You gotta watch this brilliant rant by Sam Kekovich for Australia Day.
Sam is a retired Aussie Rules football player who is a pitchman for the Australian lamb industry. This ad is brilliant! I can't help but want to go out and buy a rack of lamb and BBQ it on January 26, Australia Day. The Vote Lamb web site they made to go with this TV ad is great too.
I was rolling on the floor laughing by the time he started ripping into Ian Thorpe for living in Los Angeles. He rips into immigration testing, terrorism, bling, tree-huggers, everything. I love it.
This is not the first time he has done this. He has done similar rants, all equally as funny, in 2005 and 2006. Click on the links to watch them.
Showing posts with label Australia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Australia. Show all posts
Monday, January 15, 2007
Stupid Aussie TV media news
Arrrgh! I can't believe some of the crap the editors of the Aussie TV news allow to get on the screen. I normally don't watch TV news because it is so self serving and bad. But it was on the background last week when they were covering a story about a guy who was arrested for selling stolen army rocket launchers to some local wanna-be Islamic terrorist.
What happened was that Taha Abdul Rahma of Sydney, who is unemployed, brokered the sale of a dozen rocket launchers that had been stolen from the Australian Army. He sold them to an Islamic terrorist cell that was busted in 2005 planning a series of huge attacks in Australia.
Last week he was arrested. He was denied bail. So what story gets reported in the TV news? His wife gets on TV and starts bawling about how it is unfair that he doesn't get to go home. She claims that their children are crying and upset because daddy isn't there to tuck them in at night.
I was stunned. What about all the children who would have lost one or both parents if the terrorist had not been caught? Did it cross this idiot's mind that perhaps dealing in stolen military grade weapons might involve some risk, such as being being thrown in prison? Did it occur to him that these weapons in the hands of his terrorist buddies in Melbourne might be used to actually kill a lot of people? What did he think they wanted them for? Props?
And this guy sold them for a lot of money.... like $60k each. So one has to ask where did these buyers get that much cash. What was he planning to do with all that money? While the hardworking tax payers of Australia were supporting him and his family with generous welfare checks. He spends his time dealing in stolen military weapons to be sold to Islamic nutters for a huge profit. Wow! Why work a real job?
I can't believe that the news allowed their bleeding-heart commie reporter to focus on how the children of this criminal were upset that daddy might not be coming home. Perhaps they should focus on the children of the brave servicemen who have died and who risk their lives fighting Islamic terrorist and fanatics from blowing up skyscrapers and nuclear plants.
I'm and so sick and saddened by the news reporters here. Perhaps his wife and children should go visit the surviving members of the victims of terrorism and find out what their daddy really did when he was not home reading them bedtime stories. Yup, daddy was getting rich by given terrorists weapons to kill innocent people, and children, in the name of Islam. What a great guy! Why don't you nominate him for father and citizen of the year while you are at it?
What happened was that Taha Abdul Rahma of Sydney, who is unemployed, brokered the sale of a dozen rocket launchers that had been stolen from the Australian Army. He sold them to an Islamic terrorist cell that was busted in 2005 planning a series of huge attacks in Australia.
Last week he was arrested. He was denied bail. So what story gets reported in the TV news? His wife gets on TV and starts bawling about how it is unfair that he doesn't get to go home. She claims that their children are crying and upset because daddy isn't there to tuck them in at night.
I was stunned. What about all the children who would have lost one or both parents if the terrorist had not been caught? Did it cross this idiot's mind that perhaps dealing in stolen military grade weapons might involve some risk, such as being being thrown in prison? Did it occur to him that these weapons in the hands of his terrorist buddies in Melbourne might be used to actually kill a lot of people? What did he think they wanted them for? Props?
And this guy sold them for a lot of money.... like $60k each. So one has to ask where did these buyers get that much cash. What was he planning to do with all that money? While the hardworking tax payers of Australia were supporting him and his family with generous welfare checks. He spends his time dealing in stolen military weapons to be sold to Islamic nutters for a huge profit. Wow! Why work a real job?
I can't believe that the news allowed their bleeding-heart commie reporter to focus on how the children of this criminal were upset that daddy might not be coming home. Perhaps they should focus on the children of the brave servicemen who have died and who risk their lives fighting Islamic terrorist and fanatics from blowing up skyscrapers and nuclear plants.
I'm and so sick and saddened by the news reporters here. Perhaps his wife and children should go visit the surviving members of the victims of terrorism and find out what their daddy really did when he was not home reading them bedtime stories. Yup, daddy was getting rich by given terrorists weapons to kill innocent people, and children, in the name of Islam. What a great guy! Why don't you nominate him for father and citizen of the year while you are at it?
Western Australia CUBs
At a wedding I attended this weekend I met a Qantas flight attendant who works the flights out of Perth that service the small airfields in the vast Western Australia outback and Kimberly areas north of here. Most of the passengers are men who work in the mineral, gas, and oil fields.
These guys make a lot of money. They fly to work and work on site for 3 to 4 weeks. They are usually out in the middle of nowhere. So when they come back to Perth for their 1 to 2 weeks off, they have a few thousand dollars in the pocket. Most are young, in their 20's or 30's, and raking in over $100k AUD a year. All of their expenses (food and lodging) are covered by their employer at the work site. So there is literally nothing to spend money on while they are working.
The flight attendant is single, in her early 30's. I was joking with here about how she must find it dealing with airplanes full of single men who are earning a lot of money. She looked at me horrified. She called them "CUB's", which is a slang acronym for "Cashed Up Bogans". A bogan is Aussie slang for someone who unsophisticated and lower class. She said that most of them spend their free time and money on their utes (Aussie pickup trucks) and getting drunk with their mates.
