Omnivors in the Bar

Strange bedfellows attended the Tavern today: some usually found outside the hedge. And even more strangely I had actually invited a few in ! And it was all to do with food, so my chef was there too amongst the customers, white hat poking up in the throng. He was dishing up steaks.

A couple of RSPCA folk had come by with some 'complaint' (not about our restaurant, I hasten to add, nor about how my steed is quartered) and I sent one out to find a PETA person or two from amongst the usual howling mobs that we usually keep out, with the intent of giving them a drink or two. 

Both small groups, usually at each other's throats, were united for once in the 'complaint'. 

Oz is beset by strange and unwholesome customs introduced by folk who, frankly, have no place being here in Oz at all. I speak of Muslims. They have got our politicians by the short and curlies, imposing 'Halal' on every damned thing in sight and charging us for the anti-privilege. Even Chocolate !!  ( I will not permit as much as a Cadbury Dairly Milk bar in the bar). Mulsims kill, nastily, and not just other people. 

They are cruel to animals. Officially.

The PETA people, moronic mostly, joined the RSPCA, nice folk mostly, in objecting to Halal methods.

Now, it has to be said, very slightly unpaletable as it may be to some, but we human beings are meat-eaters. 

And animals have to be eaten when dead. 

We learned early on that animals kick up a fuss when eaten alive. They scatter the plates and table settings all over the place. So we have to kill them first. And cook them. 

But most of us actually like animals. I do. I like pretty well all animals, and I am especially fond - even fascinated - by some. 

But some we eat. I like a nice beef steak. I like bacon. I will even settle for chicken. I prefer dogs to run along side me though. We don't eat dogs. Civilised 'we' that is. Or cats. I stop well short of frogs and snails too. There are very strange folk in the world.

But if we have to kill an animal, we need to do it with some respect for Life. Especially the animal's life that is given up for our dinner. 

Steven Johnson was holding forth about it.

'They are in pain': 

Australian animal rights groups demand an end to Muslim halal slaughter where livestock have their throats slit while they are conscious after Belgium brings in ban

RSPCA and PETA have demanded an end to halal and kosher slaughter practices

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6567357/RSPCA-PETA-demand-end-halal-kosher-slaughter-practices-animals-conscious.html 

Livestock are conscious when throats are slit under Muslim and Jewish custom

The Flanders region in northern Belgium has outlawed traditional abattoir killing

Australia has agreed that meat export to Indonesia will be killed the halal way  

Australia's peak animal rights groups have demanded an end to halal and kosher slaughter practices where livestock have their throats slit while they are conscious.

The RSPCA and PETA want animals to be stunned first before they are killed, after the Flanders region in northern Belgium outlawed traditional Muslim and Jewish abattoir customs.

Complicating the issue is how Australia in March 2017 backed new Indonesia laws which will require, from October 2019, all meat exported to the Muslim-majority nation to be slaughtered the halal way.

Australia's peak animal rights groups have demanded an end to halal and kosher slaughter practices where livestock have their throats slit while they are conscious

Despite Indonesia sourcing 80 per cent of its beef from Australia, the RSPCA  says religious exemptions allowing animals to be conscious when they are killed .....

needed to end.

'A small number of abattoirs in Australia have an exemption to slaughter animals without prior stunning, authorised by state food authorities,' it said.

'This means that animals are fully conscious and experience pain and distress at the time of slaughter. 

'The RSPCA believes all animals should be stunned prior to slaughter.'

The RSPCA and PETA want animals to be stunned first before they are killed, after the Flanders region in northern Belgium outlawed traditional Muslim and Jewish abattoir customs

PETA, also known as People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, said most animals were fully conscious when their throats were cut under halal and kosher slaughter conditions.

What is halal slaughter?

Halal is an Arabic term for permissible.

For the meat to be lawful in the Muslim faith, the meat or poultry must be slaughtered as part of a ritual known as Zibah or Zabihah.

The blood must be drained from the carcass, which means the throat of the animal is slit.

An animal must not be dead before the ritual and a Muslim is required to perform the slaughter.

'They are absolutely and understandably terrified when chains are shackled to their legs and they are hoisted into the air upside down'.

'For cattle and sheep who are killed without pre-stunning, unconsciousness can take several agonisingly painful seconds to come after their throats are cut.' 

In March 2017, then trade minister Steven Ciobo visited Indonesia for three days.

Mr Ciobo used the occasion to announce Australia would back upcoming Indonesia laws, coming into force in October 2019, which will require beef cattle and sheep to have their throats cut to be widely marketed in the world's biggest Muslim-majority nation.

Follow the money. And weep. 

There is no reasonable excuse for shipping live animals thousands of miles by sea when they could be exported, processed, humanely.

