G’Day World #303 – Paul O’Keefe, The Kelly Gang

Note: I just realized I introduce this show as #302 when it’s actually #303. Meh.

As you may know, I’ve recently become slightly obsessed about Ned Kelly. While I’ve been interested in the subject for several years, since I realized during a trip to Glenrowan in 2004 that I didn’t know much of the story, a recent trip to the Old Melbourne Gaol prompted me to investigate further.

Here’s the thing people: Ned Kelly was and is a true Australian hero. He wasn’t a “bushranger” – he was a freedom fighter, an Irish Catholic who stood up to the British Protestant authorities and threatened them with a rebellion. He was a political leader, whose life and career was brutally cut short by corrupt authorities. He is a hero who gave his life to make a stand and we should celebrate him as a hero.

My guest tonight, Paul O’Keefe, is a direct descendant of the Kelly Gang, who travels to schools around the country to set the story straight.

Links for further reading:

  1. Paul’s site: Kelly Gang Educational Services
  2. Ned Kelly: Iron Outlaw
  3. Wikipedia: Ned Kelly
  4. The Jerilderie Letter


Ned Kelly armour

The track on this episode is:
La CucarachaWeen
“Your Party” (mp3)
from “La Cucaracha”
(Rounder Records)

Buy at Rounder Store
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G’Day World Book Club Recommends: Fidel Castro “My Life”

Yesterday I was presented with an early Xmas gift from Nick Hodge – Fidel Castro’s “My Life”, a recently published volume of interviews conducted by Ignacio Ramonet, the long-time editor of the French magazine Le Monde Diplomatique, professor of communication at the University Denis Diderot in Paris and founder of Media Watch Global.

http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=thepodcastnet-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&asins=1416553282&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr

This has jumped to the very top of my reading list.

Ramonet spent one hundred hours interviewing Castro between 2003 and 2005. Castro then reviewed the entire manuscript in 2006. This, then, is the closest we will ever get to having Fidel Castro’s autobiography.

Ramonet says he wrote it because young people around the world know little of the truth about Castro. After 48 years of American negative propaganda against him and the Cuban Revolution, the perception of Castro is mostly negative. He is perceived as a brutal dictator, a relic from the Cold War. Ramonet, however, paints a very different picture of the man. He describes him as “shy, a polite, affable man who pays attention to each person he talks to and speaks without affectation, yet with the manners and gestures of a somewhat old-fashioned courtesy that has earned him the title of ‘the last Spanish gentleman’.” He is also “indefatigable” – in his eighties, he still sleeps on average 4 hours a night, working through until five or six am every day, with his entourage of young assistants asleep on their feet. He lives frugally, with no luxury spent on himself – no palaces for Fidel. He is a man with a never-ending series of Big Ideas.

Ramonet writes of Castro:

“Moved by humanitarian compassion and internationalist solidarity, he has a dream, which he has spoken about a thousand times, of bringing health and knowledge, medicines and education, to every corner of the planet.

As for Cuba itself, Ramonet writes:

“Although the face of Fidel is often in the press, on television and in the street, there is no official portrait, nor is there a statue or coin or avenue or building or monument dedicated to Fidel Castro or any other living leader of the Revolution.

Despite the unceasing harassment from abroad, this little country, clinging to its sovereignty, has achieved undeniably admirable results in the area of human development: the abolition of racism, the emancipation of women, the eradication of illiteracy, a drastic reduction in infant mortality rates, a higher level of general knowledge…. In questions of education, health, medical research and sports, Cuba has achieved results that nany developed nations would envy.

Despite the persistent attacks by the United States and the 600 assassination attempts against Fidel Castro, Cuba has never responded with violence. For forty-eight years, not a single act of violence encouraged or sponsored by Cuba has occurred in the United States.”

Cuba gets (and deserves) criticism from Amnesty International for some of its policies which deny it’s citizens civil freedoms, such as the freedom of association, freedom of opinion, freedom of movement, and the use of the death penalty. However there are no reported cases of torture in Cuba or ‘disappearances’, the murder of journalists or political assassinations or protest marchers beaten by police. There has NEVER been a popular uprising against the regime – in nearly fifty years. To understand why Cuba has some of those civil freedom restrictions, you have to understand the forces trying to destroy Cuba.

