Not helping Paul.

AN $8000 chartered return flight from Melbourne to Sydney is on standby to rush an accused terrorist to the bedside of his dying brother.

Izzydeen Atik, 25, formerly of Williamstown, is charged with belonging to, funding and supporting a terrorist organisation.

He was arrested in Sydney last November as part of the AFP counter-terrorism Operation Pendennis.

Ok so Izzydeen has not been proven guilty yet and we should presume innocence until proven otherwise. However, the comments of magistrate Paul Smith are concerning.

It seems to me if we live in a civilised and decent community we should be able to make arrangements where somebody in Mr Atik’s position can visit close relatives in order to say goodbye,” he said.

I agree wholeheartedly, but does Mr Atik? If he is found guilty of “belonging to, funding and supporting a terrorist organization” then he obviously has no regard for anyone else’s right to say goodbye, or any other right for that matter.

To counter Paul Smith’s high and mighty mumblings, I would point out that in a civilized and decent society, people do not plot and plan other peoples deaths on a mass scale.

I wonder at what point do we realize that the barbarians are not at the gates, the bastards are inside pretending to be teddy bears, and people like Paul Smith are not doing the situation any favors. None at all.

Operation Pendennis Senior Investigating Officer, Detective Inspector Stephen Clark, said the AFP were concerned about providing security to Atik, police officers and the general public if they were required to escort him to Sydney.

He said a chartered flight which would cost $4000 each way was on standby because both major commercial airlines have refused to transport Atik.

He said significant police resources would be required to escort Atik, provide security on the ground at airports in both Melbourne and Sydney and conduct a reconnaissance operation at Westmead Hospital.

No local commercial airline will take him. Australian Federal Police are concerned for public safety and the safety of their officers. But hey, we are civilized right Paul? Hang the expense and the risk! We’re too civilized to worry about that.

US $95 Million??

For This

Picasso painting fetches $124m

I swear I am in the wrong business. Do you think my forays into the artistic world might support Kati and myself?

I call this one, Paddy with turban, red scarf and cat.

What do you think?

Onwards and Upwards

Robert Doyle has gone! GOOD. He should never have been there in the first place. The Liberal party should have left Dennis Napthine in the leadership role. I admit he looked a little uncomfortable in the limelight, but he came across as sincere, straight up and down and likeable. Doyle on the other hand, came across as an idiot.

On Monday the party will select its new leader, lets hope it is someone a little sharper than Doyle. Someone who can unite the party behind them, someone who is there for the long haul and is prepared to accept defeat at the forthcoming state election and soldier on with eyes on the bigger picture.

Not Right

I am sure this post will be lost on our overseas friends, but it needs a mention. One of our football matches this last weekend ended in controversy when the siren sounded to end the game, but the umpire did not hear it and therefore did not signal the end of the game. One of the teams kicked a score during the small period of uncertainty and the scores became level, thus creating a draw.

Now it seems the Australian Football League in its infinite wisdom has seen fit to overturn the “drawn” result in favor of the score as it stood when the siren went.

To me it’s crap. Bollocks. A con. The rules say the game is not over until the umpire signals it is over. Sure it was a stuff up, not the fault of either team but hey stuff up’s happen, live with it. Overturning the previously acknowledged score is the worst possible action the A.F.L could have taken.

A similar thing happened to Collingwood in a night grand final several years back. The opposition team kicked a score after the siren had sounded to end the game, are we now to expect that game to be noted as a Collingwood victory? There was outcry at the time, but as I recall “the game ain’t over till the umpire say’s so” was the rule thrown up at we Collingwood supporters for years to come.

The A.F.L has acted appallingly in the face of this a mere stuff up that they should simply have accepted and moved on.