Bicarbonate of Soda, not just for baking.

Bicarbonate of Soda, also known as Baking Soda, and as Sodium Bicarbonate has many uses as you will see in the posting below. However before you read it, and  open the links included about this subject, I’ll tell you about our own experience with this versatile white powder.

My wife, Karola, needs blood transfusions because her bone marrow doesn’t produce new blood. However, this new blood comes with a lot of iron, which the body cannot dispose of adequately. Excess iron in the body can be fatal. The only  way that she can get rid of this excess iron is by chemical means, called chelation.  She has to take a tablet dissolved in water every day two hours after breakfast; it is a “brew” like dissolved chalk and tastes like that as well. Then she has to give it one hour to work before being able to eat. 

This chemical process also produces a myriad of unpleasant side effects – too many to mention them all. One side effect is that it plays havoc with her kidneys; and this was also why we were so vehemently opposed to water fluoridation, as silicofluoride in the water is of no benefit at all, especially to sick kidneys. Karola’s kidney problems in particular made me search for a solution on the Internet. 

I found that Bicarbonate of Soda is an alkalising substance and beneficial for the kidneys, I made some printouts and asked Karola to try taking a quarter teaspoon with half a glass of water daily on an empty stomach. It took a lot of effort on my part to persuade Karola to try this, but I eventually succeeded.

A final observation.  Once the kidney function drops to 10% and below a person has to undergo a kidney dialysis.  Karola’s kidney function had reached the low point of 14 %. So, two weeks after Karola took Bicarbonate of Soda as mentioned above, the blood test showed that her kidney function has increased to 24%. We look forward to what the next blood test will show.

Please open the interesting links at the bottom of this posting it will elucidate the subject matter for you. - Werner
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What is Bi-Carb Soda made of?
http://www.mckenziesfoods.com.au/FAQs
As one of Australia's largest suppliers, McKenzie's supply only the finest quality Bi-Carbonate Soda through stringent standards. Sodium Bicarbonate is a fine white powder produced through a complex process of combining salt, water and limestone.
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McKenzie’s Bi-Carb is a natural food grade product and does not contain any aluminium or aluminium based additives, nor is aluminium used in the processing of the sodium bicarbonate.

All McKenzie’s Bi-Carb is 100% mined and packed in Australia, ensuring that it meets our high quality standards as you have known for generations.

Generations of Australians have relied on McKenzie's Bi-carb Soda for cooking, cleaning and deodorising. Environmentally friendly and budget-priced, McKenzie's Bi-carb Soda is a must-have product for your home. You'll be amazed at its myriad of uses - an effective, no-fuss alternative to expensive, over-packaged and toxic products. Refer to the Bi-Carb section on our website for more details.
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Baking soda: For cooking, cleaning and kidney health?
Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2009-07/ason-bsf070909.php
 Sodium bicarbonate appears to slow progression of chronic kidney disease. A

daily dose of sodium bicarbonate - baking soda, already used for baking, cleaning, acid indigestion, sunburn, and more—slows the decline of kidney function in some patients with advanced chronic kidney disease (CKD), reports an upcoming study in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (JASN). "This cheap and simple strategy also improves patients' nutritional status, and has the potential of translating into significant economic, quality of life, and clinical outcome benefits," comments Magdi Yaqoob, MD (Royal London Hospital).

The study included 134 patients with advanced CKD and low bicarbonate levels, also called metabolic acidosis. One group received a small daily dose of sodium bicarbonate in tablet form, in addition to their usual care. For this group, the rate of decline in kidney function was greatly reduced - about two-thirds slower than in patients. "In fact, in patients taking sodium bicarbonate, the rate of decline in kidney function was similar to the normal age-related decline," says Yaqoob.

Rapid progression of kidney disease occurred in just nine percent of patients taking sodium bicarbonate, compared to 45 percent of the other group. Patients taking sodium bicarbonate were also less likely to develop end-stage renal disease (ESRD) requiring dialysis.

Patients taking sodium bicarbonate also had improvement in several measures of nutrition. Although their sodium levels went up, this didn't lead to any problems with increased blood pressure.

Low bicarbonate levels are common in patients with CKD and can lead to a wide range of other problems. "This is the first randomized controlled study of its kind," says Yaqoob. "A simple remedy like sodium bicarbonate (baking soda), when used appropriately, can be very effective."

The researchers note some important limitations of their study - there was no placebo group and the researchers were aware of which patients were receiving sodium bicarbonate. "Our results will need validation in a multi centre study," says Yaqoob.
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Further interesting reading:

1. How to Drink Bicarbonate of Soda for Health
2 Using Sodium Bicarbonate (Baking Soda) for Kidney Cancer.
3. 75 Extraordinary Uses for Baking soda.
4. The Many Medicinal Uses of Bicarbonate of Soda.
5. Sodium Bicarbonate – works miracles.
6. Healing the Kidneys with Sodium Bicarbonate (Baking Soda)
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My thought for today. – Werner
A healthy outside starts from the inside. - Robert Urich
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The trouble selling our bed.

