Tag Archives: #bestintentions

A Big Night Out, may just be tomorrow’s mistake.

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There is a quiet confidence people have when it comes to alcohol, and it usually sounds something like this. “I’ll be right.”

Two drinks, maybe three. A bit of food. A good sleep. A coffee in the morning. A shower to freshen up. A quick self-assessment based on how you feel, and off you go, convinced that you have successfully navigated what you believe is a fairly simple equation.

The problem is, it is not an equation at all. It is a guess, dressed up as logic.
(Note bottom right corner of the image below?!)

My offence involved residual alcohol from the night before, and while that does not excuse anything, it does highlight something that I think is worth saying clearly. Alcohol does not leave your system according to your opinion of how it should behave.

It is affected by your body, your metabolism, what you drank, how much you drank, what you ate, how you slept, your health, your age, and probably a few other factors that most of us never consider when we are confidently deciding that we are “fine.”

That feeling of I’m okay saw me blow 0.67 at 6:45 am in the morning after 8 hours sleep, a shower, a coffee and good feeling about the day I was setting out to conquor.

The Reality Most People Ignore… including the ‘past me.’

Government advice gives general guidance, and it has its place, but it is not a personalised calculation. It cannot be. It is broad by necessity, and people tend to take that broad advice and narrow it down to suit themselves. It’s like sending a text advising someone that something is VERY IMPORTANT! You send the text, and upon pressing send in your mind you have discharged all your responsibility.

That is where the problem starts.

The only truly safe position is simple, and I say this now with the benefit of experience I would have preferred not to have had. If there is any doubt, do not drive. That is not dramatic. It is not over the top. It is just practical. With all the education we are provided through fear campaigns, with all the guidelines, such as the old slogan ‘four men and women two’ it comes down to our choice.

I learned that lesson the hard way, and I would much rather someone else learn it the easy way by reading this and thinking twice the next time they find themselves doing the same mental arithmetic I did.

There is a a lesson here of great humility in what happened to me. It is not a pleasant realisation, or one without public embarrassment, personal shame or moments of profound regret.

What’s more I am not a ‘selfish prick’…. notwithstanding the sexist implications of this government led ‘band-aid’ campaign. I am sure everyone has a story where they ask the Police to ‘breatho’ them and have been refused.

My Experiment: When I was doing drug and alcohol testing in the workplace (Yes, I know the irony…) and after I got pinched the first time for drink driving. I sat around the table with a group of mates for a ‘test.’ I had very expensive accurate alco-testing equipment. We all had one full strength beer over 30 minutes, waited 10, and tested. I was approaching 0.04. Two mates were still zero. One was 0.01 and another 0.02. This turned out not to be a test, but a realisation that the ‘BIG MISTAKE’ of driving over the limit was different for all of us.

Advertising campaigns by the Government, the Police etc. etc, are not education campaigns, they are scare tactics based on sound science BUT that is grossly different science for each of us.

I have now learned that my body dissipates alcohol at a rate far, far slower than others. I learned the hard way and never tested for it when I had all the equipment. Why would I?

I fell for this fallacy…..

I had a few drinks the night before, in the morning I was feeling great, I had a good nights sleep, a shower and a coffee. I was ready to take on the day.

In the end, it was me that was just taken down.

I don’t know what the solution is. I know it’s not calling people pricks.

(Not written by AI – © Ian Schlein)

Drink Driving, Shame, or a True Realisation?

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It became obvious to me when the ABC decided to report on my recent conviction for drink driving that I will be subjected to some changes in my life.

The obvious one of not being able to drive is initially the penalty that I will bear in addition to the $1100.00 fine.  These are practical and financial matters that all of us must deal with in a myriad of areas and ways in navigating a more and more complex world.

The ‘splashing’ of my name, my crime, my personal life and health challenges was a little more than I expected.  Especially considering the ABC saw fit to include it on the national reporting site.  It was a surprise when a friend called me from Queensland to say they saw it on the ABC.

