Rapturous Reception

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Judgment Day has come and gone. And wasn't it a lot of fun?!

An american prophet correctly predicted the End of the World, for May 21. He also predicted the same End of the World for twenty or more years ago. His predictions were greeted with sarcasm and cynicism... and some quick prayers, just in case.

On Judgment Day -- 21 May 2011 -- "the good would be taken to Heaven".

So why the laughter? It happened!

All the good people went to Heaven.

Did you see them go? No? Oh... Why not?

Well, you see... the God of this particular Apocalypse looked for all the good people.

And found no-one.

Apocalypse two. Good people zero.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it...

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Thank Goodness for Honesty and Trust!

Do you need new -- lateral -- thinking for your own problems? email nick leth at gmail dot com. Need solutions? No worries. Now.

Gosh, it's nice to be reassured that there is no possibility of bribery in the health services. Right there, on the front page of The West ($745,000 in gifts to health officials, 25 May 11):

Health director-general Kim Snowball yesterday said the companies paying for trips signed a letter acknowledging that the trip did not place any obligations on doctors or the health service.

What a relief!

Yeah, right. As if.

Is Snowball stupid? Or ridiculously naive? Or does he believe that readers of The West are simpletons.

Weasel words?

In the same article we are given several examples of freebies provided to state health officials by major companies. One example is -- by implication -- perfectly alright because the company has "no existing relationship with the department":

Three North Metropolitan Health Service employees each accepted return business-class flights and three nights accommodation in Los Angeles worth a total of $28,488. It was paid for by health-care conglomerate Abbott Australasia, which has no existing relationship with the department. [my emphasis]

Have a look at Table 1 from a research paper published online:

War Memorial Debate is Half Baked

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The SAS regiment is based in WA. Should dead SAS soldiers have their names engraved on the WA state war memorial? Not according to the RSL... And people are jumping up and down as a result of this ruling.

Has anyone considered the reasons for this RSL ruling?

Soldier X enlists in NSW. He transfers to the SAS in WA. His family follows him. Soldier X dies in action. His name will be engraved on the NSW state war memorial... where his WA-based family will hardly ever see it.

Is this an example of entrenched stupidity based on narrow-minded adherence to tradition?

Or... are there many sensible reasons behind the ruling... Reasons which widows, journalists and other opinion-staters have failed to consider.

I'm only guessing. To me, my guesses are reasonable. At least I'm trying to consider the 80-year-old reasons for the current "tradition".

Before we try to force the RSL into change, let's look at the complexities around a "simple" decision...