May all readers have a wonderful holiday period ... and MMXII, being the year of the Dragon in a couple of months, may there be plenty of noise, fireworks and partying.

The solution to all our issues is one word : Community.
Be it your family, friends, or neighbours ... lets make 2012 the year we bring them all even closer to ourselves.

Good Bye the crazy ride that was 2011 and Happy, Happy 2012


Death and disaster unleashed a flood of news in 2011



The biggest stories of 2011: Queensland floods Qantas grounds all aircraft Death of Osama bin Laden Japan earthquake, tsunami and nuclear meltdown Steve Jobs dies The royal wedding of William and Catherine Cyclone Yasi Muammar Gaddafi overthrown Christchurch earthquake Maddie Pulver collar bomb hoax Phone hacking and closure of News of the World Cadel Evans wins the Tour de France Sam Stosur wins the US Open Norway shooting massacre Barack Obama's Australian visit Egyptians overthrow Hosni Mubarak Charlie Sheen's descent into madness

The year started off with one of the worst news stories Australians could imagine - the loss of the Ashes. Not just a loss, a pasting - the first time in history Australia lost three matches in a series by more than an innings. It sparked a rout of Australian cricket that ended with Ricky Ponting stepping down as Test captain.

It began a landslide of news to kick off the year. We smiled as our own Princess Mary of Denmark gave birth to twins, and we were shocked by Jared Loughner's shooting spree that targeted US Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords.

But nothing could prepare us for the devastation that was to be inflicted on Queensland, as months of constant rain caused by a La Nina weather system delivered a destructive legacy. The flooding began in Towoomba, but Queenslanders could only watch as the wall of water marched mercilessly across the state, with Brisbane its inevitable target. As the death toll climbed, residents braced for the worst - and that's exactly what arrived. The story of Jordan Rice was just one incident of tragic heroism to come from one of the nation's worst ever natural disasters. The flooding was not just confined to Queensland, with Victoria also copping the brunt of surging river waters.

For four days, there was no news other than the flooding. But as the water subsided, other stories began to surface. In Sydney, the drive-by shooting of Hassan "Sam" Ibrahim raised fears of another gang war. In the world of entertainment, Ricky Gervais ruffled more than a few feathers in Tinseltown by skewering his Hollywood compatriots at the Golden Globes.

Over at Vodafone HQ, executives were copping a skewering of their own, from their own customers. The website Vodafail.com was set up following repeated complaints of poor network coverage and customer service, which resulted in 12,000 complaints being levelled at the telco. We also exposed how Vodafone dealers posed as customers to cancel accounts and sign people up for new contracts with higher commissions.

A busy news month continued with the awarding of a rare Victoria Cross medal to SAS soldier Ben Roberts-Smith for astonishing bravery on the battlefields of Afghanistan. The same day, Tasmanian premier David Bartlett used Facebook to announce his resignation. A suicide bomber a few days later rocked the world by detonating a bomb at Russia's main airport, shouting "I will kill you all" before the blast that killed 35 people. The month finished as social unrest began to build in Egypt, with Australians trapped in the country evacuated as the Arab Spring movement came to a head.

Back home, Queensland's year of disaster was not over yet. Just weeks after the crippling floods, the state was bracing for the arrival of one of the biggest cyclones in history - cyclone Yasi. Queenslanders again found themselves playing an agonising waiting game as a weather event they were powerless to stop advanced towards them. In the end, while the damage was widespread and the impact - particularly on banana prices - would continue for months, the state dodged a bullet, with only a handful of deaths reported.

Queensland was not the only state to feel the force of nature. While much of the eastern seaboard was under water, a parched Western Australia suffered its worst bushfire in years, with more than 70 houses claimed by a blaze sparked by an angle-grinder on the outskirts of Perth.

In the midst of all this, Ian Thorpe sent pulses racing with his announcement of a return to the pool to compete at the 2012 London Olympics. Overseas, unrest in Cairo began to reach boiling point at protesters took over the city's central Tahrir Square to demand the resignation of president Hosni Mubarak. They got their wish soon, with the president stepping down on February 12. However the jubilation in Egypt soon took a sinister turn with the mob attack on US reporter Lara Logan, who was sexually assaulted by dozens of protesters after being surrounded in Tahrir Square.

