercing this  carer’s head  like forked lightning.

Is piercing the head of this carer like forked lightning.

IN PERTH AT OPTUS STADIUM

Fremantle home team v Geelong

Winner advances and loser is eliminated.

Crowd of 59,000 – ground sold out.

‘A Daisy a Day’ for what has been stolen by savage dementia.

For the last couple of days I have been really down in the doldrums, couldn’t care less about much at all.

I hope I get out of this mood swing before too long. Because at the moment, all I seem to do is feel tired, worried. I’m just not up to speed. Everything’s an effort.

And I have confronted many, many challenges.

Today, I’ve woken. But I wish deep depression would not permeate my soul the way it does and has for the last amounts of time.

I used to be full of effervescence. But at the moment, I feel about as vital as flat lemonade.

Beyond what can be the hell of living comes the tranquility of death. I can understand why some people look forward to dying. And also why some people end it all.

Berrimah Kebab and Pizza Shop

In Berrimah Darwin. Once you visit you will never go anywhere else for pizzas and kebabs

It is awful to think that all world leaders who are arrogant, self centred, voracious, greedy, brutal, and emboldened by bloody ambition to the point of being prepared to shred the world in their quest for power and control, were once sweet, innocent and usually adored babies.

Feeding one’s kids,

It seems like a sin,

You go out and buy,

Food for the bin.

Chips, yes please!

And chicken too,

On a plate the brow pluckers,

Tears tumble, “boo hoo”.

Plates pushed away,

Is it a sin,

To transfer good food,

From the shop to the bin?

“Sit there and eat it”!!

Kinds whinge and whine,

But refuse like mules,

For eons of time.

Minutes drag by,

Like hours it seems,

Food stays untouched,

What happens are screams.

“Take it away”,

Steadfast to the last,

They refuse like real martyrs,

To break their long fast.

The fast lasts as long,

As the food on the plate,

But once in the bin,

Young voices grate ..

“We’re hungry, we’re starving,

Feed us real quick,

Our tummies are empty,

With hunger we’re sick”!

What do you do?

(This you’ll regret),

Give lollies and sweet things,

Then peace you will get –

It’s only a breather,

Until the next meal,

Then it starts all over,

The next squawk and squeal.

POH

Father’s Day

AND

As an old man. looking into support and care to help me in terms of being a better carer for my wife, I am astounded and gobsmacked at the amount of money charged by providers for even the most minimal of care.

Old people who can support these charges are no longer thought of as Baby Boomers and the oldest Gen Xers: They are Cash Cows – usually moderate and prudent savers over the years – who are considered ripe for the picking.

A happy Father’s Day to all Fathers from one who is glad to be the father of three great children.

I am missing the moon

Today I feel very old .

Written on September 4 2018

All non-indigenous Australians should pay land rent to Indigenous Australians from whom Australia was wrested.

The money should be paid annually, like a rate and on top of present rate payments to local government authorities. The money should go to the indigenous corporation or organisation representing the groups whose land has been re-purposed.

We increasingly recognise by statements of appreciation, the groups on whose land we squat. This would add sincerity of purpose and additional meaning to the words being spoken

360-degree perspective

————— Cokoured in the aura of her own magnificence

Why is Jim Chalmers like a cuckoo and not a hen?

The hen lay golden eggs for Jack. Jim steals golden nesteggs from othetd

Religion in all its forms, it’s nothing but intrusive.

It gets in the way of everything that’s done, and it’s the prime cause of most of the world’s conflicts.

Every religion seems to have a desire to conquer every other religion and turn people from being what they are into something else—from Christians into Muslims, or from Muslims into Hindus, or Hindus into Buddhists, or Buddhists into Christians, and so on and so forth.

It just gets in the way and really mucks everything up.

Religion’s responsible for about 90% of the world’s problems.

If it wasn’t for religion, there’d probably be a lot more peace in the world.

I am very old and very tired.

I am one who went before and am now government garbage.

But I hope you as someone much younger feel more relevant and that things are going well for you.

Published on 2 September 2018

WHERE ARE WE GOING

In political terms, the past fortnight has left me bemused and in some sort of limbo state. The federal happenings conjure up a mind picture of political quicksand into which the government is sinking. Sinking with our political leaders, must be the perceptions held of this country by overseas observers. “Which prime minister today” is a legitimate question. So too, is asking which minister is responsible for what! In the back of everyone’s mind is the question of when the next election (general, not by-election) will be called.

It often seems that the only thing on the minds of politicans, is when the next election will take place. The country is in constant, everlasting, electoral mode.