She was telling me about how they all dress in flannel shirts, boots, and dirty jeans, and scraggly beards. She said that they look like they are with the band ZZ Top.
These guys make a lot of money. They fly to work and work on site for 3 to 4 weeks. They are usually out in the middle of nowhere. So when they come back to Perth for their 1 to 2 weeks off, they have a few thousand dollars in the pocket. Most are young, in their 20's or 30's, and raking in over $100k AUD a year. All of their expenses (food and lodging) are covered by their employer at the work site. So there is literally nothing to spend money on while they are working.
The flight attendant is single, in her early 30's. I was joking with here about how she must find it dealing with airplanes full of single men who are earning a lot of money. She looked at me horrified. She called them "CUB's", which is a slang acronym for "Cashed Up Bogans". A bogan is Aussie slang for someone who unsophisticated and lower class. She said that most of them spend their free time and money on their utes (Aussie pickup trucks) and getting drunk with their mates.
She was telling me about how they all dress in flannel shirts, boots, and dirty jeans, and scraggly beards. She said that they look like they are with the band ZZ Top.
Sunday, April 23, 2006
The Aussie Ute - Ford & GM's Salvation?
It baffles me as to why Ford and General Motors continue to loose market share in the US while they make and sell some pretty awesome vehicles overseas. It think that it just demonstrates how US-centric the executives in charge are.
So here we are in early 2006. Fuel prices are at record highs. The market for Ford and GM's SUV's and trucks is drying up as customers realize they can no longer afford to fill the fuel tank and frequently as needed. The Japanese, Koreans, and Germans are killing the Americans in the smaller car market. The luxury brands from overseas
are taking the best SUV and luxury car customers. What is a poor American car company to do?
Duh! How about looking at their own company for ideas? And guess what? Both GM and Ford have an answer right here in Australia. They have been making and selling something here for a long, long time that the Japanese and Europeans don't even have. It is called the "Ute".
A Ute is the Australian pick-up truck. It is actually a breed of car based pickup trucks. Ute is short for "Utility", because it is used for work. Unlike the classic American style pickup truck in the US, such as Ford's F-150 and the Chevy Colorado, the Ute is lower, sleeker, and slightly smaller. The front end, from the cab forward, is a 2-seater, sporty, coupe style, muscle car. The rear bed is often a shallow aluminum tray, but is actually a proper bed on the city models.
I think they are beautiful vehicles. They get much better mileage than the American pickups. They have powerful motors, are fast, and they look mean and sexy.
GM owns the only Australian car company, Holden. Holden makes a line of Utes. So does Ford Australia. They compete with each other for the loyalty of the Australian ute buyer, which is usually a male in his 20's or 30's.
But... there is a problem that Ford and GM need to overcome. In US, the legacy of their previous car/truck models, the Chevy El Camino and the Ford Ranchero is not good. Neither model is made any more, having been killed around 1980 by fuel and quality problems. The biggest problem is going to be getting past the image of these class of vehicle preferred by ignorant trailer-park trash.
You can thank Congress for that. They put these vehicles in the car group, while pickup trucks like the Chevy S10 where in the truck class. The truck class is exempt from safety and fuel economy requirements of the car class. So Ford and GM focused on Pickups and SUV's and let the car/truck die.
Now that we have come full circle and the market for the truck class vehicles has dried up, it is time to take a good look at the modern Aussie Ute. Both GM and Ford and going to have to give up on trying to use the old El Camino and Ranchero names. There is too much baggage with them. Just call them what they call them here in Australia. It could be the Chevy SS Ute and the Ford XR6.
I think they will sell well, if they don't f**k it over like GM did last year with the Australian Monaro.
Ah... the Monaro. In 2005 GM took a great Aussie muscle car, the Holden Monaro, and imported it to the US. But they couldn't leave well enough alone. I guess some GM executives had to justify their jobs by making changes rather then just selling them, as-is, off the boat from Australia. They changed the name, calling it the Pontiac GTO. They changed the body and drive train, which introduced quality problems. They softened the look and made it look like it had it balls cut off. Then they over-priced it and tried to sell it to middle age men family men. GM ended up killing it after one year. I wrote about that fiasco here.
You know, the US car companies were able to make the working-class pickup truck the preferred choice of soccer mom's and suburbia America by turning it into the SUV. They should be able to overcome the history of the El Camino/Ranchero and turn the Ute into a very successful and profitable vehicle. If you are top executive with Ford or GM in Detroit, please pull you head out of you ass and look down-under. What do you have to loose at this point?
But I'm not holding my breath.
So here we are in early 2006. Fuel prices are at record highs. The market for Ford and GM's SUV's and trucks is drying up as customers realize they can no longer afford to fill the fuel tank and frequently as needed. The Japanese, Koreans, and Germans are killing the Americans in the smaller car market. The luxury brands from overseas
are taking the best SUV and luxury car customers. What is a poor American car company to do?
Duh! How about looking at their own company for ideas? And guess what? Both GM and Ford have an answer right here in Australia. They have been making and selling something here for a long, long time that the Japanese and Europeans don't even have. It is called the "Ute".
A Ute is the Australian pick-up truck. It is actually a breed of car based pickup trucks. Ute is short for "Utility", because it is used for work. Unlike the classic American style pickup truck in the US, such as Ford's F-150 and the Chevy Colorado, the Ute is lower, sleeker, and slightly smaller. The front end, from the cab forward, is a 2-seater, sporty, coupe style, muscle car. The rear bed is often a shallow aluminum tray, but is actually a proper bed on the city models.
 |
| Holden Ute |
 |
| Ford Ute |
I think they are beautiful vehicles. They get much better mileage than the American pickups. They have powerful motors, are fast, and they look mean and sexy.
