Don't think anyone is any closer to identifying UFO origin but do think a pretty strong case can be made for official government UFO investigations attempting to deceive the general public and initiate a 'cover up' of information.

Regarding official historical government deception we've got major manipulation over the actual numbers of 'actual unknowns'; reams of missing 'hot reports' which never even reached Bluebook (and completely ridiculous explanations for many that did) and unscientific 'scientific' investigations abused by intel agencies to 'debunk' the phenomena.. with the popular 'debunkers' of the time also having known ties to said agencies.

Probably boring for some but this is an ongoing research thread dealing with highly dubious (or blatantly bullshit) USAF UFO explanations - a lot of the source material has gone for good these days but the updated info is posted below and please share if you know of any other examples.






• Spurious, contrived or just plain ridiculous 'official' government UFO explanations:














Granted many folks not really into UFO research just unquestioningly accept these USAF debunks without a second look but if a person examines the case histories then many of the explanations simply fail to stand up - here's what American physicist Dr James E. Mcdonald had to say about it:








From 10:00

Quote:• "As a result of several trips to Project Bluebook, Ive had an opportunity to examine quite carefully and in detail the types of reports that are made by Bluebook personnel. In most cases, I have found that there's almost no correlation between so-called "evaluations and explanations" that are made by Bluebook and the facts of the case.. There are hundreds of good cases in the Air Force files that should have led to top-level scientific scrutiny of this problem, years ago, yet these cases have been swept under the rug in a most disturbing way by Project Bluebook investigators and their consultants."

Dr James McDonald -Senior Physicist at the Institute for Atmospheric Physics and Professor in the Department of Meteorology at the University of Arizona.


Archive:

'UFO Symposium Casefiles'

Quote:• "When Major Quintanilla came in, the flag of the utter nonsense school was flying at its highest on the mast. Now he had a certain Sgt. Moody assisting him...Moody epitomized the conviction-before-trial method. Anything that he didn't understand or didn't like was immediately put into the psychological category, which meant "crackpot." He would not ever say that the person who reported a case was a fairly respectable person, maybe we should look into it, or maybe we should find out. He was also the master of the possible: possible balloon, possible aircraft, possible birds, which then became, by his own hand (and I argued with him violently at times), the probable; he said, well, we have no category "possible" aircraft. It is therefore either unidentified or aircraft. Well, it is more likely aircraft; therefore it is aircraft.... An "unidentified" to Moody was not a challenge for further research. To have it remain unidentified was a blot... and he did everything to remove it. He went back to cases from Captain Gregory's days and way back in Ruppelt's days and redid the files. A lot that were unidentified in those days he "identified" years and years later".

Dr J Allen Hynek, chief scientific consultant for Air Force investigations of UFOs from 1948 until 1969 (Projects Sign, Grudge and Blue Book).


E-book:

'The UFO Experience : A Scientific Inquiry'

Well, this is a weird one. Let's first address the issue of when this group was founded. While I know that Wikipedia isn't the best source for much, it is a great referance for a starting point in a search. 

Pierre Plantard - Wikipedia

Quote: On 25 June 1956, Pierre Plantard and André Bonhomme legally registered in the town of Saint-Julien-en-Genevois a new association called the Priory of Sion, based in Annemasse close to the French border near Geneva. The group was devoted to the support of building low-cost housing in Annemasse, and criticising local government through its journal Circuit.[sup][4][/sup][sup][5][/sup][sup][6][/sup] The "Sion" in the name did not refer to the ancient Land of Israel, but to a local mountain, Mont-Sion (or Mont-de-Sion), where the order (according to its statutes) intended to establish a retreat center.[sup][4][/sup][sup][5][/sup] The association dissolved by December 1956.

A very short video about the net worth of the past 6 presidents before and after office.
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/R3F_CAGib...ture=share

Quote:• "I think Ufologists live in their own world and they believe that everybody knows about this panel - the problem is the vast majority of the populace don't."

Researcher Paul Kimball on the CIA Robertson Panel 'disseminating the gospel'.

Quote:• "They were coming up with the conclusion that 'we should debunk the UFO phenomenon' (in essence they should lie about it) and 'here's how we are going to do it'.

One of the key ways this panel commissioned by the CIA pointed as a way of doing this (they called it 'disseminating their gospel') were amateur astronomers.