Let them eat cake.

To qualify as halal, or permissible in Islam, live animals must have their throats cut as part of the slaughter and die from blood loss.

In most cases, animals are stunned before they are slaughtered however, state government laws in Australia grant religious exemptions, which mean the livestock can still be conscious when it is killed. 

The Flanders region in northern Belgium has effectively banned traditional halal and kosher slaughter practices since January 1, when the law first proposed in 2017 came into force.

The French-speaking Wallonia region in southern Belgium will officially ban those practices in September. 

When legislation was first proposed in May 2017, it was slammed as 'the greatest assault on Jewish religious rights since Nazi occupation' by the European Jewish Congress. 

Indeed, the Jewish practice is virtually identical to the Muslim practice. And neither will eat bacon. I have no problem with them not eating pork, but I do have a problem with the way both kill animals for consumption.

It is inhumane.

I served the PETA people and the RSPCA folk some fine ale.

Then I sent the PETA loonies back outside the hedge.

"Ahh, but.... what about hunting and fishing", cried someone. 

"Honourable enterprises", said I.

That was sure to set a cat amongst the pidgeons.

It did.

I busied m'self serving pints.

Drink up.

Pax

Putting a Foot Forward, Pays.

Blokes and Ballet. I don't think about them much but I do like to see some girly ballet in the Tavern. When I shed my armour and bar-keeper apron I can scrub up well in a Dinner Jacket and watch the pretty girls prancing...er, dancing. Its a feminine bizzo, ballet. Girls in tiny or whispy skirts, gracefully - and I have to acknowledge, athletically - leaping around on the restaurant stage area is a real treat. But the blokes? Hmmmm. Still, during the rehearsals for this evening's show, I learned a few things. For instance it seems to be a good gig for the lesser competent chaps who like to cavort with girls. 

Not that the blokes are not athletic in their own way, just lesser 'skilled' than the gals it seems, and less 'appealing' to a girl in the manly department, but I am not a dancer m'self. Oz does not have the American entertainment history of 'musicals' where jackaroos dance in from from the outback from herding cows or knife-wielding Somali thugs sashay down Collins street Melbourne to confront an equally hilarious mob of  leaping Lebanese 'skins' or 'jets'.  Nor coloured street gangs in Wagga Wagga who 'rap' and spin, trying to convince onlookers that they have a bit of manliness about them or even that they can dance. They don't. They can't. Michael Jackson just looked silly most of the time. 

One has to wonder about their genders though and there are so many these days. 'Man' does not figure highly. So we do not have that many of them nor many manly ballet dancers. But for some in the Tavern (I won't name names) who are always looking for me to say something about Manliness, let these ballet-guys serve as negative examples.

A very brief display of femininity from Anna Sysoeva seems to underscore the point.

Ballet seems short of manliness somehow, and would you believe short of feminists too!  But apparantly it pays well. Pays men well, that is.  Not a peep or a point from the 'wimmin' who are usually magnavocal about pay gaps.  Have you ever given that a passing thought?  Me neither. 

I shared a table with Madison Breshears as the rehearsals progressed. 

Feminists don’t care about the gender gap in ballet. 

Why should we care about the one in tech?

What, if anything, do ballet and tech have in common? The obvious answer is that both fields show highly disproportionate gender distributions.

Less acknowledged but no less relevant is this uncomfortable commonality: Both are industries where it pays to be in the sexual minority. I know, because I was a ballet dancer for 16 years.

In the ballet world, men’s unfair advantage in hiring and casting is as widely understood and as rarely acknowledged as is the rampant anorexia.

 https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/op-eds/feminists-dont-care-about-the-gender-gap-in-ballet-why-should-we-care-about-the-one-in-tech

A less skilled male dancer is more likely to land a role or get a job than a female dancer of comparable skill. Due to the scarcity of men, the hurdles to a professional career are distinctly lower than they are for most women.

Anyone who says something similar about women in the tech industry does so at their own peril. It is assumed and unquestioned that pervasive sexism and systematic discrimination against women are to blame for their underrepresentation. But then, how did a field like tech, once dominated by nerds regularly bullied by their more athletic and popular peers, suddenly become replete with toxic masculinity?

The answer? It didn’t.

I was born in the mid-nineties, and I’m still old enough to recall a time when demographic trends by sex weren’t a titillating subject of conversation for anyone other than advertisers interested in strategic marketing, let alone a source of widespread concern. 

Today, gender patterns once regarded as the facts of life elicit outrage, investigation, and legislation across our country.