GM owns the only Australian car company, Holden. Holden makes a line of Utes. So does Ford Australia. They compete with each other for the loyalty of the Australian ute buyer, which is usually a male in his 20's or 30's.
But... there is a problem that Ford and GM need to overcome. In US, the legacy of their previous car/truck models, the Chevy El Camino and the Ford Ranchero is not good. Neither model is made any more, having been killed around 1980 by fuel and quality problems. The biggest problem is going to be getting past the image of these class of vehicle preferred by ignorant trailer-park trash.
You can thank Congress for that. They put these vehicles in the car group, while pickup trucks like the Chevy S10 where in the truck class. The truck class is exempt from safety and fuel economy requirements of the car class. So Ford and GM focused on Pickups and SUV's and let the car/truck die.
Now that we have come full circle and the market for the truck class vehicles has dried up, it is time to take a good look at the modern Aussie Ute. Both GM and Ford and going to have to give up on trying to use the old El Camino and Ranchero names. There is too much baggage with them. Just call them what they call them here in Australia. It could be the Chevy SS Ute and the Ford XR6.
I think they will sell well, if they don't f**k it over like GM did last year with the Australian Monaro.
Ah... the Monaro. In 2005 GM took a great Aussie muscle car, the Holden Monaro, and imported it to the US. But they couldn't leave well enough alone. I guess some GM executives had to justify their jobs by making changes rather then just selling them, as-is, off the boat from Australia. They changed the name, calling it the Pontiac GTO. They changed the body and drive train, which introduced quality problems. They softened the look and made it look like it had it balls cut off. Then they over-priced it and tried to sell it to middle age men family men. GM ended up killing it after one year. I wrote about that fiasco here.
You know, the US car companies were able to make the working-class pickup truck the preferred choice of soccer mom's and suburbia America by turning it into the SUV. They should be able to overcome the history of the El Camino/Ranchero and turn the Ute into a very successful and profitable vehicle. If you are top executive with Ford or GM in Detroit, please pull you head out of you ass and look down-under. What do you have to loose at this point?
But I'm not holding my breath.
"Big Brother 6" on Aussie TV
I went upstairs for a minute. Robin and her boyfriend are up there in the lounge watching the first episode of the Australian "Big Brother 6" (as in the 6th season) on TV.
I've never watched that show, here, or in the US. If I wanted to sit around and watch a dumbass sitting there scratching his ass, then I will just put a web-cam on myself. I don't get it. Do people actually watch this program? Why?
Of course my imagination goes wild when I think about what I would do if I where in charge of producing Big Brother! I would take my inspiration from the classic Agatha Christie's mystery thriller "And Then There Were None". I would introduce an physco serial killer into the house, and then lock them all in. Only one gets out alive.
I've never watched that show, here, or in the US. If I wanted to sit around and watch a dumbass sitting there scratching his ass, then I will just put a web-cam on myself. I don't get it. Do people actually watch this program? Why?
Of course my imagination goes wild when I think about what I would do if I where in charge of producing Big Brother! I would take my inspiration from the classic Agatha Christie's mystery thriller "And Then There Were None". I would introduce an physco serial killer into the house, and then lock them all in. Only one gets out alive.
Back from Uluru
Loretta had some frequent flyer miles that were going to expire at the end of January. She had enough miles to get her and I two tickets from Perth to Uluru. So we were able to fly for free. The hotels there are very expensive, so I opted to camp, which was very reasonable.
Impressions
My initial impression of the Uluru area? Lush! Seriously... It is so green. The photos you see of Uluru have what look like desert shrubs around the base. Those are not shrubs. They are trees. And, they are mostly PINE TREES. Who would have thunk? It feels like Arizona, but with pine trees instead of saguaro cacti.
Actually, they are not pine trees. They are technically an oak tree called The Desert Oak (Allocasuarina decaisneana). And their pine cones are technically fruit. They grow straight, have needles, and cones. They look like Christmas trees. Could have fooled me.Another thing about the are that surprised me was how hilly it was. I was expecting it to be flat, like the famous Nullabor Plain to the south. It was hilly with mountains ringing the horizon.
The campground was great! It is part of the resort there. They have a free shuttle from the airport. The campground features nice soft green grass and shade trees trees. Hot showers, a pool, laundry, fridges, store, gas cooking grills, communal kitchen. All for $13 a night. It sure beat paying $300+ a night for a room across the road!
It rained two of the days were were there. The locals said that was very rare. But it was no big deal. It didn't rain that hard. And it didn't stop us from enjoying the place.
Uluru (Ayres Rock)
You can climb Uluru, weather permitting. They discourage it. The aboriginal tribe who own the area claim it is sacred, the center of the world, and don't like it trampled on. So it is strongly suggested to be politically incorrect and cultural insensitive to climb it.
I've never been politically correct, or sensitive. So I climbed it. When I got back to work, my more "enlightened" co-workers asked me, with a condescending tone in their voice, if I had climbed it. I answer "Yes I did. But I didn't enjoy it." That usually shuts them up.
Because of the rain the first day, the climbing was closed. That was fine. Instead we did the base hike which circumvents the rock. Wow! You must do this hike. It is not technical since it is flat. But it does take a few hours. It is so remarkable because the rock has a million faces. Every few minutes you should stop and take a look. The view is totally different, just a breathtaking, and an amazing natural wonder.
The second day was bright and clear. So we were able to climb to the summit. This is not a climb for people who are afraid of heights! The first part is very steep, about 45 degrees in some spots. It is so steep that there is a chain bolted into the face to hang on to.