Well, here is the thing for all to see. (click here)

I made a serious mistake, and there is no clever sentence structure, legal nuance, or carefully chosen word that makes that any less true.

There is no “yes, but…” sentence here. There is no “but.” There is only the bad decision and the consequences that follow it.

The reading was low range. That is largely irrelevant in the bigger picture, because low range still means over the limit, and over the limit still means I made the wrong call. I have spent a lifetime telling people that the small decisions are often the dangerous ones, because they are the easiest to justify to yourself in the moment.

What has surprised me is not the penalty, and not even the inconvenience of losing my licence, although I will admit that will test my patience and my planning and lead to many, many frustrations.  Frustrations which I hope will become indelible in my future thinking and decision making. What has surprised me is how quickly my mistake of some three years ago, became newsworthy today.

The uncomfortable truth sitting at the centre of all of this, is not if I acknowledge my mistake, my crime, ignorance, any remorse, shame or guilt I may feel, but, how can this be weaponised for greater entertainment and outrage.

I have seen the consequences of poor decisions on the road, and perhaps I will now further bear the poor decisions of those who subscribe to this entertainment and outrage.

I do not expect a free pass. If anything, it makes the mistake harder to accept, because I cannot pretend I did not understand the risk and the greater consequences coming my way.

Australia loves a ‘hero’ whether in combat, on the sporting field or the neighbour pulling a cat from a burning building.  But Australia, particularly our paid Merchants of Misery, the Media, love nothing more than tearing someone down, particularly when they are vulnerable, when they are down, when they really need a mate more than an attack.  But, the world has, and is changing, Australia has, and is changing.  

When the Queensberry Rules are thrown out the window in the Mixed Martial Arts ring, and when it becomes okay when someone is down, to give them a kicking and a few late punches, to finish them off, it time to review the rules.  Perhaps it is time to walk that mile in another’s shoes, to look in the mirror and be grateful, be thankful that by luck and perhaps the grace of a higher power, there go I. 

This is not written for sympathy. I am not interested in that. This is simply me putting my hand up and saying that I got this wrong, and that matters.

There is one thing that I have always managed through great adversity; it is much like what training does for the pugilist, it gets me down to my fighting weight.

(NOT written by AI – © Ian Schlein)

GAY, TRANS, CIS, BLACK, WHITE, BLUE, GOD, CHURCHES, LIBERAL, LABOUR, GREEN, THAT, THIS AND WHAT’S THE POINT, WHO ARE WE?

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The Label Drawer

Somewhere along the line, we all got handed a little label maker and told it was “personal growth.”

Gay. Trans. Cis. Straight. Non binary. He him. She her. They them. This. That. The other. And if you do not pick one quickly enough, someone will kindly offer you a set like a waiter listing specials.

And look, I get it. For a lot of people, those words are not decoration. They are survival. They are belonging. They are the way you find your mob when the world has been rough. I am not here to take that away from anyone.

But I am here to ask a blunt question: why is the label so often the first thing we ask for, like it is the password to the real conversation?

Who Are You When Nobody’s Watching?

Here is my problem. Labels can be useful, but they are terrible at doing the job they keep getting hired for. They do not tell me if you are kind. They do not tell me if you apologise when you are wrong. They do not tell me if you are safe to be around when things get messy. They do not tell me if I call and 3.00 am you’ll come?

They do not tell me how you got to here?

And that is what I actually want to know.

What did you crawl through to get here? What are you proud of that nobody claps for? What do you hope for when your head hits the pillow and the day is finally quiet? What do you want to build, or fix, or protect? What makes you laugh so hard you snort and then pretend it was a cough?

Tell me about the dream you have not said out loud because it feels too big. Tell me about the grief you carry like a constant dead weight in your pocket. Tell me about the time you were brave and nobody saw it.

That is the stuff that makes a person. Not a checkbox.

Pronouns, Tribes, and the Great Human Hunger

I am not offended by pronouns. I am not terrified of identity. I am not declaring war on anybody’s flag.