Particularly telling was the 2017 controversy over Google employee James Damore’s infamous memo. As you might recall, the widely-circulated manifesto made headlines for its subversive use of statistical trends, psychology, scientific data, and several well-placed bullet points. His thesis? The underrepresentation of women in the tech industry may not necessarily be the result of sexism or discrimination, but of differing interests, choices, or personality trends seen between genders on average. 

Damore went on to say that the tech giant’s programs and practices intended to eliminate the gender gap in question were manifesting in unjust treatment of men within the company.

This seems like common sense to a lot of people, but it certainly upset the prevailing assumptions at Google. The well-researched but socially suicidal document led to Damore's termination, catapulting Damore into an overnight viral sensation as the antichrist of the feminist Left and the champion for the politically-incorrect everywhere.

I was sitting in a ballet studio, warming up before class, when I was unexpectedly prompted to revisit the idea of the “gender gap.” 

Surrounded by that standard 20:1 female to male ratio, I asked myself, where is the public outrage? 

If we tend to assume that occupational gender disparities are invariably the result of injustice, then, by all accounts, ballet was suffering from an epidemic of anti-male sexism.

Lucinda Dunn, the artistic director at the Tanya Pearson Classical Coaching Academy, addressed the question of whether there were more boys going in to ballet.

But Dunn, a former principal artist at the Australian Ballet, said there was one reason why men would always be important for classical ballet.

"The reality is you can't be a female ballerina if you don't have someone to stand behind you."

So, most often he is just a 'prop'.

Looking at Auditions and the wannabees can illustrate for us. A point to note is who is in charge! 

But that obviously isn’t the case, and you don’t need to launch an investigative campaign into casting or hiring practices to know why. 

Men, on average, simply are not as interested in ballet as women. 

It isn't even close, and thus neither are the numbers of men and women in ballet.

I remember distinctly from my youth the tinge of jealousy and injustice I felt watching my less talented male peers win medals, receive scholarships, and land company positions that I never did. I understand Damore's point from a deeply personal perspective.

But there is one crucial caveat: While my experience and those of women like me in ballet are an unfortunate but inevitable fact of the industry, Damore and other male Google employees are, in fact, suffering from blatant sex discrimination.

Ballet, after all, can't be done without male roles. 

Its canonical repertoire demands opposite-sex partnering choreography. There is no analogous constraint in the tech industry to excuse its discrimination in favor of one sex over the other. There is no inherent reason why women need to work in tech; coding is as colorblind as it is sexually indiscriminate. 

Notice him, back there?

Yet, Google is employing discrimination against one sex and in favor of the other to combat an assumed problem — latent sexism supposedly causing the enormous gender disparity in tech — for whose existence the evidence is elusive.

The selective outrage of feminists over disparities like the one in tech is revealing. 

There is a conspicuous shortage of school programs, campaigns, marches, and hashtags to end the gender gap in, say, teaching, or counselling, which according to the Bureau of Labour Statistics are professions overwhelmingly dominated by women. 

Nursing is a pretty good gig — it pays well, is flexible, and nurses can find work anywhere. So, where should we look for the anti-male bias that made it so that more than 90 percent of nurses are women?

Meanwhile, you will search in vain for the calls to eliminate the overrepresentation of men in mining, trucking, sewage, and garbage collecting. The reason for all this is that the feminist Left isn't so much a political movement for equality with a consistent philosophy as much as it is an expression of rage over the fact that men and women tend to make different career decisions.

They are, however, right about one thing. Perhaps the only feasible way of totally eliminating their favourite misread statistic and rallying cry, the “gender wage gap,” would be to strong-arm the nation's most prestigious companies into discriminating against men, or alternatively, to coerce very large numbers of women into professions and career paths that they consistently opt not to pursue when given a free choice, in spite of the incentives.

I salute women who work in fields where they’re outnumbered, but I don’t appreciate or support policies that patronize women at men’s expense for the sake of “diversity” in any occupation, under any circumstances. 

My female friends in STEM agree, and they aren’t the ones pushing for these ridiculous reparations.

As for the radical feminists, you might ask them, if they feel so strongly about equal representation, why didn’t they themselves pursue a degree in engineering? Expect to hear something like, “well, I did always prefer English, and calculus was such a bore.”

While all that chat was going on, some girls were taking the stage to do what a military chap like m'self might call 'Drill'.  And as ever, there is always one!!

We like a bit of fun with our arty evenings.

But I sat back to watch the rest of the show, which you could see if you came by in person this evening. I am open to learning about the bizzo.... and watch pretty girls. The 'Chorus' girl was always a fantasy but in Ballet they work hard.

It isn't as though they get paid all that much. They are paid on gigs and rehearsals. Often just 38 weeks of the year. Your superstar can pull in big bucks but the rest?

