The gathering of the clan

The title of this blog is “A world at war”.  It is a title that encompasses a lot of scenarios because people are at loggerheads for all sorts of reasons. The worst kind of loggerheads has to be when conflict cannot be resolved without going to war.

It is a mistake to believe that war only happens on a national or international level. We continue to face a lot of risks from an unknown enemy, an enemy that is identifiable by belief in the Ummah.

This post is about conflict on the micro-level and it is a personal post because I think it is a subject that touches a lot of families, whether it is at Christmas or other times.

About 4 weeks ago my father-in-law was placed into respite care. He has, according to his logic been a good boy and he wants to go home. The problem is that in the 4 weeks that he has been at the hostel, he has continued his rapid deterioration and he is now mobile in a wheelchair.  The woman who is his carer, his third wife, is older than him and she cannot continue to look after him.  (so far, so good).

Just over a week ago, my husband’s Aunty Pam, that is Brian’s younger sister, passed away very suddenly. Her death certificate reads that she had an aneurysm. My husband took my father-in-law to the funeral. Some of his brothers and sisters made it to the funeral. However, there was one person there, a most unwelcome person, by the name of Diane who was also present. This woman is not to be mixed up with my husband’s cousin Diana.

Diane is the daughter of Joan, the third wife and carer. She approached my husband’s sister Debbie and started on about how taking care of Brian is the responsibility of our family and not of Joan’s family. It is none of her business.  The attack on my sister-in-law had a number of those within the clan feeling very angry, to the point we would like to take her outside behind the pub where we gathered and teach her a lesson. Alas, my husband would not allow me to get involved in such an activity, and it did not happen anyway.

I was not very pleased, and neither were other members of the clan, to discover that Joan had invited Diane and her latest husband to the gathering of the clan.

This year the challenge was Brian’s health. The nominated residence has a driveway that is too steep, so the “host” for the gathering chose a hotel in Cessnock near where Brian is staying. Karen and her husband Andy picked up Brian. It gave Karen the opportunity to have a look at the accommodation and she agreed with us that the staff were good people. We were there with one son, his partner and our grand-daughter, who became “the parcel”.

Overall, the gathering was a good one and we had a good time talking to each other. However, one person was given the cold shoulder. We were determined not to go out of our way to be friendly towards this person.

I need to explain what is on my mind out Diane’s interference in our family affairs. This person is a daughter of Brian’s third wife. In pure and simple terms she is a bitch. The way she treated Debbie at that funeral was disgusting. On top of that I suspect that she is the driving force regarding a number of decisions that Joan has been making. These are decisions that are in fact quite offensive because Brian is not dead, he is in a care facility. Brian will have to go to another facility because he requires a lot of care at the present time. Some of that is his fault because he has been so stubborn. He was using a walking frame but he refused to move from his alloted room and he has lost strength in his legs. At the gathering Joan was wanting people to come and start moving Brian’s things out of the house. I personally find that request offensive. Yet I have to look behind Joan to try and find the person who is driving such ideas. At the moment I see only one of the daughters and that is Diane.

The other idea that Joan has is that after Brian is fixed up in an aged care facility, she wants to sell the house, and have Diane and her husband purchase a property with a granny flat so that she can move there. The complication with this scenario happens to be that the current husband is in the RAAF. What happens when he gets another posting? Have any of them thought it through that far? I doubt it.

Here is what I am thinking, and that is Diane is wanting to get the benefit of getting her mother to finance the purchase of a property with the pretence that she will look after her in old age. There is an obvious benefit to Diane in this scenario.

This could end up as a very nasty business. We have yet to resolve what will happen to Brian. The next step is tomorrow and I will not be involved. I will not even go with my husband tomorrow. I have stated to him that I am concerned that Diane will attempt to interfere and be there. He says that he will take care of her and if necessary he will send Joan from the room during the assessment that is to take place.

