JULIAN ASSANGE BACKED

Support  for  WikiLeaks  founder Julian Assange has been expressed  on Magnetic Island, North Queensland. The event  is covered  on  the magnetictimes.com  website and Facebook. At the rally, a message from  Assange's mother ,Christine,  who lived on the  island  with Julian when he was  a  young boy, was read out . In part , it said :

 Many thanks to all of you for coming here today. Like WikiLeaks, Magnetic Island is small but with a big spirit. Julian and I both have very fond memories of living here.  We are now facing our darkest hours. Powers, who do not want the people of the world to know the truth of their corruption, are massing against Julian and WikiLeaks. WikiLeaks took the mask off power and power is very,very angry. Embarrassing the US is life threatening and, along with the US lapdogs Sweden and the UK, now the Australian government has fallen into line to shoot the messenger.

Most of the mainstream media represents corporate interests smearing Julian and WikiLeaks to silence the truth. On the other hand, ordinary people around the world are rallying in their defence - recognising the importance of whistleblowers and a free and fearless media to hold government and corporations to account to preserve our democracies.

I encourage you to search for the truth about Julian and WikiLeaks. With the rapid surveillance state in Australia and US militarisation of our country, I encourage you to do as Julian has done - to search for the truth. The freedom of your children and grandchildren depends on it...She went on to say the Magnetic Times editor, George Hirst,  had  factual information for those present .

IN THE COMPANY OF SAINTS

Scaling Townsville’s craggy Castle Hill on which is painted a stick figure with a halo ( above ) representing the  gentleman crook, Simon Templar, alias The Saint, almost brought this sinner face to face with St Peter at the Pearly Gates. In the old Imperial measurement, the peak is nearly 1000 feet high and dominates the attractive  North Queensland city. The views from it out to the Coral Sea , Magnetic and Palm isles , The Strand are magnificent . Day and night it is climbed , driven and pedalled up by a horde of locals, interstate and overseas visitors , adventurers , camera enthusiasts, decaying individuals who should know better, the latter category one  in which I have membership.

One way to conquer the peak is via what is known locally as “the goat track,” which requires no explanation. My athletic daughter , Lizbeth, often climbs Castle Hill before she goes to work , setting out from home before sunrise for the base camp for the trek . I was induced one Saturday to join her , a friend , Barbara , also a regular climber , and a great granddaughter , Lacey, “nearly five and a half”,  a veteran mountain climber. Because it was exceptionally cold there as in Darwin, I wore jeans and a jumper , not only to keep warm but as protection against mossies and dengue. Barbara , in whose comfortable car we travelled, was similarly covered , and elected to walk up the easier sealed road because of a hip or knee condition , while the rest of us hit the goat track.

After admiring the views as the sun peeked through early in the ascent , I soon noticed that the thigh muscles were tightening up. Then it dawned on me that I was going to be physically tested. Daughter and the hopping, skipping and rock–wallaby like GGD left me for –not dead- but pretty close. My thoughtful daughter returned and said there was a rest station, a deck with a seat a short distance ahead where I could sit and drink from my water bottle.

Resting, I glanced down the track and could see an army of enthusiastic climbers , some solo, heading up my way. Spurred on, I resumed the upward grind, pausing frequently to sit on an uncomfortable rock, hug a tree , the sweat saturating my clothing. A woman clad only in shorts and a T-shirt , carrying a water bottle,  seeing my stressed state , thought she was being  kind and helpful when she said  I had passed the half way mark ( groan ) ; she soon disappeared as if snatched by a Yeti. I stepped aside for three men coming through at speed , the last one in the group, lightly clad, the eldest ,sweat pouring down his face, looked at me adorning a tree and commented , with some amazement, that I was heavily dressed. Was that the Angel of Death , an elephant , a snake , a turtle and a few political stickers  on  a watertank ( below) beside the  track  or was I beginning to hallucinate ?

Any moment I thought I was going to tear a hammy or have a groiny  like a player in an AFL match  . My water bottle seemed to weigh a tonne. Here I was,past three score and 10 years, having had a triple heart bypass, sporting a floating clavicle, and attempting to emulate Sir Edmund Hillary- without the aid of a Sherpa . Bob Hawke, with justification, would call me a silly old bugger. Eventually I tottered out of  the goat track onto the part of Castle Hill where  cars turn around . Eureka! Despite blurred vision , walking like a tin soldier , I took several  photos of  the panoramic views . Our walking companion who took the low road on foot arrived, the easier route taken 45 minutes . But wait, the summit had not yet been reached. My daughter and Lacey were beckoning from a flight of steps higher up .

