Arts ……………………. 36,37 Cinema ……………….. 35,36 Community ………………3 to

SOUTH DURRAS Serenity calls me here! Over res ul waters I watch as mullet jump and pelicans land. Vol 16 September 15th 2017 Vol 28 December 7th, 2017 Vol 48 April 27th 2018 Under spo ed gums I sit to reflect with Nature...how beau ful, how colourful! Three black cockatoos fly past, warning of rain to follow. Here is a place to swim, fish, snorkel, float or just look!

Durras how peaceful.....the name of the lake! Unknown to many with Nature untouched. So pris ne! Rain falls, well needed to nurture new life, Refreshing splash, salty taste, periwinkles underneath, Aborigines lived happily here, many years ago, shellfish middens tell us so! Sunshine one minute, clouds the next, perfect climate for a needed rest! By Mary Murray SHASA AGM Tuesday 14 September 10.30am - 12 noon by ZOOM. All are welcome.

Please contact Steve Colman, Vice President, SHASA to arrange a ZOOM link on 0414 491 375 or email steve@globallearning.com.au SHASA is a Eurobodalla community organisation committed to achieving more resilient communities and helping make the Eurobodalla a better place to live, work and play.

Gadfly 190 By Robert Macklin ‘What did you think of the Olympics?’ ‘Not bad…those girl swimmers were great…seems like last year, doesn’t it.’ Vol 16 September 15th 2017 Vol 28 December 7th, 2017 Vol 48 April 27th 2018 This colloquy wafted my way while standing in a supermarket checkout line after the

Canberra lockdown. I couldn’t help but agree – Covid dominates everything; the Olympics seems not just from another year but a different dimension. But to pass the time I tried to recall the highlights and ponder the effect that massive circus of athletic virtuosity had on the world and especially our little corner of it. It wasn’t easy. Memory is a notoriously fickle mistress. It grabs some silly images – like that swim coach going nuts or the exhausted runner staggering to the line – and erases others with deeper meanings. For example, the Chinese sprinter, Su Bingtian won his semi-final in 9.83 seconds and became the first Asian in 89 years to reach the final. That must give hope to runners from an entire continent, from Cambodia to Seoul to Ulan

Bator. We were also restricted by Kerry Stokes’s perception of what events would give his Seven Network the biggest viewer ratings. While it was exciting watching those gold winning swimming events – and Patty Mills running rings around the Slovenians – there does come a time when women’s waterpolo – without underwater shots - starts to lose its antic charm; to say nothing of the impossible rules of Keirin in the cycling velodrome. Apparently ping pong doesn’t rake in the viewers. Some of us love watching and playing the game since it’s probably the best method yet invented to keep body and mind in first class trim. But to get a decent coverage you had to sign in to a Seven App and then go searching the entire spectrum while Bruce McAvaney was rabbiting on about some

Kenyan’s time in the 2004 Athens 10,000. On the way, you’d inevitably stop at some ghastly European torturing a horse with either ‘dressage’ where the inbred chargers perform ridiculous prancing gaits; or the ‘show jumping’ of barriers to the accompaniment of toffy females snorting criticism of Princess Harlequin III (the horse) for being ‘not quite up to snuff today’. Surely the time has come for the RSPCA to put an end to it, particularly when it’s the rider, not the poor horse who gets the reward. Speaking of which, what’s the point in having golf, tennis, or a cut down version of the Tour de France as

Olympic events? Sure, the IOC has abandoned the old amateur rule, but these ‘sports’ are so professional that the

Olympics is just another stopover on their schedule. Which reminds me, whatever became of drug testing? Here it is, weeks after the Games and I haven’t heard of a single positive test. Did the entire athletic world suddenly see the light? There are, of course, some bigger considerations. In the Covid era, it was a nice distraction for the millions in quarantine or self-imposed solitude. And it should have opened our hearts to the women and men of the world who have worked so hard to bring themselves to the peak of athletic performance.