When you put that in context you say it makes sense that Dr Menzel might be involved in the effort to cover things up because as the nation's leading astronomer who better to convince amateur astronomers that the whole UFO thing is bunk?

Quote:• "There's an article in the current issue of astronomy magazine 'The Science Behind UFOs' which mentions none of the large scale scientific studies, mentions none of the dozen PhD theses that have been done about UFOs, mentions nothing about the physical trace cases, the radar visual sightings, the abduction cases - this is the 'science behind UFOs?"

I had been having fun dancing with different girls at the club and was taking a break with a drink in my hand at the bar.

There was an empty seat to my right until a really nice looking girl arrived and sat down next to me. She was wearing a low cut dress that was one step away from being trashy but on her she managed to look like some runway model just off a fabulous gig.

We exchanged pleasantries and after our drinks were finished we decided to go for a dance. The first song was a hard beating fast song and golly gee she could dance but the second song switched to a slow belly rubbing type song. She did not hesitate but fell into my arms like she belonged there. I must admit I was sorry when the song ended as I quite enjoyed the close contact with her; she even smelled good.


As the night wore on we danced and talked and danced and talked until it was like we had known each other for a very long time and not just met this night.

As we were sat after our last dance she wanted to know how far away I lived and I told her it was a short 20 minute drive. She said it had been a long time since she had met someone who she felt comfortable and close to so would I like to take her back to my place for the night.

"I thought you would never ask,” was my reply.

I decided I would go to the bathroom and was gone for all of a few minutes. When I returned to my bar stool a fresh drink was waiting for me and a wonderful smile from her. We both finished our drinks and headed out the door.


I was kinda hungry and without asking her I pulled into a 24 hour eatery that I frequented usually after a hard days night at the bar. She said she was not really hungry but just wanted to go to my place. I told her I really needed something to eat as I had returned late from my trip and had showered and gone to the bar without eating anything.

Once we entered the restaurant one of the tables was occupied by some friends of mine from work so we joined them. Introductions were made and all was well as far as I could tell.

I ordered a big breakfast meal and as we all sat there within 20 minutes I started feeling weird, like I could barely think or hold my eyes open; as if I was suffering from some sort of a CAFE DELIRIUM !

My date of the night excused herself by saying she had to go to the toilet.

I woke up at the hospital with an I.V. in my arm and feeling like I had been put through the wringer; thank god for my friends at the table ! Come to find out, I had been drugged by some kind of strong knock out drug .

The cops were called and they took down my story and volunteered that this particular formidable female and her partner in crime had been robbing people in this and other cities in the state for the last two months. I gave them a description of the girl as did my friends as well as the bartender at the bar.

One of my female friends at the restaurant had taken a photo of me and my date unbeknown to me as she had not said anything about “smile for the camera.” That was a pivotal moment that I did not even know had happened which really helped to capture Linda the sex goddess.

It was a month later I was called to the police station to identify the girl. Yep that was her alright and she still looked great even in a sweatshirt and jeans. I must admit though she was not smiling and looked rather dejected and sad. I just felt pity for a creature with such a cold hard heart.

They had managed to capture her and her partner using a sting operation.

One of the cops had driven to an upper class dance hall and bar in a borrowed Corvette wearing a Rolex Watch and dressed like he was a "someone of money and importance." She was on him like snot on a door knob once he entered the bar. Same story and chit chat from her but the conversation never got to the “one more drink” as she was hand cuffed and hauled out of the bar not gently and not very quietly. This time the only room she and her partner (who always waited outside or in the bar) got was a cell at the police station.

What a wasted life IMO.

The end .... A fictional story which never happened other than in my mind !!

I saw another thread here earlier where members are discussing corn and some recipes. I tend to do a lot of scratch cooking in my home, but over the years I have found that I have kinda narrowed down the "weekly rotation" to a small set of dishes that I like, that I just eat over and over, and I am craving for something new.

Share with me your wildest and tastiest "secret" recipes. I'll try my best to replicate. I need some ideas for new dishes to cook to add variety to the menu. Oftentimes, I don't actually follow a recipe, but use it as "inspiration" for something similar or maybe even "doctored up" (as my grandfather used to say) into something a bit more spectacular.