About half way up, the path levels out a little more, and the chain ends. From there to the summit you have to climb up and down through the deep cuts in the rock. It is more technical here. Not for people out of shape of scared of heights.
The view from the summit is magnificent. You can see the horizon for 360 degrees, for what seems like 100 miles around.
The Olgas
Nearby is another large rock outcropping called Kata Tjuta (aka "The Olgas"). You can't climb them. There are a couple of hiking trails there. Kata Tjuta is beautiful, far more than Uluru. It features the most amazing canyons. If you come to Uluru, then you must take half a day at least and hike Kata Tjuta.
Aboriginals
Didn't see very many Aborginals around there. They have a cultural center near Uluru that is worth seeing. In the center they have photos of many of the tribe leaders and important people. But when the person dies, they have to remove the photo from the center because Aborginals do not believe that it is OK to see an image of person who is dead. So as you walk through the center, they have blacked out photos here and there as the person in the photo has since died.
Wildlife
We did catch some wildlife. There are feral camels roaming around. We saw some wild Dingos, and you can hear them yelping at night like coyotes in America. We saw some Thorny Devils
on the road, Honey Ants, Crested Pigeons, and a lot of lizards.
Suggestion For Vistors
Because I didn't have a car there, I was not able to get over to King's Canyon, which is about a 3 hour drive away. The next trip to Northern Territory, I will go there.
If you plan to go there, I recommend that you fly into Alice Springs, and then hire a station wagon from Alice Camp 'n' Drive. It is a company run by a couple of guys in Alice Springs who came up with a good idea. They rent full size Ford station wagons loaded with camping gear (tent, air mattress, cooler, lamps, stove, etc.). I saw a few of their wagons at the campsite and I talked to the campers who had rented them. They had nothing but praise for the outfit. They liked them because they didn't have a 7 day minimum like the camper van companies do. They are cheaper (I was quoted $120 a day), and get much better mileage than an RV. Plus you can opt to skip the tent and sleep in the back of the wagon.
Food is expensive at the Ayres Rock Resort! There is a small, overpriced grocery store there. However, if you rent a wagon in Alice Springs, and stock up at a grocery store there before you go, then you can save a lot of money.
What else? If you like your booze, then stock up in Alice Springs before driving over. There is only one place you can buy beer and wine, and they limit how much you can have. Not a problem for me since I am a one-beer-a-day guy. But since you are in the desert, and they have a limit a 6 beers a day, I can see where that would be a serious problem for some people I know.
Flying Glitches
I had a couple of traveling glitches. After camping and hiking for 3 days, I looked like a bit of a wild man with my unshaven face and dark tan. So when I went through security at the airport for the flight home, I was pulled aside for special attention and a screening of my clothes and luggage for explosives. Loretta asked them why they picked me, and they gave her the stock answer "It is random." Bull shit. We finally got the lady to admit that she selected me because I fit the profile of a hijacker. You know, male, dark, hair on face, scary looking. It happens to me often when I travel, especially when I am tired, or tanner than normal.
On the way to the airport, and at the airport, Loretta and I kept detecting the faint whiff of something smelly, like poo. But we could not figure out what it was. Every once in a while it would hit us. We checked everything. No luck. So we got on the plane and flew to Perth. On the flight we kept smelling it again? Was it us? Was it one of the fellow passengers who left with us that day?
That night when I got home and undressed, I found the source of the smell. There was some dog shit smeared on the side of my tennis shoes that I was wearing. Even though I had checked the bottom of my shoes at the airport, I had failed to notice the poop because it was the extact some color as the red dirt all over my shoes. I was so mortified and embarrassed. I had made my fellow bus and place passengers suffer because I couldn't see dog poop through the dirt.
So if you read on a blog somewhere on the net that some poor traveler flying out of Ayres Rock had a passenger from hell on board, a scary terrorist looking Yank who stank like poop, then it was me. I am so, so, sorry. *sigh*
Saturday, April 15, 2006
Happy Easter... Off to Uluru!
Talk to you all when I get back later next week!
Thursday, March 30, 2006
Really drunk Aussie driver
Saw this on the news today.
CANBERRA (Reuters) - A drunk driver just 100 yards from Australia's iconic giant monolith once known as Ayers Rock stopped police to ask the way to the 1,100-foot-high rock.What makes it even funnier is that Uluru is the only thing out there. All around it is nothing bit flat, flat, flat destert. And, there are no lakes. What is the boat for?
The headlights of the man's car were actually shining on Uluru, which has a 5.8-mile circumference, Northern Territory police said.
The 44-year-old man, whose car was also towing an aluminum boat, has been charged with drunk driving and unlicensed driving.
Tuesday, March 28, 2006
Fatality Cover Up in Cyclone Larry!
It seems there were fatalities in last week's cyclone that slammed into Queensland in northeast Australia. Click here to see what happened!
Note: My apologies to non-Australia readers who don't understand this.
Note: My apologies to non-Australia readers who don't understand this.
Sunday, March 12, 2006
Hello... I'll be your salad bar security guard today
I just saw a scary ad on TV tonight. It was from Sizzler, the steak house chain of restaurants. The ad details all new security features that they have implemented to protect their salad bars. They illustrate the salad bar guard who keeps an eagle eye on the food, the new security cameras overhead, and they hint at additional security safeguards behind in the kitchen, but they can't tell you what.
I can only assume that they have armed personal hiding in the back, watching the salad-cam, and waiting for the secret signal from the salad guard, to pounce on the next customer who attempts to use his salad plate to sneak an extra plate of chow to his kid without paying.
Just kidding. I don't know if I should be horrified or pleased. The ad just creeps me out. They treat the salad bar like it was a nuclear reactor being targeted by terrorist.