The summer of natural disasters continued across the Tasman, as a devastating earthquake ripped through the heart of Christchurch. In what was referred to as "New Zealand's darkest day," dozens lay trapped, dying or dead beneath the rubble as buildings that hadn't already fallen remained teetering precariously. As rescue crews mobilised and time ticked away, hope gradually turned to despair as the death toll ticked into the hundreds.

What was needed was some light relief, and it came in the form of Charlie Sheen. First, his hit TV show Two and a Half Men was axed after Sheen unleashed a rant against the show's creator, Chuck Lorre. Then the train really went off the rails. A clearly disturbed Sheen appeared on a follow-up interview on Good Morning America in which he coined the phrases "tiger blood" and "Adonis DNA" and admitted "I am on a drug: it's called Charlie Sheen". He then took to Twitter where he set a world record for amassing one million followers in a little over 24 hours. Meanwhile, back in the more serious side of the entertainment world, The Kings Speech managed to collect the lion's share of awards at the Oscars.

Steve Jobs caused the first of many headlines for the year by emerging from his sick bed to launch the iPad 2. While Apple fans the world over were keen to get their hands on the gadget, it was seeing the company's icon, whose ill health had forced him to step back last year, back on his feet the provoked the most excitement. Unfortunately, it was only a temporary reprieve.

Melbourne's underbelly again came the surface after a jury ruled crime matriarch Judy Moran guilty of murdering her brother-in-law Des "Tuppance" Moran. We were kept busy with odd stories of sardine apocalypses and "halfro" bandits for a couple of days, but the next disaster was just around the corner.

This time, the earth's fury was directed towards Japan, with a magnitude 8.9 earthquake sending a killer tsunami surging across the country's east coast. As the toll surged into the thousands, the focus shifted to the Fukushima nuclear plant as the deadly wave raised fears of a possible reactor meltdown.

Back home, the web was captivated by a video that offered a distressing insight into bullying at Sydney high schools, as a boy who was filmed being continually harassed by other students snapped, throwing his attacker to the floor. In Melbourne, one of the biggest sport scandals of the year culminated in the suspension of high-flying AFL manager Ricky Nixon over an affair with Kym Duthie, the schoolgirl who published nude photos of players from the St Kilda football club on her Facebook page.

In Sydney, the city was gearing up to deliver the final blow to the Labor party when news came through of the death of an icon - Elizabeth Taylor. Two days later, the most inevitable NSW election result in history came to pass with a complete rout of Kristina Keneally's ALP at the hands of a coalition led by Barry O'Farrell. The month culminated with another end of an era - Ricky Ponting's decision to quit as Australian Test and one-day captain, handing the reins to Michael Clarke.

Ponting's decision was prompted by Australia's inglorious exit from the ICC Cricket World Cup in the quarter finals, in which a valiant century was not enough to stop India romping to victory. The same side then romped to victory over regional rivals Sri Lanka, prompting scenes of jubilation on the sub-continent.

Away from sport, the Australian Defence Force Academy was drawn into a scandal after a male cadet filmed himself having sex with a female colleague, broadcasting the footage to six others watching in a separate room. The scandal prompted much debate about the attitude towards women within the country's armed forces.

One of the biggest Sydney stories of the month happened in court, when former water polo champion Keli Lane was sentenced to 18 years in jail for the murder of her baby daughter Tegan, whose body has never been found. South of the border, another longstanding legal case culminated with one of Australia's most notorious crime figures, Tony Mokbel, admitting major drug trafficking charges.

The slowest news month of the year ended with a bang with the year's biggest television event and - arguably - the biggest story of 2011: the royal wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton. From speculation over the dress to the guest list and the occasion itself, no event captivated the world like the fairytale-come-true story of Kate's ride from commoner to royal bride.

We were all still reeling from the overdose of royal wedding coverage when along came the only story that could feasibly knock it off the headlines - the death of the world's most wanted man, terror mastermind Osama bin Laden. From Barack Obama's historic address to the nation from the White House to the unfurling details about the top secret operation to track bin Laden in Pakistan, carried out by the killing force known as Seal Team Six, the events seemed straight out of a blo

Amid all the gloom, one woman was able to raise our spirits with a feat not seen for decades. Samantha Stosur became the first Australian woman in 31 years to win a grand slam with her triumph at the US Open. A less dubious honour went to union boss Michael Williamson, whose alleged rorting of expenses at the Health Services Union managed to push even under-fire MP and former unionist Craig Thomson out of the headlines. The NSW police, likewise, did not cover themselves in glory after the shooting in broad daylight of Rodney Elkass in Castle Hill.