Many ballerinas have been training for most of their lives to become a principal dancer, usually starting classes around the age of seven. Dance students can train between eight-to-10 years before landing professional work.

https://bizfluent.com/info-11384173-much-money-principal-ballet-dancer-make.html

Professionally, dancers start out as apprentices before moving to the lowest level of their company, the corps de ballet. There, they can be promoted to coryphées, where they may be given small solos. 

The next step is becoming a soloist, who often learns principal parts as an understudy should the principal have to miss a show. 

Principal dancers or senior principals are the highest-ranking in every company – the stars of the show. How much do ballerinas make throughout this process?

 It varies greatly but generally sticks to the following range: (US$)
• Apprentice (New Dancer): $125 – $800 per week
• Corps de Ballet dancer: $325 - $1,500 per week

• Principal Dancer: $53,000 - $150,000+ a year for the top companies

Pay gap? 

At 20 gals for every chap, it is surprising the chaps want any pay at all. !

Maybe feminists and their acolytes who like to be the only gals in a man-work place, should consider the 'side-benefit' aspects of the pay differentials too.

I can hear the outrage already. Hahahahaha.

I gave all the guys drinks on the house.

All the ladies too, of course.

I leave you with one more. The very famous. Yes, Nureyev and Fonteyn. I was never impressed by his attempts at manliness. An oversized cod-piece does not convince. But you assess for yourselves.

Pax

Men's Voices

Get men together in a pub or a Tavern these days and it is unlikely they will burst into song, unless it is a Karaoke night. We don't have that here but hey, it is something to think about, eh?  And then too one can come across 'garage bands' doing a gig. But we do have a music area here which opens into the resaurant and patio and we do do entertainment. All three were busy today. But it is the bar where men used to sing a lot in an earlier era. And this evening we had not one mob of men but two, competing and cooperating to do the very best for us.

My friend Mary Sternhagen brought them in. "Hey, Sire", she smiled, "look at all the men who follow me around"  I was delighted. After days of dire and dark conversations we were in need of cheer. She had the choirs. The choirs had the best songs, most appropiate for this sort of Tavern.

Cantus is a full-time, professional vocal chamber ensemble, made up of eight men singing in a TTBB (tenor, tenor, baritone, bass), changed male voice arrangement. The artists are self-led, with programming and musical direction coming from within the group itself. The ensemble is known for innovative concert programming, often tying together works of numerous genres to explore a selected narrative, including classical music, orchestral-vocal repertoire, folk music, art song, popular songs, spirituals, and newly commissioned works.

These men of fine voice are....

Jacob Christopher, tenor
Zachary Colby, tenor
Adam Fieldson, tenor
Chris Foss, bass
David Geist, baritone
Matthew Goinz, baritone
Samuel Green, bass
Paul Scholtz, tenor

The vocal group maintains a schedule of around 70 live concert performances and 30-40 education/outreach activities in a given season, both in the United States of America and abroad. 

And the Knight & Drummer Tavern, of course.

Cantus is an active proponent of music education, encouraging people of all ages - especially men - to sing. The ensemble has worked with tens of thousands of singers throughout the country in educational activities ranging from master classes to festivals and collaborations. New members are acquired through annual national auditions.

The ensemble began as a student-run organization at St. Olaf College in 1995. After a successful northeast tour in the summer of 1998, Cantus transitioned into a professional ensemble and non-profit organization by 1999, based out of Minneapolis, MN.

Cantus is the only artist-led full-time vocal ensemble in the United States, and is one of two professional classical male vocal ensembles in the United States that pays its artists full-time salaries, while maintaining a year-round schedule of performances, the other being San Francisco’s Chanticleer.

So let us look at them too. But..... first. let's see and hear the all, by way of introduction to pub singing.

Called “the world’s reigning male chorus,” by the New Yorker magazine, and named 2008 Ensemble of the Year by Musical America, Chanticleer performs more than 100 concerts each year around the globe. These guys are.....

Gerrod Pagenkopf, countertenor; 
Logan S. Shields, countertenor;
Timothy Keeler, countertenor;
Cortez Mitchell, countertenor;
Adam Ward, countertenor;
Alan Reinhardt, countertenor;
Matthew Mazzola, tenor;
Brian Hinman, tenor & road manager;
Andrew Van Allsburg, tenor;
Matthew Knickman, baritone; 
Zachary Burgess, bass-baritone; and
Eric Alatorre, bass

Chanticleer - based in San Francisco - has developed a remarkable reputation for its vivid interpretations of vocal literature, from Renaissance to jazz, and from gospel to venturesome new music. With its seamless blend of twelve male voices, ranging from countertenor to bass, the ensemble has earned international renown as “an orchestra of voices.”

This is Chanticleer.