Life is never a straight line, there are lots of ups and downs and some funny episodes in-between. With that in mind, following is a true story that is about such a “moment” in my life, or a mild case of “bedlam" in this case might be a better description. This happened in the early 1980s. - Werner

The trouble with selling our bed.
Being a cabinetmaker (now retired) I decided to make a nice queen-size bed with beautiful rainforest silky oak timber. So we decided to sell the old double bed, which was smaller, but still in a very good condition, for one hundred dollars.

"Our classified advertisements bring results; take three and you get one free," was the catchcry of our local newspaper, the Cairns Post.  Since we were keen to get our old bed out of the way, I said to myself, "Let’s try it", and we took up that offer.  We certainly got results, but we hadn't envisaged that our sales drive would turn into a bit of a circus.

On the day the first advertisement appeared, we received the first phone call at seven in the morning, and another one soon after.   The first caller arrived first and paid for the bed, wanting to pick it up after work. So I rang the Cairns Post to cancel the extra ads.

The next ten callers were told that the bed had been sold.  But the 13th call (unlucky) was the buyer, profusely apologetic, saying that his wife wanted a queen size bed and he would be around to pick up his $100.00.  “Lucky,” I thought, "that we didn't spend it.” The ex-buyer handed me $20.00, "for my trouble" he said.  I thought, “If I get five more such transactions, I would not only have made the $100.00 sale price of the bed, but I still would have the bed."

The next day I rang the Cairns Post to re-insert the advertisement.  I had hardly hung up the phone, when a woman rang to see if I still had the bed, which was advertised the previous day.  She called in shortly afterward and decided that she wanted to buy the bed, and would have the money in three days time, and would then pick up the bed.  I was a little bit suspicious, and told her what had happened to me previously, but she assured me the she will take the bed and was prepared to swear on the bible, if necessary.  With such a seemingly ironclad assurance at hand, I rang the newspaper again (the second time within half an hour) to cancel the ad again.

Three days later, the lady phoned telling me that she was unable to organise a trailer, but would pick up the bed as soon she had one.  The fourth and the fifth day had passed without hearing anything from the lady, and I resigned myself that I might have had another "Clayton's sale," a sale when you haven't got a sale.

On the morning of the sixth day I set a deadline for the lady, “If she hasn't turned up by 10 am, I'll ring the newspaper again to re-insert the ad.”  The deadline passed and I walked to the phone, but got no further than dialling three digits, when my wife called out to stop.  "A car and a trailer had just stopped in front of the house," she informed me.

I had to pinch myself to see if I was dreaming, but the bed went out and the money came in. But most of all, I was sooooooo pleased that I was spared the embarrassment of ringing the Cairns Post once again, to re-insert the ad.  Even the thought, that I was only 5 digits away from an embarrassing phone call, makes me squirm.
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My thought for today. - Werner
Everything is funny as long as it is happening to somebody else.~ Will Rogers
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Pain can be relieved the natural way without chemical drugs.

The powerful pharmaceutical companies are pressuring governments around the world to legislate to prohibit selling alternative medicine. The main reason for this is quite obvious - to make more money and eliminate their opposition. I remember when I grew up, apart from headache tablets and penicillin there was never such a myriad of pharmaceuticals around or known to us, as is the case today. Yet we very seldom had to see a doctor, and all the minor ills were always easily fixed with known alternative home remedies passed on from generations to respective mums.
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I feel compelled to tell you a story about how alternative medicine helped my wife to overcome excruciating arthritic pain, which modern medicine was unable to do. Any person who is suffering from pain should read about this non chemical pain relief.
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To make a long story short, my wife, Karola, suffered from extreme arthritic joint pain, Panadeine and Panadol did not reduce the pain and the doctor prescribed “Panadol Osteo,” but this didn’t help her either.

Eventually Karola was put on the drug “Prednisolone” starting with 10 mg, which eliminated the pain, within a very short time. However, this gave her a lot of unpleasant side effects, including big black and blue spots on her arms and her face puffed up, just to mention a couple. She didn’t mind the latter so much as she jokingly said: “I lost my wrinkles.” This drug can also cause problems for the kidneys. After a lengthy time on this drug she was determined to slowly wean herself off it, under the doctor’s supervision.

Every week she took one milligram less and after several months she was off it. What the doctor and Karola hopped was that her body would attune to this and she could stay off this drug and remain pain free.  Unfortunately, after about one month the severe pain was back again. She couldn’t lift her arms, turn her wrists, needed help with dressing/undressing and was in absolute agony and becoming despondent.

Her own doctor was away and the doctor she saw wouldn’t give here the go ahead to go back on “Prednisolone.”  He told her to have blood tests and to see him in a week’s time and he would then decide on what to do to alleviate the pain.