The sporting year came to a climax north and south of the border to kick off October, with Geelong taking out the AFL grand final and Manly soaring above expectations to outclass the Warriors and win the NRL premiership, keeping the trophy this side of the Tasman. Once the sporting hoo-haa died down, the focus turned to another victory - the acquittal of American Amanda Knox for the murder of her British housemate Meredith Kirtcher after four years spent in an Italian jail.

But the month's news was dominated by Apple. First, the company basked in another triumph as its latest model iPhone 4s was unveiled to the world. The next day Apple, and the tech world, was plunged into mourning as the company's founder Steve Jobs lost his battle with pancreatic cancer. The tributes flowed from world leaders and IT tycoons alike for a man held up alongside the likes of Thomas Edison for the way his creations changed our way of life. But it was the commemorations from Apple's legions of fans that seemed even more poignant.

The same day, the life of a teenage boy from NSW was changed forever when he was arrested in Bali for buying cannabis while on holiday.

The next week, political history was made when the Gillard government passed the carbon tax bill through parliament. The moment provoked an outpouring of emotional congratulations in the Labor ranks, and even Kevin Rudd was prompted to pucker up to the PM to show his congratulations. There celebration, dubbed a "Judas kiss", promptly dominated the headlines, leaving the historic bill passing relegated to a secondary story.

Celebrations of a very different kind were observed in Libya when Muammar Gaddafi became the highest profile casualty of the Arab Spring uprising sweeping across the Middle East. As one country celebrated overcoming a dominant dictator, another was forced into self-reflection as the tragedy of Yue Yue was revealed. The toddler was ignored by 18 passers by after being run over by a truck outside her family's shop. The incident sparked much soul-searching in China, which continued three days later when she died from her injuries.

In New Zealand, an already rugby-mad nation was rapidly building into a fervour of epic proportions as the Rugby World Cup drew to a close. The choke that everyone expected never came as the All Blacks first bundled out the Wallabies and then achieved the dream of a nation a week later by winning the world cup and delivering the William Web Ellis trophy to a nation of fans.

As the Kiwis celebrated, Australia moved on to important matters of state as the Queen and dignitaries from across the world descended on Perth for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting. The summit capped off a national Australian visit by the Queen and Prince Phillip, and discussed crucial issues such as reforms to allow a woman to become heir to the British crown.

With all this global attention thrust onto Australia, what better time for Qantas to ground its entire fleet, throwing air travel across the country into chaos. The grounding on Saturday afternoon was the climax of the biggest industrial dispute since the waterfront strikes and left thousands of people stranded across the world. The airline and the three unions with which it had declared war pleaded their cases in an emergency Fair Work Australia hearing throughout the weekend while rival carrier Virgin basked in the PR jackpot that had been handed it on a plate. By Monday the planes were back in the air, but the disputes hanging over Qantas remain unresolved.

With our national carrier in the air again, November got off to a flying start. The first interest rate cut by the Reserve Bank in more than 2½ years lifted spirits before the Melbourne Cup turned from the race that stopped the nation into the race that stopped hearts thanks to an unbelievably close photo finish win for Dunaden.

More hearts stopped when an oil tanker crashed on the Harbour Bridge, causing a traffic nightmare of epic proportions for commuters trying to get home on a Friday afternoon. And one of the biggest executive shake-ups of the year came in November, when Rupert Murdoch personally announced the resignation of News Ltd boss John Hartigan.

Later in the month, the cricket world was rocked by the news that respected writer and Fairfax columnist Peter Roebuck had died after falling out of a window of a hotel in South Africa. His friend and fellow ABC radio commentator Jim Maxwell, the last person to see Roebuck alive, later said his friend had a "brain snap" after sexual assault allegations were levelled at him by a South African man.

Back in Australia, the country was gearing up for its second big state visit in two months with the long awaited visit by US President Barack Obama. The visit ended up being strong on ceremony but light on substance, with Mr Obama using it to announce a renewed US focus on the Pacific and throw in a few well-timed jabs at China in the process.

Air Force One had barely left our shores before the next big news story hit. This time it was a fire in the Quakers Hill Nursing Home that left dozens of frail, elderly residents dead or fighting for their lives. An initial death toll of three quickly grew past 10 as people succumbed to their wounds in hospital.