What promoted these actions, and the ads to publicize them, was the recent incident in Brisbane on March 01 where some crazy woman sprinkled rat poison on the salad bar at two local Sizzler stores.
What happened to the old days when the biggest problem at the Sizzler salad bar was some idiot sneezing on the crutons. What a weird world we live in now.
Speaking of the weird new world. As I am sitting here writing this post, on TV in the background is the 1992 movie "Passenger 57". It is a lame ass Hollywood movie about an airline hijacking specialist who is caught up in hijacking and has to overcome his own demons to save the beautiful flight attendant. It is really lame. But I degress.
What strikes me as odd is that the movie is now so irrelevant in this post 9/11 world of ours. How many hijacking have there been since 9/11? Only a couple that I've heard of. None "sucessful" either. 9/11 single handedly killed in-flight hijacking industry. 1992 was such a innocent time compared to now. Now the hijackers have to plead with passengers not to tear them limb for limb and take the plane down with them.
Hey... I justed noticed that this movie stars a young Elizabeth Hurley. She is one of the hottest women on the planet. She must have been about 27 when they filmed this. Wow....
I gotto go watch Liz. Bye.
I can only assume that they have armed personal hiding in the back, watching the salad-cam, and waiting for the secret signal from the salad guard, to pounce on the next customer who attempts to use his salad plate to sneak an extra plate of chow to his kid without paying.
Just kidding. I don't know if I should be horrified or pleased. The ad just creeps me out. They treat the salad bar like it was a nuclear reactor being targeted by terrorist.
What promoted these actions, and the ads to publicize them, was the recent incident in Brisbane on March 01 where some crazy woman sprinkled rat poison on the salad bar at two local Sizzler stores.
What happened to the old days when the biggest problem at the Sizzler salad bar was some idiot sneezing on the crutons. What a weird world we live in now.
Speaking of the weird new world. As I am sitting here writing this post, on TV in the background is the 1992 movie "Passenger 57". It is a lame ass Hollywood movie about an airline hijacking specialist who is caught up in hijacking and has to overcome his own demons to save the beautiful flight attendant. It is really lame. But I degress.
What strikes me as odd is that the movie is now so irrelevant in this post 9/11 world of ours. How many hijacking have there been since 9/11? Only a couple that I've heard of. None "sucessful" either. 9/11 single handedly killed in-flight hijacking industry. 1992 was such a innocent time compared to now. Now the hijackers have to plead with passengers not to tear them limb for limb and take the plane down with them.
Hey... I justed noticed that this movie stars a young Elizabeth Hurley. She is one of the hottest women on the planet. She must have been about 27 when they filmed this. Wow....
I gotto go watch Liz. Bye.
Monday, January 09, 2006
New York Times article on Western Australia
A friend pointed out to me a recent feature article in the New York Times Travel section about Western Australia. It features some photos of Cottesloe beach, which is where I live.
Check it out!
I wonder if it will spoil Perth?
Check it out!
I wonder if it will spoil Perth?
Tuesday, December 20, 2005
Parade Magazine
Yesterday I was able to sit back and read the LA Times from cover to cover. In the Sunday edition, they include a little national fluff magazine called "Parade". This magazine has always been really light on content. It seems to be geared to a 3rd grade reading level, like USA Today.
This Sunday the feature article in Parade was "The Best & The Worst Of Everything". It was a roundup of news from 2005. I busted a gut laughing when I read one entry titled "Best Team Effort". It was about a team of 47 surfers who rode a giant surfboard in Australia. The article said "... A crowd of 5,000 people gathered near Canberra to watch the riders conquer the 40-foot-long, 10-foot wide board..."
Man I cracked up. Canberra?!? Canberra is the capital of Australia, and is NO WHERE NEAR THE OCEAN. It is an inland city in the mountains between Sydney and Melbourne. That is like saying "Surfers had fun at the Denver, Colorado beach".
Obviously, the editorial integrity of Parade magazine in regards to checking basic facts is non-existent. And they wonder why people don't read newspapers any more.
This Sunday the feature article in Parade was "The Best & The Worst Of Everything". It was a roundup of news from 2005. I busted a gut laughing when I read one entry titled "Best Team Effort". It was about a team of 47 surfers who rode a giant surfboard in Australia. The article said "... A crowd of 5,000 people gathered near Canberra to watch the riders conquer the 40-foot-long, 10-foot wide board..."
Man I cracked up. Canberra?!? Canberra is the capital of Australia, and is NO WHERE NEAR THE OCEAN. It is an inland city in the mountains between Sydney and Melbourne. That is like saying "Surfers had fun at the Denver, Colorado beach".
Obviously, the editorial integrity of Parade magazine in regards to checking basic facts is non-existent. And they wonder why people don't read newspapers any more.
Tuesday, December 13, 2005
The Sydney Beach Riots
I suppose many of you outside of Australia have heard about the rioting going on at a beach in Sydney over the last couple of days. I have read some of the media coverage in the US, Asian, and European newspapers. I've noticed that most of them have it all wrong and are totally misinterpreting the events. Even the Aussie media is screwing it up.
First. The riots have nothing to do with religion. It is the culmination of weeks of harassment between gangs at one Sydney area beach. There has been a Lebanese gang trying to strong arm their way into control of the beach. What started this is an incident last week when two volunteer lifeguards were attacked and nearly killed by this gang when they attempted to intervene and rescue a woman bather who was being harassed by the gang.
That attack on the lifeguards is what has set this off. The locals feel that this gang, who happen to be of Lebanese descent, not because of it, crossed the line when attacking an Australian icon of the volunteer life saver. That is like burning the American flag in the US. Lifeguards are highly revered and respected here. Attacking one like a pack of wild dogs to prevent him from doing his duty was too much.