Ringing wet with perspiration , I set out to follow them and on entering a ramp everything began to swim before my eyes, I became light headed and things went black. Clutching a  rail , I hung there like a clump of rainforest flora, green about the gills . This, I thought, could literally be the end of  life’s mysterious trail for me. After a while, I tottered back to the parking area , sat down and drank some more water. Waiting for me at the summit , my daughter and lively GGD wondered why I had not joined them. Lacey, incredibly smart  and agile for her age , suggested I may had died .

No. I recovered; we returned via the road, although we did take a side track at one stage. On the way down I took photos of the saint figure first said to have been painted as a prank by a James Cook University Arts/Law student,Shane Flynn, in the l960s . Subsequently erased, it was replaced and is now a well known piece of graffiti art, a tourist  attraction.

After the arduous climb, we headed to The Strand , on the waterfront, which was in a festive mood due to the annual walking competition, and had breakfast , Lacey going for pancakes. Unfortunately, oxygen was not on the menu , so I had settle for the big breakfast and a mug of latte with four sugars . When I went to the James Cook University Special Collections and told the librarian that I had scaled Castle Hill via the goat track , she said people had been known to drop dead there . I thank the patron saint of mountain climbers that I had not expired on that expedition .

The saints seemed to be watching over me in Townsville as there was a fete at St Matthew’s Anglican Church, Rising Sun, where I bought numerous books , including the biography THE SAINT AND LESLIE CHARTERIS ( above ), examined a display of Townsville serpents and succumbed to the temptation of a Devonshire tea .While munching on a tasty date scone, I read the  names of dear departed   parishioners on a memorial wall, one now  said to be  DANCING IN  HEAVEN. My sainted aunt would  not  have agreed to such carrying on  in Paradise.

Then Australia’s own Saint Mary MacKillop ( above ) beamed down on me and held a FUNDAY at which more secondhand books were for sale. I was blessed by  picking up the memoirs of a neglected living ALP saint , Barry Jones. While taking photographs  of  the interesting architecture in Townsville , I came across a  residence on The Strand  with  the surprising   name , ST. OLAVE'S .  Olaf  was once King of Norway and became  the patron saint of that country. What is more, he  helped Aethelred the Unready  beat back  the  Danes when they invaded  England . How  the saint's name  came  to  be  displayed  on  a prime piece of real estate  in Townsville  is a  clerical mystery. ---- (By Peter Simon).

TERRITORY ELECTION PUT TO MUSIC

Found recently in a Townsville antique shop called The Speckled Hen , run by a book loving French lady, is this piece of 1924 sheet music , a ballad which  explains the affaire de coeur responsible for the embarrassing cackle over the situation in the Darwin seat of Johnston . Another catchy tune, a love song , DEAR ONE , arranged for energetic strumming of the ukulele , is included . Yet another song applicable to the election campaign seems to be the popular melody performed with gusto in hunting, fishing and shooting circles - I DIDN’T KNOW THE GUN WAS LOADED .

BARCOO ROT AND SLINKY CATS -Continuing biography of crusading editor ,"Big Jim" Bowditch. By Peter Simon

Bowditch, with first wife, Iris, at Adelaide investiture where he received  the Distinguished  Conduct  Medal for wartime bravery .

***********************************************
With quick reflexes that had been honed during the war, Bowditch was dynamite on the cricket field , the Centralian Advocate reporting: “ Stonewall Bowditch did it again on Sunday last. What a man ...The elastic arm of Bowditch was responsible for the catch of the day...” Cricket had a large following and was of a high standard. The clerk of courts, Ken Bagshaw , who had played Sheffied Shield for South Australia , was such a good player it was said that he would have been the next Don Bradman but for the outbreak of war. Another highly regarded player had been Ginty Garrett, a superb wicket taker . During the war years cricket pitches had been built for the troops and the town was well supplied with playing fields.

Mine Host at the Alice Springs Hotel, where Bowditch often drank, was Ly “Uncle ” Underdown , with the unflattering nickname ,“The Pig ”. He boasted that he had once owned more biscuits than anybody else in the NT. This was due to the fact that he bought a mountain of tinned biscuits in the postwar auctions which were fed to his pigs .