Here's one of mine to get started:

Linguine With White Clam Sauce

The linguine:

9 minutes in a pot of rapidly boiling water with 1 tsp salt. Drop a full box of linguine (I prefer Barilla, but anything will do) after a rolling boil. Return to boil and immediately reduce heat to 1/2. Cook 9 minutes or until noodles are "Al Dente" or mostly soft, with an ever so slight crunch. Drain in a colander and immediately dowse with cold water to stop cooking. Set aside.

The Sauce:

- 2,  3.5 oz cans chopped clams with juice. (I use dox-see clams in the can... you can use real clams but you'll need some of the juice)
- 1 tbsp Italian Seasoning
- 1 medium white onion, diced
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 cup white table wine (I usually use a chardonnay or pinot-grigio - whatever is cheapest on shopping day - I also salt my wine) (non-alcoholics may substitute lemon juice in 1/2 the amount + water)
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1 tbsp or 3 cloves crushed or minced raw garlic
- Dried basil for garnish

1. Place olive oil in a skillet and heat until sizzling
2. Add garlic and onion
3. Fry until fragrant and onions are translucent
4. Add italian seasoning, cook at full temp for 1 minute to release flavor, then reduce heat
5. Add clams with liquid and wine or lemon juice
6. Simmer until reduced by 1/2
7. Add salt and pepper to taste, or possibly leave this out if serving guests
8. In a large bowl or dutch oven, mix drained noodles and reduced sauce - mix well.
9. Plate the servings and garnish with a dusting of dried basil all over the dish

Garlic bread and steamed asparagus make a nice accompaniment. Despite this being a white wine dish, I do enjoy it with a red - Beaujoulais-Village seems to work well. A chocolate based dessert also goes well with this meal.

There are a number of reports of earthquakes being registered as having a negative depth which would indicate that the epicenter is in the air. What I have right now is this (which i copied from my post over at ATS if it looks familiar to some):
2.7 quake 0.8km above ground USGS event, page 1 (abovetopsecret.com)

Quote:as of right now we have:
at 8:37 PDT a 1.2 over Big Bear California depth -0.4 Mi
at 2:12 PDT a 2.6 over Winthrop Washington depth -0.2 Mi
at 16:06 PDT on 9/12 over Kapowsin Washington depth -0.3 Mi
at 15:12 PDT on 9/12 over/at Milford Utah depth -0 Mi
at 12:39 PDT on 9/12 over Apple California depth -0.6 Mi
at 12:02 PDT on 9/12 over Mission Canada depth -0.4 Mi
at 11:13 PDT on 9/12 over Virginia City Montana depth -1.2 Mi
at 11:09 PDT on 9/12 over Bonadelle Ranchos-Madera Ranchos California depth -0.2 Mi
at 3:28 PDT on 9/12 over/at Alamo Nevada depth 0 Mi

That's all the possible in air or ground level quakes I'm showing for the past day or so. 

Can anyone figure out a link between these places, that would be great.

Get this!!!.... Now you can be attacked and STILL go to JAIL!

A pro-Israeli group of protesters is protesting in MA along a city street. Some random dude on the other side of the street starts talking smack. Then...he runs across the street and tackles one of the protesters and starts beating on him. The victim then draws a pistol and shoots the attacker. The fight ends.

The victim is then arrested and charged with violating the attacker's Constitutional rights causing injury and assault and battery with a deadly weapon...FOR DEFENDING HIMSELF....EXERCISING HIS CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS!!

YOU LITERALLY CANNOT MAKE THIS SH!T UP, FOLKS!!!

Pro-Israel demonstrator charged after shooting attacker

Edit - If this had been the other way around, there'd be a F'ing PARADE going on right now...following the SUMMARY EXECUTION of the pro-Israel attacker by the police.

Man, I love fresh corn on the cob!!  Silver Queen and White Corn is the best, IMO 

I live in a world where corn grows everywhere, but you can't eat most of it.  It's all feed corn and corn to be ground up for ingredients.  Only the irrigated corn is the good stuff to eat, and it's off the rails when it's in season.  Now is the season!!  I have a buddy who raises some white corn, and it's so sweet and buttery you can't stop eating it.  He cans some of it too.  We eat this stuff year round!  We trade him out beef for it (and other stuff).