Here in the NT, we are wrestling with the notion of being part of the ‘Boundless Possible’ equation – a catch-cry that has many Territorians in a lampooning mode. There may be lip service paid to this anomalous pair of words, but the thoughts in the heads of people would be interesting to read.

The apparent aspiration built into these words reflects on Dubai, where those words or desperately similar, were adapted before falling off the back of a truck into the NT. Mind you, the truck ride provided by consultants, cost our government 1.5 million dollars

I AM bemused

Has much really changed eight years on?

Phone contact options

Email contact applications

News 24

AFL

Cricket

I am a very, very old and very, very traditional man.

• Dementia strips involuntary living habits from sufferers’ memories.

• Dementia makes victims/carers prisoners for life.

• Dementia reminds me off woodworm in Thames River hulks.

• Dementia destroys the reality of time and distance for victims.

• Aust. is now a country of hostile social and cultural tribes.

NT VAD Bill – a sham and a credibility-lacking disgrace.

Why is the Federal Albanese Government hell-bent on sacrificing Australia, turning it from a country of opportunity and prosperity into a rugged and awful place where decency is being sacrificed to ambition, and the thought of collectivity has become an approach of individualised selfishness?

You get born

You grow up

You become old

You go dead.

Educators speak two languages – above and below the table 

At all levels of the educational hierarchy, from the newest to the oldest, from bottom to top organisational position, educators tend to speak two languages.

* Neophyte teachers when speaking with other newbies, tend to speak differently from the way they converse with older, more experienced peers.

* Classroom teachers when speaking with each other, tend to communicate differently than they do when talking with senior teachers or unit leaders.

* Senior teachers/unit leaders discourse differently to each other as peers, than they do when communicating with assistant principals/principals.

* Assistant Principals have a conversational fraternity that is often not shared with their immediate superordinates, their principals.

* Principals when in discourse speak with a familiarity that generally does not translate to the conversations they hold with directors and departmental seniors.

* Those in departmental support roles have similar communications limitations that shape and limit conversation, based on their level of seniority in school support positions.

At each discrete level, I refer to conversations as being ‘above the table’ or ‘below the table’.

* Conversations ‘above the table’ are those shared by subordinates with superordinates. They are qualified, with those at the lower hierarchical level often tailoring what they say to fit with the expectation of what they think those in superior positions want to hear. They are expressions from the head rather than statements from the heart. They are based on saying the right thing in order to get on, staying safe and secure within the organisation.

* Conversations ‘below the table’ are those in which people are speaking with peers. They can be covert and even clandestine in their nature. This is about colleagues on the same shared level speaking from the heart, saying what they genuinely think and feel about issues. The ‘blind spot’ within the Johore Window is engaged.

Under the table where they are invisible to those above, educators can say what they genuinely think and feel. This may sound disloyal, even hypocritical. However, these conversations can be a pressure release point and help those heated up to calm down and regroup.

Just some thoughts and observations coming from over time and down the years.

The NT Govt. VAD legislation is an unprincipled sellout.

One of the really awful things for carers is that they can’t do more to ease the discomfort and the suffering of people for whom they’re caring. At the end of the day, it’s something that comes from within the person who’s suffering. And you just have no control as a carer over the physiological and the psychological things that drive their feelings of discomfort and unwellness. I think it would be the wish of every carer that they could do more to take away that suffering from others. But that’s just an impossibility. So we can offer care and empathy and support and sympathy and understanding. But that doesn’t alleviate the painful consequences of the suffering you feel. And that’s awful.

NT Govt cabinet ignored backbenchers wisdom on shaping VAD legislation.

Being a parliamentary backbencher is a waste of time. Backbenchers are numbers and nonentities.

My hope and prayer is that Harry, William, Meaghan and Catherine will once more become the awesome foursome of budding Royals.

“Fees” – a Dirty Word

This piece was published in the ‘NT Sun’ on August 21, 2018.

(This was the 250th column I have written and had published in the NT Sun.)

The use of the word ‘fees’ when requesting monetary support for government schools from parents or primary caregivers was outlawed over a decade ago. Until that time, schools, when requesting extra support to cover the costs of educational extras, did not have to be so careful in wording this request.

This change was necessary because of the connotations linked to ‘the word’. Asking for a fee was seen as a compulsory demand. Public education was promoted as free, so using ‘the word’ to request extra monetary support was not appropriate. At the time, both the government and the education department went to great lengths to ensure schools did not make any reference to fees. 

This was so off-putting, and such a concern to some school leaders, that money contributed to support programs was refunded to parents.

The issue was eventually clarified with the following statement under ‘Fees and contributions’ on the Education Department website. 

“Tuition for the standard curriculum program is provided free to all students in government schools.

There are three areas where you may be requested to contribute:

Educational items

Optional extra items

Voluntary contributions.”