I am just saying that sometimes it feels like we are collecting categories the way kids collect footy cards. Got one. Need another. Rare edition. Signed. Limited release. And, it just ends up in the box with the rest. No really adding to my life, just sitting there to show once in a while to show I have something you don’t.

We are starving for belonging, and we keep trying to eat it through labels. We keep trying to connect by pushing people in and out of a group.

But belonging is not a word. It is behaviour. It is how you treat the barista when your coffee is wrong. It is how you speak to your partner when you are tired. It is how you act when nobody is recording you, and there is no applause, and you could get away with being a dickhead.

If you want to tell me who you are, tell me what you do when you have power, even tiny power. Tell me how you handle anger. Tell me how you handle someone else’s pain. Tell me what you do with your attention, your money, your time, your words.

Because character is identity with receipts.

What’s the Point?

The point is simple. I want a world where the first question is not “what are you” but “who are you.” I practice saying when I meet people for the first time, not “What do you do for a job?” But, “What do you love to do?”

I want conversations where we do not lead with a label and end with silence. And, when we don’t agree the winner is the one that yells the loudest and blames the other. I want friendships built on curiosity, humour, honesty, and the strange miracle of being two humans who both made it through their own storms and still have the nerve to hope. And the understanding that hatred is a disease not a source of energy. And anger need only the addition of one letter to always signify “D anger.”

Maybe if we get good at seeing the person first, we can make someone’s day a little lighter. Maybe we leave a place better than we found it. Maybe we leave a person a little happier, or at least a little less alone.

So yes, be whatever you are. Call yourself whatever helps you breathe. I will respect it.

And then, once that part is done, come closer and tell me the real story.

Tell me your story, without fear or favour, with heart and truth. Tell me, who are you?

Run – Hide – Fight – The ‘Active Shooter Strategy’

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The ‘Run – Hide – Fight – Active Shooter Strategy’ is actually taught in schools in the United States. As you can see at the bottom of the poster on the left, it is from a school in Pennsylvania US and is on the schools’ main web page!

I always thought this was sad and tragic?

After the sadness created through the tragedy that happened in Bondi in the last week with 15 people murdered by terrorists,

I think it is time we have a look at our ‘mindset.’

And, I’ll try and do it quickly and with just the basic info? There is a lot of movies that make survival look like its the tough who survive. But, in reality it is the smart, with a whole lot of luck.

I often ‘test’ people and say “What is the First Rule of Survival?’ (I wrote a post about all the rules if you want to have a look – click here)

And, I usually get some good answers, find water, find shelter etc etc. But, like a lot of things, the first rule is obvious and people go “Oh Yeah’ when I tell them but people don’t follow it. Most people don’t think it will happen to them, and when it does it’s often, too late?

The first rule of survival is ”DON’T GET IN A SURVIVAL SITUATION IN THE FIRST PLACE.”

Just by reading this post you have exponentially increased your chances of survival in numerous situations. Firstly, by the ones you avoid and perhaps having a little more thought before saying ‘Hey, hold my beer, watch this’ or heading off into the bush, or out in the boat, by getting a fire extinguisher and first aid kit for your car, having a fire evacuation plan for your home, etc etc

The ‘Active Shooter’ scenario is just something we hope will not happen again, but….?

One simulation study using agent-based modelling (look this up – it’s really interesting for working out probabilities?) suggested a survival probability of over 92% for individuals who focused solely on running away, compared to only about 5% for those who solely hid.

Most people will ‘hide’ where they first become aware they are in danger. Under a table, lying down on the ground. These ‘hiding places’ often don’t provide cover or concealment.

’Cover’ is behind something that will protect you from gunfire. ‘Concealment’ is something that will ‘hide’ you but wont stop gunfire. Cover and concealment is the answer; but in the moment how do I find that!?

You find it because you know it before the danger arrives by being ‘situationally aware.’

There is not one cop I know who doesn’t think about ‘what if there is a hold up’ every time they walk into a bank?

