Australia

[Michaelangelica]

Aussie repays loan ... 39 years later
December 20, 2008 - 9:07AM

Briton who lent £5 ($11) to a cash-strapped Australian while travelling through Europe has had his loan repaid - nearly 40 years later, a report said on Friday.

Jim Webb, 72, was in the Belgian coastal town of Ostend in April 1969 with a friend when he met Gary Fenton who asked for a loan to pay for a ferry journey back to Britain.

Fenton promised to repay Webb and noted down his address when the trio landed in England.

Last Sunday Webb returned to his home in Sheffield to find a hand-delivered package with £200 ($439) - five pounds for each year the loan had not been paid - and a note that read: "To Jim Webb, a good man. From Gary Fenton, a tardy payer of debts."

"I was quite emotional when I read it," Webb told the BBC.

"In this day and age promises are made and promises are broken and you lose your faith in human nature.

"This was a lovely gesture. Forty years is a long time -- it must have been preying on his mind that he hadn't repaid his debt."

Webb said that Fenton, who now lives in Sydney, had explained in his note that he had come across the Briton's address while looking through old papers, and decided to repay the debt while on a visit to London.

Fenton left only an email address and Webb said that though he had tried to contact the Aussie he had not yet heard back.

AFP

Aussie repays loan ... 39 years later - Unusual Tales - Specials - smh.com.au

The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age are the closest Ozzies come to Times and Washington Post
If you want to know what is happening here, look at them first
smh.com.au
(They need all the help they can get)
O yes, there is also The Fox owned, a titch right-wing, heavy and ponderous "Australian"

PS
Another idiot in a paddle boat has to be rescued, yet again, by the Australian Navy
It is about time we started sending these drop-kicks- who put themselves at risk for fun - with the bill. The fuel alone would be $100,000

An Australian Navy frigate is on its way to rescue sailor Yann Elies after he broke his leg in the Vendee Globe round-the-world solo yacht race.

BBC SPORT | Other sport... | Rescue mission to save yachtsman
For the geographically challenged, Yanks, a map-

[Flying Binghi]

Whilst i am an AGW sceptic, i'm a peak fuels believer. This article by (flights of fantasy) Ben Sandilands has me wondering -

A few weeks back Airbus sent an alternative fuels expert to Australia (Sebastian Remy) to explain how it could reduce the release of fossilised carbon from jet fuel by half by 2020, and create a major new agricultural industry that would not impact food production.

Canberra didn’t want to know. For over a year Remy’s counterpart in Boeing, Billy Glover, has been explaining how algae grown octanes could completely replace kerosene by....

http://blogs.crikey.com.au/planetalk...lism/#comments

[Michaelangelica]

Some Yank hyperbole about Australia
STAY AWAY
Be warned we have things that will eat you and that is only the animals!
(Crocodiles have nothing on the Drop Bears)

Australia - Beautiful Land

Travel - Travel
It's a totally inhospitable place, you shouldn't be here, the sun, you live about three
quarters of a mile from it, I've seen insects walking around with kneepads, you fling
yourselves into the sea when you're not actually walking around audibly crackling in
the heat and the sea is full of jellyfish and sharks and other things who hate you, but
you persist in living here… So you know, it's a jail, you live in, it's lovely, you've done
wonderful things with it, but you're all still in denial.
Dylan Moran, Irish comedian,
Melbourne International Comedy Festival.
Sure it's got deadly spiders, snakes and sharks, and it's hot, real hot, but that's just the beginning.
From the prehistoric gorges of Kakadu National Park, to the white sails of the Sydney Opera House, Australia is a country as big your imagination.
Kick back on a beach as white as your mother's wedding dress in Western Australia; lose yourself in the labyrinthine laneways of culture-rich Melbourne or be humbled by red desert sunsets over Uluru.
Turn south to visit hundred year old giants that loom large in the forests of Tasmania or take on Sydney, a heady mix of surf, sun, money and sex, and you'll soon realise Australia is a place to be discovered not feared.

Bored Fun - Australia - Beautiful Land

[Michaelangelica]

Oz holiday Deaths
Sharks . . . 1
Perth beaches closed after shark sighting - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
Boats . . . 1
Cars. . . 41
WA, Vic deaths take national toll to 41 - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)


Israel
V/ Hamas 230 +
World recoils at Gaza bloodshed, US backs Israel - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
ABC News - Top Stories - Breaking news from Australia and the world

OR
You could just watch the boat race
Wild Oats XI rewrites record books - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

[Michaelangelica]

A bunch of people jumped a bank robber who had taken a hostage wile robbing a bank
Good work guys!
Lucky he didn't have a gun

Police have praised the actions of a group of men who chased and caught a bank robber in Sydney's west this morning.

Police hail men after bank robbery foiled - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Another idiot lone sailor needs rescuing

A Canadian solo yachtsman may need help from Australian authorities after a rogue wave damaged his boat in the Southern Ocean, 1,000 nautical miles from Hobart.

Derek Hatfield had been competing in the Vendee Globe round-the-world race, and is trying to sail to Hobart with a damaged mast, and no fuel.

