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I recently read this story in the The Age newspaper: ‘Racist’ hostel ejection made woman want to cry

They were allegedly asked to leave the Haven Hostel after checking in, because of complaints by other guests.

“They said that it was because of the colour of our skin and they didn’t like us,” group member Bethany Langdon said of the hostel management.

The Royal Life Saving Society of Australia said the ejection was “purely racist” in intention.

A Mount Theo youth worker, Susie Low, who was accompanying the women, said: “(Ms Ball) said there had been some complaints from the tourists. The Asian backpackers were afraid of Aboriginal people and they would leave if the Aboriginal people did not leave.”

However, a blurb on the Haven Backpacker Resort website, owned by Adventure Tours Australia, states its tours place an emphasis on “the unique scenery, wildlife and Aboriginal culture of each area”.

Why would Asian tourists, having read that blurb, then paid good money to experience the local Aboriginal culture complain about the Aboriginal people of the area?

It looks like a pretty flimsy lie to cover up the racism. The coward even hand balled the complaint to the Asian tourists!

It would be naive to think that racism like this does not exist in Australia, but how blatant can you be?

I guess there are still some ignorant rednecks out there in their own little wonderland.

Articles:

• ‘Racist’ hostel ejection made woman want to cry
• ‘Pure racism’: Aborigines chucked out after checking in
• Hostel eviction of Aborigines ‘not isolated’
• Hostel staff ‘told to refuse accommodation’
• Call to switch onus on racist offences
• We’re not racist, but …

Today, the Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd made a formal apology to the indigenous peoples of Australia in a moving speech to the nation.

The Opposition Leader, Brendan Nelson, also made an attempt at an apology. The Liberal Leader was not very popular when he gave his speech.

It has taken a long time to get to this point, but I am glad we have finally reached it.

Articles:

• Text of PM Rudd’s ’sorry’ address
• Text of Opposition Leader Brendan Nelson’s sorry speech
• Outburst of emotion echoes across the land
• Rudd shows that leadership can take Australians to new and better places
• Fury over Nelson’s ’sorry’ response
• Brits refuse to say sorry

I am still astonished when I read about top Olympians taking drugs to enhance their performance. Are they that desperate to get a medal? Why don’t they just take a baseball bat to the knees of their opponents and be done with it?

What really erks me is when these “athletes” win, they seem so proud of themselves for taking out the title. How can someone be proud about cheating?

I have an idea! How about the Olympic Committee create another Olympics. One called the “Drug Affected Olympics”. At these games, athletes would be allowed to take any performance enhancement or recreational drugs they wish. At the end of the day, it would be the result that really mattered. The motto for these Olympics could be “Win at any cost and feel good doing it!”.

Imagine athletes lining up at the starter blocks for the 100m sprint. On the “Get ready” signal, they would all have a line. The starter’s gun would go off and before you know it, the race would be over! World records broken at every race! Everyone would be happy, win or lose, because they would all be puffing away on huge reefers at the finish line! The winners would be truly proud. They would have won fair and square…

DA Olympics for 2012! Bring it on!

Articles:

• Rival sickened by Jones’ drug admission
• Jones’ gold for controversial Greek
• Jones hands back Olympic medals
• Legalising drugs may be only option, says Talbot

The US government is urging scientists to develop technology that will allow control over how much sunlight reaches the earth. It says techniques, such as space mirrors and reflective dust pumped into the atmosphere, would help to reduce global warming.

Yeah, good idea. Let’s keep burning the fossil fuels. We won’t have to worry about the green house effect, because those big ol’ mirrors up there will reflect the sun’s rays away into space. Who needs sunlight anyway? Smog is way better…

If you were a farmer you might need sunlight. What would happen if the mirrors malfunctioned? Not enough or too much sunlight and things won’t grow.

How hot could it get if all the mirrors were directed at a certain spot on earth? Did you ever fry little ants with a magnifying glass as a kid? They pop. I’m sure that’s an exaggeration, but you catch my drift.