When you are ‘aware’ of what is happening, if you are in danger, particularly an active shooter situation, you have to ‘respond, not ‘react.’ A ‘reaction’ may actually put you in more danger. By having a route of escape that does not put you in more danger than hiding you are ‘responding’ and making a conscious decision. Remember there is ‘cover’ that will protect you from gun fire and there is ‘concealment’ which means that you can’t be seen but your ‘concealment’ probably wont stop a bullet. You will need, cover, concealment and a route of escape.

I think we’ve all done it. Walked around in a day dream or our head in our phone. I think we’ve all nearly ran over someone who just stepped off the kerb without looking. Situational Awareness is not walking around ‘ALWAYS READY!!!’, it’s just not walking around oblivious.

Also, often when a lot of people run away from danger you have the real possibility of creating a ‘mob stampede’ in which people get injured or killed by the crowd and not the threat. In these situations is not about being the ‘coward’ who ran away, or the ‘hero’ who stayed and fought, it’s about working together and helping each other. Make that your catch phrase if you are in one of these situations. Yell it out “Work together, help each other.” Humans are best when they do that.

I hope you never have to use the information I shared here, other than to stop yourself getting run over, and perhaps see the world a little clearer. And, mostly, not get in a survival situation in the first place.

We Are Australian — Not Because We Wave Flags and sing the national Anthem, but, because… “I am, YOU are, WE are Australian”

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(Note to reader – no pictures this time as I just had to write and post?! – Sorry about the typo’s and spelling errors!)

“If guns kill people, pencils misspell words, cars drink drive, cutlery makes us fat, lighters set bushfires.”


Yesterday. many people were murdered. Australians were murdered and our guests, in Sydney, in Bondi…”

These words, remind us of something important. It isn’t objects, or sensationalised video future of Australians doing what they do, that define tragedy or its cause.

It isn’t simplistic slogans and thoughts. It isn’t panic or division, it’s the human condition, greed, creed, ideology, doctrine, the raw unfortunateness of madness.

And with the promise of more laws slapping on bans, we’re again being told to be afraid and divided instead, from our mates.

Australians don’t scare easy. That’s not in our DNA. From the Dreamtime to the prison ships, from the diggers at Gallipoli to the stories our bush poets wrote that inspired generations, songwriters have sung, what makes us Australian isn’t fear, it’s resilience and looking after each other.

The Seekers got one thing right in We Are Australian.

“We are one, but we are many… We share a dream and sing with one voice: I am, you are, we are Australian.”

That dream isn’t a political slogan. It’s about community, shared struggle, shared strength.

That’s the same spirit John Williamson captured in True Blue, the idea of being fair dinkum, genuine, authentic, and loyal to your mates. True blue isn’t about exclusion or fear. It’s about being good people who look out for one another, stand up when times are tough, and don’t hide behind catchy headlines or fear mongering.

And, Redgum’s I Was Only Nineteen ,haunting ballad about the cost of war, about men in suits sending our young to die in countries they’ve never heard of, in wars they dont understand.

These songs, these Australian anthems, remind us that mate ship isn’t rhetorical, it’s lived in hardship, fire, drought, flood and blood and memory. That song isn’t an anthem about politics, it’s about people.

We are better than fear and division, and what God your pray to.

We don’t need more bans, more fear, more “solutions” that really just divide us and strip away liberty. We need mates ship, empathy and mostly we need to look after each other, especially when the world feels mad, and bad and poor and always on the brink of war.

Australian’s don’t bend easily, . We don’t roll over when someone tells us to be scared or to choose sides. That’s not who Australians are.

And speaking of being ripped off, let’s talk resources, how then ‘popular’ elite that govern us have decided what happens to what we all own.

We are a resource-rich nation, really rich. But, most of the massive profits from our minerals, gas and coal don’t actually make their way back into the community that owns those resources. According to my research, mining taxes and royalties combined make up only about five cents of every dollar of government revenue, despite mining being one of the most profitable sectors. Much of that revenue goes overseas, or into corporate structures designed to minimise tax, sometimes illegally, but most often legally because the system lets them. Many gas fields and resources are exported royalty-free or pay minimal tax, leaving the public, the owners of those resources, with far less than they should receive.