The "problem" in the eyes of the Australians is that going to the beach, having a barbie, a cold beer, and relaxing in the sand and surf is a God given right and an institution. Everyone is welcome. Every looks out for each other. Everyone feels safe.
The Sydney beach where this is happening is the one where the train line ends. It is the quickest and easiest way to the beach from the Southwest suburbs.
In recent years a new element has been coming down to this beach. They are the young men from Sydney's southwestern suburbs. Most are of Lebanese descent. Others are Iraqi, Pakistani, Palestinian, and other Arabs. But instead of enjoying the beach and water, they hang around in large groups looking to pick fights, perv on girls in bikinis, and harass women. A lot of people no longer feel safe there.
The problem is not that this gang just sits there and stares. They openly call women in bikinis who walk by "Aussie whores" and threaten to rape them. If any "white" man walks by alone, they challenge him to a fight. This is not rumor either. I've met a lot of people from Sydney who have horror stories of their run ins with the Lebanese gangs over there. They have bad reputation as trouble makers. And to make matters worse, they seem to take a lot of pride in that fact.
This one gang in particular seems to have decided to start flexing their muscles at this beach. They seem to be intent on terrorizing the locals into leaving. This has been in the local news for a number of weeks now. As mentioned earlier, they almost killed two volunteer lifeguards who told them to leave a woman along.
Last night, gangs of young Lebanese men were driving over town in wolf packs armed with baseball bats, iron bars, guns, etc., going on rampages. The cops were chasing cars full of them at dangerous and reckless speeds. The gangs cars would come together and they would all get out and start attacking anyone they could see and wrecking cars and buildings.
Now here is where I see the press has been getting it wrong. They mention all these attacks, but they fail to mention who was attacking. They try to make it sounds like there are gangs of angry white Aussies doing this. Just the opposite is true, but the press doesn't want to say that. That would be considered un-P.C.
So instead they make it sound like there are a bunch of hardworking, law abiding, and innocent Lebanese immigrants just doing their own thing when they are randomly attacked by roving gangs of skin heads.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
The problem is not all Lebanese. Most Aussies know this. It is a problem with violent gangs of young men between the age of 13 and 25. It is not religion either. These same gangs do lots of drugs, crime, rape, extortion, smuggling, and fraud. Those Arabs who are religious don't hang out with these hoodlums in their community.
First. The riots have nothing to do with religion. It is the culmination of weeks of harassment between gangs at one Sydney area beach. There has been a Lebanese gang trying to strong arm their way into control of the beach. What started this is an incident last week when two volunteer lifeguards were attacked and nearly killed by this gang when they attempted to intervene and rescue a woman bather who was being harassed by the gang.
That attack on the lifeguards is what has set this off. The locals feel that this gang, who happen to be of Lebanese descent, not because of it, crossed the line when attacking an Australian icon of the volunteer life saver. That is like burning the American flag in the US. Lifeguards are highly revered and respected here. Attacking one like a pack of wild dogs to prevent him from doing his duty was too much.
The "problem" in the eyes of the Australians is that going to the beach, having a barbie, a cold beer, and relaxing in the sand and surf is a God given right and an institution. Everyone is welcome. Every looks out for each other. Everyone feels safe.
The Sydney beach where this is happening is the one where the train line ends. It is the quickest and easiest way to the beach from the Southwest suburbs.
In recent years a new element has been coming down to this beach. They are the young men from Sydney's southwestern suburbs. Most are of Lebanese descent. Others are Iraqi, Pakistani, Palestinian, and other Arabs. But instead of enjoying the beach and water, they hang around in large groups looking to pick fights, perv on girls in bikinis, and harass women. A lot of people no longer feel safe there.
The problem is not that this gang just sits there and stares. They openly call women in bikinis who walk by "Aussie whores" and threaten to rape them. If any "white" man walks by alone, they challenge him to a fight. This is not rumor either. I've met a lot of people from Sydney who have horror stories of their run ins with the Lebanese gangs over there. They have bad reputation as trouble makers. And to make matters worse, they seem to take a lot of pride in that fact.
This one gang in particular seems to have decided to start flexing their muscles at this beach. They seem to be intent on terrorizing the locals into leaving. This has been in the local news for a number of weeks now. As mentioned earlier, they almost killed two volunteer lifeguards who told them to leave a woman along.
Last night, gangs of young Lebanese men were driving over town in wolf packs armed with baseball bats, iron bars, guns, etc., going on rampages. The cops were chasing cars full of them at dangerous and reckless speeds. The gangs cars would come together and they would all get out and start attacking anyone they could see and wrecking cars and buildings.
Now here is where I see the press has been getting it wrong. They mention all these attacks, but they fail to mention who was attacking. They try to make it sounds like there are gangs of angry white Aussies doing this. Just the opposite is true, but the press doesn't want to say that. That would be considered un-P.C.
So instead they make it sound like there are a bunch of hardworking, law abiding, and innocent Lebanese immigrants just doing their own thing when they are randomly attacked by roving gangs of skin heads.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
The problem is not all Lebanese. Most Aussies know this. It is a problem with violent gangs of young men between the age of 13 and 25. It is not religion either. These same gangs do lots of drugs, crime, rape, extortion, smuggling, and fraud. Those Arabs who are religious don't hang out with these hoodlums in their community.
Thursday, November 24, 2005
Bunny Rapist
 |
| Keep your bunnies away from this man! |
I reported this back in October after charges were brought against him. Today the DPP (The Aussie equivilent of a DA) dropped all bestiality charges against him.