But every country has its Kerry Stokes, celebrating the national victors and ignoring the ‘other’. They too will be focusing on whether their medal tally beats the national adversary. Yes, we came sixth, once again ‘punching above our weight’. That, I fear, is the one element that will persist with our fickle mistress. As the old song says, “Memories are made of this.” robert@robertmacklin.com

community Ge ng vaccinated is our only way out says Dr Neil Starmer

“COVID-19 Delta is coming to the Eurobodalla. Make no Vol 16 September 15th 2017 Vol 28 December 7th, 2017 Vol 48 April 27th 2018 mistake it is only a ma er of me. This variant is more infec ous and as a community we are ring of restric ons. We are only one lockdown-skipping, COVID-infected person away from a local outbreak.” warns Moruya prac ce partner GP, Dr Neil Starmer. “The only way out of this mess is to vaccinate and I am sure you can see this unfolding on the news and in the government messaging. The risk of ge ng a COVID-19 infec on is increasing and therefore the risk benefit equa on is pped in favour of the individual ge ng vaccinated.” Dr Starmer stresses “The risk to you from the vaccine is less than the risk to you from COVID-19. “ “We have plenty of the excellent Astra Zeneca vaccine in stock and we are well into our second round of Astra Zeneca vaccines to complete that course. We have appointments available online for anyone who wants an Astra Zeneca vaccine. Apart from a ny minority of people with very special clo ng problems, this vaccine is suitable for everyone over the age of 18 however, for those under 60 we will s ll want to take you through the consent process.” If you’re under 60, to consult your doctor about having the Astra Zeneca vaccine, please book either a Telehealth (by phone) or face to face appointment. Thousands turn to free financial counselling during latest lockdowns – Financial Counselling Australia Thousands of individuals and small business owners have sought help from the Na onal Debt Helpline (NDH) and Small Business Debt Helpline (SBDH) as they struggle with financial issues during the current lockdowns.

The two na onal not-for-profit organisa ons run free financial counselling helplines and chat services, to help individuals and small businesses cope with financial hardship. www.financialcounsellingaustralia.org.au

Though not Eurobodalla related the events in Afghanistan affect us all.

Vol 16 September 15th 2017 Vol 28 December 7th, 2017 Vol 48 April 27th 2018 Your readers might find this ar cle from material by the Geopoli cal Monitor of interest.

Simon Maxwell

Taliban Background & How The Us Created Al-Qaeda With The Help Of Opium And Heroin. We’ll start by poin ng out that today, Afghanistan supplies more than 90 per cent of the world’s illicit opium, from which heroin is made. Opium sets the backdrop for US and Bri sh interven on back in the 1970’s and 80’s.

Before the latest war in Afghanistan, which started in 2001, the US were engaged in opposing pro-Russian regime in Kabul. It was actually in 1998, when Zbigniew Brzezinski, Jimmy Carter’s Na onal Security Adviser, said in an interview with a French publica on, Le Nouvel Observateur, that the US interven on in the Afghan-Soviet war did not begin in the 1980s, but that, “it was July 3, 1979 that President Carter signed the first direc ve for secret aid to the opponents of the pro-Soviet regime in Kabul,” which precipitated the Soviet invasion into Afghanistan. From the Soviet invasion, a bloody ten-year war followed. Amazingly, “Before 1979 Pakistan and Afghanistan exported very li le heroin to the West,” but by 1981, “trucks from the Pakistan army’s Na onal Logis cs Cell arriving with CIA arms from Karachi o en returned loaded with heroin – protected by ISI [Pakistan’s internal security service] papers freeing them from police search.”

