Hi there folks Down Under, how’s that Deputy Sheriff gig going?   You sure have got those Chinese upset, good luck we would like to help but are busy sending our beef wine & barley to a new customer, sure helps us in our trade war.   You know Trump believes in never give a sucker an even break, not that we think you are losers! Now why are you guys holding back from evicting the Chinese from their illegal island forts.    I hear your comedians reckon all you have to do is wait for climate change to do the job.   Get with it suckers and give them hell! Don’t worry about retaliation those Chinese are just paper tigers, go twist their tails, they won’t bite.
   Hey you know we have an election coming up, Trumpy is in great form sending in the National Guard and teaching those soft on crime Democrat governors a lesson in Power Politics;  burn baby burn!   We have to stop armed migrants from taking our streets, sending out 17 year olds armed to the teeth shows we mean business.   It’s the right of every (White) American to shoot who he Goddam pleases, it goes real well with our gun lobby, you folks should give it a try!  What’s wrong with you people wearing facemasks, just carry your guns and change that constitution of yours!
   Good to see you guys are trying to stop politicians using the postal service, but Pauline is one of the good guys, you got the wrong target.   That Dan Andrews got the right idea, curfew all the migrants, but not white folks, someone have a word with the guy, he’s taking it too seriously. Trump knows all about false news he can give Andrews a few tips on how to deal with a press Conference and the virus, his mate Boris Johnson is doing a top job, especially now he has Tony as guide.
   We love the way you guys make politics a comedy routine, those NSW Nationals want to sit on a cross bench and be ministers, how the hell do you do that?   Trump reckons he sure ain’t going anywhere, he’s asking that joker in Belarus to come over and give us some tips on how to handle women, mind you Trump reckons he’s an expert there.   Trump says Republican Presidents can do anything they want and doesn’t need Putin this time and he sure likes the idea of President for Life, if Xi can do it so can Trump, that’s our boy!
   Why do you guys allow illegal votes through your Post, close it down!   We can help you spread conspiracy theories but you had better go easy on our friends at Facebook.   Remember good guys don’t lose elections, it's radical socialists and migrant girls like Harris who are trying to steal this election.
_______________________________________________________________

Now the real news?

Not content with locking up asylum seekers indefinitely, some have been detained over 7 years. The Government decided it would be a good idea to remove their access to mobile phones. Just imagine if we did that to people in Melbourne under lock down!   Minister Dutton claimed they had been accessing child pornography sites, what all of them?  No evidence is made public, this seems like group punishment to me.

Helen Scheller   was one of the letter writers to the Age who wrote about their plight.  I quote her letter:-  “Refugees are rapidly becoming the forgotten people.  They have been condemned to a life without hope merely because they had the temerity to believe that a country such as ours would welcome them and give them the chance for a new life they dreamed of.
Now new proposed legislation would strip them of their only link to the outside world, their phones.  It appears that our Prime Minister can show compassion, and deliver practical help to every group in the country,  but, alas, refugees are not on the list”

You may not agree with Helen, I quote her letter as an example of direct action. Other U3A members are involved in Council elections, let me know what you have been doing.

Covert is giving our politicians a lesson in in constitutional powers, I think a number of politicians have been reading their constitution handbooks for maybe the first time.   Sure, Canberra has the money, but surprise the States have the powers.    Border Force is looking a bit lame.   Then to the Feds horror they find they are in charge of Aged Care facilities, suddenly Minister Hunt no longer wants to hammer Victoria on this issue, can we just talk about gas instead?

Jo Biden wants to talk about energy and climate change.   Joe has this strange idea that gas is a carbon fuel responsible for methane pollution and global warming, he wants American allies to dump it and get on clean energy.   If Biden wins Morrison might find there is a political price to be paid for gas.

Trump is set to leave the Paris Climate Agreement the day after the election, when countries can change their stance, that should play well for his audience and he remains President to Inauguration Day, plenty of time to stir trouble in the Courts and on the streets if he loses.  Showing my bias, I meant if the Democrats try and steal it.

California is now due for cooler weather and reduced fire hazards, that was Trump’s message to the State Governor.   Maybe our fire crews can come back home and bring a few spare water bomber aircraft with them, it seems the Californians will not need them.   Trump also cancelled the order for drones equipped to aid fire-fighting, because they are made in China, maybe the Chinese would offer us a cheap deal now we have withdrawn our journalists?

The Chinese have taken note how Western Countries had a lot to say about Hong Kong, but took no action, resulting in Xi positioning forces to scare the Taiwanese into submission, or invade them, a lose, lose for Taiwan and the West.   another fine mess!