The Unites States government has spent hundreds of millions of dollars in this decade alone trying to oust Castro, through NGO’s such as the “National Endowment for Democracy” (NED) and the “United States Agency for International Development” (USAID), which alone has delivered over $65 million to anti-Castro groups since 1996. According to Ramonet, hundreds of journalists around the world are paid to spread negative propaganda about Castro. Funding is provided by the USA to terrorist organisations hostile to the Cuban government such as Alpha 66 and to the now-perhaps-disbanded Omega 7.

Cuba has been under a devastating and evil economic embargo from the USA since 1960, severely crippling its economy, and yet Castro continues to defy their attempts to destroy the Revolution. He has survived relentless attacks on his person and his country by the most powerful economic and military superpower on the planet for 48 years while continuing to improve the living conditions of the 11 million citizens of Cuba.

The key to understanding Cuba and Castro is that you have to understand what life was like back before the Revolution when Cuba was governed by a series of corrupt and brutal regimes directly supported by the US government and US corporations. The quality of life for the citizens of Cuba was terrible. Castro changed all of that. He ousted Bastista’s corrupt regime and the US interests that backed it. He has significantly improved the living conditions of the Cuban people, all while fighting off the US government’s continued attempts on his life.

Please – read this book.

G’Day World #302 – Dr John Demartini on overcoming your fears

Well this is the first real show of Season 4 of the G’Day World odyssey with the new focus on answering the question “how can I make the world a better place?”

I’m very lucky to have a big hitter like Dr John Demartini back on the show to kick off the new season. Before any of us can make the world a better place we need to get out of our own way, sort out our shit, cut the victim mentality and stop buying into the manufactured ambivalence.

John Demartini

Dr Demartini is back in Australia running a seminar called “For Love or Money – Financial Fantasy and Relationship Reality” and I took the opportunity to ask him a few questions of my own as well as a few questions submitted to me over Twitter.

  • What is his seminar “For Love Or Money” about?
  • What is the difference between inspiration and motivation.
  • What does he say to people who say ‘I don’t know what I want to do with my life’
  • Success isn’t all about material wealth…. what about making the world a better place?
  • How are inspirational speakers different from religious leaders?
  • Do inspirational speakers have or use political influence?
  • John was married to the late Athena Starwoman. What are his thoughts about astrology?
  • Why is it that only a small portion of the population takes action under their own initiative?
  • What is his quest / mission?
  • What he personally do on a daily basis to stay authentic?
  • I like Demartini’s style. As I said the last time he was on the show (G’Day World 276), listening to him is like listening to a much more refined, wealthier, better looking version of myself. He articulates what I think is a terrific attitude towards life.

    As I mention at the end of the show, you can get your FREE DVD of the evening event ‘For Love or Money’ with Dr John Demartini by clicking on the image below.

    Demartini free gift

    A Lesson In CrimeTokyo Police Club
    “Nature Of The Experiment” (mp3)
    from “A Lesson In Crime”
    (Paper Bag Records)

    Buy at iTunes Music Store
    More On This Album

    Become part of the G’Day World conversation.

    TPN now has a HQ in Second Life! If you’ve never spent any time in SL, jump in, go to TPN HQ (by clicking this link) and add “Cameron Switchblade” to your friends (that’s me). I’d be happy to show you around and help you find your SL legs.

    If you’re a member of Facebook, you can ADD ME AS A FRIEND and then ADD YOURSELF TO THE G’DAY WORLD GROUP.

    You can show your love by buying me stuff from my Amazon wish list.

    You might DIGG the show.

    Get the TPN version of Particls.

    Don’t forget to make use of my new comments line – +613 9016 9699.

    You can now buy transcripts of this podcast from Pods In Print.

    If you enjoyed this podcast, make sure you don’t miss future episodes by subscribing to our feed and leave us a voice comment!