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The Official On-Line Newsletter
of the
WA Rangers Association Inc
Issue 2 2007
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Yes! It's another Ray-ngerdaze! |
| Hi all you thrillseekers and welcome to Rangerdaze.
We will now be putting the Ranger News page every 3 to 4 weeks as some
of you have missed them. So this time what do we have for you? A bit of interesting stuff, like a letter from National Dog Warden Association (UK) President Sue Bell to a member of their Government regarding "Restricted Breeds". A speech Bill Gates delivered to some high school kids and a few other odds & ends. Each issue of Rangerdaze now goes into the Rangerdaze Achives accessed through the spinning Western Australia on the "Index" page. In a few months we will have a questionnaire with a prize, so make sure you read it all. Don't forget to send in your stories through the email link below. Please get permission to submit articles from you managers. |
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Sponsor of the Month DZOLV Products Pty Ltd Specialising In Environmental Solutions |
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Intelligence Test
Q1 Is there a Fourth
of July in England?
Q2 How many birthdays
does the average man have?
Q3 Some months have
31 days; how many have 28?
Q4 How many outs are
there in an inning?
Q5 Is it legal for a
man in California to marry his widow's sister?
Q6 Divide 30 by 1/2
and add 10. What is the answer?
Q7 If there are 3
apples and you take away 2, how many do you have?
Q8 A doctor gives you
three pills telling you to take one every half hour. How many
minutes would the pills last?
Q9 A farmer has 17
sheep, and all but 9 die. How many are left?
Q10 How many animals
of each sex did Moses take on the ark?
Q11 How many two cent
stamps are there in a dozen? Answers at the bottom under "On The Move". |
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WIKIPEDIA The Free Encyclopedia The WA Rangers Association is now listed with a link to our Website in the encyclopedia. We must be doing something right. Check out the link below. Speaking of your WARA Website, we are now getting well over 1,700 visitors every 30 days. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Council_ranger
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Restricted Breeds From Steveeeeeeee in the UK You probably saw the article we had on here a few weeks ago regarding "Restricted Breeds". It was a story from the Sunday Times where WARA's "Prime Minister" or is that "President", anyway Sam Tarling made the position of Rangers on the Restricted Breeds issue quite clear. It is impossible to enforce and is unworkable! Well this is not a peculiar problem to Western Australia or Australia for that matter. Other countries also have politicians and law makers who know more about animal control and dogs than the professional do. Strange that! WARA's great mate and international speaker on this subject and other dog matters is Sue Bell, President of the National Dog Warden's Association UK. Well just recently I have had some long and interesting chats with Sue on the phone regarding the issue, and guess what? Yes you guessed it she and her Association have been having the same problems as Starling, the rest of WARA and rangers in general. In the UK recently there has been a number of serious dog attacks. On New Years Eve a 5 year old girl near Liverpool was mauled to death by a pitbull and believe me, she suffered fatal injuries you just cannot imagine in your worst nightmares. So who was to blame, the dog or the owner? Well some clever character thought maybe it was the Dog Wardens not doing their job properly but looking for a scapegoat anywhere around the vicinity of Sue Bell triggers a very rapid and extremely well worded response. Have a read of Sue's letter in response which has been placed on Rangerdaze with Sue's permission.