A further statement clarifies the issue of voluntary contributions. “You may be asked to make a financial contribution or donation to your child’s school for a specific purpose. You are not obliged to contribute.” (Bolding mine)

The department and schools considered the embarrassment when inability to pay arose. “If you are unable to contribute to optional extra items because of financial hardship you should arrange a confidential talk with the school principal. Confidentiality, privacy and dignity will always be maintained.”

The NT Government’s Back to School Payment Scheme of $150 per child each year helps defray some of the costs parents face. In particular, the vouchers can be used to offset the cost of book packs and school uniforms.

There has always been some angst about educational costs. 

Populist thinking is that in government schools, everything should be provided, with education being totally free for parents. Without parental contributions, many of the extra programs that help extend educational opportunity would not happen.

Explaining how voluntary contributions will be used and what extras they will provide always helps. Some schools produce an information statement for parents, explaining how contributions will support these extra programs.

This helps counter misunderstandings about the way donated money is used. Without doubt, the provision of quality education is enhanced by these contributions

Reflecting on education these days feels more like sadness than joy when you consider the trends. Substance has been replaced by tinsel and glitter and core learning by ethereal trivia.

Welcome to country

All public buildings, churches, shopping centres, venues, including parks, schools, hospitals, and other utilities, may eventually have to have a prominently placed plaque acknowledging the traditional owners of the land on which the building stands.

A time will come when entering any public or government-controlled building will require audibly acknowledging the traditional ownership of the land on which the building stands.9

Purchasing and flying an Aboriginal flag from every residence in Australia should be compulsory.

All public transport should have pre-recorded messages played as buses and trains travel through or aeroplanes pass over traditional lands, advising the name of the group whose land is being traversed or overflown.

Every school morning should acknowledge the owners of the country upon which these institutions are constructed. It would be good for all students to learn and recite that acknowledgement.

Changes to school curricular must continue to maintain and expand the learning that takes place through study and appreciation of Aboriginal stories and culture. This should continue on to be a part of tertiary education in all fields of study.

The 100 Yoorrook Recommendation evolving into the future

OVERCOMING FEARS ABOUT THE FUTURE

Periodic survey results confirm that children and young people are uncertain about the world’s future. Apprehensions are fuelled by all too regular stories about death and destruction by wars and pestilence. How do children digest issues that range from the Syrian conflict and terrorism to the threat of the Zika virus? 

We cannot hide news of what is happening in the world from young people. Nor should we attempt to do so. They are more aware of issues than we may realise. While political, environmental and social issues are not new, media technologies mean that microscopic reporting and instant feedback give more immediate insights than in past years. 

Many young people have access to social media through iPhones and other personal devices. What is happening in the world is brought to their awareness through applications on these devices. Their perceptions may well be confused.

Young people also talk with each other. They discuss issues and share information in the same way as adults. The use of social media provides a communication context, but children also discuss what is happening in the world. 

Children have deep-seated concerns and wonder about the future. The ‘Raising Children’s Network’ (Google) has an abundance of resources on the anxieties facing children. Beth Arky, writing for ‘Understood’ (Google), identifies six common fears faced by young people. Central to these are the fear of personal failure and concerns about the future. Parents and teachers must discuss issues with their children at home and students in classes. Part of this should be careful inquiry into what might be on their minds.

Issues that create uncertainty and apprehension cannot be explained away. However, conversations that consider matters children find confronting can help alleviate the fear that compounds when people hide their feelings and sweat on matters of concern. Sharing conversations shows that no one is alone in worrying about where our communities, the Territory, Australia, and the world are heading. 

Discussions at home and at school can help develop coping strategies and management plans.

‘Behind the News’ and similar programs can help young people understand issues. These programs also help inform discussion. 

Anything that can be done to offer peace of mind to young people in these confusing times is important to their well-being. Understanding matters now; it may help them become future solution-finders.

Published in Sun Newspapers August 2016. Information reflects that time. But it is more pertinent and more concerning a decade later, for it is an issue that has not been substantively addressed.

Once upon a time, loyalty and allegiance were paramount. They were the main considerations people weighed when playing sport, supporting football clubs, and joining various other sporting alliances. 

Loyalty and allegiance also counted when it came to the workplace, social institutions, in pretty well every aspect of life. 

These days, loyalty and allegiance count for nothing. Those qualities have been supplanted by money. 

These days, everything is done for money. Nothing else counts. 

Permanent loyalties and everlasting allegiances are dead  in the water. 

Indeed, it could be stated that the love of money has become that corrosive quality of ‘nothing else counts’ that now pervades each and every aspect of life.

