According to Wikipedia, Kristina Keneally was born Kristina Kerscher in the United States in 1969 to an American father and an Australian mother. She grew up in Toledo, Ohio, and was educated at the Notre Dame Academy. She later attended the University of Dayton, also in Ohio. She received her baccalaureate in 1991 and worked as an intern for the Lieutenant Governor of Ohio, Paul Leonard. In 1995 she graduated with a Masters Degree in Religious Studies.

A profile in The Australian in August adds that her grandmother was a Brisbane barmaid who married an American GI.

Keneally met her Australian husband at a Catholic World Youth Day in Poland. Ben Keneally is the nephew of author Thomas Keneally.

She has been in Australia for 15 years and in her maiden parliamentary speech quoted sources as diverse as Pope Leo XIII and Friedrich Engels.

It’s a remarkable achievement to become Premier of NSW, although she is the third person to hold the position in 15 months.

Having not watched television since the grand final in September, I haven’t heard her speak, but apparently she still has an American accent.

I find it a little disturbing that she is younger than me, probably the first state premier to be so.

It was a small hospital, but well equipped. The medical and nursing staff were all very skilled and friendly.

Juliet had an epidural.

I was surprised to hear the hospital’s birthing unit had been closed.

However, a media release I received by email this morning offers some hope for the service to be reopened.

Hopefully that occurs, because although Pambula is only 30km from Bega, it’s the closest hospital to Eden, which is further to the south.

MEDIA RELEASE

Local Pambula doctors are pleased with the hearing they and the Pambula community received from the NSW Health Minister and Deputy Premier Carmel Tebbutt during talks on Wednesday over the re-opening of Pambula’s closed maternity unit.

Local GP obstetrician Dr Frank Simonson attended the meeting with the Minister as part of a Pambula delegation, which included local health professionals, community members and entertainer Frankie J Holden.

Dr Simonson said while the Health Minister had not committed to re-opening the maternity unit immediately, she had listened with interest and indicated she would discuss the issue with the local area health service.

The maternity ward at Pambula Hospital on the far South Coast of NSW was shut down 12 months ago after a decision by the Greater Southern Area Health Service to operate a single obstetric unit at Bega, 30 kms away.

The closure of the maternity service resulted in the loss of four experienced GP obstetricians, and has forced women and their families to travel long distances to received inadequate maternity care. Since the maternity unit closed, there have been a number of close calls involving pregnant women.

Rural Doctors Association of NSW (RDA NSW) encourages Ms Tebbutt to now visit Pambula to see for herself the impact the closure has had on local families.

All four Pambula GP obstetricians are committed to resuming a local maternity service and have the support and backing of the local community.

An alternative maternity model for the Bega Valley which would allow the service to fit local conditions, including the location of doctors should be considered, the RDA NSW believes.

This would allow births to continue in Bega and Pambula. Such models are working successfully in other parts of the State and allow women to continue to have their babies close to home.

Dr Simonson said it is concerning that the Area Health Service has failed to fully implement the Recommendations of its own Review of Maternity Services in the Bega Valley. After 12 months, only 7 of the 13 Recommendations have so far been met.

“This includes the recruitment of medical staff to Bega Hospital – one of the Review’s key recommendations – leaving a maternity system run largely by locums at a cost up to $2500 per day plus accommodation and travel,” Dr Simonson said.

“It is ludicrous that at a time when we are struggling to find enough doctors able to deliver babies in rural areas, that we are not being able to use our skills and experience. It’s important area health services think outside the square and come up with answers that meet local needs and resources,” Dr Simonson said.

It is quite amazing how the repetitive tones from an innocent little phone can incite so much anger and frustration, but they do. And it’s not just the phone rings; you can also have different sound for message alerts and other thing. One of the guys I work with has an extremely loud whistle every time he gets a text message, which fools me every time. And yes, it does bring out the PTR in me. I basically just want to smash his phone each time it whistles.

Kitty admits to variously having Barry Manilow singing Copacabana and WHAM’s “Wake me up before you go go” driving her friends and colleagues mad.

She mentions the embarrassment of mobile phones ringing at inappropriate moments.

I was actually at a funeral some time ago, when someone’s phone rang and The Simpsons theme song bellowed out with great amplification because of the impressive acoustics of the church. What made it worse was that the person didn’t actually answer it or fish for it to turn it off (possibly so no one would know who it was), so it just rang and rang and rang. Finally it finished only to be followed by an encore performance of Homer’s famous “Doh”, as a message alert.

That reminds me of this post when a mobile phone rang during Good Friday Mass.

Kitty’s comments though are topical because ringtones have become so diverse and annoying. People set their phones to have a different ring for different people. The phone of one of my colleagues squawks like a chicken when one of her designated callers rings.

The other interesting thing about Kitty’s column is the reminder that we used to have phones that we actually dialled and they “rang” like a bell when someone called us. Kitty’s sister Robin wrote in reply:

There was something very good about physically dialling a number … it helped me to remember the number … and made me stop for a minute before I spoke (always a good thing for me!). And there’s also the handpiece, it had a bit of weight to it which I liked.

Wow, I’m only 39 and I can remember phones that needed to be “dialled”, rather than have their buttons pressed. It seems like something from a different century.

I agree with Robin. Communication was more calculated in those days. Today it is spontaneous and that breeds trouble in some instances,

Have you ever committed any war crimes? Are you a terrorist? They’re not the exact words, but they may as well be.

I can just picture Osama Bin Laden sitting in his cave thinking he can trick the Australian Government into giving him citizenship by answering "no" to both questions.