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The Lord Baker of Dorking House of Lords LONDON SW1A OPW 9th January 2007 CHILDREN’S BLOOD ON THE HANDS OF DOG WARDENS! The ability of some individuals and organisations to re-write history still absolutely amazes me! I do not need to re-write history to know that from the outset in 1989/90, through documents I myself wrote, that the National Dog Warden Association presented to government the concept of punishing the deed not the breed. It would have also allowed for the introduction of pre-emptive measures (control orders) where there was evidence that a dogs owner by act or omission was failing to provide appropriate control. At the time however, the RSPCA, Dr Roger Mugford, Home Secretary Kenneth Baker (now Lord Baker) et al provided us with the Dangerous Dogs Act, and now they are publicly blaming dog wardens for failing to implement that legislation fully and properly? They appear to have forgotten, I have not, that the incidents in 1989 which led to that Act began with the death of a child (Kelly Lynch) attributable to two Rottwiellers. Conveniently that was overlooked in the legislation and instead two non-fatal incidents (Rucksana Khan and Frank Tempest) enabled the transfer of attention to an American breed, the Pit Bull Terrier, a ‘breed’ predominantly present in this country through a very few imports and otherwise through a lot of look alike cross-breeding. Of the other three ‘breeds’ they named in section one only one at that time had a limited number of specimens in the UK (the Japanese Tosa) the other two were merely known by continental reputation and canine mythology. A lot came down to opinion rather than fact and eventually many of those originally involved in its creation backed away from the Act and openly criticised it (e.g. the RSPCA) leaving local authorities and the police to implement highly flawed legislation. In this period some of those who brought the Act into being began to appear regularly as defence witnesses (e.g. Dr Roger Mugford) and others arrived on the scene to be hailed as defender of the dog (e.g. Trevor Cooper). For the working Dog Warden the object in use of any legislation remained the same: the reduction of danger on the streets and the promotion of responsible ownership and control. During the summer of 2006 a child died after being ‘attacked’ by – two Rottweilers. Although there was some comment at the time the world seemed to have moved on and realised the flaws of the Dangerous Dogs Act, opinion appeared balanced and review of the law was placed on the agenda again. As in 1989 a few months later another child is killed and this time the incident is laid at the door of a Pit Bull Terrier type. We are told on television that the dog is one of a banned breed it is even suggested that post-mortem this is proven by ‘tests’ (implying DNA tests) despite the fact that no such test has previously been available to decide court cases? As if to ward off any challenge to these ‘tests’ we are told (by no less than Trevor Cooper) that even its ‘type’ could have ensured its seizure and destruction and we are told, by no less than Lord Baker himself, that had Dog Wardens (not the police or local authorities but, by name, Dog Wardens) implemented the law properly the tragedy would not have happened. Lord Baker made little reference in his comments to the legal opinion which has so roundly criticised his Act in the intervening fifteen years to the point at which it is thoroughly discredited. Instead he made vague reference to including Rottweillers and Alsatians - not the way the German Shepherd Dog breed is now actually referred to by Lord Baker! - in section one saying they should be muzzled but failing to mention that he chose not to include Rotweillers in section one at the time he introduced the Act despite the death of Kelly Lynch or to mention that section one also requires compulsory neutering, micro chipping and tattooing and an undertaking from the owner to register the dog and not to sell or give away the dog for its lifetime i.e. guarantees the extinction of the breed in the UK within two decades. What Lord Baker did say yesterday was that the rights of people to own ‘these dogs’ was not worth the life of even one child. So what happened in 1990 Lord Baker? The child that died then was killed by Rottweillers. The ‘breeds’ you did have the political nerve to put into section one were not responsible for any UK fatalities at that time. By your own standards you allowed a child’s death earlier this year by failing to include Rottweillers in section one! In office Lord Baker understood political expediency, now he can freely make statements to boost his ego and reappraise what has already been determined to be a legal disaster – The Dangerous Dogs Act 1990. Its failure has nothing to do with Dog Wardens (or even the police) failing to implement it fully or properly. It was bad law. It attempted to transfer responsibility for human failings onto animals by demonising them into killing machines worthy only of total obliteration. It was an important attempt at transferring legal responsibility not only onto an animal involved in an incident but any animal by virtue of its breed alone. It was found out and it failed. We can continue to blame breeds if we want. If so the Rottweiller should have been named in 1990 and it was criminal negligence by Lord Baker not to do so. Or we can decide to provide legislation which works without using it as an emotional crutch for our own failings. Children are precious, but hundreds die every year in preventable road accidents with cars and motorcycles (we do not blame the car or the motorcycle or attempt to ban them). Children are precious, but dozens die in accidents in the home with electricity, at play near water and at the hands of human beings who have been put in charge of them either as parent or carer. Why is it that we look differently at the law when the cause of the terrible loss of a precious child is a dog? Understanding is not increased by eliminating animals from life, after all, the most dangerous animal to a child is the human animal (look to your figures for child murder last year and compare them with the children killed by dogs). Over the past couple of days I have seen so much ill-considered or ill-conceived comment in the media my head is bursting. I saw figures quoted from ROSPA suggesting 30,000 dog bites treated at hospitals in the last year, but the last time I checked these figures hospitals listed all types of bite as ‘bites’ and did not differentiate between dog and humans bites even though emergency departments confirmed that most of the bites they were treating were of human origin. It sometimes appears that the only thing we have learned to do better in the last decade and a half is re-write history, but still continue to make all the same mistakes. So it is with complete despair that I commit these words to the page but also with the complete knowledge that there is no blood on my hands nor on the hands of my many friends who operate Dog Warden Services throughout the UK. Yours Sincerely Mrs Susan Bell President National Dog Warden Association |
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How's this for some clever photography? |
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How to make WARA your "Home" page:
We encourage our members and friends to do this with your office and home PC's and even get your kids, family and friends to help out. |
REMINDER WARA MEMBERSHIPS 2007 WARA membership renewals are now due. Your cooperation with this will be much appreciated! WARA Membership Application & Renewal Forms are now online. Click on "WARA Membership" under the WARA dropdown bar on the "INDEX" page. |
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Hi I'm Tazzy. This week I was surfing the net and found this speech Bill Gates gave to some high school kids.