Underdown loved cricket so much that he would , on occasions, close the pub and go and play a match. Underdown got carried away in a game and let out a loud Howzat! - then realised he was the umpire . He organised regular smoke concerts for cricketers and everybody attending had to get up and entertain the gathering in some way. Two clerics used to attend the evenings and tell jokes against each other. They were Father Dixon of Santa Theresa Catholic Mission and Reverend Fred Mackay . Father Dixon had a new car , a Ford ute, and took Mackay out to Santa Theresa Mission to see Aborigines making bricks. Mackay asked to drive the car , took a bend too fast, and damaged the vehicle. Dixon was upset, and said : “ If it hadn’t been Friday , Freddy, I would have eaten you.”

Later on , Underdown built a cricket pitch and nets on the roof of his pub and tried to get Don Bradman to open the facilities. When Bradman was not available,Territory MHR Jock Nelson officiated. The ceremony was performed at night and got under way when Ly’s mother switched on the fluorescent lights and the first ball was bowled by Jack Donnellan to Nelson who had a bat autographed by Bradman . The wicket keeper was Ly .

At chess, Bowditch, above , beat most players in town ; one of his regular opponents being a minister of religion. Due to his involvement on stage , Bowditch played a substantial part in the writing of the Alice Springs Theatre Group’s musical revue, Barcoo Rot, the title for which was his idea. His experience taking part in boy scout Gang Shows in England probably assisted him in this project. Other contributing scriptwriters were Jean Tainsh and the editor of the Advocate , Alan Wauchope. A sandwich board was used to advertise the forthcoming show.

The well received revue included a skit on the popular BBC radio show , Much Binding in the Marsh, which was called Much Finding in the Todd (the local river ) , and sent up Alice identities, including D. D. Smith, Jim’s boss, and Brigadier Loutit, the wartime Alice supremo. The show’s background was a radio station, and when a newscast announced that a house had been built in Alice Springs , the accommodation starved audience responded with “heartfelt and deafening applause ”. Part of the show included a farce about the early days of pedal radio in Central Australia. A newspaper review of the evening’s entertainment commented on an amusing sketch called Cats. Many years later, Bowditch said he and another clerk in Alice had written a “poem” called Cats which was about sexually desirable women in Alice ; people had thought it was just about felines roaming about various parts of the town.

Government Departments were also lampooned . The revue was so well received they set to and wrote another, but it folded after several rehearsals. Wauchope and Bowditch “ clicked” from the moment they first met in the RSL . It was due to Bowditch’s prompting that Wauchope came to write a regular column in the Australasian Post -Straight from the Heart- which ran for 10 years and attracted mail from all over Australia . Alice Springs businessman Reg Harris said Wauchope’s highly popular column did more to promote tourism and interest in Alice than the film A Town Like Alice . Wauchope admired Bowditch, a “ perpetual crusader ”. Wauchope , had served as a journalist on the Melbourne Herald , where he had an experience with Rupert Murdoch’s father , Sir Keith Murdoch , which resulted in him seeking a change in his career.

While working at the Melbourne Herald,Wauchope became concerned about some work related matter and sought an interview with Sir Keith . Ushered into his room , he was made stand while Sir Keith was busy with something on the desk in front of him ; eventually he looked up and asked what he wanted. Receiving what he regarded as an unsatisfactory response from Sir Keith, Wauchope had decided to seek another career.When he first arrived in Alice it was as a magistrate’s clerk.

In June 1949 Jim’s in-laws , Colonel and Mrs George Hargreaves , came to Alice . Colonel Hargreaves , who had investigated war surplus auction rackets, flew on to Darwin in connection with government business. ASIO ran a check on Hargreaves . Iris Bowditch hosted a function in the “ tastefully decorated ” Rendezvous Cafe for her mother and a delicious afternoon tea was provided for 25 people.

Like a bolt out of the blue, Bowditch was projected even more into the public eye when it was announced he would be awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal for his wartime exploits . The investiture was performed at Goverment House, Adelaide, by Sir Willoughby Norrie, on October 4, 1949. Bowditch wore an Army cap belonging to  his  friend Harry Krantz, secretary of the SA Federated Clerks' Union, and a uniform borrowed from the Creswick Army Barracks. Despite being called “Big Jim,” Krantz recalled it had been something of a problem finding items of  clothing small  enough to fit Bowditch.