It’s no use continuing current emission trends and then trying to reduce the damage done with reflective crap in the atmosphere or space. Band-aid policies and stopgap measures only work to a certain point and do more harm than good in the long run.

“The first thing the federal government can do is recognise that climate change is real,” Opposition Leader Kevin Rudd said today.

“Mr Howard’s cabinet still has in it an industry minister who only a few months ago said climate change was a pile of hogwash.”

“We need global leadership on climate change, and instead Mr Howard follows (US President George) Bush in ignoring the Kyoto protocol and ignoring practical programs of action which will help deal with, and turn back, the challenge of climate change.”

The only way to reduce global warming, is to reduce emissions by adopting clean renewable energy.

Articles:

• US bid to block sun to stop warming
• US climate scientists pressured on climate change
• Americans ‘least concerned’ about climate change
• Activists scale Eiffel Tower
• Soaring temperatures ‘unstoppable’
• ‘A disaster for life on earth’
• Scientist’s ‘Russian roulette’ climate warning
• Reef ‘facing extinction’
• Climate alert disturbing: Rudd
• UN report turns up heat on PM
• 2500 scientists, 1200 pages, and one quibble
• Key climate report sparks global call to action
• Australian states commit to greenhouse gas cuts
• ‘Sunshade’ for global warming could cause drought
• Pentagon backs plan to beam solar power from space
• Australia ‘back on the map’ with Kyoto decision

Steve Irwin, the wildlife expert has died in a diving accident in far North Queensland. He was 44.

Irwin was snorkelling in shallow water near the Low Isles, when stung by a stingray through the chest.

Medical experts say that while stingray stings are rarely lethal, being stung in the heart was extraordinary.

He was filming a documentary when the accident occurred around 11am.

A helicopter with paramedics arrived on the scene, but it was too late.

In 2003, he spoke to the ABC’s Australian Story about his affinity with wildlife.

“I think I’ve actually got animals so genetically inside me that there’s no way I could actually be anything else.

“I think my path would have always gone back to or delivered me to wildlife. I think wildlife is just like a magnet, and it’s something that I can’t help.”

Irwin is survived by his wife, Terri and two children.

Articles:

• Steve Irwin dead
• Irwin died ‘doing what he loved best’
• How a Passive Stingray Can Become Deadly
• Australia mourns ‘colourful son’
• Irwin pulled barb out before death
• The best time of his life - then it was all over
• Greer draws anger over Irwin comments
• Mate saves a seat for Steve
• The real tragedy: a father of two has departed

You have to admit that was one hilarious movie. Something similar played out at a U.S. airport recently. Mardin Amin, an Iraqi going through airport security was stopped by a female security guard. Holding up his penis pump, she asked him what it was. While standing next to his mum, he mumbled in his thick Iraqi accent, “pump”. Apparently the security guard thought he said “bomb”.

Judge Gerald Winiecki has decided there was sufficient evidence for the case to proceed after the female security guard testified that she heard Amin “clearly” say the word bomb.

Amin, 29, of Skokie, is charged with felony disorderly conduct and faces up to three years in prison if convicted. He was released on $75,000 bond and is due back in court Sept. 13. Eileen O’Neill-Burke, his defense attorney, said he will plead not guilty then.

Articles:

• It just looks like a penis pump mom
• Evidence ruled sufficient in penis pump case

Alright then, it’s not exactly holy, but it might as well be a cow. A grilled cow with cheese and bacon in a bun.

“Would like like fries with that?”
“No thanks, just a coronary bypass please.”

That’s what you will probably need after eating one of these burgers. Hungry Jacks (Burger King) calls it the The BK Quad Stacker.

This is what you are in for:

1. Four beef patties
2. Four slices of cheese
3. Eight rashers of bacon
4. No lettuce
5. No sauce
6. On two buns
7. Followed by a quadruple bypass

Read the rest of this entry »

It’s a sad day for cricket when Australia’s international umpire, Darrell Hair, tries to secretly extract $660,000 from cricket authorities for his “quiet” retirement. This all came about after Pakistan was accused of ball tampering.

