In The News

 What is happening? Just eight news reports from yesterday…
 
1.‘The Coalition government will introduce its fifth tranche of counter-terrorism laws after the shooting of a police worker by a 15-year-old, extending control orders to suspects aged 14 years or more…’
Shocking, but true that a 15 year-old can be a terrorist (albeit seduced by someone older than 15!)
 
2.‘The age at which control orders can be applied to terrorism suspects will be reduced from 16 to 14, as part of the federal government’s fifth tranche of counter-terrorism laws, to be introduced into parliament in the coming weeks.’
Yes, we have to lower the age of checking on suspected terrorists to 14!
 
3.‘A Melbourne man has been found guilty of attempting to join the conflict in Syria…’
Cannot understand why someone would wish to leave Australia to ‘join the conflict’ in Syria. If he was here, why didn’t he stay? (or is that too simplistic?)
 
4. ‘Violence in the name of Islam, and anti-Muslim protests, could be seen as a sign of a fracturing society. Let’s keep our perspective; our public debate is actually improving….’
‘Fracturing society’ is right and we can only hope that the public debate is ‘improving’.
 
 
5. ‘Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull meets with religious leaders in Canberra, as part of a bid to improve relations with the Muslim community.’
Will this do any good? Will the potential ‘terrorists’ be listening? Possibly not.
 
 
6. ‘Federal Opposition frontbencher Lisa Singh breaks ranks and calls for an end to "ongoing mandatory indefinite" offshore detention of asylum seekers.’
Hooray! A politician who is asking for the awful, inhumane detention of asylum seekers to end.
 
7. ‘The University of Tasmania issues a warning to students and staff on all campuses about a "general" security threat.’
But we’re still more worried about the security threat of….what? Terrorists attacking Tasmania’s University?
 
8. ‘Syrian regime troops aided by Russian air strikes fight their fiercest clashes with rebels in weeks, as US-led coalition forces parachute ammunition to rebels battling jihadists in northern Syria.’
Is this bloody fighting getting anyone anywhere? On and on it goes. And now Russia is involved and yet seems confused as to who it is fighting for and who against. (Guess it will all be revealed soon… and no doubt the letters U,S and A will feature, even if just for posturing).
 
Why is the world like this? There is so much intelligence and so much clever stuff going on – I mean people are wearing phones on their wrists for heaven’s sake and there are cars that can drive themselves and yet…and yet…no one can figure out a method of securing a bit of peace in the world Beats me!
 
But, at last…the 9th news report:
 
9. ‘A kangaroo jumps into the path of a car on a busy road in Adelaide's inner southern suburbs, leaving the driver, who had her grandson in the vehicle with her, "pretty shaken up".’
 
Phew! Thanks goodness for the kangaroo!  And for a news report worth reading… Well, a news report that’s not too scary (apart from the bit about the poor driver who was ‘pretty shaken up.’)

PS: In my last blog post I tried to equate the misery in the world with the fact that few people were singing any more. Possibly that was an exaggeration, but I still stand by the fact that the world would be a better place if we sang more!