For every one good thing about the influence of technology on the modern world, there are nine negatives. Technology is destroying society, dismantling cognition and turning people into clones of the robotic age.

It is 2.22 am on Tuesday, August 25 in Darwin.

It is 1.16 am in Darwin on August 24.

The first of threedays of Legislative Assembly sittings.

And the week in which I hope Voluntary Assisted Dying is passed into NT Law for the second time in our history.

Bangladesh puts Australia to the torch.

My spontaneous singing has been in short supply in recent weeks. I feel that vibrancy of living has vanished to be replaced by mere existence. Dementia’s destruction is two fold. Depression is a constant. To counter it all seems impossible.

Lunch Scoreboard

Key statistical data

Overview of ground

Mitchell Stark bowls supremely

Fans chasing autographs

Sometimes – and more and more -,I feel so down that I wish I could float off into a vapour of nothingness and be no more. It is awful to be shackled by the heavy chains of depression that dog my existence.

As seen by Johannes Leak

Source: The Australian

As seen by Johannes Leak

Source: The Australian

As seen by Johannes Leak

Abstain from drinking alcohol and spending reflective family time together.

Test one day four

OBLITERATION DAY

I am physically in Darwin but ny aspirations, ambitions, confidence and feelings of well-being have taken up permanent residence in Deadwood, South Dakota.

Every morning when I wake up, I feel like I am living in Deadwood.

My name is Henry

My head’s in a whirl

I was born as a boy

But feel like a girl

For eighty odd years

It hasn’t felt right

But good news at last

Corrections in sight.

In New South Wales

For eighty odd bucks

I changed my gender

Life no longer sucks.

My mind is euphoric

I may look like a boy

But ‘Girl’ says this paper

Brings endless joy.

‘Henry’ has gone

Far and away

Replaced by ‘Henrietta’

A female to stay.

If it were not for the efforts and the awareness and ministry of News 24 – until recently Sky News – the situation confronting Jews in Australia would be a hundredfold worse than it has become.

The Australian Government has all but abandoned Jews in their haste to support Islam and Islamists.

We live in horrid times in this country.

“Donald Trump issuch an excllent wold leader ththe should be conferred with the US Presdency for life.“

This is something I heard someone say.

Is he REALLY THAT good?

Maybe too much self-reflection is dangerous, but I increasingly feel introverted, pulled into myself, as if I am somehow closeted and contained within a cocoon of thought. 

This experience is shutting me down and pushing me further away from life in general. The point is I do not feel uncomfortable about that isolation. I spend a lot of time reflecting, and in that reflection, I so often feel negativity. It is just not good. 

Increasingly, feelings of gloom and doom come over me. I am fighting it, and it seems that that fight is not as strong as it should be. I very rarely feel euphoric and frequently, increasingly, feel despair. My depression is permanent, and my feelings of a continuing life are contained only by the fact that I have my wife, my loved one, to look after. If it were not for my beloved partner, and if she were not here, I do not really think I would want to stay around much longer. 

I should not feel comfortable with being isolated, but that isolation, in some ways, has been foisted upon us by Margo’s condition and by the fact that she does not really want to mix with others. That means that I have become very withdrawn, and for a while, I did not like that; however, I am used to it now. 

I am probably more comfortable in my own company with access to communication on social media.  I do not really have the inclination or the desire to go out. I often feel very inward and very down. I worry constantly about Margo and her situation. I wonder if I am doing the right thing by staying and not going out. Am I being selfish? Does she want to go out? Sometimes she says she does, and then we go out, but maybe I should ask her if she wants to. Questions, questions.

In truth, it would not worry me if circumstances were such that we never had to go outside the boundaries of our home and yard again.

Margo’s condition and the dementia confronting her mean that we cannot really watch anything on television that is imaginary. To her, it is scary. So we do not watch any drama programs.  The only outing on television, apart from current affairs episodes from the past, is ‘Dad’s Army’, which I have saved on our television set-top box and play one or two from time to time. 

Repetition does not seem to matter. I do not know whether the memories of past episodes really stick with Margo. They do with me, but I do not mind the repetition at all. It is good old-fashioned humour from the sixties, seventies, and nineties, and it appeals to me.

For news and current affairs, I pre-record so that if we come across anything while watching those recordings involving nasty incidents or horrible situations, I skip through it so that Margo does not have to think about the impacts of those things. It does not really hurt me to skip through them either. Our television watching, therefore, is very selective and sparse. 

We watch a fair bit of sport, but a guy never gets too heavy. I skip through those bits as well. 

Recently, we had Estelle our daughter from Nhulunbuy over here for the few days. That is good for Margo because she loves Estelle and indeed all members of our family.  Estelle is very empathetic and very understanding. 