However this was too long a time to be in absolute agony. It was terrible for me to see her suffering so much pain and I went on the internet looking for alternative pain killers. I found that Turmeric was an excellent one.

Read more about turmeric  and its extract curcumin. Link one. Link two.I went to the health food store, which had turmeric capsules in stock. However, when I told them what medication Karola was taking they were not sure if these capsules would interfere with her medication. They even rang the company who produced these capsules, but they were very reluctant to say that she could take them and suggested we see our chemist. So, I went to the chemist and was greeted by Karen, the assistant of the Smithfield Pharmacy, whom we have known for a long time. I told her about the situation and that I read that turmeric was a good pain killer. Karola had reached the stage when she was going to try anything to alleviate her extreme pain.

Karen, showed me the same turmeric capsules as the health food store, but I said, “Karen, I just came here to check out if Karola can take these capsules and if they do not interfere with her medication.” Karen said: “We will check it out, but I also suffer from some arthritic pain in my hands and I take those pain relief capsules, and they help me.  She showed me a packet with capsules, which are an extract from turmeric, called curcumin. She said that this is much stronger than the turmeric capsules. All that is written on the packed is “Pain Relief” ‘Herbal Pain Relief. Specifically Formulated with Gut Friendly Herbs.’ This product is produced by the Queensland company called: “Ethical Nutrients.”
  
Karen told me that Karola should take two capsules three times a day for two days and then just one capsule in the morning and one in the evening. To my utter surprise, Karola said after only taking the first two capsules, “I think my pain is easing.” I thought that it might be wishful thinking on her part, but it was true, she felt an easing of the pain. After less than two days of taking these capsules her pain was gone.

So Karola cancelled the doctor’s appointment, saying: “I’ll wait till my doctor is back. When we saw our doctor to find out the result of the blood test and Karola told him what happened and that she was pain free he was gobsmacked and would not believe it. I piped in: “You are of course married to the pharmaceuticals and don’t consider alternative medicine.” He asked Karola several times, “Are you sure these capsules took your pain away? Karola said: Do you think I would lie to you and say that I have no pain? Anyway, in the end he was convinced, put it all into the computer and said: I might try these capsules myself.

I wrote a testimony to Ethical Nutrients on behalf of Karola, telling them this story and thanking them for producing such a marvellous natural pain reliever that produces no side effects.

The moral of this story. We are taking it for granted that doctors prescribe drugs for illness and pain, many of them producing unpleasant side effects. There are alternatives; as you can see in this story. We just have to look for them, and we will find that in many cases we are better off with them. - Werner
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My thought for today. - Werner
Challenges are what make life interesting; overcoming them is what makes life meaningful. - Joshua J. Marine

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Cairns will be Fluoride Free, common sense prevailed.

The Cairns Report – a week to remember.
I hope that I have never to write the word “fluoride” or even utter it again, it is now  "like a dead duck in the water,” and an end of a long battle. Congratulations to the mayor and nine councillors of  the Cairns Regional Council, North Queensland Australia, who saw fit to stop this insidious practise; they deserve a well earned pat on their collective backs.– Werner

On Wednesday morning the 30th of January 2013, Merilyn Haines (President Queenslanders for Safe Water , Air and Food  Inc.) rang me and told me that the Cairns Regional Council is voting on water fluoridation and that I should go there. I didn’t know that this particular meeting was on and, although I already knew the outcome by talking to the councillors in the preceding weeks, I decided to go. When I arrived there, I was told that the meeting started earlier and is in progress and in its dying moments. I was able to witness the voting, and enjoyed clapping when the result was announced. For me, that was like a dream come true, I never thought that this would ever be possible. Cr. Linda Cooper and Cr. Jessie Richardson came to me, we shook hands and I congratulated them on their decision. Then the meeting was closed and we had to leave the chamber.

The Councillors who voted to stop this insidious practise deserve a feather in their collective hats. This was a courageous decision, especially since we have the pro fluoride Cairns Post, the pro fluoride radio host John Mackenzie of radio 4CA, pro fluoride TV channel 7 and of course the biased dentists with “blinkers.”  The latter of course are still grateful to Anna Bligh for paying the Queensland branch of the Australian Dental Association $220.00.00 for being compliant and supporting it.

Here is what a Smithfield  dentist said to her client, Esther Czedik, from Holloways Beach (Cairns) I quote: “Fluoride only helps young kids and has no effect on adult teeth - those kids who come for regular check ups to see him don't need fluoride anyway because they do take care of their teeth - The problem is purely the SUGAR. - Those who don't eat / drink much sugar, they have healthy teeth and don't need any additional fluoride. Unquote. 

Esther also suffers from thyroid problems from ingesting fluoridated water. Esther will be more than happy that Cairns water will be free from silicofluoride.