The Distinguished Conduct Medal citation read: From 14 Apr 44 to the cessation of hostilities this NCO has performed outstanding services, calling for the highest degree of courage , leadership and initiative.

From 24 Apr to 3 May 45,Sgt Bowditch was a sub party commander of the Special Operational Party inserted into Tarakan Island for the purpose of collecting pre-invasion intelligence. With great daring and initiative,Sgt Bowditch carried out a special patrol to Tg Djoeata and located enemy dispositions and coastal artillery.

Between 24 May to 2 June 45 Sgt Bowditch took part in an enemy deception plan in support of 9 Aust Div operation OBOE V1 in British North Borneo. Again by his utter disregard for his personal safety,Sgt Bowditch was of great assistance to the party leader and his example was an inspiration to the other members of the party.

On 6 July 45, Sgt Bowditch was a member of a party inserted by parachute in the Mahakam River Lakes areas of Dutch Borneo to take part in Special Operations. The party remained in the field until 12 Aug 45 during the whole period Sgt Bowditch was in charge of a sub party of 2 white soldiers and 30 native guerillas. The sub party under the leadership of Sgt Bowditch carried out many successful patrols to contact native chiefs and destroyed enemy food dumps. On 10 Aug 45, Sgt Bowditch was sent to reinforce a small S.R.D. patrol at the mouth of the Kahala River , which was being heavily engaged by a Japanese patrol sent out from Moentai to liquidate the party. By his personal courage and leadership, Sgt Bowditch was mainly instrumental in killing 30 of the Japanese and pinning down the remainder at the mouth of the river where they were later destroyed.Throughout all the above operations, Sgt Bowditch has displayed great devotion to duty and courage of the highest order .

At Townsville's Heroes Walk honouring Victoria Cross recipients is this plaque for Corporal John Alexander French , killed fighting the Japanese with Jim Bowditch at Milne Bay, New Guinea . Bowditch's account of that fierce battle and the demise of French was covered in an earlier part of this biography.

The Federated Clerks’ Union held a special dinner in Adelaide for Bowditch , his wife, and in-laws who came across from Melbourne for the investiture . Bowditch subsequently wrote to Harry Krantz saying the experience of mixing with unionists had been a real education for his in-laws. They now had a different attitude to “ militant unionists”. Colonel and Mrs Hargreaves sent Krantz a specially printed Christmas card. NEXT: Bitter union struggles .

FBI HUNTING FRUIT LOOSE BAG MAN

WASHINGTON : The FBI is taking seriously a threat by a babbling , anonymous man to shove President Barak Obama in a chaff bag and throw him into the Gulf Stream. An FBI spokesman today told Little Darwin Weirdo Roundsman , Pete Scrofulous , that the chaff bag maniac is the latest dingbat to surface in the US. “Man,” the over-worked FBI man said, shaking his head, “ I’m seriously thinking of moving my family to Australia to escape ratfinks like this spaced-out  chaff bag dude .”

A criminal profiler was called in to give the FBI a clue to the identity of the chaff bag hit man to prevent him carrying out his attack. The photogenic profiler , who demanded cash in advance for his comments, said this strange person is probably the product of being brought up in a dysfunctional household where his mother wore a bag over her head every time she went out in public . Because he was an ugly baby, she may have even tried to drown him each time they caught the ferry for an outing at Coney Island . His father , almost certainly, ran a hotdog stall at sporting events and gambled all his money on hay burning slow horses.

CSI MIAMI is also assisting the urgent investigations . Its street wise team advanced the notion that the offender banged his head in collision between a Volkswagen and a convoy of Mack car transporters on Route 66 . He may also have been involved in a racket selling chaff bags full of Unicorn and Rocking Horse shit to simple minded Oakies who play pokies , watch replays of Oakie Doke , the strange cartoon creature  made   from soggy  pea soup ingredients and lives in a hollow house.

American authorities here are worried that there will be an outbreak of copycat chaff bag assaults on political leaders in other parts of the world. Media photo opportunities at  the Queensland G20 conference could become a disaster if all those attending suddenly  have a large chaff bag pulled over their heads.