Kyle Sandilands was back in the headlines for all the wrong reasons at the end of November after a stinging attack on a News Ltd journalist for daring to report the facts - that his latest TV show was an unmitigated disaster.

The final sitting day of Parliament for the year was supposed to be a straightforward affair. But then came one of the most effective political stings in years as Harry Jenkins resigned as Speaker, only to be replaced by Liberal defector Peter Slipper. The move completely outflanked Liberal leader Tony Abbott and gifted the government a two-vote buffer in its precariously tight parliament. The move means come 2012, plenty of legislation that was written off this year may miraculously come back to life.

Stay tuned - if 2011 was anything to go by, 2012 is bound to be another bumper year of news.


http://www.parramattasun.com.au/news/national/national/general/death-and-disaste...

2012 will see pansi become more rabid and feral.

Keep it up pansi at least you are good for a laugh.

Greenslime didn't you ask Freediver  to delete you from OZ pol?

I was wondering where the Greens would sit if we were asked to join America in another invasion.

I am impressed with their policies regarding international tensions. No wonder I like the Green's. I hope we get lots more Green's in the Senate at the next election.

  21. support the convening of a UN-sponsored international peace conference on global nuclear non-proliferation and general nuclear disarmament.
  22. advocate an international ban on the manufacture and use of arms that indiscriminately kill and maim, including landmines, cluster bombs and depleted uranium.
  23. sign and ratify the Protocol Against the Illicit Manufacturing of and Trafficking in Firearms, Their Parts and Components and Ammunition, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organised Crime.
  24. make diplomatic efforts to curb the global arms trade.
  25. ensure that Australia does not sell weaponry or components overseas.
  26. end arms trade fairs in Australia and coordinate with neighbouring states on similar measures.
  27. support the establishment of a permanent UN peacekeeping budget that enables the UN to fully resource its peacekeeping programs.
  28. reinvigorate peace research in Australian universities and peace education in schools.
  29. promote gender equality in peace processes, agreements and transitional governance structures.
  30. ensure that trade embargos and other economic sanctions, are preferably conducted within a UN mandate, are used as part of a strategy of conflict resolution, and have minimal harm to civilians.
  31. ensure that decisions on defence procurement are based on Australia's defence needs.
  32. ensure that defence procurements do not restrict the operations of the ADF by increased reliance on any one country.
  33. end the ANZUS treaty unless Australia’s membership can be revised in a manner which is consistent with Australia’s international and human rights obligations.
  34. renegotiate a defence relationship with our allies that promotes Australia's independent role in our region.
  35. end Australia's participation in the US Missile Defence program and pursue a global ban on the militarisation of space.
  36. work towards a nuclear-free Asia-Pacific region.
  37. close all existing foreign bases in Australian territory and end foreign troop deployment, training and hosting on Australian territory.
  38. support the development of an Australian Coastguard to replace military personnel and equipment in coastal policing.
  39. end training and joint exercises by the ADF with the armed forces known to have committed human rights abuses.
  40. oppose military conscription.
  41. oppose the use of the ADF personnel in strikebreaking activities or in policing public protest.
  42. support the right of ADF personnel to conscientiously object to particular military actions, and support the rights of citizens to protest against such military actions.
  43. support positive reform of the military justice system and measures to reduce discrimination and harassment amongst ADF members.
  44. work for a Constitutional amendment to require federal parliamentary endorsement for the deployment of the ADF overseas.

<<Couldn't  last the year pansi.>>
...........................................

Ok. Who or what couldn't last the year?

Ex Dame Pansi wrote on Dec 18^th, 2011 at 10:28am:


Regardless of all the negativity dished out by the opposition - they're slowly and steadily increasing in their numbers which is a good thing.

Some of their policies aren't for everyone, but then what political party's are.

The Greens are doing well and will probably catch up to the other two major parties in less than a decade.

You're right. It's a worry that there isn't anyone to fill his shoes and I can see the party becoming factional when he does retire.

He has claimed that he plans to retire in his 80's - so we can keep our fingers crossed for the next couple of decades and hope that he stays healthy.

Although I think his optimism is a bit unrealistic.

____ wrote on Dec 31^st, 2011 at 1:56pm:



Nah it won't as you will probably still be here.