There's usually a big build up to Easter, but not this year. What was normal was having hot cross buns & Easter eggs in the supermarkets a couple of days after Christmas. What was abnormal was the fifteen days straight of 35+ degree temperatures leading up to the weekend in question. Yes, Adelaide took one for the rest of the country & sealed the record for the longest ever recorded heat wave & it will probably stand for a while.



With all that heat, packing a heap of aluminium foil covered chocolate into the boot of an even hotter than ambient car isn't a very good idea. Hence, no one bought anything.

Easter Friday was when I braved it, expecting everyone else to do the same, but buying for the family took only a couple of minutes in an unexpectedly empty chocolate store.

Walking around the various retail outlets now reveals a massive over supply of Easter eggs which aren't even moving with half-price stickers. It looks like money is getting quite tight for families everywhere, but everyone still feels obligated to give chocolate eggs on a day which now bears little resemblance to the religious holiday it is supposed to be.

I'm desperately trying to convert my family to do the egg thing the following week & save a small fortune. With all the discounting going on, I've managed to fill my gumball machine with mini eggs (roughly 2kg), all for under $10!! Previously it would have cost upward of $50!

 

Abu Bakar Bashir was a supporter & conspirator in the 2002 Bali bombings which killed 202 people. For his crimes, he was convicted & imprisoned, then released after 26 months. In the time since, he has repeatedly condoned the bombings & called for further attacks & threatened retribution should the other Bali bombing perpertrators, who are currently on death row, be executed.

In an October 2007 sermon, Bashir called for young Muslims to aspire to a "martyrdom death". He also referred to tourists in Bali as "worms, snakes, maggots" & should Muslims encounter them, "just beat them up. Do not tolerate them."

America is hunting down Osama Bin Laden for his involvement in the September 11, 2001 attacks & Australia should be doing the same in hunting down Bashir. Abu's words are a direct threat to our national security & the safety & welfare of Australian citizens throughout Asia. None of his preachings have anything to do with Islamic beliefs regardless of his claims & interpretations.

Australia has provided an estimated $458 million in official development assistance to Indonesia in 2007/08. This is in addition to other payments for items such as transport safety, HIV initiatives & the redevelopment of Aceh. The Indonesian Government allowed the release of Bashir who is a known terrorist, so should bear the brunt of the Australian Government suspending all assistance until something is done.

Perhaps it's about time to take matters into our own hands & dispatch an SAS squad to go over there & take him out! That's what America, China & Russia would do.

 

America needs a female President....

but it needs a black President a whole lot more.