Obviously, terrorists will attempt to deceive. I suppose that if the deceipt is discovered the government can deport them for telling fibs on the application. That’s the only reason I can see for asking such questions.

I believe in respect for the dead, but Anderson is still well and truly with us.

His enemies within the National, Liberal and Labor Parties have had nothing but nice things to say about him.

An honest opinion came from WA Liberal, Wilson Tuckey, who said:

“I’m ambivalent about his activities; he’s done his job in this place and he of course has got to look after his own affairs,” he told reporters.

Mr Tuckey said he did not think Mr Anderson was quitting the party leadership because there are some difficult issues coming up for the Nationals.

“I’m not sure he’s at any time been comfortable in the job,” he said.

Everyone else was glowing in their praise for the man who has steered the National Party to the point of oblivion. Perhaps that’s why.

As a former National Party member I cringe at how close the Federal Party has become to the Liberals. I joined the Young Nationals when Doug Anthony was federal leader and Peter Nixon was our local member. They cut deals. They made sure the country voice was heard and acted on.

In the current Parliament a country advocate must deal with backbench Liberals as much as the National Party. Their numbers are so far diminished it’s hard to see them recovering.

I can’t recall the last time the National Party won a seat in a three-cornered contest after the sitting member retired. There might be one or two in Queensland, but look at Murray in Victoria and Farrer in NSW as seats the Nationals will almost never win back.

Anderson isn’t responsible for Murray, but he did nothing to arrest the decline.

I have different views about the Victorian Party. Peter Ryan has steered an independent course and for that he has my respect and support.

It poses more questions than it answers, incisively exposing the flawed
legal system in the United States, where elected judges care more for
public opinion than justice.

It tells the story of a semi-retarded black man, Rennell Price, who is
convicted with his brother Payton of a sex homicide involving an Asian
schoolgirl.

Fifteen years after the trial, Rennell’s time on death row is nearly exhausted and the execution date looms near.

A new lawyer, Terri Paget, takes up the case for final appeals with her husband and stepson in support.

Terri is an idealist and she bonds with Rennell, especially after becoming convinced of his innocence.

In researching the original case against him she discovers that the
state’s key witness, Eddie Fleet, was the likely perpetrator, with
Payton a passive accessory. Rennell was almost certainly asleep when
the crime was committed.

Terri concludes the original defence lawyer was corrupt, incompetent
and taking drugs. He should not have represented both brothers and
never gave Rennell a defence. The prosecution was aware of this
lawyer’s deficiencies and feared an appeal, so deftly had the trial
judge seek confirmation of counsel from the brothers.

The truth of the crime only emerges when Payton confesses shortly
before his own execution. He waited so long because he wanted to guard
Rennell from abuse by other prisoners. Throughout their lives he had
been Rennell’s protector. Although a big man, Rennell was physically
and mentally slow.

Conviction gives a detailed but readable account of the final appeals and the unfolding evidence of Rennell’s innocence.

The Californian Supreme Court and the state governor make it clear they won’t call off the execution.

Terri and her husband take their case to the federal courts, where
judges are appointed, rather than elected, and therefore less swayed by
popular opinion in favor of capital punishment.

They win one appeal, which is then appealed to the federal Supreme Court by the state of California.

Patterson backgrounds the politics of the court, where ideology
counts more than justice for some of the judges. The court’s right wing
is determined to enshrine the power of state courts and maintain
capital punishment at all costs.

The court votes 5-4 to validate the original verdict and Rennell’s fate is sealed.

The ending is obviously a sad one and leaves the reader feeling frustrated and angry.

Television gives us a rosy image of America’s robust legal system
and litigant culture. Patterson gives us an eye-opening account of how
justice can be denied to people who can’t afford to buy it.

One aspect I found slightly irritating was the use of Terri’s family
life, particularly the abuse her daughter suffered at the hands of
Terri’s first husband.

Initially I found this distracting and of dubious relevance, but it
became clear towards the end that Terri’s daughter represented the
large number of Americans who support capital punishment because they
live in fear of crime.

As courtroom drama goes, I rate this novel higher than anything else
I’ve read. It doesn’t have the theatrics perhaps of a John Grisham, but
the message is heartfelt.

During my spare day at Balranald I visited Mungo National Park. It’s 150km from the town along mostly dirt roads.

This is the official blurb from the National Parks brochure:

“Mungo National Park covers most of an ancient dry lake bed on the plains of south western NSW. During the ice ages, Lake Mungo was one of a chain of freshwater lakes strung along Willandra Creek, then the main channel of the Lachlan River.

“These dry lakes preserve one of the longest records of Aboriginal life in Australia, dating back around 50,000 years ago to the present day. Dating of ancient burials shows that these are the oldest known fully modern humans outside of Africa.”

There’s an old woolshed at the park entrance, also a modern visitors’ centre and good amenities. Bunk accommodation can be booked in restored shearers’ huts.

I completed a 2.5km “foreshore walk” and read the interpretive signs, which were interesting and informative. There are diverse geological formations and a mix of other natural features in close proximity. Kangaroos were hopping among the cypress pine.

You can easily believe it was once a lake bed. As you stand inside it you can see the lake walls on each horizon. The eastern shore is called the “Walls of China”. These are windblown sand dunes that eerily resemble Saharan desert sands.

There had been some rain and the tracks were pretty slippery. A strong wind also made it rather cold. Mungo only has about 250mm of rain per year and would be baking hot in summer.

Mungo is about 110km from Mildura and 120km from Euston. I returned to Balranald via Euston, which is on the Murray River. It was interesting to see how much bigger the Murray was after being joined by the Murrumbidgee.