Blight he former Queensland premier said that to implement fluoridation will cost $39 million, by the time she was kicked out of office the cost had skyrocketed to $113 million. What a flagrant waste of public money for something that was known not to work.  Drink tea it is  cheaper than silicofluoride and healthier.

As soon as I stepped outside the Council Chamber the Channel 7 TV crew approached me for an interview. I answered all the reporter’s questions and told them why I was against fluoridation. I especially stressed that this is a man-made toxic poison from the Chinese fertiliser and aluminium industries,  and that we dispose of it through our drinking water system, yet the Chinese prohibit water fluoridation because of their health concerns.

After they were finished with me, they asked Bill Kilvert, North Queensland coordinator for Queenslanders for Safe Water , Air and Food  Inc.) to talk to them. Bill said: “Werner said all that needed to be said.” But they insisted on interviewing him.

At the 6 o’clock news they showed a picture of me with my name and all I said was: “It is a man made poison and should not be disposed through our water system."  Bill didn't make it to the TV screen. It showed which side they are on. Then I was bailed up by Daniel Strudwick from the Cairns Post and we had a lengthy talk and he recorded all of it. The next day, in his lengthy article nothing was mentioned of what I said, but he published mainly what the proponents of fluoride said.  Of course, we all know that the job of the editor is to separate the hay from the chaff and then publish the chaff.

On the way home I listened to radio 4CA on the car radio. There John Mackenzie and the member of parliament for Cairns, Gavin King were lamenting the decision of the Council, I was shocked and so were many other people as I learnt later, one of them was a prominent Cairns Chemist. They were absolutely astounded that those two were pro fluoride.

I was gobsmacked to hear a dentist ramble on and on about this dreadful decision, he stopped short of saying the sky will fall down and all the teeth of the young people will fall out. (The latter don’t drink water) But when he said that fluoride is not a poison (he didn’t say silicofluoride), but a natural compound, I said OMG, what an absolute dill. I thought, he doesn't know what he is talking about.  However, he wasn’t alone in not knowing what he was talking about; Gavin King MP and John Mackenzie were in the same league and singing from the same song sheet.

I was anxious to go home and get on the radio to debunk some of the rubbish King and Mackenzie was spruiking. Well, I got on the radio alright and most of you happen to know what happened after a short while – I was cut off, those two uninformed creatures didn’t like to hear the truth.

I was inundated with congratulatory e-mails and phone calls for tenaciously fighting this insidious practice undemocratically imposed on us. But I was not alone fighting this and I didn’t do it for getting accolades, I was fighting it because it was wrong and undemocratically imposed on us without any consultation. And, I also know a lot of people who suffer health problems by ingesting fluoride, but the fluoride proponents didn’t care one iota about those people – I can only say: shame on you and that is an understatement.

I can list many reasons why my wife and I opposed water fluoridation, but I will only state here one of the reasons.

My wife’s marrow doesn’t produce new blood, so my wife needs to have blood transfusions (BT) every three weeks.  BT accumulates iron in the body, which the body cannot remove. Too much iron in the body is fatal. So, she has to take a chemical to remove the iron, but this harsh chemical has bad side effects, but I will not bother you with those. However, this chemical causes havoc with her kidneys and doctors have told her to avoid fluoridated water. Perhaps you can see more clearly our side of it, why we should not be forced to drink fluoridated water or buy a reverse osmosis filter and waste 4 litres of water for every litre of fluoride free water is produced. In short it is just a waste of money all round. But as I said before those fluoride proponents do not care about people suffering health problems by ingesting this toxic poison from china and dispose it for them through our drinking water.*
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The Tasmanian statistics alone should tell the fluoride proponents that water fluoridation doesn't work. I quote: “Despite over sixty years of water fluoridation, Tasmania has the highest level of permanent tooth decay” (Australia Institute of Health and Welfare, 2007.) and the highest percentage of edentulous adults of the nation. (Anglicare Tasmania 2003. Unquote.
 

The countless people who rang me or e-mailed me were absolutely shocked and disgusted with Mackenzie and King and there were a few I know as members of the LNP who said that if  D.J. Hunt of the Katter Australia Party will stand for the seat of Cairns at the next election, they will vote for him. It is a well-known fact that D.J. is vehemently opposed to water fluoridation. But many also would want Mackenzie to go and be replaced with Greg Cary who filled in for Mackenzie while he was on holiday and according to them did a better job and never showed bias.

I wonder how Gavin King can reconcile with Michael Trout and the Barron River Branch of the LNP - they are absolutely opposed to water fluoridation.

There is of course a big difference between Michael Trout and Gavin King, Michael is willing to listen and learn, Gavin King thinks he knows everything.

I remember well the day when Michael was door knocking in Yorkeys Knob before the election and dropped in for a drink and a chat.

Our eldest daughter Sonja Hardy and husband Bob were here on a visit. Sonja and I told Michael to fight to stop water fluoridation if he gets elected and we informed him of the evils and ineffectiveness of water fluoridation and why most European countries don’t fluoridate their drinking water.