We are not eating particularly well at the moment and do not really feel like it. I feel bad about that.

There was a time way back when I was frightened of dying. But as I have become older, that fear, that concern, and my worries about the life hereafter have dissipated. 

There are so many things I do not understand about life. It is all very confusing. And maybe not thinking too much in some respects avoids the confusion caused. I once thought too much, ovrly wondering about life beyond mortality. 

I am very glad that voluntary assisted dying is about to be passed back into law in the Northern Territory, but really wish that VAD covered aspects of demise that, at the moment, I totally avoid. How often I feel physical lifelessness because I seem to be lacking energy. My body does not respond to my mind. And therefore, I become languid. When that happens, I feel guilty because that must mean I am not looking after Margo as well as I should.

Mentally misshapen. It is just after 2 p.m. on Sunday, August the 2nd. I have done very little, it seems. I had a bright and very brief spark of positive thought. Had a bit of physical enthusiasm earlier today, which quickly faded, as it often does. And now I feel pretty much nothing. 

Again, I feel guilty about looking after Margo, and often feel enormously sad because of what dementia has done to her. I also get very angry because of the circumstances which contrived to extract her from reality into the world of dementia. For, in my opinion, they were almost totally to do with environment and overwhelming circumstances which impacted and began to come out within her from around March of 2022. 

I am saying this really quite ramblingly, that I really feel awful about how she has been undone, why there is such an awful disease, and also how it impacts upon a family as a whole. Where should I go? But wherever I do go, it will always be with my wife, who was the love of my life.

There is never a day when I do not cry inside for my wife. Sometimes those tears well up in my eyes, and I feel so sad. That is so awful. For what? 

Life has stuttered in recent years. I cannot help the melancholy and the gloom. At times like these, I cry. Let this one reflect her perceptions. What makes her feel that I love her any less? Indeed, I do love her more each day, and often reflect upon the times we have spent as a family in different places since Margot and I married in January 1969. Indeed, she was my friend long before we were married because they are the expression of life. 

I am glad today I am not dead because my wife, someone I love, is still alive. But should she predecease me, there would be little point in my prolonging my life.

Universities are so broken. Their ethics in many cases have crumbled. They are a disgrace to their beginnings and their solid and honest foundations.

And they ARE a disgrace. They breed and fester discontent and foster maelovenent attitudes while funding far left nonsensical and foolish research.

Judas Iscariot, a disciple of Jesus, sold the Lord for 30 pieces of silver. He betrayed Christ to his enemies and surrendered loyalty for monetary reward.

In the same way Labor Cabinet’s “female disciples“ of Anthony Albanese have sold their moral values to preserve the reputation of a leader who has cast aspersions on femininity and belittled women by his podcast comments. These same women have been quick to call misogyny on politicians of other parties, but uphold the moral sanctity of Anthony Albanese.

Thumbs down to Albanese for what he said, did, for the way he acted and for his lack of repentance.

But the reaction and justification offered by female politicians within labour – who have bent over backwards to protect his reputation – have damaged their reputations through misplaced allegiance to their foolish leader.

At Marrara Oval in Darwin

• Principals’ and Teachers Days are poorly celebrated in NT.

• Dementia sends sufferers and carers into a nothingness void.

• Chris Bowen’s shadow overhangs Australia.

• Dementia takes sufferers into nether regions of cognition.

• Dementia’s moods are like four seasons in one day.

Many of Darwin’s drivers believe themselves to be within 100 metres of the checkered flag.

Toto is to Anthony Albanese what Tricky Woo was to Mrs Pumphrey.

Test Day 1 at Marrara in Darwin

Test Day 1 at Marrara in Darwin

It is good in sport when sportsmanship and sportswomenship prevail.

Judas Iscariot, a disciple of Jesus, sold the Lord for 30 pieces of silver. He betrayed Christ to his enemies and surrendered loyalty for monetary reward.

In the same way Labor Cabinet’s “female disciples“ of Anthony Albanese have sold their moral values to preserve the reputation of a leader who has cast aspersions on femininity and belittled women by his podcast comments. These same women have been quick to call misogyny on politicians of other parties, but uphold the moral sanctity of Anthony Albanese.

Thumbs down to Albanese for what he said, did, for the way he acted and for his lack of repentance. 

But the reaction and justification offered by female politicians within labour – who have bent over backwards to protect his reputation – have damaged their reputations through misplaced allegiance to their foolish leader

How I wish a good Federal Government blessed Australia. We are being led into an area between Lake Disappointment and Mount Hopeless.

Each day is a day during which the world adds a little more to its deterioration. And that in every quadrant and every aspect of governance and life.

