Old Koreelah

What is a continuous culture? On most continents there were periodic upheavals as peoples migrated or conquered their neighbours. Few nations can honestly trace their local ancestry back more than a few centuries. The same applies to many first nations in The New World. When the Spanish moved into what is now Arizona, the Navajo/Apache were still in conflict with the Pueblo farmers, having only arrived a century or so earlier. Given the historic and ongoing animosity between some native Australian groups, I suspect quite a bit of human migration on this continent before the white fella came. Modern Australians are slowly coming to terms with some less savory aspects of our past and present culture; some of our Indigenous brothers have yet to do so.

Can anyone suggest a polite, but effective sign to keep tailgaters well away from my car?

The technology to monitor drivers is already quite advanced and widely-adopted. I recently drove our new VRA quick-response vehicle home from Dubbo after a big midday meal and received two “driver fatigue” alerts in the first half hour. Not sure how it detected my reduced level of alertness (eyelid movement or lane-keeping) but it was spot on. After a brief stop to walk around (as suggested by the Ford Ranger) I drove on, much refreshed, so the plurry thing didn’t harass me for the rest of the trip!

Haven’t seen that one yet; can you post a link?

As the global success of Bluey has shown, even Americans can adapt to Australia’s accent, so let’s cast off our cultural cringe and use our own lingo.

I drive a bus and truck and sure feel the responsibility when at the wheel. Luckily, my journeys are short and local. I’d be dangerous doing long-range trips and have the greatest respect for those who do. What is needed to be a safe and effective driver? intelligence? More likely a suitable mental attitude. I bet a simple AI device could quickly detect inappropriate behaviour by a driver, but would we accept a machine judging us?

Me too Spacey. I’m currently sitting in front of my bookshelf which contains the Encyclopaedia set I grew up with. I fondly recall reading most from cover to cover, so kept them.

Who knows what actually happened. I tend to believe the bloke who was there, but his co-writer would have been under pressure from publishers to spice up the storey. Despite being a long-time supporter of Wikipedia, it sure ain’t perfect. Just about anyone can contribute text and it’s often cut severely by the army of volunteer editors, who tend to err on the side of conservatism- they sure aren’t kind to alternative interpretations of historic evidence. That said, Wikipedia is rated as more reliable than many mainstream sources. Nishizawa deserves a book of his own. He was revered by his comrades and I believe he stopped counting his victories after a hundred or so. Like so many war stories, his demise was farsical: he and other airmen were being relocated in a DC-3. The nervous pilot couldn’t get the overloaded plane off the ground, so the Zero master took the controls. The crash killed Japan’s best.

Our veneer of civilization is quite thin. The Geneva Convention (and similar efforts to tame the savage beast) are quite recent and easily overlooked in the heat of the moment. Not long ago it was normal for our ancestors to pick over those fallen on the battlefield for anything useful, and finishing off the dying. Body cams and drones might curb some excesses, but we’d be better off in the long run if were a bit more selective about our leaders. That might require a huge cultural shift for some.

Although that was the ethos of the traditional Samarai, but let’s not forget that (like the armed forces of Germany, USSR and the Allies) many soldiers were not from the central culture. The men conscripted from throughout Japan’s empire were expected to abide by the dominant culture, despite coming from widely different communities. Koreans, Okinawans, Taiwanese and probably Manchus. I bet most just wanted to survive. Some Australian POWs on the Burma Railway remember being treated well by a Japanese Christian guard from Nagasaki, who had to hide his religion from his comrades. To survive, some POWs were pressed into service by their captors, including Allied prisoners. Some may have worn several different uniforms. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yang_Kyoungjong

That “beacon of democracy” has long been corrupted; just one example of how easily their politicians can be bought:

A negative review:

Saburu Sakei described a head wound while flying his Zero over Allied ships at Guadelcanal. One eye shot out, blood obscuring his remaining vision, his finger explored a large hole in his skull under his helmet. He was feeling his brain, but felt no pain. He stuffed his lunch wrapper into the hole and flew several hours home to Rabaul.

It might be said that both are victims of changing times; neither would be the first to overstep their mandate. Lots of war crimes by both sides remain unprosecuted or forgotten. Perhaps their bad luck was timing; there was a public interest in these events and justice had to be seen to be done.

Jerry you’ve been a bit busy to keep up with all the local stories. Robin Davidson’s camel trek was well covered by some of our media. I read her book and watched the movie. Her life has some parallels with that of another pioneering Australian woman, Daisey Bates, who was married to Breaker Morant. Davidson went on to link up with the famous author Salman Rushdie.

Trouble is, we won’t be sitting back watching from the sidelines: Australia has put most of it’s military eggs in the USA’s basket, so we will be going along for the ride.

As they say, the only thing wose than cumpulsive liars is compulsive believers.

How can any Christian support this abomination?

Looks like the Orange Grub will be even angrier in future.

I’ve always said that caravans should be banned from the roads, except between midnight and dawn.