Tomorrow night we're going to make a big fire pit and cook up some corn, pork sausages, taters, carrots, onions...and even a few (thousand) shrimp...(even though not native).  I think the other boys have some crawdads they brought back from NOLA.  Gonna' roast a suckling pig too (all day).  Should be great...

...but I'm dam sure gonna' love the CORN!!!

I debated placing this in a different forum, since it is quite technical... but in the end it is relevant to people who are keen to understand computers and what they can and can't do.

As it turns out, the approaching reality of quantum computers ascending into our daily (computing) lives is more and more certain.  One of the most important facts of quantum computing is that it represent a tremendous increase in computational capacity.  Encryption is central to the programming of secure transactions between computers... and quantum computers are orders of magnitude more effective in decrypting data.

From ArsTechnica: As quantum computing threats loom, Microsoft updates its core crypto library
 

Yay, my account works!

thenshadowknows to the rescue!

I'll be using this account here for now, although I do have Mahogani too. Don't know how much I'll be around, I really only have an hour or so per day of free time.

The reason I came over here is because something funky happened to my ATS account, and my password to get in got scrambled. And no new accounts can be created on ATS, so can't ask for help there. I don't know who has admin privileges these days and who can reset an account; I know DToM was doing it after the same thing happened in October.

Oh well, no rush... at least I can chat now and get in touch with someone through this board!

Catch ya all later!

I remember.  And I am still angry.

September 11th, will figure in my mind, as a tragedy forever.

I am wondering about how for future generations, it will be a historical blip... a thing that they hear stories about... like the Holocaust and Pearl Harbor. 

For me it's not just exemplars of evil intent, but as a social 'gut sucker-punch.'  Something that was rightly, and squarely considered one of those "no one would ever do that!" things.

It seems to repeat in my life, as a thing which always calls me to become troubled and agitated - every year on its anniversary.

It is kind of weird, since I was not 'on the scene' as it happened... although I was closer than most.  Even where I was, some 50 miles away, on Long Island, it felt like my very home had been attacked...  I had several close friends who worked at the Pentagon at the time, so as the local news reported it too had been struck, my heart sank even further.  I had just been talking with my wife about the Pentagon's "missing" trillions which had been publicly acknowledged... and then this happened.

I can't explain it.  But the anniversary always brings me back to the monstrous extremes that some misguided souls will resort to, morality be damned.

I will always remember the smell in the air for days after the attack.  That much steel and concrete turned to dust and carried around...   My family were among those hopeful 'rescue' volunteers who suffered terrible respiratory damage, in the aftermath.  They too, can't ever let it go.

But it will become a stale story for our grandchildren...  I pray that is all it ever will be for them.  The loss in lives was staggering, the damage to our nation was only just beginning... as the "response and reaction" caused further damage... as is usual when the "government" is involved.  It was the 'crisis taken advantage of'... the first in my experience that was so egregious that it persisted well past the event.  The media, CNN in particular, kept a continuous clip of the towers being struck and then later crumbling into their footprints... as if to deliberately keep the pain seething in the public.  What followed was even more tragic considering what we were forced to surrender... and forced to endure.

Now, even the media doesn't commemorate the event.  The politicians du jour want it not mentioned... The public is being led to forget it because "it's history... it doesn't matter today."

Oi... I didn't want to post another TLDR, so I'll leave it there...

I'm just sharing some ancient grief... grief that I seem unable to shake even now...

So the woman goes to a pharmacist and explains she needs some cyanide so she can kill her husband.. Listen to the Pharmacist/s reply...  https://www.youtube.com/shorts/eCpAGAoWD...ture=share

Found this old vid in the archives which has some very interesting selected nuggets - the effects of various EMF weapon studies are discussed as well as some rather curious patents from the 1990's and early 2000's.

According to the US Military 'The mind has no firewalls'.













Also some rather disturbing info below on EMF effects on humans (and how it was covered up), the Russian US embassy microwave attack and Dr Robert Becker's opinion on the woodpecker signal.

Posted this at ATS.
Thought I'd post here as well.

They claim to be traditionally 80% accurate ... 

Almanac Winter 2024/2025

Take a look at where  you live.  
Farmers Almanac says 'calmer and gentler' winter.
Where we live - Delaware - Mild and Dry.