PROSECUTORS have dropped a charge of bestiality against a Sydney financier who is accused of aggravated cruelty against rabbits and a guinea pig. Brendan Francis McMahon was arrested in August and charged with one count of bestiality, 18 counts of aggravated animal cruelty and two counts of possessing cannabis.
The 37-year-old from Tamarama, in Sydney's east, is accused of the mutilation deaths of 17 rabbits and one guinea pig. The dead or dying animals were found in and around his York Street office between July and early August this year, police documents previously tendered to the court allege.
Mr McMahon had also been accused of committing an act of bestiality against one rabbit in the early hours of August 1. But when he appeared in Downing Centre Local Court today, prosecutor Laurie Gray withdrew the bestiality charge against Mr McMahon. No explanation for the withdrawal was given to the court. Deputy Chief Magistrate Graeme Henson continued Mr McMahon's bail.
He will face the same court on December 16 for a hearing to determine whether he was mentally unwell at the time of the alleged offences.
Mr McMahon's lawyer, Douglas Marr, had previously told a court his client had been suffering serious mental health problems brought on by the use of the illegal amphetamine ice.
Mr.McMahon. Please study the following chart carefully. Can you spot the difference? Perhaps you can't.
 | or |  |
| Jessica Rabbit | A Real Rabbit |
US President Hoover's time in Western Australia
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| Pres. Herbert Hoover |
Here is a excellent article of Hoover's time in Western Australia from the Stanford University's Alumni Magazine. Hoover was well respected and admired here. He proved to be very successfully and made himself rich. You can now stay in the house that Hoover had built in Leonora because it is now restored as a B&B.
Hoover did do one thing that changed Australia forever. Hoover was unimpressed with the local Australian workers. They were causing labor troubles. So he decided to only hire Europeans, Italians in particular, to work the mines. That is how the first wave of Italian immigrants ended up in Perth, to be followed by a larger wave after WWII.
The Italian and Greek mark on Australia and Perth is significant. They brought with them their customs, and best of all, their cusine. Every Italian-Aussie that I've met is very proud of their contribution to Australia. They feel they brought a little class and culture here.
So in the words of Johnny Carson, "I did not know that."
Wednesday, November 16, 2005
'Glow in the dark' pork chops
Well no shit, Sherlock...
I can see it now... Wife to husband at dinner:
"Honey! They had a sale on pork chops at the supermarket today. They have a new brand called 'Chernobal Farms'. And look at the money we can save on dinner candles!"
Spider causes freeway pile up in Perth
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| Huntsman Spider |
I also heard that a large, burly man was one of the first to come over to her to offer assistance. When he heard what happened, he ran away. He must have been afraid of spiders.
I don't blame her. I'd freak too if a Huntsman landed on my head or lap while I was driving.
Huntsman spiders are ugly critters. I mentioned them in my blog back in 2001 when I first moved to Australia. They can be quite large, the body the size of a golf ball, and when their long legs spread full out, about the size of a small dinner plate. Most that I've seen and captured are about the size of my palm. And they are fast. Amazingly fast. I've never seen a spider that can move as fast as a Huntsman can.
They are harmless by Australian standards. They are poisonous. It won't kill you, but you will surely remember it. Unlike Redbacks (an Aussie version of a Black Widow), and Funnel-Web Spiders (very poisonous!) which will chase and attack you if you get near them, Huntsman spiders are pretty docile.
Speaking of spiders and cars. My little Ford has become the happy mobile home for an ever growing family of Redback spiders. You can tell there is a Redback because of the distinctive web they weave. It is a mess, like candy floss. It looks like they were drunk when they wove it.
For the last six months, a Redback has taken up residence in the right hand mirror. I've tried washing him out with the hose, but he is still there. I've never actually seen him. He hides deep inside the mirror housing. But every morning I have to clear his web off the mirror. So I know he is still there.
A couple of months ago I noticed that another redback moved in under the rear fender. There is a Redback web under the spare tire. Tried the hose again. No luck.
Yesterday I noticed that another cousin of the Redbacks moved into the other mirror on the left side of the car.
I really want to roll all down the windows and air the car out from time to time. But I am afraid that a family of spiders will crawl in overnight and take up residence inside. Then with my luck, I will get bit by a Redback while driving on the Freeway.
Well. I guess I will have to get my car fumigated. These little arachnoids aren't helping me pay for fuel, so NO MORE FREE RIDES!
Tuesday, November 15, 2005
Why aren't these thugs being charged?
Last week the Australian police busted a terror ring in Syndey and Melbourne. When the police took the suspects to court in Melbourne for arraignment, the press was outside to cover the event. So was a group of "supporters" of the suspects. These "supporters" were upset that their friends had been busted, so they took out their anger by attacking the press that was there.
The attack was all caught on video and broadcast through the nation. These 20 something thugs attacking, punching, and kicking a camera man outside the court. They didn't even attempt to hide their faces or their actions. They just brutally attacked an innocent man who was in the wrong place at the wrong time.
I waited to find out what would happen to these thugs. I never heard anything about it since then.
I found out today what happened. NOTHING. Not a damn thing! No charges have been filed by the police or prosecutors.
They have it all on video tape. It happened in broad daylight infront of the police. It was broadcast on national television. The camera man was seriously hurt. Yet, no charges are being pressed.
Now it gets worse. It turns out these thugs in the warehouse of Wooloworths, a large Aussie grocery store chain. Their co-workers recognized the thugs and are refusing to work with them. They found out that the thugs had called in sick that Monday, but were seen later beating the shit out a camera man. But, Woolworths has threathened the jobs of the co-workers who are afraid of these thugs.
Read about it here!