This change occurred in 1981 when then CIA Director William Casey, Prince Turki bin Faisal of Saudi intelligence and the ISI worked together to create a foreign legion of jihadi Muslims or so-called Arab Afghans. More than 100,000 Islamic militants were trained in Pakistan between 1986 and 1992 in camps overseen by the CIA and [Bri sh] MI6. The SAS [Bri sh special forces] trained future Al-Qaida and Taliban fighters in bomb-making and other black arts” while their leaders were trained at a CIA camp in Virginia. Further, “CIA aid was funneled through [Pakistani President] General Zia and the ISI in Pakistan.” In the mid-1990s, an obscure group of “Pashtun country folk” had become a powerful military and poli cal force in Afghanistan, known as the Taliban. During that same me the Taliban acquired contacts with the ISI, o en referred to as Pakistan’s “shadow government.” In 1995, the ISI was ac vely aiding the Taliban in Afghanistan’s civil war against the warlords that controlled the country. In addi on, just as in the Afghan war against the Soviet Union in the previous decade, the ISI looked to Saudi intelligence to provide the funding for the Taliban, and the es between the ISI and Saudi intelligence grew much closer. The Taliban’s rise to power in Afghanistan was also aided by the CIA, which worked with the Pakistani ISI. A few years a er the Taliban came to power they began a campaign to eradicate Afghanistan’s opium crops, and “The success of Afghanistan’s 2000 drug eradica on program under the Taliban government was

recognized by the United Na ons” as a monumental feat, in that “no other country was able to implement a comparable program.” In October of 2001, the UN acknowledged that the Taliban reduced opium produc on in Afghanistan from 3300 tons in 2000 to 185 tons in 2001. In June of 2001, a few months before 9/11, it was reported that a “recent gi of $43 million to the Taliban rulers of Afghanistan” was announced “by Secretary of State Colin Powell, in addi on to other recent aid, [which] made the United States the main sponsor of the Taliban.” Drug trafficking is the largest global commodity in profits a er the oil and arms trade, consequently, “immediately following the October 2001 invasion opium markets were restored. Opium prices spiraled. By early 2002, the domes c price of opium in Afghanistan (in dollars/kg) was almost 10 mes higher than in 2000.”

The Anglo-American invasion of Afghanistan successfully restored the drug trade. It seems incredible now to think that the CIA wanted to spread heroin addic on through the Russian army during its 10 year dirty Afghan war which ended in February 1989. The civil war between the Taliban and its Afghan opponents then took over.

The Guardian reported that, “In 2007 Afghanistan had more land growing drugs than Colombia, Bolivia and Peru combined.”

There is so much more to this story which has developed over the last 50 years. The roles of the Bri sh and

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the US through its CIA have been staggering. The Taliban are a direct result of the conniving of the Bri sh, CIA, Saudi Arabia and the Pakistani ISI. The Taliban have been a pendulum in Afghanistan – swinging from one side of the country’s poli cs to the other. One thing we can be sure of is that opium and its deriva ve heroin have funded much of the Taliban and Al-Qaeda history. Unfortunately, this appears des ned to con nue – and the world will con nue to suffer the consequences! The West embarked on money laundering of an immense scale with drug money winding up in numerous offshore banks. As for the Taliban today, which direc on will they take? Can their severe form of Sharia Law be so ened? Can they ever be trusted as they would like? Will Afghanistan finally find peace for whatever is le of its 37.3million popula on? Only me will tell….. .

Reading—Le er to the Editor 25000 KL per day of treated effluent: is this the cause of poor Surf