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A Message To Our Kids? Or All Of Us? THIS SHOULD BE PRINTED ON THE WALLS OF ALL SCHOOLS, STARTING IN ELEMENTARY THROUGH HIGH SCHOOL. Love him or hate him, he sure hits the nail on the head with this! To anyone with kids of any age, here's some advice. Bill Gates recently gave a speech at a High School about 11 things they did not and will not learn in school. He talks about how feel-good, politically correct teachings created a generation of kids with no concept of reality and how this concept set them up for failure in the real world. Rule 1: Life is not fair - get used to it! Rule 2: The world won't care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself. Rule 3: You will NOT make $60,000 a year right out of high school. You won't be a vice-president with a car phone until you earn both. Rule 4: If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss. Rule 5: Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your Grandparents had a different word for burger flipping: they called it opportunity. Rule 6: If you mess up, it's not your parents' fault, so don't whine about your mistakes, learn from them. Rule 7: Before you were born, your parents weren't as boring as they are now. They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes and listening to you talk about how cool you thought you were. So before you save the rain forest from the parasites of your parent's generation, try delousing the closet in your own room. Rule 8: Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life HAS NOT. In some schools, they have abolished failing grades and they'll give you as MANY TIMES as you want to get the right answer. This doesn't bear the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real life. Rule 9: Life is not divided into semesters. You don't get summers off and very few employers are interested in helping you FIND YOURSELF. Do that on your own time. Rule 10: Television is NOT real life. In real life people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs. Rule 11: Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up working for one. |
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Some Useless Information Every Ranger
Should Know
(Yes, admit
it, you are going to say . a e i o u.)
(All you
typists are going to test this out.)
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"Life As A Parkie" |
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You Must Be Joking! A magician was working on a cruise ship in the Caribbean. The audience would be different each week, so the magician allowed himself
to do the same tricks over and over again.
There was only one problem: The captain's parrot saw the shows each week and began to understand how the magician did every trick.
Once he understood he started shouting in the middle of the show:
"Look, it's not the same hat."
"Look, he is hiding the flowers under the table."
"Hey, why are all the cards the Ace of Spades?"
The magician was furious but couldn't do anything; it was, after all, the captain's parrot.
One day the ship had an accident and sank. The magician found himself on a piece of wood in the middle of the ocean with the parrot, of course.
They stared at each other with hate, but did not utter a word. This went on for a day and another and another.
After a week the parrot said:
"OK, I give up. Where's the boat?" |
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Cat - astrophic |
On The Move |
Person |
From | To |
| Ken Robertson | Ranger Shire of Esperance | Exit Local Govt |
| Bernie Von Castle | Ranger Shire of Esperance | Exit Local Govt |
| Dean Ball | Ranger City of Bunbury | Newly Appointed |
| David Lanigan | Ranger City of Bunbury | Ranger Shire of Busselton |
| Graham Chester | Casual Ranger Shire Harvey & Donnybrook/Balingup | Ranger Shire of Capel |
| Bob Anstee | Ranger Shire of Capel | Retired |
We at Rangerdaze are aware other Rangers are regularly on the move. Please let us know if you hear of anyone moving around.
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Intelligence Test Answers
Q1 Is there a Fourth
of July in England?
Q2 How many birthdays
does the average man have?
Q3 Some months have
31 days; how many have 28?
Q4 How many outs are
there in an inning?
Q5 Is it legal for a
man in California to marry his widow's sister?
Q6 Divide 30 by 1/2
and add 10. What is the answer?
Q7 If there are 3
apples and you take away 2, how many do you have?
Q8 A doctor gives you
three pills telling you to take one every half hour. How many
minutes would the pills last?
Q9 A farmer has 17
sheep, and all but 9 die. How many are left?
Q10 How many animals
of each sex did Moses take on the ark?
Q11 How many two cent
stamps are there in a dozen? |
warangers