All of this is very stressful for the whole family. Karen is a nurse but she lives interstate and therefore she cannot exert influence. It has been left up to Debbie most of the time to do running around. It has also fallen on my husband’s shoulders as the oldest son and member of the family to help make the necessary decisions. Brian is of sound mind. He is as sharp as a tack. It is for this reason that Diane’s interference and influence upon her mother is what I consider to be dangerous and unwelcome. It almost seems like Joan is dumping Brian. She is totally confused about what she should be doing at this point in time. She is attempting to make decisions based upon what Diane has been feeding to her.

Joan is the mother of 9 children. One of the daughters passed away a few years ago. Most of them keep to themselves. The active ones, most likely to cause mischief are Diane, Angela and Bernard. They seem to take it in turns to hang around. They use the excuse that they are there to support their mother, whatever that means. I simply think that they are interfering way too much into the lives of Brian and Joan. To this I add that it always infuriated me that even Brian tried to foist this family upon us, always talking them up….. yet they appear to be dead heads.

However, this year the gathering of the clan was an overwhelming success. The young children who were present received some presents. One of them, Mikayla was really excited to receive her gifts, and it is a pleasure to see this happen. Some very generously gave a present for Alex and Nathan who were not present at the gathering as well as a gift for little Claire.

Now about the “pass the parcel” comment. Claire loves being the centre of attention. It started when she was first born because of her thick hair. She is developing so well, with her delightful smiles. Yesterday, there was one girl who is obviously very clucky. After Claire had a short nap it was time to be picked up again. The young lady could not wait to hold her. I took her to Brian and asked if he wanted to have a hold. He did – great!!  We had this thing going where we referred to Claire in terms of “pass the parce”. The parcel got as far as Astrid :).  Everyone loved little Claire. On the way back to our house she was busily vocalising, which is a very good thing. This is one child who likes to be passed around!!

A funny thing happened on the way to….

There is a story on the front page of the Sydney Morning Herald about a situation that occurred at Wyong Hospital yesterday.

In the same complex as the hospital there are medical practices, including 3 vampire offices… otherwise known as a collection depot for various laboratories… in this case it is Laverty, Douglass Hanly Moir and Healthscope. The medical practices include Waratah Medical Services plus there are a number of specialists as well as a Dentist, physiotherapist etc. I attend the Waratah Medical Services in that complex.

Yesterday I had yet another appointment, this time it was with the exercise physiologist. To cut a long story short, she is giving me guidance on exercises and stretches that suit my particular situation. The appointment was for 11.00 a.m. and I drove to my appointment as usual, but was stopped from entering the complex by the police who had blocked off the road. Instead, I had to drive home again and contact the clinic where I was due to have an appointment.

When I made contact I was told that they were in lockdown and that a mental patient had escaped and that he was dangerous.

Now I did get a deferred appointment and when I turned up, the story had changed. It turned out that a doctor from Wyong hospital had turned up in a uniform complete with a plastic rifle, which was a costume for a party or something. It seems that a member of the hospital management panicked and sent the hospital into lockdown.

So, I had my appointment and dropped a bit of a bombshell because within a week, between appointments with the exercise physiologist, I discovered that the problem with my right hip is in fact bursitis. I will be having a guided injection of cortisone on 31 December. The injection could hurt…. a lot… but later I hope that there will be relief. This information has been a long time coming and yes I really do feel relief that at last someone tested for it, and diagnosed it based upon clinical evidence.

I should mention here that after sacking my last rheumatologist, that is I cancelled the June 2014 appointment, I feel a lot of contentment. The new person has diagnosed me based upon a clinical assessment that I have Rheumatoid Arthritis. I am in the “early” phase aka there is no damage to any joints because of synovitis. My sereology puts me in the category of Mixed Connective Tissue Disease but clinically I have rheumatoid arthritis. What is not explained is the high CRP reading that I had when I did the monthly blood test in November.