We talked for more than an hour; Michael asked questions and was listening intensely to what we had to say. Before Michael left he said to us: “I want to be honest with you. I knew absolutely nothing about fluoride, but now I do and I will certainly fight for the abolition, if elected. The rest is history. Now this is the difference between an aspiring politician who is willing to listen and learn, compared to the ones who know everything, and don’t want to listen to reputable scientists and expert in the field of chemistry and toxicology - to find the truth.

One of the Cairns Regional councillors had a long phone conversation with me and told me that he studied and read everything about fluoride for many years and he said: “It’s a toxic poison and should not be in our drinking water, its not cost-effective and, only less than 2% of water is consumed and rest goes down the drain – I want it stopped.”

Finally I got to mention that our daughter, Sonja Hardy, retired High School teacher, was recognised in state parliament by John Grant MP the member for Springwood, her member of parliament. I quote:

"With respect to the amendments, I cannot allow this opportunity to pass without quickly putting on the record for the benefit of those involved, especially those who have lobbied me heavily in my electorate, some of the strong thoughts that I have. I mention in particular Sonja Hardy from the Springwood electorate and all the lobbying that she has done on the issue of choice with regard to fluoridation. I would like to mention and put on record my appreciation of Jason Woodforth MP Michael Trout MP, Rosemary Menkens MP and Steve Bennett MP for the work that they have done in working within the party to raise this issue of choice. After all, the people simply want choice rather than copping sweep mass compulsory medication. Unquote.

We need more politicians like the above mentioned who are willing to listen to their constituents, and are willing to get informed on issues they know little about, and most of all; we don’t want puppets on a string. And, Gavin King, make hay while the sun shines, from the feedback I’m getting, you will not be the member for Cairns after the next election. We supported Gavin King through the Cairns Post when he was attacked before the election, I sent him fluoride information, I know now that he has never read them – he has disappeared from our radar.

My thought for today: You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink – but you can fluoridate their water. - Werner

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Fair dinkum, not exactly Oxford English, but Aussie lingo.

Below is an interesting explanation how the phrase “fair dinkum” came about. It is interesting to know that it is only used in Australia and New Zealand, yet originated in England. Below you will find an explanation of the origin of “Fair dinkum,” but first my story about the English language.

English is not my mother tongue, but my adopted language, and I have become fascinated with it – and that is “fair dinkum.” It has become more or less a hobby for me, and I have accumulated over the years a large vocabulary of English words and I continue to add more to it. The English language stands out in its wealth of vernaculars. But we Australians have our own unique reservoir of vernaculars; phrases, and slang, the latter often not flattering and inappropriate for formal occasions.

This evokes memories of my first job as a cane cutter in northern New South Wales (Australia)

When I came to Australia in 1954 I volunteered to cut sugar cane and was sent to the Maclean district in northern NSW. I was in a gang of five German migrants and we were given instructions with the help of an interpreter. Then the Cane inspector from the sugar Mill asked, “Who of you speaks English?” I said, kind of reluctantly, that I had completed a correspondence course in English in Germany. “OK,” said the cane inspector, “you are the ganger!” I had to ask what “ganger” meant and entailed, as I had never come across this word in my correspondence course. After it had been explained what my duties were, I was overwhelmed by this sudden promotion.

Although I had completed an English correspondence course, I soon realised that there was a big difference between reading the language, understanding what is being said, and speaking it.  Conversation between the farmer and me usually went something like this: he would give me instructions and after every sentence I would say, “Yes”. After about four instructions and four yeses, he would ask me, “Do you understand?” To which I would reply, “No”. The exasperation clearly showed on his face, and he would scratch his head mumbling to himself and walking away to organise an interpreter.  I wasn’t sure what he mumbled, but I had the feeling it contained some expletives (plus perhaps – “Bloody New Australians”) as migrants were called then.
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Then I remembered the advice my cousin Paul gave me back in Germany; he had learned English at the University, but had never been in a crash-course situation like me.  He gave me the following counsel. "In Germany we speak different dialects, but everybody can also speak the High-German or school German. The same situation exists in England, and I'm sure the same applies in Australia”. (I remembered the language problem I’d had in the canteen in Bremen speaking my dialect).  “The equivalent of the school German in the English language is Oxford English", Paul said, “the English you learned in your correspondence course”.

With this in mind I faced the next day with additional confidence.  During "smoko" time the farmer came along to tell us something, and I was ready to try this new tack.  After he finished the first sentence I said, “Would you speak Oxford English please?” For a moment I thought he was going to have convulsions; in order not to swallow his tongue he coughed and his cigarette dropped from between his lips. “Hey? Oxford English? Oxford English?” he slowly repeated again with a perplexed facial expression. “You must be bloody joking, ha, ha, ha”, and finishing with a guttural laugh. 