These days I swear a lot.

I have always sworn a bit, but it is growing into a necessary habit to help me deal with the pressures of life.

When things go wrong, I swear. I never swear at other people. I might swear in some casual conversations when discussing an issue with people, but I will never swear at other people.

I find swearing is a pressure release I have to use. I have a lot of stresses in my life, and I am getting older, and it is hard to cope. I do not drink alcohol. I do not do drugs, and I do not smoke.

I have to have some sort of outlet. Swearing is that. And that is why I swear a lot.

There should be a return to the teaching of handwriting, spelling, grammar, and oral and silent reading skills. Speech and speaking need to be part of situational instruction.  

The Emergence of  a Guru (Part One)

(The birthing of new educational ideas)

Once upon a time on the eve of a Melbourne Cup day, an ordinary man had an extraordinary dream.  In his dream, it came to him that he needed to do only ONE thing to achieve personal greatness. In his dream, the lightbulb of his subconscious mind flashed on. To achieve greatness, he needed to develop a … develop a … THEORY.  A new way forward.

A Theory!  FANTASTIC!!

This very ordinary person thought about the inspiration presented to him in his dreams. 

This new idea would be something he wanted to develop, espouse and portray orally and in written form. He would want to share his theory with one and all.  He wanted it to be new, big and exciting.  He wanted it to work for him in a way that would bring him acclaim, pecuniary emolument and above all, recognition.

He wanted to be a GURU.  An ordinary man lifted to extraordinary heights by the ‘realisation and awakening’ of his theory, falling on the ears of those who wanted to be convinced that his idea would indeed be a new way forward.

This “would be” Guru realised the importance of promoting and marketing his new idea.  So he talked about his new theory and never let a moment rest when he wasn’t theorising to others.

At first, people were only mildly interested in the would-be Guru’s Theory.

But like a little rock thrown into the middle of a pond, producing a ripple that spreads and spreads, the interest grew and grew and grew. It became quite exponential.

Gatherings of people (who self-defined as learned ones) began to talk, to echo and reflect upon the theory of this “Great One” who had come into their midst. They could not get enough of his exposition.

He went on a major lecture tour, preaching his theory in places wide-ranging in nature

 – from small country town halls to metropolitan convention centres.

To be continued

The Emergence of  a Guru (Part Two)

(The birthing of new educational ideas)

He was widely acclaimed and received by audiences everywhere in the educated world.

Figuratively (and in some cases literally) they fell at his feet. At times he couldn’t believe that he, an ordinary man, had become a “Guru Centric”.

Now it was that this Guru became a cult figure lauded by those who ranged from very high IQs to more run-of-the-mill citizens. This acceptance by everyone became a denominator that linked people of all persuasions.

People paid to hear the words of this now Mighty Guru, basking in the manner and matter of his presentations. People paid to buy his words. He made a mint from PowerPoint sales, DVDs, essays and texts and by uploading these words into cyberspace and onto the net where they could be downloaded by adherents – for quite substantial remuneration.

Those of mercenary bent designed and sold T-shirts, mugs, writing stationery and other items enhanced by his countenance and embellished by his signature. He even became a hero on Pokémon cards.

Like Pedro climbing the mountain, he had reached dizzying heights of stratospheric proportion. He WAS the “Great One” above and looking down on all below him.

HIS was the pinnacle of life.

As the Guru

THIS GURU

Looked down and proclaimed.

“I’m on top of the world

Looking down on my creation

And the only explanation I can find

Is the people I see

Looking at me, Me, ME,

Think I am special

And one of a kind.”

To be continued

The Emergence of  a Guru (Part Three)

(The birthing of new educational ideas)

Of course, the admiration of his adoring public eventually reached saturation point.

His theory had achieved a status of becoming standard household and workplace practice.

There was no more tinsel and glitter about his new idea. Then, of course, it was time for the role to move on, embracing other thoughts that were new, untried and untested.

So it was that his adoring ones moved on, creating new heroes, new Gurus, all the while continuing to practice the habit of ‘discipleship’. They, of course, were dedicated to being followers.

He was quite happy to let them go. He had had his turn! The translation of his ordinariness into extraordinariness had earned him years of substantial acclaim and one huge pile of dollars.

Years later he pondered the “why”. Why can mortals rise, their ordinary becoming extraordinary? Through his ponderings, he realised it takes time, effort, thought and creativity to translate a dream into reality.

He wondered about his experience. And wow, what an experience.  “Guruism” had set him up for life. He faced the prospect of enjoying an early, long and carefree retirement.

“Blessed be ordinary people who take ordinary people and create for themselves a Guru Class. I am glad, so glad I was able to cater for those who had itchy ears and who longed for excitement. Thanks to my theory, I feel better now.”