We need to ask, if these companies are digging up our land, exporting our resources and enriching shareholders overseas, why are we not seeing a fair share of that wealth reflected in better hospitals, better schools, better regional services, better support for veterans and struggling communities.

That’s not sovereign wealth. That’s selling the farm and being told we’re lucky they bought it.

Our leaders aren’t always the best qualified, so they hire consultants, for billions, YES billions of dollars, and tell politicians what they want to hear.

Let’s be real. Big politics is often about big egos and small accountability. Hire a consultant and get the answers you want, in black and white, from the experts.

We deserve better, NO we need to start demanding better.. We deserve leaders with backbone, vision, and real understanding of public good over private profit.

So what do we do?

We lean into what makes us Australian. Mateship, you help a mate when he’s in a fight. A fair go, we give it, and we expect it back. Resilience, we don’t cower, we stand up. Truth, we call out bullshit when we see it.

We remember the stories, the songs, the history, the shared struggles. That’s what being Australian really means, not fear, not division, not spin and sensational headlines.

We are better than our fear. We are better than the cheap narratives sold to us to distract us. We are still the people who sing I Am Australian and mean it, because we understand it’s about people, not slogans.

And, this is not a call to ‘action.’
This is a call ‘‘thought.’
It is a call to ‘truth.’
It is a call to “not only some mates looking after some of us, but, all of us looking out for all our mates.’

And, as our mates have lost their lives in the last day or so, we saw when the fighting gets tough and Australian is not who you want to have that fight with. We’d rather have a beer, a chat and sort it out that way. But, somehow we got into a struggle where a bloke born in this country, and his Dad, somehow!!!!, thought it was okay to kill his fellow Australians.

My heart breaks, for those murdered, those injured and those that this day will now define them. But, my heart rejoices in seeing the spirit of Australians in this tragedy, helping their mates, running towards danger for their mates, protecting there mates with their own bodies, getting together and saying we will not live in fear…. And making the ultimate sacrifice because:

No one has greater love than to lay down his life for his friends,”

I am in shock still, I wonder, why we have come to this. My Dad was a Truckee, my Mum a primary school teacher, and we didn’t have much. But, we were happy, and we had our community, a diverse group of countries we were born in and came here from, religions, skin colour, languages spoken at home, sexual orientation, men and women, gays and straights, but, we knew one thing, if they called we went, and if I called I knew they would come.

Because, that’s what Australian’s do.

The only ‘pub test’ was after, wether you were having a soft drink or ‘necking a beer’, because we did it together.

Thanks mate….

PS: When I was writing this I was flicking through all the news stories (with fucking tears in my eyes!) and then I came across the show ‘Love Island Australia’ being aired at the same time…. There is a fair chance we may already be fucked!!!!!!

When Life Breaks Without Warning

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I keep seeing a post on Facebook where an old work associate is breaking and sharing his pain on numerous posts. Many kind people are replying with their love and support. It doesn’t seem to be helping.

Today he posted about ‘seeing himself’ and understanding things he was blind to before. That is what tragedy brings you, as its unwelcome gift, a world covered in shit that rolls down hill and you live in a valley.

Sometimes, there are moments in life when the floor simply gives way.

One minute you’re steady. The next, something blindsides you: a relationship collapses, a dream dissolves, someone you love disappears from your world, or life just… turns.

A life that was going alone nicely, with hopes and dreams and something to look forward to gets, real hard, real quick, it just seems life suddenly got very cruel. Bad things mostly happen quickly, without warning.

And, they happen without asking permission.

Hearts don’t crack politely, minds don’t break with affection.

They break loudly, silently, suddenly. That suddenness fills your life with grief, rejection, loneliness, uncertainty, tragedy, betrayal, and mostly, a pain in your chest, heart, head that seems impossible to bear. The reasons are endless, but the feeling is unmistakable.