He then turned around, calling out to his brother who was a bit further down the paddock. “This fellow here” he said, pointing to me, “wants me to speak bloody Oxford English. Can you speak it?” he asked with a chuckle. Needless to say I have never asked anybody to speak Oxford English since. Following is the explanation, of "fair dinkum" courtesy of, “A phrase a Week” that I subscribed to. http://www.phrases.org.uk/a-phrase-a-week/index.html

Fair dinkum.
Meaning: Honest; genuine; fair play.
Origin. There could hardly be a more Southern Hemisphere expression than 'fair dinkum'. The phrase, which is hardly used outside Australia and New Zealand, conjures up images of horny-handed ranchers with corks on their hats. A 'fair-dinkum Aussie' is indeed what the locals call someone who embodies the nation's values. So, where did the phrase originate? Alice Springs? Auckland? No, Lincolnshire in England. That claim will take a little justifying, especially to readers down under, so here goes.

Firstly, let's get out of the way the folk-etymological tale that the phrase derives from the expression 'din gum', used by Chinese miners with the meaning ‘real gold’. My Chinese is less than perfect and I can't comment on whether or not 'real gold' is a correct translation, but I can say that there's no evidence to link the phrase to China. There is, however, a mining connection in the phrase's background.

'Dinkum' is a slang term that appears to have grown up with two meanings, 'work' and 'fair play'. These may in fact be drawn from one original meaning, that is, 'honest toil'. The 'work' meaning of dinkum is found in print in documents from both Australia and the UK in the late 19th century, the earliest being in the classic Australian novel Robbery under Arms, published by Thomas Alexander Browne, using the pseudonym Rolf Boldrewood, in 1888. It also appears in Sidney Addy's Glossary of Words Used in the Neighbourhood of Sheffield, 1891:

‘I can stand plenty o' dincum.’ This word is used by colliers at Eckington. [Eckington is in East Derbyshire]

The 'honesty' or 'fair play' meaning is what people now mean by the phrase. The 'fair' was added to dinkum for emphasis, much in the same way that it was added to 'square' to make 'fair and square'. The 'fair play' meaning was known in England from at least 1882, as in this example from a report of a political meeting in Lincoln, reported in the Nottingham Evening Post, February 1882. The paper reports the opinions of Richard Hall, a local magistrate who was complaining about the unfair policies of the Gladstone government, which he believed favoured the wealthy: In all of these things he thought there should be fair 'dinkum' to all classes of people.

'Fair dinkum' also appeared in Australia, in the Sydney newspaper The Bulletin, in 1894. 'Fair dinkum' was used by the colliers of the UK's East Midlands from the 1880s and by Australians from a few years later. In the late 19th century, in addition to the numerous criminals who were transported, many mineworkers migrated from England to Australia, taking their working language with them. Significantly as far as the derivation of this phrase is concerned, the direction of migration was very much one way and few migrants ever came back.
To learn more about Australian slang, click here.
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Here are some interesting links for people visiting Australia who want to familiarise themselves with our "unique" Australian "LINGO". *
1. Australian Slang explained. Click here.
2. More elucidation about our lingo. Click here.
3. A video presentation about our slang. Click here.
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Here is an interesting poem written by June Courtney from the Gold Coast Australia. June and her late husband migrated to Australia from Ireland after World War Two.
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Aussie Slang (and more)
By June Courtney

Since arriving in Australia I’ve learnt a thing or two
Any argument you may have is referred to as a "Blue"
The Aussie phrase "Fair Dinkum" means I kid you not
And Christmas comes in summer when everything is hot
The saying "Ridgy Didge" means I’m telling you no lie
And when the food is ready "Tucker’s Up" is then the cry
If you are not too well it is said you’re "Feelin’ Crook"
And if complaining all the time you will be called a "Sook"
Your "Clobber" is your gear and your "Cobber" is your mate
And your girlfriend is your "Sheila" when you’re going on a date
There is just one other thing with you I’d like to share
Since living in Australia I know a Koala’s not a bear.
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My thought for today. – Werner
A good time to keep your mouth shut is when you're in deep water. - Sidney Goff
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It pays to be honest.

While looking for a file in my computer I rediscovered “The Seed," a wonderful little story that gives a valuable lesson, which you should give your children and grandchildren to read as a kind of "lesson for life" to instill into their minds the moral of this story that "It pays to be honest." So I decided to share it with you. The old adage: You REAP what You SOW, fits this story nicely. – Werner

The Seed.
A successful Christian business man was growing old and knew it was time to choose a successor to take over the business. Instead of choosing one of his directors or his children, he decided to do something different. He called all the young executives in his company together.
 

He said, "It is time for me to step down and choose the next CEO. I have decided to choose one of you." The young executives were shocked, but the boss continued.