Since 1994, Chanticleer’s recordings have been made available worldwide by Warner Classics. Most recently Let it Snow, a new collection of Christmas music, was on the BillBoard charts for twelve weeks. Colors of Love won the GRAMMY® Award in 2000 for Best Small Ensemble Performance (with or without Conductor) and the Contemporary A Cappella Recording Award for Best Classical Album. The world-premiere recording of Sir John Tavener’s Lamentations and Praises was released in January 2002 to critical acclaim and garnered two GRAMMY® awards for Classical Best Small Ensemble Performance (with or without Conductor) and for Best Classical Contemporary Composition.

Cantus

With the help of individual contributions and foundation and corporate support, the group brings the gift of singing to young people by conducting an extensive education program including in-school clinics and workshops, Chanticleer Youth Choral Festivals™ in the Bay Area and around the country, master classes for university students nationwide, and the Chanticleer in Sonoma summer workshop for adult choral singers. 2008 saw the release of The Singing Life- a documentary about Chanticleer’s 2007 Youth Choral Festival™.

I was reading and watching some American Civil War history the other evening and specifically the Shenandoah Valley campaign. Here is an echo.

Chanticleer’s long-standing commitment to commissioning and performing new works was recognized in 2008 by the inaugural Dale Warland Commissioning Award and the ASCAP/Chorus America Award for Adventurous Programming for the 2006-07 Season in which the group premiered ten new works. Among the seventy composers commissioned in the group’s history - past commissions include works by Mark Adamo, Régis Campo, Chen Yi, David Conte, Douglas J. Cuomo, Brent Michael Davids, Anthony Davis, Guido López-Gavilán, William Hawley, Jake Heggie, Jackson Hill, Kamran Ince, Jeeyoung Kim, Tania León, Jaakko Mäntyjärvi, Michael McGlynn, John Musto, Shulamit Ran, Bernard Rands, Steven Sametz, Carlos Sanchez-Guttierez, Paul Schoenfield, Steven Stucky, John Tavener, Augusta Read Thomas and Janike Vandervelde.

Named for the “clear-singing” rooster in Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, Chanticleer was founded in 1978 by tenor Louis Botto, who sang with the group until 1989 and served as Artistic Director until his death in 1997. In 1999, Christine Bullin joined Chanticleer as President & General Director. Artistic Advisor Joseph Jennings joined the ensemble as a countertenor in 1983, and shortly thereafter assumed the title of Music Director which he held until 2008. A prolific composer and arranger, Mr. Jennings has provided the group with some of its most popular repertoire, most notably spirituals, gospel music, and jazz standards. In 2008, tenor Matthew Oltman was named Music Director.

By the way, there is a lady choir called Cantus as well, and guess what. They came in too. Enough talk for the moment. Let's see and hear these fine gals.

I had a lot of exercise on the pumps and cork-puller this evening, I can tell you. Throats and vocal chords need lubricating and what better to do that with than the finest ale and wine from my Supplier.

Have a few yourself.

Pax

The Tavern's Restaurant is Not #1 on TripAdvisor

Who would think that the Tavern's Restaurant was not the most famous in Tasmania? It is of course. We get around 400 odd folk in the Tavern on slow days  - sometimes as many as 1500 - and most in the evening, and many of those, after quenching their thirst for truth seek something  just as substantial for their bodily nutrition. But we are not Number 1 on TripAdvisor, largely because we do not advertise.  Nontheless our meals, prepared by a stream of visiting Chefs and Chefettes, are reknowned.

TripAdvisor of course is #1 in convincing travellers to visit places. It would have some difficulty sending customers here as we are somewhat 'off the beaten track' down a road less travelled. But those who do find there way here do not leave unsatisfied in body and soul. Believe me.

But do not believe TripAdvisor too readily, nor the cheeky chap we heard about and from this evening.  He is a very naughty boy, Oobah Butler by name. Even that sounds fake.

His restaurant in London is reknowned too, for two reasons. It is #1 on Trip advisor; and it does not exist. As he told us himself.

The lad pulled it off. One has to laugh at the sheer chuzpah, with or without ketchup.

The TVs in the UK had a field day and I have no doubt that Oobah will find  better accomodations when he is picked up by a major TV News mob to write convincing fake news for them too.

I gave him some fish-fingers instead of our famed Salmon, as he was, as the lady said, a very naughty boy.

But we raised a glass to him too.

Pax.

1000 ft Boat

I looked from my cave this morning to see a huge ship in the harbour. Yep we are well into the 'Cruise Ship' season here and the biggest and best have our small but perfect spot on their itineries. And what a great day for entertaining visitors - gin-clear sky, 30 deg, light breeze - all 2800 of them although the 1250 crew generally are too busy to see the sights. The Celebrity Solstice is in town.  It is as big as the biggest 'super' aircraft carriers and weighs in at a lot more.