The attack was all caught on video and broadcast through the nation. These 20 something thugs attacking, punching, and kicking a camera man outside the court. They didn't even attempt to hide their faces or their actions. They just brutally attacked an innocent man who was in the wrong place at the wrong time.
I waited to find out what would happen to these thugs. I never heard anything about it since then.
I found out today what happened. NOTHING. Not a damn thing! No charges have been filed by the police or prosecutors.
They have it all on video tape. It happened in broad daylight infront of the police. It was broadcast on national television. The camera man was seriously hurt. Yet, no charges are being pressed.
Now it gets worse. It turns out these thugs in the warehouse of Wooloworths, a large Aussie grocery store chain. Their co-workers recognized the thugs and are refusing to work with them. They found out that the thugs had called in sick that Monday, but were seen later beating the shit out a camera man. But, Woolworths has threathened the jobs of the co-workers who are afraid of these thugs.
Read about it here!
Insurance Companies are evil!
The husband of one of my co-workers died about 1 month ago. They have children at home. Then her mother died two weeks later. My co-worker has been devastated.
She has not been back to work yet. But I heard today that she is being given a hard time trying to get the insurance company that carried her husband's life insurance policy to pay up. So far, they have not.
When she called them up so start the claims process on his life insurance policy, they refused to speak to her. They claimed that their privacy policy only allows them to speak to the policy holder.
Uh... the policy holder is DEAD bozos! It is a life insurance policy. You are NEVER going to get a policy holder to call you to file a claim on a life insurance contract.
That didn't matter. They company refused to bend their policy. Finally she got a hold of a manager who accepted that she might have a claim. It took 3 days to get this far.
Now they are throwing other monkey wrenches into the works. They now refuse to pay a claim unless she gets his will "validated" by the Western Australian Supreme Court. WTF? What about the designated benefitiary on the policy (HIS OWN WIFE!). Not good enough. They claim that someone might come along later and claim they were due some of the insurance money and sue the insurance company.
Have you ever heard of such hogwash?
So now she has to pay $500 to start the processes of getting her husband's will "validated" by the courts. God knows how long that will take.
It gets worse. Now they company is insisting that she sign a waiver that will allow them to get all his Medicare records. They seem to be on a fishing expedition to find some clue that he might have been sick years ago when they took the policy out. Never mind that they are married, had children, and covering the risk of his death was a prudent thing to do.
In the last month, she has had to pay for 2 funerals, and she has not been able to work. They haven't even sent her any money at all to help her. Not even $10k to get her through.
This just pisses me off. They really need state insurance regulators in Australia like we have in the US. The only body that controls insurance companies here in a worthless and toothless federal agency in Canberra.
She has not been back to work yet. But I heard today that she is being given a hard time trying to get the insurance company that carried her husband's life insurance policy to pay up. So far, they have not.
When she called them up so start the claims process on his life insurance policy, they refused to speak to her. They claimed that their privacy policy only allows them to speak to the policy holder.
Uh... the policy holder is DEAD bozos! It is a life insurance policy. You are NEVER going to get a policy holder to call you to file a claim on a life insurance contract.
That didn't matter. They company refused to bend their policy. Finally she got a hold of a manager who accepted that she might have a claim. It took 3 days to get this far.
Now they are throwing other monkey wrenches into the works. They now refuse to pay a claim unless she gets his will "validated" by the Western Australian Supreme Court. WTF? What about the designated benefitiary on the policy (HIS OWN WIFE!). Not good enough. They claim that someone might come along later and claim they were due some of the insurance money and sue the insurance company.
Have you ever heard of such hogwash?
So now she has to pay $500 to start the processes of getting her husband's will "validated" by the courts. God knows how long that will take.
It gets worse. Now they company is insisting that she sign a waiver that will allow them to get all his Medicare records. They seem to be on a fishing expedition to find some clue that he might have been sick years ago when they took the policy out. Never mind that they are married, had children, and covering the risk of his death was a prudent thing to do.
In the last month, she has had to pay for 2 funerals, and she has not been able to work. They haven't even sent her any money at all to help her. Not even $10k to get her through.
This just pisses me off. They really need state insurance regulators in Australia like we have in the US. The only body that controls insurance companies here in a worthless and toothless federal agency in Canberra.
Monday, November 14, 2005
Travelling in Western Australia
I stumbled across a good little travel narrative in the LA Times about Western Australia. The author drove across the state from Perth to Darwin. It is a long slog, 3,522 outback miles — about the distance from Seattle to Miami.
Did you know that Western Australia is 6 times the size of California? But it only has about 2 million people, about the same as Houston, Texas. Three fourths of the people live in the Perth area alone (about 1.5 million). So once you get a few clicks outside of Perth, there ain't a lot of people around.
The travelog is a good read. The author goes up to Monkey Mia, where humans and dolphins interact. He went to Shark Bay, and to Exmouth, where Australia's other Great Barrier Reef can be found.
Well. This has me hankering to take off in my trusty little Ford Laser wagon. I don't think it will make it. Perhaps it will make it to Darwin, and I could fly back to Perth, sans car.
Did you know that Western Australia is 6 times the size of California? But it only has about 2 million people, about the same as Houston, Texas. Three fourths of the people live in the Perth area alone (about 1.5 million). So once you get a few clicks outside of Perth, there ain't a lot of people around.
The travelog is a good read. The author goes up to Monkey Mia, where humans and dolphins interact. He went to Shark Bay, and to Exmouth, where Australia's other Great Barrier Reef can be found.
Well. This has me hankering to take off in my trusty little Ford Laser wagon. I don't think it will make it. Perhaps it will make it to Darwin, and I could fly back to Perth, sans car.
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