"I am going to give each one of you a seed today. It's one very special seed. I want you to plant the seed, water it, and come back here one year from today with what you have grown from the seed I have given you. I will then judge the plants that you bring, and the one I choose will be the next CEO."

One man, named Jim, was there that day and he, like the others, received a seed. He went home and excitedly told his wife the story. She helped him get a pot, soil and compost and he planted the seed.

Everyday, he would water it and watch to see if it had grown. After about three weeks, some of the other executives began to talk about their seeds and the plants that were beginning to grow. Jim kept checking his seed, but nothing ever grew. Three weeks, four weeks, five weeks went by, and still nothing. By now, others were talking about their plants, but Jim didn't have a plant and he felt like a failure.*
Six months went by, still nothing in Jim's pot. He just knew he had killed his seed. Everyone else had trees and tall plants, but he had nothing. Jim didn't say anything to his colleagues, however. He just kept watering and fertilizing the soil. He so wanted the seed to grow.
 

A year finally went by and all the young executives of the company brought their plants to the CEO for inspection. Jim told his wife that he wasn't going to take an empty pot, but she asked him to be honest about what happened. Jim felt sick at his stomach. It was going to be the most embarrassing moment of his life, but he knew his wife was right. He took his empty pot to the board room. When Jim arrived, he was amazed at the variety of plants grown by the other executives. They were beautiful, in all shapes and sizes. Jim put his empty pot on the floor and many of his colleagues laughed, a few felt sorry for him!

When the CEO arrived, he surveyed the room and greeted his young executives. Jim just tried to hide in the back. "My, what great plants, trees, and flowers you have grown," said the CEO. "Today, one of you will be appointed the next CEO!"

All of a sudden, the CEO spotted Jim at the back of the room with his empty pot. He ordered the financial director to bring him to the front. Jim was terrified. He thought, "The CEO knows I'm a failure! Maybe he will have me fired!" When Jim got to the front, the CEO asked him what had happened to his seed. Jim told him the story.

The CEO asked everyone to sit down except Jim. He looked at Jim, and then announced to the young executives, "Behold your next Chief Executive! His name is Jim!"

Jim couldn't believe it. Jim couldn't even grow his seed. How could he be the new CEO, the others said? Then the CEO said, "One year ago today, I gave everyone in this room a seed. I told you to take the seed, plant it, water it, and bring it back to me today. But, I gave you all boiled seeds. They were dead. It was not possible for them to grow. All of you, except Jim, have brought me trees and plants and flowers. When you found that the seed would not grow, you substituted another seed for the one I gave you.

Jim was the only one with the courage and honesty to bring me a pot with my seed in it. Therefore, he is the one who will be the new Chief Executive!" -  Author Unknown. (What an interesting selection process. -Werner)
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My thought for today. – Werner
Honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom. Thomas Jefferson
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Dog attack, an absolutely terrifying experience.

When I went to see my friend Tom Robinson on his cane farm, on a beautiful May day in 1999, I had never given a thought that it would turn into a bit of a “drama” with me finishing up in Hospital. I have known the Robinson family since the early 1960s and made countless visits there over the years. They always had three to four dogs that knew me and greeted me when I came. In the early 1970s I managed Dr. Westerway’s 92 hectare cane farm, which extended along the Captain Cook Highway Smithfield and down Yorkeys Knob Road, so we became neighbours of the Robinsons.

I have experienced many things in my varied life, some good and some bad, but being attacked by five dogs was by far my worst experience – something I would not wish on anyone.

I love dogs. We always had one or two German Sheppard dogs, and I was never afraid of dogs. This experience didn't change that.

However, on that fateful day when I went to see Tom about something, I found the house locked, but I heard voices and other activities coming from the farm shed, so I proceeded to go there.  I called out, “Are you there Tom?” However, instead of getting a reply, a dog came from nowhere at me. I knew that in a case like this it is important not to show fear and stand your ground and yell at the dog and they normally retreat. This had worked for me on a few occasions in the past, but not this time.

The dog couldn't be intimidated and got stuck into me from the front and the other four dogs were on the side and behind attacking me viciously. I was totally surrounded by the dogs.

I knew that holding the bottom jaw of a dog stops him biting you and it renders them powerless. So I grabbed the attack dog’s bottom jaw with my hand, but only for a short time.  I had to let go as I had only one hand to defend myself, and the other four dogs were still ripping into me. I kept walking backwards belting the dog with my bare fists, but they smelled blood and were in a frenzy, and there was no way to stop them.

Eventually I was able to hop onto a small tractor, now I was on higher ground, and I grabbed a chair beside the tractor and used the four legs like a defending “fencing” action against the dogs.  With all the commotion - the yapping dogs, and what seemed to be an eternity - the dog owner finally came, grabbed the main attack dog and the attack stopped.

There was blood and pieces of flesh hanging from me everywhere. I had countless deep tooth marks; to say that I was a mess would have been an understatement. The dog owner called the ambulance and I asked him to ring Karola to tell her what happened and for her to ask our neighbour to bring her here to pick up the car.