Ball tampering is a funny subject. As a kid, I always wondered why bowlers used to always rub the ball near their crotch just before bowling. Obviously, now we all know it’s to give the ball that extra swing.

In the rule book, Law 42.3 (b) basically states that a player may not “alter the condition of the ball, except by polishing (no artificial substances)”. A bit vague and contradictory? Maybe.

However, at the end of the day, the umpire has the final say. Right or wrong, what’s said, goes. If anything, this little episode highlights an area of the game that probably needs a bit of clarification.

Articles:

• Umpire sought $660,000 payout
• Cricket’s hidden tactics are an open secret
• Cricket Tips #4: Shining the ball
• Day four: How the controversy unfolded

Video Clip:

• Fast Bowling

It seems that the original film containing the first moments Mankind stepped on the Moon has gone missing from NASA’s Goddard Space Centre in Maryland. Also among tapes feared missing are the original recordings of the other five Apollo moon landings.

I used to believe the U.S. sent the first Man to the moon on July 16, 1969. But it wasn’t until recently that I first began to have my doubts. So what caused me to question one of Man’s greatest technological endeavours?

The fact that it is the year 2006 and the Space Shuttle is still having hiccups getting off the ground! Yet, men walked, jumped, took snap shots, and played golf there 37 years ago! That’s a long time to improve on the proven technology they had.

NASA is still having problems with O-ring designs and bits of falling foam damaging the shuttle during lift-off. If current space technology is so failure prone, why not just go back to that awesome technology of yesteryear?

John F. Kennedy made a speech to Congress on May 25, 1961 expressing his concern about the Soviet’s technological advances. He challenged the nation to put a man on the moon within the decade. They pulled it off in 8 years…

…37 years later with vastly improved computing power, superior avionics, improvements in materials technology, huge advances in science and a shitload of funding, the space shuttle is spending more time on the launch pad than in space.

So, it was upon reading this news of the original moon landing films gone missing that I had to chuckle. I mean, how hard could it be to fake a moon landing?

Stanley Kubrick’s film, 2001: A Space Odyssey, is a great sci-fi film. It was shot in 1968. Change a few props, add some dirt and rocks. “Hey, presto!”, one authentic moonscape. People will believe anything. You don’t have to think back far to remember the last time we were all duped.

And now all the film recordings of that historical moment has gotten itself lost. We will never know their authenticity now! I guess we’ll just have to take their word on the matter…bahahaha!

Update 30/08/2009: Following the recent 40th anniversary of the “moon landings”, this week the Dutch government have discovered the “moon rock” a U.S. envoy gifted in 1969, is actually a piece of ordinary petrified wood. [Read more…]

Articles:

• One giant blunder for mankind: how NASA lost moon pictures
• Project Apollo
• Moon landing
• Apollo Moon landing hoax accusations
• Tale of the TV Tapes: Apollo 11 Mission Archive Mystery Unspools
• NASA can’t find original tape of moon landing
• Moon landing a Smart move
• Europe’s lunar mission gets a scare

The man who spear-headed operations at Guantanamo Bay (2002-2004) and Abu Ghraib (2003/2004), Major General Geoffrey D Miller has been honoured with the Distinguished Service Medal, the Army’s fourth-highest award, before a crowd of 200 people in the Pentagon’s Hall of Heroes.

The ceremony was presided over by General Richard Cody, the Army’s No. 2 officer, who called Miller a “role model, innovator and leader”.

Not everyone seems to agree with this view.

“This is yet another case where you have somebody who is integrally involved in setting the stage for abuse - implementing tactics that people are now being prosecuted for - and rather than being held accountable, he’s getting honours,” said Amnesty International official Jumana Musa.

I don’t know whether he fits the bill as a role model, as he does lack certain accountability qualities. However, he is truly, an innovative leader.

Two out of three ain’t too bad I guess.

Articles:

• US army honours Guantanamo, Iraq chief
• Medal for top US detention officer
• Images of innovation (Google Images)