Beach beach readings

The Beagle Editor, Vol 16 September 15th 2017 I am wri ng to add comment to the le er from Billabong Bob, "Will Surf Beach be one of the three worst in Vol 28 December 7th, 2017 Vol 48 April 27th 2018 the state for 2020-2021" (3 days ago). I think Bob and the other people making comments on Surf Beach pollu on are missing the main source of the problem. It’s true that Wimbie Creek carries some pollu on and it is interes ng to see on the Google maps that one of the arms of this creek leads down from the sewage treatment plant. But the major source of pollu on is in a buried pipeline running from the treatment plant down to Wimbie Beach. The buried pipeline is what really ma ers. It’s the means of disposing of all the sewage from the treatment plant above George Bass Drive. This pipe turns right when it gets to the southern corner of Wimbie Beach and runs under the track leading towards Smugglers Cove. When it reaches the headland it tunnels through the saddle of the headland and comes out at Smugglers Cove. At Smugglers Cove sewage effluent is pumped through a discharge pipe into the ocean. Readers interested in a brief descrip on of the Surf Beach ou all can find it here. h ps://www.ou alls.info/detail/loca ons/11 This website also has a map of all the sewage ocean ou alls around Australia. There is another one at Tomakin which might be the source of a lot of the pollu on in that area. Swimmers planning to enter the water at Surf Beach, Circuit Beach or Lilli Pilli should take account of the de and wind direc on. The sewage effluent floats on the surface of the ocean being mostly fresh water and therefore lighter than sea water. On the surface it blows where the wind and de take it. Surf Beach is most likely to be polluted in the morning around high de and with a sea breeze blowing. I say in the morning because as far as I was able to tell when I looked into this ou all some years ago, the sewage is only released at night. Unless, of course, there has been heavy rain and the treatment plant has become overloaded. Swimmers should keep track of where sewage is disposed of in their neighbourhood. Sewage from Tuross Head, for instance, is piped under Coila Lake to a sewage plant on the southern side of Bingie. There it is given the usual rapid treatment and pumped into se lement/evapora on ponds. Mostly this seems to work alright but there seems to be a wet weather overflow going into the northern side of Coila Lake where there is some mes considerable pollu on evident. Ricky Gee The Beagle Editor, Our Eurobodalla Shire Council (ESC) has decided to close the waste management facili es to the general public due to the pandemic? A quick check with our neighbouring Councils shows that their ps are s ll opera ng. ESC claims it is to protect the public and their staff, despite the following advice from the EPA: 'Keeping waste and recycling facili es open to the public- It is important that the waste and recycling industry and councils con nue to provide cri cal waste services to the public. This includes keeping waste and recycling centres open so that people can easily dispose of their waste.' John Moore

Hi Everyone, due to the current lockdown Moruya Books will be closed un l it’s safe to reopen. We hope you’re all comfy in your book forts reading up a storm and we’ll see you again soon. Looking forward to sharing all the new reading recommenda ons! Stay safe Janice, Julie, Alison, Sara, Julia, Susan and Ruby

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Always Add Lemon Recipes You Want to Cook | Food You Want to Eat Danielle Alvarez

'Danielle loves to cook and it shows in every page of this inspira onal, beau ful book. There are a lot of lessons to be learned from her recipes and her wise, though ul approach.' – David Tanis

'I am delighted by this cookbook.' – Alice Waters

'Danielle is one of my very favourite cooks.' – Skye Gyngell 'Hospitality, kindness and consistency are the a ributes that embody the work of Danielle Alvarez.' – Josh Niland

SUCCESSFUL PASS. – Congratula ons to Master Fred Walsh, youngest son of Mr. and Mrs. M. Walsh, Turlinjah, who has received no fica on of having passes the Bankers’ Ins tute examina on. WHALE WASHED ASHORE. – On the 12