Karola arrived just before the ambulance left for Cairns – she was shocked and couldn’t believe what she saw. Karola was told by the ambulance man to go home as the hospital would ring her when I was ready to be picked up. I wanted to be taken to my private doctor, but they insisted on taking me to the Cairns Base Hospital.

I was dropped off there at 5 pm; blood was running through the blood saturated bandages from my arms and legs to the floor and into my shoes. When at 8 pm no doctor had seen me, I rang Karola and told her to come in and pick me up and take me to an after hour doctors surgery. I was still on the phone, when a doctor called me in, he must have overheard my conversation with Karola.

At about 7 pm our granddaughter, Dina, rang home and wanted to know if the prearranged meeting with me in Cairns in the morning still stood. Karola told her that she would doubt it as I had been attacked by dogs and was in hospital. So Dina rushed to the hospital and just arrived as the nurse called me in for a clean-up and dressing the wounds, and Dina came in with me. I was finally all bandaged up at 9.30 pm and Dina drove me home.

The following day, Dina rang the ambulance and asked if they reported the dog attack to the police, to which they replied: “No, we are not required to do that.” Yet, if a doctor sees an abused child he is required to report it to the police; a bit of a double standard here. Without telling me, Dina rang the Cairns Post and told them what had happened to me. Shortly after a Cairns Post journalist with camera came to see me. Once the Article with my picture laying in bed, under the heading “Horror Dog Attack” appeared in the Cairns Post, I was inundated with phone calls from far and wide. I remember a friend from the Atherton Tableland who said: “I always knew that you like to get your name into the Cairns Post, but I never thought that you would go to this length.” This article came also to the attention of the then Cairns City Council. See Cairns Post article below. (Click image to enlarge.)

The only thing that was wrong in that article was that the dog owner told the Cairns Post that it was a Labrador cross, when in fact it was a pit-bull cross.

I take this opportunity to wish my entire regular blog visitors in Australia and the world, a merry Christmas, a happy and healthy New Year, and peace in this world. - Werner
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Horror Dog Attack
Animals set to be put down
By Tracey Ferrier

A 68-year-old Yorkeys Knob man is nursing 30 puncture wounds and three bone-deep gashes after five dogs set upon him at a friend's cane farm.

Werner Schmidlin says he's lucky to have survived the terrifying attack, which left him bruised, bloodied and his clothes in shreds. The Cairns City Council has promised action after it was revealed the Yorkeys Knob farm is home to eight dogs - twice as many as regulations allow.

Farm worker Andrew Herrington - who owns six of the animals, including two puppies not involved in the attack - said two of his adult dogs would be destroyed.

He said one of the farm owner's two dogs also would be put down. Mr Schmidlin said he had just arrived at the friend's farm on Monday when the pack circled him and began to attack.

"A big dog just came straight for me and the other five joined in the frenzy," he said. He said he'd never before had a problem with the farm owner's pets hut the aggression shown by another dog incited them all. "I had to fend them off with my hand and I was calling out for help," he said. "There was blood all over the floor (of the farm shed)." He said the pack retreated but came back at him on two more occasions.

"I managed to fend them off with a chair which I could grab. I had flesh hanging off me, especially on my arm and leg," Mr Schmidlin said. "I was trying not to fall down because I knew if I did I would have had much worse injuries."

He said he ended up climbing aboard a small tractor to escape the animals until help arrived.

He was taken to Cairns Base Hospital for treatment. His major injuries include gashes to his right calf muscle and right forearm, a badly bruised right shoulder and a finger that was bitten through -it was a terrifying experience. “If I was a kid I'd be dead," Mr Schmidlin said. He said he was a dog lover and hated to think of the animals being destroyed, saying a better solution would be for owners to control their animals.

"I don't really blame the animal so much as the owner for not making sure it didn't happen," Mr Schmidlin said.

"I want to try and make sure this sort of thing doesn't happen again."  Mr Herrington said the attack was shocking and he'd always raised his dogs -Labradors, bulldogs and crosses of both - to be gentle. He said Mr Schmidlin had come on to the property unannounced and the dogs simply were protecting the area.

"I think something that can be applied across the board, especially in farm situations, is for people to stay in their cars until someone comes out to meet them," Mr Herrington said.

He said he was aware of council limits on dog numbers and would take action to comply with those regulations. He said he believed only a couple of the dogs actually had bitten Mr Schmidlin but said he did not witness the entire incident, which happened very quickly. "It was really, really quick - bloody scary actually," he said.

While the thought of putting down his pets was heartbreaking, Mr Herrington said he could not take the risk of the aggressors in the group attacking again. "As much as I love them, it is unacceptable," he said.

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My thought for today. - Werner
Be brave. Take risks. Nothing can substitute experience. -- Paulo Coelho
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