And in those moments where nothing makes sense, where you’re left staring at the pieces thinking, “How the hell did this happen?” there’s an ancient line from an old shepherd-turned-king that still hits the human heart squarely:

“The Lord is close to the brokenhearted; He rescues those whose spirits are crushed.”
Psalm 34:18

Now, whether you see that as literal truth from a higher power, or as ancient poetry describing what humans have always hoped was true, the message lands the same:

You are not alone in your pain.

David, the guy who wrote that verse, lived a life that swung between triumphs and absolute disasters. He wasn’t preaching theory he was naming something he had survived. Something we all have survived in our own way: the belief (or maybe just the stubborn hope) that even in disaster, we’re not completely abandoned.

(PS: ‘Fact Check’ on the bloke above. The ‘rock-slingers’ in ancient armies were the most feared combatants as they could kill you from 50 yards away with a single stone. ‘Little Rock Slingers’ easily killed big giant dudes with armour and swords by hitting them in the head with a rock. A fact, not a miracle!)

The funny part about the Old Testament in the Bible is that its a horror story, filled mostly with bad people doing bad things and getting pulled out of the shit at deaths’ knock by a God they’ve just been ignoring while they worship golden cows, having orgies and getting on the piss. (I’d get rid of the Old Testament if I was doing a rewrite – not that I’ve read it all, to much begetting of sons and fathers!)

So, when it comes to tragedy, ask yourself quietly: Is your heart broken? Is your spirit crushed?

If so… take this next part however you need it:

From a religious point of view: God is near.
Or if you don’t believe in “God” or any higher power perhaps consider the truth in any case:

Comfort is near.
Meaning is near.
A way through is near.

You haven’t been left to fight this alone.
You are seen, even when no one seems to notice.
You are held, even when no one seems to reach for you.
You are not forgotten, even when your mind tries to convince you otherwise.

And no, as we all know, there is no free pass from hardship.
Life doesn’t work like that.
But it does mean there is something, call it God, call it strength, call it the human Spirit, call it stubborn human resilience that steps closer when everything else falls apart.

That is how we survive. That is how we, as a species have always survived the hardships and tragedies of just living.

The Bible says God is called the Comforter, a presence that soothes, steadies, guides, and whispers encouragement into the wreckage. Even if you’re an atheist, that word Comforter still makes sense. We’ve all felt comfort that came from somewhere we couldn’t fully explain.

Maybe it was a friend.
Maybe it was a memory.
Maybe it was a moment of calm when your whole world was burning.
Maybe it was just your own heart proving it still had some fight left.
Maybe it is that undeniable resilience of the human spirit shining through.

Whatever the source, comfort is real. And it keeps people alive. Sometimes it just arrives, sometimes we may need to seek it, sometimes we may need to be the one offering.

Screenshot

So, if today your spirit feels crushed firstly take a breath. Look around, and realise the world is still there, understand it is mostly happening within you and not too you. The human race, I believe has always been in good hands. We just use our gifts for a lot of the wrong reasons. And it doesn’t matter if you call those hands divine or simply human.

Life will always contain trials and hardships.
But pain doesn’t get the final say.
You do.
Your healing does.
Your next chapter does.

Name, even quietly, whatever has cracked your heart open. Acknowledge it without rushing to fix it. A wise old soldier mate of mine once rewrote a old saying into:

”Don’t just do something, stand there.”

Then give yourself permission to sit, in a divine presence if you believe in that, or simply in a moment of stillness. Not doing something and taking a moment is often the best answer.

Let the weight shift and lift a little.

Irrespective of fate, divine plans and the chaos of human existence, somehow we are all connected. Even if we don’t notice everyday, as we are cruel, unkind and indifferent to each other. I believe, no, I know under the surface, in all of us there is closeness, comfort, connection healing and better days to come..

We that are all here, are still just here, living everyday as it comes.
And that means something good is still possible, wether it be divine or not, as tomorrow will come, with our permission or not.

