Feral camels destroying WA outback

There's a headline you don't see every day.

Large herds of up to 100 camels were often found in the more habitable areas where rivers lakes and ranges were located, while camel numbers were lower in areas dominated by sand plains and dune fields, Dr Burrows said.

They've obviously been watching the wrong movies. Don't they know they're supposed to live in deserts.

Essential Information For Visitors To Australia

Apparently, this is information given to questions on an Australian Tourism website.

Q: Can you give me some information about hippo racing in Australia? (USA)

A: A-fri-ca is the big triangle shaped continent south of Europe. Aus-tra-lia is that big island in the middle of the Pacific which does
not.. oh forget it. ..... Sure, the hippo racing is every Tuesday night in Kings Cross. Come naked.

Comedy and Food

My wife and I were in Melbourne city centre last week for the Comedy Festival.

First of all, we went to see Tom Basden Doesn't Say Anything at Melbourne Townm Hall. The crowds were huge as there were several performances going on in various rooms at similar times. Tom Basden was in 'The Powder Room', a small anteroom with a capacity of about 80 and it was about half full.

I found the performance a bit disappointing really. We didn't know anything about it beforehand thinking we would just try something different. The show was a series of songs which, while occasionally amusing, didn't get a real laugh from anyone. This type of material has always worked well as part of a show thrown in among a few stories a la Mike Harding or Max Boyce but as an act in itself, gets a bit repetitive.

After the show, which lasted an hour, we walked down to Southbank to find a place to eat. We hadn't booked anything as there is a wide selection of eating places so finding a table isn't usually a problem. We decided on looking for a Chinese or Thai Restaurant and found the Red Emperor Chinese Restaurant on the third level of Southgate on Southbank.

I must admit that the meal was the best Chinese I have eaten in our ten years in Australia. Whilst not cheap ( the meal cost about $100 for a main course with a couple of drinks each), each dish we chose was exceptional and the service was excellent.

The Spicy Pepper Chicken was tender and delicious on a bed of crispy seaweed and the Manderin Prawns were also extremely tasty and cooked perfectly. Even the special fried rice was exceptional, moist and full of flavour.

So if you're out in Melbourne, I'd recommend a visit to the Red Emperor.

Do They Know It's Christmas?

Christmas has really sneaked up on me this year. I still haven't got used to the Australian weather this time of year, not so much Christmas itself, but the lead up to it.

In the UK, the kids would go back to school in early September and up would go the Christmas decorations in the stores. After Bonfire Night (Nov 5th) the in-store Christmas carols would kick in and drive everybody mad. Of course, the weather helps this by precluding a lot of outdoor activity and encouraging people to hurry into stores and malls.

Here, it's 32 degrees today (centigrade). It's more tempting to go down to the beach than the shopping mall. Christmas Day itself I'm getting used to. We alternate between a barbecue outside and a traditional (English) roast turkey dinner. This year we're out by the BBQ and the weather usually cooperates. This is Melbourne, however, and anything can happen. The first year we were here it was 37 degrees at lunchtime but a cool change came through in the afternoon and the temperature dropped 20 degrees! Boxing Day, it never got over 14 degrees and we had to put the heating back on.

Still, I wouldn't change it. I don't think I could stand the constant heat of further North.

Hicks' Stalinist Experience

Robert Richter, a Melbourne Barrister serves it to the US military tribunals as doing 'Stalin's show trials proud'.

The deal was simple: Go home. Shut up. If you dare to say you had no choice but to plead guilty, the US Military Commission will find you guilty of perjury and will call in a full seven-year sentence, over and above the five you've suffered unconvicted and uncharged. That will mean the Australian Attorney-General may not release you on licence for another seven years, or will — with the additional gags of control orders and other available means — make sure you cannot tell anyone what happened.

Apart from the loss of fundamental guarantees of freedom, another freedom — speech — is garrotted.

He believes that one day in the not to distant future, the Australian politicians who stood by and let this happen, may pay a price themselves.

The best thing one can say about the process is that one day there may be a reckoning for this despicable episode, in which Australian ministers, all the way down from the Prime Minister, have been party to the commission of grave crimes under the Australian Criminal Code 1995, divisions 104 (Harming Australians Overseas) and 268D (denying a fair trial), because they have been criminally complicit under section 11.2.

It's been quite disgraceful to watch Alexander Downer, the Foreign Miniser, and John Howard jump through moral hoops trying to justify the USA's handling of this affair.

Howard's Reaction

And John Howard's reaction to this tawdry affair:

"Whatever may be the rhetorical responses of some and particularly the government's critics, the facts speak for themselves."

"He pleaded guilty to knowingly assisting a terrorist organisation - namely al-Qaeda. "He's not a hero in my eyes and he ought not to be a hero in the eyes of any people in the Australian community.

"The bottom line will always be that he pleaded guilty to knowingly assisting a terrorist organisation.

"He's acknowledged the prosecution could have proved that beyond a reasonable doubt."

Of course he did, John.

I'm sure we'll be hearing a lot more of this in the future. I'm sure that John Howard will be hoping it's after this year's general election.