It is 1033 ft long (314 mtrs), 121 ft wide  (near 37 mtrs) and there are 27 ft more of it below the water line. But Hobart can handle that with ease.

Celebrity Solstice is the lead ship of the Solstice-class of cruise ships operated by Celebrity Cruises. Built by Meyer Werft in Papenburg, Germany, she was floated out on August 10, 2008, and christened by ocean scientist Professor Sharon L. Smith at a ceremony in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA, on November 14, 2008. 

The first post-Panamax vessel in the Celebrity fleet, she features innovative interior design and onboard amenities, including an ocean-going live grass lawn, a glassblowing studio, and a 12 deck-high atrium.

The Meyer Werft GmbH & Co. KG is one of the major German shipyards, headquartered in Papenburg at the river Ems. It is a very long way from the sea ! 

Founded in 1795 and starting with small wooden vessels, today Meyer Werft is one of world's leading builders of luxury passenger ships. Altogether about 700 ships of different types have been built at the yard. Its "Dockhalle 2" is the largest shipbuilding hall and the building with the fifth-largest usable space in the world.

Meyer Werft has been owned and managed by the Meyer family for seven generations. Since 1997, it has been part of the Meyer Neptun Group together with Neptun Werft in Rostock. In 2014 the company added the Turku shipyard in Finland to the group.

The shipyard is an anchor on the European Route of Industrial Heritage. 

Five of the ten largest cruise ships in the world have been built at the shipyard in Papenburg

Meyer Werft gained international recognition through the construction of roll on/roll off ferries, passenger ferries, gasoline tankers, container ships, livestock ferries and most recently luxury cruise ships.

Launching is something of a regional affair. Here a 'sister' ship gets the treatment. The Celebrity Silhouette.

Meyer is one of the largest and most modern shipyards in the world with about 3300 employees, and home to the largest roofed dry docks in the world. 

The first covered dock was inaugurated in 1987 and was 370 meters long, 101,5 meters wide and 60 meters high. In 1990/91 the dock was extended by an additional 100 meters. In 2004, a second covered dock was built, which is announced to be extended to a full length of 504 meters, a width of 125 meters and height of 75 meters in order to compete with Asian shipyards. Meyer Werft will as a result of this be able to build three cruise ships a year. 

Due to its upstream location on the river Ems, the giant ships to be delivered have to make a 36 km voyage to the Dollart bay and which each time attracts thousands of spectators. Up until the completion of the Ems river barrier ("Emssperrwerk") in 2002, the journey was only possible at high tides.

This is akin to building such ships in New Norfolk and floating them down the Derwent River to the sea at Hobart. But they would not fit inder the Bowen and Tasman Bridges, would they ! 

Externally, Celebrity Solstice looks very different from previous Celebrity Cruises ships. Martin Francis of Francis Design was hired to design her exterior profile. In original exterior renderings, the hull was shown as all-white with powder blue funnels and blue glass upper decks. 

In a more recent update, the light blue color had been changed to Celebrity's normal dark blue color and the hull was shown having a resemblance to the current fleet's livery, with the promenade deck painted dark blue. 

Similarly, the large dark blue funnel with a white X that had been the trademark of Celebrity thus far has been replaced by two thin funnels, and it was planned to have the X logo of the company visible in the glass balcony railings on the ship's "hump" (The area of superstructure which extends outward farther than the rest of the balconies). 

Throughout her fitting out, (The hoity toity get quite large cabins while the hoi poloi get cupboard sized ones, albeit comfie too), sea trials, and launch, it was noted that the glass X, unless seen from certain angles, was not visible. Shortly after, the X was refinished to be darker, but still can be hard to see. An afterthought during the sea trials saw the addition of a white X onto the forward funnel, thus bringing Solstice more closely related to her fleetmates.

OK, this is a big boat, but we have had and will have again this year, possibly the biggest cruise boat ever built - it cannot dock in Melbourne. Hahaha. I shall tell of that one when she arrives.

Calls for a bit of horn blowing.

Meanwhile I had better prepare for an influx of new customers. I think they might like the more intimate (Rustic? No.) restaurant we have.

Pax.

PS. Some snaps later from my cave, as she left.

Backing out.

Turned around.

On its way 

Passing the Old Knight's viewing point. 

See you all again soon.

Penetrating the Minds of Children

Victoria in Oz is  becoming a dreadful place, largely under the black influence of the Lefty Premier who is surely possessed by a modest-level demon from the Pit. A foul creature he is, allowing and promoting filth to be taught to even young kiddies in the State schools under the deception of 'anti-bullying'. There is barely a kiddie who has lived who has not encountered another kid in a bad mood in the playground, equiped with some nasty thing to shout. But most kiddies are innocent.