We are in 'region 2' which says -
 The most snow is expected to arrive in late December and late February.

Just two storms?  I'm good with that. 

When I was younger I loved it when it snowed.
Now that I'm old (62), I don't like the snow.
Have to walk in it, have to drive in it, have to get the dog to go out and do his business in it.

No thanks.

I still don't want the heat of the south.   That would be worse.
But where we are in the Mid Atlantic ... it's pretty even keeled.

Hello everyone. I figured I would introduce myself officially with my first thread on Deny Ignorance. I understand that many of you migrated from the sister, or (Father) site Abovetopsecret.com I have been a member there since early 2005. I grew up on that site experiencing many threads for entertainment, furthering my own esoteric and practical knowledge through connecting with many of the members there. I recently came across a video that many of you may already be aware of, but it had a significant impact on me. I believe it is an effective "wake up" video for many and demonstrates with copious amounts of examples and evidence regarding what is really going on in the world and who really rules the world behind the scenes. 

https://vimeo.com/743265404

The link to one iteration of the video above. It contains an approximately 5 hour long expose of the hidden (becoming less so by the day) global luciferian religion that influences politics, entertainment, information, education, and any other venue you can likely imagine. It is presented by an Australian Musician named Altaiyan Childs. He claims that he is publicly renouncing his membership in this religion hidden within the upper ranks of freemasonry. The video is long, with periods of prolonged photo examples, and he uses language reminiscent of internet scam videos at times, but he does eventually get there. And i think the pacing is actually done quite well in order to unpack the information he shares. 

Give it a watch all at once, or like I did, in broken up sessions, and please share with anyone one you consider having an open mind to this kind of thing. Since watching this video I have definitely noticed more than I once did.

Think about all the young who have marched off to war to never return.

Yes there are things worth fighting for and even dying for yet it would seen it is easy to release the true dogs of war when a government points a finger to where and to whom.


warning strong language which might be offensive to some language sensitive individuals
 

a very satisfying speech by Regan https://youtu.be/JDVT-8tUfiE about the "why"

Recently, I read an article which featured the topic of "Ecocide"...  one of my favorite entries under the heading "Words I Hate."

The actual Topic entry on the web page was "Ecocide"... which prepped me for what I was about to read under the title:

From ArsTechnica: Americans misunderstand their contribution to deteriorating environment

Rather than provide you with a premade list of "what's wrong in this narrative" I will simply state a few facts which, in my opinion, need to be remembered when consuming "information" of this nature.  By "nature" I mean 'activist journalism' - especially the kind that forges a narrative by addressing contextually relevant issues... but not all of them.

Please remember that insofar as 'the damage human activity does" to the environment, China and India, out paces (and out pollutes) all of North America, Europe, and a bit more... combined.  The author expects that decimating the lifestyles of hundreds of millions of Americans will "fix" something.  Also please recall that in comparison to the individuals (all of them,) major industry and even smaller industries out pollute all of them... continuously, not through "consumption" but through "production for profit."  Also, if you look into it, you will find that the concept of "tipping points" is like predicting "when" a wave will crest and fall at the shore... without actually knowing "where" the wave is.
 

Bloody great tune and one of the best music videos ever


TalkTalk:

Quote: 

Quote:A minister dies and is waiting in line at the Pearly Gates.
Ahead of him is a guy who’s dressed in sunglasses, a loud shirt, a leather jacket, and jeans.
Saint Peter addresses this guy,
"Who are you, so that I may know whether or not to admit you to the Kingdom of Heaven?"
The guy replies, "I’m Joe Cohen, a taxi driver, of Noo Yawk City."
St. Peter consults his list. He smiles and says to the taxi driver,
"Take this silken robe and golden staff and enter the Kingdom of Heaven."
The taxi driver goes into Heaven with his robe and staff, and it’s the minister’s turn.
He stands erect and booms out,
"I am Joseph Snow, pastor of Calvary for the last forty-three years."
St Peter consults his list. He says to the minister,
"Take this cotton robe and wooden staff and enter the Kingdom of Heaven."
"Just a minute," says the minister.
"That man was a taxi driver, and he gets a silken robe and golden staff. How can this be?!"
"Up here, we work by results," says Saint Peter.
"While you preached, people slept; while he drove, people prayed."