A Frenchman sailing in the same race had to be rescued by a Royal Australian Navy frigate earlier this month after breaking his leg.

Authorities on standby for struggling solo sailor - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Might be some tourism bargains around next year

The Tourism Forecasting Committee says inbound travel will fall by 4.1 per cent next year because of the global financial crisis.

Tourists to shun Australia in 2009: report - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Year in review: top ten

Ten of the best images from the year in news and sport.

Year in review: top ten - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

[Moontanman]

Ok what is the deal with your down under types? Everyone else sees black triangles but you guys have to see white triangles.

A White Triangle?

[Michaelangelica]

Originally Posted by Moontanman

Ok what is the deal with your down under types? Everyone else sees black triangles but you guys have to see white triangles.

A White Triangle?

I live near there and haven't heard of it

Was it on April !?
The local pop radio station (which I never listen to ) has a reputaion in this area.

[Moontanman]

Originally Posted by Michaelangelica

I live near there and haven't heard of it

Was it on April !?
The local pop radio station (which I never listen to ) has a reputaion in this area.

I could be wrong but I think it was a recent sighting. the area is supposed to be a UFO hot spot.

[Flying Binghi]

mmmmm..... she's a hot old thread here........ bit whimsical in-fact

Whimsical....sorta like the music that gets played when the 'global warming' Titanic hits an ice burg

[Moontanman]

I got this in the mail today, any truth to it?

An Interesting Debate in Australia
by
Hilmar von Campe
Excerpts from an on going debate in Australia. This is true and can be checked at: http://:www.snopes.com/politics/religion/australia.asp
Muslims who want to live under Islamic Sharia law were told on Wednesday to get out of Australia , as the government targeted radicals in a bid to head off potential terror attacks. A day after a group of mainstream Muslim leaders pledged loyalty to Australia and her Queen at a special meeting with Prime Minister John Howard, he and his Ministers made it clear that extremists would face a crackdown. Treasurer Peter Costello, seen as heir apparent to Howard, hinted that some radical clerics could be asked to leave the country if they did not accept that Australia was a secular state, and its lawswere made by parliament. "If those are not your values, if you want a country which has Sharia law or a theocratic state, then Australia is not for you", he said on National Television.

"I'd be saying to clerics who are teaching that there are two laws governing people in Australia, one the Australian law and another Islamic law that is false. If you can't agree with parliamentary law, independent courts, democracy, and would prefer Sharia law and have the opportunity to go to another country, which practices it, perhaps, then, that's a better option", Costello said.
Asked whether he meant radical clerics would be forced to leave, he said those with dual citizenship could possibly be asked to move to the other country. Education Minister Brendan Nelson later told reporters that Muslims who did not want to accept local values should "clear off. Basically people who don't want to be Australians, and who don't want, to live by Australian values and understand them, well then, they can basically clear off", he said.
Separately, Howard angered some Australian Muslims on Wednesday by saying he supported spy agencies monitoring the nation's mosques.

Quote: "IMMIGRANTS, NOT AUSTRALIANS, MUST ADAPT. Take It or leave.I am tired of this nation worrying about whether we are offending some individual or their culture. Since the terrorist attacks on Bali, we have experienced a surge in patriotism by the majority of Australians."

"However, the dust from the attacks had barely settled when the 'politically correct' crowd began complaining about the possibility that our patriotism was offending others. I am not against immigration, nor do I hold a grudge against anyone who is seeking a better life by coming to Australia." "However, there are a few things that those who have recently come to our country, and apparently some born here, need to understand." "This idea of Australia being a multi-cultural community has served only to dilute our sovereignty and our national identity. And as Australians, we have our own culture, our own society, our own language and our own lifestyle."
"This culture has been developed over two centuries of struggles, trials and victories by millions of men and women who have sought freedom"

"We speak mainly ENGLISH, not Spanish, Lebanese, Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Russian, or any other language. Therefore, if you wish to become part of our society, learn the language!"

"Most Australians believe in God. This is not some Christian, right wing, political push, but a fact, because Christian men and women, on Christian principles, founded this nation, and this is clearly documented. It is certainly appropriate to display it on the walls of our schools. If God offends you, then I suggest you consider another part of the world as your new home, because God is part of our culture."
"We will accept your beliefs, and will not question why. All we ask is that you accept ours, and live in harmony and peaceful enjoyment with us."

"If the Southern Cross offends you, or you don't like "A Fair Go", then you should seriously consider a move to another part of this planet. We are happy with our culture and have no desire to change, and we really don't care how you did things where you came from. By all means, keep your culture, but do not force it on others.
"This is OUR COUNTRY, OUR LAND, and OUR LIFESTYLE, and we will allow you every opportunity to enjoy all this. But once you are done complaining, whining, and griping about Our Flag, Our Pledge, Our Christian beliefs, or Our Way of Life, I highly encourage you take advantage of one other great Australian freedom, 'THE RIGHT TO LEAVE'."

"If you aren't happy here then LEAVE. We didn't force you to come here. You asked to be here. So accept the country YOU accepted."
This should be sent to the president and every member of Congress
Hilmar von Campe