It is the teachers now who have the foul mouths and demeaning words.

We heard about the latest planned penetration of children's minds today....... but first, pleasantries with which to start and finish. 

I have been busy the past few days enjoying fine company and out and about in the beautiful weather we have been experiencing here at the Tavern.  Hence my being quiet for several days. And I have had the tradies in doing a bit of refurbishment after my friend Cherie pointing me in the direction of someone else's Hotel in Italy, from whom I have purloined a nice idea. I shall show you later.

Now, the darknesses. I hear also that the Capital of Victora is showing signs of a European scourge. Riff-raff line and live on the streets around the rail stations even to the point of having matresses on the pavements. 

Shades of Paris, eh?

Let me pull a few pints while Rebecca Urban tell us of the teachers who are going from bad to worse. 

As I often point out the teaching workforce in Oz is predominantly female. Women are fine expressions of humanity and have some quite beautiful qualities, but when commanded and directed by dark forces, such as their Union and Left-wing agitators, they can be all too easily led by the nose (often these days by the nose-rings they wear) down quite nasty paths.

Led by these scum, amongst others.

A little background. Here is the font of filth exposed. LaTrobe University.

Our teachers, and note that is the empathetic, nurturing, communications skilled ladies who dominate our schools are in turn 'directed by the worst elements that you do not even know about.  As Lucas Rosas tells us. I will let you listen to all he says later in your own time but just let him touch on it here:

Exposed: the Communists teaching your children

These are the people you pay through your taxes to teach your kids’ teachers.

Manolya Moustafa of Socialist Alternative

It needs to be reiterated, these people are not simple ALP union hacks or mushy Greens who like trees, these people are the most radical political extremists in our society. These groups openly boast that they want to overthrow the government. They preach about the need to abolish Parliament, the armed forces, the police, the courts, the constitution, the Australian national flag, national borders, the concept of gender, free speech, free assembly, the right to own property and the traditional family.

 https://www.xyz.net.au/exposed-communists-teaching-children/

And not only do you pay them to teach the people who teach your kids, you also pay them to formulate the curriculum more sane teachers are forced to teach by.

Do follow up and read. You will be horrified by the 'ordinariness' of some of the people Lucas exposes. That pleasant-looking young woman above is the pretty tip of an iceberg.

Now this way comes more of the lumbering Beast, the insidious mutilating of children's minds, and spreading to other disciplines. Rebecca has been keeping her ears open:

Concerns as identity politics creep into the classroom.

English students face being drilled in the politics of class, race, gender and sexuality, as an influential teacher advocacy group seeks to push social justice issues into the classroom.

The Victorian Association for the Teaching of English, a professional body backed by the state government, will host its annual conference next month, unveiling a program to highlight “the iconoclasts, the dissidents and the marginalised” and celebrate individuals “who will not, or cannot, swim in the mainstream”.

 http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/education/concerns-as-identity-politics-creep-into-the-classroom/news-story/7c9826762055f2ff7e7ad433bea715dd?nk=1dc4d9f3f2a05effc85fce79fb2efc8a-1509059203

The 'mainstream' nowadays of course IS leftism, cultural marxism and the destruction of family and society, even while the lefties pretend it is not so that they can maintain 'victimhood'.  "Ve heff vays off makink your Kinder conform."

Headlining the two-day event will be former Australian Human Rights Commission president Gillian Triggs and GetUp! campaigner Shen Narayanasamy, who will deliver keynote speeches. Left-leaning political commentator Van Badham will also appear as a guest speaker.

GetUp! in get up

For those overseas visitors, these three are prime nasties intent on causing as much mayhem as they can, whilst in one case being fed hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars in salary and now pension - Triggs: and one by Bill Shorten's largesse with union funds taken as an additional tax from workers and fed to the lefty influencers, GetUp!; 

and a thoroughly filthy and lunatic feminist who seems to garner much support from the dregs of the lady-left. That's bad'un Badham on the left.

The focus of the event, which VATE president Emily Frawley confirmed had been designed with social justice in mind, has alarmed some education experts, who have questioned the role of “political activists” at the event and the push to embed divisive “identity politics” into the curriculum.

When I hear 'zozchial juztitz' I reach for my sword ! 

Sessions include “Stand Up For The Outsiders’’, which will explore teaching strategies for “empowering students to speak to issues of class, gender and race”, and ‘‘We Want Gender Equality’’, on “how the plight of woman over time has not changed”. 

There will also be a discussion of Jeanette Winterson’s 1987 novel The Passion, which is billed as “post modernism, queer theory and a romping tale to boot”, while ‘‘Reflections On Growing Up Different In Australia’’ will look at “migration, racism and identity” in various texts.