It took me a while to decide where to place this particular thread.

I knew from the start that it would be a form of rant, but the topic seemed relevant from other perspectives too.

The thing that started my thinking in the regard was a court case.  A lawsuit... or rather, an appeal of a decision made in another court.

This is about a website... namely, the Internet Archive.  I am unaffiliate with them, although I have frequented the site on occasion to peruse their collection of materials for research and entertainment purposes.

Case ruling: Case 23-1260, Document 306-1, 09/04/2024
Article from ArsTechnica: Internet Archive’s e-book lending is not fair use, appeals court rules

The site in question collects books, media, and other archival materials which, I had always presumed were made available under the legal domain of the legendary "fair use doctrine" (by anyone)... you know... predominantly "older materials," things which users have submitted for sharing... nothing commercial, mind you, nothing you would need to buy... and in most cases you couldn't buy because no one is 'selling' it anymore, or original composite works made for topic exploration, or commentary.

This is a story about intellectual property rights.  They "own" the works in question by contract and copyright... which many are inclined to support wholeheartedly.  Most of the works in question (actually all) were intended... specifically created.. to be shared freely among anyone in the public.  But some of the entries feature 'movies,' 'tv shows,' broadcast archives, foreign media, uploaded by members accounts.

But the organizations, and perhaps even individuals, the plaintiffs complain that the public, by no agency, have the right to access them without paying them for the privilege.  The court ruled in the original case that the plaintiffs had not proved that they had suffered real damages... and ruled that a free library of media on the internet is not different from any other library, which have operated in this country nearly since our birth as a nation.

After appealing the case in the Second Circuit Court of Appeals have won their case, despite no damages suffered.  That library will be gutted.  It is an effort which is (and has been) ongoing for a long time...  
 

Musk's new project,  dubbed Colossus and built by his new AI startup, xAI, has been created to train the latest version of the GROK language model, known as GROK-3. It's powered by no fewer than 100,000 Nvidia H100 GPUs.
If that's not enough for you, in an X post Musk says Colossus will double in power "in a few months" thanks to the addition of another 50,000 H200 Nvidia chips, which each pack roughly twice the AI acceleration performance of an H100 GPU.
It's not clear how much this is all costing Musk and xAI. Estimates of pricing for Nvidia's H100 GPUs vary from $20,000 to as much at $90,000 a pop. Presumably, Musk managed to get a comparatively decent deal buying 100,000 of the things in one go.
But even at the lower estimate, you're looking at $2 billion for the Nvidia chips for phase one, let alone building the datacenter, all the relevant infrastructure, staffing up, and doing all the work involved in setting up training for an advanced LLM. Oh, and whatever those other 50,000 H200 are costing on top as a little light frosting.
Indeed, it was only a few weeks ago that xAI launched GROK-2 as an exclusive-access thing for X subscribers. GROK-2 apparently made do with a piffling 15,000 H100 chips for training, the poor deluded little AI dear. And yet by some measures, GROK-2 ranks second and only behind ChatGPT-4o in the LLM league tables.
So, even the first phase will be six to seven times more powerful than GROK-2, only to supposedly double in power a few months later. Clearly, Musk has his sights set on building the most powerful LLM out there.



​​https://www.yahoo.com/tech/elon-musks-monster-wakes-xai-135759910.html

I received this via email. It is not the first time I have heard this nor is it the first country with the same problems in the Western world.  Same thing has been going on in the USA with certain so called minorities for years...

Quote:Subject: Fwd: Are we fools?? When will we wake up?
 
Goodbye beautiful Australia- how can they let this happen??!!
 