TERRITORY TREASURE TROVE IN TOWNSVILLE ; ASSANGE EVENT

The James Cook University Library Special Collections section contains interesting material including some unusual Territory information. Little Darwin has been on sabbatical leave examining , with gloves, some of the contents as part of a special project which will result in a batch of articles. Special Collections Librarian, Ms Bronwyn McBurnie, mentioned the recent acquisition from Sydney of 300 glass negatives with early views of North Queensland including Thursday Island , mining , rough bush houses . One shot is of two women , each with a cockatoo on a shoulder, sitting at a table. An interior view of a house shows a wide range of possessions . Of particular interest to this writer were two boxes containing the personal papers of the NZ born writer, the late Jean Devanny , who had several links with the NT , including corresponding with author Frank Hardy when he was at Mataranka in the Territory during WW11 .Other sources of Territory stories are being followed up in Townsville and on Magnetic Island . Of interest is the fact that there will be a Julian Assange rally on Magnetic Island this weekend where he spent some time as a young boy .

NIGHTCLIFF INSPIRES BLOCKBUSTER NOVEL?

Stuart Highway, part of the great unwritten Nightcliff ripper novel .

An incident “witnessed” at Nightcliff has a novelist thinking about writing another book. What that event was , he , annoyingly, is keeping secret. Fair enough, I suppose . It would be nice to think that Nightcliff could inspire a bumper book such as James A . Michener’s, Hawaii. In that bestseller , turned into a movie, the author a Pulitzer Prize winner, told the story of Hawaii in episodes , covering its formation through volcanic activity, the arrival of the Polynesians, the impact of Western religion , other outside influences and so on in a mixture of fact and fiction . Using the same kind of storyline , Nightcliff could provide wonderful ingredients for an epic literary work.

In pre-history times , the Nightcliff area was the entrance to a vast inland sea . The origin of the name Nightcliff has long been the subject of conjecture . In 1839 a party from HMS Beagle , the vessel on which Charles Darwin had previously sailed, clambered up the cliffs with lanterns at night at a spot referred in its notes as the Night Cliff locality .It was speculated at the time that the local natives would have been terrified by those strange creatures emitting lights .

This “Night Cliff” description was used by Surveyor-General, George W. Goyder, in his original 1869 plan for Darwin.In subsequent years , however, it was erroneously claimed that the name Nightcliff was due to the misspelling of the name of multi-talented, obese, John George Knight , a qualified engineer , architect (designed Government House and the Town Hall ) , Government Resident from 1890-92, a lover of the Arts and a friend of poets Adam Lindsay Gordon and Henry Kendall . Knight was said to spend a lot of time in the beach area , and that it became known as Knight’s Cliff , a popular picnic spot. Now the beach has signs warning of asbestos .

The novel could include the wartime camps and huts , the dump , the ladies roster for cleaning dunnies , the undertaker who swigged rum while knocking up coffins, a fashion night at the old Seabreeze Hotel, the felling of most trees for the Nightcliff subdivision , the racist brothel keeper , stompers in an Indian cafe, long distance calling on the Mickey Mouse telephone , the mysterious Nightcliff bomber , the Larrakia struggle for Kulaluk, Freddy Fogarty and the imperious British butterfly collector, goings on at the Coconut Grove farm , the independent “ witch”, a visit by Xavier Herbert , the nuns’ retreat, Cyclone Tracy , the Sunday market anarchist bookstall run by Stuart Highway and the modern “Nightcliff Village” where one cafe has been broken into 50 times .
Then there are the Greek barbers, a Japanese lady with a big pooch, Lady Muck, the odd French cafe , political players and wannabies , selling sly grog to schoolkids , a runaway Boxer , Oscar the cat, the first search for cane toads , the budgie who called out Mum , a sweaty lady , Jasmine the dancing dog, did that cheeky girl actually lick the toilet seat?, Dr Woof, yiros , cuppas and the astute woman who said the NT and the rest of Australia received little in the way of benefit from mining royalties long before Canberra woke up to the fact .

These weird and disjointed fragments , thrown together at random , with the help of new medication, soon to be re-adjusted, illustrate the potential dazzling content of such a tome. By the time Michener died, aged 90 , his books had sold 75 million copies . I predict NIGHTCLIFF a la HAWAII could exceed the sales of Harry Potter , so somebody out there please get cracking and write the book as it would be nice to get my commission for the idea - afore I disappear into the never ending night. – (By Peter Simon.)