Random Policing or Tyranny?

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I read the news paper the other day (I scold myself again for wasting the money….) and found the below article hidden in subtext after the winner of a game show and the elections and ramblings of overseas political incomprehensibility.

Screenshot

The article just reminded me of a conversation I had in the mid 1990’s…..

As a bit of history first. I graduated as a Police Officer in 1980.

Drink driving in those days meant that you were not allowed to drive drunk. We often pulled over a driver a bit after midnight (the pubs ALL closed at midnight) and had the following conversation:

“Hey mate where you off too?”
“Just going home”
“Where you coming from”
“Just been down the pub.”
“You had a few?”
“Yeah but I’m okay…”
“Okay mate take it easy, be careful.”
“Yes sir, can I go?”
“Yes mate…..”

Then a short time later ‘The Limit’ came in at 0.08 which nobody really knew what it meant. It became illegal to drive above the limit of alcohol in the blood, whatever that meant. But, the Government put advertisements on TV and it was a catchy phrase, and maybe it was a song something like “Four Men and Women Two” which turned out to be pretty wrong! Who knew?

Drivers then had to ‘blow in the bag’ (some of you will recognise the ‘altho-test’ in the above photo – no fancy electronics!!!) to show us they we sober. Sorry not sober, or too drunk to drive, but, ‘under the limit’ of 0.08. By the way it was still illegal to drive drunk!

Setting up the bag was a nightmare, breaking off the ends of little glass tubes filled with crystals, then connecting it to a bag and a mouth piece (with bare hands…). Then going through the legal jargon of saying blow until the bag is full. Then if the crystals changed colour above a little red line it meant you went over the limit, which was bad.

But, we didn’t do too many, as you had to be observed committing a traffic offence or driving in a manner which indicated your driving was impaired. This had to be see before the Police could pull you over a get you to ‘blow in the bag.’

Okay, later they brought in electronic breatherlsisers and legislation that gave Police the power to take your car and cancel your license on the side of the road. But, before that they did something else which, brings me to the point of my ramblings.

They (the infamous ‘they’, normally meaning the government or big business…) brought in:

RANDOM BREATH TESTING!!!!!!!

Wow! Randomly Policing the public just in case they were committing a crime with no indication that they have ever committed a crime, might commit a crime, let alone are committing a crime…. it’s all ‘random’ ….. dare I say ‘just in’ case Policing?

It was strange, as this is the main point of my story. When they brought in this ‘random policing model’ I was a Detective and studying to be qualified as a Sergeant. It was an era of enlightenment when Policing studies were aligned with TAFE and University Courses and qualifications actually meant something.

I went along to TAFE as a 30’s something fifteen year ‘veteran’ in the Police with the other students in the class being adolescents and kids all around 18 years old, which was a lot of fun. It came to a bit of a head in class discussions when we were doing something relating to random breath testing and drink driving.

I saw an opportunity to cause trouble, never an opportunity I would let pass by and spoke against the principle of random breath testing. Remember everyone was there just to get qualified in something and each 45 minute lecture in Adelaide TAFE was attended just so you could get a basic pass and get on with life.

I realised something while being the ‘devils advocate’ in this lecture it all came down to one question. I asked that question….

DO YOU BELIEVE IN RANDON BREATH TESTING …. AND IF SO, WHY?

Oh yeah, they were all for it. IT Stopped dangerous people on the road, saved lives, lowered traffic injuries and deaths. Unfortunately, experience tells us other than complete tyranny, enforcement has never actually ‘stopped’ a destructive community behaviour or crime problem. I love the story of alcohol prohibition in the US, it worked so well, it created “Organised Crime!”

Now, I want you to imagine you are at home one night with your family just finished tea and taking your positions to watch “Farmer Wants a Wife” or some other inane TV show designed to make you dumber. There is a knock on the door: the family all look at each other in surprise “Oh, I wonder who that could be?” We hear Dad open the front door and a measured and authoritarian voice is heard to say:

“Good evening sir”
Dad: “Hello Officer how can I help you?”
“We are conducting random house searches for drugs and stolen proptery… blah, blah, blah…

Okay, you say not probable, but, I say inevitable…?