Muslim family has eleven children (Australia)
Breadwinner is the Fertile daughter
This story is from a doctor in Melbourne...
So, where do you think it will all end, OR, when do you think our governments will wake up !!!???
The new breadwinners in Australia:
 Here is how a doctor explains it:
A woman in her late 20's came to the hospital today with her 8th pregnancy.
 She said to me "My mum told me that I am the breadwinner for the family."
 I asked her to explain.
She said that she can make babies and babies get money from the Government for the family.
It goes like this:
 The Grandma calls the Department of child services and Centrelink, and states that the unemployed daughter is not
capable of caring for all of her kids.
 They agree, then tell her the children will need to go into foster care.
 The Grandma then volunteers to be the foster parent, and
receives a cheque for $400 per child each month..
 Total yearly income $72,000 and soon to be more when
the 8th one is born, tax-free and nobody has to go to work!
 In fact, they get more if there is no husband/father/man in the home! The brother does not count.
 Not to mention free dental treatment, free housing,
free school dinners, free tuition fees at college or Uni, free eye care and glasses, free prescriptions and various other benefits...
 Total value of all benefits combined probably approaching $120,000 per annum.
 That's about my salary as a senior consultant with years of
experience and surgical skills in a Melbourne teaching hospital.
 Indeed, Grandma was correct that her fertile daughter is the "breadwinner" for the family
 This is how the politicians spend our taxes.
 When this generous programme was invented in the '60s, the Great Society architects forgot to craft an end date, and now we are hopelessly over run with people who vote only for those who will continue to keep them on the dole.....
 No wonder our country is broke!
 Worse, our Muslim brothers have been paying attention, and by mandating that each Muslim family have eleven children.
 They will soon replace the voting bloc above and can be running this country in around 12 years.
 Are we alarmed yet, is anybody listening?
 
Please know I am not racist nor am I against Immigration, I
just worry where this uncontrolled sort of immigration is going to take this wonderful country.
 There must be limits and controls in place or in around 12 years or less we will be going to midday prayers at the local mosque.
 That's a simple fact of life my friends. They clearly intend to force that upon us.
 Sincerely,
Sebastian J. Ciancino - Obstetrician,
Melbourne Vic
 
Don't forget to pay your taxes!!
There are a lot of “breadwinners” depending on you!

My blue eyes locked on my smartphone. I reread my boarding pass. I have never sat in seat 45B, premium economy, before.
 
My mouth drops, and my eyebrows raise. I catch the woman beside me, with green eyes and dimpled cheeks, scanning the in-flight entertainment system.
 
She is seated next to me, and the in-flight entertainment system is attached to the seat in front of her. "Z-grade viewing," she mutters.
 
I rake up frequent flier points. A woman who takes my breath away isn't one of my usual travel companions. Crying babies and people elbowing my rib cage are my constant travellers. An escaping breath sinks my tummy.
 
A cup of black coffee in – hand. I turn to the lady. "Nothing worth watching."
"Typical." I am Annie. Nice to meet you."
 
I am lost in her eyes and shoulder-length red hair. The universe stands still, and I stutter, "Francis."
 
 
 
My eyes awaken, and I rub my sore neck. Sleeping on the rough blue departures area carpet doesn't get any better, no matter if all the nearby hotels are booked out. A global IT fault wiped out the airline's booking and check-in systems. Of course, this happened during the school holidays, leaving no hope for booking alternative accommodations.
 
I lift my head from my backpack, aka pillow.
 
"Flight re-bookings are now available from the customer service desk," blasts over the PA system. First in, first served, I slept by that desk. Now, to get ahead of the hours-long lines.
 
I strap on my backpack and briefly consider ignoring last night's dream. Yeah, Nah. I have never had such a vision before, and my restless sleep is the only thing in common with those dreams. Nor do I ever recall more vivid dreams with such clarity.
 
The booking agent's baby face motions me to approach the desk. I explained my original travel itinerary and enquired about my options.
"Sir, you are in luck. You can use your frequent flier points for the next available flight and get a free upgrade to business class, or there is a seat 45B premium economy." He points to the PC screen onboard seating plan.
 
Take 45B, an inner and previously unheard voice beckons. Why am I placing my trust in this unreal guidance?
 
"I will take the premium economy seat. "I can't escape the ticketing agent raising an eyebrow.
 
Boarding my flight a few hours later, I stand beside a short woman who wears jeans well. Her sparkling eyes are familiar. Wait, it can't be Annie, surely? Yet I know her somehow. I open the overhead locker, instinctively grab her overnight bag and shove it next to my backpack.
 
I strap myself into the window seat next to Annie. I pretend the Air New Zealand safety video has my attention. After the credits roll and routine pre-flight announcements, I scroll through the list of in-flight movies.
 
"Hi, can you recommend some decent viewing?" I utter.
"No. All those shows are rubbish. I am Annie, by the way. "