To me, Sunday will always be the first day of the week, not the last. Calendars and diaries have skewed timelines and governments have stuffed the rest.

From 2016

School Principals and leaders should NEVER lose contact with students.

I was a regular in classrooms and programmed teaching until the last three years of my principalship years. It then became more incidental but was maintained. Principals need to know their students and the best way to achieve that is by teaching them. I most certainly read all reports to parents written by teachers and wrote my own comments to the child on each report. As a principal I found children valued knowing I valued them. Part of this was possible because I engaged my leadership group fulsomely in the business of school operations. Sharing in this way enabled me to share time with children.

Things CAN become busy from an adminstrative viewpoint but we neglect establishing and maintaining meaningful connnections with students at our peril.

Every day offers a new beginning for the same political crap, hoo-hah and rubbish continuously dumped on the Australian Public by Albo and Co.

One bad day is so often followed by another and another and another and a…………. In these modern Australian times.

Thoughts from 2022 – and four years on, it is decidedly worse.

am gobsmacked that some of Australia’s universities, supposedly led by thoughtful intellectuals, would contemplate lowering entry requirements for admission to courses, so critically important in preparing future contributors to major industries. That tertiary institutions would set the bar low “… to take subpar students” (“Weekend Australian 6,7/8) is making a mockery of the standards that should be expected of higher education. Sacrificing quality (course calibre) for quantity (increasing numbers of students admitted to courses) can lead to only one conclusion; that universities are more interested in income from students and government funding, than they are to maintaining reputations based on course standards.

Many students who are admitted to degree study under these conditions, will be drafted into remedial and ‘catch up’ programs, saturating bridging courses. Student drop out rates will skyrocket – but not before exiting students have been responsible for generating dollars into university treasury coffers.

The motivation for attracting students to university courses at degree level must be based on a valid ATAR score. To water down standards flies in the face of common sense. If universities are determined to lower entry-level requirements, the Federal Government should take responsibility for enrolment processes by prescribing entry level requirement that cannot be diluted

Getting up early these days is really anathema. Anyway, we do not have to get up too early because we are old people and retired.

THOUGHTS FOR PRESERVICE AND BEGINNING TEACHERS

I was a school principal for over 40 years and have worked in all sorts of circumstances in both WA (briefly) then the Northern Territory. One of the things that has worried me over the years and one that has time and again proven to be true, is that models of operation replacing (superseding) earlier models always seem to be inferior to what is being replaced. Now you may accuse me of viewing things through rose coloured glasses but I do remember the challenges of now historical circumstances. What has changes over the years is that faith and trust along with appreciation placed in teachers and school leaders has largely dissipated.

Where there was appreciation there is now expectation. Where trust was placed in the judgement of teachers, there is now suspicion. What used to be accepted as anecdotal confirmation of progress is no longer acceptable ; everything has to be deeply, externally and empirically tested and teacher judgements are treated with suspicious disbelief.

There used to be joy in teaching and the profession was one people wanted to join. These days there is an increasing reluctance and teachers are largely wan, overtired, overworked and altogether dispirited.

Enjoy education and teaching but PLEASE beware of the pitfalls.

Reprint from 2019

Reprint from a decade ago

The question of visibility is one that teachers and principals, but especially principals should consider. It seems to me that a universal problem is visibility.

Many principals are often not in their schools because they are off at meetings, conferences and other professional development activities. Surely, their major focus should be on the ground, in their schools.

I know of students in schools who don’t know who the principal is, because they are never there. They identify the ‘principal’ as being a deputy leader or senior teacher who provides principal leadership in the regular absence of the real being.

1My firm belief is that school principals should primarily focus on their schools. Being there is part of that focus. Being known to students, staff and community is an element of role responsibility that should never be abrogated

Iran is on its last chance – for the 278th time.

his column was published in the ‘NT Sun’ on July 27 2018.  Although descriptive of the Northern Territory situation, I believe it paints a picture of the priorities surrounding the issue of new school construction in other parts of Australia.

SCHOOLS SHOULD BE FIRST, NOT LAST

Planning for and construction of schools in the newer Darwin and Palmerston suburbs is long overdue.

When suburbs for Darwin and Palmerston were being planned in the 1970s and early 1980s, the provision of schooling was one of the first priorities taken into account.

In Darwin, schools were built in Karama and Leanyer as soon as suburbs were gazetted. The residential areas developed around their new schools. The same applied in Palmerston. Gray and Driver had Neighbourhood Centres which included schools and childcare facilities available as residents purchased blocks and built their nearby homes.