Give Trump his due, he is withdrawing US Forces from Afghanistan as he promised, abandoning the civilian population to the war lords and Taliban once more.   I wonder if Australia had any say in what Trump decided, or are we just do what we are told?   At the end of the Gulf War when the US withdrew from Iraq I wondered what all the killing and bombs achieved.   A broken country with warring factions and a brutalized civilian population that was ripe for the Taliban.
20 years on from the aircraft smashing into the Twin Towers and the Pentagon, I fear the world is facing a dangerous future.   A time for diplomacy?   Or does no one believe in that anymore?  I think we have been poisoned by the politics of fear and loathing, it’s time to find our moral compass and let politicians know what WE think.

Terry Case

Two articles this month… with an invitation to other class members to contribute articles next month.

From Convenor Terry Case – a somewhat tongue in cheek article!

   “Tired of all the news about the virus? Well, by now it is all over!   Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told his British hosts in July the World Health Organization was responsible for all the Brits who had died as a result of the virus.   I hope the show trials of these war criminals commence in time for the Presidential election. Talking of which it is all rigged according to the Donald.  It is all those postal votes which mean they cannot have a fair election, the problem is, the Democrats like those postal votes.   Why join the long queues and risk that mythical virus?      Surely the Republicans face the same wait.   Well thanks to the manipulations and Gerrymandering they usually have access to far more voting booths in Republican counties than Democrats have.   If you are a Black Democrat voter the polling officials are far more likely to demand to see your registration papers, which in some counties are extremely hard to get, (I mean if you are Black now just stand back so those nice people can vote).   Thank goodness the South won the Civil War. Now don’t start dredging up false histories, just check Face Book they will tell you straight.
   Donald has told us it will be the most unfair and corrupt election and that Black gal that the Democrats have chosen is another Obama, she is not white and not eligible, besides she will tell Sleepy Joe what to do. Anyhow she is a communist.   Dust of the Donald’s 2011 – 2016 rants on Obama not being an American, they worked then and probably will again.
   Thank goodness Donald worked so hard and found a way to stop those sneaky Democrats using illegal postal votes. Yes, blocking the money the postal service uses to collect and send the votes sounds fair with me.   After all those nice Republicans know they will be looked after and those automatic vote sorters won’t be needed in Democrat areas.  The Post Office has already informed some State Governors it will not be possible for the votes to reach counting stations before the deadline.   In the last State election 20% of the votes could not be delivered by the Post in time. Hooray the Free World is safe again, it’s not like Hong Kong with all those horrid riots!
   I agree with Donald, the election will be rigged, I wonder if the Chinese will send observers?      Nice to see the Russians are backing Donald and the Chinese, Biden.   Anyhow if Biden claims to have won, Donald is saying he cannot accept the false result and he is not leaving the White House.
   I wonder how the next Civil War starts?
   If you want to stop my ranting it’s time to start contributing.    It might be a while before normal transmission resumes. They’re coming to take me away ha, ha!
  P.S. By the time you read this Clive Palmer will have bankrupted those pesky Western Australian Communists and their Premier, ah Clive a true Aussie billionaire!
   Please send your Looney Tunes oops, I mean contributions to the newsletter.

Terry Case


From class member Heather Wallace –

   “So much has happened since we last attended our Politics group.    Joe Biden is the Democrat candidate, and Donald Trump the Republican candidate.    With only two months until the election it will be a time of changing possibilities – will it be Biden or will it be Trump?    Biden has been a favourite with the polls so far, but do not count Trump out.     Trump has done a couple of deals in the past week which may be a telling point for his future – the UAE deal with Israel – one he has pushed through, now he is claiming to be the Law and Order President – even though his attitude to minorities has fuelled some of the problems that have occurred recently.    These may reflect in the polls and change the election result.
   Even Trump’s sister has got into the act with her tell all recordings and interviews in the past week, though what effect this may have on the election result, we will wait and see.
   Closer to home things have been heating up somewhat.    Clive Palmer is taking action against Western Australian under Section 92 of the Constitution.    He is threatening to bankrupt the Western Australian Government for the closing of borders.
   Whilst on the subject of closing of borders, it will be interesting to see if the State Premiers and Scott Morrison can come to some agreement to make things happen.    The economy in Australia is at its lowest ebb since the ‘recession we had to have’.    Jobs are scarce and many will have disappeared for good, with companies taking advantage of the Covid-19 situation to streamline their organisations to save money, small businesses disappearing etc.     Things are going to be difficult for a long time, but it is not going to get better by Federal and State governments sniping at one another.
   Then we have had the branch stacking debacles in Victoria on both sides of politics.    The changing of the guard with younger right wing Liberal Party members looking to roll out the old guard in attempt to get a new breed into politics is not over yet – just watch this space.
   If you wish to have an input in the political goings on in the world, why not put pen to paper and write an article for the U3A Newsletter.     It would be good to hear other members’ points of view.”

Heather Wallace
​