If I had stayed with the other doctor what turned up on the blood test would not have been recorded. This other doctor, the one I call a real prick, said that getting the blood test done every 3 months was good enough. It clearly is not good enough to have it at 3 monthly intervals. He ignored all of my symptoms and claimed I had nothing more than fibrositis or fibromyalgia. The letter he sent to my G.P. was absolutely pathetic, and it had some very incorrect information. I thought that he badgered me into giving some responses that were in fact not correct. On top of that he simply dismissed me by saying that he would review me in 12 months when I was not very well at all, and especially in summer I do not do very well healthwise – I tend to retain fluid and my feet swell for starters. In my view this is clearly not fibromyalgia.

So, in a strange way, I got caught up with that incident at the Wyong hospital 🙂

Who is Michael Smith?

Thank you my friend BlackSwan for an excellent article. Who is Michael Smith? We will soon find out 🙂

Pointman's

This is a guest article by one of our regular commenters, Blackswan. Among other things, it demonstrates the new reality that if the mainstream media allows itself to be muzzled by politicians, or chooses to only represent views it finds itself in agreement with, then those views can nowadays find an alternative platform in the wide open plains of the internet and the blogosphere. This is a great success story showing yet again that one determined person can make a difference. Given a moribund mainstream media which is increasingly detached from the ordinary person and which is hesitant to do investigative reporting of powerful interests, I think it’s the shape of things to come.

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From time to time there arises in the affairs of men (and nations) extraordinary circumstances beyond the experience of most mere mortals. In 2007, Australia elected a Labor government following eleven years of conservative Liberal rule and Kevin…

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An important decision in Victoria

The Victorian Fraud Squad has been investigating matters relating to the AWU scandal, or rather events that occurred more than 17 years ago. This investigation was at the behest of Michael Smith, a former police officer who made a complaint about the signing of a power of attorney document. The complaint relates to whether or not the document was witnessed when it was signed. The lawyer responsible for drawing up the document and certifying it was none other than Julia Eileen Gillard.  The issue comes down to whether or not it was signed in Melbourne or Perth, and before or after the event. (I am giving a synopsis here).

The wider issue is a much bigger fraud issue relating to money being ripped off from the Australian Workers’ Union by the lover of Julia Eileen Gillard. This is at the heart of the whole scandal.

In May this year, the Victorian Fraud Squad requested that a warrant be issued for a search and seizure of documents from the law firm Slater and Gordon. More than 300 documents were taken from the law firm. The next part of the procedure related to legal privilege. Slater and Gordon claimed legal privilege over some of the documents and those were returned to them. Since then it has been Bruce Wilson who was fighting the issue of legal privilege based upon lawyer-client relationship.

The Victorian Crimes Act is quite clear in this matter, that where there is a commission of a crime legal privilege does not exist… or at least along those lines.

The lawyers for Wilson ended up by trying to blame the other player in the saga, Ralph Edwin Blewitt, claiming that he was not a credible witness. However, the Chief Magistrate thinks otherwise…..

The decision of the Chief Magistrate means that Wilson cannot claim he has a right to legal privilege over the seized documents. A sideline is that Lauristen indicated that Ralph Blewitt was a credible witness in that he knew when giving evidence under oath to police that there were penalties if he was not telling the truth.

What does this mean? First of all, it means that the Chief Magistrate agrees that there has been a crime of fraud. When charges are laid then we will know more about the actual crimes and possibly more about who is to be charged by police.

The investigation is much wider than the matter of the signing of the power of attorney. It also touches upon the knowledge of the lawyer when she helped to set up the AWU-WRA. It also goes to the heart of the woman’s credibility. She has none.

At this point in time this is just a summary of the events as they are unfolding. I have no doubt in my mind that Julia Eileen Gillard was aware of the real purpose of the bogus association, and that she gained benefit from the funds that were ripped off.

Another aspect of this case feeds into the current behaviours of Thiess. The company has also caused scandal in the UAE. The involvement of Thiess is also pivotal to the whole of the affair as it has unfolded.