This policy reassured residents that schooling would be available for children.
Guaranteed local schooling encouraged people to buy property and settle in these new suburbs.

Over time, this policy has changed. Rather than schools (and other necessary community facilities) being among the first constructions, provision is left until all residential blocks are purchased and homes built. Lyons and Muirhead in Darwin are overdue for schools. Hundreds of families have to transport their children to schools at distance from where they live.

This has resulted in Nakara, Wanguri and Leanyer primary schools being oversupplied with students who are living outside their catchment areas.

This policy change has also impacted upon Palmerston. People living in Johnson, Zuccoli and other developing residential areas have to take their children to distant schools. In Palmerston , this has resulted in huge numbers being enrolled at Bakewell and Roseberry Primary Schools. Many of the students are being enrolled from out of these schools catchment areas.

Undoubtably, economics have driven this change. Developers are in a hurry to sell land and construct housing. However it leaves people with limited options for their children.

When families have children being enrolled in schools out of area, their attention and focus is elsewhere. They are not able to contribute to the development of their suburb’s character.

The present policy is leading to our suburban schools, particularly primary schools, becoming larger and larger. Historically, school planning was done with the expectation that schools would grow to a population of 300 to possibly 350. In the schools mentioned, these numbers are being substantially exceeded.

It would be in the interests of community for government and developers to revisit the benefits of making schools one of the first facilities constructed in new residential subdivisions. Leaving schools until the absolute last is socially and culturally depriving for those living in our newest suburbs

Politicans LOVE sharing closet secrets and dirty linen attaching to the lives of their opponents. 

At the same time they work to bury their own shortfalls ever deeper and deeper into the underground, fervently hoping their deficits will never be discovered.

“Smear”  is one of the most important aspects of the political process.

• Dementia turns confidence and assurance into hesitation.

• “I myself” is the primary motivation for too many Politicans.

• The shiftiness of the Federal Govt. drains and fatigues POH.

• Govt punishes savers and rewards wasters, young and old. 

• Lonliness impacts upon both dementia sufferers and carers.

Many, many words are spoken at Garma every year. Some of those are accentuated into promises of sorts which are partially fulfilled. But the larger percentage of those words are dissipated into the space beyond the stage never to be actioned.

Nevertheless, it is fashionable indeed expected that these words will be spoken.

Garma Thoughts

I could not afford to go to Garma this year, because I was too busy as a taxpayer subsidising attendance and accommodation costs for the bevy of politicians who go each year and spoke loudly where it cost some nothing at all. It’s all on the taxpayer.

“ Laughter is a tranquilliser with no side effects“.

Arnold Glasgow

This quote was posted on the door of the refrigerator in our staff room at Leanyer Primary School. It was there for the many years of my Principalship.

There is no way. Governments will never change poor traffic conditions on roads -where quiet streets turn into boisterous highways because of population growth – until those changed sections of road can claim at least five or six fatalities. ‘Prevention is better than cure’ does not apply.

Today my cranial cavity is drowning in utter depression and mind numbing despair.

Sometimes the gravitas of life is soul destroying .

Whenever I approach traffic lights that are green or sufficiently amber to allow me to traverse, I lift my hand in appreciation and say “thanks” as I drive through.

If the lights are insufficiently amber or red,  causing me to stop, I fix them with an expressionless and vacant stare of disapproval and ignore them completely – until they go green.

We have a proliferation of dogs in Leanyer which  seem to be trying out for admission to the Bow Wow choir for at least 18 of the 24 hours of each day. Daytime and nighttime is always the right time to seek choir admisson.

The crass stupidities of the Australian government and the awful climatic and environmental uncertainties in which we live in Australia, make me feel both discombobulated and confused beyond all measure. All I can see on the futures horizon is unmitigated challenge leading to doom via gloom

good on Sweden for banning Technology in classrooms and bringing back pens, pencils, paper and book focused research.

That’s going to help students to go back to learning about things with understanding rather than dialling up technology to answer questions with the answers are not understood by those who are asking the questions in the first place.

If found guilty, this woman and any other overseas person connected to the rort, should be deported and marked never to return to Australia. Any citizenship entitlements they are classified under should be cancelled. The business should be wound up and sold with proceeds going to refund those defrauded, including the government.

I had a maiden aunt who died when aged 104. She was very attractive in her youth and in more mature years but she rejected all suitors and spent her years looking after others who were frailer and less robust than herself. She once said to me, “Henry, all men are beasts; their thoughts never rise higher than the bed.”

Over time and in this sad age of rising domestic violence, I sometimes ponder on what she said those sixty or seventy years ago.

Having AI answer phones and asking what I want is eerily Frankensteinian. Human response is evermore impersonal and increasingly distant.