Soon being White, of European stock and English-speaking with be 'different' too but do not hold your breath waiting for some positive acknowledgement. We seem to have imported the worst of America's leftist, racist teacher disease.

Another session will advise teachers how to deliver the Victorian government’s Respectful Relationships program a family violence initiative criticised for pushing gender theory onto children through English texts in the middle years.

Details of the conference have emerged in the wake of research by the Institute of Public Affairs that pointed to a rise of identity politics in university history courses.

The IPA’s Western civilisation program director Bella d’Abrera 

questioned what “political activists” were doing at a conference “about English teaching to schoolchildren”.

“This conferences shows that identity politics has not  also (sic) (only) permeated the teaching of history in Australian universities, but it is also deeply embedded in English teaching in Victorian secondary schools,” Dr d’Abrera said. 

“There is no place for identity politics in our classrooms.”

Australian Catholic University senior research fellow Kevin Donnelly said it was disappointing to see teachers emphasise ideology over good grammar, spelling, punctuation and literary appreciation.

“Instead of English teaching being about giving a balanced view of literature, it’s now more about offering a critique of society, particularly Western society, misogyny, inequality and capitalism,” Dr Donnelly said.

“A lot of kids leave school without a strong foundation of what is good or bad literature.”

Dr Donnelly, a former English teacher and one-time member of VATE, said the association appeared to have been captured by the left.

Ms Frawley defended the conference, which had always “traversed the educational, cultural, political landscape”. This year’s event would feature “diverse line-up of presenters”, she said.

“The brief of all presenters is to speak to the themes of the conference, drawing on their expertise and considering their audience,” Ms Frawley said. “We want English teachers to be engaged and challenged, to consider how they can best stand up for their students, and what the role of English content and pedagogy is here.”

Ms Frawley confirmed that the organisation received funds from the department for a range of programs, but the conference itself was not government-funded.

That is sleight of hand.  Mendacity. It is all ultimately Taxpayer-funded. YOUR monies, coerced from your wallets, are being used to pay for these nasties to plan their assault on children. 

Several voices around the bars were heard above the hubub as I handed Rebecca her well earned drink. 

Bob said:

Alarming as this is, do not underestimate the rebellious spirit of the young and the power of the internet.

I have had some very reassuring conversations with young family members aged from 16 to 25 years.They and their friends are very aware of the indoctrination that is being  being attempted in English and Social Science classes and they despise these subjects and their associated teachers. 

They know from bitter experience that to even question, let alone try and present an alternative opinion, can seriously affect their grades and University entrance, so they keep quiet and keep their heads down in school, and post nothing on Face Book.  

Once the get home they go straight onto the internet to look for the alternative view and find it on sites like Breitbart and the many Canadian and US debaters who actively question the status quo. They will express their views within small circles of trusted friends, but are very careful to keep quiet if a known activist is within earshot. They are not happy being silenced at school, and get even more unhappy when they get to University and are again silenced and continually harassed by placard-waving, slogan-chanting aggressive SJWs.

Social media may be an echo chamber for the SJWs, but the internet is a lot bigger than just social media and a growing number of the young are finding the alternative ideas and the robust debate they crave on the internet.

A rebellion is brewing.

Hanne also said: 

Is there such a thing as a “stupidity Ponzi scheme”? That’s what I’m calling this madness which will ultimately collapse under its own weight.

Yesterday on Fox News they showed another idiot from one of their universities claim that mathematics is racist and a white supremacy subject.

I don’t know where this stupidity is taking us but when the only engineers we’re capable of producing are social engineers maybe one of these loonies might just take a moment and wonder who’s left to build the bridges or treat the sick.

Both make good points. It is easy to be discouraged but we must remain optimistic and look to other voices. The young can be easily fooled but they also have a penchant for taking quite an opposite tack. 

YOU though, adults, with experience and an ability to think clearly, must become more than just a little familiar with the extent of the problem. 

Now.  Let me move on.

Some nicer news. 

Cherie has been swanning around Italy. You can follow her travels .... there >>>>  http://www.cheriesplace.me.uk/blog/

One place she came across has inspired me to rename my restaurant - actually, name it, as it hasn't had a name of its own before. So I am naming it after young Percy who released me from my pain. And my Kingdom. 

The Ristorante Parzival.

So, drop by one evening. Sample our fine wines and Ales, delivered by a messenger from my Supplier Himself. Sit in the evening sunshine and cool, fragrant breezes. Sniff deep the Frangipani at the front doors. Listen to the lefties whine outside the hedges.

Eat, drink, and be Holy.

hahaha.

Pax.