But, can you not apply your reasoning for agreeing with random breath testing to this ‘random house searching’. Are they not justified on the same principles?

By allowing the Police to randomly ‘police’ us we are handing over our ‘right’ to go about our business peacefully without interference from an over controlling or oppressive regime. We are handing over all our rights to not be considered ‘possibly guilty until proven innocent.’ That is really the crux of the matter. Your presumption of innocence is surrendered by any form of random policing.

Oh, I hear you say again but that will never happen in Australia!

Well, you mean like, when you are randomly stopped in your car, and the Police have the power of ‘judge, jury and executioner’ when they cancel your licence on the spot and impound your car…. but, aren’t you innocent so why the ‘roadside penalty’ when Court, like a real Court, could be months away. Just point out to me in these situations where is your ‘presumption of innocence.’

Well, sorry too late….. ask those in Port Augusta if they enjoyed tyranny. (PS: The statistics they quote in the article below don’t mean anything?)

A Reflection at Christmas

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I may not be a great man …
A rich man …
A man without regrets …

A man without enemies …
… I mostly deserve …
… and those I don’t, should tread carefully and make no mistakes …

A man with friends…
… for seasons and reasons …

A man with lifelong friends…
… where silence …
… distance …
and time, means nothing …

A man with a Band of Brothers…
… as I am to them …
… they call, I come …
… I call and he or she comes … sometimes together …
… they are formidable… some very dangerous … some smarter then me … some just to hold me up …

An orphan man …
… of true family …
… one who chose me …
… one of blood …
A man who found a small few, who became family …

A man as a brother …
A man as a Cousin …
A man …
… who has the honour …
… as a Father …
… a Father-in-Law …
and an Uncle …

A man who lives under the protection …
… of God …
and his Band-of-Brothers when prayer is not enough …
… and when dangerous people are required …
… and the family around him …
… protecting and to be protected … at all costs …

I am a man …
… included in a group of flawed, but, good people …
… family, friends and those I have not yet met …
… people who accept me with all my bad choices and trail of broken hearts …
… broken promises …
and
… regrets …

A man …
… nevertheless …
… who is here so temporarily …
… yet loves every second …
and looks forward to the next …
… who will not leave this mortal coil without a fight …

A man who …
… is lucky …
… is loved …
… loves …
… is grateful …
and… forgiven …

A man …
… who loves Christmas …
… for it’s real meaning …

A man …
… just taking a moment …
… to reflect …

Amen …

Short Post: Biden Speech

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I do go on…

So short blogs …… as I see the world….

Biden just told the world he would hand over the US Presidency to Trump peacefully and they met and had a nice chat…..

I love being wrong in my predictions…… but: I make them anyway….

Biden will be dead before Christmas (gently in his sleep?)
Kamala will be President for a bit under a month…..
Multiple assassination attempts on Trump….. they will probably get him…..
There will be a US Constitutional “Crisis”…….

….. and it goes on…. And on…. And on….. And on……

(The new civil war in USA is still not avoided…..)

War ….. in Australia

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(See disclaimer before you attack me…)

We can stop the war in the Middle East, the Ukraine/Russia and all the wars in Africa if we……

Stop sending “War Aid”….

We can just send “Humanitarian Aid”….. to the communities and families just like us…..

Look in the ‘background’ of all the footage of these wars……. They are just people like us…. With a kitchen like us, as TV, working a mundane job, having kids, a dog….. and all the stuff we have…..

They are Doctors, garbage collectors, nurse, tradies; with kids going to school….. and then….?

While you think about this, after feeling outraged, offense, deciding your gender and the fairness of your life in Australia….

Take a break….

As you will go to bed, with no fear that someone will drop a bomb on your house tonight.

….. and mostly., we, MUST NOT GET INVOLVED!!!!!!