Sorry for light posting

Life has a way of taking sudden twists and turns. Over the past month this sums up what has been taking place in my life. The biggest twist has been the deterioration in my father-in-law’s health which has necessitated a number of trips to go and see him. His location has been about an hour away by car, so in reality it is not very far.

We had a big day where we went to see a lawyer and certain documents were sign relating to power of attorney. I am not involved in any of that but my husband, as the oldest son has signed the document that has not as yet been activated. On the same day we had a lengthy time with our financial planner.

Our youngest son came to visit with our grandson, Nathan. He dropped a bombshell regarding his relationship with the mother of his son. Nathan is a gorgeous and intelligent child and I do hope that this does not affect him as he begins to grow up. I am saddened by this turn of events. I am angry at the female who has done this to my son.

We then arranged for my middle son to come for a quick visit so that he could take his daughter to go see her great-grandfather.  The dramatics began after this took place. Claire is as gorgeous as ever. She is smiling and is a very happy baby. She is attempting to make the effort to crawl, and by this I mean she is doing press-ups :). I placed her on the floor and watched as she moved around in a circle. One day she is going to manage to lift that tummy and she will be off like a rocket.

My father-in-law has been placed into respite care. It is a nice hostel where he is staying. Ok I admit that I had to try very hard to control my desire to laugh when I saw all of the walkers lined up as the residents were having their lunch. I am sorry, but there were images before my eyes, in particular a scene from the Producers, and I really had to control myself when I saw it for real!

Last Sunday we went for an afternoon visit with Brian. In this way we spent time with him, to help him to settle into the environment. We do in fact believe that he has reached the point where his present wife can no longer care for him. He needs stronger and younger hands to attend to all of his needs as he approaches the end of his life.

This is not all that has been occurring or about to occur. For the remainder of the month I have a series of doctor appointments for one thing and another. I have just started to come out of a very nasty arthritis flare. It hit me in the jaw and the ear, and yes it really did hurt, a lot. At the same time it affected my hearing and I am having a difficult time even hearing my husband when he is sitting in the room next to my own. I have an appointment to see an audiologist to get that sorted out.

What I did this week however, was to finally sack the rheumatologist who was such a prick towards me, and I did not get nasty towards the receptionist. When I cancelled the appointment that I had for next year and I was asked if I wanted a new time, I said, No, I am not renewing the referral and I am not coming back. I gave no further explanation :). What I wanted to say was along the lines of how the man is such a prick and that the way that he treated me was disgusting, and that what he did to my medication levels caused me to go backwards, but I did not say what was on my mind. New week I go back to my new doctor.

There are many things happening right now in Australia, and thanks to Snowden Australia has had its own Clayton’s spy scandal involving Indonesia. The “spying” happened in 2009 which meant it happened under the KRUDD and Gillard. It had nothing to do with Tony Abbott, yet Abbott has been slimed with the scandal. There is some court action that is happening across Australia.

Three people are facing action in court: Peter Slipper they yucky person. Craig Thomson the former Member for Dobell, and Bruce Wilson the ex-lover of Julia Gillard. All of these cases are important in their own way. The Wilson case is about documents and legal privilege, where the police are saying that the documents should not have legal privilege because they relate to the commission of a fraud. As it stands, it was Ralph Blewitt whose name appeared and he has already waived legal privilege over the documents. The Thomson case is about to get interesting because the smart ass lawyer has pulled a jurisdictional argument. So it is off to the Victorian Supreme Court on appeal by the DPP. I am hoping that the DPP will be successful and that the Magistrate’s decision will be overturned. (Now where have I heard the need to do that before?). The other case is hopefully going ahead because the man really did intend to commit a crime. He tried using an argument of Parliamentary Privilege to have the fraud charges thrown out. I hope he has not succeeded.

So today, it is off to the doctor to see him about my ears as well as the flare I have just experienced. Then next week I will have several appointments of one thing and another including. Sunday will be the busiest because we have a Family Group gathering in the morning and then we are visiting my father-in-law during the afternoon. Then on Monday I will visit the rheumy followed by a meeting for Family Group leaders….