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th inst. a son of Mr. H. B. O’Neill, of Tomakin, discovered a fine specimen of a black whale, which had been washed up on the beach on the north eastern side of Burrawarra Point, the leviathan of the sea being 40 in length. AFTER MANY YEARS. – About 28 years ago Mrs. J. E. Lavis, of “Glenella,” Bateman’s Bay, broke the point of a needle off in her right hand from which she never experienced any trouble un l a few days ago, when she felt an irrita ng sensa on near her waist. On examina on it turned out to be the point of the needle which, when extracted measured half an inch and none the worse for its 28 years of “seclusion.” FIRES. -On Wednesday a ernoon a sensa on was caused here by the outbreak of two fires. About 3 o’clock as Messrs. A. M. Wilson and Moran were passing the Royal at the corner of Page and Queen Sts. they no ced smoke issuing from the wall of an up-stair room on the eastern side of the building. On giving the alarm, it was discovered that a fire had started in front of the fire-place of the room occupied by the proprietor, Mr. R. N. Carden, who is confined to his bed with an a ack of quinsey (sic). An ember evidently had fallen out, and burning a hole through the flooring boards, set alight to the joist and pine ceiling of the parlor underneath. Many willing hands were quickly on the scene and tearing away a number of the lining boards ex nguished the flames with water carried in buckets and jugs from the bathroom. Mr. and Mrs. Carden are extremely lucky in having their premises saved in the nick of me; another five minutes and the whole structure would have been in flames, following that every building in Queen St. would have been reduced to ashes. Nothing less than a miracle would have saved them, as a strong westerly wind was blowing at the me. Later in the a ernoon there was an outbreak of fire in a shed at the rear of Mrs. George Constable’s residence at Gundary. Fortunately, this was also ex nguished before any serious damage resulted. BODALLA. – On Saturday last a very enjoyable football match was played at Bodalla between teams represen ng Mogo and a second grade team from Bodalla. The home team won by 3 to nil. The Mogo players were a erwards entertained at tea by the Bodalla team. The Mogoites made the trip per Charlie Marsden’s lorry. On Saturday evening a very successful dance was held in aid of the Moruya Hospital. Mr. Brice had the floor in perfect order, and, with Mr. Desclen at the piano, everybody had a real good me.

Cardens Hotel.

Vulcan Street Moruya

Extracted from the Moruya Examiner by the Moruya and District Historical Society Inc. h ps:// www.mdhs.org.au

Bazza hammered the last nail into the paling to fix the front fence and stood back to admire his work. Neither the work or the mid morning sun were enough to raise a sweat but he could not help thinking the whole job was bloody pointless. With all the rules, regula ons and police presence during the lockdown, he hardly needed a fence to keep people out. He smiled at the thought and rubbed his chin. It was more a case of keeping him in and the Robert Frost poem, Mending Wall swirled around in his head. Anyhow, it was an apparent need to keep him busy and it was job number three completed on the home maintenance list. His wife, Fran, had me culously wri en up the list which doubled as a lock, and put it on the fridge door under the heading LOCKDOWN JOBS. Bazza nodded at a masked neighbour pacing away, and no doubt on his way to robbing the local coffee shop. He squinted at the lukewarm sun, thought about job number four and half snarled at the front lawn. He checked his watch and decided to go inside. Fran already had the television tuned to the ABC and the daily pandemic update. The grim sta s cs and ght mouth of the hapless Premier betrayed any posi ve spin. As always, it was Dr Kerry Chant, NSW Chief Medical Officer, who grabbed his a en on. He would have liked to have sat next to her in Science at High School to make more sense of the subject. On top of all her smarts, she was probably too modest to tell the Health Minister “I told you this would happen if we did not lockdown earlier.” He shook his head and paced over to look out the window for the tenth me this morning. The ABC flicked to the grim footage of the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan and Bazza sighed audibly but it was the cross to Prime Minister, Sco Morrison, that had him breathing deeply. His face ghtened as the Prime Minister announced Australia would not be guaranteeing safe passage for any of the locals who had assisted Australian Defence personnel over the past couple of decades. He thought about all those defence personnel who must of gained the trust of the locals with good faith assurances such as ‘We’ll look a er you. We look a er our mates.’ The betrayal must cut so deeply and so personally. But it got worse. Amidst all the heartbreak and footage of desperate people trying to a ach themselves to the outside of planes taking off, OUR Prime Minister muscled up to the television camera to deliver a message. It was not a message of hope. It was not a message of humanity. It was a warning to the so called ‘people smugglers’. Bazza shi ed in his chair. He then opened his anthology of Bruce Dawe Poems and read Homecoming and then Gi of the Gods; poems from the Vietnam War era. He sighed at the lessons not learned. He thought about Prime Ministers Whitlam and Fraser. Sure, Gough ended Australia’s involvement in the war, but Malcolm at least took some responsibility for the mess with the open acceptance of refugees. A humanitarian vein was tapped in the Australian psyche. A tear rolled down Bazza’s cheek.

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Have a beer with Baz at john.longhurst59@gmail.com